Mukt Fau - Forgotten Books

COMM ISS ION E R AN D M RS . BOO T H T U CK ER .

MU KT FAU

FORTY YEARSWITH THE SALVAT ION

ARMY IN INDIA AND CEYLON.

COMMISSIONER

F . BOOTH TUCKER.

Retired, Indian Civil Service Kaisar-i-Hb'

zd goldmedallist

Author of The Life of Catherine Booth: Consul Booth Tucker;OrientalSongs,

’

etc.

MARSHALL BROTHERS, LTD .

L ONDON A ND ED I NBU RG H

PR INTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BYHUNT, BARNARD CC. ,

LTD.,

LONDON AND AYLESBURY.

CONTENTS .

INTRODUCTION , AND LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER

Chapter I .

— THE IND IAN EMPIREArea and population—Mortal ity—Reh gionsHinduism—Animism or Demonolatry—Mab om

medanism—Christian ity—Rise Of Christian Missions—Languages—Hereditary Trades Unionismor Caste .

Chapter I I .— THE ARRIVAL IN IND IAThe battle Of Tel-el -Kebir—Lord Wolseley and

th e Founder—Th e first party land in BombayAtti tude of th e Press—P rocession in war chariotsand massmeeting on th e Esplanade—The policeprohibit Music—Captain Norman locked up and

fined—Sir James Ferguson takesaway th e Flag,

and imposes further restrictions —Refuses in terview—Salvationists arrested and fined— PoliceOflicer pays th e fine—Calcu tta Indign ationMeeting in the Town Hall—The Brahmo Somajand Indian Press protest .

Chapter I I I —THE BATTLE FOR LIBERTYThesecond arrest and trial—TheArmy’

sdefen ce—NOlikelihood of distu rbance—Wen ty vernacu larpapers confirm —W’

rongly charged—“ The Armyen titled to protection—The Queen

’

sProclamation—Religious Liberty—Th e magistrate dischargesTh e Army—Cal cu tta and Provinces visitedImmense crowds—NO Opposi tion

—A ri dicu lousblunder—Th e surprise of I ndoH ir LepelGriffin on a burlesque Of religion .

Chapter IV .

—PR ISONER NO. 331

Twen ty- two Salvationists arrested—Telegramsfrom the Governor—The Salem ri ots—NO mitigation asked for—Th e Bible and conscienceMajor Tu cker senten ced one mon th imprisonmen t—Bombay Jail —Prisoner NO. 33 I

—Appeai to

H igh Court—Conditions Of pardon A rope

roun d my neck —My thirtieth birthdaySleeping With ou t mosquito curtains—Three morearrasts NO law to prohibit singing

—Ten

more arrests—Th e police accept terms—Th e ArmyWithin itsrights—The magistrate acqui ts—Rightsestablished for all India .

PAGE

vi FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

Chapter V .

-TIIE GUJ ARAT REVIVALThe Conversion Of Weerasooriya

—Death Of

his grandmother—The theory of Nirvan—Lost !Lost . I have found Jesus -A College Revival—The Captain

’svisit—Wh o lovesJesusmost .

7

A storm Oi Opposition—Just like a Brahminconversions in eighteen months—Converts

who vanished—MissionaryMandates—Unoccupiedfields—A half-night Of prayer—A Revival amongChristians—Ranipur an d Borsad—A MoonlightPrayer Meeting—Th e Match-box Opened—Astick in Christ’shand—A Revival among Hindus.

Chapter VI .

—THE GARDEN OF IND IAThe model Commun ity—The feudal lord Of

th e soil —Buried riches—Labour and produceexchange —Doing withou t cash—Th e IndianSavings Bank—Cheap I ,abour Thou shaltnot kil l —Th e Dher weavers—The attrac

tive classes—Handicrafts—Engagements and

Marriages—The village well—Memorial tablets.

Chapter VI I .

— LANKA,THE PEARL OF THE OCEAN

Violet and Gold—K andy—Paddy fields and

Paduas—One foot in th e grave—Hewadiwillaan d Talampitiya—Very little room for th e Devi lA gang Of thieves—Th e Loku Mahatmaya—Abaptism Of love—Have you ever weptApi pinapati ava—Begging for food—OrientalAgnostics.

Chapter VI I I .

—COLONEL WEERASOORI YAA town Of ca rpenters—A palm- leaf Maduwa

350 seekers—A tambourine for pillow an d plankfor bed—A palm-leaf Head quarters—Pul lingin th e net—The First International Congress inLondon—India represen ted—A generousdonation—CharlesStudd helps In dia—A friendly NawabWeerasooriya promoted Colonel—Washing feetProviding his enemieswith a rope and kni feConsecrated for Buddh ist priesthood—The threadbroken—Th e Bible torn and trampled—TheColonel succumbs to cholera—A triumphantdeath—I t isni ce to be saved —Ah Army Funeral .

Chapter IX—FAKIRI SMGet in to their skins —Village I ndianisms

Those English boots—Holes in feet and holes instockings—Burning sands—A lesson in sandalsCity habits and Village customs—How to dowithou t hal ls, homes, and money—Changingour names—Better than blankets—Thi rd-classtravel ling—Some touching gifts—A wide-awakecongregation while th e preacher sleeps—Two daysof fasting and prayer .

CONTENTS.

Chapter X .

—NORTHERN IND IAA Beggar, 3rd ClassCompartmen t , Down MixedTrain—Visiting Batala—A Hindu host—Th eJiwan Mukti Pan t—A .L .O.E r

—Buried withou ta cofiin—A guest of the Golden Temple—Ameeting in th e Guru

’sGarden—Th e gaddi Of th e

priest—Th e Boom March of 1895

—ColonelYuddha Bai in the Pun jab—Little Munshi ’

s

triumphan t death—Here I am, Lord Jesus !The United Provinces—The Sadat Amin

Chapter XI . -THE POLICY OF PARTIESThe first party Of Forty—The daily programme—Changing names—Language lessons—Ar rival in

Ceylon—The Moratuwa reception—Advan tagesof Parties—Fakir linesmodified—Minimum and

maximum allowances—A Buddhist SalvationArmy—Showers of stones—Pavistina stabbedConversion Of a Mau lvi ’

sson—Riotsin K andy andColombo—Buddhists to the rescue .

Chapter XI I .

—THE BOOM MARCHSou th India invaded—400 conversions in

Madras—Strongholds Of Hinduism—The citiesof the South—Caste Marks adopted—The first

Sou thern Boom March—Th e plan of attack—Atarget of sou ls—Gu jarat leads th e wayseekers—The All-Night of Prayer seekers—First Travancore Boom March seekersWholesale Salvation—Villages surrender—The

work consolidated .

Chapter XIII .

—PERSECUTIONS PROSECUTIONSThe high -caste alarmed—Halls burnt downFalse charges in Courts—Devi l-dancing described—Indian Spiritism—Th e Medium—ConvertedDevil priests—A plot that failed—An EnglishAdju tan t nearly kil led—Where ishe K i ll h imA narrow escape—The Army welcomes th e

Maharaja—Another hall bu rn t down—Six deviltempleshanded over to The Army—The Old manand his devil -temple—A triumphan t deathbedAnnual MassMeetings—Lt .

-Commissioner Nuran i .

Chapter X IV .

—THE C ITY OF PALACEsCalcutta befriends and wel comes The Army

An eloquen t religious leader—Babu KeshabChandar Sen and th e Brahmo Somaj—Christan Asiatic—Wilson ’

s Circus—An audien ce of

3 ,ooo—NO rehearsals required—A number Of

craz y people—Bombarding a liquor d en- Amarchthrough Calcu tta—Bengali lassessing and speakVast crowdsgather .

VI I I FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

PAGEChapter XV.

- CAMPAIGNS AMONGST THE

MARATHAS AND BHILSThe land Of droughtsand famines—The hardyMaratha—Tapping th e clouds—Storm Cannon

and rain rockets—The first Marathi Boom March—600 seekers—Conserving the resu lts—Aftermany days soldiers en rolled—They neverforget—Village ari thmetic—Maratha gir ls visitEurope—Colonel Yuddha Bai—A modern Apostle—The Bhils—Ashy race—Gaining their confidenceThe converted chief—A meeting of the ClanThe Army endorsed—Cowsand calves—A seriousset-baCk - The Sadhusand th e Bhi l Raj—Politica lagitation—The Viceroy bombed—Back to th e

Muktitani—Getting drunk for a good purpose .

Chapter XVI —COMMISSIONER RAHIMAN IN IND IAThe Founder ’

s second daughter—The Call toIndia—The Wedding—The voyage Of theWedding F ifty—Campaign Of I 888—9—The Hindudevotee—Giving h er all—The last i llness ofCatherine Booth—The Consul hu rries to h er

mother ’

s deathbed—The farewell meeting in

Bombay—A torchl ight procession—Death Of Mrs.

Booth—Th e Memorial Party number sixty-fourThe party reach Ceylon—Enthusiastic welcomeRahiman in th e Audience Hall Of the KandyKings—Serious i llnessOf Commissioner Rahiman

—Leavesfor England—CommissionersRaj Singhand Ruhani (Booth Hellberg) take commandDeath Of Commissioner Rahiman in America.

Chapter XVI I . —THE FOUNDER VISITS IND IAThe Founder’

s first visit—th e second visitPeasan t Settlemen ts and Village Banks—The

Founder in Ceylon -Reception in Madras—The

Founder in Gu jarat—The March Past.

Chapter XVI I I .

—TI IE VISIT OF GENERALBRAMWELL BOOTH TO IND IA IN 1922 3A hiatusOf twenty-eight years—General Bramwell Booth visitsIndia and Ceylon—Extractsfrom

th e General ’5 Journal—The Magna VOx (VoiceAmplifier ) enables him to addressvast crowds inCeylon , Travancore, Madras, Calcutta, UnitedProvinces, Pun jab, Gu jarat , Bombay—CriminalSettlements visited—In terviews with Viceroy,Governors, Maharajas, the Agha Khan .

CONTENTS. ix

PAGEChapter XIX .

—FAKIR S INGH AND DUTI NIINDIAColonel Minnie Reid—European Experien ces

OurMarriage—Appoin ted to I ndia—Simla Ridgemeetings

—The Annual FXt ition opened bythe Vicereine—Work launched amongst CriminalTri bes and Released Prisoners—A WeavingSchool for the Pun jab—The FortressOf Ludhiana—The Simla Corps—Thumbmark signaturesTatu ’

s soul—The Du chess—Th e Mela PolicyAnnual Congressesin chief cen tres seekers.

Chapter XX .

—PEASANT SETTLEMENTS.

The LandlessWIan on th e ManlessLand—Th e

Colony Of Muktipur—Irrigation in the Pun jabFive rivers harnessed—Millions Of ColonistsRelieving congested areas—Th e Army ColonyShantinagar—z p oo Sal vationists—NO li tigation—Sunday that isSunday—Self—support and Selfdenial young people .

Chapter XXL— COTTAGE INDUSTRIESHandloom weavers—The automatic handloom

—Hand-made cloth—Defying th e DhobiTrain ing our foremen—StudyingBangalore Silk Farm—Ah I ndian benefactorTh e Tata family—Silk in Kashmir—The bestsilk school in I ndia—Lace and drawn -thread

women workers—Back to the HomeAway from the factory .

Chapter XXII .—OUR MED ICAL WORKThe Army hospitals—A great scope—OurWomen ’

s wards—S ir James Roberts’system

Our Hospital pioneer—I i eu t .

-Colonel Sik undar(Andrews) , V .C. , M.D .

—A born doctor—Th e

bathroom dispensary Lieu t . Colonel DayaNasen (Turner ) , M .D .

—The Catherine BoothHospital , Travancore—The Maharaja aspatron

Bran ch Hospitals—TheAnand Hospital in Gu jarat—The Model Hospital in Moradabad— I OO bedsforWounded Indian soldiers—Getting well too

qui ckly—Lieu t .

-Colonel Sik undar diesat the front.

Chapter XXIII .

— THE BEGGAR OF THE EASTThe Beggar problem—Ceylon leads th e way

A doctor creates a sensation beggars50 per cen t . death-rate—Governmen t takesaction—The Army ca lledm4 0me sensible legislationSome striking figures for nine years—The Armycares for sou l an d body—Bombay Governmen tinquires—Adopts volun tary system—Th e Mu

ni cipality helps—The Helpless Beggars' ReliefCommi ttee formed—Army Agency invoked—Th e

Beggars’ Camp at Rowli Hill .

x FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

PAGEChapter XXIV.

—THE CRIMINAL TRIBESOrigin Of the Criminal Tribes—S pecial Legisla

tion—Difiiculty of control—Organi z ed crime

lucrative—Origin Of our work—A new departurein missionary enterprise—The United Provin ceslead the way—DomsOf Gorakhpur—Unpromisingmaterial—Enthusiastic pioneers

—The Aligarhfortress -H iding by day and travelling by nightThe Moradabad Rifle Range—Citiz ens protestLamen tations and howls—Kil ling a rabbitThe jackalsdisappear—Another fortressoccupied

-Hacked to piecesand cast into a well—Comingback to d ie—Reading the Bible .

Chapter XXV .

—MORE ABOUT THE CRIMPresent position of work—T I ibes dealt withTheir earnings

—Problem Of Self-supportSettlemen ts in the Pun jab—Maghaya Doms of

Bihar—Mad for land Times Of India describes—A Dom girl in h er teens—The Pans of

Orissa—the lowest record Of crime—Meetings inprison

—Ceylon Offers facilities—Borstal youthsparoled to Th e Army in Pun jab—Great successleads Government to make attempt—A d is

appointing failure—Free labou r versus forcedThie Madras experimen t—Unfortunate change of

pO cy.

Chapter XXVI .

-CRIMI NOCUROLOGYThe Yerik ulas Of Madras—Armytown on th e

Krishna—Donkeyson strike—A poem plea for th eGrim—Mixing with mfi M tuafi pu ram Settlehment—Land-squires ob ject4 ir Harold Stuart

takes th e bu ll by th eJ horns—Th e Settlement

prospers—I ,8oo Crims reformed- The Crims love

th e Bible—Th e best boy’s priz e

—Jesus in th ekitchen—Brigadier Ratna Bai and Jagla—Atouch ing recon ciliation—A happy marriage

—Nohappy chi ldhood—The Lost P iece of Silver !

Chapter XXVII .

—THE PASSION FOR SOULSLord, give us soulsl—Mass Meeting Melas

Shoals of souls—NO hard fields—Losses and

crosses—Burman prison you ths—The wickedestwoman in Rangoon—Telugu Villages—Theplaguesof Egypt—A life-long vow—The Sunday fastCan you perform miracles —Sold to th e devi lAh awfu l deathbed—Ch ellaya Pillay, B.A . ,

B.L .

A High Court Pleader ’

sconversion—Pun ja Bhagatth e blind Fakir—The Muk tifauj Mohal la—A newhall and Naz arana—A spiritual drought brokenAn Australian sou l-winner—A grand harvest ofsou ls—Revivals in Moratuwa and Kandy—The

Japanese Crown Prince in Kandy—The footprin tsof Jesus.

CHAPTER XXV I II .

—BI SM ILLAH ! BI SM I SA !

ILLUSTRATIONS .

F rontispiece

TheHospital in Moradabad

A group of Army Envoysand j emadars

An I ndustrial H omefor Gi rlsPortraits of Commissioner Rahiman Colonel Weerasooriya,

and L t.-Col . Sikandar , V .C.

A group of Sou th I ndian Ofi cers

TheGeneral inspectingwomen’

sneedlework in Travancore

Portion of a MassMeeting during the General’

scampaign in

Sou th I ndia

Boysof the Trivandrum I ndustrial Home

Stafi Oj‘icersattend ing the General ’

sCouncils Bombay

A group of reformed Criminal Tribesmen

A village meetingfor destruction of idols

A group of women Sansiasin the P unj ab

A group of beggarsin the Ceylon Home

A group of women in the same Home

INTRODUCTION.

THE Salvation Army in India has followed a path differingfrom that of other workers in this vast Mission Field . Therehas been no desire whatever in doing so to reflect on theplans, or policies, pursued by others but we have believedthat our own path was the most direct

,and that in choosing

it we were guided by God . Certainly there was no ideathat our path woul d be an easier one .

Looking back now on a period of forty-one years , weare able to real ize that we have indeed been following thePillar Of Fire by night and of Cloud by day . Not onepromise has failed Of fulfilment . If we had to go over theground again there is little in principle that we Shouldpropose to alter, and we think that we may humbly Claimthat the seal of God

’

s approval has rested upon our labours .

True we have made some mistakes whi ch a richerexperi ence has enabled us to rectify . We have also spentsome time in reconnoitring some highways and bywayswhich proved to be fruitless and unprofitable .

But we think that apart altogether from the bunchesof grapes of Eshcol, and other fruits of this goodly land,which we are able to present to our readers in thesepages, we can Claim to have given a general impetus toMissionary Work in India

,and to have helped to bridge

the gul f which divides India from Christ , for other feetbesides our Own .

When we landed in Bombay a leading Christian paperhad recently stated that some of their readers had askedthem to give an account of existing revival work in India .

The Ed itor mourned that he could not report what, so faras he was aware , did not then exist . There was an atmosphere Of depression resting upon the Indian Mission field .

From the day the Salvation Army lan ded in Bombaythat complaint has never required to be repeated . Not

xiii

xiv Fonrv YEARS IN IND IA .

only did our own work speak of rapid advances, but,catching the same forward spiri t , many of the workersaround us were able to tell of a surprising and extensivemovement among large and increasing numbers of thepopulation, till the now familiar term Mass Movementswas finally coined to describe the position . The latestCensus of India shows that during the last decade theincrease has averaged no less than per annum, ora total of for the period between this and theprevious decennial Census of 191 1 . To God be all theglory !In the providence of God we have ourselves been able

during the last forty years to launch out along new lines ,and in doing so have learned many valuable lessons, whichwould not otherwise have been possible . Living for yearsas an Indian, and following at times, with other comrades,the extremest lines of sacrifice

,such as begging my food

from door to door,_ and sleeping in the huts of the poor,or under trees, I have had opportunities for observing Indiasuch as few have possessed . Our devoted Officers havealso supplied me with much valuable information gatheredfrom similar sources . We have got to know the Indianin hisown home- not in the more or less artificial life ofthe city—but away in the villages where 90 per cent .of the population live and toil . We have thus almostunconsciously come to think Indian .

” God has helpedus to open, and enter, the door to her inmost heart .I need only add that the entire plan of campaign had the

whole-hearted approval of our beloved Founder, whofollowed every movement with the keenest interest . Get

into their sk ins was the epigrammatic summary of hisin structions to his representatives in India . It washeartily endorsed by his then Chief of the Staff

,our present

General, W . Bramwell Booth . Nor was the problemstudied merely at a distance, and at long range , but visitswere paid to India, both by the Founder and hisSuccessor,particulars of which will be found in these pages .The wise and far-seeing character of the instructions

received by us will perhaps best be j udged by the followingletter received from the Founder

,after the work had been

in progress for about four years .

INTRODUCTION . xv

INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS,QUEEN VICTORIA STREET,

LONDON ,

27th August, 1886.

MY DEAR COMRADES,The recent Visit Of Commissioner Tucker and his

brethren to this country, and the enquiries which that visithas stimulated, have greatly increased the interest andaffection felt by myself and fellow-workers in the vastpopulations of your country .

The first proof of this interest is to be found in the moneythat has been contributed

,and far more so in the devoted

band of Officers,selected from among the most intelligent

and self-sacrificing that we possess, who, while I write this ,are on their way to Ceylon and if the immediate resultsaccomplished are in any way equal to the promise andthe interest already awakened, the sympathy felt , and thehelp contributed , will go on increasing in the future .

That it may be so I want to point out my Own clearimpressions as to the methods that should be followed incarrying on the Indian War .First, one thing is clear and incontrovertible , and that

is, that the Mission of The Salvation Army in I ndia is toits non-Christian populations. To raise and bless these isits work . For their miseries and sins we believe we have aremedy, and to reach them with it is our primary duty.

The other popul ations, that is the European, Eurasianand Native Christian , may need us as much, perhaps moreso , inasmuch as guilt is in proportion to the measure oflight possessed, and there is no doubt that these classesenjoy much more light than the non-Christians, and aretherefore much more guilty before God, and in danger o fmuch deeper damnation . Still, in consideration Of theirvast numbers , and the long night of sorrow and tearsunder which they have groaned, the non-Christians haveby far the strongest claims upon our compassion . Andto effect their deliverance

,and bring Salvation to their

ears and hearts,The Army is directly sent . GO,

mycomrades ! Benefit the other classes, if possible, as youpass along, and form Branch Armies Of European and

xvi FORTY YEARS IN I NDIA.

semi-European Corps on the model of this country, if youhave the opportunity. They will doubtless help you insupporting and carrying on native work . But do notundertake this, if it will in any way hamper your mainoperations

,for

,as emphatically and as positively as I can

possibly put it , I want to say, your mission is to the non

Christians.

Nothing must take you off from this . Plenty of peoplewith European notions and proj ects will try to divertyou by all manner of difficul ties and statements but youmust not listen to them , lest you be turned aside from yourwork . DO not try to kill two birds with one stone if youdo

,you will assuredly miss both . Fix your eye, your heart

and your aim upon the Indian, and go for his Salvationwith all your mightNow, with respect to the Indians, your work is plain,namely

1 . TO attract their attention .

2 . To gain their confidence .

3 . TO save their souls .

4. TO train them up to live and fight for God and theSalvation Of their fellows .

How this is all to be done must form your life study.

We have learned something, not very much , perhaps, incomparison with what there is to be learned , but still it issometh ing which has helped us to win some gloriousvictories . We must act upon it until we learn more .

Beware also of expecting too great results at the onset .We fancy some labourers in the Indian battlefield haveexpected success with the outlay of even less labour thanhas been found necessary to secure the same amount ofsuccess at home . If you want Victory you will have tofight for it, no matter what part of the world you arebattling I n , and you must not expect results I n India withless outlay of labour and anxiety than have been requiredto produce them in other lands .

Here I may remind you, that perhaps in no other countrywill there be a louder call, and a wider opportunity, forthe display of that principle of adaptation which is afundamental principle with The Army everywhere . Inorder to conquer you must stoop, becoming with the

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xviii FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

you . Commissioner Tucker, Majors Bullard andWeerasooriya, and other comrades have discovered a path,which leads up to the Indian

’

s heart,and have trodden

it themselves .Imitate their example, travel over the same course .

GO to the Indian as a brother, which indeed you are , andshow the love which none can doubt you feel . GO to him ,

eat and drink and dress and live by his side . Speak hislanguage , share his sorrows , and mak e him feel that youhave come down, if it is a coming down, to act after thefashion of that Christ , Whom you call Master and Lord ,in order that you may raise him up out Of his miseries andsins . If I mistake not this will bring such success asmissionaryannals have never recorded before, and will yet lead to anation being born in a day .

3 . Then as to the third part of your mission, which isto save the I ndian . Thi s will be accomplished with theIndian exactly as it is with the European, and that is j ustas it was with yourselves . You remember how you wereconverted . When you gave up your sins, and sought God,and cast your soul on Jesus Christ , He took your sins away,received you into His favour, gave you the spirit Of confidence, love, j oy, and hope , -you praised Him day andnight . It will be j ust like this with the Hindus, theMahommedans, the Singhalese, the depressed Classes andevery other kind of human being who has wandered awayfrom God, when they repent an d return to His feet , that is,if they are converted at all .

4. And then there remains the fourth part of your duty,which is to train the soulsso won to be saints, and to mak ethem Soldiers to fight by your side . And here let me saythat your success can only be counted by what you keep .

SO many saved here , and so many at the penitent-formthere

,sounds very delightful, but it is the Soldiers you

possess twelve months afterwards that I note as the trueindication of advance . Moreover, it is not only what youhave in numbers

,but in quality

,and the quality Of true

Soldiers is always measured by their fighting power. Yourbusiness as a branch and portion of The Salvation Armyis to make warriors , to secure those you win , and to usethem to the best advantage in winning others .

INTRODUCTION . xix

HOWmost effectually to accomplish this is henceforthto be your constant study. Here you have many advantages . TO begin withYou are not bound by any stereotyped or antiquated

notions . What is being done in Europe or America, or whathas been done in India in the past , or what is being done inthe present

,need not be any rule to you, unless you can

see it is calculated to gain the end you have in view .

GO,my comrades

,and pray and look about you, and thus

acquaint yourselves with Indian modes of thought andfeeling and action, and then adapt yourselves to them ,

so far as such adaptation shall be consistent with thedoctrines Of the Bible and the principles Of The Army.

You will succeed It will cost something to Win India .

Nay,to follow up

,increase

,and establish the success

already attained, Will require some considerable sacrifice .

But this once done, I feel confident that such a wave ofconquest will follow as the world has never before seen inconnection with Sal vation .

But this, I repeat , will cost something . It cost something to win you and me and the handful of Soldiers JesusChr ist has in Europe . Rivers Of blood have been shed togain this result, and somebody must be willing to sufferfor India , and , I thank God, that I believe many will beforthcoming .

Only be prudent , and faithfu l to God, and to the principles Of The Salvation Army, and our mighty advancesin Europe, America, and Austral ia shall not only be repeatedin India, but altogether surpassed and eclipsed Farewell

,

my Comrades ! Take all reasonable care of yourselves,and in dark and cloudy days remember that the sympathyand prayers and confidence of your General

,and of tens of

thousands of Comrades, are with you ; that tidings Ofyour welfare wi ll be looked for by every mail, and that Wewill weep with you here , and triumph with you and rejoicewith you there, when we meet you in the everlastingmorning.

Believe me,

Your affectionate General,WILLIAM BOOTH .

XX FORTY YEARs IN INDIA .

VOICES FROM AFAR .

O’

er the palmy plains of I ndia,

Wailing voices come to me,

L ike the voice of many waters,Like the whispersof the sea

Even in my dreams I hear them,

Fain tly calling night and d ayTis the voice of I ndia

'

s children !Who will seek them, far away ?

Th ere the sun , in hottest splendour ,Makes the weary eyelids droop ;

See the Old , the young, th e tender ,’

Neath their heavy burden stoop ;With no voice to cheer them onward ,With no hope beyond life ’

s d ay,

Wh o will seek these dying millions,F ar away, far away

There beyond this night of darkness,Eager hands outstretched I see

They ’

re the hands of I ndia’

s chi ldrenComrade, they're outstretched to thee

Can you calmly stand and see themStruggling, dying, ’

neath hell ’sswayWhile you sit in ease and comfort,F ar away, far away.

Listen to God 's voice now pleading,Rise, My child , and follow Me,

Where th e millions now unh eedingSink in base idolatry.

You are Min e, with blood I bought youNOW I b id you lead the way,

O'

er the burning sands Of I ndia,

F ar away, far away.

Captain C.

CHAPTER I .

THE INDIAN EMPIRE .

Thou thin kest, I am single and alone !Perceivmg not the great Eternal Spiri t ,Wh o dwellswithi n thy breast . Whatever wrongIsdone by thee , He seesand notesit all .

Mahabharata .

For the sake of those Of our readers , who may not bewell acquainted with the British Empire in India, it maybe desirable for me to preface the narrative which followswith some brief description of our field of work .

1 . I n EXTENT .

The British Empire in India and Ceylon extendsover an area Of about square miles . In otherwords it includes a territory larger than the Continent ofEurope without Russia, thirteen times the size of GreatBri tain and Ireland, and more than thirty times the siz eof England . India proper is about

’

1 ,900 miles long, andmiles broad , in its extreme length and breadth .

Starting from Bombay it takes 42 hours o f incessanttravell ing by rail to reach Cal cutta

, 43 to reach Lahore ,35 to reach Madras , and 56 to reach Tuticorin in theextreme South . By steamer to Colombo

,in Ceylon

,takes

three and a hal f days . TO reach Ani, in Kulu, our northernmost station in the Himalayas , will occupy at least sevendays . TO reach our nearest Corps in Guj arat takes twelvehours by rail .The Himal aya Mountains or Snowy Range (hima meanssnow) , which form the northern boundary of Indi a, con !

tain the three highest peaks in the world . The chief Ofthese is Mount Everest , whi ch is feet above thelevel of the sea.

India’s plains are watered by many great rivers , suchas the Indus, which is miles long , an d the Ganges ,

2 FORTY YEARS IN I NDIA.

whi ch measures miles , and whose sacred waters arefabled as flowing direct from Heaven . Most of theserivers are worshipped , and their waters are supposed, at

particular places, to be able to wash away the sins of thosewho bathe in them .

From a glance at the following figures,one may form an

estimate of the importance of India’

s position in theBritish Empire .

AREA AND POPULATION OF THE BRI T I SH EMPI RE .

Area inCOUNTRY . Square miles. Popu lation .

Great Britain and IrelandAustralasia, in cluding New

! ealandCanadaCeylonOther Dominions,

Protectoratesand MandatesIndia

TOTAL BRI TI SH EMPI RE

2 . I TS POPULATION .

The total population of India, including Burma,and the Colony of Ceylon , amounts to Ofthese seventy-two millions belong to various Native States

,

and are only indirectly under the control of England . Theremaining 251 millions are under the direct governmentof British Officers . The Whole country is divided intonumerous provinces and k ingdoms .The entire population Of the British Empire amounts to

and of this all but are to be foundin India . That is to say, three- four ths of His Maj esty

’ssubj ects live in India . On the other hand, the entireBritish Territory consists Of nearly fourteen million squaremiles

, Of which India is only one-s .eventh SO that thislarge proportion of our fellow subj ects is packed togetherin a comparatively smal l area . For instance , Australasia

(including New ! ealand) , with an area of 3 ,300,000 squaremiles (nearly double the siz e of India) , has a popu lation

THE IND IAN EMPIRE . 3

of only Similarly Canada, With an area Of

more than 32mill ions, has a population Of only

3 . MORTALITY FIGURES.

According to the Government statistics, the averagedeath-rate Of India amounts to at least 30 per ofthe population yearly . Taking this figure asthe minimum,

we find that

3 in every 100

30

out of the total

pass into Eternity every year If nothing else could arouseus to do our utmost for India’ s Salvation

,surely this one

fact should be sufficient to stimulate us to do all that liesin our power . Compared with the vast mortality

, howpal try do our present efforts appear !It is al so interesting to note the causes of death

,Since

India is peculiarly liable to certain scourges , which attimes decimate the population Of certain localities , whileevery year, as an ordinary matter Of course , they sweepaway hundreds of thousands . Annually smallpox, plague ,and cholera, claim a heavy toll , while more than half thedeaths are usually attributed to fever.

THE REL IGIONS OF IND IA .

The chief religions of India are as followsHinduism, with say 170 million followers.

Animism, or Spiritism,

with sayMah ommed anism withsay

Christianity, wi th sayBuddhists, with saySikhs, Parsees, etc . , withsay

(i) Hinduism is remarkable for :a . Its elasticity and adaptivity . Hinduism has

ad apted itself to every nation an d class with which it hascome in contact , giving a religious sanct ion to the social

4 FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

distinctions which, with remarkable sagacity, it saw to bemore or less inevitable , and throwing them as it were intoa cast-iron mould, which the greatest reformers have vainlysought to break up . Instead Of attacking Buddhism,

itswal lowed it wholesale , and absorbed it into its system ina way which to Chri stians would, of course, be impossible .

It has conquered its enemies by adopting boldly theirleading tenets, and thus robbing them of their distinctivepower. A similar attempt to swallow Chri stianity andMahommedanism I S in these very days being made by thefollowers Of the Brahmo, Arya and other Samajes. Theimmense antiquity and success of Hinduism has beenlargely due to this genius for assimilation . In this way ithas tak en the wind out of the sails Of its adversari es .

6. Its self-support . By means Of its system Of

endowments and begging, Hinduism supports the largeststaff Of religious ministers Of any religion in the world,with an average Of about one in ten to the entire Hindupopulation This makes it extremely difficult for any otherreligion to compete with them . The Hindu priests can beatall competitors out Of the market for numbers and cheapness. The majority Of them are content with the skyfor their roof, a ragged loin-cloth for their clothing, thecoarsest grain for their food, and water for theirdrink !

0. Its versified scriptures and parabolic teachingsare also admirably suited to the popular mind. Even itsmost intricate and subtle philosophies are embalmed inverse . Set to simple popu lar chants or lyrics , the religiousteachings of the Hindu philosophers and saints are sunginto the hearts of the people, or, honied with parables andromantic tal es, they are accepted wholesal e withoutquestion . The great Sanscrit Epic, the Mahabharata ,is by far the longest poem that was ever composed, andleaves Homer and Virgil al together in the Shade . At thesame time, each country has its own favourite vernacularpoets

,Whose writings abound with the most admirable

sentiments , couched in oriental imagery . The peoplenaturally cling to these, and despise the plain unvarnishedutterances, which they are accustomed to hear from thegenerality of Christian teachers .

6 FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

THE RISE or CHRISTIAN MISSIONS.

It is commonly believed that St . Thomas visited SouthIndia, and planted the Gospel on the Western coast ,finally crowning a life Of successful work by a martyr

’ sdeath . There appear to this day to be distinct tracesof his work in the still numerous Syrian Church of Malabar,while a hill near Madras is well -known as St . Thomas

’

sMount ,

” and is said to have been the scene of hismartrydom.

Others of the Apostles are supposed to have visitedNorthern India

,and evidence Of their having done so may

be gathered from some of the doctrines , ritual and legendsof Hinduism, which appear to be distinctly traceable to aChristian origin . Amulets are to this day commonlyworn with Syrian and Hebraic hieroglyphics, which thewearers themselves cannot now explain . The foreheadmarks

, so commonly used al l Over India, are also believedby some to be an abbreviation for Jehovah . Again, theidea of washing away sins as typified by baptism iscommonly known and practised by Hindus .From 1500 to 1600 A.D. great efforts were made for theconversion Of India by the Roman Catholics . Theirpriests penetrated boldly to the Court of the great Mahommedan Emperor Akbar, who seems to have received themwell . One Of his sons is said to have become a convert ,and to have died a martyr’s death . There are other noless remarkable traces of their Work in the probable foundation of the two great Hindu dissenting sects Of Kab irisand Sikhs, which sprang into existence about this time .

There is some reason to believe that both these newreligions were founded by priests in disguise . Theoriginator of the K abiris, knowing the instinctive hatredof foreign religions, transferred Jerusalem to Benares,gave the Saviour an Indian name, and in every possibleway

,and to a degree which we could not of course pretend

to approve , Indianized Christianity. Al Kabir is theArabic for the Almighty .

Similarly in Sik hism,which arose about the same time

in the Punj ab,there are many remarkable and more than

accidental resemblances . They practise baptism , andthe Lord

’

s Supper,and on their pictures are seen crosses,

THE INDIAN EMPIRE . 7

tongues Of fire, fishes, and other symbols o f Christianity .

Of course,it must be remembered that in those times the

priests must have carried their lives in their hands . TO goand settle in the Court of Akbar must have been even moredifficult and dangerous than it would be now to commencework in the Court of the Amir Of Afghanistan . Hence ,the pioneer priests were careful to avoid everything thatmight serve to give unnecessary Offence , and adheredscrupulously to native customs . Their chief successeswere

,however

,won in the South

,and especial ly along the

coast,where they boldly claimed and received the protection

and assistance Of the King of Portugal, at the time when thePortuguese were masters of the Indian Ocean . It issufficient to mention the names of St . Francis Xavier,Beschi, De Nobili , and Sancho Panza . Certainly for

devotion and self-sacrifice,it would be difficult to find

their equals .

Beschi boldly penetrated to the centre of the Tamilcountry

,adopted a native name and dress, lived like a

Brahmin,mastered the language , and wrote poems equalling

the most celebrated compositions of the native authors .

He wrote many books and accomplished Single-handedresults Which have

,perhaps, never been surpassed for

magnitude . His work is the more remarkable that , unlikeXavier

,he wascut Off in a great measure from Portuguese

support , and wasobliged to cast himself upon the Indiansthemselves .

The first Protestant Mission that entered the Indianfield was that of the Danes in Tranquebar on the East Coast .! iegenbal g and Plutschau ,

their first two Missionaries,landed in India in 1706, being sent forth by the King ofDenmark

,and patronized by our own King George I ,

who did not consider it beneath his dignity to send thema letter of encouragement . In 1750 they sent out thefamous Schwartz

,who laboured in the neighbourhood

of Tanjore for 48 years . So great was his influence withthe natives that the Hindu Raj a of Tanjore built hima church

,and assigned him a large piece of land on whi ch

to settle hisconverts . The church is still one of the sightsof Tanjore

,though it is kept closed, and only one Christian

service is now permitted to be held in it every year .


Schwartz was the founder of the Tinnevelly Mission .

Soon after his death the Danish Mission was discontinued,

handing Over its converts to other Societies .

In 1793 the first English Missionary,William Carey,

landed in Calcutta, and was followed soon after by Wardand Marshman . SO great was the opposition encounteredby them from the East India Company

,that they estab

lished their headquarters at the neighbouring DanishSettlement of Serampore . A footing was graduallyestablished, and from that time to this the

“

number ofMissions went on steadily increasing .

5 . THE LANGUAGES OF IND IA .

It is common to Speak of India as if it were inhabitedby a Single nation

,talking the Hindustani language . This

is j ust about as far from being true as it would be to speakof Europe as being inhabited by a Single race talking

,let

us say, the English langu age ! It is true that in all thecivilized parts of Europe may be found persons Whounderstand English , but the fact remains that to the massof the popu lation it is Wholly unintelligible . SimilarlyIndia is inhabited by races, whose languages and habitsdiffer as entirely from one another as do those of the nationsof Europe . The following table Shows roughly the chieflanguages of India , with the approximate number ofpeople Speaking such languages

H industaniH indiBengaliMarathiTeluguPun jabiTami lBurmeseGu jaratiSingal ese .

Besides these main languages , there are , of course,numerous other languages and dialects . Many of theseare, however, confined to small tracts of country . Again,a large number of them are more or less related to oneanother, and the characters in which some of them arewritten are the same, or similar . For instance, connect ed

THE IND IAN EMPIRE . 9

with the Sanscrit are Hin di , Marathi , Gujarati , Bengaliand Punj abi , all written from left to right , while ArabicPersian and Hindustani are written from right to left .This adds, of course, greatly to the difficulty of masteringa language , there being no universally adopted characteror Script

,similar to the Roman in Europe .

The people of India are famous for their linguisticabilities

,and we have several Officers who can speak five

or six languages. But we have found it necessary as arule to confine our European Officers to some one countryand language , insisting on their learning the language ofthe particular people to whom they are sent .

6. THE CASTE , OR LABOUR PROBLEM .

Every one has heard of the castes of India . Thereare said to be no less than different Castes , Tribes orLabour Unions in India . Of these only

3 number more than2 1

47206

472

803

Usually the members of each caste follow some oneparticu lar trade, or profession . In fact , caste is a sort ofgigantic hereditary trades-unionism of the most elaboratenature , and public opinion is so powerful in this respect ,that it isalmost impossible for the son to follow any otherprofession than that of his father. Of course , there aremany undoubted advantages in this system .

(a) Every member of the community istrained fromchildhood

,in its own family

,to some definite trade or

profession . Hence , there is no such thing as unskilledlabour . Ask any Indian what is his caste , and you willknow in what particul ar form of labour he is Skilled .

(b) Each trade guild is responsible in a large degreefor itsown government , and for the care of itspoor .

(0) Division of labour is carried to perfection, andin fact almost to the absurd . The agricul turist cannottrade , the merchan t cannot plough, the waterman cannotsweep, the washerman (not washer-woman ) cannot groom

I O FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

the horses , and the scavenger can only do hisduty. Hence ,a well-to-do household will commonly employ as many as

ten to fifteen different servants,such as a valet (bearer) ,

a butler (khidmatgar) , a cook (khansama) , a kitchen-help

(masalchi) , a groom (syce) , a grass-cutter (ghasiara) , agardener (mali) , a washerman (dhobi) , a waterman (bhisti) ,a night-watchman (chowkidar) , a messenger (chaprasi) , ascavenger (mihtar) , a nurse (ayah) , and three or four

punk awalas to pull the large swinging fans by nightand day None of these will do anybody else ’s dutyThe Priestly class is again divided into priests who

officiate,and temple servants who minister . There are

numberless orders of Evangelists, some of whom preachand teach

,whilst others are astrologers

,musicians , Singers ,

etc . It is in some cases rather difficult to separate thesecular from the religious , the one is so much interwovenwith the other in Indian life . From a GovernmentCompendium of Indian Castes and Tribes I have collectedth e following statistics

BrahminsTemple servan ts, etc .

Religiousmedican tsand devoteesOther religious “

sectar iesDan cers and Singers

AstrologersMusicians

Total

It may naturally be asked, how so gigantic a system ofpriesthood can possibly be supported Probably at leastone-half support themselves by manual or clerical labour .

The remainder are supported entirely by temple endowments, or gifts of food and money. At the lowest computation I should suppose that India supports directly tenmillion religious teachers

,whose sole employment is to

preach their various tenets . In comparison with this ,how insignificant must appear the entire force whichChristianity is able to put into the field

,and how earnestly

we should pray that in this, the world’

s greatest , andperhaps most hopeful

,harvest field, the Lord will be pleased

to send forth a sufficiency of Spirit-filled labourers toreap the golden soul-sheaves that await their toil .

CHAPTER II .

THE ARRIVAL IN INDIA .

Nothing cou ld be more picturesquethan your en tran ce in to Bombay .

William Booth .

When the P . 0. SS . Ancona passed through theSuez Canal on its way to India in September, 1882

,the

opposing forces Of Arabi Pasha and Sir Garnet Wolseleywere drawn up near itsbanks at Tel el Kabir, and the firstnews that greeted the passengers , when they landed inBombay

,was that of the famous moonlight charge and

victory, which assured the fate and safety of that greatwaterway to the East .On board the Ancona was another expedition of a

very different character . The peaceful invasion of Indiawas planned by a leader for whom Lord Wolseley had sogreat an admiration

,that he said in later years that there

wasone man whose genius for organization was such, thathe would prefer him to anybody else as his Chief Of the Staff,though he could boast of no military training, and thatwasWilliam Booth, the Founder and for forty-seven yearsthe General of The Salvation Army .

It was the same brilliant expert in oriental warfare ,who was credited with suggesting to The Salvation ArmyCommander-in-Chief, that he should despatch a couple ofhis Officers for the conversion of the Mahdiists, who wereravaging the Sudan and threatening the invasion of Egypt ,offering to escort them to the borders of the troubled area ,and then to administer a not -too-severe chastisement ,which he felt sure would make the Mahdi Offer, notonly an asylum

,but a Welcome

,to these messengers of

peace, as the victims of British tyranny !The Army, that landed from the Ancona, and madeits first moonlight charge upon the powers of darknessin India, was unconsciously putting into effect the verypolicy that Sir Garnet thought might serve to pour oil uponthe troubled waters of Madhiism .


Indeed, the reception with which the party met on thepart of the Government of Bombay, would ahnost beenough to make those who might have heard Of Sir Gamet

’

splan for the Sudan imagine that his mantle must surelyhave fallen upon the shoulders of Sir James Fergu son, thethen Governor of Bombay. Not that there was any suchfriendly intention on the part of the latter as was the casewith Sir Garnet .It was only a little band of four Salvationists that

landed at Apollo Bandar in Bombay,on the 19th

September, 1882 . And yet the effect produced upon thewhole of India could hardly have been exceeded had itbeen equal in numbers to the British force at Tel el Kabir .There was not an English or Vernacular newspaper inthe country which did not publish the story of their landing,and continue for months to chronicle their doings . Eventhe conservative Times of London thought the invasionof India by The Salvation Army deserving of columnlong cablegrams from the seat of war .The Press not only reflected the general attitude and

interest Of the public, but that of the Government itself,from the Viceroy in Sirula, and the Governors of thePresidencies and Provinces

,to the Magistrates and Police ,

who sought for instructions as to how they were to dealwith this novel invasion of the land .

When it was known that The Sal vation Armywascomingto India, it was naturally expected that it would land insuch numbers as would somewhat justify its claim to beregarded as an Army . But the splendid audacity andfaith of William Booth caused him here, as elsewhere, tosend out so small a force that their presence , or veryexistence, might well have been ignored . Where isyour Army was a frequent question on the part of thepuz zled audiences, who had gathered to witness its arrival,and who could not believe that the few representativesbefore them composed the entire force that was aimingat such large results .Nor was there any attempt to make up for lack of numbers by profound scholarship

,or worldly influence, or weal th .

The little party of Salvationists who landed at ApolloBandar consisted only of four persons , three of whom knew


cell with a European who had been arrested for being drunkand disorderly . Both were brought before the Magistratenext morning and fined, the drunkard one rupee, and theSalvationist twenty, for the crime of blowing his cornetin a religious meeting .

Considerable interest had been aroused by the announcement of War Chariots . These turned out to be theordinary Bombay bullock- carts, across which planks hadbeen placed as seats .The procession passed through the heart of the native

town from Khetwady to Dhobi Tal ao . Immense andinterested crowds had gathered along the route

,and on

reaching the Esplanade there was found to be a greataudience , estimated to number twenty thousand persons .

Here a halt was made, and an open-air meeting conducted .

The crowd listened with the keenest interest , and therewas no Sign of any disturbance .

The procession then traversed the city by another route,

and reached its destination Without any mark of hostilityon the part of the onlookers . This was not a little surprising, as it wasknown throughout the city by all classesthat the English Ofli cials and newspapers regarded theSalvationists and their proceedings with great disfavour,and Bombay

‘

contains a strong element of rough characters ,who are only too glad to seiz e the slightest excuse forcreating a disturbance .

T he Governor of Bombay, Sir James Fergu son, now tookthe unusual course of insisting on further restrictionsbeing placed by the police on our open-air meet ings . Notonly wasmusic forbidden, but our Flag was taken away,on the pretext that it might arouse fanatical feelings , andthat our motto Blood and Fire would probably bemisunderstood . We were prohibited even from singingas we marched, and instructions were given that if werefused to comply, we were to be ordered to disperse , andin case of refusal to do so, we were to be arrested and prosecuted for taking part in an unlawful assembly, whichwas likely to lead to a breach of the peace .

We were most anxious not to appear in any way to defythe authorities, an d having reason to believe that theproceedings emanated from the Governor of Bombay

THE ARR IVAL IN I NDIA. 15

himself, I requested the favour of an interview, in orderthat I might lay our case before h im . This was refused .

I turned to the Commissioner of Police , Sir Frank Souter,but he assured me that he was acting under orders

,and had

no option but to carry them out though intimating that ,but for this , he would not have Interfered with us.

There was nothing left , therefore , for us to do , butto challenge the order by disobeying it . We wereaccordingly arrested , and taken before the magistrate ,Mr. Dosabhoy F ramjee, who fin ed us Rs . 100.

We declined to pay, and the magistrate ordered thefine to be collected by the sale of our few belongings . ThePolice Officer, who superintended the distraint , himselfbought our meagre possessions for Rs . 100 and returnedthem to us. We were deeply touched by hisaction .

