W&rfield Library

UNOCCUPIED FIELDS
OF

PROTESTANT MISSIONARY EFFORT

IN THE

UNITED PROTINCES of AGRA & OUDB.

By Rev. J. X Lucas.

rfmerkan 9resbi(terian Mission,

AIaIaAHAB&O.

PREPARED BY REQUEST CF THE CENTRAL COURT OF THE BOARD

OF ARBITRATION APPOINTED BY THE DECENNIAL CONFERENCE.

PRINTED AT THE CHRIST CHURCH MISSION PRESS.

 UNOCCUPIED FIELDS
OF

PROTESTANT MISSIONARY EFFORT

IN THE

UNITED PROVINCES if AGRA & OUDH.

By Rev. J. J. Lucas.

zimeriean iPresbiiterian Mission,

PREPARED BY REQUEST OF THE CENTRAL COURT OF THE BOARD

OF ARBITRATION APPOINTED BY THE DECENNIAL CONFERENCE.

 Digitized-by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
Princeton Theological Seminary Library

https://archive.org/details/unoccupiedfieldsOOIuca
Unoccupied fields of Protestant Missionary
effort
IN THE

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh.*

By Rev. J. J. Lucas.

American Presbyterian Mission, Allahabad.

:o:

The object of this paper is a study of the map of the

_

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, with the help of the

last Government Census and Mission Reports, in order
to answer the question, what Districts, or parts of Districts,
in the Provinces are unreached, or reached so little by
Missionary effort, that a Board of Missionaries representing
the societies at work would have no hesitation in saying to
Christian brethren who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity
and truth, ‘Here and here and here are fields of labour
in these Provinces with tens and hundreds of thousands
unreached, enter them and may God’s richest blessing rest
upon your work in the Lord.’

As the Province is divided by Government into 48

Districts, with the two Native States of Rampur and Tihri-
Garhwal, and as these Districts are grouped in 9 Divisions,
each Division embracing from 3 to 7 Districts, I have thought
it well to look at each Division separately, giving in a few
words a statement of its Christian population and Mission
work, with a view to answering the question whether there
is any part of the Division untouched by the Gospel through
the agencies now at work within its bounds.
Meerut Division.
We
begin, then, with the Meerut Division in the north of
the Province which embraces in its bounds 6 Districts, viz.,
Dehra Dun, Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Meerut, Bulandshahr

*THE greater part of this paper was prepared at the request of Rev. J. S.
Chandler, Chairman of the Court of Arbitration appointed by the last Decennial
Conference of Missionaries. At the request of Mr. Proctor it was read at the Chris-
tian Workers’ Conference, Mussoorie, September 25th. I have been greatly assisted
in gathering material for it by Mr. Thomas Barrow, Assistant Editor of the “Makh
zan-i-Masihi,” who has also made a clean copy for the press. J. J. L.
 —

( 2 )

and Aligarh. The Division has a population of very nearly 6

millions (5,979,711), of whom 20,077 are Indian Protestant
Christians.

Engaged in Missionary work among these nearly 6 millions

of people are ordained foreign missionaries, 31 ordained
19
Indian ministers and 172 unordained Indian preachers, such as
Catechists and Scripture Readers. This does not include
foreign and Indian Christian ladies who work in this Division.
I shall speak later on of Woman’s work in the Province. The
statistics as to the number of Christian preachers I have
gathered from personal enquiries and Mission Reports.

In the Muzaffarnagar District, with a population of

877, r 88 and in the Bulandshahr District with a population of
1, 1 38,101 there is no ordained foreign missionary. Foreign 1

missionary ladies live in the Bulandshahr District and with

them are 15 Indian Christian workers. Three ordained Indian
ministers live in the Muzaffarnagar District with 13 assist-
ant preachers, and 4 in the Bulandshahr District, with 26
assistants.

The Rev, P. M. Buck, who, asPresiding Elder, has charge

of the work carried on by the American Methodist Mission in
the 3 districts of Meerut, Muzaffarnagar and Bulandshahr in
reply to a question writes :

“I have charge of work in 3 zillahs with a population of

more than three and a half millions. Of our own Mission there
We
are one junior missionary and myself in the field. have about
125 Indian male workers. There are literally thousands of
towns, villages and muhallas where the Gospel is never preach-
ed or taught. The forces employed are scarcely able to touch
the fringe of the work to be done. I do not think this field
should be put down as “occupied.” I should like to see a mis-
sionary stationed in Muzaffarnagar and another in Bulandshahr,
both of which places are the heads of zillahs and neither has
a (foreign ordained) missionary. With a sweet Christian spirit
and intermission-comity half a dozen new stations could be
opened to great advantage in my field. I don't think it is :

”
'occupied.'

When we bear in mind that of the 20,077 Indian Protest-

ant Christians in the Meerut Division, according to the Govern-
ment Census, more than half of them are in churches over
which Mr. Buck is Presiding Elder, and also remember that
 < 3 )

nearly two thirds of the Indian labourers in the Division are also
under him, we can appreciate the value of his testimony.

In these two Districts of Muzaffarnagar and Bulandshahr

are 2,460 towns and villages. They are among the most popu-
lous and fertile Districts in the Province—Muzaffarnagar hav-
ing 531 persons and Bulandshahr 596 persons to the square
mile.

As the societies now in the field are not able to furnish

an ordained foreign missionary for the Districts of Muzaffar-
nagar and Bulandshahr, and only 7 ordained Indian ministers
in these two Districts, we do not think they could reasonably
object were a foreign missionary, or a new society looking for
an unoccupied field, to ask that part at least of each of these
big Districts be given to them for evangelization.

In the of Muzaffarnagar are 928 towns and

District
villages, 93 ofwhich have a population of over 2,000. In the
District of Bulandshahr are 1,532 towns and villages, of which
75 are over 2,000 each, in one of which, as a centre, a small
mission might find a field which would tax its efforts to
reach. The Missionary Societies labouring in these Districts
are the C. M. S., American Methodist, Reformed Presbyterian,
and the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission. A conference
with these Missions before entering the field would result,
no doubt, in a welcome by all, such as that Mr. Buck has
given.

In the Saharanpur District is Hardwar or Ganga Dwara,

gate of the Ganges, in the eyes of nearly every Hindu one
of the sacred spots in India. Here the Ganges issues from
the mountains and begins its long journey towards the sea.
Here every year come pilgrims by the tens of thousands from
all parts of India, thousands of them hurrying on into the
interior of the mountains to worship at Gangotri, the spot
where the Ganges issues from the snows, and cuts its way to
the plains. This pilgrim route from Hardwar to Gangotri, a
distance of about 150 miles, with dharamsalas and rest houses
at convenient stages, may very well be considered an “ un-
occupied field,” no Missionary Society, so far as we know, having
established a permanent Mission station or out-stations along
it to reach the pilgrims or the villages which lie in the valleys
here and there almost up to Gangotri, unless it be the Mission
of Mr. Greet with its head-quarters now at Landour. Cer-
tainly no Missionary Society can claim to be reaching these
 ( 4 )

thousands of pilgrims who, every year, tramp on foot in little

companies, from stage to stage, over this mountain road.
This last summer (June 1905; Dr. A. H. Ewing and Profes-
sors Edwards, Dass and Mukerji of the Allahabad Christian
College, made a tour from Landour to Gangotri. This is
what Dr. A H. Ewing writes in reply to a question “On :
—
our march to Gangotri, we saw no Mission work but under-
stood that Mr. Hamilton had been at Suki, three marches on
year or two. I should strongly
this side of Gangotri, for a
advise opening Mission work somewhere near Baliyana,
whence the road to the Raja’s summer residence branches off
from the Tehri-Gangotri road, and at Suki.”

