A Lady of England 48
‘_Oct. 26._--Our poor city has been bearing some
resemblance to a hospital. Some think that not one of her
inhabitants--120,000--has altogether escaped the fever, and
many have died; but I am thankful to write that the sickness
is on the decrease.... I cannot, however, go to dear Louis, for
the Beutels, who have been very ill, are going to Ludhiana;
and their mother, too ill to be moved, must have some one to
look after her a little during their absence. I am the only
lady available, being well, and with no pressure of work. I am
almost astonished at having been so exempted from suffering,
when thousands and thousands have been so ill. I have not spent
a day in bed ... since leaving England. It is a cause for much
thankfulness. Of course I had a little fever, but it has left
no dregs. The weather is so nice, that one hardly understands
why any one should be ill....
‘The Batala plan is rather hanging fire at present. Day after
day passes, and no reply is received to the letter asking
permission for us to occupy apartments in the palace. No other
place in or near Batala seems to be available. Even in the
palace considerable alterations would be needed, to make the
rooms at all suitable for English ladies.’
* * * * *
‘_Nov. 16._--Sadiq does not quite approve of our selection of
a house. He would have liked one right in the city; but it is
far pleasanter to us to be a little out of it.... I asked him
if he had any news of B--n. Sadiq told me that he had seen
him at Batala, the beginning of last week. Our brave Brahmin
convert had been very ill, and had written--or caused to be
written--a paper stating that he wished his body to be buried
by Christians, his children brought up by Christians, and his
property taken care of by the Mission. I am thankful to say
that B--n did not die; but as Sadiq said, he has had affliction
upon affliction.... In a few months this convert has lost wife,
babe, and only brother. Sadiq said that B--n’s regret about the
babe was that it had not been baptized. But when I remarked
that I thought the babe had been a kind of martyr, like the
little ones killed by Herod, Sadiq looked pleased.’
* * * * *
‘_Dec. 1._--I suppose that my next letter will be addressed to
you from my new home in Batala. My nieces are very anxious to
make arrangements for my comfort. I am not to have the trouble
of helping to put the new house into order. Two ladies go
before to make everything nice....
‘I went to dear S. Begum to-day,--the one who was lately
baptized with her young daughter,--to speak to her about Holy
Communion. I am glad that I shall have the First Sunday in
Advent in Amritsar. It will seem strange to reside in a place
where there is no church! I suppose that we shall go over to
the Catechist’s house, and have Urdu service there....
‘It was very interesting to hear Mr. Wade’s account of the
opening of a little church in the village of G. The peculiar
and very interesting feature of the affair is that in this
Rajput village a little flock has been gathered just by
_Native_ agency. And the way for the Native evangelist, the
excellent C., was wondrously prepared.
‘In old Runjit’s time a kind of Native prophet declared that
our Lord was greater than all others. This Pandit was succeeded
by another, who declared that all the people would become the
Lord’s followers. They who came first would receive _honour_;
they who came next, a mere _subsistence_; they who came last
would be _driven_ in! Then a third teacher arose--the present
one. He said that a shepherd pushes one sheep after another
into the fold, and when all are in follows himself; and that
so _he_ would get the people into the Christian fold, and then
follow them.
‘It seems to us a most extraordinary way of evangelising; but
when the Rev. C. came to the village, he found that these
strange teachers had really ploughed up the ground to receive
the good seed; and the third teacher _has_ come himself into
the fold with four of his relatives. His wife still holds out.
‘The opening of the tiny church was a delightful scene. There
are only 14 or 15 baptized Christians; but the people, men and
women, flocked in, till there was hardly room to sit on the
ground. In the thoroughly Oriental church there are no seats.’
* * * * *
‘_Dec. 4, 1876._--I have this morning read your loving
expostulation to Margaret and myself regarding Batala.
You think that your strong point is my unfitness for an
out-station. But, sweet one, you forget that I am so specially
fitted, by age, for the post, that if I were to draw back, the
whole promising plan might fall to the ground. The Natives
reverence grey hairs; and I dare say that some of them will pet
me. As for the language, I manage to get on after a fashion,
and smiles go a good way.
‘I assure you that I have never felt my heart lighter than I
have done lately, fond as I am of those I leave. It seems as if
the way were so plain. If I were perfectly dumb, I should still
be useful as a chaperon. But I am not quite dumb.
‘I had such a golden First Sunday in Advent yesterday.... Fancy
the encouragement of seeing B--n, the one Christian convert
residing in Batala, and sharing the Cup with him in our dear
Amritsar Church. I shook hands with him after afternoon
service. I am sorry that when I uttered the two words, “Hamara
bhai,”[54] I should have said “Hamare,” instead of “Hamara.” It
was a pity that my first word should have been incorrect; but I
could not think of grammar at such a moment.... Then I have had
such an encouraging note from dear Emily, who is making things
straight for me at Batala....--Your happy
CHAR.’
CHAPTER IV
A.D. 1876
A PALACE FOR A HOME
In December 1876 Charlotte Maria Tucker entered upon the final stage
of her earthly career. Final in a sense; for though more than once
Batala had to be temporarily deserted, the place was never given up.
Thenceforward, Batala became in very truth her home; Batala work was
essentially her work; and the remaining years of her life were devoted to
Batala.
Having once made up her mind that she was definitely called to this
particular post, nothing could withhold her. Difficulties, oppositions,
hindrances, prospects of loneliness, imperfect knowledge of Indian
languages, increasing age,--all these were as nothing in the way. If she
was called, she would go! And Miss Tucker believed that she _was_ called.
Others were not so sure. Mrs. Elmslie wrote on the 8th of December to
Mrs. Hamilton: ‘I agree with you that your beloved sister’s power lies
in gifts which can be used to perhaps greater influence here than in an
out-station. This isolation from European society is not what I should
have chosen for one who can exercise so much influence for good among
her own countrymen; and whose pen can do more for India than perhaps the
lives of many others.’ No doubt this view of the question weighed greatly
in the judgment of many. For one who can write books suitable to Indian
requirements, there are scores of Missionaries who can with ease learn
the Native languages, and who can visit and teach in Zenanas, perhaps far
more effectually than A.L.O.E. did.
To lookers-on it may seem that she judged wrongly here; that her
eagerness for personal work was a mistake; that she might have done more
by following the advice of her friends, and remaining at Amritsar. Advice
she had; for Mrs. Elmslie says in the same letter: ‘We have one and all
of us tried to dissuade her from going; but she sees the Pillar going
straight on before her. And who are we that we should gainsay it?’
Suppose she only _fancied_ that she ‘saw the Pillar,’--in other words,
that she was called or led or ordered to Batala? A mistake of this
description is not impossible, especially in the case of an ardent
and impulsive nature. If so, it was the mistake of burning love and
self-devotion; and one can well believe that such a mistake must be
dearer to the Heart of our Lord than the correct attitude of those who
always decide on the safe and comfortable side.
But why should we imagine it to have been a mistake? The true gist of
the matter is not, after all, to be found in the question as to which
particular type of work she might be best fitted for intellectually. The
main question was rather--to which especial work was she bidden by her
Master? One can hardly live many years on Earth, with observant eyes,
and believe that people are always or generally given exactly that work
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