As an illustration of the keen interest with which theattitude of the Bombay Government was followed, andof the strong tide of sympathy manifested throughoutIndia

,a few extracts from some of the communications

received will be read with interest .

From Babu Keshab Chandar Sen, the well-known andeloquent leader of the Brahmo Somaj , we received thefollowing telegram

One of the largest meetings ever convened inCal cutta was held in the Town Hall this evening

,to

protest against the unjust treatment of the Salvationistsin Bombay . Every seat wasoccupied two hours beforethe time of meeting . Addr esses were delivered by therepresentatives Of various religions and classes , andresolutions adopted condemning the action of theauthorities, and sympathising with those unjustlyprosecuted . A memorial to the Viceroy was adopted,ask ing for religious neutrality and equal protectionto all . Great enthusiasm prevailed .

A little later we received from the same leader, whowas then at the zenith of his popularity, the followingletter

My dear Sir,In acknowledging your k ind message , I am delighted

to Observe that you so generously appreciate our


humble sympathy in the hour of your trial and trouble .

Such fraternal sympathy aswe have given you,in spite

of wide theological divergence , is the tribute which everyman owes to God

’

s persecuted servants .

You have been most unkindly and unjustlypersecuted, because your love for God and Christexceeds the limits of conventionalism . And as youhave been prosecuted and harassed in the nam e of theIndian Community, it is incumbent upon every Indianemphatically to assert , that, far from having anysympathy with your persecutors , he is ready to protestagainst the cruel an d unjust treatment to whi ch youand your coadjutors have been subj ected . Againstthis treatment are arrayed both the law of the land andthe Spirit of the Hindu nation , wh ile the Religion ofChrist blushes , as it looks upon the humiliating spectacle of Chri stians in high places trying the faith andpatience of their poorer fellow-Christians . You havewisely resolved not to resent . Forgive and forbear,and meekness will tri umph in the end . Accept foryourself and your comrades our fraternal love andcordial good wishes, and

Believe me ,Yours ever,

for the establishment of the Kingdom of Heavenin India,

(Signed) KESHAB CHANDAR SEN .

At the same time we received the following letter fromthe Well—known authoress , (Miss CharlotteTucker) , an aunt of the writer of this book , then workingasa Missionary in the Punj ab

Thanks for your very interesting paper . I amglad that you have shown so unanswerably that we canal l—Native or European , Christian , Hindu or Mab ommedan—find shelter under the White Wing of theJustice of our noble Empress Queen . You know thatShe thanked the Salvationists for their e fforts tobenefit her subjects in England . Their obj ect is thesame in India .

CHAPTER III .

THE BATTLE FOR LIBERTY .

A monarch has a real al ly in h im,

Wh o, faithfu l to h is du ty—d isregardingHisroyal master ’

s likingsand d islik ingsTells h im unwelcome sal u tary tru ths.

H itopadesa.

The next arrest took place in the j urisdiction of Mr .Webb, the Chief Presidency Magistrate , on 20th October,1882 . Six of our Officers , including myself, were arrested ,and the usual charge was brought against us . I waspermitted to conduct the defence . The following summaryof our arguments is of interest , as it was circulated widelythrough India, and resulted in our position being clearlyunderstood in the other cities, which we were about tovisit, and in our being granted all over India the privilegesfor which we were contending :I . We are charged under section 151 of the Indian Penal

Code , which runs as follows : Whoever knowingly joinsor continues in an assembly of five or more persons likelyto cause a disturbance of thepublicpeace, after such assemblyhasbeen lawfully commanded to disperse , shall be punishedwith imprisonment of either description for a term whichmay extend to six months, or with fine, or with both .

Now it is absolutely necessary in the interest of publicliberty that this section Should be carefully and literallyinterpreted .

1 . There wasno Likelihood of Disturbance.

The first stile that the prosecution have to get Overconsists in the words likely to cause a disturbance Ofthe public peace .

” Now we contend that there wasno reasonable lik elihood of such an occu rrence. In proof ofthis we rely (1) upon the evidence of the police . From


this it was clear that there was no basis of fact upon whichthe police grounded their opinion that a disturbance mightoccur . Indeed the opinion itself was expressed in thevaguest possible manner. It was admitted that on ourfirst arrival we had constant processions which were notmolested, or in any way interfered with by either Mahommedansor Hindus, though they had at that time reason tobelieve that Government intended to put The Army down .

(2) Therewasno disturbance at the time of arrest.The second point to which I would call attention

in proof of my assertion that there was no real dangerof a disturbance , isthat though we were in a Mahommedanquarter, there was no symptom of an intention to attack us .

Why could not the police have waited till they saw somereal danger of a breach of the peace It is wonderfulindeed, considering the action Of the police , that no attemptshould have been made to molest us .

(3) Our Witnessesprove the same,that is, that there was no likelihood of a disturbance .

Two of these witnesses, at least, must be regarded asexperts ,

” one of them having resided in Bombay fornearly 35 years, and both of them being well k nown as

leading men in the Mission Field .

(4) Twenty Native Newspapersprove the same . These I have not been al lowed to putin as evidence , but surely their utterances are entitledto the greatest weight , as being the opinion of the verypeople of India on whose behalf Government , or ratherthe police

,profess to have in terfered . TheHindu Prakash,

with the largest circulation in Bombay, says , This is aquestion of liberty of conscience . Why should it be grantedto some, and denied to others It is alleged that there willbe a disturbance , but there is really no chance Of it . TheSalvation Army having given up their flags and trumpets ,the police should give up their obstinacy . The K aisar-i

Hind,after pointing out that for years Christian Mission

aries have preached and sung in public without any evilresults

,goes on to say that beautiful faces , a fine pro

cession and sweet tongue battery are not things to be afraid

THE BATTLE FOR LIBERTY . 19

of . The Government is well able to protect The SalvationArmy, and the excuses of the police are simply ridiculous .

The Subodh Patrika remarks that while The Salvation Armyhas been reinforced from England , the police have beenreinforced by a fresh accession of Anti-Salvation fervour .

Besides these , the Samachar, Dynanodaya and Satyavadi ,all Bombay papers , have taken our part , while fromCalcutta I can quote similar passages from the followingpapers : Hindu Patriot, Bengalee, Amrita Baz ar Patrika,

Liberal, NewDispensation , Brahmo Public Opinion , ChristiMohila

,Anand Baz ar Patrika, Sulava,

I ndian Mirror andEast. NOW these extracts prove that the people are notagainst us, for the Editors would scarcely venture to writearticles contrary to the opinions of their readers .

(5) The Salvation Army F athomed .

Lastly with reference to the unlikelihood of anydisturbance , yourWorship must remember, that the presentcircumstances are very different from those of the previouscase in Mr . Dosabhoy F ramjee

’

s Court . When we firstcame to the country, there might have been some reasonto fear that the people would misunderstand our motivesand oppose us but we have now been in the country morethan a month , and they know very well what we are . TheIndians have fathomed us, and they know that there isnoreasonable excuse for our being interfered with now,

as we admit there may have been when we first arrived .

The question now is, not whether the organization ormethods of The Salvation Army are peculiarly calculatedto arouse the hostile feelings of the people , but whetherthe singing Of Christian hymns and the preaching ofChristian truths are to be forbidden

,and whether the

fact that these truths might be undesirable to a certainpart of the inhabitants is a sufficient reason to j ustify thepolice in withholding their protection .

I I . The next point to which I would call your Worship ’

sattention is to the fact that the order forbidding us toSing , or preach , or carry a flag in the streets isnot a lawfulcommand within the meaning of this section, and if notlawful, then the charge must fall to the ground .

In proof of this I would first quote (1) A Rul ing of the

2o FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

Madras High Court (See I I . I .L .R . (Madras Series) p .

which is quoted by one of the magistrates in the celebratedCalcutta Preaching case , with the following comment

The Commissioner of Police has no power todeclare a lawful act to be unlawful, and to interdictby anticipation .

”

III . WE ARE WRONGLY CHARGED.

Our offence is not that of assembling or going inprocession

,but of singing and preaching in ' the streets .

Why are we not charged with this ofi'

ence ? Because thereis no law prohibiting us from doing so (Laughter) . It is amere twisting of the Law to take section 151 and hang itcontinually over our heads . It will do away with theliberty of the subj ect altogether. In fact , your Worshipcan easily see that if such a gross misuse is to be made ofthi s section, every one

’

s liberty will be at the mercy of thepolice, who are robbing people of their rights on every hand ,

without saying so much as If you please (laughter) .

IV . THE ARMY I S ENTITLED TO PROTECTION .

Even supposing there was likely to be a breachof the peace , however, we are entitled to protection . Inthis case the arguments of the police are most flimsy.

As one of the vernacular papers said, the excuses of thepolice are simply ridiculous . These are not my ownwords . I should not like to use such strong language

(Laughter) . But the fact isour rights are to be taken awayand never return ed . It is a sort of pawnbroking concern ,where everything goes into pawn, and is sold off immediately (laughter) .NOW,

even if matters were in a most serious condi tion ,I would urge that we are entitled to the fullest protect ionof the Law.

V . THE QUEEN’

S PROCLAMATION .

Perhaps this is one of the most important pointsin our defence, and I trust that your Worship will observemost carefully the wording of the following paragraph :

We declare it to be our Royal Will and Pleasurethat none be in anywise favoured, none molested,or disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or


cash—their religious liberties . For ourselves we donot wish to act in any way contrary to the orders of Government Far from it ! But we cannot consent to be robbedof our legal rights in this manner

,and we have taken

the only course possible for the recovery of those rights .

We feel above all that precious souls are at stake,and

we dare not hold back for the sake Of a little personalsuffering . The police made up their minds to attack TheSalvation Army, and deprive them of their rights . Eu

couraged by their success , and with the confidence thatthey are being backed up by the highest GovernmentOfficial s

,as well as by the Courts of Law, they have now

invaded the rights of all Christians , and have openlyavowed their intention of turning next to the Hindus andMahommedans . In the end where willReligious Liberty beEcho answers , WHEREIn reply to the above arguments the Public Prosecutoralleged that most of the arguments for the defence had noreference to the present case . He proceeded to quote fromthe London Times an extract , saying that it would bedangerous to allow The Salvation Army to pursue theirmethods in India . He did not consider that the Queen

’

sProclamation had any reference to The Salvation Army .

He then reminded the Magistrate that two of theaccused

,Major Tucker and Miss Thompson, had already

been previously convicted of the same Offence .

The Magistrate, after giving the whole case a mostpatient hearing, adjourned his decision till the followingweek

,when he discharged the accused, after cautioning

them regarding the importance of complying,as far as

possible,with the orders of the police , and assisting them

in the discharge o f their difficult duties .An Indian newspaper, in referring to the Magistrate

'

sdecision

,remarked that the ends of j ustice would have been

better satisfied,if the Magistrate had warned the Police

,

instead of the Salvationists !The I ndian Witness, a leading Missionary organ, comments as follows on the caseWe constantly hear people asking If these Salvationists

are really good people ,why do they refuse to Obey the lawWe reply that they are most willing to Obey the law

,


but when a public officer issues an arbitrary order inflagrant violation of the law, they decline to obey himnot the law. Major Tucker has, in point of fact , appealedto the law, and appealed successfully, against the usurpations of the Police Commissioner .The more we learn about th is extraordinary prosecu

tion, the more indefensible and Shameless does it appear .The cause of religious liberty in India owes much toMajor Tucker for this Speech, as well as for the intrepidmanner in which he has contended throughout for rightswhich are dear to all .After the victory in the court of the Chief PresidencyMagistrate of Bombay, Mr. Webb , the time appeared tohave come for accepting the many invitations we hadreceived from all parts of India . Accordingly a tour wasarranged in which the following cities were visitedAllahabad

,Delhi

,Lahore

,Cawnpore , Lucknow, Benares

and Calcutta .

In none of these places was any attempt made to saddleus with the same restrictions as had been imposed uponus in Bombay . On the contrary,

whil e receiving the mostcordial reception from all sections of the Indian population ,most of the Europeans residing in these centres attendedthe meetings , and the police were only present in smallnumbers to ensure order.Writing about the meetings in Allahabad, one of the twocapital cities of the United Provinces , the leading Englishdaily, The P ioneer, ObservesThe crowds seemed to enjoy the whole affair

immensely . Almost every carriage in the stationbrought up the rear (of the procession) . Never hassuch a bumper house been seen .

”

Similarly with reference to the Lahore visit , theprincipal Anglo-Indian daily

, TheCivil andMilitary Gaz ette,remarksSir Charles Aitchison (the Lieutenant-Governor of

the Punj ab) wisely determined to act on principles oftoleration . As in the North-West Provinces , so in thePunj ab

,the contingent of The Salvation Army under Major

Tucker has been allowed to march and counter-march ,

and blow its trumpet , pretty much as it pleased . Lahore


cannot boast of being, like Bombay, SO nicely civilizedthat the sound of a drum must not come between the windand its municipality . Major Tucker, therefore , and hismyrrnidons, have merely been required to refrain fromflagrant breaches of the law and the police were ready,as they usually are, to deal with any disturbance of thepeace . And this is the best way of treating these fantasticfanatics What is to be avoided is fussy interference .

Still more emphatic was the opinion voiced by TheStatesman , one oi the leading Anglo-Indi an dailies of Cal cuttaWe have watched their proceedings here with much

interest , and the first remark we would make is, thatpersonal Observation has entirely confirmed us in thebelief that the dread of hostilities arising between themand any class of natives in India was due to utter ignoranceof their character and ways , and ahnost equal ignorance Ofthe people , and that the repressive and watch-dog measurestaken by the Bombay Police were a ridiculous blunder.”

Needless to say that the Indian Vernacular Press werestill more emphatic in the opinions which they expressed .

From beginning to end the tour was a great success .The last place visited was Mhow, where we received awarm welcome from General Sir Robert Phayre, and fromthe veteran Presbyterian Missionary, the Rev . Dr. Fraser(father of Sir Andrew Fraser, a former Governor Of Bengal ) .While at this station an interesting incident occurred ,

which is culled from the pages of our Indian War Cry .

THE SURPRI SE OF INDORE .

Among all the wonderful scenes we have witnessed ,few events have surpassed in interest our recent attackupon the town of Indore in the Maharaj a Holk ar

’

s

Territory . The Military Cantonment, Mhow, is about14 miles distant , and in arranging to pay it a visit, wehad great hopes that the way might open up for a visitto Indore . Our local friends , however, did not think itwould be wise

,so that on our arrival we found that nothing

had been arranged,and we were almost abandoning the

idea,when a copy of a circular note, addressed by Sir Lepel

Griffin, the Govemo’

r-General’

s Agent in Central India,

was placed in my hands .


After saying that we could be permitted to holdmeetings in Mhow

,though even there they would be

regarded with extreme disapproval,this letter went on

to say that , with reference to Indore and other NativeStates, Sir Lepel would not tolerate this burlesque of thereligion of the ruling power

,and that should we attempt

to preach,or hold any public demonstration, we were

to be immediately arrested and removed to British terri tory .

Of course we are always anxious to obey any orders ofthe Government , SO long as they do not conflict with our

duty to God . But that we should be flatly refused permission to preach at all , and this on the ground that wemade a mockery of religion

,wasa dangerous and unlawful

assumption of despotic power which we felt convinced mustbe resisted .

“There was no time to consider . A few minutes

’

prayer and the plan was settled . We received the letterabout a quarter past two

,sent immediately for our faithful

friend, Dr . Fraser, drove Off to fetch Captain Thompson ,

and were unexpectedly joined by her host , Mr. Drew .

The train was j ust late enough to enable us to be in comfortab le time

,and as soon as we were inside and had

started, I read Sir Lepel’

s letter to our little forlorn hope,and asked them if they were prepared to be arrested .

Of Captain Thompson I had no doubt,but I must say

that I was both surprised and delighted at the heartyway in which the Doctor and Brother Drew threw themselves into the plan . None of us doubted for a momentthat we should be ar rested, and as we reached Indore ,we looked round to see if there were any police waitingto meet us . But no

,every one seemed busy thinking

about themselves,ahnost too busy to bestow a glance

upon our little party aswe hurried past and got into ashigrarn . There was a fine-looking European , who somebody said was the Political Resident

,and we almost

expected to hear him say those now familiar words ,I command you in the Name of Her Maj esty the QueenEmpress .

’

On this occasion, however, we were allowedto go on our way unmolested

,and drove straight to the

heart of the city. Our charioteer took us to a large openspace , right in front of the Maharaj a

’ s Palace .


It was a splendid pile of buildings that towered rightaway above us, and from its windows we could ! see anumber of interested spectators watching us . The beatof the drum and the j ingle of the tambourine , mingledwith the sound of voices

,soon brought a large crowd

running round, and we commenced our meeting withoutdelay . A party of the Maharaj a’s Sowars galloped past ,but evidently did not know what to make of us . Wecouldn’ t be Padris surely ! They never made such anoise as that , nor were they ever dressed as Indians . Itwas evidently a tamasha of some kind

,and really their

very horsesseemed to enjoy the sound of the music as theypranced past us . The meeting had continued for sometime, when a constable came , and most civilly informedus that, owing to the death of Sir Salar Jang, the shopswere closed , and the town was in mourning ; would wecome the next day We promptly fell in

,and invited the

crowd to follow us to a place j ust outside the city, but ina thickly-populated locality. From here we could stillsee the great Palace of the Maharaj a

,and addressed

a big and attentive crowd .

The meeting over, we j umped into the Shigram anddisappeared from the town as suddenly as we had come .

A Maulvi who wished to ask some questions, came withus to the station . As we were driving along, he quotedthe saying of a Persian poet that ‘ the heart of man islike a flower, which quickly withers if exposed to theburning rays of the sun . Even SO, if roughly handled ,the heart of man will close up and droop .

’ Thank Godwe were enabled to Shower some raindrops of love uponhim, and his heart opened out so wonderfully, that beforewe went away he embraced me most affectionately .

Not long afterwards we were enabled to go off in agoods train , and by half-past nine that evening we wereback in Mhow .

”

On returning to Bombay the little party, who had beenso warmly welcomed in the various cities they had recentlyvisited

,were not long in learning, that so far asBombaywas

concerned, strange to say, the attitude of the Authorities ,instead of relaxing, had hardened into a determinationto inflict severe penalties upon the Salvationists .

CHAPTER IV .

PRISONER NO. 331 .

Opposition cannot pu t down the valian t Army of Christ .Keshab Chandar Sen .

On the 18th February, 1883 , four Officers and eighteenmembers of The Salvation Army were arrested by thepolice in the j urisdiction of Mr. Dosabhoy F ramjee,

whohad, on two previous occasions , inflicted fines on theSalvationists . Mr . T . Lewis Ingram ,

a prominent barristerof Allahabad

,kindly volunteered his services , free of

expense , for our defence , and travelled all the way toBombay for the purpose . Mr. and Mrs . Ingram provedto be lifelong and unswerving friends of The Army .

The Indian War Cry of 2 1st February, 1883 ,contains

the following announcement of the proceedings in theMagistrate

’

s Court , showing with what a cheerful spiritthe Salvationists met their difficulties :

L O O K O U T !

GRAND HALLELUJAHFREE AND EASY .

Friday,23rd Feb . , 1883 ,

at am .

BY SPECIAL INVITATIONOF THE

COMMISSIONER OF POLICEat the

GIRGAUM POLICE COURT .

MR. DOSABHOY FRAMJEE

WILL PRESIDE


Addresses will be given by

THE PUBLIC PROSECUTORTHE DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

OF POLICE,

and Several other Police Officers

On the Work of The Salvation Army .

The FamousBLOOD AND FIRE BANNERwill be presented to the Audience .

A Large Body of Police will be presentand will suppress with a Strong Hand any

ATTEMPT AT RIOT .

Everything will be done decentlyand in Order.

Admission Free ! Come and See !

NO COLLECTION .

The trial and judgment occupied five days . At anearly stage in the proceedings the Public Prosecutorwithdrew the charges against fourteen out of the nineteenaccused, on the ground that they had been acting underthe orders of Major Tucker .

In the course of the trial it was elicited from theCommissioner of Police that the prosecutions had beeninstituted under direct orders from the Government ofBombay. The two following telegrams were put in asevidence

Procession Salvation Army announced forWednesday

,please take such measures as Law pro

vides for stopping such processions . Inform personsthat Government do not obj ect to their holding religiousservices in any place of worship or bu ilding, temporaryor permanent , but cannot consent to permit publicpeace to be endangered by processions of an aggressivenature calculated to offend the religious feelings ofthe people .

C . GONNE,

Chief Secretary.

The same liberty allowed to Salvation Army as

to other Missionaries, but preaching should only be


The three Salvationists , having refused to pay theirfines, were committed to prison for a week , while PrivateTurner, after being k ept under guard for a few days by theregimental authorities was released, it being evident thatthey did not take the same view of the offence as theCourt had done .

The Bombay Jail is a large forbidding-look ing buildingin what is practically the centre o f the native town .

Attached to it is a workhouse for destitute Europeans .

By a peculiar irony of fate,some thi rty years later, during

the Governorship of Lord Sydenham, then Sir GeorgeClarke , The Salvation Army was requested first to openan Industrial Home for Stranded Europeans , and then toactually take over the management of a new workhouseerected by Government for the benefit of the few remainingvagrants, of Whom the streets had been to a very considerab le extent cleared under the operations of the Home .

The Foundation-stone of a new Industrial Home was laidby

'

Sir George’s successor,Lord Willingdon, as part of

a large Social Institution,which will be referred to later on .

It was not,however

,in the European workhouse , but

in the Jail for Indians that we were confined, the Superintendent , Dr . Partridge , placing us in an unoccupiedward of the Hospital . He al so observed that the oflicial,responsible for assigning prison costumes, had facetiously

given me one which wasridiculously ill-fitting and patchedup . I was ordered a new, and at least better-fitting,

prison dress !The joy with which we received and served

’

our sentenceswasviewed with no little surprise by the j ail subordinates ,and by those with whom we associated . Writing of hisexperience at this time

,one of my fellow-prisoners ,

Brother Glacken, said z

The few days that I wasin Chauki were the happiestdays in my life . It was like Paradise there , for I feltthe presence of the Lord Jesus greatly . I am willingto die to let the people know of this happy salvation .

!

While I n j ail,wrote Brother Ingle

,we still continued

t o have our meetings and prayers . I must not omit tomention that we were treated very kindly by the Jail

PRISONER NO. 331 . 31

Officials . I never expected that I would have an opportunity of going to j ail for the cause of my Saviour Jesus .An appeal had been lodged with the High Court ofBombay against the sentence of the Magistrate

,but it

wasnot till I had been in prison for a fortnight that I wassummoned to appear . I conducted my own defence

,and

in order to make the experience , I suppose , as disagreeableand humiliating as possible , I was brought before theCourt in my j ail costume , as Prisoner No . 331 .

The application to the High Court had been accompanied ,as is usual

, with a written statement giving the groundsfor appeal, but the interval of a fortnight in prison hadgiven me an Opportunity for considerably strengtheningmy arguments for the defence . The promise that whenfor the sake of Christ His followers were brought beforeAuthorities , they were not to feel anxious, or worried aboutresul ts, and that the Holy Spirit Himself would be mouthand wisdom to them, was indeed literally fulfilled . I hadnot much hope for a favourable decision . I had notedfor one thing that the two Judges had brought with thema written j udgment , so that it was doubtful whether thefurther arguments would carry much weight . Moreover,in a previous appeal, while the Judges had hinted stronglythat the police had exceeded their legal powers

,they had

refused to interfere with the decision of the Lower Court .

Before , however, proceeding to pass j udgment , one ofthe Judges said to me , Well , Mr . Tucker, we shall beprepared to release you, if you promise not to do it again .

!

My lord, I replied , if I had a rope round my neck,and were going to be hanged the next minute

,I would not

make such a promise .

The Judges then proceeded to read their judgment ,rej ecting the appeal

,and I had to return to prison to serve

the rest of my sentence . It happened to be my 3othbirthday, and I have ever Since looked back upon it withunrningled j oy and satisfaction . My stay in j ail wasa timeof rich Spiritual refreshment . I seemed to hear the Savioursaying, Come ye apart into a desert place , and rest awhile ,for there were many coming and going (Mark vi.

It was in this j ail that I learned the useful art of beingable to sleep wi thout the mosquito curtain , which , as a


European, I had always hitherto looked upon as anabsolute necessityWhile I was in prison the work was in charge of mychief assistant , Captain (now Commissioner) Bullard .

A more energetic, capable and devoted helper I coul d neverdesire to have . After the decision of the High Courtrej ect ing my appeal , the police decided to take furtherproceedings against The Salvation Army . Captain Bullardand two of our women Officers were accordingly arrested .

This time the jurisdiction was that of Mr . Ryan . Greatlyto our surprise , the Public Prosecutor, Mr . Cleveland,said that after reading the depositions of the police , hethought that it would be unfair to say that the presentcase came within the section of the Penal Code

,under

which the Salvationists were being prosecuted . He didnot wish therefore to press the charge , but had no obj ectionto the police proceeding with it .Mr . Ryan : I hold that view of the law myself .Mr . Cleveland Perhaps your Worship will be able to

see your way clearer if the evidence of the witnesses betaken .

”

The European Inspector, who made the arrest , thenproceeded to describe what had taken place .

Mr . Ryan How is it that they were arrested ? There is

no law to prohibit singing.

In his j udgment dismissing the charge, the Magistratesaid that he knew of no law which empowers the policeto stop persons singing in the street .The final stage in the controversy had, however, not

yet been reached .

I was released from prison at 7 a m. on the 8th April,and was met at the prison doors by a large crowd ofSal vationists and others . The Bombay Gaz ette thus describes the proceedings

Precisely at 7 o’clock the outer door was set aj ar,

and Major Tucker passed out . Amen was the firstword he uttered on beholding his friends , and Amenwas the loud response of the crowd . The Major andhis comrades immediately adjourned to a piece ofland in close proximity to the j ail , and there theyheld a thanksgiving service, prayers being said and

PRI SONER NO. 33 1 . 33

hymns sung . Afterwards they formed in processionand marched to the headquarters in Khetwady, Singinghymns en route. The police authorities did notinterfere . Indeed , there was no need of their interference

,there being no Sign of hostility towards The

Army on the part of the natives .

In the evening a demonstration of the Major’sfriends and sympathisers was held in the F ramjeeCowasjee Institute to celebrate his release . The hallwas crowded in every part by Europeans and nativesof all castes , all of whom were most orderly and respectful in their behaviour . The fervid eloquence of theSpeakers had a manifest influence on the audience .

arresting the attention of the curious , and commandingthe respect even of those who had sympathy, neitherwith the end wh ich they had in View nor with the meansby which they sought to attain it .

On Saturday,1 1th April

,three days after my release from

prison , the sixth and final prosecution took place,four

Officers and six other Salvationists being arrested andbrought before the Chief Presidency Magistrate , Mr . Cooper .I was again permitted to conduct the defence

,but

before the case had come on for hearing, the magistratesent for me to his private chamber . The Commissionerof Police , Sir Frank Souter, wasseated beside him . I tooka seat at the opposite side of the table .

Mr . Cooper opened the conversation by saying,Now,

Mr . Tucker , it is surely time that these disgraceful proceedingsshould come toan end . I replied that I and myComrades would be glad if such could be the case . TheSalvation Army were law-abiding people . The magistratethen said , The Commissioner of Police has consented towithdraw this prosecution , if you will undertake , on behal fof The Salvation Army

,that you will obey the orders of

the police in future .

It was barely a fortnight Since I had received a similarproposition from the Judges of the High Court . Liftingup my heart to God for guidance

,I replied ,

Will your Worship be so good asto give me in writingexactly what you wish me to promise , and I will thenbe able to say Whether we can agree to it or not . To


place the religious liberties,not only Of The Salvation

Army,but of all Christians

,entirely at the discretion of

the police,would obviously be unreasonable , and would

only open the door to future d isputes and difficulties .

”

Mr . Cooper : I think,Sir Frank ,

that is a fair proposition .

Sir Frank Souter assented,and the clerk was sent for

and took his seat beside me .

Mr . Cooper commenced to dictate the terms , but wasevidently at a loss what to say. Turning to the Commissioner of Police he said

,I think

,Sir Frank, that as

you are familiar with the whole controversy from thebeginning

,you had better dictate what you wish The

Salvation Army to promise .

Sir Frank agreed . I felt very much aswe may supposeDaniel to have felt in the lions’ den

,when, to my surprise ,

the Commissioner of Police turned to me,and said , I think

that the best plan will be for you to say what you are

will ing to accept,and we will then consider how far we can

agree to the same .

‘If ever I had realized the presence of God, it was inthat room . Just asHe had seemed to close the mouthsof the Magistrate and Commissioner of Police , so Heseemed to open mine . I turned to the clerk, and dictatedthe following

Considering the police authorities are of opinionthat it would

,under the present circumstances, endanger

the public peace for the members of The SalvationArmy to pass down the strictly Mahommedan quarter ofthe town in procession with singing, I will undertakeon behalf of the members Of The Salvation Army inBombay not to sing when passing down such quarters ,while such danger continues to exist ; provided thatsuch processions are allowed in non-Mahommedanstreets, unless some Special emergency should arise .

Somewhat to my surprise the Magistrate turned to theCommissioner Of Police and saidWell Sir Frank, I think that is qui te within their

rights .

The only amendment suggested by the latter was the

PRISONER NO. 331 . 35

insertion of the words , while the police consider thatthere is danger of a disturbance .

I argued that this was a question which would haveto be decided by evidence in each case, and with this Viewthe magistrate concurred . With a slight modification inthe wording of the last sentence by the magistrate

,these

terms were agreed to , and a copy was submitted to thePublic Prosecutor, Mr . Cleveland . It was an open secretthat he had only consented to prosecute us at the pointof the bayonet , under strong pressure from Government .Hence no difficul ty was anticipated in regard to his

acceptance of the proposal .

However, to our surprise , whatever may have been hismotive , he returned the paper with an endorsement tothe effect , that while he had nothing to do with any agreement the police might subsequently enter into with TheSalvation Army, yet so far as the present case was concerned , the Salvationists had broken the law, and he couldnot consent to withdraw the proceedings .

It was necessary, therefore , for the case to continue ,and the witnesses for the prosecution were

“duly called andexamined . When I rose , however, to present the case forthe defence, the magistrate said that it would not benecessary for me to do so . As I took my seat the PublicProsecutor rose and, in closing the case for the prosecution ,

harangued the Court with great vehemence,demanding a

severe sentence upon the Sal vationists for defying the law.

The case was then adjourned to the following day,

when the magistrate delivered his j udgment . Producingthe agreement , which was acceptable , he said, to thepolice and the Court

,he proceeded to acquit the accused .

Thus ended— permanently as subsequent events haveproved— this long and painful controversy, which finallyestablished the rights not only of The Salvation Army,

but of the entire Christian community in India , toprocession and hold open-air meetings with singing andmusic- a right which has never since been challenged .

CHAPTER V .

THE GUJARAT REVIVAL .

Go straight for sou ls, and go for the worst .

William Booth .

Among the Cadets who entered The Salvation ArmyTraining Home , j ust opened in Madras , was a youngSinghalese , belonging to one of the leading families inSouthern Ceylon . When ArnolisWeerasooriya was stilla child

,his mother used to take him to the Pansala (temple) ,

where his uncle wasthe Chief Priest,and place in h ishands

flowers to offer at the Shrine of Buddha . The grandmother oi Arnolis was a staunch Buddhist , who hadperformed the most meritorious actions called for by herreligion . She had dedicated one of her sons, then a boy,to the priesthood . Another of her sons, who had pervertedto the Christian faith , she had treated with great cruelty,and outcasted from her family . She had also been painfully conscientious in the performance of penances, andvotive o fferings . Her death made a profound impressionupon her family .

Instead o f the peaceful death-bed , which they hadanticipated

,for one who had been so strict in the per

formance of her devotions, she was seized with despair,and cried out that She wasa lost soul , going to hell . Herpriest-son was in attendanceat her Side, and had drawn upa long list of her meritorious actions , and presented themto his mother, reminding her that they far outnumberedand outweighed ! any Sins that she might have committed .

But She pushed them away, reiterating that there was nohope for her . She wasa lost soul . And then she became

The theory of Buddha was that at death a person’

sgood deedswere weighed against h issins, and , if they ou tnumbered th e latter ,th e sou l passed to a higher state of existen ce, finally cu lminatingin Nirvan , or Annihilation .


on the mind (Prov . xvi . 3 Psalm xxxvii . Realizethese words, and you will no more be unhappy. It isa peace of mind which cannot be expressed . I willtell you , when I come , the wonderful things God hasSince done for me .

And now commenced a wonderful work of grace in theCollege . Out of the ful lness of his heart , he spoke to thestudents, and one after another was converted, until therevival Swept through the school

,to the surprise and j oy

of its teachers and leaders .

Writing the name of JESUS in large letters on separatepieces of paper, he pressed each letter to his lips inpassionate adoration .

I S there anybody who loves Jesus more than I dohe would ask himself . Let me Sit at their feet and learnfrom them , whether it be in books, or in living repre

sentatives,that I see it . Nobody shall love Jesus better

than I do , cost what it may .

That was his self-appointed standard,when news came

that Captain Gladwin of The Salvation Army wasVisitingthe town and conducting meetings . YoungWeerasooriyawas present , and was smitten to the heart . Here ,

”

said he , is someone who loves Jesus better than I do .

A white man hasdiscarded his usual dress, and adoptedthat of India for the love of Jesus , and to win the peopleof the East , whereas I , a son of the East , have discardedmy native costume for that of the foreigner . How thencan I say that I love Jesus equally well ? I have foundsomeone now who loves Jesus better than I do . Can I restsatisfied with taking a second place P Never !His decision was quickly made . He hurried to his

home in Dodanduwa, near Galle, and told his father andmother that he had decided to cast in his lot with TheSalvation Army . The storm of opposition which had metDavid Weerasooriya,

when he renounced Buddhism ,

was reproduced on a smaller scale in that Christian home .

For a fortnight he was confined to hisroom ,but it was not

a wasted season , for it was spent in prayer, which finallyprevailed

, Arnolis wringing a reluctant consent from hisparents , and joining The Army in Madras, which was thenthe nearest point to which ou r operations had reached .

THE GUJ ARAT REVIVAL . 39

After enlisting as a Cadet , he wrote to his father asfollows

MADRAS, 16th F ebruary,1883 .

Bless the Lord, all the time He is with me . I havefully tried The Army and itsmodes of work . Thesemodes have the touch Of the Apostles very much .

I have signed the papers of The Army,and sworn

allegiance to it . May God help me to stick to it tillI die !

During a brief visit that I paid to Madras,I realized

that ou r newly-arrived Cadet possessed remarkable naturalgifts, as well as a special baptism of the Holy Ghost, whichwould make him extremely valuable for the salvation ofIndia . I felt that God had sent us the kind of man whowould help to unlock India’s heart for the Saviour, Whomhe so passionately loved h imself—a prophet , and more thana prophet . I was not disappointed . From the day wefirst met to that of what seemed to us his too prematuredeath from cholera but five years later

,he proved to be

unfaltering in his devotion,as he was capable and in

telligent in his leadership . Although not a Brahmin ,

he had the noble commanding appearance of one , and whenwe were travell ing together

,the people would often gather

round him, and ask if I was one of his chelas (disciples) .If at a railway station he happened to go to the filter forwater, high caste travell ers Would call out to warn himthat the water was polluted .

Further reference is made to Weerasooriya in ChapterVII I , but these few words of introduction seem necessaryto explain what occurred during the early months of 1884.

Our first eighteen months in India had been occupied inVisiting the principal cities of India and in establishinga permanent work in Bombay

,Calcut ta, Madras, Poona

and Colombo . More than two thousand persons hadpublicly professed conversion

,but only a smal l proportion

of these had actually joined our ranks .

In the cities , where we were working, persecution waskeen, and the converts from Hinduism and Mahommedanism, though numerous, disappeared almost as soonas they were made . It was in most casesimpossible to


find any trace of them . They had been carried off by theirrelatives and friends .

We were Well aware that ahnost all the converts ofChristianity in India had been secured from the ninetyper cent . of her Vill age populations

,and that the cities

constituted a specially hard,and for the moment almost

hopeless field, for which our small force was as yet insufficient .Where and how to strike out into the heart of the rural

population was to us a difficu lt problem .

“

The entirecountry had been mapped out and divided up amongstthe great Missionary Organizations as their own pecul iarreserves

,which must not be invaded or interfered with

with by new bodies, or individuals, seeking to find afield for labour . However vast the territory they mightprofess to occupy, and however small the number of theirworkers , and however limited might be their operationsor success, owing to lack Of funds, or for other reasons,it was regarded as an act of sacrilege to invade the sphereof influence for which they happened to have given eachother and themselves a mandate .

The unoccupied fields were few, and those that existedwere barren and unfruitful . Sometimes health conditions were unfavourable . But as a rule it was thesparseness

,or peculiarly bigoted charact er of the popula

tion,that had compelled the workers, who had attempted

to occupy these fields,to abandon them as being for the

moment impracticable and fruitless .It was in March

,1884,

after a memorable half-nightof prayer for special guidance at our Bombay Headquarters,that I sallied forth with Weerasooriya in quest of somerural area where we might plant our Workers . If wehad a preference in our minds, it was for the Punj ab ,

where I had a special knowledge of the Villagers andtheir dial ects and customs, gained while I was in Government service . But we resolved to follow the leadingsof the Spirit .The first point at which we halted, for what we in

tended to be but a brief stay of two or three days, wasAhmedabad

,the capital of British Guj arat . We had no

knowledge of the people , or of their language , and hence

THE GU JARAT REV IVAL . 41

did not propose to make a survey of this field,when one

of those providential incidents occurred which serve tolead God

’

s people .

A telegram from Bombay recalled me to attend to someurgent business

,which had arisen Since our departure .

I leftWeerasooriya to accept a warm invitation ,which we

had received,from a Christian Vill age named Ranipur ,

in the Vicinity of the city .

I had scarcely reached Bombay,when he telegraphed

to say that a revival had broken out among the Christianvillagers

,urging me to return at once

,and take part in

the same . The simple recital of his own experience as anominal Chri stian,

and of his remarkable conversion,had taken powerful hold of the people , and had led themto search their own hearts , with the result that many, ifnot most of them , confessed to never having experienceda real change of heart .

Never can I forget the wonderful scenes that followedTears rained down many of their faces as they confessedtheir past sins

,to be followed by shouts of joy as the burden

of their guilt rolled away . The first of the converts wasa notorious character

, who though nominally a Christian ,

had been a drunkard and had lived a wicked life . Onone occasion he had tied a rope round hiswife

’ s waist , andlet her down into the Village well

,till the water reached

her chin, when she was rescued by the Villagers . Onanother occasion he would not all ow her to cook the familymeals for seven days in succession

,pouring water on the

fire each time she lighted it . At other times he woulddress up in his wife ’ s clothes

,and go about the Village

insulting the people .

Extraordinary confessions were made , amongst othersthat of lying in wait to shoot one of their EuropeanMissionari es . The mutilation of cattle

,which had strayed

into their fields from adjoining Villages , was a form ofcruelty which was regarded with pecul iar horror by theirHindu neighbours .

Naturally their frequent misdeeds had caused muchdistress to the leaders of their Mission,

and they hadreceived many warnings

,and even punishments . But

nothing in the form of a revival had taken place .


About this time a great gathering had been arrangedfor the Christians of the whole province at one of theMission centres, the small country town of Borsad . Wewere earnestly invited to attend . The converts of Ranipurtold us that what had been true of themselves was largelytrue of the other Chri stians in Guj arat . Few,

if any,of

them really knew what it was to experience a change ofheart , and much Open sin was rife amongst them .

We were present during the services, but it was nottill these were concluded, that late at night the peoplegathered round us in the open-air, and begged us to conducta meeting . Then followed a scene that could never beeffaced from the memories of those present . It wasEaster,and the beautiful Paschal full-moon shone down upon usfrom a cloudless Sk y,

ahnost turning night to day, andrendering unnecessary any artificial illumination . Thehot weather had already commenced, and all were gladof the comparative coolness of the night breeze whichwas scarcely sufficient to stir the leaves of Guj arat s noblepeepul trees .Our hearts were deeply stirred as we gaz ed upon that

sea of perhaps a thousand upturned faces, so eagerlydrinking in every word . The difference between a trueand nominal Christian— a Nicodemus who had been bornagain, and one who had not yet experienced the gloriouschange—one who was indwelt by the Saviour, and onewhose heart was destitute of His personal presence , hadonly to be mentioned to evoke an immediate response .

I can still see Weerasooriya pouring out his heart uponthat crowd and urging them to claim for themselves Whathe , himself a son, if not of India, of the East , had received .

The fact that he came from Lanka (Ceylon) , the fabledIsland

,famous in Indian mythology, where the Demon

Rakshas and their monarch Ravan dwelt,added to the

dramatic character of the scene and to the power of hiseloquent appeal .Surrounding ussat the converts from Ranipur, burning

with the fiery zeal of their first love . To describe theprayer meeting which followed would require an angel

’

spen . The invitation for decision was no sooner given thanscores , and then hundreds , rushed into the space which

THE GUJ ARAT REVIVAL . 43

we had cleared for seekers in the centre . They flungthemselves on their knees, bowed their faces to the ground,and with tears streaming from their eyes

,confessed their

Sins and sought definite forgiveness,and received Christ

into their hearts as their Saviour from Sin . And thenfollowed a wonderful period of rej oicing

,mingled with

songs and testimony,such as in all my Salvation Army

experience , stirring as it had been, I had never wi tnessed .

The simple and Sincere faith with which the people receivedand rej oiced in Christ as their Saviour from Sin made usfeel that surely the time had arrived when a nation shouldbe born in a day .

It was not a little remarkable that in this meeting theway wasled by a venerable Christian named Girdhar Bhai .Forty years previously he had heard of Christ , and hadtravelled south some two hundred miles to the then nearestMission station to beg the Missionaries to come to h iscountry, where he was sure that a rich harvest of soulsawaited them . The invitation wasaccepted, and resultedin a large number embracing Christianity .

That he should lead the way produced a profoundimpression upon the rest of the community

,who regarded

him with reverence and affection as the one who hadintroduced Christianity and the Bible to their country.

Asked afterwards by a European whether,during all

this long period , he had been a hypocrite , he replied noblyin the figurative language of the East

,NO,

Sahib ! Ihave not been a hypocrite . I have been like a match ina closed box . The Salvation Army has Opened the boxand struck the match and now I have the Fire !Mind , said his interrogator

,that you do not lose

Sahib , he replied,holding up the stick which he

carried to support himself,wherein is the strength— in

this stick, or in the hand that holds itIn the hand that holds it

, wasthe reply .

Sahib ! I am but a feeble stick,said the aged

veteran, but I am in the Hand of an Almighty Saviour ,and He is able to keep that which I have committed toHim . Girdhar Bhai remained faithful to the end ,

andhas long since passed to his reward .

CHAPTER VI .

THE GARDEN OF INDIA .

Though the whole city be on fire,

Wh at d o the song-birds care ?

Th e Wingless cats and rats lament,Wh o cannot c leave th e air !

Heed not,my sou l , the fires of care

R ise Godward on the wings of prayer !Ak ha

,a Guj arati poet.

Guj arat has sometimes been called the Garden of India .

A tract of country stretching perhaps for some two hundredmil es from south to north, and about one hundred milesfrom west to east

,is famous for the fertility of its soil,

and consequently also for the density of its population .

It issometimes said that not a stone is to be found in theentire region

,except such as have been imported . A

rich alluvial soil, watered by several large rivers , and withan abundant underflow,

tapped by countless wells,rewards

the toil of the dense agricultural population which inh abitsthis area .

The model primeval Indian Village,divided into water

tight compartments,is to be found here in its perfection .

In its central and most aristocratic quarter dwell thePatidars, the hereditary ancestral landowners of thedomain

,resembling very closely the old feudal lords of

ancient Europe,with their tenants grouped around them .

Physically they are a tall, well -built , noble—looking race ,accustomed to rule

,expert farmers

,owning large herds of

some of the finest cattle and buffaloes to be seen anywherein the world . The buffaloes are unrivalled for the richnessand quantity of the milk they produce

,whilst the cattle

are devoted to draught purposes,all the milk of the cows

being given to the young stock .

A sad and depressing feature of the buffalo productionis that

,while the male buffalo is a powerful beast and

46 FORTY YEARS IN IND IA

As the crops begin to mature , the ordinary industrialoperations of the village artisans cease , and Weavers ,Potters and Chamars join Kolis and Patidars, first inprotecting, and then in gathering, the vast crops thatbeautify the fields .The grain once gathered is divided into great heaps

,

and assigned to the various communi ties, being distributedamongst their families by the headmen of each group .

Originally one of the largest heaps used to be set apar tfor the payment of the land-tax to Government . It wasa fixed proportion, amounting to about one-fifth of thetotal crop . The substitution of a cash tax for a grainpayment has created an opportunity for the moneylenderto step in, and at times his exactions have led to seriousdifficulties

,which Government has tried to meet with

legislation, with only moderate success .

Coming in as strangers into the midst of this communallife, our temptation would certainly have been to aim atthe noble- looking Patidarsand Kolis for our next revival .In this we should have made a serious mistake

,from

which we were fortunately guarded by our IndianChristian friends, who let us know that it was the Dher, orWeaver Community that was by far the most prepared toaccept Christianity. I t was from their ranks that thelargest accessions to the Mission had hitherto taken place ,and it was this class that the most readily opened theirhearts and homes to us and to our Officers . It was nouncommon thing to see from thirty to fifty, or even more ,kneeling at the penitent form .

While poor,they were intelligent . No one who Saw

the deftness with which they operated their antiquatedhand—looms could doubt this . They were the artisans ofthe Village—the very class from which Christ recruited HisApostles

,and The Salvation Army in every land has

Obtained the bulk of its recruits .

In going to them we practically cut ourselves off fromthe Patidars and Kolis , who regarded them as polluted ,

and refused them admission to their homes and to thequarters inhabited by them . Their very touch wasdefilement , and it wasonly I n later years, after we had cometo be well known and believed In by these so-called higher

THE GARDEN OF INDIA . 47

castes, that even our European Oflicers could freelyapproach them, as we are able to do to-day .

There was, however, no di sposition amongst eitherPatidars or Kolis to accept , or even listen to , the Gospel ,and our time would have been wasted had we devotedourselves to their salvation , superficially promising as thematerial might have seemed to be .

Much time and money have been ineffectually expendedupon what may be called perhaps the attractiveclasses . It has been argued by workers in the MissionField that one convert made from these classes will be ofgreater value than hundreds , or even thousands , from thedepressed classes . But the correctness of this dictummay well be questioned . They do not , as a rule , make goodapostles to the depressed classes

,who prefer leaders of

their own caste , and are tempted to believe that those ofthe better- off and better- educated classes will misunderstand and look down upon them .