Professor
Gangotri :
— “TheEdwards writes of the people up this road to
people, like mountaineers elsewhere, are dirty
and friendly, strong and simple. Seemingly one of the best of
these places for a station is at Batwari, about 80 miles fiom
Landour and some 6,000 feet in elevation. There is a large
two-storied dharamsala, a good supply-shop, that is, good for
the hill regions, and a considerable village population.
One of the most urgently needed form of work is Medical
work. No one should try to work here without a good
medicine chest and at least a little medical knowledge. I
believe medical work would be of immense help in gaining
the friendship of the people... A very striking feature of the
country is the amount of water-power going to waste. The
average fall of the river is nearly 100 feet to the mile, and
a moderate estimate of the volume and speed of the river
brings us to the conclusion that from 10,000 to 50,000 horse-
power is going to waste every day for every mile of the river.
Probably less than a dozen miles of this would run all the
mills in Cawnpore. The people have used some of it by
putting their little mills on the small tributaries. They pro-
bably lose about three-fourths of the power of the water they
use, but what harm ? there is plenty of it and to spare. It
occurred to me that a furniture factory would be a paying
undertaking. Pine and deodar wood ma5^ be gotten cheaply
and floated down the river, and something like this might
be made the basis of an Industrial Mission. Of course a wool-
—
len mill might be added pasturage is abundant. Many other
possibilities easily suggest themselves, but plans would have
to be carefully worked out, and of course first of all one must
get permission, whatever he undertook, from the Raja of
Tehri.”

In suggesting this pilgrim route from Hardwar to

Gangotri, with its villages here and there, as a field which
 ( 5 )

might be considered as unoccupied, must be remembered

it

that only part of it is and the Mission pro-

in British territory
posing permanent work would have to get permission from
the Raja to purchase property and settle down within his
territory. A missionary, with medical knowledge, would be
almost sure to win his way and make a place for himself
among these village people. It may be that some one to
whom God has given medical skill and who wishes to use it
in the service of the Lord may see this statement and take it
as a call to go to these mountain people. To such a one I
pass on the words of Dr A. H. Ewing '‘It is said that it is
:

impossible to acquire property in the dominions of the Raja

of Tihri, and that preachers are not wanted there. I believe

the Swedish Mission made an attempt to get property

but the attempt was frustrated. Whether a more systematic
and persistent attempt would succeed or not I cannot say,
but I imagine that it would be, if backed by the prayers of
many people and the consecrated determination of a few
men”. Even if, at first, property might not be obtained in the
territory of the Raja of Tihri, it can be in
British territory
adjacent. The Arya Samaj have established their Theologi-
cal School for North India at a place on the Ganges, within
British territory, not far from Hard war.

In the whole of Tihri-Garhwal State is a population of

268,885 living in 2,456 villages, but only three of these
villages have a population of over 500. The people are
divided according to religion as follows Hindus 267.304
:
— ;

Musalmans 1,525 Aryas 23

;
Sikhs 14;
Jains 6 and ; ;

Christians 13.

Rev. J. H. Messmore in charge of the American Method-

istMission work in British Garhwal writes of Tihri Garh-
— —
wal : “ We Methodists have no work in Tihri. .Mr. Gill
planned opening work, but while such extensive breaks re-
main between our Garhwal stations it would be folly to cross
the Alaknanda. We have no stations on the pilgrim route
from Hardwar to Gangotri. Our lowest station is Srinagar
where Kidarnath and Badrinath pilgrims pass. Above that
are Nand Pryag and Ramnee. We own no property in
Tihri.”

There is no call for a new Mission to enter that part ot

British Garhwal occupied by the American Methodist Mission,
but the claim of Tihri-Garhwal asset forth by Mr. Greet,
 “

( 6 )

Dr. Ewing, Edwards and others ought to appeal to

Prof.
many who would find a needy and inviting field among the
strong mountaineers living in the 2,456 villages of Tihri-Garh
wal, as well as among the thousands of pilgrims who toil up
and down its mountains to the sources ot the Ganges and
Jumna, as well as to Badrinath, to Kidarnath and other
sacred places.

We cannot leave this Division without a word at least

concerning the Delira Doon District, and we condense the
words of the first missionary who settled in the Doon and
began Mission work there more than fifty years ago, and
who is still with us. Mr. Woodside says —
As to the valley
:

of the Doon and the hill country embraced between the

Ganges and the Jumna there are several varieties of Mission-
ary enterprises at work and yet this territory is hardly
affected by Gospel influences. The great mass of the people
are untouched.” These are solemn thoughts and should lead
those of us who come so often to these Hills to ask whether
something more cannot be done to give the people of these
mountains, near and beyond us, the message Christ has
committed to us for the whole world.

Agra Division.

I cotne now to the second Division into which the Gov-

ernment has divided the Province for administrative pur-
poses. I11 the Agra Division are the Districts of Muttra, Agra,
Farrukhabad, Mainpuri, Etawah and Etah the population —
of the six districts being 5,249,542, living in 8,105 towns and
villages.The river Jumna runs through the Districts of
Muttra, Agra, and Etawah on the west, while the Ganges
bounds Etah and Farrukhabad on the east.

Of the five millions and more in the Agra Division 13,875

are Christians, of whom 3,316 are Europeans, 712 Eurasians,
9.847 Indian Christians, and of these 1,540 are Roman
—
Catholics the great majority in the Agra District. Thus
leaving 8,307 Protestant Indian Christians scattered among
more than five millions of Hindus and Mohammedans.

The Mission labourers in these six districts are nineteen

ordained foreign missionaries, twenty-three ordained Indian
ministers and 194 unordained preachers.

From the above it appears that in the Agra Division the

districts of Muttra, Agra and Etah are fairly well occupied,
 ( 7 )

three ordained foreign missionaries, ten ordained Indian min-

isters in the Muttra District, aided by 127 unordained preach-
ers of various grades and seven ordained foreign missionaries,
;

seven ordained Indian ministers aided by 50 unordained

preachers in the Agra District ; while in the Etah District
are two ordained foreign missionaries, six ordained Indian
ministers and 67 unordained workers.

