A Lady of England 42

A Lady of England 42

‘I find it a good plan to go to Mrs. Elmslie’s Orphanage, and

sit and listen to the lessons, and thus learn myself. The girls

in their white chaddars[33] look, generally speaking, well

and happy. I was to have amused some of the younger ones last

Sunday with Bible pictures; but when I had had the sad letters

I gave up my intention of helping sweet Mrs. Elmslie in this

way. I hope to do so another time.’

 

‘_December 13._

 

‘I have so much to interest me here, and every one is so

kind.... I call this bungalow “House Beautiful,” on account of

the dwellers within it. It is also a nice refined place, with

an extensive compound, and plenty of trees and flowers. If I

were not so busy I should like to send you a sketch of it; but

daylight seems too short for what I want to do; and when once

my mouth is really opened, I shall feel as if I never could get

through all the interesting work that is to be done. The ladies

here have a kind of general superintendence of twenty-two

schools--_not_ Christian--but where they are allowed to teach

the Bible. Fancy what an opening!’

 

TO MISS ‘LEILA’ HAMILTON.

 

‘_Dec. 13._

 

‘There are some things in Indian life which would strike you as

curious. For instance, I have _five_ glass doors to my bedroom.

One alone is never opened ... but through all the others people,

especially my Ayah, come in; and she never knocks.... Folk can

walk in from the outside of the house through two of my glass

doors. It is a very public sort of living, but it is Indian

fashion. The great thing is to let in abundance of air; and

where air comes in other things come in too. I have, however,

“chick” blinds to my outer doors; these are made of thin split

bamboos; and if I let them down, no one can see in. Of course

they would not keep out my dear little Ayah; she can always pop

in by lifting the chicks. She is the only one who really laughs

at my bad Urdu.... My Munshi laughs a little, but not in the same

way. He is gentle and pleasing.’

 

TO MRS. HAMILTON.

 

‘_Dec. 21._

 

‘I have been waiting to write to you till the tardy mail

should come in. But why wait any longer, when I have always so

much to say to my Laura now?--only I lack time--and light--for

this is the shortest day, and the houses are built to keep out

light, which comes in underneath a heavy verandah, so that I am

sometimes obliged to feel rather than to see....

 

‘I did not open my picture-box for some time after my arrival,

but when it was opened it would have pleased you to have seen

the pleasure given by its contents, including your lovely

tidies. Mrs. Elmslie was eager as a girl, settling where the

different pictures were to be hung, jumping up on chairs, and

keeping us up beyond our usual hour for retiring, for she

could not bear to leave the picture-question unsettled. We had

consultation, trying this place and that place on the walls,

trying to balance sides and keep all things straight. For the

angel-lady likes to have everything pretty.... It seems to me as

if both England and America had sent their cream to India. But

then Amritsar is a specially favoured place.... As is natural

where the Missionaries are first-rate, there is a great deal of

leaven working amongst the heathen.’

 

TO MISS ‘LEILA’ HAMILTON.

 

‘_Dec. 23._

 

‘Though I posted a letter to your sweet Mother only yesterday,

perhaps I had better tell you of my visit to the Zenana of ----

whilst it is fresh in my mind. Dear C., Miss H., and myself

went to-day to visit this Muhammadan house. It is a handsome

one, in the midst of fine park-like grounds; and from the lofty

verandah we had a better view of part of our city than I have

seen before.

 

‘The Muhammadan Sahib has three wives. I suppose that they were

the three middle-aged or elderly native women who sat on a

bed; the other five women present, old or young, may have been

servants; but one of them, a handsome girl, with very dashing

nose-ring, and eyelids blackened on the edges, native-fashion,

shook hands with us as well as served us. There were a fair

number of free-and-easy little dark children playing about. The

eldest is C.’s pupil; and one of the first things done was to

hear her repeat her part in a kind of catechism--Christian, of

course.

 

‘One of the ladies smoked a hookah; had it been even invisible,

we should have been made sensible of its presence by an

occasional bubble-bubble sound, and then a perfume--to our

minds by no means odoriferous. Another lady had her teeth

horridly blackened by what she had been chewing; but, generally

speaking, the natives’ teeth are very nice and white.... I

showed off my beautiful chatelaine, your dear Father’s gift,

which I think pleased; and Miss H. showed hers, which is quite

different in style. You must not suppose that this was a mere

visit of amusement.... No, we had Bible-reading and hymn-singing;

and afterwards C. was evidently holding a religious discussion

with the elder lady.

 

‘_Dec. 24._--I find that only two of the ladies were wives of

the Sahib; the third was somebody’s relation.

 

‘Mr. Clark[34] approves of my Oriental tale, only he wishes

some names altered. He is going to give me a list of names,

Muhammadan and Hindu.’

 

TO MRS. HAMILTON.

 

‘_Christmas Day 1875._

 

‘I was awakened in the night by the Indian Waits, children

singing in the language of the Sikhs ... one of their native

airs. My little Ayah came up to me and shook hands when she

entered my room early in the morning,--is not this the great

Day, and is not she a Christian?--so she may indeed rejoice

and be glad in it. I have prepared little presents for the

dear ladies here, except C., to whom I gave a wedding-present

yesterday. I will pause now, and go on later in the day, when

I may better describe our Indian Christmas. 6½ A.M. Orphans

singing hymns at the top of their voices. They are evidently

very happy. They are to have a Christmas tree.

 

‘_Later._--I have come home from church, from receiving the

Holy Communion. Thank God, the sheaves _are_ being gathered

in! What would dear Henry Martyn not have given to have seen

what I saw to-day? So many Natives remained to share the holy

Feast, men and women, young and old,--in our little church

there must have been nearly if not quite fifty communicants. I

received the Cup from the hand of a Native. I felt the scene

quite affecting. It is a great privilege to be in India, and

specially now, when the blades are ripening,--though, oh, how

few in number, compared with the Muhammadans and heathen!

 

‘After church and luncheon I went to the Orphanage Garden, to

help sweet Margaret[35] to deck the Christmas Tree. In less

than half an hour the little guests are to be summoned to

receive their dolls, tops, books, etc. I expect a charming

scene.’

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER II

 

A.D. 1875-1876

 

A HOME IN AMRITSAR

 

 

In the previous spring, when first Charlotte Tucker decided to go

out, she wrote in one letter a statement of the financial plan to be

followed. ‘I have arranged with the Society,’ she said, ‘to pay 200

rupees a quarter for my board and lodging, exclusive of Munshi[36]

and conveyance.’ For this she had been told to expect a bedroom and a

bathroom; meals being taken with the other Missionaries. She had also

been told that she would require an Ayah and ‘half a tailor.’ ‘I do not

want superfluities,’ she wrote; ‘for mine is a modest income, and I

should not like to spend it all on myself.’

 

Modest though it might be, she gave away largely, restricting herself

to a limited amount, and practising great economy. After being for a

while in India, she seems to have been strongly impressed with a dread

of needless luxuries, and to have become eager to set an example of

extreme simplicity in the Missionary life. The rigid simplicity which she

cultivated was, no doubt, partly a matter of pure economy, that she might