We found the Dhers of Guj arat to be an exceedinglyfruitful field

,and devoted ourselves heart and soul to their

salvation . As a result we have built up amongst thema solid , spiritual and well-organized work .

It was also in Gujarat that we first developed our Educational system , which has undoubtedly helped largelyto strengthen and consolidate our work in India .

1 . It was created wholly and solely for the benefit ofour own converts .

2 . It limited itself almost exclusively to rudimentaryeducation , taking advantage where necessary in exceptionalcases of existing Government or private institutions, wherethe higher branches seemed in the interest of our own workto be desirable .

3 . It made religious teaching, not only an essentialpart of our instruction

,but its very backbone . In later

years our Young People in Guj arat were formed intoGayan Tolis, or Songster Brigades

,and Faliadars,

which became the agency for conducting family prayersin Village streets among groups of families , besides forminga very attractive feature of our evangelistic work . Manyof them composed their own songs to popular Gujaratitunes .


4. Connected with the Village Day Schools were centralIndustrial Homes for Boys and Girls , with a View to preparing the best oi our children for their future careers asOfficers , Teachers of our own Village Schools, or Foremenin charge of our various Industries . Those who provedto be unsuitable for either of these avocations gravitatedback to their own homes . Hence there was no blind alleyeducation , and no training of all our children to clamourfor Government positions as clerks and baboos, one ofthe greatest drawbacks to the modern system of educationin India .

The boys are taught various useful handi crafts , whichwill be advantageous to them in after-life, while the girlsare trained to be good housewives, and adepts at needl ework . Corresponding to every Boys

’ Home there is alwaysa Girls’ Home of about equal numbers

,and the training

given to the latter isas thorough and systematic as to theformer . This relieves the parents of a great anxiety .

It isingrained in their minds that the first duty which theyowe to their children is to get them suitablymarried . Hencethe increasing tendency to early engagements andmarriages .

A child is no sooner born than the parents begin to lookaround for a suitable match . To Obtain such becomesincreasingly difficult . Unmarried boys and girls are exceedingly hard to find and are much sought after .To prevent an engagement once made from being broken

,

money usual ly passes, and in order to tie the knot withincreasing firmness the Village Brahmin of the particularcaste is called in to perform ceremonies of a mystic andbinding character. Although the children return to theirparents, an engagement is treated as if it had been anactual marriage .

Our Boarding Schools for girls enabled us to copeeffectively with this difficulty. The parents realiz ed thattherewasno need for premature action , nor was it necessaryfor them to plunge into debt to raise the necessary money .

For every boy and girl a suitable partner was being trained,and would be in the highest sense a help-meet .Our Girls’ Boarding Home in Guj arat is picturesquely

located on the wall of the city of Ahmedabad on the bankof the river Sabarmati. The Boys

’

Home is situated in

THE GARDEN OF IND IA . 49

Anand,a great and prosperous railway centre

,from which

branch lines radiate to all parts of the region .

In connection with our song books,Indian tunes

,War

Cry and publications of Guj arat , Brigadier Dayasagar

(Burfoot) hasdone yeoman service . His familiarity withthe Guj arati language has been of great value to TheArmy

,and has been further supplemented by his study

of other Indian languages . He has also very successfullyacted as “

liaison Ofiicer” for placing The Army and its

work in close touch with some fifty or more vernacularpapers

,which have evinced the keenest interest in us ,

and have gladly placed their columns at our disposal .

This again has served to familiarize the leaders of Indianthought with the aims and obj ects of The Army

,and when

our annual Anti-DrinkWar Cry hasbeen published, leadingMill -owners and employers of labour have circulatedthousands of copies amongst their work-people , not infrequently contributing a few warm words of commendationfrom their own pens .

Another valuable form of help has been the Sinking ofwells . The high caste quarters of the Guj arat villages areusually supplied with a sufficiency of excellent wells, butaccess to these is as a rule denied to Dhers and otherdepressed castes, who have either to resort to the opentanks

,in which the cattle drink , the buffaloes wallow, and

the people bathe and wash their clothes , and which irequently dry up in the hot weather or their water has tobe fetched from distant wells in the fields .

I t is difficult for those who have been accustomedto draw an abundant supply of water from a tap everytime they need it for bathing, washing, drinking, cookingor other purposes, to know what it must mean in a hotcountry like India to fetch water from a well

,for the daily

needs of a household . Let us suppose that the waterlevel is from thirty to fifty feet from the surface of theground, and as a matter of fact , it is not infrequentlyfrom sixty to eighty feet . A large brass or earthen vesselis tied to the well-rope, and let down into the water .

When the vessel is full, it is drawn up and the contentsemptied into the two or three other similar vessels whichcontain the household supply for the day . When the


vessels are full , each one is hoisted on to the top of awoman

’

s head, or tucked under her arm . It is not unusualto see a woman with two, or even three , of these greatheavy vessels bal anced on the top of her head . This workis relegated to the women of the Village , and my Wife oftensays that had this been the duty of the men , pumps andtaps and cisterns and windmills would have been introducedlong agoThere is only one thing worse than a vill age well

,and

that is not to have one avai lable , or to have it at somedistant point , whence every drop of water requires to bedaily carried in this laborious manner ! To the poorerclasses amongst whom we labour, the possession of a wellis a boon , which is the most precious of any, next toSalvation .

It so happened that when the late Colonel Balwant

(Spooner) was in charge of the work in Guj arat , he becamepersonally acquainted with one of the Raises (merchantprinces) of Ahmedabad . He suggested that asa memorialto some departed members of his family, it would be anexcellent plan if he would have some Memorial

,

Wellssunk, with a tablet commemorating the dead . TheColonel’s suggestion met with a ready response . One ofthe favourite charities of India is the Sinking of wells, orsupplying of water to travellers . For a thousand rupeeseach

,three wells could be sunk at Villages where they were

greatly needed . The order was given , and in due course ,the Colonel called upon the generous donor and offered toaccompany him on a trip to the Villages concerned . Whenthe motor car brought the giver and h is guide to eachvillage

,there wasa grand turn-out of all the Salvationists .

The gratitude of the people , their unalloyed joy at thepossession of such a treasure , hitherto unknown in thehistory of that particular caste , the garlands and addressesthat were presented, the songs, and village music, theenthusiasm

,deeply touched the heart of the giver. As a

result of his tour a further order for more wells was

generously given .

CHAPTER VI I .

LANKA ,THE PEARL OF THE OCEAN .

Of one thing I amquite satisfied , and donot need a Single fact or argumen t tocon vince me, and that is that we haveno more r ight to impose Westernnotions on the Eastern peoples, thanthe Eastern peoples have to imposetheir notions on the Westerns.

William Booth .

The news of the Gujarat revival , and of the prominentpart played in it by Weerasooriya, had reached Ceylon ,

where a promising work had al ready been commenced inColombo . It was only natural that Weerasooriya himselfshould urge the claims of h is own native land . Familiarashe waswith its condition , people and languages , he feltsatisfied that , in the rural districts , we could Obtain resultsat least equal to those which had been witnessed in Guj arat .The following beautiful description of the Island is fromthe pen of one of our early Officers :Delicate tints of Violet and gold line the Skies that

canopy fair Lanka’

s Isle , while fringing its borders , like aphalanx of plumed warriors , is a wildern ess of coconuttrees , with a ridge of yellow sand begirdling them fromthe wash of the in-rolling sea. Bamboos rustle and shakeout their ribbony foliage at the touch of each passing breeze .

Broad- leaved fruit trees soften with their shadows crimsonflowers , springi ng beneath , while the breath of dawn issweetened by the perfumed touch of cinnamon and otherspicy Shrubs, and the evening is be-starred by myriads offireflies gemming the tangled vines and moonless trees .

In the streets of its cities,especially Colombo , mingle

races from the uttermost parts of the earth . There webehold the white , or red and white robed Moorman , theyellow garmented Buddhist priest , the picturesquelyattired Singhalese , the half-naked Tamil coolie , the industrious Burgher and the Englishman .


The Singhalese are a frank-hearted, courteous people ,to love and be desired . We desire them , and seek to winthem . And as the ocean with itsmoving, throbbing waves ,encircle Ceylon, so we in the name of our Chri st mean tobegirdle it with a living wall of Salvation .

Of the old Singhalese capital, Kandy, the scene ofWeerasooriya

’

s education, conversion , and revival , thesame writer saysKandy is one of its most charming places inland .

The native town has long straight streets, lined each sidewith pretty little whitewashed houses . Emerald hills,covered with equatori al vegetation , surround it , fromwhence flow streams, which unite with each other, forminga lovely lake , Sheltered and draped by beautiful trees .

Charming drives run round it , and footpaths, if followed,lead into most delightful openings . Here the giantbamboo rears its head a hundred feet or more , whi le thetall Silk cotton bush is a pleasant contrast , crowned withcrimson flowers , and climbing plants twin e and twistthemselves in endl ess profusion, shading the earth , till itsdamp breath moistens all around .

Here stands the famous temple , where a large toothiskept , supposed to be Buddha

’

s . This temple iskept verycarefully, and surrounded by the usual votaries, male andfemale, who buy flowers from the flower- sellers, who throngthe temple

,and thus gi ve their S imple offerings, which

every morning are cast out from the temple by the priestbut the perfume of the gift remains, to tell it hasbeen there .

Here the young priests are trained, and a very charmingSight it is to see this brotherhood, in their saffron robes ,wal king or sitting ’neath the shady trees, meditating, andpreparing for their calling .

It was on the 1st January,1885, that I arrived in Ceylon,

whither Weerasooriya and another Officer had alreadypreceded me .

The rural district which had been selected for ouroperations was inhabited by a Singhalese caste known asPaduas

,and was situated at the base of the mountain

range leading up to Kandy in the centre of the Island .

Rice-growing was the chief occupation of the inhabitants .

Paddy fields stretched in all directions, whilst clumps of


For six thieves, who have been in the habit , for monthspast , of steal ing arecanut and selling it to him at a cheaprate , to his disappointment , did not make their appearancewith arecanut and other stolen property as usual beforedawn . On inquiry

,he found that the whole gang had

got saved the previous night at our meeting .

I am particularly thankful to God for the blessingthat the Lord is pouring upon the women of this district .

Their Simple hearts when touched by the Holy Spirit , seemto brighten up wonderfully . They say that they love theSong Book, because they understand it . Some of theChri stian women

,to whom it has been for long years a

burden to be present at a meeting for two hours once everyweek, now say that it would be a great pleasure for themto be at our meetings

,if possible

,from morning till night .

Men, women and children shew by their happy faces thatthey really enj oy our Singing

,praying and talking, and this

with an increased interest .“ We had told them that the Loku Mahatmaya was

coming, meaning our Headman — that is, our Major .

Many, I observed, were filled with anxiety for a time .

They wanted to make special arrangements . When Itold them that he was barefooted , slept under trees, atethe poorest Village food

,carried his own luggage , either

in a box or in a bundl e on his Shoulders , or on his headin short

,that he was in no way bigger than a white

Singhalese man,they seemed to be delighted and came to

him as freely as they would come to any of us natives .

The Visit was a glori ously blessed one to the Officersand Soldiers in the Village . The power that I had oftenseen in Guj arat

,came pouring down now, and filled our

souls, and the Soldiers for the first time began to see

that there was a great deal more than getting saved andtestifying to that all the days of their lives .

The meetings were devoted to free , straight talksabout Sampurna gelavirna,

’ or Full Salvation and Power .On Sunday we had five meetings . I f there had been timethey would have arranged for more .

There was not much talk for the unsaved, still aboutfive came forward for Salvation during the day .

We had one little meeting in a small mud hut . It

LANKA,THE PEARL OF THE OCEAN . 55

was in the house of a Buddhi st family saved during themonth . About twenty saved Soldiers were presentbesides ourselves .

The Major commenced singing in Singhalese a linewhich runs as follows

Ma nissa devlova sepa at eriya,

Yesu tamai mage Swami l

For my sake He abandoned the joys of Heaven ,

Jesus indeed my Lord !

AS We went on repeating this one couplet our soulsbegan to feel the baptism of love . Our hearts became verytender suddenly

,and our voices trembled . All knew that

it was the presence of the Master .

Have you ever felt Jesus’ presence ? Have you everwept Simply because you love Jesus Have you ever weptfor the perishing worldSoon after my arrival in Ceylon, I proceeded to visitthe work in this newly-opened d istrict , and was greatlycheered by the manifest evidences of its deeply Spiritualcharacter . The following account of this t rip was wri ttenby me at the time

,and gives some interesting particu lars

as to the nature of the work ,and our plans for making it

self-support ing .

We find ourselves in a densely-wooded country inhabited by a race called Paduas . Cadet Rice and hisHalleluj ah wife are in charge of Fort Billigodapitiya, andreport over thirty Soldiers enrolled and well-saved, besidesothers of whom they could not be quite so sure . Weslept at Jemadar Patrus

’ home,and went over in the

morn ing to the Officers’ quarters . It beats any that wehave got even in Guj arat

,siz e fifteen feet long by about

ten feet broad . One room ,about eight feet by nine feet ,

served as kitchen,dressing-room and bedroom . The rest

is an open space enclosed only on three sides, which doesduty as parlour. No chair or furniture of any kind .

Cadet Rice waschopping wood for the fire when we arrived ,

and then went off to get water from the well down the hill.We could not help praising God for the courage anddevotion which enabled him and his wife to stick bravelyto such a difficult post .

5 6 FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

A country walk along a narrow footpath, throughbeautiful green rice fields and dense woods, brought us toFort Hewadiwilla. We went direct to the Officers’ quarters ,a small hut something like the other, but nearly twice thesize and more substantial . Both places have been givento us, rent free , by the Soldiers, who are arranging at bothof the Villages to put up rather more substantial huts, wherewe Shall be able to have our meetings as well .

“After our arrivalwe took our palm- leaf baskets and wentout begging for our morning meal . The people were rathersurprised

,but evidently very pleased

, as we said Api

pinapati ava.

’

(‘ We have come to beg for They

quickly loaded uswith enough for at least eight persons,though there were only five of us, and we afterwards foundthat the other party had been stopped at a house, wherethey insisted on providing them each with a full meal .

“ The custom of ‘

pinapati is in some respects peculiarto Ceylon , and is commonly practised by the Buddhistpriests . About ten or eleven o ’ clock they may be seengoing singly from house to house with a vessel under theleft arm , and their Shawl thrown over it . They willstand Silently before a house . If the owner has got nothingready they pass on . Usually, however, you will see in afew moments one of the women come out with a dishcontaining rice or vegetables . It is emptied into thevessel and then the giver falls down and worships thepriest , who gives his blessing and passes on . Largetemples with scores of priests and without endowmentare thus supported cheerfully by people, who could notafford to give them money, and the priests are thus alsosaved the trouble of cooking .

“Huge torches are made about Six feet long from palmbranches and serve to light us al ong the narrow difficultpaths on dark nights . They are necessary too to keepaway the snakes which are common in these j ungles .

One of our Soldiers has j ust brought a very venomous onewhich he has killed close by . It is about three feet long,and is said to be a great enemy of the cobra, which is alsofound in this country . When the two happen to meet,they are said to have great fights, the one swallowing theother . Fortunately this k ind cannot see well in the day

LANxA,THE PEARL OF THE OCEAN . 57

time and are therefore easily killed . The boa constrictoris also occasionally met with . Not far from here thereare also tigers, bears and elephants . Most of the peopleare armed with guns in this neighbourhood

, so that theseanimals keep at a respectful distance , but a little furtherin the interior we are told that people never go out withouttaking a sort of hatchet with which to defend themselvesin case they Should meet with bears .

However, our interest centres not in the beautiful sceneryand trees, but in the human beings who inhabit thisParadise . Here too we find the hell o f sin in their hearts,although outside there is everything to draw them nearerto God . However

,we have been having some grand times

among them . Many are saved and give a clear bold testimony . Others are still hesitating, but the fire spreads andwe are having constant invitations from other places .

A party of Buddhists are walking along the road . Weovertake them and urge them to get Gelavima.

’ Theydecline , and aswe walk on we hear one of them say, Thedays of man are one hundred and twenty years . If a manlives in Sin for sixty years

,then if he performs works of

merit for the remaining Sixty,the good works will counter

balance the bad ones . Then instead of being sent to hell ,or doomed to pass through many existences as an animalhe will obtain the bliss of nirvan and will cease to exist .

He did not explain what would be the case if the mandied before reaching his one hundred and twentieth year .Still this was a rather more comfortable idea than that ofanother Buddhist

,who said to us plainly

,that there is no

forgiveness of sin . For every sin that a man commits hemust be punished . God cannot possibly forgive . Hemust continue to receive the punishment of his sins tillthe term of punishment is exhausted .

There is no God This is commonly alleged byBuddhists in Ceylon . Where is God ? said a Buddhistthe other day . I cannot see Him. I do not believeHe exists . I t

’

sall a fable .

’

Gelavun Karaya is the name by which we are bestknown among the Buddhists in the South . It meansSimply Saviours .

’ Sometimes they call us‘

Hamadru ,

a title of respect which they only give to their own pri ests .

!

CHAPTER V I I I .

COLONEL WEERASOORIYA.

The Cross is the attraction !Weerasooriya .

At this j uncture we received what we could not but regardas a Macedonian cry ” from some Christian friends inMoratuwa, a densely-populated district some fifteen milessouth of Colombo . It could hardly be called either a townor a Village . The inhabitants were nearly all carpentersor fishermen . Whilst there were considerable numbers ofChristians to be found among them ,

by far the greaternumber were Buddhists

,with a large admixture of Roman

Catholics .

The people were well off,and had substantial and com

fortable homes , quite different from the mud and palm- leafhuts to which we had now become accustomed . Eachcottage had its little plot of land . The soil was sandy,

but the coconut,j ack- fruit and bread- fruit trees flourished .

Indeed, so did everything of a vegetable character , and thecottages were embowered in a wealth of greenery, whilethe moist climate

,tempered with the soft sea breeze from

the Indian Ocean,made it the home of a healthy, Vigorous,

stalwart race,the very backbone of the Singhalese nation .

The whole coast—line from Colombo to Galle , and onthence to Matara is occupied with a long string of Similarvillages, one of which , near Galle , was the ancestral homeof theWeerasooriyas.

After our experiences in Guj arat and the Hewadiwillaregion, we should have felt inclined to refuse the invitation .

But the friends who invited uswould not take NO for

an answer . The question of finance need not troubleus . They would erect immediately a palm- leaf Maduwa,or hall , capable of holding four or five hundred persons,

5 8

COLONEL WEERASOOR IYA . 59

and this in due time should be replaced by a solid substantial building constructed with the red kabuk stonewhich abounded in the neighbourhood .

The Fernando family,who headed the invitation, had a

prosperous carpentry business, and held a leading positionamong the Christian community . They were men of theirword

,and their promises were more than fulfilled . One of

them became a prominent and earnest Salvationist . All ofthem stood by us with unswerving fidelity, and provedto be a tower of strengt h . They knew the district welland were confident that the time was ripe for a revival .They were not mistaken .

The campaign commenced on the 17th January . Thehall waspacked to overflowing, and in three weeks therewere more than 100 professed conversions during the thirdweek there were numerous surrenders among the women ,

and the awakening extended to the surrounding Villages .

A month later we were able to telegraph that , Since theopening Of the work ,

there had been about 350 seekers .and that the women converts were taking part in themarches and open-airs and were testifying boldly .

I t must be remembered that the idea of coming forwardpublicly to the penitent form to seek Salvation was as

completely repugnant to the tastes of this community asitwould be to a respectable Church of England congregationin the West End of London . Still more distasteful ,especially to the women

,wasthe idea of speaking in public

and testifying about the blessing they had received . Butit was a repetition of the glorious scenes spoken of in theActs of the Apostles

,when the Holy Ghost fell upon the

converts and they immediately began in the j oy of theirhearts to speak with tonguesDuring the commencement of this campaign we made

the Maduwa our home, aswell as the Headquarters and

meeting-place . The benches consisted of planks sawn fromthe trunk of palm trees

,attached to sections of other trunks

which were cut transversely and fixed in the ground .

With a tambourine for a pillow ,and nothing softer than the

plank for a bed,we became such experts that we could

balance ourselves on the narrowest of them .

After a few weeks,however

,we transferred our Head


Sketch of th e Headquartersin Moratuwa,Ceylon , with theAu thor

in th e doorway .


the sides of the net were so far apart , that they had plentyof room to swim about . But gradually, as they foundthemselves drawn closer and closer to Shore

,they would

struggle to escape . We found the whole catch right atthe very end of the net , where it was so strong that therewas but little chance for them to get away . Probablyit was a Very similar net that was used by the Galileanfishermen in the times of Christ .

As the fish were drawn to land, gasping and strugglingto the last , we could not help thinking of the nets that thedevil had spread to catch unwary soul s . A little fanciedliberty at first , but the strong meshes of sin pressing Closerand Closer, till at last the sinner is dragged to Shore , onlyto be cast into the flames of hell . We thought , too , aboutthe other net , which we were casting into the seas of sinto drag Sinners to a place of safety .

“ The fishermen told us that at times they would havesuch a huge haul of fish that the net would burst and allwould make their escape . When they did succeed inbringing them to shore

,they would be able to get asmuch

as £40 for a Single haul . At other times they would haveto toil for days and nights together

,and yet catch scarcely

anything . For six months in the year they would have tostop fishing altogether, owing to the roughness of the sea.

We rej oiced that our Salvation boat could go out inall sorts of weathers, and that we could have some of ourbiggest hauls when the sea was roughest .

In the year 1886, the first International Congress of TheSalvation Army, took place in London , and India wasinvited to send representatives . These included converts from Hinduism , Mahommedanism and Buddhism .

Weerasooriya wasone of the party .

We were warned by our Headquarters that , while wewere heartily welcome as delegates to the great Congress ,we must not expect or plead for reinforcements of menand money

,as the resources of The Army had been taxed

to their utmost by the many extensions already carriedout , and by the needs of other lands .

However,the detachment from India carried everything

before it , and such was the wave of enthusiasm that wasaroused by their appearance

,and by their impassioned

COLONEL WEERASOORIYA . 63

appeals, that our hopes and prayers were more than realized ,and when the contingent prepared for its homewardjourney, it wasaccompanied by one of the largest missionary reinforcements that had ever been dispatched for theconversion of the heathen .

Weerasooriya’

s life and influence had made itself felt ,both in public and in private , wherever he appeared . Nonecould gaze into that noble countenance , or meet thoseflashing eyes , or listen to those burning appeals , withoutrealiz ing that the nations whom he represented wereindeed worth saving . It wasdecided by the General thatfifty Officers Should be at once sent out .While the majority of this reinforcement wasset apart

for the extension of the work in Ceylon , a smal l nucleuswasalso formed for the purpose of commencing a campaignamong the Tamils of South India . These had scarcelyreached Madras , when a pleasant surprise awaited us inthe form of a generous donation from a friend in China .

A few weeks previously we had forwarded to LondonIndia

’

s contribution of £100 for the annual Self-DenialAppeal of The Salvation Army . At that time Rs.

had seemed indeed a large sum for India to contribute ,remembering the extreme poverty of the people amongwhom we worked , and the severe hardships and sacrificesendured by our Officers . But we had sent it withoutdeductions , and with a willing heart , although it left ourWar Chest empty .

About the time we were Signing the cheque for London,that was to take our Alabaster Box of Ointment to thefeet of Jesus for the salvation of other nations

,another

cheque was being drawn up , unsolicited ,by a friend in

China for The two cheques were probably writtenabout the same time

,and must have reached their

respective destinations on nearly the some date . Thegenerous donor was none other than Charles Studd , thewell-known founder of the Heart of Africa Mission , thenworking with the China Inland Mission , and formerlyfamous as one of England’ s leading cricketers . I feelmysteriously impelled to send you this amount , he wrote ,though to do so I shall have to draw upon my capital .He would surely have felt gladdened could he have


witnessed the scene , when his letter was opened , and itscontents were disclosed . It proved to be one of theturning-points in our Indian history .

It enabled the Founder to arrange for the dispatch ofanother reinforcement of fifty Missionary Officers, andColonelWeerasooriya was summoned to London to assistin their selection, preparation, and despatch .

In describing his j ourney to England,on an Italian

Liner, Weerasooriya wrote as follows“ Everything SO far has been beautiful , excepting the

food . I could not at all take the Ital ian food, so I spoketo one of the Officers and arranged with the cook of theMahommedan sailors . The ship is like a little city orkingdom . We have got the Hindu

,Mahommedan , Parsi,

and Christian quarters . We have got one Nawab (IndianPrince) and his staff .The Nawab is really a prince in every way. He

called me near, and got all the information he coul d aboutsalvation and The Salvation Army . I wasstruck wi th hishappy smiling face . I thought because he was a nativeprince he will be very proud, and won

’ t have much to do ,especially with poor natives . He was very patient , andnot only listened when I explained

,but (he being the only

one of the party present that knew English) took thetrouble to translate every sentence carefully to his staff,who gladly drank in every word that fell from the lips ofthe noble interpreter . They got me to sing

,and quite

enj oyed it . They were not satisfied until I sang to themHae

,mere waste

’

(Alas, and did my Saviour bleed !)over and over again, to that Persian tune , Taza ba taza .

’

How do you get your living ?’

asked the Nawab . Veryoften we go begging for our meals, and people give us foodand money .

’ His Excellency gave me two MahommedanSilver coins before leaving .

Next morning I was reading my Guide when theNawab

,staff, and several European gentlemen, came and

wanted me to sing . When I had sung one or two versesin English and Hindustani, I had to sing the Nawab ’

s

favourite,Hae , mere waste .

’

Weerasooriya was at this time my right hand . TheF ounder and the present General, then Chief of the Staff,

COLONEL WEERASOORIYA. 65

had come to know him personally and had formed a highestimate of h is abilities , and he was promoted to the rankof Colonel and second in command of the work in Indiaand Ceylon . It was a unique and daring innovation inthe history of Missions, being the first instance

, SO far asI am aware , of an Indian being placed in command ofEuropean Missionaries . He had under him at the timeabout 150 European , and 150 Indian Officers . He wasaccepted and followed with equal alacrity and cheerfulnessby all , and I cannot recollect any instance of our EuropeanOfficers obj ecting to his authority .

They loved him and regarded him , not only asa man ofGod

,but as a born leader of his people .

The influence wielded by Weerasooriya was somethingtruly remarkable , and certainly without parallel in thehistory of missionary work in India . The secret of hispower is perhaps disclosed in the following description ofhow he settled a difficulty which had arisen between twoOfficers .

The Lieutenant thought She ought to be Captain .

Explanations seemed useless , SO he arranged a privatemeeting with them . He got one of them to fetch somewater

,and began to wash their feet . They burst into

tears,and tried to stop him. But he declared that unl ess

they allowed him to do it , they should have no part or lotwith him in the Heavenly Kinn m. While he washed

,

they wept . Then they had a melting time before theLord ,

and he heard no more of any ill- feelings . Afterwards

,the Captain took to washing the Lieutenant

’

s feet,

and love was the conqueror .A still more striking example is related of the way in

which Weerasooriya overcame the opposition which hesometimes encountered . The incident took place in Kandy,while the revival which followed his conversion was at itsheight . The striking conversions that then took place ,not only amongst Christian students , but amongstBuddhists

,caused an outburst of hostility among the

rougher elements of the Buddhist community . The lifeof Weerasooriya was threatened .

Weerasooriyamet the opposition in his own characteristicfearless way . He announced that he would conduct an


open air meeting, outside the city in a jungly place, andinvited those who wished to do so to accompany him,

thus affording the roughs j ust the sort of opportunity theyrequired for wreaking their vengeance upon him . Anumber of them accepted his invitation to attend themeeting, and there can be little doubt that they had evilintentions towards him in doing so. Taking only one ortwo of his friends with him , he proceeded to the spot .Arrived there , he produced a rope and a knife . The rope

,

he explained, was for the purpose of binding him securelyto a tree , so that he could not resist them . The knife hehad provided to enable them to execute their intentionof killing him , in case they had not brought any of theirown . The lonely place had been chosen because , had theymade an attempt to kill him in the town, the police wouldprobably have interfered, and they might have beencaptured and punished .

Here in this lonely spot none could see or interfere .

As hisMaster and Saviour had died for him , so he too waswilling to die for them . The scene ofWeerasooriya boundto the tree , offering them the knife with which they couldexecute their threat , awed and conquered those turbulentcharacters . One after another Slunk away, withoutaccepting his challenge ! He was left alone with his oneor two friends , who released him and returned with himto the city. NOmore was heard of the threats against hislife .

Weerasooriya threw himself heart and soul into theTamil campaign in the cities of South India, but did notlive to see the subsequent answer to his prayers in theglorious revival in Travancore , where the scenes whichhad taken place in Guj arat and Ceylon were afterwardsrepeated .

The Colonel’ s father, Mr. DavidWeerasooriya, gives thefollowing account of his meeting with his son , upon hisreturn to Ceylon , after joining The Salvation ArmyI found them to be regular fakirs, and I thought I

must , at any rate , make my son change his dress . Mr.Tucker, Arnolis, and myself got into the coach together.On the way, I said to him, Son , look at your hair . It isvery shabby. You are very foolish to let it grow so long.

COLONEL WEERASOORI YA. 67

But he said, Father, don’ t look at the outside

,but look

at my heart, how clean it is !’ I talked no more .

When we got down from the coach at Dodanduwa ,hundreds of people rushed to see this wonderful mystery .

In one of those meetings I and my daughter felt our sinsand got properly saved . Praise God !

Arnoliswas called to the Buddhist temple , to see hisuncle who Wasthen the High Priest of South Ceylon . His

uncle said ,‘ I don’ t like to see you in this awful dress,

’

and asked him to have another, to which Arnolis repliedby enquiring whether his uncle wou ld like him to put onthe robe of a Buddhist priest , and talk about Jesus , whohad cleansed all his sins away . No , no ,

’ said the uncle .

He then said,‘

Arnolis, you are living j ust the same asourBuddha said you ought to live . You have no lust for theworld . Also you are humble and patient . But you mustnot say it was Christ who altered your mind . You mustsay that you acquired it by your own exertions .

’

Therewere at that time twenty priests present , and I asked himif any of them possessed these good qual ities by their ownpower . They looked at one another, but no one answered .

From our Village they proceeded to Galle , where awonderful work broke out . Many souls were saved . Onething most beautiful occurred here . A rough knockedArnolis down, kicked and beat him . Instead of strikingback , he kissed the hands of hispersecutors , and, kneelingdown in the road

,prayed that God would forgive and

save themIn connection with this Visit to his uncle , it is interest

ing to note that Arnolis had himself been dedicatedto the Buddhist priesthood by his father, previous to hisconversion to Christianity . As a token of hisconsecrationa thread had been tied round his arm by his uncle , theHigh Priest . This thread was broken by his father, whenhe becam e a Chri stian . Arnolis, then a boy of twelve ,was SO angry at his father’ s action in breaking the thread,that he got hold of hisfather

’ s Bible , tore it and trampledupon it .Writing to welcome Commissioner Rahiman to India,

he says“I imagine to myself how grand you will look in the


native dress, and become one among the millions of nativewomen . I Should like to be the one who will wash yourfeet al l the time you are in India .

It was while I was on a Visit to England that a cablereached me from India, on 18th May, 1888 . I t was indeedlike a bolt from the blue . It announced thatWeerasooriya

had died of cholera .

Born on the 2oth September, 1857 , he had not yetcompleted his thirty-first year at the time of his death .

A European Officer had been stricken with‘

cholera,and

Weerasooriya, with hisusual intrepidi ty, had hurried to hisside to nurse him . As is well known, the disease is veryinfectious, andWeerasooriya caught the dreadful contagion,and while the one he had tended recovered, he himselfsuccumbed .

All the Officers on the Indi an Field felt that they hadlost a more than brother . He had endeared himself al iketo European and Indian . To myself personally the blowcame with crushing force . From the day I met him firstin the Madras Training Garrison our hearts had been knittogether

,and we had seen eye to eye on the great questions

which concerned the salvation of Indi a’s millions .

He had especial ly endeared himself to our Founder, andto the present General during hisbrief Visits to England,and all had anticipated for him a long and brilliant careercrowned with a great harvest of souls . But God

’

s wayswere not as ours .

His death was triumphant , tenderly his comrades nursedhim,

regardless of the risk to their own lives . The followingis a description of his death by one of our Officers whotended him devotedly to the lastHe died like a Soldier, with no Sign of fear, and amid

the most terrible agony, his face lit up with such a strangebrightness, as he said with a smile, I t

’

sn ice to be saved !

AS the weary hours of night wore on , and our hopes grewfainter

,we learned how much we loved him. Never before

did I realiz e what a hold our gentle and loving Colonelhad on my heart . We each felt , Lord, if it be Thy wi ll,take us, but spare Him .

’ He didn’

t talk much . He wantedto know if we had written to England . Histhoughts wereevidently with you . Then he asked if we were neglecting

CHAPTER IX .

FAKIRISM .

I am made all thingsto all men,that I might

by all meanssave some —1 Corin thiansix. 22 .

Get in to their skins.

William Booth .

The general rule having been laid down that we shouldadopt Indian costume and customs

,the application of

the rule to such practical questions as uniform , food,housing, and self-support engaged our earnest attentionfrom the very first .

At the time of our arrival in India we had very vaguenotions on the subj ect , and it is interesting to Observe thevarious stages

, first of experiment and modification , andfinally of definite regulation

,through which we passed .

Our original uniform for men consisted of a long whitej acket and scarf, with ordinary trousers, and Europeanboots, and turban with Muk tifauj badge . The womenwore white sarees

,the end coming over their heads . Both

men and women were supplied with double sun-umbrellas .

While we confined ourselves to City work,this way Of

dressing was fairly satisfactory, but as soon as we turnedour attention to the rural districts, it was open to considerab le obj ection .

Halls with chairs,or benches

,and bungalows with the

usual paraphernal ia of tables, chairs and other furniture,seemed quite all right so far as the cities were concerned,being very largely adopted by most of the middl e andupper-class Indians, while charpoys (beds) were frequentlymade use of by even the poorest classes .

But it was quite different in the Villages, where purenativism of the crudest character not only prevailed,but waspreferred .

FAKIRISM . 7 1

Our English boots were the Obj ects of the keenestcriticism, even in the cities, and we soon began to realizethat this badge of Western civilization would have to go .

At first we retained stockings and adopted Indian Shoes .

The usual kind worn in Bombay are of an ornamental, butmost uncomfortable pattern, intended more for Show thanfor use . When entering an Ind ian house

,shoes are left

at the door , It would be as rude to wear them indoors ,as to keep one ’s hat on in entering an English home .

When wal king any considerable distance an Indian whopossesses shoes will commonly take them off and carrythem under his arm .

There was another difficul ty about wearing Indian shoes .

Every time we went out , our stockings became hopelesslysoiled , besides developing large holes . We simply had

to give up wearing stock ings . But then came a still worseperplexity. Instead of wearing holes in our stockings,the Shoes cut holes in our feet , or created sores and blist e rsof a painful character.I can remember very well discarding for the first time my

Indian shoes,and going out barefooted for a march in

Bombay . The Corps Officer, Captain Hawthorne , a warmhearted Irishman

,nearly wept . He was sure I could not

do it , and insisted on carrying my shoes himself, so that Icould put them on at any time . But I came through theordeal successfully, without having to take advantageof his thoughtfulness !That was not always the case , however . At times inthe heat of the day the roads became absolutely unbearable ,and on one occasion a Short walk over burning sand resul tedin my being laid up for several weeks . However, this wasonly in the hottest places during the hottest parts of theday, and most of our open-air work was carried on atnight , or in the mornings and evenings . Hence , to gobarefooted was found more convenient than to wear theonly k inds of Indian shoes with which we had thenexperimented .

At a later stage in our history we discovered that sandals ,made of good leather

,would entirely do away with the

above di fficulties, and these became an essential part ofour Indian uniform,

and involved no hardship .


It is important to bear in mind that ninety per cent .of the population of India— 290 out Of 320 millionslive in villages

,and only 10 per cent —about 30 millions

in the cities . The habits of the two classes are diametrical lyopposed to each other, and methods which are quite suitedto the city, are al together unsuitable for the Villages .The tendency is for European Missionaries , includingthose of The Sal vation Army

,to settle in the cities, where

European comforts are within easy reach, and do notattract any special attention . The same tendency exis tswith all classes of Europeans, whether officials or otherwise . When duty carri es them on inspection, or forother purposes

,to the Villages, they usually make Special

arrangements to carry with them as many as possible oftheir city comfort s, which get to be regarded by them asabsolute necessaries, though they are by no means regardedas such by the Villagers .I was myself very much saturated with the notions

commonly prevailing among Europeans on this subj ect ,and it required no little effort on my part to throw asidemy long-established prej udices . However, I said to our

Ofli cers—a beautifully devoted band—that the onlyway to find out where the line coul d be fairly drawnbetween the possible and the impossible, or rather perhapsbetween the expedient and the inexpedient , was by boldlycrossing to the other Side and finding out by actualexperience which plans were to be retained and whichrej ected as unnecessary

,or undesirable .

The wonderful baptisms of the Holy Ghost whichobviously accompanied our first daring departures fromthe beaten track, both in Guj arat and Ceylon, satisfiedthose of us who were acting as pioneers in these mattersthat God ’s pecu liar blessing was resting upon us. Norwere those revivals a mere flash in the pan . The childrenand grand-children of the converts of those times are withus to-day, and after the lapse of nearly forty years, thepermanent character of those glorious awakenings leaves noroom for doubt .However, we were Very largely influenced in our plans

by the pressure of circumstances . Satisfied that ourgreatest results would, could, and must be achieved in the

FAKIRISM . 73

villages , we threw ourselves heart and soul into this branchof our work , and spent most of our time in looking afterour newly-made converts

,and in extending the work .

Let it be remembered that I n doing this , we had to dependentirely upon the people to whom we were ministering .

We had neither halls,nor homes

, nor money with whichto buy any . We accepted their hospitality, which wasalways generous , provided that we were willing to takewhat they could offer. Occasionally we might meetwith a rebuff, and they would close their doors againstus, but we found that it was no great hardship to sleepunder the trees , and in Ceylon , where the climate wasdamp , we could always make use of the amb lamas,

”

or Buddhist shelters,which were everywhere to be found ,

and were free to all .

Themore whole-heartedly and unreservedlywe threw ourselves upon the people , the more cordial wastheir response .

I was myself by no means the inventor of all ouradvances . Indeed , we seemed to vie with one anotherin thinking out new plans to help forward the work Oneof our pioneers changed his name . The Indian War Crydated 1st June , 1885, contains the first announcementof the change . It was not long before the rest of us followed suit . Hitherto we had kept to our English names ,and it had not occurred to us that it woul d be very helpfulto the work if we adopted names that were more Indian ,

and had something of a war Significance .

The same Officer suggested that instead of a blanketfor our bedding, we Should find sacking more convenientand suitable , and more easy to keep clean . The idea wasquickly accepted, as it helped to lighten the few belongings ,which each one carried for himself . Mine were containedin a small tin box

,which I called my Headquarters , as

it contained the few papers and wri ting material s whichI required to take with me on my tours .

We all travelled third-class,and usually chose the

crowded Indian compartment in preference to those setapart for Europeans . This was perhaps the most tryingpart of our cross

,as we could seldom get room to lie down

even on the floor of the carriage, and the j ourneys wereoften long and wearying.


But there were so many compensations and consolations .The people , wherever we might go , Simply showered kind~ness upon us .The following extracts from my diary give some interesting experiences from our j ourneys at this period :

Monday, 4th April, 1885 .

Bombay to Vasad . Only just in time for the train ,having quite forgotten that Bombay keeps two differenttimes

,the railway

,or Standard time for

_

all Ind ia,

being half an hour ahead of the Bombay City time .

This is like some people’ s religion,fast and go

-ahead,and glad to add an extra half-hour to their day,while others are such slow-coaches, they are behind therest of the world . I never could make out why the businesspeople of Bombay made such a fuss to prevent Standardtime being kept by everybody . In religion, however, itis common enough .

When we came to India we put our Salvation clock halfan hour faster than the other religious clocks in India byadopting native dress . This was not fast enough to suitus, and so we soon put on another hal f-hour by adoptingthe fakir costume . Thi s was still too slow, so we puton another hal f-hour by going barefooted . Too Slow still ,so we went in for Indian food . Not fast enough yet , sowe started begging and living under trees, and then beganto twist the hands of our clock to see if we cou ldn

’

t getanother hal f-hour extra . English shirts were next discarded, and nothing but a light cloth kept for the shou lders .If we can find any fresh way of adding another half-hourwe are determined to do it . People may say,

‘

HOWridiculous and ext ravagant to have our clocks threehours faster than everybody else’ s .

’ Some would likeus to keep Church of England time , and others Methodistor Baptist time, but we take our quadrants and havea good look at the Sun of Righteousness, so as to find outthe correct time which is kept by the clocks of Heaven .

No differences up there—a ll the clocks agree with thegreat Thy-will-be-done clock-tower. Only the earthlyclocks are a long way behind . We are getting oursregulated, and are only sorry it has taken so long .

What a crowd at the station ! What a tight pack !

FAKIRISM . 75

What shouting and squabbling ! Are you fully saved ?Are you quite sure about it ? Take a third-class ticketany day by the BB . 8c C. I . Railway ! to any station inGuj arat . A capital test for your Sal vation ! I f you cansmile your way sweetly through the j amming and shovingand squeezing and quarrelling , and then sit or stand in acompartment for twelve hours with ten to fifteen travellerspacked in with you , and a good lot of baggage as well—if

you keep your sanctification through all this , you wouldcertainly not think much of the difficulties that wouldmeet you at the other end

,when you come to see for your

self whether The Army really thrives in Gujarat , or

whether it exists only in the imagination of the Majorand some of his fanatical followers .

You would at least be sure of getting a nice soft pieceof sandy ground on which vou could stretch yourself fulllength at night .

Tuesday, 5ih .

Vasad to Borchasan . At Vasad we found our Comrades Grundy Bhai, Narain Das, Janj i Bhai, Musa Shahand others ready to welcome us . After wal king nearlyhalf-way to Borsad, we were glad to get into the bullockcart, which they had kindly brought for us , as the sandbecame so hot under foot that we could not walk over itwith our bare feet . On our way we were glad to stop andget a drink of water at the different spots Where somecharitable person had posted a servant to give water tothi rsty travellers , reminding one of Isaiah

’

s ‘ Ho everyone that thirsteth ! Come ye to the waters ! And hethat hath no money.

’

At Borsad we had a hearty welcome from Captain ValjiBhai and Lieutenant Jita Bai and all their family, and wenton the same evening to visit our outpost at Borchasan .

Th is was the first place where we had a smash among theHindus, and we found some of those first saved stillstanding and still determined to fight on to the last . Wehad a good meeting among them , and then went outsidethe village and Slept in an open space . We did sleep !So soundly that we could not remember having such asleep for ever so long

,and all voted that the open-air was

Bombay, Baroda,

and Cen tral Ind ia Railway.


better than any pal ace . The Staff Captain had j ust introduced sackcloth in the place of blankets . Two sacks sewntogether only cost six annas, whilst the cheapest blanketswe can get are one rupee . Besides they are stronger,and more useful and will not easily spoil . Then, too , asthe Ninevites of the present day will not sit in sackcloth and ashes for themselves

, we may well do i t for them .

If there are any Jonahs,who prefer to sit comfortably

under their gourds in their bungalows and look on to seewhat will happen

,we would rather keep out of t heir com

pany . If they love their gourds better than perishingsouls, so much the worse for them . Only let them take carethat their gourds do not wither .Before leaving Guj arat I was able to real ize fully that

the work in Guj arat had not been by might,nor power,

nor human wisdom,but by the Spirit Himself . Begun by

Weerasooriya and myself more than a year ago, it had beencarried on by others and was still flourishing, in spite ofall the efforts that malignity could invent to blast thework . There were the same faces, only brighter, holier,and happier ; the same testimonies, only full of greatercourage and confidence . Best of all, the Officers themselves had developed along thoroughly fakir lines, hadwonderqy improved in their knowledge of Guj arati ,and had added many new songs, choruses, and some first

rate native tunes to their previous stock .

There was a delightful spirit of unity and love amongus all . Everyone was confident of victory . Things whichhad before seemed so difficu lt and even impossible nowcame quite as a matter of course . We slept in the openair, begged for our food, bathed at the Village well, cleanedour teeth with a bit of stick, washed our hands and rinsedour mouths before meal s, poured water over our feet afterj ourneys, dipped our fingers into the dishes, and even atechillies, j ust as though we had been Indian villagers all ourlives .The following letter will give some idea of the im

pression created even in places where our visit was onlyof the briefest character

I have great pleasure in sending you to-day a postalorder for sixty rupees . I want to tell you that Rs .

78 FORTY YEARS m INDIA .

the tears had sprung to their eyes . In after years I usedsometimes to remark that I had preached one of my bestsermons when asleep . We have now a large and flourishingwork throughout the district where the incident occurred .

The exchange of coat and trousers for shoulder-clothand dh oti appeared to be no cross, when we were living,sleeping, eating and holding meetings among the swarmingmultitudes who did the same . To eat with our fingersthe k hichhri of Guj arat and the more savoury curries ofCeylon, seemed to us to be as natural as it was for thepeople whom we had come to save . I t put us on a levelwith them, and made them feel that we were really onewith them .

The life teemed with touching incidents . We werevisiting our Soldiers in a village where there had beendreadful persecution . It seemed as though they mustgive way and coul d no longer resist the pressure broughtto bear on them .

We announced at the conclusion of the night ’ s meetingthat we would devote the next two days to fasting andprayer, going away into the j ungles for the purpose . Theywere deeply touched and begged us at least to remain withthem until the morning . We refused, left the village andwalked for some distance across the fields .Guj arat abounds with thorn bushes, and it is sometimes

said that , but for these, there would be no crops, as theyare largely used to protect the fields from the cattle . Theroads are strewn with thorns

,and in the darkness of the

night , with our bare feet , it wasdifficult forWeerasooriyaand myself to make much progress . We found a secludedspot where we had a precious season of prayer, and at breakof day we walked on for a distance of several miles .Finally, on the bank of a river, under the shade of a banyantree, we settled down for our two days of prayer andfasting .

About noon we heard a shout in the distance , and sawseveral of the villagers running towards us . They toldus that the people had spent that night in tears andprayer. In the early morning

,knowing that we had

taken neither food nor water with us, they had goneout in parties to try to find us, to tell us that our prayer

FAK lRISM. 79

had already been answered, so that we could return to thevillage . At all costs they were determined to be faithful

.

They pressed us eagerly to return with them,but this

we declined to do , nor would we take the food which theyhad brought .

They reluctantly left us and carried the news back totheir village . Not long after we saw all the people comestreaming across the fields . They had resolved to spendthe time with us under the tree . It was a wonderfulseason of prayer and praise that followed .