Of the Muttra District Rev. Rockwell Clancy of the

American Methodist Mission writes: “Our Christians
are largely from the sweeper caste, and this fact largely
excludes our workers from the high castes. There is
not a village in our work where there is not room for
other Missions working among the high caste people. The
same is true of the cities Personally I would give a
hearty welcome to other Missions wishing to enter this
field, understanding that we would work among different
castes. My experience of more than twenty-one years in
India has confirmed my opinion that these Provinces have
not yet been fully occupied. There is need of large reinforce-
ments if the people are to be brought to Christ within the
near future.”

The Rev. P. M. Zenker, so long at Muttra, writes “From

:

a strictly evangelistic standpoint considered, I doubt whether

a single district in this part of India could be truly designated
as ‘ occupied.' Stations, perhaps one, or two or three in a
district, yes, I am willing to admit may be called ‘
occupied’
but districts in this sense, not. Take the Muttra District as
an illustration, where as a C. M. S. man I am single-handed.
I have three outstations which on account of age and
the heavy burden of other work for my society I cannot in-
spect. However, even if for the mere sake of argument the
latter point be disregarded and Muttra and the three out-
stations be considered as effectually occupied by the C. M. S.
— what about the District of Muttra outside the compara-
tively narrow surroundings of these four centres ? The
C. M. S. might establish ten separate stations in the district,
each with half a dozen or a dozen Indian preachers to work
the villages within a reasonable radius of five or six miles
regularly. Then indeed the C. M. S. might claim that Muttra
and its district is effectually occupied.’ And even if the
‘

Baptists and the Methodists did the same there need not be
any crowding, provided Christian comity receives its due
regard by mutual arrangement. What grieves an
aged missionary is that, while frequently fresh localities are
selected for starting new work, such magnificent opportunities
 ( 8 )

of entering on systematic evangelization in localities close at

hand and not effectually ‘ occupied’ are completely over-
looked.”

The Etawah District, with a population of 806, 798 living

in 1480 towns and villages and with only one foreign mis-
sionary, two ordained Indian ministers and eight other
preachers, is the District in this Division which has the fewest
labourers. Itthe district with the fewest Indian Christians,
is

only 198 altogether in a population of over 800,000. Rev.

“ Etawah is
J. S. Woodside writes : a zillah with which I
am fairly well acquainted having 'occupied’ it nearly ten years.
I consider that zillah to-day as almost altogether ' un-
occupied.’

Rohilkhand Division.

Rohilkhand gets its name from the Rohilla tribe of

Afghans, by whom it was conquered. This Division has in
it six Districts, viz., Bareilly, Bijnor, Budaon, Moradabad
Shahjehanpur and Pilibhit. Altogether a population of nearly
5I millions (5,479,688) living in 11,468 towns and villages.
Of the 24,459 Christians, 2,810 are European, 221 Eurasian
and 21,421 are Indian.

The Christian workers in tlie Division are as follows :

Eight ordained foreign missionaries, 44 ordained Indian
ministers and 341 unordained preachers.

While there are only eight ordained foreign missionaries

in this Division —
and all of one Church, the American Metho-
dist, yet there is only one District— Budaon, in which there is
no ordained foreign missionary but it has proportionately a
larger Christian population (6080) than the other Districts
of the Division, and it has a large staff of Indian workers, viz.,
nine ordained Indian ministers and 123 unordained.

As one Mission, the American Methodist, planted the

seed in this District and has wrought here for forty years,
developing a large Christian community, we do not think
another Mission should enter unless invited by those who
have so long worked it.

This Division has a larger number of Indian Christians

than any other Division of the Province— almost all of them
from two or three castes, one of these castes, the Mazliabi
Sikhs, have all become Christians.
 “

( 9 )

Hemmed in by Moradabad on the West and Bareilly oil

the East, with Budaon on the South and Kumaon on the
North, is the semi-independent State of Rampur. It is all
that is left of the old Rohilla Government. Here are still
found many Rohilla Afghans. The Capital, Rampur, has a
population of 78,758. The Rampur State has a population
of 533,212 distributed in 1126 towns and villages. There are
291,133 Hindus, 241,163 Musalmans and 473 Christians,
according to the last Government Census.

The Rev. Hiram A. Cutting, Preacher-in-charge of the A.

M. E. works in Rampur wuites that at present there are 300
:

Christians in the city of Rampur and about 900 in the villages

of the State. He himself has never preached in the city, not
that there is any law against it, so far as he knows, but he
r

has heard from reliable sources that it is forbidden. The work

is largely in the sweeper and chamar mahallas, and against

this there is no objection on the part of the authorities.

Marriage certificates of Indian Christians are sent to the
Court at Rampur and filed.

Rev. L. A. Core, Presiding Elder of the Moradabad Dis-

trict writes :
—
I do not regard Rampur State as occupied in
the true sense of the wmrd. I should say that there is room

for more missions in the State.” Mr. Core’s spirit in inviting

others to enter a State where his Mission has been the only
workers and with a degree of success, is to be admired. But
I think all will agree that it would be well to leave to this
Mission the Rampur State, with its interesting people, a link
with far away Afghanistan, broken long ago, but who can
tell in what strange ways it may once again play a part in

—
the history of that wild people perhaps converted Rohillas
from Rampur may become the messengers of peace to their
warlike countrymen in Afghanistan.

Allahabad Division.

This Division consists of seven Districts, viz., Cawnpore,

Fatehpur, Banda, Hamirpur, Allahabad, Jhansi and Jalaun.
The total population of the Division is over 5! millions
(5,540,702) living in 11,001 towns and villages. Of the total
population the Hindus number nearly 5 millions (4,996,538),
the Musalmans 513,478, Jains 13,240 and Christians 14,989.
Of the Christians 8,339 are Europeans; 1,655 Eurasians and
4,805 are Indian Christians, nearly half of whom (2,230) are
in the Allahabad District.
 —

( 10 )

One District, Jalaun, with a population of nearly four

hundred thousand <399,726)has no foreign missionary and
only one ordained Indian minister at Orai and five un-
ordained workers. There are 843 towns and villages in
this District, 15 with populations between 2,000 and 5,000 ;

two between 5,000 and 10,000; two between 10,000

and 20,000 and Jalaun itself with a population of 8,573.
As there are only 56 Christians in the whole District,
according to the last Census, we think no one will question
that this is a District into which any one looking for a needy
field might enter without the slightest fear of objection. He
would find many large towns, besides Jalaun with its 8,573
people, unoccupied. Here is, Kalpi having a population of
10,139, with its fort overlooking the Jumna, in the rains more
than a mile wide, called the Gate of Bundelkhand. The
high road between Jhansi and Cawnnore passes ri*rht through
it, so does the Indian Midland Railroad. Long ago when
the Mahomedans ruled India it was a strong military post
from which armies marched forth for the invasion of Bundel-
khand. Ought it not to stir the ambition of some soldier of
Jesus Christ to make Kalpi once again a centre from which
he shall send forth preachers into all of Bundelkhand, the
greater part of which is untouched by the Gospel preacher.