The disciples were fil led with j oy, and with the HolyGhost —Acts xiii . 52 . Consecrations were renewed

,

praise followed prayer, and prayer followed praise in quicksuccession . They were indeed two days and nightswhich could never be blotted from our memories . Duringthe short interval s of sleep , while some of the people hadto return to their village for home duties, many sleptaround us, unwilling to leave us even for a few hours .

Nor was this a solitary instance of such prevailingprayer. We literally prayed our way through our difficul ties, and they were many . The answers which wereceived were truly remarkable .

There can be no doubt that the adoption of fakirlines at thi s time helped to throw wide open the door ofIndia before us, and it was beautiful to watch the way inwhich our pioneer Officers responded to the opportunity .

The words , Behold , I have set before you an openeddoor

,and no man can shut it , seemed to ring in our ears

like a clarion call . It seemed as though we were puttingour feet in the blood-besprink led footprints of our Master.He had said, Foxes have holes, and the birds of the airhave nests

,but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His

Head ! How near we felt Him to be in those days,and how many were the doors that opened before us,and how we literally gloried in each so-called sacrifice .

CHAPTER X .

NORTHERN INDIA .

The Lieut .-Governor of the Pun jab (Sir Lou isDane )h as paid a high complimen t to The Salvation

Army for its efiorts of reclamation . His Honour

has impressed on all Deputy Commissioners and

Police Officers the necessity of close co-operationwith The Salvation Army .

Civil and Military Gaz ette, Lahore.

Many flying visits were paid by me and other StaffOfficers to North India, but the great distance fromBombay, and the urgent demands made upon us by theGuj arat , Madras and Ceylon fields, made it difficult forus in the early days to give it the attention which it deserved .

As early as 1883 , a Corps was opened in Lahore, butthe Visible results appearing to be small, our Officers werewithdrawn .

We, however, continued to pay constant visits to thePunj ab , and to keep in touch with our friends there . Thefollowing account of one of these j ourneys was written byme at the time, and the tour proved to be full of interest .At some stations the most earnest entreaties were madefor us to stop , if only for a few hours . After passingthrough one station, a telegram was sent after me askingme to return . It was addressed to

A Beggar,3rd Class Compartment , Down Mixed Train .

At another place , a Brahmin Station Master told methat he was anxious to get saved , and wanted the Muk tifaujto come and tell the way of Salvation . On reachingFirozpur station, a Hindu gentleman who had beentravelling with me , slipped a rupee into my hand . Anothergave me a seat in his ekk a to the place where I wanted

80

NORTHERN IND IA . 81

to go . A native Chri stian official gave me a heartywelcome .

On the following Saturday, I paid a visit to Batala,a town in the Punj ab , where my Aunt , (MissC . M . Tucker) lived and laboured as a Missionary for sometwenty-six years . She lived about half a mile outside thecity, in a Boarding School for Indian boys . I wantedto see her as she had taken a keen interest in our work

,

and with her facile pen had sent val uable contributionsto our IndianWar Cry .

Before turning my steps in that direction,however

,

I entered the city, and had not gone far when a Hindugentleman stopped me , and asked me to what pantor sect I belonged . I replied, To the Jiwan MuktiPant (Get-Saved-while-you-are-alive Religion) , otherwisecal led Muk tifauj . And then came the question, wherewas I staying ? Under some trees, where I can speakfreely to the people, and deliver my message from God .

Would I accept the hospitality of hishome I declinedwith thank s . You are a high caste gentleman , and thepoor could not have access to me if I went into your house .

”

Indeed , he replied, my door shall be open to all .Nobody shall be shut out . On that condition I acceptedhis offer. It wasmeal time , and the best that the homecould produce wasset before me . The house was quicklypacked from end to end . Above my head was a trapdoor, leading to an upper room . That too was crowdedwith the ladies of the house . The meal finished, afterthe customary mouth and finger cleansing, for it had beeneaten of course

,Indian fashion, with my hand, my host

said, And now,let us hear your Message . Give us gyan

spiritual instruction .

Oh, how they listened ! Soul-hunger was written onthose eager faces . Could it be really true that there wasa Saviour

,Who could and would save them then and

thereAfter a time we heard voices at the door . SomeChristians from the Mission had heard that I was in thetown

,and had hunted for me high and low. Now they

wanted to take me there . The crowd would not budge aninch to make way for them . This Sadhu had noth ing to

G

82 FORTY YEARS 111 INDIA.

do with the Mission . He belonged to the J iwan Muk tiPant , or the Muk tifauj IFinally I was appealed to . How it recalled the scene

,

Thy mother and brethren stand without desiring tospeak with thee I felt indeed that that eager listeningcrowd were in a special sense my Mother and sisters andbrethren .

” I informed the Christians that I intendedto spend the day under a tree in the city, so that all couldhave access to me, but that in the evening I would visitmy Aunt before taking the train for Amritsar.The crowd followed me from the house and helped meto select a suitable spot—a chabutra, or raised platform ,

beneath the shade of a tree . I had not been there long,

when an invitation came from Munsifi Sher Singh, anIndian j udge, whom I had known while in Governmentservice , as a warm friend and sterling Christian, invitingme to hishouse . I declined the offer with thanks, but soonafter the Munsiff himself came riding up, dismounted,embraced me, and took his seat beside me on the ground .

When the time arrived for me to visit my Aunt , thecrowd followed me from the city . It wasan unusual sight .It had been always necessary for them to go to the peoplenow the people had come to them . My Aunt was notslow to see and seiz e the opportunity. Fetching herguitar and calling to the boys to come and help, she sangPunj abi bhaj ans , Christians hymns to popular Indiantunes, of which the people are very fond .

It was the last opportunity I had of meeting her. Afew years later she passed to her reward, and by her owndirection was buried without a coffin, near the scene ofher labours . She had noticed the growing tendency forexpensive funerals among the Native Christian community

,

often involving their families in debt , and sought in thisway to impress upon them the lessons of economy whichshe had taught them in life . She left behind her a sweetfragrance of Christian influence . Her grave has becomea sacred spot often visited alik e by Christian and nonChri stian .

From Batala,I took the train to Amri tsar, a distance

of some twenty miles . It was dark when I left the stationand entered the Hall Darwaz a (Gateway) , so named

84 FORTY YEARs IN IND IA .

The fakir in charge of the place received me kindly,and insisted on spreading a razai

,

”

(a padded quilt)for me on a raised place in the courtyard

,as he did not

think my sackcloth was sufficient .My guide was a soldier in a Sikh regiment , and he

looked after me with great kindness,while a Mahommedan

merchant , who had known me as an official , brought mea bowl of nice hot sweetened milk . He afterwards toldme that as he carried it , h is tears had fallen into the milkas he thought of the sacrifice which I had m ade . Hewatched me drink the milk

,tears and all

,with feelings that

he could not describe .

Early next morning, my friends took me round to seethe Darbar Sahib ,

” as the Golden Temple is called . HereI was recogniz ed by several people , and a large crowdsoon collected and followed me through the streets of thecity . One of them , a kindly Hindu , guessed that I hadnot breakfasted that morning, so he seated me at a sweetmeat shop, and gave me some very tasty sweets . It is agreat mistake, yet a common one among Europeans, tosuppose that Native food and sweetmeats are not nice .

Many of their dishes are excellent , and for vegetariansnothing coul d be better.After returning to the dharamsal a, large crowds

assembled and listened earnestly to the story of Salvation .

Some gave me pice,and others food . My mid—day meal

was provided by another fakir who lived next door tomy host . Afterwards they took me to a larger room ,

where the Granth Sahib (Sikh Scriptures) were usuallyread, and placed me on the gaddi (throne) of one of theirpri ests . Here again I had another opportunity of speaking .

My old friend,Babu Rallia Ram

,a highly- respected

Christian Pleader of Amritsar, whose brother, CaptainNarain Das

,is with us as an Officer, found me here , and

with some difficulty persuaded my hosts to allow him totake me to his home for a few hours, promising to bringme back in the afternoon , when it was arranged that ameeting shoul d be held in the Guru k a bagh, a gardenattached to the Temple .

This was one of the most remarkable events that hasyet occurred in our Indian history . So far as I am aware

NORTHERN IND IA . 85

no Christian meeting has either before or since been heldhere . A fri endly crowd awaited me on my arrival

,and

conducted me to an empty water tank,on the steps and

in the body of which most of them sat or stood . They gaveme a place on the edge of the tank

,where I sat down

.

with crossed legs, Indi an fashion, and taught the people .

A friendly and learned Pandit, who sat close beside me ,asked me several questions and raised some obj ectionsto what I had said, but it was done in a kindly spirit .

The meeting lasted for more than two hours,and there

must have been about three or four hundred people presentall the time, wh ile coming and going there could not havebeen less than eight hundred .

The evening was spent in talking and praying with afew whose hearts seemed to have been specially touched .

Many were the entreaties for me to prolong my visit .

I promised to return quickly, if they woul d write or wireme that they had made up their minds to be saved

,but

told them that it would be useless for me to stay unlessthey did this, and that if they wanted time to make uptheir minds I must hurry away to those who were alreadyprepared to settle the question .

My heart yearns over these Punj abis . They are agrand race , and when saved will make us splendidSoldiers . The fields seem ripe for the harvest , and we arepraying the Lord to send forth more labourers to enableus to occupy it .It was not until 1895 that a small party wasdispatched

to attack the Punj ab vill ages , on the Boom March plan .

In the course of a few months , they were able to reportthe opening of 61 Corps and Outposts, and had raised upabout 100 Officers and Cadets .

A little later Colonel Yuddha Bai (Bannister) wastransferred from the Maratha country to the Punj ab .

Under her experienced and sympathetic leadership , thework in the Punj ab made rapid progress , her Headquartersbeing established in Gurdaspur, the centre of a denselypopulated village area . The districts of Amritsar, DehraNanak

,and Sialkot were successively occupied, and the

Headquarters were finally transferred to Lahore, thecapital of the Province .


The following touching story of the death of one ofour little Punj abi Juniors from the pen of the late ColonelYuddha Bai (Bannister) , gives a vivid glimpse of thepowerful influence of the Gospel in the lives of thesesirnple villagersOur dear Subadar Ditt , of Daburjee Village , has had

his home literally emptied by death . It would be impossible to see a more holy and beautifully resignedexpression than his rugged face bore, when he came intothe Headquarters to ask us to hold a memorial servicein the village . We went , and our hearts were filled withwonderfully mixed feelings of j oy and sorrow.

Daburjee was only an outpost , but by the constantlyrepeated earnest entreaties of Ditt, we made it into aCorps, and sent an Officer there and opened a Day School .The Subadar’ s three children, a boy of twelve named

Munshi, a girl of nine, and another boy of six,were all

pupils in the school . Little Munshi was a boy of muchpromise, and as he was getting on well in the day schoolhis father had entertained the fond hope of presentlysending him to the Industrial School with a view to hisbecoming a Salvation Army Officer . The Lord acceptedthe father’ s offering of hisson , but not as Ditt had expected .

The angel, disguised as death, entered the humble butsatisfied dwelling

,and in two short days had snatched

away the mother and the three children .

The bereaved father himself gave me an account oflittle Munshi’ s triumphant death . There was no fear, hesaid, no terror at the pain or approach of death . Heasked him , My boy, do you want anything ?

’ and heanswered

,Bring me the Testament and the dolak (drum) .

They were brought and placed on his bed . Now,

’ he said,I will say my lesson,

’ and he repeated some Bible lessonshe had learned by heart . Then he sang the chorus

Mera Premi Rab Yisu !Mera d il k a pyara T u

Which meansOh my loving Lord JesusThou art th e beloved of my heart !

Then as his father anxiously asked if he wantedanything

,he replied triumphantly, No

,that ’ s enough ,


In Naini Tal I was the guest of the leading Hindu,and during my stay he threw open hishome to all classesof Indians who might wish to meet me . During the finalevening Of my stay he sent out an invitation to the leadingmembers of the Indian community, and after an intenselyinteresting meeting, a silver salver wastaken round amongthe guests and a generous amount raised for The SalvationArmy.

The same gentleman presided for me at a public meetingin Ahnorah , and made a speech warmly commending thework Of The Army . The English District Magistrateafterwards said ' to him, Sadar Amin Sahib, you havealways been k nown to be a strict Hindu . How is it thatyou presided at The Salvation Army Meeting ? HadI seen Christianity before like this,

” he replied, I shouldmyself have been a Christian .

Similar receptions were accorded to us in Lucknow,

Allahabad, and Benares . If Officers had been availablefor us to take advantage of this flowing tide, the samescenes which were witnessed in Guj arat and Ceylon woulddoubtless have been repeated in the United Provinces .But our hands were full, and it was impossible for us toenter the many doors of opportunity that presented themselves to us .It was not till ten years later, in 1892 ,

that our firstBoom March ! was arranged . It met with considerablesuccess, but we were again unable to take full advantageof it through the shortage of Officers

,and the urgent needs

of other fields .In February, 1895, another Boom March was arranged

under the leadership Of an able and energetic EuropeanOfficer, assisted by a party of forty Guj arati Officers .More than thirty Corps were opened, and a work organizedwhich has been maintained ever since . While not equal lingother parts of India, owing to the scattered nature of thepopulation among whom we work, our Officers haveplodded on with a persistence and courage beyond praise .

‘ See Chapter VI I for an explanation of Boom Marches.

CHAPTER X I .

THE POLICY OF PARTIES .

All that isold isnot on that accoun tWorthy of praise nor isa noveltyBy reason of its newness to be censured .

Kalidasa .

The work in India had been watched with keen interestfrom the Homeland, and when the Founder announcedhis intention of sending reinforcements, and called forvolunteers, no less than 150 Officers came forward, un

deterred by the severities and hardships of the fakirlines, about which they had heard so much . Fromamongst these a party of forty was chosen .

A special ship was chartered on which third-classpassages were engaged at extremely moderate rates .

We had the ship entirely to ourselves, and could thereforemake arrangements to suit our own convenience forspiritual meetings

,language lessons

,lectures on India

and Ceylon,or music and band practice .

By the time the party reached Ceylon , they were ableto pray

,sing

,and testify in Singhalese

,and had gained a

rudimentary knowledge of the people , their language, andcustoms

,which was most useful to them after their arrival .

The following account of the voyage and landing waswritten at the time by one of the partyThe life we are having on board is indescribable .

The Lord is indeed blessing us with the j oys of self-sacrifice .

The pangs of partn with parents and friends have beentaken entirely away

,and the ri chest blessings have fil led

our souls . We are carrying out to the letter the inj unction given in our Song,

‘ There ’ l l be meetings all d ayOu r experiences to say.

’

go FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

On arriving at Port Said the whole party landed,

our band played and marched round the town we stirredthe whole place , and finished up with an open-air meetingon the beach . There was perfect order, while Salvationwas preached to the crowd in five languages . As our partywas returning to the ship, they were followed by three orfour who professed to get saved .

“ The following programme will give some idea of thework done during the voyage .

Engagements for the Day :a .m. Bugle call—Rise, wash , bathe, dress, tidy

bunks, private reading and prayer .a.m. Extension drill .a.m. Breakfast .

a.m. Chapter from Soldier’

s Guide , and pray forOfficers in the Field .

a.m. Language Lesson for Lads, MajorWeerasooriyain charge .

a.m. Band Practice for Lads, Captain Voisey incharge .

a.m. Language Lesson for Lasses, Major Weerasooriya in charge .

Dinner .pm. Knee-drill , prayer for the General and the Army

and chapter from the Field Officer .

pm. Exercise in Language .

pm. United Meeting on poop .

pm. Tea .

pm. Chapter from Soldier’ s Guide and prayer.

pm. Band Practice .

“A lecture was given daily by the Commissioner orMaj or Weerasooriya on India, its climate, its peoples, itsreligi ons, its customs, its languages, etc . A blackboardwas used to assist in giving language lessons and lectures,and proved to be of great service .

On the voyage all the officers adopted native names ,which the people can pronounce and understand muchbetter than English names .

“An Officers’ Band wasorganized on board, and although

many of them could not play any instrument when leavingEngland, great progress was made before reaching Ceylon .


The various parties were usually known by some specialname, such as the Jubilee Fifty, the Wedding F ifty, theMemori al Fifty

,the Founder’ s Memori al Party, the Swedish

Party, the Calypso Party of 120—(not all of these last ,however, were destined for India) .There were many obvious advantages in this Policy ofParties .The first was in regard to the Officers themselves .

They were enthused,and filled with a z eal and devotion,

which were infectious and particularly helpful to those whomight be lacking in faith and easily discouraged .

Again, the arrival of these large parties helped to attractthe interest and attention of the people to whom theywere sent, and secured larger and more immediate resultsin the way of both crowds and conversions .Amongst those who have been transferred to othercountries may be mentioned Commissioner Jai Singh(Bullard) , who has rendered valuable service in Japanand in the West Indi es, where he is now in command .

Commissioner Rub ani ! (Mrs . Booth Hellberg) , aftercommanding the work in India

,together with her late

husband, for several years , is now in charge of the workin Norway .

Commissioner Sena Singh (Sowton) , after a very successful term of service as Chief Secretary in India for six years ,ably assisted by his wife

,was transferred as Territorial

Commander to Canada West,then to Sweden , and lastly

to Canada East .Lieut . -Commissioner Nurani (Case) , one of our veteran

pioneers , has now retired, and is in the Homeland .

Lieut . -Commissioner Yisu Ratnam (Stevens) , is now incharge of Chosen (Korea) , assisted by his devoted wife .

In addition to the above many othersmight be mentioned .

One important influence whi ch the coming Of thesesuccessive parties exercised consisted in the modificationOf the fakir lines . It wasthought desirable and necessaryto introduce special safegu ards for the health of the incoming Officers, and to regulate questions of uniform ,

food, house accommodation, salaries, education of children,homes of rest for Sick and convalescent Oflicers, etc .

A number of the new arrivals were married, a few had

Youngest daughter of th e F ounder .

THE POLICY OF PARTIES. 93

families , the marriages of others were being arranged ,

while other volunteer families were waiting in the background for the settlement and regulation of these variousquestions .

The present attractive uniform , with its red j acketfor both men and women , helped to supplement and stampthe hall -mark of The Army on the fakir-coloured turban

,

dhoti and Shoulder-cloth of the men , and the sari of thewomen, for whom , when exposed to the sun , a topi wasconsidered to be necessary as a protection for the head ,

in addition to the double umbrella .

In regard to salary,the question was at first met by a

weekly minimum grant for each Officer, whether Europeanor Indian . The following memorandum on the subj ectwas issued to the Officers

IND IAN TERRITORY .

Allowances for Officers .

No Guarantees.

1 . As in the case Of Salvation Army Officers all overthe world , it must be distinctly understood that no salaryor allowance is guaranteed to any Indian Officers .

Self-Support.

2 . Similarly every Officer will be expected to makehis Corps self supporting. It is specially with a view tothis that Native food and clothing have been adopted .

The majority of the Town Corps are already strictly selfsupporting .

I ndiansand Eu ropeans.

3 . The following rules apply equally to Indian andEuropean Officers , who shall continue to be placed, as inthe past

,on the same footing with each other .

lVI inimnm Allowance.

4 . Officers in poor Corps (especially in low-caste villages) ,shall receive a special week ly food (or subsistence) grantaccording to the following scale

Each OfficerEach child under 3

Each child under 8Each ch ild over 8


Divisional Ofiicer Pays.

5 . The DC . in command of the District or Divisionshall decide whether Officers are entitled to receive thi sgrant , and shall see that the necessary amount is receivedby them weekly .

Clothing Grants.

6. The DC. may also grant to Officers in charge of poorCorps such blankets , clothing and medicine as may benecessary

,and shall be responsible in these respects for

watching over the temporal needs of his Officers .

Postage Allowance.

7 . A special postage allowance shall be given to EuropeanOfficers in charge of poor Corps , not exceeding the sumOf nine annas each per month .

Town Corps.

8 . In towns experience has proved that , while livingin such places is more costly than in villages

,yet it is

comparatively easy for an active Officer to pay all hispersonal and Corps expenses . Now, however, that thenumber of our Officers has so greatly increased, it hasbecome necessary for their guidance that a maximumlimit Should be fixed for personal expenses . This willhave the double advantage of checking extravagance

,

and of preventing Officers from being troubled with doubtsand conscientious scruples on the subj ect .

AMaximum Limit.

9 . In such cases no Officers shall be entitled to exceedthe following week ly scale of allowances, such amountsbeing only drawn in fu ll when all the other Corps liabilitieshave been duly met .

Single Officer living alone RS.2 8 0

More than one Officer livingtogether , each

Each child under 3Each child under 8Each child under 14Each child over 14

Personal Expenses.

10. Officers drawing the maximum allowance will beexpected to pay their personal expenses, such as food,


When the name of God wasmentioned, Buddha placedhis finger on his lips . He was an agnostic and refused todiscuss the question .

This indefinite teaching seemed to lead to nothing,

and quickly palled on the crowd .

But the opposition was none the less brisk . Not infrequently a Shower of stones would greet our procession

,

though we were marvellously preserved . I can remembera stone bounding offmy head . I had nothing but an Armyhandkerchief wrapped, Singhalese fashion , round my head .

The blow did not even produce a bruise . Another timewe were holding an Open-ai r in Angul ana when a Buddhistran up with a staff and struck me a blow across my backwhich ought to have felled me to the ground . It was asif an angel hand repelled its force , and I scarcely felt theblow .

On some of our converts the persecution fell with specialseverity, and it was beautiful to witness the courage andconstancy with which they endured their sufferings .

The following story of a young woman convert , namedPavistina, created a profound impression at the timeOne of our Moratuwa lasses hasbeen severely stabbed .

The Buddhist young man, to whom she had been en

gaged , met her as she was leaving a meeting, and stabbedher in seven places . The doctor gave his opinion that eachstab was intended to kill her ; almost every wound hadto be stitched . This operation wasso trying that MajorWeerasooriya said he was not strong enough to look atthe painful process . Amidst all this she could rej oiceabundantly in her Saviour, who marvellously sustainedher

,and gave her grace to glorify His Name . As the

stitching was going on , her face was lit up with j oy . Abig crowd gathered around, and occasionally opening hereyes

,and lifting her head, she preached Salvation to them ,

pleading with them to give their hearts to God at once,

declaring her determination to fight for Jesus till thelast .

The man was arrested, tried, and sent to prison forfive years . AS the time for his release drew near, herenewed his threats and announced his determination tokill some Salvationist . But j ust a day or two before his

THE POLICY or PARTIES. 97

term of imprisonment was over, though apparently inexcellent health , he suddenly fell dead .

”

It was about the same time that the conversion of ayoung Mahommedan in Kandy created great excitementamongst that community . He was the son of a leadingMaulvi (priest) , and had been constantly attending ourmeetings for some months . One night he came forwardto the penitent form , and sought and claimed salvation .

The news flew like magic through the town,and in a few

minutes our hall wasbesieged by a great crowd of Mahommedans. Fortunately, we were near the Police Station ,

and with some di fficulty the Police were able to rescuethe young man and shelter him for the night . I n themorning he was taken before the Magistrate . The courtwas crowded with Mahommedans

,and the aged father

pleaded with his son to abjure hisnew faith , and to returnto that of his ancestors . The Magistrate advised him todo the same . But he wasfirm, and though the attitudeof the crowd was threatening, and he knew it wouldprobably cost him his life , he never wavered . He wastaken back to the Police Station with considerable d ifficul ty, and we were able that evening to get h im away toColombo .

The news spread through the city that he had come ,and it wasbelieved that he wasin our open-air procession .

A crowd of Mahommedans quickly gathered around us,

and our position became perilous . Stones were flyingand sticks were brandished

,when the Buddhists heard that

the Mahommedans were attack ing the GelavimaHamudava

(Sal vation Army) . In a few minutes they had swarmedaround us

,and bidding us march on, they turned upon the

Mahommedan rioters and cleared the streets of them .

There is no love lost between the Buddhists and Mabommedansof Ceylon,

and on this occasion they were glad topose asour champions and defenders .

On another occasion when the Hindus attacked us inthe streets of a South Indian town , it wasthe Mahommedanswho came to our help

,and formed a nightly bodyguard for

our procession . So that from the most unexpectedquarters we received unsought help and deliverance .

CHAPTER XI I .

THE BOOM MARCH .

Cal l us not out-castes ! On ly wicked men ,

And those who harm the good are true ou t-castes.

Mrichakatzk a .

The next field which we diligently explored was that ofSouthern India . It is here that by far the largest proportion of Indian Christians may be found . But thisdid not facilitate our task, and a longer period elapsedbefore we found our feet in this Presidency than had beenthe case in either Guj arat or Ceylon .

We made our fir st start in the City of Madras, and herewe received a warm welcome . During the first threemonths after our arrival there were some 400 professedconversions . But to enroll any considerable number asSoldiers was quite a different matter, and we soon discovered that the same difficulties existed here as in theother large cities of India in regard to securing the kindOf results we desired, with a view to creating a permanentfighting force .

Neither Weerasooriya, nor any of our European Staff,including myself, had any practical knowledge of thispart of India, its languages, or of the extreme rigidity ofits upper castes . Moreover the old difficulty met us inan intensified form of all the most hopeful fields beingClaimed and occupied by Missions , who had been long inthe country .

Ninety-nine-hundredths of the Christian converts ofSouth India probably came originally from the depressedcastes of the rural areas . But many of them were theChildren, grand-children, and still more remote descendantsof their original ancestors . One hundred years of education,civilization, and moral and social advancement had made

98

I OO FORTY YEARS IN INDIA .

Accordingly we launched our efforts, and openedsuccessively the cities of Tanjore, Negapatam , Kumbak onam, Trichinopoly, and Coimbatore , establishingat the last-named place a Tamil Training Garrison . Theassault upon these strongholds of Brahminism weremade with a courage, faith , and persistence, which couldnot fail to produce considerable results . In several citiesconverts were made of a really remarkable character

,

but the tornadoes of persecution that burst over theirdevoted heads usually Swept them out of our Sight, and wecould seldom find out what had become Of them .

Our tactics at this time were intended to reach and attractthe castes whom we were endeavouring to capture forChrist . We even adopted their system of caste marks .

Those who are familiar with Hinduism in South Indiawill be aware that it is divided into the two great sects ofVishnavites and Shivites— the followers respectively ofVishnu and Shiva . They are distingu ished from eachother by distinctive caste-marks, which they place on theirforeheads . The Shiviteshave three horizontal white stripesacross their foreheads . The Vishnavites have two whitevertical markswith a red central mark, the two white marksmeeting in a Single line along the nose .

There can be little doubt that in past and long-forgottenages, both were original ly intended to typify the Trinity,while the Vishnavite further accentuated the Unity of theGodhead

,and the blood-red mark probably signified the

blood of Christ . In confirmation of this may be mentionedthe legend regarding Vishnu . A dove, pursued by aneagle

,is said to have taken refuge in Vishnu’

s bosom,

where he afforded it shelter . The eagle demanded that itsprey Should be surrendered to it , but as a substituteVishnu gave permission to the eagle to tear the equivalentof flesh from hisown bosom— thus inculcating the doctrineof Substitution and Sacrifice of a Sinless Incarnation ofthe Deity for sinful man .

To meet this condition of things, and somewhat to thehorror of our Christian friends , we boldly adopted a systemof caste marks, The Army colours, red, yellow and bluebeing transversely painted across our brows . For thispurpose we carried little paint-pots and oil colours

,which

THE BOOM MARCH . 101

would not run , owing to either perspiration or rain . Therecan be no doubt that the plan served itspurpose admirably

,

and helped to place us on a most fri end ly footing withthe people we were after, while the marks were a constanttext from which we could preach and enforce the threegreat Salvation Army doctrines of Pardon

,Purity and

Power—Of Salvation, Sanctification and Soldierhoodfixing them upon the minds and hearts of our hearersin a way that perhaps nothing else could havedone .

However, after a prolonged effort , covering a periodof about three or four years, we gradually came to the sameconclusion as we had done in Bombay some ten yearspreviously, that it was to the sixty millions of DepressedCastes that our mission lay, and not to the high-casteHindus

,who represented very much the Pharisees and

Sadducees of the days of John the Baptist and Of Christ .We reminded ourselves that Christ Himself had said, Tothe poor the Gospel is preached, and How hardly Shallthe rich enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, while thegreat Missionary, Paul , had wri tten, Not many mighty,not many noble

,were called but God had chosen the

foolish,the weak and the base to confound the wise and

mighty, that no flesh might glory in His presence . Aboveall we realized that the same blessing was not attendingour city policy as had attended the attacks we hadpreviously made on the vast rural population of India,where we had by this time succeeded in raising up aSoldiery of some ten thousand members .

We had now become familiar with the Southern field ,

and had pushed a few outposts into some of its ruraldistricts . At the invitation of Mr . Cox, a Christian planterof Travancore

, we had sent a few Officers to hisestate andto some of the neighbouring villages .

In May, 1892 ,

the Divisional Commander of the SouthernField decided

,with the approval of the Bombay Head

quarters,to apply to South India a novel system of warfare ,

which had been introduced with remarkable success duringthe last two years in Gujarat for the opening up Of newand hitherto untouched districts, and for the extensionof the work .


I ntroduction of BoomMarches.

The introduction of the Boom March was surely one Ofthose inspirations Of the Holy Spirit to those who live inconstant touch with His leadings, the importance ofwhich was not at the time fully realiz ed .

The plan wasbriefly as followsThe leaders ascertained, by careful enquiry among

our own people, which of the neighbouring districts andcastes were the most approachable and likely to surrenderto a concentrated attack .

An experi enced Pioneer Officer wasthen selected to visitthese Distri cts along fakir lines, without appearing,however, in Sal vation Army Uniform , as we were anxiousto avoid giving a clue regarding our intentions to hostilecastes, and to those who were likely to oppose our coming .

The Pioneer visited the most likely vill ages, interviewedthe leading people o f the caste we were aiming at, andafter explaining to them the obj ect s and purposes Of TheArmy

,said that it was proposed for a party of Sal vationists

with music, flags and other attractions to visit theirdistrict—would they send them an invitation and wouldthey help with the food arrangements ? It was not longbefore the curiosity of the people wasaroused, and the waywas thus prepared for the coming of the party. It wasinvariably arranged that it shou ld be at the slack agricultural season, when the people could most convenientlyspare the necessary time for day and night meetings.Meanwhile the party had been getting ready, and there

had been special seasons of private and public prayerarranged among its members . Usually a target of timeand results would be fixed, in order to give a definite pointto their faith and prayers . At first we were more thanpleased if we could aim at and reach a target of three orfour hundred converts, but our faith gradually increasedtill it usually aimed at a minimum Of one thousand seekersin the three or four weeks during which the Boom Marchlasted .

The composition of the party was very carefully considered . It always included two or three of our mostexperienced and successful Indian soul-winners, of the typeof Weerasooriya, with, if possible, the local touch , which


The number of souls seeking Salvation in the Guj aratDivision amounted to being the greatest numberin any division in the world . One special feature of theCampaign

,which resulted in great blessing, was an All

Night of Prayer for the whole Division in a central Corps .”

A month later another Boom March was organiz ed,of which the following description was writtenFilled with enlarged desires begotten in the glorious

seasons of spiritual blessing during the General’

s visit ,some of our leaders concerted an attack on the heathendarkness of Guj arat on a scale hitherto unattempted,boldly announcing their intention of compassing theconversion of a thousand Guj aratis . A hundred Officerswere collected

,with horses

,camels, war-chariots, flags,

drums and a brass band to sweep through the country .

Twenty- eight villages were to be attacked and fifteen daysoccupied in the onslaught , companies were told off forspecial attacks and for visiting and dealing personallywith the Sinners and the convicted souls . It was a boldannouncement

,and those who believed, believed with

trembling .

On Tuesday, 19th April , 1892 , the mobiliz ation of the

troops took place at Atmapur near Khaira , and on the

4th May a special despatch announces the close of thecampaign with the following magnificent resultsTotal number of people seeking Salvation during the

fifteen days

Pat id ars

KolisDh erdsBhangisChamars

In May,1892 ,

the Officer in Charge of the MadrasDivision left that city for Travancore with a large reinforcement

,which had been gathered together for the

purpose . The followrng brief summary of the campaignwaswritten at the timeSome forty—Six Officers mustered for this campaign

at Miladie, on Sunday, 27th May, and on Monday thecolumn started on its triumphant course . Slowly rosethe tide of conquest until , by the 13th June, the capture

THE BOOM MARCH . 105

of prisoners was wired , and as a somewhat newfeature, the building of barracks for some of the newlyformed Corps was begun while the march was still inprogress, ground being given by the converts . By June2oth, a gr and total of souls sought Salvation

,three

new distri cts were formed, and what had been previouslya mere handful of village Soldiers was suddenly transformed into a large and important centre of Salvationactivity, instinct with all the enthusiasm and go belongingto a brand new concern .

By the month of November the work had assumed suchproportions that it became necessary to form it into aseparate Division, which was placed under the charge ofMajor Jeya Kodi (Johnston) . By the end of September,1893 , the Major was able to thus summarize the resultsof the yearMuch time has been spent raising Cadets , erecting

cheap buildings,and otherwise consolidating the work

done on the first Boom March (June, Nevertheless,soul-saving has gone steadily on

,and preparations made

for a great extension during 1894. About souls haveprofessed Salvation in new openings and old Corps, amongthem being many noted for devil -dancing and wickedness .

During the year about 800 new Soldiers have been enrolled,but making allowance for some losses, our increase wouldbe about 600 Soldiers .Speaking of this Travancore Boom March , Staff Captain

Sukh Singh (Blowers) , who is now Commissioner in chargeof the Southern India Territory

,said 1

The number of available Officers that can beleft behind to carry on the permanent work fixesthe limits of the march . It is no use going anyfurther when there are no more Corps Officee Wecould have gone on and captured village after Vi llage,almost without limit

,if we had had more Officers . The

reason we did not have so many people saved as duringsome other marches was Simply because of the lack ofOfficers . We went on until every available Officer wasstationed, then we had to stop .

CHAPTER XIII.

PERSECUTIONS AND PROSECUTIONS .

Great Spiritual harvests are not gathered by the fireside .

Railton .

Both in the Marathi country, and in Travancore , thesuccess of these Boom Marches gave rise to bitter oppositionon the part of the high-caste Hindu popu lation . Theyhad successfully defeated our efforts to make inroadsamong their own castes, and they now viewed, if not withequal alarm , at least with hostility, the rapid progress wewere making among those whom they had for countlessages regarded as hereditary serfs . They felt that theground was slipping from beneath their feet . Al ready aconsiderable proportion of the popul ation of Travancorehad openly professed Chri stianity, the last Census of 1921showing the number of Native Christians to beout of a total population ofThe following account of these persecutions waswrittenat the time, and will gi ve some idea of the storm ofsuffering through which both Officers and Soldiers passedDuring the next month or two great advances were

made . Many Sites of land for barracks-bu ilding weregiven by the villagers . About a dozen schools werestart ed for the children of the converts . Many new Corpsand Outposts were Opened . Scores of Soldiers were en

rolled . Temple after temple wasgiven up for Salvationpurposes . A Training Garrison for men Cadets andanother for women Cadets were opened, and in everypossibleway the work was consolidated and the foundationswell laid for unlimited extension .

A time of severe persecution now began,and in

December the high-caste burnt down one of the barracksand also trumped up a false charge against the Soldiers


be less than one hundred devil-dancers like the foregoing,who through The Salvation Army are now bright , happyworshippers of Jesus .

’

In January the caste people became more and moredesperate in their attacks upon The Army. Besidesbringing all manner of false charges against our Soldiersin one case employing four lawyers to prosecute , butyet lost their case—burning several barracks down, andin many other ways trying our people to the utmost .They got up a fou l plot which, if successful , might possiblyhave ended in very serious consequences .About four miles from Cape Comorin is the large

temple of Suchindra, which is of such importance thateven the Raj ah of Travancore has to fast during certainof its festivals . The plot was to capture some Salvationistsand carry them into the precincts of the temple , whichwould desecrate it , then to call the police and charge theSalvationists with wilfully invading the place with intentto attack and destroy the idol . But Adjutant YisuRatnam (now Lieut .-Commissioner in charge of Chosen,Korea) , who was then in Charge of the work in this district ,heard of the plot, informed the Government, and, ofcourse, saw that the road to the temple was carefullyavoided .

The plot was arranged to have taken place during aspecial ten days ’ festival . When the festival was overthe Sudras became enraged at the failure of their plans,and determined to have their revenge . They laid in waitfor Adjutant Yisu Ratnam when they knew he woul d bereturning from a certain village at night after holding ameeting . It was nearly midnight and very dark when theunsuspecting Adjutant started on his homeward journey.

He had not gone far before the ruffians sprang out uponhim . He ran back for his life , but the gang swiftlyfollowed him , ran him down, beat him unmercifully andleft him lying helpless and alone on the road . After atime he managed to get back to the vil lage, and had j ustreached the Barracks when his persecutors came in acrowd yelling out , Where is he ? Kil l him ! ’ TheAdjutant jumped out of the back window, and just as hedid so the crowd burst open the front door

,and, finding

PERSECUTIONS AND PROSECUTIONS . 109

their prey gone , wreaked their vengeance upon the lampsand fittings of the building, smashing everything top1eces .An incident of a very different kind comes in the record

of the same month . A District Officer,Adjutant Deva

Sundram , and some Field Officers, were going home onenight after a meeting, when they were surprised by hearingsounds of Singing and a Salvation Army meeting goingon in a village in which they knew no work had beenstarted We have no Corps in that village and have neverheld a meeting in it ,

’ exclaimed the DO ,

‘ what can thismean ? Let us go and see ! ’ After crossing some fieldsthey came upon a villager leading a meeting . They fireda ringing volley on seeing the Officers

,and explanations

followed . The man who wasleading the meeting got savedat an adjoining Corps and had started meetings to gethis own village saved .

At the beginning of March about 400 Soldiers and all

the Officers in the Division met in Nagercoil to welcome theMaharaj ah who was passing through the town . A largeand artistic arch was erected , with a large painting of theMaharaj ah in the centre of The Army crest . The Soldierswere drawn up on both sides Of the road and the Maharaj ahand suite passed through them and saw for the first timesome of the results of the two years

’

work of theRatchaniya Senai in his State .

At the end of March the court cases against theSoldiers had all been settled except one . Several of thosedecided against us were afterwards reversed on appeal tothe High Court . The one case outstanding afterwardsbecame notorious . A Tamil Lieutenant , Manik am byname , entered a caste street in Thalak udi during a festivalto buy some plantains . The lad was of the Vellal a caste ,members of whi ch are allowed in any Brahmin streetexcept on the occasion of a wedding when the Brahminsar e eating . But having in The Army worked amongPariahs

,this was qui te enough—the lad was seized and

carried off to the police court . After some trouble hewas released on bail for the sum of Rs. 500. Appeal wasmade to the Diwan of Travancore and to the BritishResident

,but while the case wasbeing considered by these


authorities the lad wasdragged up to the court no lessthanSixteen times, lost Sixteen days, and was put into prisontwice, and travelled more than 200 miles over the affair .In the end he was sentenced to twenty days’ imprisonment .Several South Indian newspapers spoke out strongly

about the affai r, and pointed out its inj ustice . After theLieutenant had gone to serve his sentence, a telegram wassent to His Excellency the Governor Of Madras, askinghim to interfere . Lord Wenlock in reply said thatinstructions had been telegraphed to the British Residentto enquire into the case, and that he had given orders thatin future all such cases should be deal t with by

,

the Distri ctFirst-Class Magistrate only. But after all, the Lieutenanthad to serve his twenty days, and received very harshtreatment from the j ail authorities .Before this case was over the high-caste burnt down

the Katk ad barracks which cost about Rs. 150. But theSoldiers immediately set to work to get the place rebuil t ,and about Rs . 150 were raised on the spot and in a fewsurrounding villages .

At the end of July the Cape Comorin Division wasworking fifty

-one villages and the number of scholarsin the schools amounted to 461 .

About this time there were six devil temples promisedto The Army on condition that Ratchaniya Senai templeswould be put up in their places .As one of the many proofs of the love of the people

towards the Ratchaniya Senai may be mentioned the factthat all through the year the cry has come from untouchedvillages for work to be begun in their midst . Major JeyaKodi writes Invitations to open new villages pour uponus

,making us sick at heart . Oh , for Officers and money

that we might seize all these opportunitiesThe following story is told of one of the converts in

Travancore, and throws an interesting Sidelight regardingthe persecutions which were so patiently enduredHe was an Old man —how Old no one knew—but his

white hair and tottering gait proved that he had passedhis threescore and ten . He was a Pariah , and had in hisday been the leader, or chief man , in a wide district ,though his son had now stepped into his authority and

1 12 FORTY YEARS IN IND IA .

all the food they required , if they would give up salvationand return to their old religion .

The work in Travancore has continued to steadilydevelop . At an early date it wasextended to the Northerndistricts, where the Malayali language is spoken, including Trivandrum, Tiruvellar , Mavalik arai, and otherdistricts . More recently the neighbouring State of Cochinhasalso been Opened .

The annual Melas , or Mass Meetings, which are heldevery year in the pri ncipal centres , form an importantfeature of the work , and are greatly looked forward to ,not only by our own people, but by increasing numbersof Hindus belonging to all castes . The numbersassembling usually range from to persons,and during the recent visit of the General to Travancore ,it was estimated that no less than people weregathered to welcome him at Nagarcoil .These annual Melas are a great feature in the religious

li fe of India, and it is extremely encouraging to knowthat the vast crowds which have hitherto flocked toHindu T emples and Bathing Places are now beginning inreal earnest to turn to Christ . Nothing about theseimmense gatherings is so remarkable as the intense earnestness and spirit of prayer which pervades them . Attimes the whole congregation will burst unitedly andunanimously into a torrent of prayer

,whi ch can only be

compared to a Spiritual Niagara . With eyes closed,and tears rolling down their cheeks, all the men , women,and children wil l pour out their souls to God . And whenthe invitation is given for seekers to come forward

,hundreds

will deliberately make their way to the open space clearedfor them before the platform . The meeting will usuallycontinue to a late hour, and when it is over, little groupswill gather under the pahn trees for further prayer.The story of Travancore would not be complete without

mentioning the name of Colonel (now Lieut . -Commissioner)Nurani (Case) . For fourteen years she wisely directedthis ever-growing work , and has left behind her, as wellas in Gujarat and Ceylon,permanent way

-marks of progress .

CHAPTER XIV .

THE CITY OF PALACES .

We are qu ite at home when we ar e withJesus ! Jesus is altogether one of us'

Surely Jesus is our Jesus.

Keshab Chandar Sen .

From the fir st arrival of The Salvation Army in India,

all classes of the Cal cutta public assumed a most friendlyattitude to our work , and it was from that city that themost emphatic protest against the Bombay prosecutionswas sent to the Viceroy . The Meeting for this purposewasheld in the Town Hall , and waspresided over by BabuKeshab Chandar Sen , who was then popularly regardedas the most eloquent orator in India . The telegramand letter which he addressed to me in Bombay havealready been referred to in Chapter I I .

The following extract from his address , India asks ,Who is Christ ? will serve to show something as to hisopinion regarding what may be termed the Westernizationof ChristianityPerhaps you will tell me that this question has been

answered already . Look at the flood of Christian literaturethat hasswept over the length and breadth of the country .

There are heaps of books and numberless teachers andpreachers around you

,all endeavouring to give a complete

answer to the question before us. Doubtless , from thesesources , India has some knowledge of Christ of Nazareth .

But such knowledge has not given her complete satisfaction . I t is true the people of India have been satisfiedin some measure

,but they have been disappointed in a

much greater measure . For England has sent unto us ,after all , a Western Christ .This is indeed to be regretted . Our countrymen find

1 13

114 FOR! YEARS IN IND IA .

that in this Christ there is something not quite congenial tothe native mind, not quite acceptable to the genius of thenation . It seems that the Christ that has come to us isan Englishman , with English manners and customs aboutHim , and with the temper and spirit of an Englishmanin Him . Hence is it that the Hindu people shrink backand say, Who is this revolutionary reformer who istrying to sap the very foundation of native Society, andbring about an outlandish faith and Civilization quiteincompatible with Ori ental instincts and ideas ? Whymust we submit to one who is of a different national ity ?Why must we bow before a foreign prophetIt is a fact which cannot be gainsaid, that hundreds

upon hundreds, thousands upon thousands, even amongstthe most intelligent in the land, stand back in moral recoilfrom this picture of a foreign Christianity, trying toinvade and subvert Hindu society, and this repugnanceunquestionably hinders the progress Of the true spiritof Christianity in this country . When they feel thatChrist means nothing but denationalization, the wholenation must certainly, as one man, stand up to repudiateand banish this acknowledged evil .But is not Chri st

’

s native land nearer to India thanEngland Are not Jesus and His apostles and immediatefollowers more akin to Indian nationality than Englishmen ? Are not the scenes enacted in the drama of theChri stian dispensation altogether homely to us Indians ?When we hear of the lily, and the Sparrow, and the well ,and a hundred other th ings of Eastern countries , do wenot find we are quite at home in the Holy Land ? Whyshould we then travel to a di stant country like Englandin order to gather truths which are to be found nearerour homes

GO to the rising sun in the East , not to the settingsun in the West , if you wish to see Christ in the plenitudeof His glory, and in the fulness and freshness of theprimitive dispensation .

Recall to your minds the true Asiatic Chri st , divestedof all Western appendages , carrying on the work ofredemption among His own people . Behold , He comethto us in His loose flowing garments, Hisdress and features


To this, I Sent the following replyYou are quite right . We require no rehearsals . We

have learnt our lesson by heart. Our Show is so goodthat it will last all the year round . It is a Grand GiftEnterprise in which every one is warranted to draw priz esof inestimable val ue . There are no blanks !Wanted ! Wanted ! for our great Salvation Circus

Lion Tamers who shall not be afraid to face the lion of Hell .

J ockeys who can ride the wildest horses and bring themin to the winning-post of Heaven . Clowns who can mendbroken hearts and make the sorrowful jump for j oy . GeneralManagers who shall talk Salvation

,write Salvation,

advertise Salvation,and above all , live Salvation, through

the eyes and ears, right into the heads and hearts of everysoul in India . God grant that we may capture many suchat your Circus next Sunday !Next door to the new hall in Wellington Square there

happened to be a very Obj ectionable liquor Shop . CaptainBullard decided to start a campaign against this place .

The following description of the siege is culled from thecolumns of The I ndian WitnessThe Salvationists have been bombarding ’ a liquor

Shop next door to their barracks in Dharamtolla Streetfor a week past , much to the amusement and, we may add ,satisfaction of the people of the neighbourhood . Themethod pursued is simple enough , although it involvesa great deal of patience and hard labour . The soldierstake turns, each serving on duty for two hours daily .

The man who is posted to the guns simply wal ks up anddown the pavement in front of the shop and advises allwho come in his way not to drink . The result is thatvery many customers are turned away from the shop .

The proprietor estimates his loss at ten rupees a day,and has expressed his fear that he will have to removefrom the neighbourhood . In the evening large crowdsassemble to witness the bombardment , and many amusingepisodes occur. The people of the neighbourhood wishthe most complete success to the besiegers .

Owing, however, to the necessity for the recall ofCaptain Bullard to Bombay, it was not possible to bringthis interesting episode to a successful conclusion .

THE CITY or PALACES . 1 17

The following account of his farewell meetings serve toshow how, under his energetic leadership, the wholeneighbourhood was aroused

Sin,’

Blood,’

Cleansing,

’ Purity,

’ Glory,

’

Enormous Crowds, Barracks not quarter large enough,Monster meeting Well ington Square .

Sin,’

Blood,’

Cleansing,’

Purity and Glorywere to march Single file as an advance gu ard . Manywere the enquiries What is it What does it meanThey could not understand how Sin ,

’ Blood,’ etc .

could march in front !“ But the devil understood it , as he saw us during the

day in the midst of cloth of various colours, sewing andcutting, and we knew what it meant , when, about halfan hour before the time to meet , with aching back and sorefingers we were able to smile upon the last flag finished .

We were expecting great things, and therefore were notsurprised, when we arrived in Dharamtollah Street (theplace we had announced to meet) , to find a very largecrowd filling the end of the street , waiting our arrival,besides a large number in carriages .

-“We soon formed into marching order . Lieutenant

Vanzyl took the lead, carrying a large deep black flagwith the word Sin,

’ in large , conspicuous white lettersupon it . Then a large red flag, borne by a Madrassee,

with the word Blood’

upon it . Another Madrasseecame next with a Wh ite flag and the word Cleansing .

’

Then came a Light Blue flag with ‘ Purity’

upon it ,

carried as high as possible by one of our recruits . Afterthis came a bright yellow flag with Glory upon it . Oneof our soldiers carried thi s and he seemed immenselypleased when some one shouted Glory Taylor .

’

The flags were followed by a dozen Bengali Halleluj ahLasses marching two deep, two of whom had tambourines .

They sang in splendid style,and above the music could

be heard,‘ Glory to His name , Here to my heart is the

blood applied, Glory to His name .

’

“A very popular missionary,one who hasbeen in India

many years, said it wasthe most wonderful and impressivesight that he had ever seen . Only two or three years agoa Bengalee lady was not allowed to go even to church


without being veiled, but here they are marching inprocession and playing tambourines in the street . Neverbefore our arrival had a Bengali lady spoken in public

,

but now they not only testify but interpret while othersspeak, and even go and sell War Crys in the streets .

Praise God, our Bengali Lasses will be a power in

India .

“ These were followed by several Madras ladies andCaptain Thompson and Lieutenant Cassidy . with tambourines and their red and green chadders. They haveonly been here a week, and many crushed around themanxious to see a real , live Halleluj ah lass .

Then came the band . To be sure it wasonly a bigdrum and cornet , but we did the best we could ; yet wewere not surprised when some one with over-musical earsremarked that we deserved six months in the PresidencyJail for the noise we made . After the band came TheArmy Flag

,the well-known Red and Blue with the Yellow

Star and Motto Khun aur Ag (Blood and Fire) . Thenour Soldiers, Auxiliaries, and Friends followed, a crowdOf several thousand people bringing up the rear .It was a grand sight . The sun after a burning day was

j ust sinking in the west , casting its last rays upon thebright-coloured flags, which spread out in the beautifulbreez e, the Bengal i Lasses with their snow-white dressesand fine worked veils thrown over their shoulders anddropping down almost to their feet, and the large crowdlining the way and following us, of almost every nationand costume . The pahn trees rose high above the mudhuts and flat-roofed houses, and the lovely sk y and settingsun gave it an effect far beyond my power to describe .

On we march . Every one seemed very much interested,and when we got to the Hall it was with difficultythat we got in . But then we found it impossible to havea meeting

,the place was so crowded and a very large

crowd outside al l anxious to get in . So we determined togo out on the large square opposite, the announcementbeing received with loud Shouts of approval . When wereached the square Dr. Thobum, who had been preaching,

k indly gave us his stand, and our Soldiers and Lasses andflag-bearers got inside the square of benches, while the

CHAPTER XV .

CAMPAIGNS AMONGST THE MARATHASANDBHILS .

You cannot be a savrour of men ,and

yet save yourselves.

Catherine Booth .

Apart from the work in Guj arat,The Salvation Army

has also a considerable work in the Marathi country, thepivotal centres being Poona

,Satara and Ahmednagar .

The tract of country here mentioned ispart of the greatelevated table—land to the east of the great mountainGhats, or Ranges, which skirt the Western coast of India .

The clouds of the South-west monsoon, on which Indiaso largely depends for her annual rainfall

,strike against

these mountains, empty their contents on them and onthe narrow strip of fertile coast between them and thesea, and then frequently sweep over the arid area of theDeccan, without discharging their precious contents forthe benefit of the waterless and parched plains . Onlyperhaps once in five years will the monsoon be reallyeffective in this region . In other years , it is largely madeup of broken promises , which Often mean successivesowings with a single stunted crop , or no crop at all .Scarcity and famine are always staring the Maratha

in the face ! How he continues to thrive , and keep up a

cheerful existence is a mystery . If there were rivers , ora generous underflow as in the alluvial plains of India ,these could be harnessed, and the scarcity of rainfal lwould not matter. But unfortunately he is above , andnot beneath , nature

’

s reservoir, the mountains , and thereare practically no ranges across the plateau to capture thefleeting clouds, which chase each other above his fieldsand seem to mock his anxietiesand agonies .

CAMPAIGN S AMONGST THE MARATHAS AND BHILS . 12 1

Wh ether an artificial barrier could not be createdwhich would compel the clouds to disgorge their contentsis an interesting question which has never been properlydeal t with .

In the year 1912 , when my wife was recovering from aserious attack of typhoid , and we happened to be on avisit to Europe , we spent some time in Switzerland investigating the system of storm cannon and rain rocketswhich were utilized by the vineyard propri etors andInsurance Companies for the protection of the vines fromthe frequent hailstorms which are so destructive . Thetheory was that by these artificial means the formationof the hail was prevented , and the Clouds dischargedbeneficial rain instead of destructive hail . The effectiveness, or util ity, of the method was disputed by many,but the fact remained that they continued to grow inpopularity, and had gradually been adopted by InsuranceCompanies , as well as by vineyard Owners , especiallysince the introduction of the Rain Rocket .The Storm Cannon wasa peculiar weapon, consisting ofa funnel—shaped iron tube , from which a bomb was discharged into the midst of a cloud that appeared to belikely to produce hail . The effect of the discharge was tocreate a kind of cyclone in the cloud , arresting itsprogressand compelling it to scatter its contents in the form ofrain . Naturally these cannon had to be fixed to theground, and could only protect a limited area . Hence ,they were dotted about the great vineyard areas at certainintervals . Quite recently the idea had occurred to someone that rockets could be utilized for exactly the same purpose, and would have the great advantage (1) of cheapness,(2) of being movable, and (3) of being usable in suchquantities as each local ity might actually require .

We were told that these rockets had been found stillmore successful than the Storm Cannon

,and had been

rapidly replacing them . We obtained a small supplyfor experimental purposes in India and deposited themwith a reliable Officer in the United Provinces, for theprotection from drought Of one of our Settlements forCriminal Tribes . At the time they arrived, we werethreaten ed with a failure of rain in this particul ar district .


The clouds were there, but had failed to discharge theircontents . The atmospheric condi tions were favourable,the air being heavily laden with moisture .

The experiment with these rockets was entirelysuccessful , and a welcome supply of rain fell upon ourparched fields, while the adjoining region continued to bedestitute of rainfall . However, the experiment was onlya small one, and our supply of rockets soon gave out ,but it was watched with interest by many persons , and wereceived numerous enquiries. Just at this j uncture ,however, the European War broke out, and the questionnatural ly dropped out of sight for the time being .

The fact is well known, not only in India, but all overthe world, that wherever rain-bearing Clouds strike somemountain barrier, they invariably discharge their contentsupon contact , and it seems to be reasonable and highlyprobable that a similar resul t would be obtained if abarrier of rockets should be interposed to their progress .

In this region the distances between the various villagesis usual ly considerable, and the population is more sparsethan that o f Guj arat . The lack of rainfall and irrigation ,and the rocky Character of much of the country, makeit more difficult to traverse . Our own work is ahnost

entirely restricted—as is that of most Missions— to theMaharsand Mhangs, the depressed classes of the region .

The success of the Boom March ! system in Guj arat andTravancore , led to an effort being made in 1893 to applyit to the Marathi country, where the work had hithertobeen of a very struggling and discouraging character .Staff Captain Sukh Singh (Blowers) was appointed tosuperintend the March . AS a result , two new districtswere formed . Staff Captain Yuddha Bai (Bannister)was placed in charge Of one Of these districts, and givesthe following description of this campaign

Previous to the Boom March ! Of January, 1893, nodefinite effort had been made to gain a footing in theMarathi village districts . A few pioneering parties had

gone out , it is true, but these only in a desultory way,

See Chapter XI I for explanation .


J ivanand (Julius Horsk ins) , the Commander of the WesternTerritory, saysWe have j ust concluded a trip to the Bhil Country

and part of the Maharashtra, and wherever we have beenthe crowds have been larger than on our former visits ,and in addition to this, a large number of souls havebeen converted, and, general ly speaking, the outlookfor good and profitable work within the Territory is veryencouraging .

Last year we made a net gain of some Soldiers .

Many of our people move from one place to another, butthey always return to the village to which they belong ,and it is remarkable how good they keep even thoughaway from Army work and influence . They never forgetthat they are part and parcel of our Organization .

An interesting feature of the School work in this countryhas been the production , at our suggestion , by the Government Educational Department , of a Village ArithmeticBook suitable for agriculturists . It is based on a modelwhich I obtained from America, but the examples givenare entirely altered and very cleverly adapted to Marathaconditions

,showing clearly how improvements could be

produced by the application of improved methods invill age agriculture , and demonstrating the same by suitablesums in arithmetic . Dr . Mann, the Director of Agriculturefor Bombay Presidency

,was the means of securing the

publication of this valuable little book .

From our Girls’ School in Satara, a party of twentywas recently selected, and spent eighteenmonths in an extensive tour through England and Europe, under the chargeof their two Swedish Officer Leaders—Adjutant Khushi(Olson) , and Ensign Kamala (Johanson) . Immensecrowds gathered, and the largest buildings were packedto overflowing, intense interest being manifested in them,

and in the work which they represented, while a considerable sum was raised towards the support of the Indianwork .

One of the romances of the Maratha work centresround one of its early leaders, Colonel Yuddha Bai

(Bannister) . Two sisters, daughters of a London solicitor,left their home, and W e Officers in The Salvation

CAMPAIGNS AMONGST THE MARATHAS AND BHILS .

Army. Colonel Yuddha Bai j oined one of the earlyparties that came out to I ndaa, while her sister followedsome years later .Mastering the Maratha language till she could speak it

wi th great fluency, the Colonel endeared herself to thepoor villagers among whom she established the work

,

and in whose midst she herself spent most of her time,

fearlessly facing the pecul iar hardships and difficultiesof the country .

After a long period of service in the Western Territory,

the two sisters were transferred to the Punj ab,where

their devoted labours met with equal success . Finally,

they reverted to the command among the Marathas,

where Colonel Yuddha Bai spent the rest of her life .

Even when the fatal disease of cancer had made itsappearance , and she knew that her days were numbered ,rather than return to England , She begged that She mightbe allowed to spend her remaining days amongst herbeloved Maratha people, whom She had adopted as herown , and where the fragrance of her memory has longsurvived her death .

Her sister, Brigadier Shanti Bai , with similar devotionand tenacity, though placed on the retired list , preferredto remain for some years in Poona, where her ceaselesstoil and unflagging consecration were an inspiration andblessing to all her younger comrades in the Maratha field .

Colonel Dayali (Van de Werken) and Lt .

-Colonel Sundri

(Gugelmann) from Holland were subsequently appointedto take charge of the Marathi Territo ry , where theyrendered excellent service, and helped to further consolidate and extend the work, being subsequently appointedto the command of the work in the Dutch Indies .The fertile verdant region of Guj arat is bordered on

the North , West and East by large areas where the rainfallis precarious , and famines are frequent . On the EastSpreads a province known as the Panch MahalS, inhabitedprincipally by an aboriginal race named Bhils . Into thisdistrict our Officers penetrated at an early stage Of ourwork in Guj arat . The successive waves of Aryan andMahommedan invasion had dri ven this race into theforests and fastnesses of the hills, where it was diflicult

FORTY YEARS IN INDA .

for the invaders to follow them . It had not preventedthe moneylender, however, from following them to theirretreats, and they suffered much from his exactions .They were at first very suspicious of our Officers , andfeared lest they might be disguised Government Officialscome to take them from their homes and enlist them insome regiment . There was some ground for their fears ,as the Bhils make good soldiers , and a Special Bhil Corpshad been recruited for the Indian Army, and had rendered

good serv ice . We were soon able to reassure them, however, and to mak e them real iz e that though we wereSoldiers, and wished to enlist them in an Army, our warfare was Of a very different k ind and required no carnalweapons . Nor had we come to tak e them away, but toourselves settle in their midst . Gradually their suspicionswere allayed, and their confidenceg ained , though it wassome time before our Officers ventured to inscribe theirnames in a Soldiers’ Roll , or create the usual outlines of adefinite organization . Indeed, newly-arrived Officers wereparticularly warned not to produce pen and paper in thepresence of their people, and to be careful not to makeany lists of their names and addresses, lest a scare shouldbe ‘

created .

The work progressed Slowly, but steadily . The conversion oi one of their petty chiefs, or headmen, created aconsiderable stir, and some of his relatives proposed thathe should be expelled from their community, or requiredto renounce The Sal vation Army . A meeting Of the clanwas summoned for the purpose of considering what Shouldbe done . At this gathering their Chieftain made aneloquent appeal

,pointing out the advantage of the Change

that had taken place in his own heart and life . Whereasbefore this time he had been addicted to drinking andgambling

,he had now abandoned these sins . He had

Often wished to do so before , but it was only when Christentered his heart and gave him the needed power, thathe had been able to forsake his evil habits . Now, not onlywas his life changed, but his heart was changed . Whythen should they expel him from his clan, when such awonderful Change had taken place Moreover, whatGod had done for him, He was equally willing and able

128 FORTY YEAR S IN IND IA .

It was a peri od when there was considerable activityamong a certain number Of political agitators , and plotsagainst Bri tish rul ers were be ing hatched in differentparts of the country, resul ting, in one case, in an attemptupon th e life of th e Viceroy, Lord Har dinge , when apublic Du rbar was being held in Delhi , and a processionof elephants was enter ing the Chandni Chauk . A bombwas thrown from the win dow of a house , an d struck thehowdah of th e Viceregal elephan t , kill ing the Indianatt endant who was holding the royal umbrella over LordHardinge , an d seri ously woun ding the Viceroy, thoughLady Hardinge , who sat beside him, miracul ously escapedwithout a scratch .

The attempt to st ir up trouble among the Bhi ls appearsto have been engineered from a small State adjoining thePanch Mahals, where the agitators had been kn own tobe active .

The Sadh u propaganda spread like wildfire , and thecredulous people accepted the story, and gathered inconsiderable numbers to meet their new Raj a, who wasaccredited wi th miraculous powers .

They were dir ected to bring in all their seed-grain tobe blessed by th e Sadh us , who would return a few handfulsto them with the assurance that it would produce anenormous crop . They were also dir ected to bring in theirbrass vessels , which th ey were told would no longer beneeded . I n fact , whatever li ttle possessions they ownedwere to be surrendered to the represen tatives of thenew ruler .

Above all , they were to take a solemn oath that noBhil should henceforth attend any Chr istian service .

Th ose of them who had joined The Salvation Army, orany other Christian body, were to be compelled to abandonthe same, and in case of failing to do so, were to be expelledforthwith from th eir community.

Our work wasfor a time seri ously affected , and , terrifiedby the th reats which had been made , hundreds of ourconverts ceased to take part in our meetings, or to acknowledge us. However, the non-appearance of the new lead erbegan to arouse their suspicions , and the Bhils demandedthat he should visit them without further delay.

CAMPAIGN S AMONGST THE MARATHAS AND BHILS. 129

A day was named when he was to miraculously makehis appearance in their midst , but the manifestation wasmarred by two incidents . The first was the discoveryby some Bhils of the individual hiding in an adjoiningfield, previous to his supposedly miraculous appearance .

The second was that when the Sadh us introduced him,

to their keen disappointment he appeared asa very ordinarybabu , dressed up in English clothes .

Now they felt certain that thi s babu (clerk) could notbe their Deliverer, and that the Sadhus had been deceivingthem , and many of them returned to their own homes .It wasnot , however, till a British force made itsappearancein the neighbourhood that the in cipient revolt was finallysuppressed .

Those of our people who had been forcibly driven fromus, or deceived into believing the story of the Sadhus,felt ashamed to return to us and confess the mistakethey had made . Moreover, the terrible oath of renunciation , which they had been compelled to make , continuedto exercise a great influence upon them . How could theybreak their word ? They had promised solemnly neverto attend another Salvation Army meeting . Theseaboriginal tribes , and especially the Bhils, are remarkablefor their truthfulness , and a promise once made is regardedas peculiarly sacred .

Suddenly, one of their leaders , who had been a Sergeantwith us and had great influence with them , made up hismind what wasto be done . In order to get up hiscourage ,he drank a quantity of native liquor till he was thoroughlyintoxicated, and then ran through the tribesmen , wavinga flag and crying

,I am going back to the Muk tifauj

I am going back to the Muk tifau j And the peoplefollowed him ! It is perhaps the solitary instance in ou r

history of d rink being utiliz ed for such an admi rablepurpose as a return to dutyThe work amongst the Bhils has since made steadyprogress , and we have now in the Panch Mahals50 Corps,200 Societies

,and 172 Outposts, with 96 Officers , Cadets

and Teachers, 36 Day Schools with 846 Scholars , and a.

Children’

s Industrial Home with 48 Inmates.

CHAPTER XVI .

COMMISSIONER RAHIMAN IN INDIA .

The l i tt le-minded ask Belongs this man

To our own nation But the noble-heartedRegard th e human race as all akin .

Panchatantra .

The work of The Salvation Army in India has had theadvantage of the ripened experience and devoted effortsof some of our ablest Officers . Prominent amongst themwill ever be the name of Commissioner Rahiman, morefamiliarly known in Army circles as Consul Emma BoothTucker , the second daughter of our Founder .I t wason April roth ,

1888, that we were married at the

Congress Hall, Clapton, London , on the anniversary ofthe Founder

’

s birthday . Her interest in India had longpredated this event . AS Principal , or Mother of thewomen

’

s side of the Clapton International TrainingGarrison, she had , from the first , taken a keen interest inthe formation and choice of the various parties of Officerswho were sent out after the Policy of Parties had beeninaugurated by the Founder to meet the growing needsof the Indian work .

And when the call came for her to enter that field herself, She responded with the same enthusiasm and readinesswith which she had inspired the women Officers whom shehad trained, and sent

' into the many countries which hadnow opened their doors to the Army .

Her departure for India waspostponed till the autumn ,as it is not wise for Europeans to proceed to India duringthe hot weather or rainy season , a good start during thecold weather giving time for them to become acclimatized .

The interval was spent , however, in selecting andgetting togeth er a large reinforcement of Officers to be

COMMISSIONER RAHIMAN IN INDIA . 131

known as the Wedding F ifty . The party embark ed atGenoa in the SS. Dominico Balduino . They absorbedthe third-Class accommodation on that boat

,the ship ’ s

Officers making us very comfortable and facil itating ourarrangements for language lessons

,lectures

,and meetings

during the voyage .

The following account gives an interesting glimpse ofwhat has constituted one of the most remarkable chaptersin Missionary history :

THE VOYAGE OF THE WEDDING FIFTY.

‘

I S it hotter than this in India was the exclamationthat some of the party could not but give vent to

,after

exchanging the fogs and east winds,and what one might

call the summer icicles of old England,for the cloudless

skies and sul try sunshine of France and Italy . Thosewho had spent years in India were able to say that anyhow,

if it was not much cooler , it would not be any worse forat least nine months out of the twelve , and in many placesinfinitely better . Oh well , if it

’

s no worse than this,

I’

m sure we can stand it ! ’

was the cheerful rejoinderOf those who came , after having made up their minds forthe very worst , and determined to look on the bright sideof matters . They reported wonderful times in Paris

,

where the city was stirred, and nearly all the newspaperscontained notices of the meetings

,with the result that Since

their departure greater crowds had been attending themeetings, and the French work had received a real lift .

“All along the route across the Continent , there wasnoend of excitement , and the refreshmmt rooms were crowdedwith interested spectators , whose faces manifested mingledfeelings of curiosity

,amusement , surprise , interest and

(when they knelt to pray) a sort of involuntary awe .

Though arriving at Genoa as late as midnight , numbersgathered round to ask questions . The party embarkedin the dark

,Singing Victory for me ,

’ and NO,we never

will give in,

’ as boat- load after boat- load shot from thequay to reach the SS . Dominico Balduino ,

’

which wasmoored in the harbour ready to sail at daybreak .

The presence of Commissioner Rahiman acted as an


inspiration to the party during the whole voyage, andevery Officer on board felt glad and proud to be with her

,

and determined that not one anxiety on their behal f shoul doccur to make the voyage more difficult . The lasses

,

from Staff Captain Haswell to the latest Cadet recruit,

in Spite of sea-sickness, were all happy at the thoughtof being back again for a time as Cadets in their floatingTraining Home . From their smiling faces and cheerfulsongs no one woul d have guessed that they were leavingbehind native country and friends .

How dreary is the long sea voyage to most people !But to the party the time hurried quickly by. What withlanguage lessons, lectures , meetings, private and public,singly and all together, good use wasmade of the extraleisure . The Brass Band also made itself heard, thoughin the hurry of the departure our favourite big drum hadbeen left behind . The evening united meeting was a greatattraction to all on board . Officers, sailors, native firemen ,stewards , and in fact all hands who could get away, wouldcrowd round, while it wasalmost amusing to see the first

Class passengers forsake the attractions of the quarterdeck to go and listen to the Speaking and Singing .

“ The friendliness of all on board wasquite delightful .I t seemed as if the entire ship was fairly taken by storm .

Not only so , but after reaching Bombay, the Officers ofthe ship were at the welcome meeting, and gave the partyan invitation to return on board in order to hold anothermeeting , tell ing them with a laugh that the crew had all

turned Salvation Army as they were wearing the topiswhich had been used on the voyage and left behind by thearty !pF rom October 9th , 1888, to April, 1889, a very fullprogramme of tours and meetings followed, in whichCommissioner Rahiman took a very prominent part ,winning the hearts Of our own people as well as of theoutside public .

A good deal of special time was devoted by her toCheering and guiding the now numerous EuropeanMissionary Officers , to whom the Indian work was a strange,and in many respects, a trying field .

The following extracts from one of her special addresses


in search of asfar away as ever .

‘ Oh,’ I said,

‘

we shallnever get there—I don’ t believe we are any nearer. ’ Justat that moment we were passing a milestone to whichhe pointed triumphantly, with a flourish of his whip,saying, Don

’ t you see, my dear girl, we have come tenmiles ? A little more patience and push , and we shallwin the day !Now here we are in India . The road often seems long,

and the monsoons of difficulty and disappointment sweepdown upon us, and the time , When saved Indians we shallsee, numberless as the sands on the sea-shore,

’ seemsperhaps as far off as ever . But , oh , at such moments,may the Lord have some tall believers about , who with aflourish of The Army flag will be able to Show us the milestones ! I have been seeing some at this council . Weare a longway on . We are up on the hill India islookingat us—feeling the influence of our lives and prayers . Iwant to say to you all, my comrades throughout the Indianfield, with a great heart of unwavering faith on your behalf,Cheer up A little more patience and push and we Shallwin the day .

’

The following incident is culled from one of the publicaddresses delivered by her at this timeSince I have been in India

,I have heard a little story

that I don’ t think I shall ever forget . It was about aHindu woman . I think I may here say that I am speciallydevoted to women . I have felt from a very little child agreat love for my own sex ; the Lord has called me in avery special manner to stand beside and help free themfrom the fetters of their unfavourable surroundings andof their natural timidity, and bring them on to the platformof God

’

s universal opportunity— to inspire them to dosomething with their time and their talents, SO that theworld might be the better for their existence in it . Andtherefore in laying aside in some measure, and for a time ,the work I have been doing in England, I am cheered bythe thought that I may be enabled to bless my IndianSisters in a similar manner. Perhaps it was because itwas the history of a Hindu woman that this little storysank so deeply into my heart . She was childless

,and

longed to have a little one . So , bringn her petition to

COMMISSIONER RAHIMAN IN IND IA . 135

the feet of her god, she vowed that if her prayer weregranted She would bring her all to h is altar . And theLord hearkened to her prayer and granted her request

,

and she was blessed with a ch ild .

She did not forget her vow, but clothing herself withher most expensive robes, and decked with every j eweland costly adornment that she possessed

, she went to thetemple , and kneeling there she stripped herself of everything and left before the shrine her all of temporal goods .

Then putting on the coarse garb of the poorest class , Shewent forth with the consciousness that she had performedher vow and kept her faith . Oh I thought , what a lessonfor us Those of us who have not merely received a child ,

but the Child Jesus .

The news received in April , 1889, regarding the illnessof the Consul

’

s Mother, Catherine Booth, was of so seriousa character that it was considered necessary for her toproceed to England to assist in nursing her through themalady from which recovery now appeared improbable ,and from which a fatal termination was then expected atan early date .

Mother and daughter had been attached to each otherwith peculiar ties of devotion, and we did not feel j ustifiedin holding each other back from what was to us , so soonafter our wedding

,a severe personal sacrifice . This

involved the absence of my wife from the Indian Fieldfrom April

,1889, t ill after the death of her Mother on

4th October, 1890.

! a; The following account of Commissioner Rahirnan’

s

farewell meeting is taken from The Advocate of I ndia, aBombay daily paperThe Salvation Army was en fete yesterday evening to

celebrate the departure of Mrs. Booth Tucker for England .

She leaves by the SS Singapore , of the RubattinoCompany

,on Saturday next

,and wi ll be, no doubt , very

much missed by the whole contingent throughout India .

Previous to the meeting there were two large processions .

The first one,consisting of a long string of bullock carts,

and filled with some seventy or eighty members of theArmy

,paraded through the native town . At night the

Fort was astir with a torchlight foot-march , which attracted


great crowds all al ong the route . The theatre wasfil led with an expectant audience, and Commissionerand Mrs . Booth Tucker must have been gratified with thereception they met . Those who have heard her giftedmother speak could not but notice the remarkableresemblance as she poured forth her farewell words .Commissioner Booth Tucker addressed the meeting,

giving some particulars regarding the Indian work . Itseems that during the last three years the Officers haveincreased from 50 to 263, of whom 160 are Europeans andthe rest Indians . The Corps have increased from 14 to57 . There is a large circulation of English and vernacularWar Crys, amounting to more than twenty thousandcopies monthly, and printed in five different languages .The total cost of the entire work in India and Ceylon,exclusive of building hal ls, and bringing out parties ,amounts only to per annum , of which no less than

is raised locally in India, showing that the workis not only strictly economical, but ahnost entirely selfsupporting . Some interesting particulars were given inregard to the prison work, which is assisted in Ceylon bya Government grant .The meeting terminated with prayer, while all on the

platform rose to their feet, being j oined by many of thecongregation in fresh dedication for service .

’ The scenewas certainly a very iInpressive one .

The coming of her beloved daughter wasan unspeakablecomfort to Catherine Booth, and helped to brighten theremaining sad and suffering period of her painful and prolonged sickness .Immediately after the death of Mrs. Booth, a number

of Officers were gathered together, known as the MemorialFifty. This reinforcement sailed for India in November,1890,

and the following account Of their tour is gatheredfrom a report written at the time zIt was on Christmas Day, 1890, that the largest party

ever yet shipped from England, numbering Sixty-fourOfficers, and including Commissioners Fakir Singh andRahiman and Colonel Rubani (Lucy Booth) , landed amidstgreat rej oicings on the shores of Ceylon. A day or twolater Colombo ’ s largest and most beautiful hall was


Justice Telang . The whole tour wasone immense success,a demonstration of extraordinary advance .

Alas , that such a bright morning should have been sosoon clouded ! But God

’

s ways are not as our ways ;and j ust when we appeared to be on the eve of a tremendousupheaval of the Social Movement in India, the hand ofsickness fell with Swift and relentless grip upon Commissioner Rahiman

,necessitating her removal, almost at

the point of death , to England, and we lost at one sweepboth our loved Commissioners . The blow was severe andcrushing, but God never fails us.

Unfortunately the long and anxious strain of nursingher mother, had left its mark upon the Consul, ! and onreaching Colombo her heal th was in such poor conditionthat she was unable to attend many of the receptionmeetings, and proceeded direct to Bombay, leaving theparty, with her sister Colonel Rubani (afterwards Mrs .

Booth Hellberg) and myself to complete the tour throughSouth India .

On reaching Bombay in January,1891 , we found that

the Consul , instead of rallying from her illness as we hadhoped, had developed serious Signs of anmmia, and thedoctor considered that the only hope of saving her lifewas for her to proceed immediately to Europe . Afterreaching England she began steadily to improve , butmedical opinion gave a very decided verdict that it wouldbe impossible for her to return at any time to India .

The Founder therefore appointed us as ForeignSecretaries to supervise the work of The Army in otherlands, under the direction of the then Chief of the Staff,the present General . This post we occupied from 1891

to 1896, when the Founder desired us to take Charge ofthe work in the United States . In this position the Consulhelped to carry The Salvation Army through a partieularly difficult crisis in its history, and endeared herselfgreatly to the people of America .

It was on October 28th ,1903 , when the Consul was

returning from a transcontinental tour, that the trainin which she was travelling wasderailed, and the accident

A special rank conferred on Mrs. Booth Tuck er .

COMMISSIONER RAHIMAN IN IND IA . 139

occurred whi ch terminated fatally, her death beinguniversally lamented, not only in America, but throughoutThe Salvation Army world .

The following year, December, 1904,I returned from

America to our Foreign Office in London .

After our departure from India the Consul ’s sister,

Colonel Rubani, bravely volunteered to fill the gap,and

was appointed to the command of India . Shortly afterwards she was married to Commissioner Booth Hellberg,and they j ointly directed the work till 1896, when theywere transferred to the command of France andSwitzerland . Under their leadership the Indian workcontinued to make steady progress , several new fieldsbeing opened up .

A Change was now made in the system Of supervision .

India was divided up into separate commands, and aResident Indi an Secretary was appointed to representInternational Headquarters , and to form a link betweenthe di fferent Territories .

The first to occupy this post was Colonel Jai Singh ,

(now Commissioner Bu llard) . He was succeeded by thelate Commissioner Higgins, the father of the presentChi ef of the Staff, who held this position for several years ,greatly endearing himself to the Officers . He was

succeeded by Colonel Jang Singh (Hammond) , whooccupied the position with success till 1907 .

CHAPTER XVI I .

FOUNDER TWICE VISITS INDIA IN

AND 1895-6.

TheHope of I ndia Men and women whowil l literally lay themselves on th e altar ,strip themselves of all en cumbran ces thatwou ld hinder them in th e war , adopt theSal vation of I ndia astheir life work, go forthto practise just as much self-denial and

endure just as mu ch su ffering as may be

found necessary and helpfu l in learn ing thelanguage, conforming to the customs, becoming all things lawfu l and expedient tothe people and so ensure their reaching thatGod -made Chr ist-l ike Character of Saviou r:

of I nd ia.

!

William Booth .

India was twice visited by William Booth, theFounder Of The Salvation Army. On the first of theseoccasions his tour took place in December and January1891

-2 , and followed closely on his campaigns in SouthAfrica and Australasia . The Darkest England Schemehad been launched a few months previously and hadcreated a sensation , the effects of which were felt throughout the world . One of the obj ects of the Founder was toascertain how far the plans there outlined might beadapted to other lands, and more particularly to searchfor some possible opening for his proposed Colony Over~

the-Seas .In regard to India, his obj ect was mainly to investigate

the possibilities of applying the same principles to the vastsocial needs of her submerged tenth . When he returnedto India four years later, in December and January 1895

-6,the Founder was able to present some definite plans inthe shape of concrete proposals for Peasant Settlements ” and Village Banks . The ultimate fruition ofthese schemes in the Shape of Agricultural Colonies and

142 FORTY YEARs IN INDIA .

concerning his travels, and his hopes and anticipations .The General of course is greatest on the scheme that hepublished to the world a year or more ago , and he is verypleased with the kindly encouragement given to his viewsin that respect in Africa and in Austral ia .

The Governors of all the Colonies visited appear tohave treated him very cordially . TO the probable invasionof Australia by a band of the unemployed workmen ofEngland, however, the workmen of Australia have strongobj ections, and this feeling seems to have impressed GeneralBooth a good deal, for he often reverted to it in the courseof conversation . The principles of Darkest England

,

’

he said, are applicable to all countries and wi th all peopleswherever misery exists, and in Australia they are asmuchso as anywhere else . Yes, I did notice an apprehensionin Australia that my scheme might lead to an overstockingof the colonies with labour. That is always the cry . Ifyou go to the Officers on this ship here, I dare say you willfind that many of them have Captain

’

s certificates . Well ,you say to them , Why are you not a Captain And thereply is, Because there are too many Captains . Isn’ tthat so ? Aren

’

t there too many in every professionexcept reporters, eh ?This last remark wasmet with the reply that one would

have thought that after his experiences The General wouldnot have complained of any scarcity of j ournalists , towhich the General replied that he certainly did thinkthere were too many .

Continuing his remarks, he asked why there was all

this overstocking and crowding, his manner of puttingthe question indicating that he had all the means at hiscommand for putting a stop to the existing state of things .

Yes, I was very pleased with the reception I goteverywhere . The novelty of the scheme had not worn offby the publication of my book , and the people assembledin large crowds everywhere to hear me . It was a greatstrain . I addressed meetings of over and

often in Australia, and many a tini e had to give anunexpected address on a railway platform where crowds,who had come in for miles, had gathered to receive meand to get an address out of me as I was passing through

'

THE FOUNDER TWICE VISITS INDIA . 143

However, hard as the work was, I have felt thebenefit of it . All change of work isrecreation

,and change

of work and change of scene are good for a man . Still,

I assure you I have worked a great deal,and I have been

dreading my arrival here in Colombo for fear I shouldnot get my work which I had planned for this voyagedone in time . You hear people around say,

there is nothingto do on board ship . Well , I have found plenty to do eachday, without reading novels !

’

The route taken on each of the Founder’ s tours,and

the character of receptions accorded to him,were so similar

that it will be sufficient to select a few incidents to enablethe reader to gather a general idea of these importantevents, which helped to place The Salvation Army on anew and more favourable platform of opportunity beforethe Indian public .

In the great Presidency cities of Calcutta, Bombay, andMadras, Europeans and Indians alike flocked to see andhear the great author of the Cab-horse Charter ofhumanity, and they were not disappointed . The Viceroyand Governors and other leaders of the people vied witheach other in the cordiality of their reception .

The following is an account of the reception of theFounder in MadrasSeldom has Madras wi tnessed such a scene of animation

as that which reigned throughout the city yesterdayevening . In and around Egmore station some thousandsof people had assembled

,and so great was the crowd that

the station authorities found it necessary to close thevarious entrances to the platform , including even theStation Master’s

,Booking and other offices . The hackney

carriage drivers must have reaped a good harvest , for by6 pm. not a carriage was procurable , and throughout theafternoon the fares demanded and paid were exorbitant .The platform of the Egmore station was prettily

decorated with flags and Chinese lanterns, while aShamianah with pink canopy had been erected in thecentre .

“Admission to the platform was by ticket only, therailway authorities having issued directions that onlya limited number of persons should be admitted ; but


notwithstanding this restriction there was an enormousgathering on the platform . Outside the building

,the

shades of evening were turned into the light of day by somehundreds of torches .On alighting from the train , General Boothwasreceived

by Dewan Bahadur Ragunatha Rao , on behalf of theIndian community in general, and by the Rev . Mr .Satthianadhan on behal f of the Indian Christian communityHe was then conducted to the Shamianah, where he wasgarlanded, rose water sprinkled over him , and flowersthrown upon him . This preliminary over, addresseswere presented to him on behalf of the Indian and Christiancommunities respectively .

”

Similar scenes were witnessed at the other cities visitedwhen the largest halls available were crowded with en

thusiastic audiences . But we pass on to a descriptionof one of those vast village gatherings when the Founderfelt himself to be indeed face to face with the real heartof I ndia .

We think we were not wrong in surmising that thedemonstration at Samark ha would be the most remarkableevent in The General

’

s Indian tour .

“ Far into the night lanterns were bobbing about hereand there on the extensive grounds , and little finishingtouches were being put to the arrangements . It wasonlyfor a brief hour or two that all settled down into silence,and before the earliest streak of grey had heralded thedawn of this day of days,

’

the shrill notes of the bugle’ scall woke the sleeping encampment into life and activity .

Soon after, troops of soldiers began to arrive , and as thehour of eight approached , we were startled by a salute ofseven guns, fired from a cannon posted somewhere on theedge of the encampment and which announced the arrivalof the General and his party. The General

’

s tent wasapproached by an avenue of plantain trees and Indiancorn, and so situated as to furnish an admirable view ofthe ground .

Gun~fire announced the 8 o’

clock assembly,the

bugle summoned the band , and the earliest arrivals weresoon arranged in the spacious pandal . Oh , what a timewe had, as after some lively, happy testimonies , the


summit of the grand stand, we had time to survey thegrounds, which had become by thi s time covered witha dense mass of people rapidly increasing in numbers

,

through which the police were busy trying to preserve away for the march , when it should arrive . The trees wereliterally alive with onlookers , and every bit of rising groundwasdensely packed .

First , there was the band with those marvellous Indiantrumpets about nine feet long . What a sight ! They donot march in solemn stateliness and commence on thethird beat ; it is hard to suppose that they ever didcommence , or that they will ever leave off. What akaleidoscope of motion Every bandsman is now shiftinghis position, now twisting round, now here , now there ;one moment his trumpet is perpendicular, the next horiz ontal , and anon at every conceivable angle, facing in turnevery point of the compass . The band was, withoutdoubt , one of the most live things we have ever seen .

“ On, on, comes the long line of soldiers . Well, it isscarcely a line ; it is an elongated mass . Perhaps theystarted four deep , but ere long they had become so excitedthat they were a score deep and filled the road, at leastwhat there was left of it , for dense crowds of spectatorslined the route . Then clearly discernible came a crowdof Bhils armed with bows and arrows, dancing after theirown wild fashion every step of the way . Then came thepicturesque camel corps consisting of about 25 camels .

Later on came the brass band, followed by cadets andsoldiers in somewhat better order than the earlier part ofthe procession, and then a splendid elephant whose massiveproportions and grave demeanour added much to thedignity of the scene .

The march was continued round the grounds, and thewhole was brought up in a dense mass around the grandstand, while the camels careered gaily round the groundsto the delectation of the crowds of onlookers , and thenthe camels were brought up and made to kneel on the edgeof the big crowd . The solemn elephant looked on insilence, the irrepressible trumpeters were quieted, and, by avigorous use of the white flag, some approach to silencewassecured while the General addressed the vast crowd .

THE FOUNDER TWICE VISITS INDIA . 147

By this t ime every one was hungry,and very soon there

wasa rush for the one-anna tickets which entitled the holderto attack what was very literally a mountain of nick ery,

(rice and lentils) . Need we say that ere the sun went downthat mountain was brought low ? In the meantime theGeneral wasonce more hard at work—this time addressingsome caste people who had assembled in the pandal

,

and who were greatly taken hold of by the General’s words .

I t is estimated that at least Hindus were on theground during the afternoon, in addition to somesoldiers . Night , however, was the crowning time . Thecrowd of hungry soldiers took some time to serve, so thatthe meeting was somewhat delayed, but once it got intoswing it was a wonderful time . After a Short run of testimonies led by Major Jivi , the General addressed themeeting, and soon made us all feel that he meant businessfor eternity . By and by the front o f the platform wascleared and such a scene as we had seldom witnessedbefore presented itself . The front of the platform was soonfilled from end to end , men on one side, women on the other,and a second, and third, and fourth , and fifth , and sixthrow were prostrate , in one solid mass , one man

’

s shoulderserving as a penitent form for his neighbour, whil e thosewho were deal ing with the penitents had often to clamberover the others . This blessed work went on until wecounted 102 seeking salvation . Then there was aHalleluj ah wind-up of that indescribable sort , when itseemed as if earth had got somehow mixed up with theskies

,and the multitude on earth mingled with the

multitude round about the Throne .

While this had been transpiring in the pandal , awonderful transformation had gone forward outside .

The grounds had been illuminated with lamps ,and one of the most startling effects produced . We hadseen little patches of lamps strewed about the groundsin the oddest of fashions during the day, some suspendedin rows and others placed in irregular patches on the ground .

We little dreamed what the combined effect would be .

The perspective of the flat fields over which they werespread was completely changed, and it was diflicult .toimagine that we were not looking out over a vast City


brill iantly illuminated, while passing figures look ed lik e

giant shadows stal k ing through its streets . It was abright and fascinating sceneBy the time the General and party were seated on the

platform , which had been erected conveniently for viewingthe evening display, the band had occupied the bandstand, and our Guj arati warriors had c ommenced one oftheir famous war dances, while the fantastic g roup andthe living wall of spectators stretching right across thefield were alternately lit up with a glow like that some ofus remember to have seen round a blacksmith

’

s forge onwinter nights at home , and then lost in shadow like thesmithy when the roar of the bellows ceases, while ever andanon powerful fountains of fire shot far up into the blacknight scattering myriads of gleaming stars, or a greatblaze of red light made for a brief space every face discernible . Then the General once more gathered his childrenaround him

,spoke a few parting words and gave them his

blessing . The happy groups started on their homewardmarch and the camp settled down into silence .


work which it had carried on among the Criminal Tribesand Depressed Classes .

The extracts from the General’

s Journal commencewith some of the incidents whi ch took place during hisvoyage from Europe to Colombo :

Saturday, 9th December, 1922 ,SS . MACEDON IA .

’

Lectured in the Saloon last night , Sir CharlesArmstrong, one of the railway magnates of the East , inthe chair. Very good audience . All seemed very muchinterested and many impressed .

Thursday,14th December, 1922 .

Beginning to be weary of the ship !Three interesting interviews to-day . An important

lawyer of Bombay, a Parsee , very friendly to The Army .

Talked freely about the affairs of India . Deeply convinced of the enormous value to the people of the Britishcontrol, while still ardently wishing for a larger measureof self—government .The Parsees are deeply interesting . They are a small

but very influential force in Indian life . Smith made thefollowing extracts from one of their books of instruction

Wh o is th e most fortunate man in the wor ldHe wh o ismost innocent .Wh o is th e most innocen t man in the wor ld ?He wh o walksin th e path of God and shunsthat of the devilWhich is th e path of God and which that of th e devilVirt ue isthe path of God and vice that of th e devi l .What constitu tes virtue, and what viceGood thoughts, good words, and good deeds constitu tevirtue,

and evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deedsconsti tutevice .

What constitutes good th oughts, good words, and gooddeeds?Honesty, charity, and truthfu lness constitute the former ;

and dishonesty, wan t of charity, and falsehood constituteth e latter !His Highness the Agha Khan greatly interests me .

Mahommedan leader—wealthy, and a very influentialman , returning from work with the British Governmenton the new financial arrangements for India . Very freeand warm . Believes in The Salvation Army ! Cordiallyapproves our werk for the lost of every nation . Has beentaking a holiday in Switz erland, and seen The Army among

VISIT or GENERAL BRAMWELL BOOTH To INDIA . 151

the mountains . You have reason, General, to be proudof your people in Switzerland .

’

Concluding a long talk we spoke of his own relationswith God, and he seemed pleased, though our views sodifferent . I said, Cannot you go so far as to think ofHim as a Father ?

‘ No , I cannot go so far as that .’

Anxious I shoul d speak in India of the importance ofgetting the best men of every creed into the variousgoverning bodies . I asked him if he thought the newsystem of government would help the lower castes . Notat first , they will suffer, but later, yes ! Hope you willspeak of thi s .

’ An able and large-hearted man .

18th December . COLOMBO.

Landed at 5 o’ clock . Landing-stage very crowded,

above and below . Mayor and Mayoress welcomed me inthe name of the City, and introduced me to importantmen on the Council . Mayor speaking a few words led meto open space outside . Huge crowd greeted us withenthusiasm . Spoke of service to God and man . PremaBala translated . Remarkable scenes ; endl ess colour ,life

,bann ers, uniform . Above all the people, the dark

faces of all Shades , the children of our Schools, the YoungPeople

,the Offi cers . A sense of true human sympathy

spread over the great crowd and over me . A reallywonderful feelingThe Army is a comparatively small force here , and

yet how evidently it has impressed the multitude, mindand heart . A memorable reception .

1gik December.

The Hon . Mr. De Mel (Member of Legi slativeCouncil) , old and tried friend, loves Sal vation Armybecause it loves the lost .

’ Tal ked freely of NationalRevival in Ceylon . Tide turning towards their own dress ,food

,and other ancient customs, and away from European

ways . Many well—off people giving up Western manners .

His firm no longer employs clerks who do not dress as thepeople .

”

December 2oth . HEWADIWI LLA.

Outside the village met by Salvationists , songs, anddancing and flowers . Procession formed , fully a thousand


persons marching, led by converted devil-dancers, whosewonderful energy was the despair of some of us ! Threeelephants and streams of fine, upstanding and attractivemen and women .

Meeting followed in special pandal, a frame of bamboocovered with leaves and branches of trees ; open sides .The children sang, and then came garlands ! Congre

gational singing disappointed me , but the prayingwas good .

The attention of the outside crowds very impressive .

They joined with the Salvationists In tense interest in theaffair

,laughed and cheered, and then as suddenly grew

serious and solemn ; everything so natural . Prema Bal atranslated me in part , and Samaraveera (Colonel) . Aboutsixty at the penitent form . One giant of a man deeplyinterested me . He was so broken down about his sin .

A woman with her baby made another wonderful pictureher countenance was literally illuminated . The intensityof everything wasgreatly to my liking .

”

December 24th . TRIVANDRUM .

First meeting at 4 o’

clock . Fully peoplechiefly our own Soldiers, a few visiting Syrian Christianshaving come , mostly on foot, a hundred miles to be present .Some of our Soldiers, I understand, have been walkingfour days to be here .

The scene a remarkable one indeed . People seated forthe most part on the ground, proper formation preserved,aisles marked out , men and women quite separate,thousands of Salvationists carrying smal l flags of our threecolours, which they raise every now and again toemphasiz e some point of song, or to show special approvalof something said . The freedom, the shouts of praise,the songs, the music, the flags, the evident j oy of all, ornearly all , combined to produce an extraordinary effect .I can never forget it.The platform a small raised stage covered by a slight

roof of branches and leaves afforded the speakers protection from the sun, the ground rising from itsfront, andthe whole scene spreading out like a fan . Spoke throughinterpreters . Magnavox a complete success . We werewell heard without shouting or straining, and, in fact, the

VISIT OF GENERAL BRAMWELL BOOTH TO INDIA . 153

ease with which the people could hear helped the deepsilence so favourable to a Meeting in the open .