The Fatehpur District, with a population of 631,058, has

only one foreign missionary, no ordained Indian minister
and only four unordained preachers. It has quite a number of
good sized towns which would make centres for village work,
and although the American Presbyterian Mission has held
this District for fifty years, yet there would be no difficulty
in assigning a large section of it to any one attracted to it as
a field of labour.
Benares Division.

This Division has a population of over five millions

(5,069,020) living in 13,692 towns and villages, distributed
in five districts as follows : —
Benares 882,084, Mirzapur
1,082,430, Jaunpur 1,202,920, Ghazipur 913,818, and Ballia
98 7,768.

The population is divided according to religious belief

as follows : — Hindus, 4,633,244, Musalmans 429,153
;
Christ-
ians 2949. Of the
Christians 1,130 are Europeans, 342 Eu-
rasians, and 1,477 Indian Christians.

The Indian Christians are divided again in the five

Districts as follows :
 Benares District ... 669
Mirzapur „ ... 413
Jaunpur „ 62
Ghazipur ,, ... 329
Ballia „ 4

The number of Christian workers is as follows Fourteen :

ordained foreign missionaries, four ordained Indian ministers

and 48 unordained Indian preachers.

The Christian workers

Division are distributed
in this
as follows : Benares ordained foreign missionaries,
District, 7
4 ordained Indian ministers and 28 unordained workers ;

Mirzapur District, 4 ordained foreign missionaries, no or-

dained Indian ministers and n
unordained Christian work-
ers. Jaunpur District —
No ordained foreign missionary, no
ordained Indian minister and no unordained preachers.
—
Ghazipur District. Two foreign ordained missionaries, no
ordained Indian ministers and 7 unordained preachers and
teachers.

The is one of the most fertile and densely

Ballia District
populated Province, There is scarcely an acre not
in the
cultivated. British occupation of Ballia dates from 1775,
and yet after 130 years of Christian Government there are
only four Indian I'hiistians. Recently a new Mission, the
Christian Workers from Canada, began work at Ballia but
they cannot reach a tenth of the people of the District.
Here are 1,797 towns and villages of which 157 have a
population of over 1,000 each and 74 of from 2,000 to
—
20,000 the door into the greater part of Ballia is still wide
open.

That Jaunpur, is also in need of evange-

east of Ballia,
lists, is clear, for among
1,202,920 inhabitants, living in
its

3,159 towns and villages, 177 of them with populations of

over 1,000, there is not an ordained preacher of the Gospel,
Indian or foreign, and only 62 Christians in the District. In
Jaunpur city are four foreign missionary and seven Indian
Christian ladies engaged in work among the women and
children —
these ladies are connected with the Zenana Bible
and Medical Mission.

In the Ghazipur District there is only one Mission the —

German Lutheran, in charge of Rev. H. Lorbeer, with whom
is associated in labour his son and daughter, seven Christian
catechists and teachers, and four female teachers. few How
 — —

are these, the only labourers in a population of nearly a

million people.

Gorakhpur Division.

This is the next to the largest Division in the Province,

—
and it has the fewest labourers altogether only five ordained
men, Indian and European, and 17 unordained preachers, to
reach over six millions ot people living in over 19,000
towns and villages, 19 with a population of between 5,000
and 20,000 each and 149 between 2,000 and 5,000; 712
;

between 1,000 and 2,000 2,475 between 500 and 1,000, the
;

remaining 15,813 villages have a population under 500 each.

The three Districts of the Division are :

Gorakhpur 2 , 957,°74
Basti ... 1,846,153
Azamgarh 1,529,785

The population is divided according to religious belief

as follows : —
Hindus nearly 5^ millions (5,517,681). Musal-
mans, 81 1,338 Christians 1,721.
;
Of the Christians in this
Division 356 are Europeans, 168 Eurasians, and 1,197 Indian
Christians. The Indian Christians are divided again in the
three districts as follows :

Gorakhpur 1,040
Basti 53
Azr mgarh... 104

The 1,040 Indian Christians in Gorakhpur are mostly in

and near Gorakhpur itself —
a city of 64, 148 inhabitants.

Only one place in Gorakhpur District, outside of Go-

rakhpur occupied by Christian workers, viz., the Teh-
city, is
sili town of Deoria. This leaves four large Tehsils, viz.,
Bansgaon, Maharajganj, Padrauna and Hata with populations
of from 428,846 to 595,706 each, altogether nearly two
million people among whom there is not a Christian worker
living. The C.M.S. is working in the Gorakhpur District, with
a staff of three ordained foreign missionaries, one ordained
Indian minister and ten catechists and Scripture readers.
Work among women is carried on by three foreign missionary
and fifteen Indian Christian ladies in connection with the
Zenana Bible and Medical Mission.
 ( 13 )

Through Gorakhpur runs the river Raptee which comes

down from the north, and on the east it is bounded by a
greater river the Gundak, while to the north it is one of
the doors into Nepal. Here comes the Gurkhas from Nepal
to enlist in the British Army. A railway runs through part
of the district, while “ the surface of the country is diversi-
fied by rivers, streams, lakes and ponds.”

When we remember that there are nearly three millions

(2,957,074) Hindus and Mahommedans living in the
of
district of Gorakhpur, scattered in 7,562 towns and villages,
and that of the little staff of workers, most of them are in
one place and some of them are tied to educational and
pastoral work, I think no one will question that here is an
open door for those who are looking for a needy field, and
we are sure that the C. M. S. would gladly assign such work-
ers town after town with from five to twenty thousand
people as a centre from which to work.

Basti.

If Gorakhpur is in sore need of more Christian workers

what shall we say of Basti, with
its 1,846,153 people, scat-
tered in 6,907 towns and villages, and not a foreign or
Indian minister among them, and altogether only 53 Indian
Christians, most of them in Basti itself, a town of 14,761
inhabitants. The District of Basti has five Tehsils, with a
population of over three hundred thousand in each, and
in these are thirty-two towns of from 2,000 to 10,000 each
Surely in some of these towns a Mission might find a centre
to occupy for Christ from which to go forth to the literally
thousands of towns and villages of the District now un-
reached.

Mr. S. Cecil, Head Master

of the C. M. S. High School
at Basti, writes me
that theie are only two preachers of the
C. M. S. in the whole of the District, and they reside in the
town of Basti.

In reply to a question as to unoccupied fields in this

Province, Dr. W. Hooper of the C.M S. writes “ If only the :

principle of special agreements Cuiild be much extended,

there would be very many and very wide fields only waiting
for occupation, e. g., The C. M. S. is " in possession ” of Go-
rakhpur and Basti, but there are millions in those two Dis-
tricts who never hear the Gospel, and if another Mission
could agree with the C, M. S. to take certain parts of those
 — —

( M )

districts it would be very delightful.” With which sentiment

we are sure there will be general agreement.

Azamgarh.