“An invitation to the Mercy-Seat was followed by a

steady stream of men, and then later women . Theyprayed aloud as they rose to their feet

,and their praying

could never be forgotten by anyone who heard them .

!

December 27th .

After a fair night up at 6, and at to Pal acewith Sukh Singh to see HisHighness the Maharaj a by hisappointment . His palace is within what is call ed

‘ TheFort ,

’

a large enclosure containing several royal and otherhouses, al so barracks for soldiers . Arrived at a fewmoments before 7 wasmet at the door of the ReceivingHall by His Highness himself, who greeted me with astately courtesy, and we were soon in deep conversation .

HisHighness, a man of about my own age , tall and slim,

with exceedingly expressive eyes ; was simply dressed ina kind of black surtout buttoned up to the neck dignifiedand useful . He is full of interest in The SalvationArmy

,especially in the Hospital at Nagercoil , and anxious

that that work shoul d be extended . Talked with himfreely about his people ; evidently deeply sympatheticwith—perhaps a li ttle puzzled by—The Army . Amongthe points mentioned were our need of land, help for Schools,for wells, and for roads to our villages now without them .

The Maharaj a came with me to the door at parting, and,taking my hand as I left said most earnestly, May Godbless you and guide you . He is a strict Hindu, and theRuler of about five millions of people .

December 28th . NACERCOI L , TRAVANCORE .

A restless night , but full of gratitude . Atmeeting of Local Officers of the two Divisions representedhere . Six hundred men and a few women . A magnificentsight . All men of splendid physique . With few exceptions,recovered from heathendom . The singing was reallywonderful and the praying equally so. The penitent-formalso a wonderful scene with some glorious confessions andconsecrations . The whole thing wasout-and-out SalvationArmy, so significant for the future .

In the evening an enormous gathering—certainly


between and people . The attention wonderful . Greatly impressed by the Band here ; am told thebest Band we shall meet .In the Prayer Meeting, the singing in so vast a

gathering difficult to control . We counted fifty drumsscattered about , most of them the centre of a singinggroup . But we managed to unite them by playing Daniel’ scornet through the magnavox

—a great hit“ The Prayer Meeting and penitent-form Scenes inde

scribable . Dealt personally with one or two people . Onewoman with child in her arms greatly stirred, me and trulyasI looked upon the scene deep called to deep in my soul .

4ih J anuary.

Arrived at Bapatla in the Telugu country about

9 a.m. Food, and away to Criminal Tribe Settlementat Stuartpuram, about two miles . A most hopeful effortabout two thousand souls . The Cabinet Minister overlooking this department told me in Madras that before wetook them, this tribe had an average of one policeman toone family . Now they have none. The Settlement isorganized in eight villages—each choosing its head man .

Some of these are Salvationists, some not— all uniting inthe election of one of their number as a j udge to settleinternal disputes, who is a local Officer in our ranks .

My visit evidently a great event . A high day . Theprocession with its contrasts remarkable . The flags

the native music —the clothes and lack of clothes . Thesimply wonderful difference in appearance and demeanourof the settlers lately arrived, with those already here—thewomen—the charming children— the singing—the evidentprogress of many . All quite captivating .

The Meeting followed—500—mostly men . First camesome offerings by Local Officers for the Work—giftsof the Salvationist part of the community . Then threeor four most telling testimonies—quite easy to see thespeakers thoroughly believed in .

Exhibit of work followed u industries—oi Schoolsthe old thread and rope making in which toes as well asfingers Work—cooking, the gem of the present-day baker

’

soven —the grass-weaving—the sewing—the mats—the


At three o’

clock, interesting interview with threenewspapers . They catechiz ed meAt four to see the Maharaj ah of Burdwan, one of

the two or three largest land-owners in India . Finehouse . Encouraged me to hope about our Settlementsand the grant . ‘ I am a Hindu, orthodox—but I don

’

tcare what you do for my people—if everything is voluntary,and you do not press or bribe them .

’

This is the centre of the BrahmoSamaj a very interestingbranch of Hinduism . Their paper of to-day

’

s date Speak sof me in very warm terms .

You (that is, The Army) have come to present Christ to us

in an Or ien ta l garb and Wi th devotional en thusiasm, humility,meekness, and poverty, whi ch are tru ly Or ien tal, thereforewill the Lord God of India blessyou and your message . Aftera referen ce to th e Founder—General Booth is no ordinaryman . He isa man of God inspired for th e great work He has

given h im to d o,and assu ch we revere h im and love him, and

we regard the entire organiz ation of The Salvation Army asth e work of th e Holy God .

j anuary 19th . ANAND,GUJ ARAT

Travell ing all yesterday. Arrived Anand, fiftymiles from Ahmedabad, at a.m. to-day . Greatcrowd to meet us many Salvationists . Shouts and songsand music united to make a strange melody of beautifulsounds . Many strangers in the crowd, including somewearing the white boat-shaped Ghandi cap .

Afternoon Meeting in enclosure ; four thousandpeople, perhaps more . Talk ed with some freedom . TheMagnavox again a wonderful help . The crowds verysolemn and earnest . Some camels broke into the en

closure, but nobody moved . Another mighty penitentform scene—with the exception of a handful, all men,pathetic incidents . Such prayer, such confessions, suchhumbling—literally to the dust ! 247 names registered .

J anuary 20th . ANAND.

“ Midday, great March past . A wonderful scene .

The enthusiasm of our people, the wondrous manifestationsof Eastern life, the deep sympathetic interest of the crowdslooking on, the children, the weird music, the camelschiefly belonging to the Local Officers , who rode on themthe colour, the bann ers, all very moving . Not an unkin

VISIT or GENERAL BRAMWELL BOOTH To IND IA . 157

word from the astonished onlookers . Took a baby intomy arms to bless, to the immense delight of all . Moreand more the people draw me . Allowing for some excitement and a natural desire to please me , this wasstill a verywonderful scene . The procession was two hours inmarching past . The Bhils gave us an ‘ extra

,

’ a mostextraordinary native dance . The singing of our peoplewas good in parts , the music defective . The Cadets

,

both men and women , looked most hopeful .“ At four o

’

clock , Local Officers and Field Oflicers.

Fewer of the former than expected some mistake aboutthe day. Some hard hitting and a good Meeting .

A weal thy Hindu , landowner, came thi rty miles togreet me ; very cordial . Has been reading some of mywritings translated into the newspapers here . I spoke withhim . God make my words words of life How wonderfulthe feeling towards us appears to be . And more and moreI see that it is the spirit of Jesus which is the realattraction .

J anuary z rst.

Thi s is the last Sunday of my present visit .Wakened at 3 a.m. by two policemen set to guard us .

They suspected robbers and desired to search my room !Cal led Smith , who did it for them .

Officers at ten o’

clock . A fine lot of men . Moreresponsive—perhaps a little more emotional—than thenorth . Talked to them with some freedom . Continuedat and at Very good . Excellent singing . Awonderful scene at the finish . Surely God spoke to Hisservants bowed before Him and we had a bright light inthe gloaming .

Walked through the Hospital with Staff-Captain

(Dr .) Draper. Pleased . The new wing for the Blind willcost us about two thousand pounds but will be worth it .The Doctor wants an X-ray outfit and I half promised .

In course of conversation he said that The Salvation Armypeople of the rank and file are undoubtedly better patientsthan others—stronger physique . The Hospital has seventybeds and dealt with thirteen thousand out-patients lastyear . Many get saved .


2z ud j anuary . BOMBAY .

Arrived at eleven o’

clock after an improved nightin the train . Met by Sir Narayan Chandarvark ar,President -of Legislative Council, accompanied by a groupof important men with a fine and happy crowd . Sir N .

spoke in very appreciative terms both of The Army and me,

and garlanded me amidst applause . I replied briefly .

To bill et—Taj Mahal Hotel , rather a swell place ,but I was thankful . Cheering Press here . I t seems asif my visit has shown some things in a true light and donea little on behalf of the forgotten and the friendless of thepeople . The Times of I ndia at Interesting talkwith their representative—knew The Army in Aberdeen .

Lectured at six o’

clock in the Cowasjee Jehangir Hall .Met Governor of the Bombay Presidency, Sir GeorgeLloyd, at the door, and walked through with him to theplatform . Very cordial . He and others told me that wehad the most representative and influential audience evergathered in this city, except perhaps for Royal visitors .

All classes and nationalities here . Place too full , everyavenue crowded, and fully fifteen hundred left outside .

Lecture went fairly well . Had been warned that theHall was bad for speaking but I found it good I got ina very definite testimony for my Lord and Master . Sir

Narayan Chandarvark ar moved the vote . He is one ofthe most well-known and influential Hindus in India .

He made a clever speech . Sir Norman McLeod , ChiefJustice

,seconded

,and spoke delightfully of The Army

’

swork

,making a happy reference to the Founder and also

to Tucker . The whole audience rose on my reading theKing’s Message and loudly cheered at its conclusion .

Walked out with the Governor amidst another strikingdemonstration of enthusiastic goodwill . Our own dearfolks very pleased and cheered .

At the outer door we found the Chief Justice wavinghis hat and calling upon the crowd for three cheers forGeneral Booth ! A former door-keeper at InternationalHeadquarters took my hand .

This is the end of my public work on this visit . Howthankful I am that God has helped me and above al l

that He has been glorified . Here is the King’

s Message

CHAPTER XIX.

FAKIR SINGH AND DUTINI IN INDIA .

1906-

7—1919.

Go straight for souls, and go for the worst .William Booth.

In June, 1906, I wasmarried to Lieut .-Colonel MinnieReid, who had for about twenty years been an Officer,most of this period being spent in European Continentalwarfare . The fields had included Belgium , France ,Germany, Switz erland, and Italy . In the last of thesefor nearly five years she was in command . At the t imeof our marriage she was Provincial Commander of Ireland .

My wife belonged, like myself, to a family of IndianOfficials, her father having been for thirty-six years amember of the Indian Civil Service , and, towards theconclusion of his career, Acting Governor of Bombay.

Two of her brothers were in the Bombay Civil Service ,while several others were in the Military and other services .

This, together with her long experience in some of the mostdifficult fields of our Continental warfare , appeared to be aprovidential preparation for her future work in India .

Soon after our marriage, we were sent by The Founderon a visit of inspection to India, with a view to reportingon the present condition and prospects of the work .

In the following year we were appointed to takethe oversight of the work in India and Ceylon

,with our

Headquarters in Simla, the Summer Capital of both theGovernment of India and of the Punj ab .

During this period of our command in India, we werehappy in having associated with us in the position ofChief Secretary, Colonels (now Commissioners) Sena Singhand Sena Bai (Sowton) for the first six years . Their longexperience in many lands made them accept Indian

FAKIR S INGH AND DUTI N I IN IND IA . 161

conditions with a readiness which we had seldom witnessed,

and it was with great regret that we bid them farewell ontheir transfer to other lands .

Fortunately the vacant position was filled by theappointment of Colonels Sukh Singh and Mithri (nowCommissioners of the Southern Territory) . They hadgrown up with the Indian work from its early days

,had

shared in itsprivations and taken part in its Boom Marches,

besides commanding in turn its various Territories . Inseason and out of season they cordially co-operated inevery advance .

Up to the year 191 1 , when the King and Queen visitedIndia, Cal cutta had been the Winter Capital of the Government of India, but it was decided at this time to transferthe Winter Capital to Delhi, which had or iginally been theImperial Capital of the Mahommedan Emperors . Notonly was it more centrally situated for all parts of India,East , West , North and South , with many railway linesconverging at this point , but it was near Simla, so thatthe cost of transfer for winter and summer would be considerably reduced , and the two Capitals could at all timesmaintain closer touch with each other .The fact that Simla, owing to its position amongst

simple and loyal hill tribes , in the great mountain rangeof the Himalayas

,was practically free from elements of

political unrest and disturbance , led to the stay of theImperial Government being prolonged

,till most of the

offices remained there from seven to eight months out ofthe twelve

,and some of them for the whole year . Quite

recently the Government of India has decided to makeSiru la its Capital for the whole year . !

During the five cold-weather months, the Viceroy andthe principal officials of the Imperial Government spendmuch of their tiIne in travelling all over the Indian Statesand British India

,getting into close personal touch with the

leading Princes,Provinces and Peoples .

I t isa little r emarkable that th e poli cy inaugurated by GeorgeWashington , and adopted by all th e var ious States in th e UnitedStates, has been to locate their Capitals and Legislatures in the

smaller Provin cial towns, where they wou ld be free from intimidation by mob violen ce at timesof popu lar exci temen t. I t isa policywhich mi ght wisely be followed in other lands.

162 FoRTY YEARS IN INDIA .

During the summer period, nearly all the Princes , andProvincial Governors in the country, visit Simla with a

view to discussing the various questions of principle andpolicy which constantly arise , and the fact that all theheads of departments are then within reach of one another,and not absent on tour, tends to the prompt dispatch ofbusiness .

Although after we left India in 1919 it was consideredby the General that Simla had served its purpose as a centralHeadquarters for India, the country being reo rganized asseparate commands, directly responsible to Int ernationalHeadquarters in London, there can be no doubt that theestablishment of our central Headquarters in Simla duringthe twelve years we were there was very helpful to us inbringing The Salvation Army into close personal touchwith the rulers of India . Hitherto they had only been ableto j udge of it by mere hearsay, or newspaper reports, andthese frequently of a very unfavourable character . Nowthey were able to see it for themselves, and as is oftensaid, seeing is believing .

For instance during the three week-ends preceding theincoming of the monsoon, they would see crowds of from

to Hindus and Mahommedans congregate onthe Ridge , the principal, and indeed only, public review andopen-air meeting-place in the city. By the kindness ofthe Municipal Authorities we were permitted to occupythe entire Ridge from 9 pm. t ill nearly midnight , whilethe bazaar empt ied itself to attend the great open-airservices of the Muk tifauj

“

conducted by my wife andmyself, with our Headquarters Staff, together with theOfficers convalescing in our Home of Rest . Not onlymen, but hundreds of women attended, a special enclosurebeing arranged for their benefit , a large proportion of thembeing parda (veiled) and wearing the boorka .

So large were the crowds , extending far up the hill-sideof Mount Jakko , that we used megaphones for the speakers .These consisted of gramophone horns furnished with amouth-piece . As they were of the largest size and theirweight was considerable , a post was fixed in the groundin front of the platform and the horns were suspended fromit , with a chain that could be shortened or lengthened to


new conception of the practicality and vastness of TheArmy

’

s operations in India was thus given to its rul ers ,the benefits of which were quickly felt by us in al l partsof the country .

The first to recognize our industrial work was Sir LouisDane , the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punj ab , and SirJames Wilson , the Financial Commissioner . They sawThe Salvation Army Hand loom, invented by Staff CaptainMaxwell , in actual operation, and with their knowledgeof the crude implements employed by the Punj ab weaversthey formed the idea of establishing a Hand loom WeavingSchool, where improved methods could be taught and upto-date implements introduced .

A part of the large fortress in Ludhiana was placed atour disposal, and was formally opened as the Sir LouisDane Weaving School of the Punj ab . Not many monthshad passed before the whole of the Fort wasmade over tous for much needed extension . The school has now becomethe most important institution of its kind in North India .

Under the able and energetic management first of BrigadierGnana Dasen (Barnett) and then of Major Yisu Chandra,a Maratha Offi cer, its operations were greatly extended,and it was in a few years placed on a thoroughly selfsupporting basis .

Although Simla became our Central Headquarters,it

must be remembered that each Territory had its ownHeadquarters, with its Territorial Leader (as at present) .With a view to developing these Territories and placingeach one on an independent footing, it was considereddesirable that our Headquarters should not be in any ofthese centres, but that they should be visited In turn by us ,not less than once or twi ce every year . Hence

,we were

constantly on the Wing, and used often to describe ourreal Headquarters as being in the train, somewhere betweenSimla and Colombo , or Bo

'

mbay and Burma .

On the other hand , Simla was a very convenient centrefor the great annual Councils, when, in accordance withSalvation Army principle and practice , our Staff, Field orSocial Officers were gathered together for periodical re

inspiration and refreshment of body and soul . This wasgreatly appreciated by the Officers themselves . To the

FAKIR S INGH AND DUTIN I IN IND IA . 165

European Officers it had become an imperative necessity,

with the increase of their families, that there should be agood and healthful climatic City of Refuge

,where they

could recuperate in case of illness, and escape for a briefperiod from the oppressive heat of the plains . And itwas a great advantage to them that when they came toSimla they found a purely Indian work in full swing,with a goodly band of soldiers

,and with the Ridge

meetings above described drawing such crowds,The Army

congregations on these occasions being by far the largestof any in the town . Moreover, the fact that the SupremeGovernment of India and that of the Punj ab were so extremely friendly to us, and that the leading Officialsattended our annual Exhibition, was very helpful to our

Officers all over India in securing recognition and assistancefor their work

,and in settling any difficulties and differences

that might have arisen with Officials in their variouscommands .At a later period the annual Congress and Councils in

Simla were duplicated and extended by the establishmentof a similar centre in connection with our Home of Restin the Nilgiri Mountains in South India, this being moreconvenient for those Officers who were working in theSouthern , Western and Ceylon Commands .

In connection with the Simla Corps, there were someinteresting incidents . The Soldiers consist mostly ofChuhras (Sweepers) , the caste amongst whom we are

largely working in the Punj ab . The Sweeper is an essentialmember of every European household in Simla, and thereare several thousands of this class in the town during thesummer

,though most of them migrate to the plains during

the winter months with their employers . They are

wonderfully faithful, however, and turn up year after yearwith great regularity at the meetings . We had for sometime about forty adult Soldiers on our roll, and d id not seemable to get beyond this point . The Officer I n charge oneday called upon his people to pledge themselves eachindividually to secure one recruit during the next threemonths . He made a list of those Willing to make thepromise

,and as few of them could read or write, he asked

them to affix their thumb-marks to their names, a common


method of signing documents in India . They gladlyresponded, one of them undertaking to enlist at leastfive new adherents .Amongst our regular attendants was a man named

Tatu . He could not be enrolled as a soldier,as he

periodically gave way to drink . But he asked that hisname should also be added to the list as he felt sure he couldadd someone to our rolls .

A few days later he wasin the meeting, but kept near thedoor. Pressed to come inside , he replied he was waitingfor his recruit

,and when he did not arrive , Tatu set off

to fetch him, and soon brought him into the meeting .

He was a cook , and had to return shortly to prepare hismaster

’

s meal , so Tatu asked that the Captain shouldsuspend his address till the man had come forward to beprayed with . He had been attending our open-airs forsome time . Tatu had seen him ,

and though himself sucha weak brother, had undertaken to further explain to himthe way of salvation . The new convert proved to bethoroughly sincere .

Another of our soldiers, a woman, was known amongstus as the Duchess, on account of her dignified manner andappearance . She came to one of the meetings bringingwith her three women, to whom she had been explainingthe way of salvation . Seating them in front of her, shewatched over them with prayerful interest, and when theinvitation was given, she went forward with them to thepenitent form . Tauba karo ! Tauba karo (Repentof your sins she earnestly insisted, and then urged themIman lao Iman lao ! (Believe , believe, i .e . , thatJesus saves you here and now) . When the meeting wasover she accompanied them to their homes, further explaining things as they walked along the road, and tenderlyshepherding these newborn souls . Great was her j oy when,a fewweeks later, they were duly enrolled as soldiers underThe Army Flag .

So successfully did the soldiers work, that within afew months the roll had increased from 40 to more than I 50.

It must not be supposed, however, that the Congressesheld in India were confined to Simla and Coonoor . Whilethese were convenient for our European Officers, they could


and night during these seasons . Most of them had comefrom great distances . They went to the resort with bright ,hopeful faces . They returned dej ected, miserable, downcast .The Major would turn out with her girls in relays to

hold constant open-air meetings amongst these soulhungry and disappointed crowds

,and tell them of a

Saviour who was Mighty to Save then and there .

A woman, who had measured her length along the roadfor more than 100 miles to visit some particularly sacredshrine for a darshan (vision) of the deity, was asked on herreturn how she had prospered . She replied sadly, Meredil k e liye bas nahin tha ! F or my heart it was not

enough !

Alas, What multitudes could echo her words ! AnIndian poet has said

Tirath gae t in jan,

Chit khhota man daurEk h i pap na k ath iyan

Das man lade eu r l”

Three men wen t on pilgr image to get r id of

their wickedness ; they d id not cu t off a

singlesin they added ten maunds (800 lbs)more .

Such is the sad verdict of one of their own sages . Itmay be easily imagined how great is the contrast to thosewho have vainly sought relief in visiting these resorts, whenthey witness our Melas

,and see the j oyful faces of thousands

of Salvationists and listen to their heartfelt testimoniesand songs . There is a ring of reality about it all whichmust needs carry conviction to the hearts of the onlookers .But most impressive of all is the sight at these gatheringsof hundreds of seekers pressing forward to the Mercy Seatto confess and forsake their Sins and seek Salvation .

We were visiting one of these great Melas one year,when a message came from a certain village, inviting usto take over their temple, and destroy their idolsand shrines .

For twenty years they had been watching the changedlives of a Salvationist village in their neighbourhood .

Their testimonies, and in particular the earnest appealsof one of their Jemadars, had made them decide that theytoo would seek Salvation . It was a heart-stirring scene

FAKIR S INGH AND DUT I NI IN IND IA . 169

next day when our party travelled over in bullock carts tothe village , and took part in demolishing the shrines, andin welcoming the villagers under The Flag of TheSalvation Army .

Congresses, or Melas , of this character were conductedby us at regular intervals at the following among othercentres —Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lahore, Gurdaspur,Batala, Bareilly, Moradabad, Gorakhpur , Bapatla, Nellore ,Trivandrum

,Nagercoil

,Mavelak arai

,Tiruvellar, Satara,

Ahmednagar, Ahmedabad, Anand, Dohad , Colombo ,Moratuwa

,and other places .

During the Melas held at various centres during the

last year of our command, more than persons camepublicly forward to seek Salvation, or to consecrate themselves for service , or to seek cleansing .

In some of these gatherings, the Prayer Meetings wereof a truly remarkable character . At times all theSalvationists would simultaneously burst out in earnestand audible prayer

,which could indeed be compared to

the sound of many waters .

Time is awake, while mortals are asleep !None can e lude h is grasp, or curb h is cou rseH e passes u n restrained o

’

er all al ik e.

Ramayana.

CHAPTER XX.

PEASANT'

SETTLEMENTS.

P lace th e waste Labou r upon th e waste Land bymeans of waste Capital, and con vert th e Trinity of

Waste in to a Unity of Production The LandlessMan to the Man less Land .

One of the main planks in the Founder’ s Social Platformfor India during his second tour wasa proposal for PeasantSettlements, which would place the Landless Man upon theManless Land . Congestion of population in India appliesrather to the fertile country districts than to the towns .As mentioned elsewhere, 90 per cent . of the populationlive in villages, and the possession of a piece of land, however small, is greatly valued by all classes . Hence ourefforts have been directed towards securing for our converts on favourable terms tracts of land which they couldown and cultivate .

An early experiment was made in this direction inGuj arat , where a few hundred acres of land were obtainedfrom Government for the purpose of settling our Dherconverts .Muktipur, as the Colony is called, has gradually emerged

from a long series of disappointments and difficulties,and now constitutes a bright and prosperous little community of some three hundred souls—all Salvationists.

Our two chief difficulties were as follows1 . The land was situated in the dry belt of Guj arat .

Droughts were frequent , and the water in the first underflow was brackish at a depth of twenty or thirty feet .Beneath this, however, there was in most places anabundant supply of pure water at a further depth of somefifty feet .The development of this settlement has been mainly

along pastoral lines, and they possess remarkably fine

170


of capital would be necessary, Government might fairlyexpect a clear profit of ten to twenty per cent . , while thedense agricultural popul ation in the bordering districtswould make excellent colonists

,well-skilled in agriculture

by irrigation.

At first the land was given away to suitable colonists,on the sole condition that it should not be sold, or mortgaged, and thus fall into the hands of the non-agr iculturalmoney-lending class .The colonists were carefully chosen, the villages were

well planned, and the water charges and land taxes werevery reasonable . Government not only made and supervised the canals and placed in charge of them expertirrigation engineers, but also planned the necessary railwaysand public roads for getting the produce to market .From the first the scheme proved to be a great success,

far exceeding the most sanguine expectations of itsoriginators . Ul timately Government modified its policy, .

and decided to sell the newly irrigable land by auctionto the highest bidder, withdrawing at the same time therestrictions on sale and mortgage . A very large additionalrevenue was thus secured .

The Salvation Army had long been promised a grant ofland for the purpose of settling its converts . Thesepromises did not materialize, and we did not ourselvespress very strongly for their fulfilment , as we had someknowledge of the difficul ties involved in such schemes .However, as we gained experience we gained confidence,and in 1915 we applied for a grant of land .

We were informed by Government that, if we wantedland

,we would have to buy it at the ordinary market price .

Through the kind offices of Sir Michael Fenton, theFinancial Commissioner, a plan was finally agreed uponthat Government should sell us a tract of acres atthe market rate, but that we should be all owed thirty yearsin which to make our payments .The plan followed by us was to al low our future

Salvationist colonists an opportunity of seeing and choosingthe tract . They were skill ed agriculturists and wellacquainted with the irrigation system . Some of the bestof them were chosen to visit the land which Government

PEASANT SETTLEMENTS. 173

had o ffered to us . They turned it down . It was reasonably Cheap and much of it wasvery good

,but it was more

or less patchy, and there were signs of alkali which mightcause difficulty . They were wil ling to pay the highestprice for the best land , rather than get inferior land at acheaper price . It was the voice of the practical farmer,who knew that out of really good land the same labourwould secure such harvests as would quickly make up thedifference in the price .

The Canal authorities then pointed us out a tract whichfu lly answered this description , but the estimated valuewasRs. 240 per acre , instead of Rs . 130, that of the tractpreviously offered . The moment our Salvationist expertssaw this land, they unanimously and enthusiasticallyagreed to it , saying that the price was quite reasonablefor such land . The main canal hal f encircled the land,and the supply of water was sufficient and secure .

The total cost of the land was close upon five lakhsof rupees

,say at the usual rate of exchange of

1 3 . 4d . to the rupee , and for this amount The SalvationArmy became responsible . The Rs . 240 per acre , distributed over a period of thirty years, only meant an annua lpayment of RS. 8 per acre , which the colonist was easilyable to make . Each settler was given a lease , by which,subj ect to regular payment of his instalments , he wouldown the freehold of his land at the end of thirty years .

The payments have been regularly made . The land hasmeanwhile more than doubled in value . There are twoharvests

,and the crops are easily disposed of for cash .

The settlers are prosperous and contented . NearlySalvationists (men, women and children) are settled inthe colony . They support their own Officers , schoolsand hospital

,and contribute generously to The Army

funds . The success of the colony may be said to be due,1 . To its God-recogn izing, God-honouring character .

The religious standard is high .

2 . The land is of the best .

3 . The water supply is adequate .

4. The colonists were chosen with care . They wereskilled agr iculturists , well acquainted with irrigation andlocal crops and condi tions .


5 . They are gran ted the ultimate ownership of the land .

This has proved to be a great encouragement to thriftand careful cultivation .

The following particulars regarding the colony are fromthe pen of its first manager, Adj utantWafadar (Hackett) .The colony was officially opened by a Flag-hoisting

ceremony on May 28th , 1916, and to quote the words of aneye-witness, there was then nothing to see but j ungle .

’

The whole of the land was brought under Cultivationwithin eighteen months .

The village is situated in the centre of the colony,one hundred acres of land being reserved for that purpose .

The village site actually stands on forty acres, and theremainder is left for extension . Each colonist has builthis own house , and enclosed his compound with a boundarywall . The size of a full square-holder

’ s compound is 99 ft .

by 1 10 fr.

, so he has ample room,both for his family and

his livestock . There have also been built the Manager'sbungalow

,hall, Officers

’

Quarters , and dispensary, whilean excellent well has been sunk in the centre of the villagewith eight push-taps—an unusual innovation for a villagecommunity . The testimony of the Governor of thePunj ab when visiting the colony was, that our peoplehad done exceptionally well . Also many other Government Offi cials have been surprised and delighted at theprogress made .

Water we have in plenty . The colony has a frontageof three miles on one of the main distributaries of the LowerBari Doab Canal , and I might say in passing that the landin our neighbourhood is now worth three times the amountof money it wasworth when the colony was founded .

Our main crops are cotton (American) , sugar-cane ,and wheat . Our cotton crop last harvest amounted toabout maunds and was worth close on Rs .The sugar-cane harvested thi s year wasworth Rs .

and the acres of wheat which is now being harvestedI estimate will be worth Rs . in grain alone, wi th anaverage out- turn of from 17 to 18 maunds per acre . Donot imagine , however, that this is all income to the colonists .The Government dues for water and revenue amount toRs . per year, and the holders

’ purchase money

176 FoRTY YEARS IN IND IA .

I am also pleased to say that the Colonists give towards the self- support of the spiritual work . We startedat the beginning of 1919 to pay the Corps Officers

’ salary,

and we are now paying the salary of three day-schoolteachers . Our Self Denial Appeal this year yieldedRs . 700 ; the Harvest Festival over Rs . 400. We havealso built a smal l dispensary at a cost of RS. 900,

thewhole of the amount being subscribed by the land holders,and I have also Rs . 400 in hand towards fitt ing up thedispensary, also given by the colonists . So you will seethat we include in our teaching the principle of giving .

I would say in closing, that the Colony is only in itsinfancy . When we consider that what is now known asShantinagar wasall waste land and j ungle seven yearsago , we do truly say, God has been with us and to Him beall the Glory The land is excellent , the water is plentiful,and humanly speaking there is no danger in the future offailure of crops as there is in so many parts of India . Butnot only from an agricultural standpoint is the prospectof the future for the colony bright , but I believe withcareful teaching and training, there is a bright spiritualfuture before us .

The above account of the Colony, written in 1919, mayhere be supplemented by a recent sketch written in April1923 :

It has to be remembered that the men who have comeas tenants on the colony are from a class of age- longservitude

,and, considering this, the measure of self-control,

hard work,and management which they show augurs

well for the future . Moses found it no light task to evolvea nation out of the slaves of Egypt , and we can hardlyexpect that our task will be much easier .

From a financial standpoint the colony is prosperous ,but what rej oices us most of all is that from a SalvationArmy standpoint also there is a very great deal to thankGod for, as was evidenced quite recently on the occasionof the farewell of Lieut .-Commissioners Hira Singh andAmrita Bai (Hoe) .The Young People’s Annual is easily the first in

interest and popularity of all the annual festivals atShantinagar, and the Manager, Major Jiwan Singh

PEASANT SETTLEMENTS. 177

(Tyldesleyh with pardonable gratification mentions thefact that there are well over a thousand Young Peopleunder the age of eighteen years connected with the Corps

,

this number of course including the Cradle Roll .

The first item of the week-end was a Young People ’ sDemonstration , with seventeen items on the programme ,and the Coming Army acquitted themselves with credit .The closing moments made a strong appeal as twentyboys, each with a lighted candle , stood behind a Cross ,from which streamed a bright light , and sang in Punj abi,Jesus, keep me near the Cross .

’

On Sunday morning a meeting for men only was ledby the Commissioner, and this was followed by a Dedication Service -ou a large scal e . The scene will surelylong be remembered as sixty-eight mothers , each carryingher babe , came to the platform . The fathers stood infront , with The Salvation Army Flags of the Corps andvarious Wards waving overhead . It surely was a sightrarely seen in any Sal vation Army Corps in any part ofthe world .

At night,the air of Shantinagar was filled with the

spirit and sound of worship and prai se . This Corps isdivided into eight Wards, each Ward having about twohundred Salvationists

,and Sunday night is given up to

the holding of the Ward meetings .

During the week- end,twenty-six Corps Cadets received

their certificates for the Third Grade Course . EightyJunior Soldiers were sworn in beneath the Flag . Therewas a swearing-in of sixty transfers from the Junior Rollto the Senior

,also the swearing- ih of thirty-five new Senior

Soldiers . The prize distribution was the occasion oftremendous interest and excitement , and a very happycrowd dispersed to their homes shortly before midnight .

CHAPTER XXI .

COTTAGE INDUSTRIES .

Back to th e Home, away from th e Factory .

The Choice of Industries which would be suitable to ourpeople , and which would enable them to self-support

,

as well as the marketing of the goods when produced andthe training of expert foremen, have constituted problemswhich have not been easy to solve .

We have found it best to concentrate our attentionmainly upon Weavin g, Silk , Needl ework, and Mat-making ,and each of these branches has been developed with athoroughness and attention to detail that leave little to bedesired .

India possesses eleven mill ion Handloom Weavers , onceamong the most prosperous members of the community,now reduced to poverty and destitution . To throw awaytheir wonderful technical skill seemed a poor policy . Aftera careful exam ination of existing conditions, The SalvationArmy decided to try to improve their crude looms andwarping machines , aswell as the qual ity of cloth they couldproduce . Some sixteen years ago , a skil led mechanicOfficer, Staff—Captain Prem Das (Maxwell) , was appointedto live among the weavers, study their art , and improvetheir apparatus . God

’

s special blessing rested uponthe plan . A new and fast loom wasinvented, which couldproduce four or five times the quantity of cloth woven onthe old handloom .

But this raised a new difficulty . The warping wasdone by the women and children , and they could not

possibly keep pace with the new loom . Oh, the patienceof those women ! To produce a single warp of fifty feetlength , they would have to walk backwards and forwards

x7s


loom weaving Oh, no , it was a dead industry, at any rate ,dying, and the sooner it died the better for the mills !So we gave it up as hopeless to attempt to obtain our

weaving masters from such schools, and had to start ourown schools , and train our own Weaving Masters andWeavers . It was a tedious business and took us severalyears, but it wasabundantly worth while .

However, nearly every Settlement for the CriminalTribes became in process of time a Weaving School, aswe found this to be an industry which was popular withthe tribesmen . Moreover, they were less conservativethan the weavers, and took readily to the new and improvedmethods and machines which we had introduced .

While studying conditions and the market , we were notlong in discovering that Silk weaving was a much morepaying industry than cotton . But then it required fargreater skill . The secrets of the business were morej eal ously guarded, and unless we could produce our ownsilkworms and cocoons, we could not secure the best resultsor profits .

Again, a careful survey wasmade of this industry, andinformation collected from all sources . France, Italy,China, Japan and Kashmir were the principal countrieswhere Silk was being successfully produced on a vastcommercial scale . These countries were personally visitedby my wife and myself, their experts were consultedand their best books collected . Then our Officers andWeaving Masters set to work to solve the problem of Silk .

Our Weaving Schools made excellent centres for studyingand developing the question , and when the celebratedTata Company made over to us their Silk Farm inBangalore , this proved to be an admirable centre fortraining our Silk staff .The connection and friendship of the well-known and

eminent Parsee family of Tatas constitutes an interestingChapter in our Indian history . The late Mr. J amsetjiN . Tata, the head and founder of the firm, and fatherof Sir Dorab ji and Sir Ratan, wasone of the first and mostgenerous of our Indian friends to rally to our assistance .

Between him and myself a warm personal friendshipsprang up which lasted to the end of his distingu ished

COTTAGE INDUSTRIES . 18 1

career, and while I , with Commissioner Rahiman , wasin charge of The Salvation Army work in America

,it was

a great j oy to us to introduce our friend to the SteelMagnates of that country as the great Indian Philanthropist , who might be regarded as the Rockefeller of India .

It was in connection with the mammoth scheme forSteel works since established in Sakchi in Eastern India ,that the visit waspaid, and when in later years we visitedthose works, now employing some hands , it was agreat satisfaction to know that the vision had attained soremarkable a fulfilment .After the death of his father, Sir Dorabj i Tata suggested

that The Salvation Army should take up, and seek tobring to fruition, another of that great dreamer

’

s schemes,which had not so far met with the success which he hadanticipated .

Mr . Tata, after visiting Japan , had felt satisfied thatIndia offered at least an equally good field for the SilkIndustry . He obtained the services of an expert Japanese ,under whose management a small model farm of seventeenacres was organiz ed

,and a filature of ten basins established

for reeling s ilk . Al together some Rs. had beenspent in starting this venture

,but it had not achieved

the results which their father had anticipated . Sir Dorab j itherefore suggested that we should take it over and seeWhat we could do with it . He thought that with ourorganization behind it

,the scheme might still be made a

success . I f that were so , they would gladly make overthe whole property to The Salvation Army as a gi ft—a

generous offer which has since been carried intoeffect .We took up the proposition and organiz ed a Silk School,

which soon had about one hundred pupils and workers,studying Silk in all its branches

,from the growmg of Silk

worms and mulberry,and the reeling of Si lk, to the

-production of the most delicate fabrics . A demand quicklysprang up for our silk goods

,and orders were booked six

months in advance of our capacity to produce , enabling

us gradually to increase our reeling basms and looms .The School is situated at Bangal ore , in the centre of a

district which is the home of the famous Mysore multi

voltine silk-worm,which practically produces cocoons


all the year round . The silk is of the finest quality andcommands a ready sale .

We were able , in this way, to train expert Silk foremenand weavers , who could take charge of our Silk centresin other parts of India, besides supplying the Mysore andother Governments with silk supervisors .India is the home , not only of the Mysore, but of the

Muga,Tussore , Bengal and Eri silk-worms . The com

mercial val ue of these has been attested over and overby British and French experts, but the laissez faire ”

policy pursued, and the half-hearted and unskilful attemptsoccasional ly made to encourage the industry have onlyresulted in its continued decadence .

Contrasting strongly with these is the vigorous policyof the Kashmir Government , under the wise and skilfulguidan ce of the late Sir Thomas Wardle . Followinghis expert advice the Industry, whi ch had dwindled tonothing, was rapidly re- established, until it has becomeone of the most flourishing in the East , and a source ofrevenue to the Government, and of income to the ryot

(peasant) .The examples of Japan and France also furnish admirablemodels on which the necessary legislation could be basedfor the recovery of this important industry from the lowstage which , purely through ignorance and gross neglect ,it has been permitt ed to reach .

We have now got the best and most up-to-date Silk

School in India, where the various branches of the artare studied and taught , and such is the demand for thewoven material we produce that we have been unable tokeep pace with the orders we have received .

We cull the following particulars from a report writtenby Brigadier Diriyam (Jackson) , who , with the ableassistance of hiswife, brought the Institution to a successful position during the seven years that he was incommand 2I am writing this report for the encouragement of

those who are thinking of start ing the Silk Industry.

This is an industry in which all the family can take part .If a man has land , he can supplement his income from itby rearing silk-worms . The system of rearing is very


There is a great deal of cheating in Silk . Purchasersmay have palmed off upon them artificial silk, whichis not silk at all , or mercerised cotton, which has abright appearance and is not silk, or a mixture of cottonand silk, where cotton greatly predominates, or fabricsmade of waste silk— none of these of course equallingthe wonderful fabrics produced from pure raw silk

,

or the unbroken thread of the silkworm . As long as peoplek now what they are buying, and pay accordingly, no

obj ection can be raised to the production of these inferiorfabrics . But too often this is not the case, and very fewpeople have the sk ill to detect the difference between themake-believes and the pure silk . Purchasers soon foundthat with us they could rely on knowing exactly whatthey were buying . If they wanted a cheap mixed fabric,we could produce it for them . If, on the other hand, aswasoften the case, they wanted to get the best and purestsilk, we could supply it .Another interesting Industry which we have developed

has been Lace, Drawn- thread and Needlework . We haveorganized this industry for the benefit of our IndustrialSchools, and Village Soldiers . In South India, the womenare taught the work in Nagercoil, and are then suppliedwith materials, and are paid for their work , which we sellto our friends and customers . More than three thousandwomen are thus found profitable employment

,without

having to leave their homes, or go to city factories . Thi smovement back to the home— and away from the factoryis well worthy of consideration on the part of employers oflabour. It could often be done with advantage to bothemployer and worker, asit saves the employer the expenseof costly buildings, while the workers fix their own hours,preserve the sanctity of home life, and are not liable . tosuffer nearly so seriously if bad times should come for thetrade which they follow, as they have their garden produce,poultry, or crops to fall back upon .

CHAPTER XXII .

OUR MEDICAL WORK .

Sickness, thou An techamberTo Heaven—approach to God

Ladder by which we clamberFrom earth—our Father ’

srodWelcome , since thou dost br ing me

Ab assadors of love ,

Angel ic songs to sing me ,

New from my Home above .

The problem of disease has been earnestly and sympathetically studied by the Indian Government

,and much

has been done to alleviate suffering and to introduce thebest Hospitals, Medicines and Training . But it isdifficultto realize how vast are the problems requiring to be dealtwith .

The epidemics of India are both numerous and terriblein their ravages . It is moreover very difficult to enforcethe most ordinary precautions . Cholera

,Plague

,Small

pox and Mal aria claim millions of victims every year .Travelling, as we did, over the whole country, it was acommon experience to find ourselves surrounded withsufferers from one or more of these scourges . During oneyear The Salvation Army lost in a few weeks aboutSalvationists

,and 25 of our Indian Officers in a single

district from a severe outbreak of Pneumonic Influenza,when the Official returns for India showed that some sixmillion persons had succumbed . Two or three monthslater Plague ravaged the country, and we lost about

more of our people in the same district .The gr eat pilgrirnages which take place at certain

seasons help to scatter the disease germs, especially in thecase of Cholera

,although elaborate precautionsare taken by


the authorities. At times it becomes necessary to prohibitthese gatherings altogether, though Government is veryunwilling to adopt such an extreme measure .

It may be thought by some who are well acquaintedwith India, that the Medical Department and Institutionsorgani z ed by Government are sufficient for the needs of thecountry . But this is far from being the case . To supplythe medical needs of 320 mill ion people, and this in acountry saturated, so to speak , with Malaria, Plague,Typhoid , Smallpox, Cholera, Eye diseases, Leprosy andother maladies, is a gigantic task .

Moreover, the Civil Surgeon of a district has to dividehis time between the Government Hospital s and his privatepractice among European Officials and leading Indians .

Hence there is amme scope for The Salvation ArmyHospitals and Dispensaries which we have establishedin different parts of India . Indeed, scope is a poorword . There is pressing need for them , and they aredeeply appreciated by the people .

Moreover, there can be no doubt that in addition to thespiritual meetings which are regularly conducted in ourHospitals and Dispensaries for the benefit of the patients,a great influence is exercised among all classes of theadj oining population , and the barriers are minimiz ed,even where they may not be altogether removed . Christthe Healer of the Body introduces them to Christ theHealer of the Soul .

Our special wards for women are now arranged upon thesystem introduced in India by Sir James Roberts,revolutionizing the plan on which ! enana Hospitals aregenerally worked . The Indian woman, when taken to aHospital

,is usually cut o ff from the male members of her

family,except during visiting hours . This she feels very

keenly. While shy of strangers, she longs in her sicknessto have the members of her family, including her husband,father, or son, about her, to see to her various needs.

Hence she will usually prefer to suffer and die at homethan go to a Hospital .The new system arranges a back entrance, with a small

courtyard and verandah, where the members of the family,both male and female , can wait upon the patient and attend


Captain Turnerwasasked if he were willing to go to Ind iaWilling ! Had not the vision of India

’ s needs alreadypressed upon his heart , and had he not laid himself uponthe altar of service for that land ? But even in thosefar-away days Dr . Turner was a cautious man, and did notallow his zeal to outrun his discretion . His qualificationswere those of an ordinary practitioner, and with some foreshadowing oi the great responsibilities that were to comeupon him in the future, it seemed best to him that he shouldal so take a University degree . He laid his proposal beforethe Founder, and wasgiven a furlough to take up a furthercourse of study at his own expense . The Founder

’

scomment was characteristic I have no inspiration onthe subj ect , but if you think it best , go ahead and do itObtaining a medical appointment , the future Missionary

Officer took up the necessary extra courses with anexamination each six months till he attained his desiredaim.

During this t ime Adjutant Sik undar had returned toIndia, having obtained a grant from the InternationalHeadquarters in London, to enable him to establish theCatherine Booth dispensary at Nagercoil . It was animmediate success , partly because of the need, and partlybecause of his intense enthusiasm . Often he spent halfthe night studying for the work which awaited him on themorrow . More and more the burden of the work pressedupon him , and almost every Home mail carried lettersto Dr . Turner saying how much he waslooking forward tohis coming . But the latter still tarried he had attainedthe desired medical degree, and now with God-givenintuition of the peculiar Work that awaited him , felt hehad better have some special experience in eye work .

Again the Founder agreed to the proposal, and Dr. Turnertook an appointment as Resident Medical Officer in anOphthalmic Hospital .It was in 1900 that Doctor Turner left England, and for

the next twenty-one years he was engaged in the superintendence and development of the Catherine BoothHosp ital at Nagercoil .During this period, in addition to establishing four

Branch Hospitals in needy localit ies in Travancore , a

OUR MED ICAL WORK . 189

Medical School was started, which was recognized by theState , graduates of this School being accepted asMedicalPractitioners, and empowered to take charge of Grant-inAid Hospitals , or to practise medicine , surgery, and midwifery.

This Hospital received the personal recognition,and

support of His Highness the Maharaj a of Travancore,

who , in the course of one of his personal visits in August ,192 1 , spoke as follows

Dr . and Mrs . Turner, Lad ies and Gentlemen : Itaffords me very great pleasure to te-visit the CatherineBooth Hospital of Vadaseri, after a long interval of nineyears, and to see for myself the vast advance that thisinstitution has made in its career of public usefulnesssince I visited it last . I appreciate the valuable humanitarian work that is being carried on within the walls ofthis Hospital , the self-sacrificing labours undertaken byyou, Dr . Turner, and the members of your staff in thedifferent branches of the medical profession here, in thenoble cause of the alleviation of human suffering . AS thePatron of the Institution for the past twenty years, it isparticularly gratifying to me to hear of its success andprosperity

,and I am happy to learn that the new Hospital

for Women,opened under the presidency of Her Excellency,

Lady Willingdon,during Her Excellency

'

s visit to Travancore in October last , is becoming increasingly popular.I may assure you that your Institution will continue toreceive my sincere sympathy .

His Highness the Maharaj a of Cochin, a State North ofTravancore

, al so visited the Hospital , and recorded hisOpinion in the following terms :

One of the pleasantest recollections of my tour throughTravancore will be the memory of my visit to theCatherine Booth Hospital at Nagercoil . The wellplanned buildings

,the pleasant surroundings, the kindly

faces of the members of the Medical and Nursing Staff,and the happy looks of the patients leave an i1npressxonnot easily effaced .