The last District in the Gorakhpur Division is the Azam-

garh District with its 1,529,785 people scattered among
4700 towns and villages, of whom 1,313,371 are Hindus,
214,631 Musalmans and 185 Christians, 104 of whom are
Indian Christians, nearly all of these in Azamgarh itself,
a town of 18,835 inhabitants. The Christian workers (male)
are one ordained foreign missionary and five catechists and
Scripture headers. The Report of the C. M. S. for 1903-04.
contains a sentence which tells the needs of Azamgarh, and
how far it is occupied. “ In the cold season Mr. Collins
spent some time itinerating in the District which contains
a million and a half of people, two-thirds of them untouched
by missionary effort.” Surely a fact like this speaks its own
—
message a message which ought to move those who hear it
to do something for the million and more scattered in over
three thousand towns and villages of the Azamgarh District,
“ untouched by missionary effort.”
as Mr. Collins says,

Kumaon Division.

This Division includes the country lying between Thibet

and the Terai, and between Nepal and Garhwal. Here are
some of the favorite Hill sanitariums of Northern India. Here
isrange after range of mountains from 5000 to 25,000 feet
and vast plateaus with over 10,000 towns
in height, great valleys
—
and villages scattered over them the largest town, Kashipur,
in the Naini Tal District, having a population of 12,023.
There are four towns with a population ranging between
—
5000 10,000 eight between 2000
; —
5000 ; seventeen bet-
—
ween 1000 2000, one hundred and-fifty five between 500
1000. The remaining 9,868 villages have a population under
500 each.

This Division has altogether a population of 1,207,030

distributed in three Districts as follows :

Naini Tal, 3 11.237 ;

Almora, 465,895 ;
Garhwal, 429,900.

The population is divided according to religious belief as

follows : — Hindus 1,118,118 ; Musalmans 84,450 and Christi-

ans 3,508. Of the Christians 1,114 are Europeans, 118 Eura-
 ( 15 )

sians and 2276 Indian Christians,* The Indian Christians are

distributed as follows : —
Naini Tal, 659 ; Almora 1,029 ; Garh-
wal 588,

The number of Christian workers in this Division is four

ordained foreign missionaries in the Naini Tal District, three
in the Almora and one in the Garhwal District. Three
ordained Indian ministers in the Naini Tal, one in Almora,
and three in Garhwal 39 unordained preachers in the Naini-
;

Tal, five in the Almora and 25 in the Garhwal District.

As
there are not a few Europeans, and Indian Christians
also, who cannot endure
the heat of the plains but would be
able to work with energy and success in a hill climate, I give
below the names of some towns in which Christian men
and women unable to work on the plains might find their
life work in one of these hill towns, with the thousands of
people and many small villages within reach of them.

NAINI TAL DISTRICT.

13 Towns between 1000 and 2000 ; 5 between 2000

and 5000 ; 3 between 5000 and 10,000 ;
1 over 10,000.

Kashipur 12,023.
Naini Tal 7,609.
Haldwani 6,624.
Jaipur 6,480.
Ramnagar 4,038.
Kala Dhungi 1,418.
Rani Bag 874.

ALMORA DISTRICT.

2 Towns between 1000 and 2000 ;

2 between 2000 and
5000, and 1 between 5000 and 10,000.

Ranikhet 3 ,246 ;
in Summer 7,705.
Almora 7, 007.

Almora Cantt. 1,589.

* This is according to the Census of 1901. The Mission Districts differ

from Government, and so it is difficult to —
adjust the two Mission Reports
show larger numbers than Census.
 —

( :*6 )

GARHWAL DISTRICT.

Barahat 4,000.
Lansdowne Cantt. 3,943.
Srinagar 2,091.
Kotdwara 1,029.

Mr. Messmore writes “A Mission with head-quarters

:

at Ramnagar, could find a field partly in Garhwal, partly in

Kumaon. In Kumaon, the region between Lohughat and
Barmdev is not, I think, occupied. But when the rail is open
from Pilibliitto Barmdev, that will be the outlet for Eastern
Kumaon and our Mission at Pithoragarh will flow down to
Barmdev."

As the London Missionary Society and the American

Methodist Mission have long laboured in Kumaon and have a
number of stations here and there, no one should think of
beginning work without first conferring with these Missions
and having a clear understanding as to the towns and villages
in which each would work, and after such a friendly confer-
ence and agreement there ought to be no danger of friction,
each having an ample field, even with the hope of expan-
sion in view.

A Medical Missionary especially would find a wide and

almost unoccupied field in some parts of the Kumaon Divi-
sion, his surgical skill saving many a life and with it bringing
a deeper healing, we may well believe. From some points of
view one of these mountain towns, as a centre for reaching
the villages, would be an ideal Mission station. Would that
some young Christian surgeon, looking for a field where he
might use his skill in saving life, restoring health and healing
the wounds of sin, might see in the mountains of Kumaon or
Tihri-Garhwal such a field and respond to the cry of its need
and suffering. Even the Government Gazetteer calls atten-
tion to the place these mountains with their shrines, holds
in the hearts of Hindus. To them the Himalaya is what
Palestine is to the Christian, the place where those whom
the Hindu esteems most, spent portions of their lives, the
home of the great gods, the Mahatmas, “the great way” to
final liberation. We are glad that Mr. Greet has lifted up his
voice to call attention to part of this interesting and inviting
field.
OUDH.
Following the Government Divisions of the Province we
come back to the plains to the eighth Division entitled
 —
( *7 )

The Lucknow Division.

This Division includes Oudh, sometimes called “the gar-

den of India,” because of its fertility. The land-holders here
are the wealthiest in the Province. Here, too, is one of the
strong-holds of Islam. Lucknow is the chief city and gives
its name to the Division which includes the districts of

Lucknow 793 24 !
,

Unao 976,639
Rai-Bareli 1,033,761
Sitapur I
,
I 75,473

Hardoi 1,092,834
Kheri 905,138

Altogether a population of nearly six millions ( 5,977,086 )

scattered in 10,194 towns and villages, 6419 of them under

500 inhabitants each, and 287 from 2000 to 50,000 each.

The Division of population according to religious belief

is asfollows :
—
Hindus, 5,217,902; Musalmans 746,732;
Sikhs 387; Jains 1,019 > Buddhists 82 ; Parsis 121 Jews 18 ; ;

Aryas 1,558 Brahmos 30 and Christians 9,237. Of the

;

Christians 4,607 are Europeans, 827 Eurasians and 3,803 are

Indian Christians.

The Indian Christians are distributed as follows accord-

ing to the Census of 1901 Lucknow 2150 Unao 106 ; Rai-
:
;

Bareli 97 ; Sitapur 548 Hardoi 485 ; Kheri 417.

;

The number of ordained foreign missionaries in this

total
Division fourteen ; of ordained Indian ministers, fifteen ; of
is
unordained preachers, catechists and Scripture Readers, 105.

In four Districts of the Division viz., Unao, Rai-Bareli,

Hardoi and Kheri, there is no ordained foreign missionary.
There is only one ordained Indian minister in each of the
two districts of Rai-Bareli and Kheri.

Kheri has 40 towns with a population of over 2000 each,

and 6 ofover 5000 and under 10,000, and in only a few of
these 46 towns is there a preacher, to say nothing of the other
1600 towns and villages. Kheri is another door into Nepal
which bounds it in the north. The Ghogra River is also a
boundary on the east, while through the district runs a river,
not so small, the Sarda. The Rohilkhand Kumaon Railway
also runs through Kheri and almost up to the borders of
 — —

( i8 )

Nepal. Thus Kheri is one of the advanced posts into the

regions beyond, and on this account has an added importance
from a missionary stand-point.

A study of the distribution of the Missionary force in the

six Districts of the Lucknow Division, brings out the fact that
thirteen out of the fourteen ordained foreign missionaries in
the Division live in the city of Lucknow. This is a very small
force when we consider that it represents the ordained foreign
missionaries of four Societies, and when we remember the
institutional and administrative work centred there. It
leaves, however, four Districts with a population of over four
millions living in 6945 towns and villages, without an or-
dained foreign missionary and with only seven ordained
Indian ministers. may well say, “ What are these among
We
so many."
Fyzabad Division.

We now come to the last of the nine Divisions into

which the Government divides the Province, viz .

The Fyzabad Division.

This Division has a population of 6,855,991, the largest

of the nine Divisions. Five of the Districts have a popula-
tion above a million each, viz .

Fyzabad 1,225,374
Gonda L403A95
Bahraich i,05L347
Sultan pur 1,083,904
Barabanki 1 , 179,323

Partabgarh 912,848

There are 22 towns with populations ranging from

5,000 to 20,000, and 1,296 from 1,000 to 5,000.

The Division of population according to religious belief

is asfollows: —
Hindus, 5,892,576 Musalmans 957,114; ;

Sikhs 2,060 Jains 1,135

;
Buddhists 8
;
Parsis 7 Jews 11 ; ; ;

Aryas 643 Christians 2,437.

;
Of the Christians 1,331 are
Europeans; 155 Eurasians and 951 are Indian Christians.
The Indian Christians are distributed as follows, according to
the last Census : —
Fyzabad 341, Gonda 175, Bahraich 173,
Sultanpur 75, Partabgarh 43, Barabanki 144.

In four districts, viz., Bahraich, Sultanpur, Partabgarh

 ( 19 )

and Barabanki there no ordained foreign missionary and

is
in two, viz. Sultanpur and Partabgarh, no ordained Indian
Christian minister; while the whole number of Indian preach-
ers in the six districts is only 79 men eleven of them—
ordained, while Sultanpur and Partabgarh havej only two
—
unordained men Sultanpur having a Christian population of
only 75 and Partabgarh of 43. The Zenana and Bible Medi-
cal Mission have workers in Partabgarh, superintending the
work from Allahabad.

In this division is Bahraich, another door into Nepal,

bounded on the north by Nepal and on the east by the
Ghogra river, while through it runs the Rapee river. A
Railway also runs through it. East and west of Bahraich
are great stretches almost untouched. On the east Basti,
and beyond that Gorakhpur, and the west Kheri, while its
—
border on the north touches Nepal that altogether un-open-
ed region beyond. We
feel sure too that the only Mission
working Bahraich and Kheri would welcome any fellow-
in
labourers who would
unite with them in pushing open the
door into Nepal, as well as in reaching the more than 3000
towns and villages in these two districts.

The town of Amethi, in the Partabgarh District, on the

line recently opened from Allahabad to Lucknow, might be
made a centre for work— aTehsili town with scores of villages
in reach, villages which looked this month (September) most
attractive from the windows of the Railway carriage, sur-
rounded as they were by groves of mango trees, while
stretching out for miles were fields of rice beautifully green.
The traveller could not but sigh as he thought of these towns
and villages in which rarely is heard the voice of the mes-
senger of Christ with the good news of peace sent to the
whole earth nineteen hundred years ago.

Woman’s Work.
In the foregoing review we have not given the number
of Foreign and Indian ladies who are engaged in missionary
work among the women and girls of the United Provinces.
It has been difficult to gather statistics, but the following
statement will show the number of workers with sufficient
accuracy for our purpose, which is now to answer the ques-
tion, how far the districts of the Province are occupied,
looked at from the point of view of woman’s work in each.

In the following Districts there are no foreign missionary

 ( 20 )

Muzaffarnagar, Jalaun, Basti, Unao,’ Rai-

ladies’ living, viz,,
Bareli, Bahraich, Partabgarh and Barabanld —
altogether eight
districts. There could be but one answer, we think, to a
Missionary Society asking whether the way is open in one of
these districts for the residence of missionaries wishing to
bring the Gospel to the women and children living in them.
No one could claim that any one of these is occupied so as
to exclude the Woman’s Missionary Societies now in the
field who may wish to enlarge their work, or new organiza-
tions from establishing stations within these districts.

It isnot meant that there is no work in these districts

among the women and children, but that the Societies have
not been able to set apart any of their staff of foreign mission-
aries to reside in these districts. In some of these districts,
lady missionaries work during the cold weather and have,
here and there, workers, and before any other Society began
work it would be only right to confer with the Societies who
have workers in parts of these districts.

There are eight districts, viz., Muzaffarnagar, Etawah,

Fatehpur, Jalaun, Ghazipur, Azamgarh, Kheri and Sultanpur
in which ten or fewer Indian Christians are engaged in work
among the women and girls of the district, which painfully
shows how feebly the women’s societies are occupying these
districts and how urgent the need of more labourers to enter
them
Blind.

There is yet another field almost unoccupied wdiich

ought to appeal strongly to the Christian heart. There are
in the United Provinces 82,551 blind, 41,392 of them men
and 41,159 women. They are to be found in every district
I give the number in each of the nine divisions.

Meerut Division ... 11,032

Agra )) 8,912
Rohilkhand )) 12,271
Allahabad )) 10,466
Benares )) 5,477
Gorakhpur )) 3.924
Kumaon )) 1,833
Lucknow 1) 15.737
Fyzabad )) 12,899
Native States i,H 3

Total ... 82,551

 —

( 21 )

It will be seen from the tables that the number varies

from 1,833 in the Kumaon Division to 15,737 in the Lucknow
Division. Perhaps the fewness in Kumaon may be account-
ed for by the dangerous mountain roads, a false step hurling
one to almost certain death.

While I do not forget the Institution for the Blind trans-

ferred in recent years from the Punjab to Rajpur, nor the
Blind Asylum at Allahabad under Missionary superintend-
ence for 40 years past, yet it is a sad fact that scarcely
anything has been done for the blind either by Government
or Missionary Societies. Thousands of them go from house
to house, day after day, begging bread, and probably not five
hundred of them know how to read the character for the
blind. Has not the time fully come for the Christian Church
to recognize this as an unoccupied field and call on her sons
and daughters to do something more to bring light into the
hearts of thousands of these poor, wandering blind ones ?