(Signed) RAMA VARMAII ,F ebruary 9th, 1922 . Mah araj a of COCt .


The extensive relief work carried on by this Hospitalmay be j udged by the following figures

192 1 Out-patients Attendances (1 year)1901 to 192 1 (2 1 years) Out-patients

Attendances192 1 In-patients (1 year)1901 to 192 1 (2 1 years) I n-patients192 1 Operations performed (1 year)1908 to 192 1 (14 years) Operations per

formedOn the arrival of Dr. Daya Nasen (Turner) in Travancore ,

Adjutant Sik undar was transferred at his own requestto our ordinary operations in Guj arat . But the medicalinstinct in him was too strong to be thus extinguished .

Again he found himself surrounded with a mass of humansuffering which appealed to his heart . The experience hehad gained in Travancore was once more called intorequisition , and before long another Dispensary spranginto existence which quickly developed into a hospital .The Hospital is central ly Situated in Anand, an im

portant railway j unction , and is well known and‘

verypopular throughout the district . It confers an immenseb‘oon upon our own people . The great prevalence of eyediseases has led to a motor ambulance being attached ofrecent years to this Hospital from which Visits are paid tosurrounding villages . Those who cannot be treatedlocally are brought to the Hospital for further treatment .During the last Six months of 1922 , the Hospital dealt

with 747 I n-patients, and Out-patients . The staffconsists of seventeen Offi cers and fourteen Employees .The motor ambulance dealt with more than eight hundredcases during the first two months that it wasin operation .

After organizing the Guj arat Hospital, the Adjutantsuggested that to obviate the possibility of trouble arising ,owing to the fact that he had no proper qualifications as amedical man

,arrangements should be made for him to go

through a medical course . Headquarters in Londonagreed to the proposal, and the Adjutant spent several

yfars in Chicago , where he obtained his medical degree

0 MD .

On his return to India, it was arranged that he should


to the wounded, but none to himself . Subsequently hewas compelled to remove it , but continued most devotedlyto attend the wounded . Finally, when an ambulancewas available, he Showed the utmost disregard for dangerin collecting the wounded under fire and placing them inthe ambulance . Eventually he was killed on the com

pletion of his task .

From the Commander—in-Chief in India, General SirCharles Monro , the following letter was received

S IMLA , 3oth October, 1919 .

DEAR SIR,

It is with great regret that I have to announceto you that Captain H . J . Andrews, V.Cwaskilled in action on the 22nd instant in the Tochi Valley.

I wish to convey my sincere appreciation of the veryvaluable services rendered by the late Captain Andrews,who in 1916 was responsible for the establishment andadministration of the War Hospital located in the hospitalbuildings belonging to The Salvation Army at Moradabad,which were so generously placed at my disposal by yourpredecessor, Commissioner F . Booth Tucker, and whoafter the closing of that Hospital served with a FieldMedical Unit on active service on the Frontier .

Yours sincerely,(Signed) C . C . MONRO,

Commander-in -Chief .To the Commissioner~in-Charge ,

Salvation Army, Simla .

Major General Sir Patrick Hehir, I .M .S . (retired) , writesas follows to the British Medical J ournal

I should be glad of an opportunity of making a fewremarks about the late Dr . Henry John Andrews, V .C. ,

Salvation Army, whose posthumous awardof the Victoria Cross has been announced (British Medical

J ournal, September 18th ,1920, p . He was killed

in action in Afghanistan on October 22nd , 1919. Thebrave deed that merited this high distinction has beendescribed in despatches . He met his death in the way

OUR MED ICAL WORK . 193

I believe he would have chosen, in service to others, doinghis duty —the ideal way for an army doctor .It was my pleasure and privilege to know Andrews

fairly well, as we worked together in the NorthernCommand in India when I was there

.On

several occasions he asked to be transferred to the front,

but he was doing such excellent work as Commandantof the Moradabad War Hospital that his services couldnot be spared . Eventually he was employed at the frontin the Afghan campaign, where he met hisglorious death .

He was energetic, brimful of vitality, extremely modest ,quiet , thorough and reliable , completely unselfish , andhis devotion to duty wasmost inspiring to others . Whilstserving on the military side I know that he gave theGovernment the best that was in him . His goodnessinfected all those around him

,and one feels confident

that his influence will continue for many a day in theneighbourhood in which he worked .

He was a man with broad human sympathies,and a

splendid type of the medical missionary in India . He wasloved by the poor, and their care, comfort and treatmentwere meticulously attended to in his Hospital . He wasagood operator, and crowds of people flocked from variousparts of the Moradabad district to be treated by him .

He designed and supervised the construction of TheSalvation Army Hospital at Moradabad . It is a modelof what a district hospital should be in India . It is oneof the few hospitals in Oudh that has its own tube well .I was particularly struck with the admirable way inwhich the various departments of the hospital werearranged . It was well organized and administered . Thehospital wasmade over to Government as a War Hospitalin a whole-hearted manner by The Salvation Army, anddid most laudable work for our sick and wounded IndianSoldiers . For such a man the future life could haveno cause for apprehension

,and we may be certain that

he was welcomed into the other world with the words,Well done

,thou good and faithful servant .

’

CHAPTER XXIII .

THE BEGGAR OF THE EAST.

Think not by shaven face and headTo prove your appetites are dead ;Who shaves h is head and not h isheartI s on ly a fakir in part .

Bu t b e his head has r ightly shaved ,Wh ose heart from wickedness is saved .

Mrichak atik a .

The Medical Body in Colombo deserve credi t as beingthe pioneers in one of the greatest and most urgentlyneeded sanitary reforms in Eastern lands, namely thedealing systematical ly, and sympathetically, from a healthstandpoint wi th the beggar population, which swarm inthe streets of every Eastern city .

Ceylon may take the credit for being the first country,and Colombo for being the first Eastern City, which hasattempted to grapple seriously with what appears to be agigantic and costly undertaking .

A discussion had for some time been occupying theattention of the papers as to the causes of the unhealth inessof Colombo, when a doctor of that city brought to thenotice of the public the large number of beggars in thestreets, and the loathsome diseases from which theysuffered . He pointed out that the flies which settled ontheir sores infested and infected the food sold in theboutiques (bazaar shops) , and expressed the opinion thatwhile this evil was allowed to exist unchecked, they couldnot expect Colombo to be a healthy city . He suggestedthat a census Should be taken of the beggar population,and of their death- rate .

The proposal wasimmediately tak en up, and the inquiry

194


In the year 1907 the Ordinances regarding Vagrancy hadbeen amended and brought up to date, and Governmenthad been empowered to establish Houses of Detention towhich Vagrants could be committed for observation anddetention . Until such a place , or places, had beenestablished the law was practically a dead letter . It wasnot till 1913 that this improvement was finally effected .

The Ceylon Administration report for 192 1 contains thefollowing interesting particulars 2

Eight hundred and seventy vagrants were admittedto the House of Detention during the year . Of these,553 were admitted from Colombo , 281 from Kandy

, I 4from Nuwara Eliya, 12 from Karunegala, 6 from Anuradhapura

,2 from Hatton, and 1 each from Moratuwa and

Galle . Of the 870 deal t with, 7 10 were Tamils, 123Singhalese, 16 Ceylon Moors, 15 Coast Moors , 2 Burghers,2 Malays, 1 Maratha and 1 Bengali .Employment was found for 84 vagrants ; 674 natives

of India who were unfit for work were deported to India,

and 128 were sent to the Home for Vagrants .

There wasa slight decrease in the number of vagrantsadmitted to the House of Detention, 870 as against 926 in1 20.9Since the House of Detention was opened in 1913 ,

vagrants have been dealt with . In 192 1 , fiftyvagrants were found dead in the streets, and 185 removedto hospital

,as compared with 109 vagrants found dead

in the streets, and 513 removed to hospital in 1913 . Theprovision of the House of Detention has rid the streetsof vagrants to a great extent .

”

The Ordinances deal with the difficulty in what appearsto be a wise and business- like manner

1 . They empower the Magistrates and Police to clearthe streets of the beggar popul ation ,

2 . They authorize the Ceylon Government to deport toIndia the large number of incapables, who properly belongto that country ;3 . They also enablethe Authorities to send back others

to their own town and district, unless the latter should bewilling to pay for the cost of their support in Colombo

THE BEGGAR OF THE EAST . 197

4. Able-bodied vagrants are dealt with summarily,

(a) by sending them to the tea gardens , where theirlabour isrequired

(b) by making it a punishable offence for them torelapse to vagrancy .

The House of Detention here referred to hastwo branches.One is entirely under Police control for receiving

,sorting

and classifyn the Vagrants . The other, for the care ofthe residuum of bona fide Sick

,or helpless vagrants, is

under the charge of The Salvation Army .

Some considerable delay was caused by the difficul tyof deciding what proportion of the expense shoul d be bornerespectively by the Ceylon Government and the ColomboMunicipal ity . But a satisfactory arrangement wasfinallymade by which it was agreed that they should jointlybear the expense, and that they Shoul d use the agency ofThe Salvation Army for the repulsive task of takingcharge of the hopelessly diseased, and permanently, ortemporarily

,incapable . A large disused j ail was placed

at our disposal for the purpose .

This Home hasnow been under our charge for the lastnine years

,and there can be little doubt that it hasfilled a

real need,and has indicated to other Eastern cities the

possibili ty of deal ing with thi s problem along the sensible ,and at the same time merciful , lines laid down by theCeylon Government .

According to the latest figures to hand for 1923 , wehave now in our Home 101 inmates . Of these 58 are men ,

42 women , and 1 child . These in clude 14 blind, 4 deafand dumb ,

12 cripples , 9 mentally deficient , and 1 1

abnormal .

The Bombay Government and Municipality, after considering the Ceylon system ,

could not see theirway to adopttheir plan of compulsory segregation . But a movementwas set on foot for dealing with the difficulty on purelyvoluntary lines

,the agency of The Salvation Army be ing

chosen for putting the plan in to operation . We cannotdo better than quote the report for January 1923 , of theHelpless Beggars’ Relief Committee to the BombayCorporation

How it wasstarted . In May,1920, Mr . W . B . Manley,


who was then Deputy Commissioner of Police,Bombay,

having learned from the statistics collected from thePolice Department that a large number of beggars weredying of starvation on the streets, convened a meetingof the citizens of Bombay with the obj ect of forming anorganiz ation to help such people . A Committee wasformed and the work was commenced . A party ofvoluntary workers systematically Swept the streets, and thehuman Sweepings were deposited in the Bombay BenevolentSociety

’

s Home at Byculla, day by day . This wasthe onlyplace at that time available for the reception of thesehelpless people .

In about three weeks’

t ime, the Home absorbedabout one hundred helpless beggars, and then the accommodation gave out . Some weeks later, through the goodoffices of the Bombay Improvement Trust and the Mili taryAuthorities, a Military Camp was handed over to theCommittee for a short period only .

The Salvation Army undertook the management ofthis new settlement , for which funds were provided by aMahommedan gentleman . Street collection of beggarswas at once resumed by the members of the Committeeand the Offi cers of The Sal vation Army . By December,1920, this temporary refuge was housing 130 helplessbeggars .

The Camp at Rowli Hill . Knowing that the periodfor which the Military authorities had loaned the Camp tothe Committee was very Short , the Committee had toconsider measures for more permanent accommodation ,

and for this purpose a Committee was formed under theChairmanship of Sir N . G . Chandavark er, and the BombayImprovement Trust was again approached and a site wassecured at Rowli Hill . By May, 1921 , the Camp was inworking order, and there were sixty-eight persons inresidence .

Since this time, the camp has steadily been fulfi llingthe purpose for which it was brought into being, and thefollowing statistics will convince all of the need of such anasylum , and al so that it is a work that is worthy of theirliberal support .

Some Statistics. The total admissions to the Camp


Very often the workers have arrived j ust too late ontheir errand of mercy, for death has overtaken the poorcreatures before the workers could reach them . Therehave been many such cases noticed by the Officers of TheSalvation Army as they have gone round .

The Municipal Health Department has Very kindlygiven the Committee the loan of horse and motorambulances for the purpose of conveying the beggars fromthe streets to the Camp .

L ife in the Beggars’

Camp . The Camp IS situatedat Rowli Hill, Matunga, on some new-made ground, onone of the Bombay Improvement Trust DevelopmentSchemes . It is about fifteen minutes’ walk from themain road, a little beyond Matunga Station . The locationof the Camp is healthy, as is seen by the improvementmade by the beggars soon after their arrival . Many whocome to us in an almost dying condition, after a few weeks

’

residence are quite well and hearty . The whole population of the Camp look well .When a new batch arrives at the Camp , after their

particulars have been taken and a record made, they mustal l see the Doctor, who very carefully examines the caseand gives treatment where necessary . After this is over,each has to take a bath

,and this presents quite a problem ,

for some have not bathed for months , and they very muchresent the idea of taking to water after such a long time .

Bathing is followed by a good substantial meal , which al l

appear to enj oy .

F ood . The food times at the Camp, are as followsMorning, 7 a.m.

,tea ; 1 1 a .m.

,rice and curry ; 6 p.m. , rice ,

dhal and chappatties. Mutton is given to those who wishto have it twice a week . AS far as they are able to do so,

the inmates of the Camp assist with the cooking, and thecook needs al l the assistance he can get

,when he has to

make and bake something like 450 chappatties daily, inaddition to rice and vegetables for such a large family .

The Camp is divided into ten different wards two arespecially reserved for women , and eight for men . Thetotal accommodation is sufficient for about 250 people .

Medical Attendance. Every morning a Doctor fromthe Municipal Health Department attends to the sick ,

THE BEGGAR OF THE EAST . 201

and when the new arrivals first come,he has his hands

quite full and hiswork is not to be envied,for some of the

cases he has to deal with are beyond description,

—soreswhich have been neglected for weeks ; disease which , hadit been treated at the proper time

,could have been arrested

,

but now, owing to neglect , is beyond medical skill .I ndustries. It must be borne in mind that this Camp

is for helpless beggars only,and only such are admitted .

This being so, there is not much hope of successfullycarrying on any industry . However, an attempt hasbeenmade and quite a number of the beggars have been employed on cane work . Those who have had an opportunityof doing this work appear to take to it well, especially thecaning of chairs , but unfortunately it is not easy to getmuch of this kind of work, as the Camp isso far from theCity. The young people learn weaving . Two specialhand-looms have been installed, and it is intended to havemore looms as funds permit . The obj ect is to inducethe beggars to make their own Clothing, and also that ofthose incapable of any form of work .

The inmates are also very interested in gardening,and almost every available foot of spare ground has beenutilized to grow something or other . This is the kind ofindustry which should be encouraged . The inmates willnot only be employed, but the employment will be of aheal thy kind and they will be helping to provide themselveswith food .

Supervision of The Salvation Army . The SalvationArmy

,under whose direction the Camp has been so

successfully run,have put in good service . The present

Chief Officer, Lieut .-Commissioner J . Horsk ins takes akeen and active interest in this , as in all other work wherethe poor and helpless are concerned .

The Salvation Army have a resident Manager , AdjutantAnand Rao

,and he with his good wife attend to all the

daily needs of the inmates . The Manager’

s wife is incharge of the sick ward

,and daily attends to feeding those

who are too feeble to feed themselves .

0

The F uture. Very fully does the Committee real izethat their work touchesonly the fringe of the great prob lemof vagrancy in Bombay

,but it isthe only Institution of I ts


kind that seeks to succour starving humanity . There is apressing need for the extension of the Rowli Hill Camp .

The maintenance of each beggar at Rowli Hill costsroughly ten rupees a month . The Bombay HelplessBeggars ’ Relief Committee aim at accommodating 500beggars

,and it is to achieve this obj ect that the Committee

,

through the Joint Honorary Secretaries, appeal for anincreased grant .It will be seen by this Memorandum that the work is

purely humanitarian, conducted strictly on non-denominational lines . The Commissioner of Police in Bombaycertified its urgent necessity, and it enjoys the cordialsympathy of His Excellency the Governor of Bombay .

The Municipal Corporation of Bombay generouslysanctioned a monthly grant of Rs . for one year

,

which expired on the 3 I St December, If theCorporation is satisfied that this grant has been faithfullyapplied and has really helped to relieve suffering, feed thestarving and mitigate the dire distress of a large numberof helpless beggars in the City of Bombay, then the Committee not only appeal for a renewal of that grant , but hopeit will be increased to Rs . per mensem, so that theCommittee’ s work can be extended and the Beggars’

Camp enlarged .

Here,as in all our Homes, Settlements , and Institutions,

we have our regular meetings with music and singing .

These afford a welcome relief and cheer to the sufferers,

and serve to lighten the monotony of their lives, and tobring in a new element of hope and gladness . In passingthrough Colombo , ! on our way from Australia to England,my wife and I held a meeting at the Beggars’ Home, whensome twenty of them came forward to give themselves toGod

,and one felt glad to realize that there was a place in

the great Shepherd’

s Heart and Fold for those who hadbeen hitherto the despair alike of the Legislator and thePhilanthropist Instead of being left to perish miserablyin the streets, they are now surrounded with an atmosphereof love and sympathy which must indeed contrast strangelywith their miserable past

Ju ly. 1923


consists in the commission of crime, from the proceedsof which they not only support themselves

,but bribe the

subordinate representatives of law and order to grant thema certain amount of toleration and immuni ty from punishment .In other lands criminals are individuals who may be

described as the rogue elephants of society. Theyare branded, boycotted and segregated from the decentlaw—abiding members of the human race . In ‘ India theyconsist of entire Tribes, Vill ages, Clans, and Families, allthe members of which are devoted from the cradle to thegrave to a life of crime . Nor are they ashamed of theirprofession . Rather do they glory in it , and regard themselves with all the pride of ancestry of warriors engaged ina perfectly legitimatewar against society .

The origin of this dates back to the age- long condi tionof society in India . While certain portions of the countryare rich in agricul tural resources, others on their bordershave a precarious struggle for existence . Their mountainhomes or waterless deserts yield them a scanty and un

certain subsistence, which they have from time immemorialsupplemented by periodical raids on their more prosperous

,

but often less warlike, neighbours .

It is only necessary to refer to the history of theMarathas

,Rajputs and Afghans to il lustrate the condition

of things which has existed for centuries, and which hastaxed for the last hundred years the utmost Skill andpatience of India

’

s rulers to overcome .

Gradually the turbulent tribes have been restrainedand their raidings brought under control . Extensiveschemes of irrigation

,industrial employment , and emi

gration have legitimately relieved the pressure of population ,and the strong arm of the law has gradually made itselffelt

,till the Pax Britannica in India hasbecome one of the

great marvels of the age .

But there has remained a vast and widespread residuumof crime and criminals which has baffled the best effortsof the British Ruler. Tribes, numbering at the lowestcalcul ation one million men, women and children, haveparcell ed out , so to speak, the entire country betweenthemselves as a happy hunting ground , where they could

THE CRIMINAL TRIBES. 205

gain a comparatively comfortable and easy subsistenceby preying on society at large .

The fact that apart from British Territory there aresome 500 Indian Princes, each with their own self-governedterritory, laws and police , and that these regions are interlaced with one another, has served to make the task ofthe police particularly difficult . Not only so,

but in manyof the 220 Districts into which British India is subdivided

,

a friendly policy is frequently adopted towards theseTribes

,who, when thus treated, grant such areas a large

measure of immunity from raids, while they direct theirspecial attention against those who are the most activein restraining and punishing them . Frequently theboundaries of three or four States and Districts convergeat a particular point . This will be a favourite haunt forone or more Tribes , as they can pass swiftly from onej urisdiction to another, and thus evade the Police .

It must not be imagined for a moment that Governmenthas been inactive in dealing with the matter . Effortshave been made alike at controlling, punishing and

reforming them .

1 . A Special Act has been passed . But its provisionsare more or less permissive , and in the case of independentTerritories few of the Indian Princes have availed themselves oi its provisions . In regard to British Territory,

while some Provinces have enforced it , others have failedto do so,

while some have only put forth very half-heartedefforts to carry out itsprovisions .

While I was in India I suggested the holding of a regularannual Conference

,to be summoned by the Government of

India,at which all States and Provinces Should be repre

sented,when those who were experts at this class of work

should be invited to read papers and state their views .

One or two such Conferences were held with good effect ,but it was not adopted as a regular annual event , severalProvinces obj ecting, I believe, on the ground that it wasan undue interference with their independent liberty ofaction

,and others on the score of expense .

2 .Several British District Officials, and one or two

Indian States have made efforts at reforming these Tribesby giving them land and inducing them to settle down to


gain an honest livelihood . Almost without exceptionthese Governmental efforts failed as soon as the particul arofficial interested in them was transferred, or left India,the Tribe relapsing into crime .

3 . The District or Police official dealing with theseTribes, and seeking to reform them ,

finds himself seriouslyhandicapped by the fact that this kind of crime is verylucrative , and he has often to deal with the secretobstruction of vested interests which frequently includehis own subordinates . In a single year in one Province

rupees’

worth of property had been officiallyreported as stolen, of which less than half a mill ion had beenrecovered . The unrecovered balance had been dividedbetween the thieves and those whose duty it wasto detectand punish them .

4 . Again, his official position prevents the DistrictOfficer from making any use of religious influences topersuade the people in whom he is interested to turn fromtheir evil ways .

5 . Nor is his wife as a rule capable or desirous ofbringing her reformatory influence to bear on the womenand children of the tribe , as is the case with the wives ofour Officers . This is really the key to the position in anyreformatory effort that may be made .

6. Some Police Officers have made sincere , earnestand partial ly successful efforts to reform particular tribes,but when the time came for their promotion or transfer

,

there was seldom anybody willing to step into their shoes,

or devote any considerable portion of their career to suchdistasteful and inconspicuous work , which was practicallya blind alley position where their future prospects o fadvancement would be marred .

Otherwise they had a great advantage in that they wereable to check and control their subordinates . These,however, knew that sooner or later the time would comefor the transfer of the official, and that they woul d thenbe able to renew their strangle-hold upon the Tribe .Itwasin 1908whenwewere conducting one of our annual

Congress Campaigns throughout India that we visitedBareilly . Amongst the audience at one of our meetingswas the Hon . Mr. Tweedy, then Commissioner of


question they asked us waswhether if we came they wouldbe required to give up drink and gambling . Th is information they had undoubtedly received from the police

,

who did not View our coming with favour, as the Domshad Shared with them the proceeds of their thefts androbberies in order to secure immunity from punishment .They assured us that it was hopeless for us to expect

them ever to give up drink or gambling . It wasimpossible .

Still , The Salvation Army could not be any worse than thepolice, and they might possibly be a little better, so thatwe could come if we liked .

They appeared very unpromising material, but wedetermined to make the attempt . They were such inveterate gamblers, that when a Dom died they wouldput a few pice into the hand of the dead man with whichto commence gambling in the world to come . Their ideaof Paradise was a land where they coul d gamble to theirhearts’ content

,with no police to check them .

Government placed at our disposal some extensivePolice Lines

,and to this soon afterwards was added a

large vacant Jail . These were in every way convenient,and were a great improvement on the old Dom Khanas.

Brigadiers Bahadur and Ratna Bai (Hunter) were appointedto take charge of the Settlement , and threw themselvesheart and soul into the task .

A change was soon visible in the lives and appearanceof the people . At first the suggestion that they shouldwash their clothes wasmet with the indignant declaration,We are not Dhobis (Washerman caste)Why not get your wives to do it P wassuggested, to

which the reply was made , It would spoil the taste o four foodBut by degrees they fell into line in this as in other

ways,and in place of their dishevelled, dirty appearance

and ragged clothing,they gradually became neat and clean .

Among other privileges, the Brigadiers were allowed tovisit the many Doms who were serving sentences in theGorakhpur Jail

,and to hold meetings among them . On

one of these occasions five of the prisoners requestedBrigadier Ratna Bai (Mrs . Hunter) to take a message totheir wives who were in the Settlement . Tell our Mem

THE CRIMINAL TRIBES. 209

Sahibs,’

they said, not to marry anybody else whilewe are in prison, but to wait for us till we are released .

The message was delivered that night,when the

Brigadier called upon the five women to stand up,and then

told them what their husbands had said . Bahut achcha— very good— they replied, not a little flattered at thehonourable title of Mem Sahib which their husbandshad conferred on them . It was only too common a causeof feud and possible bloodshed

,when the women

,whose

husbands had been imprisoned,married someone else as

their sole means of support . Now that the Settlementhad been established this was no longer necessary .

The faith of the Brigadiers in the people who werecommitted to their care was beautiful to witness . Foryears they toiled among them with increasing devotion,and had the j oy of leading many of them to the Saviour .And when they left the Settlement and proceeded on theirwell-earned furlough

,they were able to leave behind them

b lessed evidences of their success .It was when they were returning to their post of duty

in 1914,while t ravelling from Canada with a large number

of Officers who were proceeding to the InternationalCongress in London

,that the SS . Empress of Ireland

met with the disaster which resulted in the loss of manylives including no less than 140 Salvationists . BrigadiersBahadur and Ratna Bai

,and their two children were

amongst those who received their tragic Home Call . Theirwork among the Doms surv ives them as their eternalmonument .Government were so well satisfied with the success of

our efforts to reform the Doms, that other Settlements weresoon afterwards organized . Among the buildings placedat our disposal was the large fortress of Al igarh, surroundedby a wall and moat .The following description was written soon after I ts

opening by the Officer in charge regarding the first partythat wassent in by the policeThe first settlers to arrive were a set of criminal s

called Beriahs from Akrabad, who were brought in by thepolice

.A motley crew indeed, consisting of Sixteen

women,and thirty-one children, with hardly a rag to cover


them . Men there were none, for the simple reason thatevery man belonging to them was in j ail for differentdegrees of dacoity (robbery) and theft .To the gates this crowd wasbrought , but further they

refused to go . Here they sat and wailed,the children

j oining their mothers in the outcry . They called upontheir dead mothers to see their misery

,and how they would

die . At last , however, they came in , but alas, they onlysat on the ground

,and moaned, and wailed day and night,

refusing to be comforted . After four days they made arough bamboo ladder

,by means of wh ich they escaped

during the night , and paddled through the moat into thej ungle, and . as they thought , to liberty .

They were, however, found and brought back to theFort in two parties on different days

,and before long

they discovered that their fears were unfounded, and thatwe were real ly their friends and had come to help them .

Already some progress has been made . They nowcall themselves Salvation people .

Perhaps the best tribute to our success was the increasing eagerness oi these Tribes to avail themselves ofour help . In one case a gang sent us word that they weremarching from a di stant point to one of our settlements,hiding in the j ungles by day and travelling by night . AS

soon as they arrived they intended to place themselvesunder our direction and do whatever we might say.

Another tribe wrote to us as follows, on a one-rupeestamped paperYour good name has come to us, and we long to place

ourselves under your care and control . We are in greatdistress !In one settlement a band was formed and they bought

their own instruments for twelve annas . Those who wereshort of instruments placed their Shoes on their handsand clapped them . It wasprimitive but successful . Theofficial hangman acted as Band-master .

Another of our settlements was in Bareilly, whereGovernment assisted us in acquiring and fitting up a largeBrewery . The rapid progress of the Temperance causeamongst the British Soldiers in India, more than hal fof the Army having gone dry,

” had led to the closing


was put up for them on the chandmari (rifle range) , and tothis they were transferred . Agriculture, weaving andoutside employment constituted their means of support .Soon after their arrival the police reported that all thej ackals in the neighbourhood had disappeared, for theywere expert hunters and looked upon jack al flesh as quitea delicacy. But they had not been many months in theirnew location when regul ar work and good food had madea revolution in their tastes as well as in their

‘

appearance,and the j ackals began to reappear ! Being the principalscavengers , their loss had been regarded with some al arm .

The Haburahsnever made any obj ection to our religion .

They enjoyed the meetings,though occasionally incidents

would occur . Of course the women had to bring theirbabies with them

,and the meetings were not always as

orderly as we ourselves might desire . My wife and Iwere conducting the service one Sunday morning . Ababy was fractious . One of the women turned to . themother and scolded her. The latter retaliated . Thenthe two sprang at each other and there wasa scene, whichwould have horrified the worshippers in St . Paul

’

sCathedral . The husbands intervened and there was peacetill the meeting was over

,when the controversy was

renewed . The husband of one of them seized his wife,swung her across his back and carried her off struggling,screaming, vociferating and Shaking her fist at the ownerof the baby

,which had been the innocent cause of the

trouble . That was in the early days .

How different was the scene a few years later when wevisited the same settlement The numbers of the settlershad increased from 200 to 800. The people were welldressed, tidy, well fed, bright and intelligent . One ofthe most touching scenes waswhen several of the younggirls sang together a new song of their own composition,describing the work that was being carried on in theSettlement . The Chorus was

We are Nekmashes, you must know !I f you doubt it , you can see our Certificates !

There were clear and definite testimonies of Salvation,and the entire Character of the people had undergone a

THE CRIMINAL TRIBES. 2 13

radical change . Under the management of an IndianOflicer, the land itself had been brought into perfectcultivation by the sinking of wells , with the addition of an011 engi ne and pumping plant . The industries had alsobeen extended, and during thewar the women were engagedI n making uniforms for the Military Department . Thewhole Settlement became a hive of industry .

One of the most picturesque of our settlements in theUnited Provinces, isthe one which is located at Naj ibabadin an old Mahommedan Fortress . Here the more dangerousclasses of tribesmen had been sent

,as the high thick walls

gave a better chance of controlling their movements . Thesettlers are supported mostly by industry

,though some crops

are al so grown on the forty acres of land inside the walls .

The bad past of these settlers made them always fearthat the police would use the settlement asa trap to catchthem .

On one occasion the police had succeeded in capturingan outside tribesman who had eluded them . The evidenceof one of our settlers was required . He agreed to attendthe Court

,and paid the penalty with his life . On the way

he was attacked by other members of the gang, hacked topieces and cast into a well .Another of our settlers

,who knew the facts, refused to

give evidence,and was therefore sentenced to several

years’ imprisonment , preferring this to the probabilitythat he would share the fate of the first witness .It can readily be imagined how diflicult is the work

of reforming such Characters . While Government iswilling as far as possible to allow bygones to be bygones,it is impossible for them to altogether ignore the moreserious crimes of the past . However, time serves toobliterate many of these blood-stained footprints in itssands

,and as individuals give obvious evidence of their

reformation they are passed on to other settlements wherethe restrictions are less rigid .

It will be readily understood that the action of Government in asking The Salvation Army to undertake thereformation of these Tribes exposed them to considerablecriticism from some Indian members of the Local Government

.Referring to this in a meeting at the Royal Society


of Arts in London, on the 1sth December, 1922 , Sir J ohnP . Hewett gave the following interesting account of whatoccurredVery shortly after certain tribes in the United

Provinces were made over to The Salvation Army, someHindu members of the Local Council raised a debate on thequestion . They contended that it was unfair to employa Christian agency in preference to Hindu agencies . Butthese opponents were in a minority. The Indian members,with few exceptions , were firmly of opinion that no Hinduor Indian agency wasso fit to have control of the criminaltribes as The Salvation Army. Every Mahommedanmember voted in favour of the Government

’

s decision ,and a Brahmin

,now one of the leading non—co-operators ,

made a speech on the same Side . The maj ority wassomething over forty to about seven against .A touching story is told of one of our settlers , who

absconded to escape arrest . A few handfuls of stolenmaize which another settler had brought in had ' beentraced to hishome . He could not face the pending enquiryand disappeared, leaving his wife and baby in the settlement . We hoped he would return, and in all probabilitya warning would have been all that he woul d have had toface . But he did not come , and hiswife, taking the baby,set off to find him and bring him back .

A short t ime after,the settlers came to tell our Officer

that Girdhari had come back to the settlement to die .

He was very ill, and seemed near death, but had felt hecould not die away from the settlement . The Captainhurried to his side to see what could be done . The manwas beyond the reach of human remedies, but expressedhis j oy at being back under The Army Flag and his trustin his Saviour for the pardon of his Sins . Some days afterhiswife returned . She had failed in her search, and nowshe heard that her husband had returned, but only to die .

“ And our J itli too is dead !”

She moaned sadly . Thelittle one

’

s life had been sacrificed in her efforts to find

its father. Ful l o f pathos and tragedy are the storieswhich these criminals pour into our ears . It has beena new experience to t hem to find sympathetic listenersever willing to guide and to help .

CHAPTER XXV.

MORE ABOUT THE CRIM .

We have been enormously in terested in seeing theSilk factory, conducted by The Salvation Army . The

young members of th e Criminal Tribeswere workingaway merr ily . Th e exper imen t, first tried un derSir John Hewett’sGovernmen t, of placing th eCriminalTri bes in charge of The Salvation Army, is eviden tlyprovinga great su ccess, and isprovingasolu tion of one

of the most troublesome problemswith which Governmen t has to deal . Th e greatest credit is d ue to Th eSalvation Army for th e successnow being ach ieved .

The Rt. Honourable Earl of Ronaldshay,

(F ormer Governor of Bengal) .Royal Commission on the P ublic Services in I ndia.

The full story of the work among the Criminal Tribesdeserves to be separately written . In this volume we canonly give a few passing glimpses

,and cannot pretend to

do j ustice to what is certainly one of the most interestingchapters in the romance of Missions .

The example set by the Government of the UnitedProvinces was quickly followed in succession by the Punj ab , Madras, Bengal, and Bihar and Orissa Governments .Our latest figures regarding this entire field of effortare as follows

Provin ce .

I . Un ited P rovinces.

Total 30

Name of Sett lemen t .1 . GorakhpurMoradabadKan thBarei llySah ibgun jNajibabadBoys’

Home

Gir ls’

Home

YoungChildren©

90\l

Gui

-h

oo

ks)

MORE ABOUT THE CRIM . 2 17

Name of Settlement. NO. of Settlers.

1 . K ot Adhian 6012 . Changa Manga 222

3 . Kassowal419

TotalI I I . Bengal . I . SaidpurI V . Bihar and Orissa. I . Chau tarwa .

2 . Angu l3 . Children '

sHome

Total

Total

Thus the present population of the Settlements amount

U ni ted Provin cesPun jabBengal .Bihar and Or issaMad ras

Total

There are now twenty-four institutions with a totalpopulation ofThe Tribes dealt with include the following :Sansias, Bhatus, Haburahs, Nats, K arwals, Doms,Maghaya Doms

,Yerik ulas, Veppur Parias , and

Korachas.

In addition to the above there are Day Schools in all theSettlements . In one case , no less than sixteen teachersare required, and nine of these come from the Settlersthemselves .


The earnings of the settlers vary very much accordingto the loca tion and character of work , ranging from Rs. 5to Rs . 30 per month , per family . They now realize thefull benefit of being able to keep what they have earnedinstead of having to Share it with the subordinate police .

In the Punj ab the earnings o f the settlers amountedin the year ending 3oth June, 1922 , to Rs . Inthe United Provinces Rs . were earned . In Madrasthe figures in one Settlement (Stuartpuram) amounted toRs . and in two others Rs .

Of all the Settlements it may now be said that thesettlers support themselves by their own labour, andGovernment assistance is limited to Schools, Buildings,Supervision, and grants for the old and infirm .

The problem of making the settlers self-supporting wasone of the most serious that faced us when we commencedthis work , seeing that few of them had ever done an honestday

’

s labour,while all obj ected to hard work , and few

knew any handicraft , or had any inclination for agriculture .

The rapidity with which this Change has taken place hassurprised the most experienced Government Officials ,who were well acquainted with their thriftless habits,and their propensity to drunkenness and gambling as wellas robbery .

The work amongst the Maghaya Doms of Bihar wasof avery difficult character . They were related to the Domsof the adj oining District of Gorakhpur

,and were of a very

criminal and troublesome type . An agricultural settlement had been established at Chau terwa, in the Motiharidistrict , by Sir Edward Henry, afterwards in Charge of theLondon Metropolitan Police, when he wasa young Civilian,some thirty years previously . Later on the same settlement was for some time under the direction of Mr . W . R.

Gourlay, afterwards Private Secretary to successiveGovernors of Bengal .Much had been done for them , but there had been little

or no Sign of reformation . They were a positive nuisanceand danger to their neighbours, and a constant anxietyto the Police . Neither punishment nor clemency seemedto cure their predatory habits

,nor would they work the

land which had been obtained for them .


children’ s class . She is a Dom girl in her teens,a pure

product of the Settlement , who has prospered inappearance and mental and spiritual equipment

,whilst

her parents have been hard at it prospering materially .

But the dominating fact of the Settlement seemed to meto be the personality of Commandant Corneliussen himself . Unassuming, practical, and pious, he is a type notuncommon in The Salvation Army .

In the year 1914, we were invited by Government toundertake work among the Pans of Orissa, commencingoperations in the Angul district , where some ofthem were to be found . They resembled in generalcharacteristics the Bhils and other aboriginal t ribes ,and had retired before the advance of Civilization to themountain fastnesses and j ungles , where they gained aprecarious living, which was supplemented more or lessby raiding their more prosperous neighbours . By theHindus they were regarded as belonging to the Untouchables

,whose presence , or very shadow, meant pollution .

The Government did not think it wise to compel them toenter Settlements such as we had established in otherProvinces

,but preferred that we should send Offi cers who

would get in touch with them, visit them in their remotesthaunts

,and gradually wean them from their evil ways .

The Pans,like the Bhils, were exceedingly shy and

suspicious , and it wasbelieved that our adoption of Indiandress and names and customs would help to gain theirconfidence .

Some thirty-five Vill age Day Schools had recentlybeen started among them by the District Officer,Mr . Taylor, and the supervision of these wasplaced underour charge, thus putting us in touch with the villagers .

In Angul itself thirty acres of land were assigned to us,

where quarters were erected for the married EuropeanOfficer in charge of the work, and an Industrial Home forOrphans and children of Pans who were serving sentencesin prison .

Two tracts of land were placed at our disposal in theinterior, and tanks for irrigation were repaired . At eachof these about fourteen to eighteen fam ilies were settled ,numbering in all about one hundred men

,women and

MORE ABOUT THE CRIM . 2 2 1

Children . Residence in these locations was voluntary,

but more wou ld have come had it not been for the breaking

iii the dams which conserved the water owing to torrentialoods.

One of our pioneer veterans,Lieut .-Colonel Jeya Kodi

(Johnston) was sent to inaugurate the work, and wasableto report soon after that one of the District Officials hadsaid to him

The Pans in the District last year shewed thelowest record of crime of any caste . You will have togo easy, or there will be no need for The Salvation Army !

Closely connected with our work among the CriminalTribes was a new development in regard to the ordinaryJail population . At an early date we obtained permissionto visit members o f the Tribes who were in prison, and insome cases to hold meetings among them .

The rules concerning non- interference with the religiousbeliefs of prisoners were very strictly interpreted by theIndian Government . Christians could be visited andmeetings held with them , but as most j ails had no Christianprisoners

,and others only a few, this permission was of no

practical value .

The Ceylon Government took a much broader view ofthe subj ect . Permission was granted by them to all

teachers of religion,whether Buddhist , Hindu, Mabom

medan,or Christian

,to visit the j ails on Sunday, and conduct

meetings . The prisoners were allowed to choose for themselves which service they preferred to attend, regardlessof . the particular religion to which they belonged . As aresult

,for the past twenty years, or more, our services

have been well attended in the Welikada Central Jail I n

Colombo,and numerous conversions have taken place .

The Jail staff have testified to the fact that great Improvement has taken place in the conduct of the pri sonerswho attend our meetings

,and that their own task of

keeping order hasbeen greatly facilitated .

As an illustration,one of the more recent converts had

been a Buddhist Priest,who had received a long sentence

for an attempt to murder a Government Offic1al . H is

conversion created a very favourable impression , and he


was look ing forward, on his release , to devoting his life toChrist under The Army Flag

,but passed away recently

before his term had expired .

On the occasion of a visit to this Jail my wife and Iconducted an hour

’

s service among about three hundredShort- sentence men— after which we had a meeting amongabout the same number of long-sentence men, finishingup with a season of prayer and personal conversationswith about a dozen men who were in the condemned cellsawaiting their execution .

About thirty of the short-service men came forward toseek salvation . The long- sentence men were not permittedto leave their seats

,but more than twenty hands were

raised to ask for prayer,and to express their determination

to seek salvation and live a new life .

In connection with this prison,we have a Home for

Released Prisoners,who are found employment and assisted

to make a new start .During the Lieutenant-Governorship of Sir Louis Dane,

in the Punj ab,and while Sir Harold Stuart wasin Madras,

we succeeded in arranging for a new departure of a verypromising character . Two special Homes were set apartfor the reception of prisoners who were released to uson parole for the last six months to two years of theirsentence .

We pointed out that the main reason why Hab itual ismwas so steadily on the increase was, because the prisonerson their release were sent back to their homes with thehall-mark of crime and the j ail stamped upon them . Thishad the double effect of making employers o f labour afraidto give them work, and indeed making all respectablepersons afraid of associating with them, and furthermore ,whenever any crime wascommitted in their neighbourhood,however innocent they might be, suspicion usually attachedto them . If brought before the Court , there wasreferencemade to their previous conviction, and they usually receiveda severe sentence .

Take care of my Clothes for me, I shall soon be backagain, was frequently the farewell message of a releasedprisoner to the Jail Darogha (Manager) on his release . Hefelt his position to be a hopeless one . His associates in


conduct was good . The Jail Authorities reported thathardly any of them reverted to crime, or came back toprison, after returning to their homes .Unfortunately, our success led the next Lieutenant

Governor to decide that Government would itself undertake similar work on a still larger scale . We earnestlybegged that our supply of youths should not be discontinued

,

but that we should be allowed to compete with Government in the worthy effort to reform these young men . Adeaf ear was turned to our entreaties

,on the ground that

we were a religious organization .

A campwasestablished by Government in the neighbourhood oi some large mills, in which the youths were givenemployment . After a sufficient period had elapsed, Iwent with my wife to Visit the Camp in order to see how theexperiment was progressing . To our surprise we foundthe youths not only manacled, but fettered, with a guardof more than seventy police . When with us there had beenno necessity for restrictions, and yet there had been no

attempt or desire to escape .

I asked the Darogha (Superintendent) of the Campwhy such severe restrictions had been introduced,remarking that it was far worse than prison, where insidethe walls they were perfectly free . He replied, Wetried your plan, but had to give it up, as they all ran away,and it is only in this manner that we can prevent themfrom doing so now .

”

The underlying cause of dissatisfaction probably layin the excessive strain of factory labour. We had al readyhad considerable experience in deal ing with factory official sin connection with the employment of our settlers . Whilethe European Directors and Proprietors were usuallyaffable and reasonable, many of their foremen were perfectslave-drivers, and the tendency in all was to exactexceedingly long hours and heavy tasks from theiremployees .It had been necessary for us, in another Province, as

guardians of the Crims, to call upon Government morethan once to come to our aid . The Mill-owners had arguedthat they could make no difference between Crim andordinary labour, and that the same tasks which were

MORE ABOUT THE CRIM . 225

undertaken by the latter, together with the same hours,must be accepted by our settlers .

To this I had replied that the Free Labour of theiremployees was on a totally different footing from theForced Labour of our Crims . It was a notorious factthat their Free Labour was what might be called extremelyvolatile and unreliable . It wastrue that they would workful l hours for a few weeks , or even months, and earn fullwages, but they would make up for it by taking a longholiday to recuperate . On the plea of health

,marriage

,

funeral s or other domestic causes,they would simply go

off to their native village, or disappear, and perhaps takeup for a time some lighter employment . Why Becausethe severe physical strain of these long hours, frequentlywithout any Sunday, or other interval for rest , wasmore than the strongest constitutions coul d endure .

The case was widely different with the Forced Labourof our settlers . They could only relieve the strain byabsconding

,which was a punishable offence . They woul d

come back from their day’

s work absolutely exhausted,and yet if some of them were excused by us from going,and a letter of explanation sent to their foreman by ourEuropean Officer

,an urgent demand would be received

saying that they must attend . It was the fact that theycould not get away like the Free Labour that made thisclass of workman appear so desirable to the Mill Manager .Government took a sympathetic view of the Situation ,and adopted our suggestion that our settlers Should havetheir Sunday free

,and that the hours of labour Should

never exceed from eight to eleven per day, with suitableintervals in case of illness .

I pointed out that in the Government Jails, the workhours were strictly limited to a maximum of eight , and Witha full Sunday’ s rest . Apart altogether from the consideration of the Prisoners, Government were unable toexact longer hours from their Staff . Nor could Government venture , nor had it ever ventured, to demand f

romthe Forced Labour of their Prisoners , longer hours . Moreover

,every prisoner was weighed at regular Intervals to

see if he were losing flesh,and should such be the case , a

lighter task was assigned .

9


These contentions were accepted by the Governmentof the United Provinces , largely through the energeticrepresentations of Mr . A . W . Richardson , the SpecialPolice Officer who had been appointed by Governmentto supervise our Settlements . He also acted as a veryefficient go-between with the Mill Companies .I have little doubt that in the case of the Punj ab mills

,

the real reason for the youths absconding was the excessivetasks that were exacted from them , and their inabilityto stand the continued strain .

In the Madras Presidency, a still more interesting andsuccessful work for Released Prisoners was established byusin Guntur at the invitation of Sir Harold Stuart . Whilethe Home in Lahore was exclusively for the benefit ofBorstal youths, that in South India was for ReleasedPrisoners generally . Here again there was at first somehesitation on the part of the prisoners themselves to takeadvantage of the Government

’

s o ffer for them to spendthe latter portion of their sentence in our Home .

However, we were authorised to visit the various Jails,and to confer with their Staff and explain matters to theprisoners themselves . As a resul t a number of menaccepted the opportunity, and before long there weremore applicants than we could accommodate . Moreoverthe friends and relatives of prisoners heard about the Homeand began to make application to Government for thetransfer of those in whom they were interested to our care .

In many cases the wives and children of the men thusreleased were allowed to j oin them , and it wasa very happycommunity of some 200 souls who were thus cared for by us .Unfortunately, after the retirement of Sir Harold, this

promising and interesting work was brought to an end .

We understood at the time that, as in the Punj ab , Government had decided to undertak e the work themselves , butI am not aware that this wasever done . However, greatlyto our regret the supply of released prisonerswasstopped,and the Settlement wasutilised by us for a certain class ofCriminal Tribesmen who could not be easily dealt within an open Settlement .


After consulting the Authorities of the United Provincesand the Punj ab , as to our success in this kind of work

,

Sir Harold had come to the conclusion that the agencyoi

'

The Salvation Army would be more effective inreforming the Tribes than that of the Police . It wasproposed , therefore, to gather together and - intern about

of these tribesmen in the neighbourhood of Bezwada,

on the bank of the river Krishna . A deserted railwaysettlement , previously known as Sitanagaram , and renamedby us Sainyapuram, or Armytown ,

with several bungalows,

and about one hundred acres of land, was placed at ourdisposal in December 1912 . In the neighbourhood wereextensive stone quarries where the men, women and childrencould all be employed, the stone being required by therailway which ran through the Settlement , and for numerousdistrict roads . Several canal s converged at this point ,supplying barge- transportation, and Bezwada was aj unction for many railways

,and could ultimately absorb

much of their labour as they became reformed .