Thirty years ago a young missionary became interested

in the lepers and as a result of that interest, the Mission to
Lepers in India and the East was founded, and through it
thousands and thousands of lepers scattered all over India
and the East have been brought to a knowledge of Christ
many of them filled with such joy in believing that they are
able to rejoice that they were lepers as otherwise they
would never have come to Christ. Is it not time for some
one in these Provinces to feel the sorrows of the 82,000
blind, as young Wellesley Bailey saw those of the lepers ?
And out of such sympathy will spring many a Blind Asylum,
here and there, in this Province, and many a one will see
such light in Christ that the loss of sight will be counted
the light affliction which has wrought out an eternal weight
of glory. This is an unoccupied field into which many can
enter and find service no Missionary Society or Mission, so
:

far as we know, as yet having made these wanderers in

double darkness their special field of labour, save the Mission
established in Rajpur, in recent years. The large cities in
the Province would be the best centres for such asylums
as more than half the blind live in the Divisions having large
cities, while at the same time these cities would furnish a
market for the articles the blind were able to make.

Medical.
Another question yet unanswered is this, how far is the
Province occupied, looked at from the stand-point of Medical
 —

( *2 )

Mission ? Is there room for more men, as Medical mission-

aries, and if so, where ? To this the answer might be given
that with the exception of a few Districts, viz., Saharanpur,
Agra, Bareilly, Lucknow, Mirzapur, and perhaps one or two
more, the whole Province is open to the Medical missionary
District after District —
each offering a splendid field for the
skill of the Christian Physician to be used in winning men to
Christ. We have already spoken of the call Tihri-Garhwal
gives to a Medical missionary, and we have spoken of Kheri,
Bahraich, Basti and Gorakhpur as being on the borders of
Nepal, with doors from them into that land almost untouch-
ed by Christian teaching, and perhaps no one could open
those doors so well as the Medical missionary. We have
spoken of Jalaun as one of the doors into Bundelkhand, as
well as into the eastern half of the great State of Gwalior,
and as Jalaun has no foreign missionary, male or female, nor
an Indian minister, its w hole Indian Christian population
r

less than 60, in a population of nearly four hundred thousand,

we think this a field which might well be occupied by a
Medical missionary whose skill would bring him patients
from beyond the borders of British territory.

Mission Hospitals or Dispensaries for women and chil-

dren in charge of Lady Physicians are found in the following
14 Districts, viz., Dehra, Muttra, Agra, Farrukhabad, Bareilly,
Cawnpore, Allahabad, Jhansi, Benares, Ghazipur, Almora,
Lucknow, Aligarh, Mirzapur. This leaves more than thirty
Districts in which very little has been done by the Missions to
bring healing and restoration to suffering women and children.
In these a Medical Missionary Society, or Lady Physician
looking for an open door and opportunity to use her skill and
gift of healing among the women and children of the Pro-
vince, would find a field largely unoccupied.

Summing up.

To sum up an answer to the question— What Districts

are unoccupied to that extent that a Board of Comity might
say to enquirers for a field of labour, this and this is open to
you to enter, we point the following :
—
(1) Beginning in the south-east of the Province, first
is the great district of Ballia, with nearly a million of people
in more than 1,700 towns and villages in the whole district
:

only four Indian Christians, according to the last Census.

The Christian Workers’ Mission of Canada, began work, two
years ago, in the town of Ballia, but their plans, at present,
 f 23 )

are unsettled. Rev. G. T. Shields, the Superintendent of

this Mission writes me “ As for there being room for ano-
:

ther Mission in any of these places I should say that not

only is there room for one but several. Your notes on Ballia
are good, only the need is vastly greater than expressed.”

Town after town might be selected which would make

a good centre for work, with hundreds of villages as yet un-
reached by any Christian agency.

(2) Adjoining Ballia, to the north-west, is the District

of Gorakhpur with nearly three millions of people in over
7,000 towns and villages, and yet in only two places in the
District do preachers live. It ought not to be difficult to
assign a strip of this District to another Society or mission-
ary ready to work in harmony with the one Society which
has so long held this District.

(3) To the west of Gorakhpur is the District of Basti,

with no foreign missionary, man or woman, and only two
preachers. Besides these are the Christian teachers in the
Mission High School, but it must be remembered that all
the workers, preachers and teachers, reside in the one place,
and if the two preachers of Basti be assigned 900 villages,
still there would be 6,000 towns and villages for a new
Society to evangelize.

(4) Both Basti and Gorakhpur are doors into Nepal,

and with more than 12,000 towns and villages as yet
their
unreached, allowing over 2,000 to the one Mission now
labouring in these two Districts, they might be regarded also
as strategic points to open work in Nepal, and on this ac-
count these Districts might appeal to some looking for an
unoccupied field.

(5; Mr. Waller speaks of the long strip of country from

Partabgarh on to the north and west which might be con-
sidered as unoccupied, Between Allahabad and Rai-Bareli,
by way of Partabgarh, is a distance of 96 miles by rail and
between these two places are only two catechists. So that
a wide field might be cut out of the northern half of Partab-
garh and the southern half of Rai-Bareli, with the tehsili
town of Amethi as its centre, a most interesting field of
labour.

(6) The greater part of Jalaun is unoccupied by every

definition of the word, not an ordained man in the District,
 ( 24 )

Indian or foreign, and not a representative of a Woman’s

Society. This, too, as we have seen, is a district bordering
on Gwalior and the open door to that great State on the
west, as well as to some of the States of Bundelkhand in
which there is not a Christian preacher, probably not a
Christian, foreign or Indian.

(7) Then there is a long strip of unoccupied country

for miles on both sides of the E. I. R. running from Allaha-
bad to Manikpur, a distance of 62 miles. A station on
this line would be the door into the State of Rewah, alto-
gether untouched.

(8) If a Mission, for bringing back, in a way, the gift

of speech to the 17,000 and more of Deaf and Dumb in the
Province, wanted a field, any of the great cities of the Pro-
vince would welcome such a Mission as a sister. And how
great is the need of Schools and homes for the Deaf and
Dumb is evident from a question which appeared recently
in the Botnbay Guardian, “Could any of your readers kindly
tell me if there is a home in India where a deal and dumb
girl of 3 years old, could be received.” This is the question
of a missionary lady, and we fear that not a missionary in
the United Provinces could refer her to any such home.

(9) Another and yet another Blind Asylum to teach

some of the eighty-two thousand blind, would likewise find
a hearty welcome in any city of the Province which might
be thought the best centre for such work.

(10) As to Mission Colleges, we think that most will

agree that for the present the Province is fairly well occu-
pied with its seven Christian Colleges.