We encountered many difficulties . The tribe wasnomadic, and resented internment, nor did they like the workin the quarries, their chief obj ection being that it wasnotnearly so remunerative as their hereditary employment oftheft and robbery . Moreover, the work wasundoubtedlyhard, and they were paid by results , the amount quarriedbeing measured . In fact , they obj ected to everything .

Even the six hundred donkeys which they brought withthem entered into the spirit of their non-co-operatingmasters . They had been accustomed to carry heavyloads of salt , which served as a blind when their masterswere on their raids, but to carry stone was distinctlybeneath their dignity

,and when so loaded they would

simply lie down and rid themselves of their burdens .

Nor could the donkeys see any reason for refraining frombrowsing along the railway line . When a train camein sight , they would simply turn their backs to it andkick, a proceeding whi ch, needless to say, resulted innumerous fatalities .

The settlers obj ected most strongly of all to The

Salvation Army religious services . They complain ed toGovernment that we were trying to mak e them change

Top and Bottom.Typesof Cr iminal Tr ibespeople ofwhommany thousandsare

und er The Salvation Army ’

s care ; the former represen t large numberswho , givin gevidence of transformat ion in character , have been released from Governmen t

surveillance .

Centre. A village gather ing of Salvat ionistsfor the purpose of Publ i c”d estro y ingidolssurrendered b v conver ts.

Typesof beggarsin Ind ia and Ceylon who are being cared for by The Salvation

Army ; many have been won for Ch r ist .


I know what it means, she fallsstraight in to debt,She, the wi fe of a Cr im, the wife of a Crim

Th e time will hang heavi ly on h er , but yet

I t’

s the way with the criminal kin d .

So when my long sen ten ce isfil led to th e lipI,who am a Crim,

I,who am a Cr im

I out thro ’

the door in to liberty slipA man of the cr iminal k ind .

So Ofi to th e jungles—away to th e fairI'm on ly a Crim I

’m on ly a CrimThere '

s booty, and plen ty awaiting me thereI belong to th e cr iminal kind .

Th e Salvation Army now comes to our aid ,

With work for the Crim—yes, work for th e Cr im

And for us a pathway to Heaven h asmadeF or Tribes of th e criminal kin d .

Now this isour watchword , from day un to d ay,

There ’

s hope for the Crim ; there ’

s hope for th e CrimWe wipe from our min dsour sad record awayWe Tr ibes of the criminal kind .

They give us an ofier of work we accept'

Tiswork for th e Crim—yes, work for the Crim

And soon at ou r task we becomequite adeptWe Tr ibes of th e criminal kin d .

They make ou r life happy with labou r and song,

This life of the Crim, this life of the CrimAnd make usall fee l that to God we belong,

We Tribes of th e criminal k ind .

At last we wake up to th e fact, and the thought ,I

’m no longer a Cr im 1 I’m no longer a Crim

I’m living by in dustry, honestly wrought,And have changed from th e cr iminal min d

The thought makesa man of h im worthy and trueHe wh o wasa Crim, h e who wasa Cr im

I nspiresh im with courage h is course to pursueWh o wasknown asth e criminal kind .

With a chan ce in th e wor ld , and a friend to stand byNot so b ad isth e Crim ,

not so bad is th e Cr imHe

’ ll respon d to th e message of kindness and whyLove ’

s th e k ey to th e criminal mind .

CRIMI NOCUROLOGY . 23 1

So all hands to th e work, through the storm , or the calmWe wi ll rescue th e Crim,we will rescue the Cr im

An d r id this fair land from a menace and harm,

I n the Tr ibesof th e cr iminal kind .

We’ ll tell them of Jesus, the Mighty to save,We

’ l l rescue the Cr im ! We’ ll rescue th e Cr im !

Til l over each Tribe Calv '

ry’

sBann er doth waveThese Tribesof the cr iminal kind I

The efforts of the Major and of the other Officers whosucceeded him were ul timately crowned with success

.

The tribes came to recogn ize them as their true friends .

One day the news flew round the Settlement that theirMajor had been assaul ted by some caste people fromBezwada . The whole tribe , men, women and children ,

rushed to the rescue, and it woul d have gone hard withthe caste people but for the prompt intervention of oneof the European Ofi cers

’ wives . She was nursing herbaby at the time, but seeing that trouble was brewing,she laid her baby in its cot and rushed between the tribesmen and the obj ects of their wrath in time to preventbloodshed . She was afterwards awarded a police medalfor her plucky action .

It was amongst the boys o f the tribe that the fir st riftin the clouds appeared . A young lad went to one ofthe Officers

,and asked to be prayed with, saying that he

would like to be saved . The Officer gladly responded . A

few days later, the boy brought six others who desired tofollow his example . Soon there was a prosperous workamong the children , and their parents were not long infollowing their example .

It was in this settlement that a tribesman, dying ofcholera

,asked for a Bible to be placed under his head, and

resting peacefully upon its promises passed away .

The chief difficul ty afterwards experienced waswhenthe Police brought us raw and rebellious gangs of tribesmen

,who upset the peace of the settlement and created a

new element of disorder and d imculty.

What are the Government thinking about remarkeda reformed woman settler

, asshe gazed at one of these gangswhen they were brought in . How can they a

,

s,

k respectable people like us to mix with these rufiians


The results of years of patient toil were in danger ofbeing lost . Ultimately Government saw the necessity ofstrictly limiting the numbers committed to each settlement , and of regulating the influx of new-comers .

A second settlement of a widely different characterwas soon afterwards established in the neighbourhoodof Bapatla . Here Agricul ture was to be the main meansof support for the settlers . Some 500 acres of sandy land,and about of swamp land— the former suitable forragi (a kind of millet) , and the latter for rice—weremade over to us . It was to serve as a reward for thoseof the Yerik ulas who were will ing to reform and settledown . Each family could have its own tract of land as areward for good behaviour

,and subj ect to forfeiture in

case of a relapse to crime .

This proposal to make these tribesmen into land-ownerswas not viewed with favour by the high caste people ofthe neighbourhood . As in other parts of India, so here ,the proprietorship of land was looked upon as a greatprivilege , which belonged exclusively to the high-bomsome of them self-styled Heaven-born squires ofthe parish . The rice—land in particul ar was greatlycoveted . All over India this is the case . Rice-land,suitably irrigated

,will seldom sell for less than Rs.

per acre , and often commands two or three times that price .

Numerous were the petitions that flooded Governmentprotesting against the proposal

,and also obj ecting to the

establishment of a criminal settlement in their neighbourhood .

Sir Harold Stuart personally visited the district tomeet the petitioners and inquire into their complaint .

The road from the settlement to Bapatla, a distance ofabout five miles , was placarded with bills hanging fromthe trees, demanding the immediate removal of the settlement from the neighbourhood . In Bapatla itself a largecrowd of protestors , numbering several thousands , hadbeen gathered to meet Sir Harold . Fortunately for thefuture of this now prosperous settlement , then on ly inits infancy, Sir Harold was a strong administrator, andpointed out to the obj ectors the unreasonableness of theirdemands, informing them that Government had no in


For instance , a mother was charged with acceptingmarriage fees for her daughter fromtwo different families .

The case was brought before the Court and suitablysettled . Infringements o f settlement rules are similarlydealt with by the people themselves .

The settlement numbers about souls (men, women,and children) , grouped in seven little hamlets, the settlersbuilding their own houses . Originally these were simplyof palm- leaf and posts, for which a few rupees were allowed .

Now comfortable cottages are springing up .

A strong religious element,which has from the first

prevailed, has laid a solid foundation of real reform . Atdaybreak , before commencing work, al l the villagersassemble in two centres for prayer and Bible reading,together wi th a brief exhortation regarding the duties ofthe day.

One day the manager told the settlers he had broughtthirty Telugu Testaments , as he thought many of themwoul d like to possess their own copy for their family. Itwas true that few of the adul ts coul d read, but theirchildren were learning and could read to them at home,when their day’ s work was over . They would cost sixannas each . Sixty hands were immediately raised, andit became necessary to double the supply .

What a change has taken place in the appearance ofthe settlers since their first arrival ! The women

’

s hairwas dishevelled, their clothing ragged, and their generalappearance untidy and dirty, until the manager announcedone day that no woman would be granted a pass to go tothe baz aar to do her marketing unless she presented a neatappearance . He could not allow them to disgrace thesettlement by going about like so many vagrants . Theeffect was magic . Each woman vied with the others inpresenting a respectable appearance .

When we paid one of our first Visits to the Colony, mywife was called upon to present a prize of one rupee eachto the ten most neatly dressed women . More than 200

candidates presented themselves, and it was difficult todecide which should be the prize-winners .

The love for the Bible among the Criminal Tribesextended even to the children . A little girl had been for

CRIMI NOCUROLOGY . 235

some months in one of our Homes, and had learned to loveto listen to the Bible stories , though she had not been longenough with us to be able to read . One day an ordercam e from Government that she was to be sent to herparents who had been released from prison and sent toanother settlement conducted by the police

,where there

was no Sal vation Army . The poor child was in tears .

It wasa heart- rending business, nor by any means the onlyt ime when a reformed child was sent back to itswickedparents in spite of our earnest protests . She had one lastfavour to ask . She wanted to have a Bible to take withher . When the Officer reminded her that she could notread

,she replied that she had a brother who could, and

she would get him to read it to her till she had learned toread it herself .In our Madras Industrial Home for Boys of these Tribes,

when an Officer once asked the boys to tell him who wasthe best Tamil boy among them , they immediately pointedout the one they regarded as being the best . He thenasked the Telugu boys to point out their champion bestboy. They too at once responded . The Oflicer then toldthe two lads that on behalf of the General he would liketo give them each a pri ze . What would they prefer to haveBoth without the least hesitation asked for a Bible of theirvery own . To these Tribes,who have never before seen it ,the Bible is indeed a wonder Book, not to be placed onthe shelf and produced at intervals for a few brief moments ,but to read and re- read and pore over, with a simplefaith and reverence that are beautiful to behold, producinga rich harvest of spiritual resul ts .

I never miss anything in my kitchen , said the wifeo f our Manager to a youth who was helping her. Howis it He replied

,I have had a vision of Jesus in the

kitchen,while I was praying there . How could I steal

This is life eternal,that they might know Thee, the only

true God and Jesus Christ , whom Thou hast sent Um

flinchingly he had faced hisown father, who had threatened ,knife in hand

,to kill him, when the other settlers Intervened

and rescued him .

The following vivid pen-sketches of early experiencesin a Criminal Tribes

’ Settlement are from the pen of


Brigadier Ratna Bai (Mrs. Hunter) , to whom referencehas been made in Chapter XXIV .

One day when visiting the back row of our settlementI found J agia very much upset . She was scolding ascreaming child, and at the same time endeavouring topacify it , whilst her husband, a poor sick old man, keptup a continual stream of complaint . To my enquiry

,

Kya hua (What’ s the matter she answered through

her tears, Dek ho, Mem Sahib , I am out nearly al l day long,working hard to support the three of us , and when I comehome to cook the food my husband grumbles and scoldsme all the time and I am so tired .

’ Then,taking

the child up in her arms,she exclaimed

,There

,I will

leave him : I will go back to the Dom Khana .

’

Allright ,

’

I said,‘ if you are so bad as to even speak about

leaving your poor old husband, especially when he is sick ,then go The man who wasquite old enough to be thewoman

’

s father, now began to cry as I talked to him of hissins and ingratitude to God and to his wife . He acknowledged his sins, but blamed his aches and pains for his badtemper .Returning with some medicine for the sufferer, I found

J agia standing round the corner wiping her eyes . Well,have you not gone to the Dom Khana I asked . Notyet ,

’

she sobbed .

Have you forgotten,’ I continued, that it is said

in God’

s word that whatever we do to others the same shallbe done to us P Some day you too may be old and sick,then you will need some one to attend to you . But if youdesert your sick husband, depend upon it , you too wil l bedeserted .

’

A feeling of intense pity came over my heartfor this poor woman who had been, until recently, the ringleader of many a Dom brawl . As she stood there weeping

,

the woman in her appeared, and laying my hand upon herarm

, I said, Go back, sister, and do your duty pray toGod and He will give you patience and love to look afteryour husband, even if he does grumble .

’

A look of relief passed over her face,and she replied,

Bahut Achcha,

’ and Bahut Salaam .

’ Then she retracedher steps and went cheerfully back to her house .

There were no more complaints of either neglect or


sentence, Till death us do part,

’

was translated intoHindustani, the men and women nodded their headsvigorously, saying Han, han, yih bat bahut achchi hai

(Yes , yes , that is very good) . So far as we have heardthe bride

'

and bridegroom have lived happily eversince .

Harpala is a fine, stalwart fellow you may generallyfind him at the drum during meetings . If he is deniedthis pleasure , he will be foremost in the singing, and ifthere is a chance at all he will be sure to pray . No vainrepetition of words is Harpala

’

sprayer, but a real confessionof weakness and failure to a great , merciful Father, withearnest cravings for more grace , wisdom and love .

He first came out for Salvation on the occasion of ColonelSena Singh’ s (Commissioner Sowton

’

s) first visit some timeago . It would be nice if I coul d report that he had beensaved and happy ever since , but that would be far fromtrue

,for Harpala has had his ups and downs, but he has

one redeeming feature—he confesses to God and againseeks forgiveness .

When Harpala and hiswife became the proud possessorsof a little son their j oy was unbounded, and they besoughtus to give him a Christian name, which we did , dedicatinghim to God and calling him David Harpala. Things wenton smoothly for a few months, then one evening Harpala,

with a very long face , walked up to our house with hisbab3Startled at seeing the baby without its mother, I

asked,What ’ s the matter ?

’

whereupon Harpala burstinto tears

,saying

,My son will die , my son will die ,

’ andgreat

, scalding tears fell on the sleeping babe’

s face .

I was frightened at the man’

s intense grief as he hadnow squatted down on the ground, and with the childpressed to his bosom he rock ed himself backwards andforwards . I laid my hand on the child

’

s forehead and

was still more puz zled by the fact that the child had nofever and seemed in a very healthy condition .

There is nothing the matter with the child ,’

I said,he isquite well and having a good sleep .

’

CRIMI NOCUROLOGY . 239

Yes , yes, he is well , but he will die ,’ said Harpala,

still rocking in hisanguish .

Feeling greatly puzzled , but assuming a stern voice,

I said , Come, how can the child die when he is in perfectheal th Get up and take him to hismother. ’

His mother ,’

repeated Harpala bitterly, she won’ tfeed him any more . She has left me and the baby too

,

and what can I do for such a very small childBeginning dimly to realize that a family quarrel had

taken place , I rose to go with him ,saying

,Come

,I will

see your Wife where is she‘

At her mother’

s ,’

was the reply, so to the mother

’swe went , where we found the young wife and mother notlooking very happy .

What is this Is it true that you want to leave yourhusband and the dear little baby God has given you ? ’

A fiery explanation from the young wife followed,

blaming the husband, of course , and finishing with thewords, He told me to go , so I gave him the baby and went .

’

Very well,’

I said, now that is all past and you mustnow forgive him , and go back to your own house quick ly .

’

Slowly she gathered herself up and followed me toher own house , settling herself down on the doorstep .

Give her the baby,

’ I said to the distracted father,

and gladly he laid the little burden down on its mother’slap . With a few parting words on Bearing and Forbearing,

’ I left the couple alone to make it up . This theyevidently did to their mutual satisfaction , aswe have heardno more about that or any other quarrels, and if you happento pass by Harpala

’

s home any evening you will find himbusy grinding the masala and taking the heaviest end ofcooking the evening meal, whilst hiswife with the belovedDavid is cleaning vegetables, etc .

On a recent Sunday night , at the evening service , thecollection box by some means had been forgotten, and therewere neither bonnets

,hats nor topis there, so out we rolled

the old drum .

Now then,

’ exclaimed the Brigadier, 311who want togive something to God, throw it on the drum !

’

Harpala shall be the first to give to God,’

said the ownerof that name

,making a dive for the drum, but another

'

s


pice got there before his, so he had to content himself withbeing second .

a:

Thus Sunshine and Shadow succeed each other in quicksuccession in a Criminal Settlement . With the Indiancriminal you have nothing to work on . Unlike his fallenbrother in Europe , he has no recollections of better days .There is no tender chord left by the remembrance of asainted mother, wife or Sister no Sunday School memories .He only knows that , like Ishmael, every man

’

s hand isagainst him and his hand is against every man . So faras he k nows it has always been thus . He is not theProdigal ,

’

for he has never heard of the forgiving Father .He is not the Lost Sheep

,

’ for he was never in the fold,and has never known the loving Shepherd . He is theLost Piece of Silver . ’ He must have dropped centuriesago . Here he has lain, all unconscious of his own properplace or value . At last the Evangel ,

’ the Sweet Gospel ofJesus, has come along and is sweeping him out of hiscorners there is plenty of dust , blinding dust , but he mustbe found . And even when this end is accomplished wemay well ask , Whose Image and superscription is thisfor the Divine imprint is well nigh trampled out . Butbring him to the Cleansing Fountain, and then we see theDivine Image reappearing .

HE IS THE LOST PIECE OF SILVER !


we were able truly to reply that there were no hard fields,

for the Spirit of the Lord was moving everywhere amongthe driest of dry bones, and they were standing on theirfeet a vast and Spirit-filled host of Blood-washed warriorwitnesses of the Lamb .

And yet in another sense it would be wrong to say therewere no hard fields . Yes, there were hard fields—hard inthe human sense of losses and crosses to be borne to whichhuman flesh and blood would have said NO Perhapsthat was one of the secrets learnt , that where the crosseswere the greatest , the triumphs of God

’

s power were themost remarkable .

There is Burma for instance , where, as yet , there havebeen no great spiritual upheavals , such as we have witnessedin every other portion of our Indian Field . Yet who wouldsay that its field also is not white unto harvest Thatfiery band of Burman youths

,who met us when we visited

Rangoon, who testified and prayed in the open air, and

trams, and trains, had been gathered straight from theprisons of the land, and committed to our charge .

The European policeman who had come to plead with usto do something for the wickedest woman in Rangoon,

”

told us that he had himself received help from The Armyin The Old Country, when he remembered the sayingamong the

‘

down and outsHelter skelter for the Shelter,There we find Salvation 1There we meet th e poor man

’

s friend ,And get a situation l ”

And that Sunday night , the wickedest woman wal kedinto The Army meeting, and was amongst the seekerskneeling at the mercy seat . She fell again, alas, a victimof the tempter drink . But it was to The Army that sheturned, when we met her at the Calcutta station, whilewe were wait ing for our train . Can we ever forget thatscene Reeling about amidst the crowd with that daringabandon that marks the drunkard, when he or she carenot what people may think or say—singling The Armyou t for her attentions, and received and shepherded bythem without fear or shame . See in front of a first-classcarriage window stands Commissioner Dutini, aecom

THE PASSION FOR SOULS. 243

pan ied by Colonel (now Commissioner) Mithri, pouringforth the Vials of her righteous wrath on the man who hasbeen the cause of this woman’ s fresh downfall

.

The Army are after her still . They picked her up againafter that fall , and one of our recent letters tells how withpatient toil, and faith that will not tire or be turned aside ,that wickedest woman is still being shepherded

,to be

finally ingathered, we trust , and included in The Army’s

Harvest Home .

There was the hard field too of thos e Telugu villagesphysically hard and depressing—such poverty, such dirt ,such squalor, such lack of the merest necessaries of life,such succession of droughts and floods, such opposition ofthe high caste, such terrible scourges of cholera, beri-beri ,and small pox— but such beautiful blessed harvests ofsouls . To those who knew the secrets Of the dark background Oi sorrow and suffering, it was a mystery how thesethousands could flock to their own particular local Melaswith such happy, shining faces— SO determined to get ablessing—so apparently oblivious of the death-cloudwhich often hung like a black pall over their villages .

A few incidents gathered at random here and therefrom the far-flung portions of our Indian battlefield mustsumce to speak for the many others that are left untold .

They are but fragments that remain from the feedingOf the multitudes with those five barley loaves and fewsmall fishes .

The following is from the pen of the late Colonel YuddhaBai (Bannister)

A LIFE-LONG Vow.

Forty years ago in a small Marathi village there liveda woman—an Indian woman named Rakmi— a womanwith as true a mother-heart as that of any mother of anothernation

.She was fondly proud of the babe that lay upon

her breast . But to Indian women as well as Englishthere comes sorrow intermingled with joy . All suddenlyRakmi was smitten dumb—and terrible was the consternation of her friends and relations to behold ! The superstitiousmind immediately j umped to the conclusion thatthe gods they worshipped were angry for some reaso n or


other, and straightway every possible form of appeasingtheir wrath was put into action . Offerings were broughtand placed before the speechless idols of wood or stone

,

and loud were the lamentations and entreaties on behalfof the one smitten . Nothing could the afflicted woman dobut lie and think, and this she did hour after hour Thenwhile listening to the noise going on around her

,she

suddenly looked up—up above the little patch Of thatchedmud-huts—up into the sea of bright blue sky overhead,and there flashed across her mind the wonderment , whetherthere was not one other God— a God above all otherswho might do more than these gods of stone, and give herback her power of speech ? Well , I can but try,

”she

told herself, and kneeling down, she sent forth from herheart a speechl ess prayer—that if there was a true andliving God, He would hear her and give her healing . Beforerising, She made a vow that , if she were healed, She wouldnever fail to fast every Sunday all through her life untilher dying day . She then rose, without , however, receivingat once the answer to her prayer . But test to faith onlyproves faith to be what it is. She fasted—and not in vain—her speech returned, and henceforth she believed therewas a true and living God .

Forty years passed by—a long time to look back upon,

and yet every Sunday during them had seen Rakmi keepher vow . The child that waslying upon her breast duringthe t ime she received the stroke had died long since, butshe lived to see the Muk tifauj enter the vill age, and afterfor a little while carefu lly watching these people , she formedthe conclusion that the God to whom She had made hervow, and who had given her back her speech , was none otherthan the God of the Muk tifauj . SO she was not long ingetting saved, and was made a Soldier right away .

Rakmi cooked for the Officers, and always on Sundaythey noticed She woul d never take any food . After manytimes urging her to tell them why, She told them this story,and to the end of her life never a Sunday passed but shekept her fast .Having once j oined the Muk tifauj she was not afraid

to say so, and in consequence had to endure her Share ofpersecution . Her relatives

,immediately on hearing the


by his bedside and thus passed away without hope,and

without God .

Overpowered with emotion, the student soon hastenedback to The Salvation Army, and sought and found hisSaviour . A terrible season Of persecution followed .

But by the power of Christ he remained faithful, and isto-day occupying an important Government position,and testifying by a consecrated life to the saving andkeeping power of Christ .Chellaya Pillai wasanother of these high-caste trophies .

He had been attending regul arly the meetings i n Madras,and one day when I was at our Headquarters, he rushedinto the room, threw himself upon his knees at the tablewhere we were sitting, burst into a flood of tears, and withthe perspiration pouring down his face and mingling withhis tears, he claimed our Saviour as his own .

He was a B.A. , B.L .

— a lawyer of the High Court ofMadras

,with a successful practice

,but resolved to sacrifice

all and cast in his lot with us . Hischarming and devotedwife j oined him in his sacrifice . But their health provedunequal to the strain of Officership,

though one of mylast letters to him contained a proposal for them to j oinour Headquarters Staff and take up a position where therewould be less strain upon his health . His heart was inthe work , and he would probably have accepted theproposal, when he fell from his horse , and met with anaccident , which terminated fatally . His deathbed wasglorious . Not a cloud dimmed the sk y,

and his dyingtestimony produced a profound impression upon those who

gathered round him. The whole town of Cuddapah,where he was then practising, turned out to do honourto the one whom all alike believed in and loved .

But not only on the outside circle of our friends do wenumber those who have, like Nicodemus and Joseph ofArimathea, claimed and received the second birth , butup and down the ranks of our omcerswe have consecratedlives who have left their comfortable surroundings andbright

,earthly prospects to follow Christ in a way that is

particularly difficult and humanly-speaking repul sive tothe high-caste Indian, by mingling with the Untouchables, and making themselves one with them . One such,

THE PASSION FOR SOULS. 247

Colonel Muthiah , is now Chief Secretary for the NorthernTerritory, while another, Lieut .-Colonel Samaraveera hasdone many years of faithful and successful serviceIn Ceylon, and the leader of the Travancore TrainingHomes, Lieut .-Colonel S . S . Perera

, has for many yearsbeen one Of our staunchest stand-bys

.

Nor Should we fail to mention some of those convertsof early days from the Anglo- Indian community who havemade good , and left their mark upon our Indian work .

Lieut .-Colonel Yisu Patham (Keil) was one of the earlyconverts in Bombay, and sacrificed his position and prospects in the Government Telegraph Department to castin his lot with the Muk tifauj . Ever since the early daysof the revivals in Travancore

,he has been identified with

those great sou l sweeps . In the prayer meetings particularly he has been inimitable, and would pour out hissoul till his voice failed

,and he was compelled reluctantly

to hand over the reins to other hands .From time to time al so that hardest of hard fields

,

the Fakir of India, has responded to the call of Christ .The story of Punj a Bhagat , the blind exorcist of Gujarat ,is almost as well known to our Indian comrades as thatof Weerasooriya, and his name and memory are stillcherished in our ranks .Punj a Bhagat was an old blind Fakir of great reputedsanctity and influence . He had performed extraordinarypenances

,such as Sitting between four fires with the b lazmg

sun shining upon him,and he was credited with the power

to cast out devils . His theory was that there were sixteendevils which possessed people and caused all kinds of disease .

When afliicted persons were brought to him , he wouldpass his hands mesmerically over them and professto swallow one devil after another, they havrng no powerto harm him . Between each process he would receivean Offering of pice, grain, or fowls . His profession wastherefore a lucrative one .

But when he came across The Salvation Army heaccepted Chri st with the Simplicity of a

.child, and beganto proclaim Him to all . Soon after 1118 conversion hereceived a wonderful baptism Of the Holy Ghost .He hurried back to his village and told his people of


his new-found j oy . But instead of accepting his message,they were angry

,and said that Since he had changed his

religion,and forsaken their time-honoured gods and

teachings,he could no longer be their guru (priest) .

He replied that he would pray and fast for them until Godshould change their hearts . Seating himself under anadjoining tree, he poured out his heart to God in prayer.In the evening they came, and offered him food and Shelter.He declined both and spent the night in prayer. Thefollowing day

,they came and begged him to desist , as they

woul d never change their minds, and his efforts would beuseless . But he continued his prayers . Another nightpassed . The following day the v ill agers came to him , andsaid

,We have decided to listen to you, though we cannot

accept your teaching . Men, women and children gatheredround him . His opportunity had come . He poured outhis heart upon them

,and told them Of the wonderful

change the salvation of Christ had wrought in him . Thepower of God fell upon them . The old familiar cry wentforth

,What must we do to be saved ? They wept

and prayed around their Old teacher, and accepted hisSaviour as their own .

Punj a sent a message to the District leader, then Majornow Commissioner Prabhu Das (Mapp) , himself a convertof the early meetings in Bombay, urging him to come andcarry on the work . On h is arrival he found the old mansitting under the tree , but where were the people Thencame a great sound of tom- toms, and music, and Singing,and the villagers came in procession to the tree carryinga large basket

,covered with a white cloth . Here they had

gathered the vill age idols, and brought them to be surrendered to and destroyed by the Major, as a token thathenceforth they would serve Christ alone .

In spite of his age and blindness, Punj a became anOfficer, and helped to lay the foundations of the work inGuj arat . He had one great desire, and that was thatGod would permit him to see the Founder of TheSalvation Army before he died . Hisprayer was answered .

The Founder came . Old'

Punj a was introduced to him .

Amongst the thousands who gathered there, none wasmore full of j oy and the Holy Ghost than Punj a . Three


eyes and clasped hands, repeated after our Indian Adjutantthe Lord

’

s Prayer.Thus began their knowledge of the Fatherhood of

God and the brotherhood of man ; thus began a workthat has been going on with growing momentum ever since .

A few weeks ago Lieut . -Commissioner Hira Singh (Hoe)dedicated the fine new Hall those people have provided at

their own expense ; they went further than that , for, onbehalf of the Mohalla

,Captain Lilawati (Hutchins) , the

Corps Commander, presented a naz arana (thank-Offering) ,which the Commissioner accepted for the furtheranceof God’ s work .

Perhaps one Of the greatest trials of faith to one whohas had the Passion for Sou ls,

’ is when a period of stagnation appears to have set in, and the people around us havesettled down in a condition of determined lethargy andindifference .

Such had been for some years the case in Ceylon, when,under the vigorous leadership of Lieut .-Colonels DayalSingh and Dayal i (Suttor) formerly of Australia, a revivalof a remarkable character was brought about underconditions which differed considerably from the soulharvests previously described .

A system Of special campaigns was introduced, eachcovering a period of nine or ten days , a fighting force ofabout twenty Oflicers and other workers being gatheredtogether, and a series of al l-day meetings conducted,which proved to be very effective .

The first attack was made upon Moratuwa, this beingconveniently near Colombo, so that the HeadquartersStaff could the more easily be utiliz ed . A wealthySinghalese gentleman undertook to meet all the expenses .

The effort proved entirely successful . Many of our oldfriends rallied to our assistance, and more than two hundredseekers came forward in the meetings . Before theCampaign was over the whole neighbourhood was singingSalvation Army songs and choruses .

The Colonel,after an interval of two or three months,

allowed for consolidating the resul ts, next turned hisattention to what had from the first proved a particularlyhard field—the town of Kandy. What followed maybest be described in his own words

THE PASSION FOR SOULS. 25r

Those present will never forget the way the HolySpirit was poured out . A gracious unction from Godrested upon the singing, speaking and praying . It wasglorious to be present . The power

,the j oyous delight

,the

spiritual exaltation and victory were wonderful . ThePlan of Campaign was as follows

I . Prayer on the part of the whole Staff and FieldOfficers for two or three weeks beforehand .

2 . Half-night of Prayer to launch the Campaign .

3 . Daily Prayer Meeting,8 to 9 a.m.

4 . House to house Visitation, 9 to I I a .m.

5 . Singing Practice , new choruses , meeting for YoungPeople , Home Leagu e, etc . , to 4 pm .

6. Salvation Open-air Meeting,

to 6 pm .

7 . Illuminated Procession, 7 to pm.

8 . Salvation Meeting in Hall from to finish .

The Half-night of Prayer with which the Campaigncommenced was well attended

,and at its close ten

Buddhists and Hindus knelt at the mercy seat . It wasa glorious commencement , and showed to uS all that Godwas graciously giving His blessing .

Next night the crowd had much increased, and theHall was almost fu ll . The Singing was very remarkablefor its volume and fervour, Hindus and Buddhists j oiningin Singing Salvation songs . Again a grand scene of Salvation was witnessed

,quite a number of seekers coming

forward . The interes t and enthusiasm were immense,and a spirit of faith and victory pervaded the whole place .

Th e Open-air meetings and nightly processions stirredthe town ,

and a number of penitents knelt at the drumhead in the Market . One morning in the Open-air a fine

looking young Hindu stood close up to the ring . He became visibly affected concerning his spiritual condition,and then suddenly raising his arm to its full length andcall ing upon God, he fell on his knees at the drum and tookChrist as his Saviour . Others followed, and the wholeproceedings were in tensely in teresting and immessive.

The meetings increased in power, interest and influenceeach night . Every available seat was occupied and manystood . On the last night the hall was j ammed . Themeeting commenced at 7 pm . and continued till nearly


I I p.m. , and twenty-five souls knelt at the penitent form .

Some idea may be gathered of the hold this meeting hadupon the crowd from the fact that the Japanese CrownPrince was in Kandy that night, and at 9 p.m. there wereprocessions through the streets in which twenty elephantsand several groups of devil-dancers took part . Notwithstanding this our crowd remained with us till nearlyeleven .

One of the days of the campaign was spent at a villagenear Kandy, and those who were privileged to take partin the visit will never forget that day . It was a dayof days . Sounds of holy songs rolled almost continuouslyup and down the hills and valleys surrounding the village .

The Campaigners arrived early in the morning . Somewent forth to visit from door to door, while others waitedin the Officers’

Quarters . Soon a steady stream -

oi penitents began to arrive , asking to be prayed with . Thenwould be witnessed the Sight that charms us most , Sinnersat the Cross, with a group of red-coated Salvationistspointing them to the Saviour. Charms were cut off,Signifying severance from the old life .

The Ofllcers were compelled to take food in relays ,one set pointing S inners to Jesus while the others hadfood . It was a scene of gladness

,and al l taking part

rejoiced with j oy unspeakable . The Lord moved mightily,and we give Him the glory . The next day the CorpsOfli cers, Adjutant Yuddhadaksha and his wife, visited thewhole of the converts

,and found them firm in their deter

mination to follow Christ . It was all the Lord’

s doingsand it waswonderful in our eyes .

Altogether over 200 sou ls sought Christ during thenine days of the campaign

,the majority being Buddhists

and Hindus . Many of the best educated young men

(Buddh ists) of Kandy attended the meetings, and alsocame to see the campaign party Off by train when theyleft for Colombo . A number are Offering themselves as

candidates .It was a delightful sight to see the glowing faces of

the early day Soldiers catch the fire, attend every meeting,testify, sing, fish , deal with penitents and in every wayenjoy the Salvation fight . The final night was for thank s

CHAPTER XXVI II .

BISM ILLAH : IN THE NAME OF GOD !

Wh o in this wor ld is able to distingu ishThe virtuous from th e wicked ? Both alikeThe fruitfu l earth supports on both alikeThe sun pou rsdown h is beams on both alikeRefreshing breez es blow ; and both alikeThe waterspu rify . Not so hereafter .

Then shal l th e good be severed from the bad .

Then in a region br ight with golden lustre,

Cen tre of light and immortality,Th e r ighteous after death shall dwell in bliss.

Then doth an awfu l hell await th e wickedProfound abyss of bit ter misery,I n to the depthsof which bad men Shal l fal lHeadlong, and mourn their doom for coun t lessyears.

Mahabharata .

Mahommedan books usually commence with the ihscription, Bism Illah— in the Name of God . I would likemine to end with it . Standing as it were at the windowof the past , and gazing back at its happenings, I haveoften been constrain ed to say This is the Lord

’

s doingit is marvellous in our eyes .” It is not by human mightnor power, but by His Spirit . To Him be all the gloryThat the record is very imperfect , I am well aware .

So many things have been left unsaid that should havebeen said . So many beautiful God- consecrated

,God

inspired deeds and lives have been left unrecorded thatshould have been mentioned .

This book is nothing more than a mere sketch at bestof forty years that have teemed with similar happenings .

It has been necessary to choose from the glorious recordof the blessed men and women whose lives and conse

cration made up the history of this period and field oflabour, and many a name remains unrecorded whose

BI SM ILLAH : IN THE NAME OF GOD ! 255

diamond-deeds of heroism and love for the Master mightwell have illuminated these pages .

But what is here recorded is enough to Show,I believe

,

that they w ere taught of God, and that nothing butHis living presence and guidance could have made eventhis brief outline of our history possible .

Written upon these workers’

lives, inspiring them atevery step, encouraging them amidst every difficulty, hasbeen this thought : It isGod that India needs—not as.

The balm for India’

s wounds is the Christ of Calvarynot man—not The Salvation Army—not ourselves !And that thought has served to make easy the lossesand crosses—nay, asWeerasooriya reminded us : TheCross is the Attraction .

”

Not a few beautiful lives have been laid on the altarfor India’s salvation , but these pages will serve, I trust ,to show that their labour in the Lord has not been in vain .

What a multitude of their converts have joined themalready around the Throne , and are Singing the Song of theLamb ! What a mul titude of blood-washed souls are onthe way ! What a rich harvest-field India has beenand is! How it has responded—and is responding— tothe cal l of the Cross—to the clarion voice of those whocount not their lives dear ! How beautiful upon themountains have been—and arch -the feet of those whoproclaim good tidings, who say to India Thy Godreigneth !May this brief record of their deeds, these gleanings

from their golden harvest,be an inspiration to others to

follow in their footsteps,and to tread the same blood

besprinkled, prayer-strewn paths of sacrifice , assuredthat though no mortal pen may record their deeds, yet nocup of cold water offered to India in the Master

’

s name Shalllose His recogn ition and reward, and the Well doneof Him to whom India must needs be nearer and dearerthan to ourselves .

Reader ! Have you a personal knowledge of this Jesusas your Saviour

,and Friend ? Nay, more ! Is He to

you the Rose of Sharon,and the Lily of the Valley, the

Chiefest among ten thousand, and the Altogether LovelyIf so, you will rejoice as you picture in these pages


the same Jesus you know and read about in your Biblethe Jesus of Nazareth, who walked and talked , and livedand loved, and shepherded those whom His Father gaveHim in Judaea and Gal ilee , doing the same for the myriadmul titudes of India and Ceylon . You wil l rejoice with us

,

as you see the light of His Salvation illuminating thousandsof souls once wrapped in age—long darkness . You willrecognize in these pages, not the feeble faltering instruments He hasdeigned to use— not the frail followers—butthe glorious Lord Of the Harvest , working with His old-timepower, mighty to save and to keep ! Your heart willsurely be warmed with a newly enk indled faith for yourselfand for those around you—with a burning z eal for HisHouse and cause to which you have pledged yourself tobelong . You will rise up and say, What He has donethrough these , He can surely do through me .

” You willhear that Voice saying, Whom Shall I send , and whowill go for US and you will respond, Here am I !Send meAnd if, alas, you are still a stranger to that glorious

indwelling Presence —the ineffable , unexplainable Breathof the Holy Spirit of Love , Who , whether you real iz e itor not , yearns over you still with unutterable yearningsif as yet you have not recognized and real ized that eternaldestiny of Peace and Purity and Service for which He wouldfit and fill and thrill you in every cell and fibre of yourbeing— then will you not see in what He has done and isdoing for India what He can and seeks to do for YouWhen we read of apostles and prophets and martyrs

and servants of God in the pages of the Bible , or of pastages

,we are prone to think they were made of different

material from ourselves— that they could not feel, and be,and suffer like ourselves— that their thoughts were notlike ours, or that they could do what it is,hopelessto thinkof doing ourselves .But when we see—as I trust you will see in these pages,

Christ ’s miracles of grace brought up to date—whenyou read how He has changed the lives and illuminatedthe souls of men and women, aye, and children, who arein no way different from yourself, will you not be tempted,nay

,compelled to say

,This Jesus shall be mine I will

The Salvation ArmyHas Officersand otherswhol ly employed in itsservice.

Has Local Officers, Bandsmen and Songsters.

Comprises Corps (i.e. Stations) and Societies.

Publishes 95 Periodicals in 25 Languages, with a Circulation of

about copiesper issue.

Insists upon Total Abstinence as one condition of membership.

Has always published Annual Balance Sheets and Reports, whichare sent on application .

ls entirely dependent upon voluntary giftsfor itsmaintenance.

Accommodates some People n ightly in its I nstitutions forassisting the Poor.

Maintains 293 Food Depots and Shelters for Men ,Women and

Children .

Has 174 Labour Factories for employing Destitute or CharacterlessPersons.

Has 16 Homes for ex-Criminals.

Has 142 Homes for Ch ildren, I ndustrial Schools and Creches.

Has 1 16 I ndustrial Homes for the Rescue of Women .

Has 52 Maternity Homes.

Has 2 1 Land Colonies and Farms.

Has 185 Slum Stations for visitation and assistance of the Poor .

Has 153 Labou r Bureaux for helping the Unemployed .

HasMidn ight Rescue Brigades.

Has Lodging Homes for Men and Women .

Has Nursing Brigades for the Sick Poor in the Slums.

Has Police-Court Brigades for assistance of young offenders.

Has Prison Visitation Staff.Has General Visitation Departments.

Has I nqu iry Offices for tracing lost an d missing friends.

Has Homes for the Aged.

Has 254 Additional Branches of SocialWork , including I nebriates’

Homes, Maternity Hospitals, etc.

Has Day Schools for Children .

Has 35 Homes and Hostels for Soldiers and Sailors.

Has 44 Garrisons for Training Officers, etc.

SALVATIONARMYPUBLICATIONS.

Complete List of Books, with prices, on application to SALVATIONISTPUBLISHING AND SUPPLIES, Ltd , [add Street, King

'

s Cross,London ,

By WILLIAM BOOTH .

Religion for Every Day. Including Love, Marriage,and Home .

!

Cloth .

The Training of Children . Important for parents.

Cloth, limp cloth

The Founder’sMessagesto HisSoldiers. Cloth, paper .

Sergean t—Major Do-Your-Best of Dark ington ; or ,

The Inner Working of a Salvation Army Corps.”

Cloth, paper .

Salvation Soldiery. Describing characteristics ofGod'

s

best Soldiers. Cloth gilt, cloth boards, paper.

Purity of Heart .” Letters on personal holiness. Cloth,

paper .

The Seven Spiri ts ; or,What I Teach My Ofi cers.

Cloth, paper.

Pamph lets by William Booth .

How to he Saved . Simplified for Children .

ALadder to Holiness.

Holy Living or,What The Salvation Army Teachesabou t Sanctification .

”

The Salvation Army Directory, No . I . For Youn gChildren .

The Salvation Army Directory, No . 2. For Children of

from IOto I4 yearsof age.

Faith Healing.

”

SALVAT ION ARMY PUBLICAT IONS—Continued .

By CATHERINE BOOTH .

Popular Christianity. The last of Mrs. Booth'

sworks,and one of her best . Cloth, paper .

Life and Death .

”Stirring Addresses to the Unsaved .

Cloth, paper .

Practical Religion .

” Cloth, paper.

Godliness. Cloth, paper.

Aggressive Christianity. Papers on Christian Warfare .

Cloth, paper .

By GENERAL BRAMWELL BOOTH .

Boolrs that Bless. Reviews of Useful Books. Cloth,

paper.

Bible Battle-Axes. Short Scripture Studies. Cloth .

OuCr

lNiaster . Thoughtsfor Salvationistsabout their Lord .

ot

On the Banks of the River. A brief history of the lastdaysof The Army Mother . Cloth, paper.

Servantsof All or, Army Officersand TheirWork .

”

Cloth, paper .

Talkswith Oflicers. Interviews on important aspects of

Service in The Salvation Army . Paper.

Paperson Life and Religion . Cloth .

By MRS . BRAMWELL BOOTH .

Powers of Salvation Army Officers. Cloth .

Mothersand the Empire. and other addresseszTouching

upon a wide range of subjectsfrom women'

spomt of View.

Cloth.

SALVAT ION ARMY PUBL ICAT IONS—Continued .

Esther the Queen . Cloth .

Daniel the Prophet .” Cloth.

By M ILDRED DUFF AND EILEEN

DOUGLAS.

Theo

Life of Commissioner Railton . One of the moststirring biographiesof modern times. Cloth.

(More than I50,000 copies of Commissioner Duff’

s

popular books have been sold .)

By COMM I SSIONER RAILTON .

‘

The Life ofWilliam Booth .

” Cloth .

By COMM ISSIONER HOWARD.

Fuel for Sacred Fire. Awork on Sanctification . Cloth,

paper.

Standards of Life and Service. Being addresses at

Central HolinessMeetings. Cloth, paper .

By COMM I SSIONER OLIPHANT .

Savonarola. Italian Preacher and Martyr . Cloth boards,paper.

The Story of German Song.

” Cloth boards.

By COLONEL BRENGLE, D.D.

Love-Slaves. Colonel Brengle'

s latest book on conditionsof Service for Christ . Cloth .

When the Holy Ghost isCome. TheWork of the HolySpirit in the life of the child ofGod . Cloth, paper.

SALVAT ION ARMY PUBLICAT IONS- Continued .

Helps to Holiness. Cloth paper.

Heart Talkson Holiness.” Cloth.

TheWay to Holiness. Cloth.

The Soul-winner’sSecret .

” Cloth .

(All the worksby ColonelBrenglemay be obtained in a uniformcrimson clot!1 binding. Asa HolinessTeacher , ColonelBrenglehas long been recognised as being a speaker and writer of

singular power and unction. )

By MRS . COLONEL BRENGLE .

The Army Drum . Cloth.

Half-hourswith my Guide. Cloth.

What HindersYou i‘ Cloth, paper.

By MRS . COLONEL CARPENTER .

The Angel Adjutan t . The life story of Staff-CaptainKate Lee, the heroine of Broken Earthenware . Cloth,paper .

Three Great-Hearts.” Sketchesofnotable workersamongstthe submerged—Commissioner Sturgess, Colonel Barker,and Brigadier Aspinall . Cloth, paper .

Miriam Booth .

”The life story of the General

'

s thirddaughter . Cloth, paper.

Commissioner Lawley. ( In the press.)

By LT ..-COL. CATHERINE BOOTH .

Messages to the Messengers. An attractive volume of

Lettersto Young Officersof The Salvation Army.

SALVAT ION ARMY PUBLICAT IONS—Continued .

OTHER IMPORTANT BOOK S .

William Booth : Founder of The Salvation Army.

”

By HAROLDBEGEXE. Two vols., £ 228 . 0d .

The Life ofCharlesG. Finney. TheAmerican Revivalist.Cloth boards.

Revival Lectures.

” By CHARLESG. FINNEY. Cloth.

The Life of Eliz abeth Swift Brengle.

”By Brigadier

EI LEEN DOUGLAS. Cloth .

Handbook of Salvation Army Doctrine. Cloth .

The Red-Hot Library. Cloth boards, paper.ThisSeries includesthe following z—Francis the SaintGeorge Fox, the red-hot Quaker Red FlowersOfMartyrdom ; Commissioner Dowdle, the saved railway-guardLieut .-Colonel Junker ; The Life of Gideon OuseleyFletcher of Madeley ; The Cross our Comfort ; Sighsfrom Hell ; The Fruits of the Spirit, and TheWholeArmour of God, etc .

TheWarrior’sLibrary. Cloth boards, half-cloth boards.

This Series includes : The Warrior's Daily Portion ,Nos. I and 2 ; The Life of Hedwig von HaartmannGerhard Tersteegen ColonelWeerasooriya Bernard of

Clairvaux, etc.The Salvation Army Year Book . Cloth, paper.

The Salvation Army Music. Cloth boards, cloth limp.

The Home Pianoforte Teacher.

”By Lieut.-Colonel

SLATER. Cloth, stiff paper covers.

The Salvation Army Dictionary of Music.

” Cloth.

First Lessonsin Music.

”Paper.

First Lessonsin Harmony. Cloth limp, paper.

TheWar Cry. The Official Gazette of The SalvationArmy.

All the World. A Quarterly Magazine describing theMissionaryWork of The Salvation Army.

The Musical Salvationist .” A Monthly Magazine .

THE L IBRARYUN I VERSI TY OF CAL I FORN IA

San taBarbara

TH I S BOOK I S DUE ON THE LAST DATESTAMPED BELOW.

Mukt Fau - Forgotten Books

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