(1 1.) To
the Missionary Society looking for a field where
some of members, unable to stand the heat of the plains,
its
might be saved to the work in India, had they a town or
circle of villages in the Hills, or on one of the pilgrim
routes to the sacred places in the Himalayas, Dr. Ewing
points to Baliyana and Prof. Edwards to Batwari and Mr.
Messmore to Ramnagar, a town of over 4,000, the centre of
a field partly in Garhwal and partly in Kumaon, while the
Paharis in these parts tell us ol Barahat, a three days’ journey
beyond Tihri on the road to Gangotri, the river in sight, the
great mountains above, with villages in the valleys below ,*

and the pilgrim is told that “ as the dew in these valleys is

dried up by the morning sun so are the sins of mankind by
the sight of Himachal.”
 —

( 25 )

And now my task is done, at times a heavy one, as I

poured over Census Reports, Government Gazetteers and the
Map of the Province. The sight of that Map with the
great mountains and Nepal on one side and the State of
Bundelkhand and Central India on the other, has pressed
home the question once again, What more can be done to
bring to this people the knowledge of Him who has given to
us beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness. May it not be that the
answer is the me.>sage brought by Mr. Eddy to this Confer-
ence that we call on the children of India, now children of
God, to gird themselves as never before for this service,
uniting in a Missionaay Society of their own for the Evangeliza-
tion of the great unoccupied fields. With the Church in India
revived, word of which comes from so many places, we may well
hope that the time has come, as never before, to call on the
Indian Christians of the Empire to unite in carrying the
message of Christ to their countrymen, offering them this and
that unreached part of these Provinces. From all parts of
India have come for centuries past—pilgrims unnumbered
—
to the great places of tnath in these Provinces to Kashi, to
Tribeni, to Bindraban, to Hard war, and still they come unnum-
bered. What more fitting than that the sons and daughters
of these pilgrims should band together in holy zeal to make
these places of Tiralh, all up the Ganges to Gangotri, places
of worship. Surely the remembrance of the love of the
fathers for these places, "a sight of them the fruition of all
earthly desires, the crowning glory of life,” would stir emo-
tions in the hearts of their Christian children, no foreigner
could feel or appreciate. The spirit of the Yogi, of the Sadhu,
of the Ascetic and of the Guru has not died out in India it :

slumbers in the hearts of not a few in the Christian Church

whose fathers and forefathers were happy with their one
book, their blanket, and their gourd : and by this simple life,
deeply moved themselves, they made the Ramayana the
best loved book of these Provinces. The sons and daughters
of these men are here and there in our Churches, but our
western methods do not awaken the spirit which is in them
in them by inheritance from their fathers.

It has come to me that this call to the Indian Christians

to give themselves to the task of making Christ known in
every village of India will be one means of awakening this
spirit and making it the servant of Christ. My hope is that
it will call out leaders who shall follow in some ways, at their

best, the methods of instruction and mode of life of the

founders and teachers of the great faiths in India. We have
 ( 26 )

not appealed as yet largely to that spirit of the true Guru

who loves his Chelas as his children and of the Sadhu wh<>
is satisfied with food and raiment. May it not be that
among other blessings of the revival at our door will be the
revival of this spirit slumbering in the hearts of many Indian
Christians. And so to-day I would put away the fear that has
haunted me since first I heard of this proposal of Mr. Eddy, Mn
Carter, Mr. Azariah and others that Indian Christians unite in
—
a great Missionary Society the fear lest there be loss to the
western methods of work and service which appeal to me,
I would put away all such fears as born of western training
and forgetfulness of India’s past, and would see visions of
band after band of Christian Gurus with their ( helas,
their hearts burning within them as they tell the story of the
Calvary, of the Resurrection and the Ascension and “the
—
Gospel of the glory of Christ,” from village to village they
go, from one place of pilgrimage to another, until at last this
Gospel of the Kingdom shall have been proclaimed by these
witnesses in every village in India. I see no hope of its
—
being proclaimed in any other way for after fifty years
and more, following our western methods, there are more
than (50,000) fifty thousand villages out of the one hundred
and five thousand, five hundred and twenty-one (105,521'
in these Provinces in which the Gospel has not been preached
during the past year, and in many thousands of them never.
How could it be otherwise when in the whole Province 1

with its 47,691,782 of people are only 18 ordained foreign mis-

1

sionaries, 156 ordained Indian ministers and not 1,500 Indian

preachers, catechists and Scripture Readers. The number
of foreign missionary ladies isinglej is 165, and of Indian
1

Christian ladies engaged in Mission work is 1,520.

If I had been asked to name the District in this Province

in which the Gospel had been most widely proclaimed, I
would have said the Moradabad District, for in that District
are more than 100 preachers as well as over 6,000 Indian
Christians. And yet Mr. Core, the Presiding Elder of the'
District writes in his last report :“This is one of the oldest
Districts in this Mission field, by common consent of other-
Mission bodies we are left in entire possession. No other
organized Mission has any representative within our borders
if we except the Salvation Army which, by the way, works 1

largely among our converts. This old field is commonly*

supposed to be fully “occupied” by us. Let us see how the 1

case stands. Out of a total of 3,674 cities, towns and villages

we work regularly in only 1,275. It should not be inferred
that our people never visit any of the places other than those
 —

( 27 't

mentioned. They do occasionally go into other places, but

only into few of them and at irregular intervals. But we do
not have anything like regular work outside of the number
mentioned. Again, in most of the places visited, our workers
rarely go to any, save the two or three lower classes of the
village, who do not in most cases constitute more than one-
fourth. of the population of the village— the community
which must ever remain our first concern. So that no one
can give more than a small fraction of his time to work
among non-Christians. Making the best possible distribu-
tion of men and time, I do not believe it is possible for us
with our present force to reach more than one-fourth of the
non-Christian element in the District. These facts to me
are appalling. We are practically saying to all other Mis-
sions that we occupy this field and are ready to hold our-
selves responsible for the salvation of all these souls, only
one-fourth of whom have any chance of getting from us an
intelligent understanding of the way of life.” In other words,
Mr. Core, Superintendent of the only Mission working in the
Moradabad District, which is one of the most fully occupied
of the Province, is confronted with the appalling fact that
2.000 villages of that District are unreached or untouched by
the Gospel agencies now at work. When I think of district
after district with thousands of villages among whom lives
not a preacher or Christian, my statement that there are
50.000 of the 105,521 villages of these Provinces in which
the Gospel has not been preached for a year past, and in
many thousands of villages has never been preached, is far
—
within the truth sad as it is. Mr. Eddy’s vision includes
at its highest point and fartherest range, all these villages
visited by bands of Indians with the spirit of the true yogi
the man one with Christ, the risen reigning Son of God ;
with the spirit of the true Guru, one with his Chelas ; with
the spirit of the true ascetic, satisfied with food and raiment,
— and because I, too, begin to see the possibilities of such a
revival, am ready now, as I trust we all are, to join with him
in the call to the sons and daughters of India, to band to-
—
gether from one end of India to the other, in a holy zeal to
make the Bible the best loved book, and Jesus, Jesus-Em-
—
manuel, the best loved name in all India in every village
those who lift up hearts and voices in praising His name as
"the Name which is above every name.”