A Lady of England 61

A Lady of England 61

At Batala, as in thousands of other Heathen and Muhammadan cities, things

are widely different. Sharp lines of demarcation are drawn between the

Christian and the non-Christian,--between the Church and the heathen

world around. It was so most markedly when Charlotte Tucker lived in

Batala. There, as in Early Christian days, was the great mass of those

who neither knew nor cared for the Names of God and Christ; and in their

midst was the Infant Church, a tiny body of brave men and women, who had

come out from amongst the Heathen and Muhammadans, to be known as the

servants of Christ.[88]

 

And the step which led from the one to the other stood clear and defined,

with no possibility of a mistake. The marching-orders which our Lord and

Master issued were not _only_ to go forth and teach. Here is the fuller

version: ‘Go ye therefore, and teach’ (_Rev. Ver._ ‘make disciples of’)

‘all nations, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON,

AND OF THE HOLY GHOST; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I

have commanded you.’

 

That was the great order given; that was the command which had to be

obeyed, whether at Batala or elsewhere. And however easy a matter Baptism

in England may be, it is no easy matter in the Panjab for Converts

from Heathenism or from Muhammadanism. It is a step of overwhelming

importance. It means leaving the world of idolatry, ignorance,

superstition, behind, and entering the Church of Christ. It also means

too often leaving all things earthly that have most been loved. It means

persecution, beating, cruelty, hard words and harsher deeds. It means

wives separated from husbands, mothers separated from children, loss of

money, loss of the means of livelihood, danger not seldom to life itself.

It is the passing of the Rubicon.

 

Again, in that Infant Church at Batala,--or, one may equally say, in the

Church at Amritsar, and throughout the Panjab,--we find reproduced the

various elements which existed in Early Church days. There are strong

Christians and weak Christians; there are whole-hearted ones and wavering

ones; there are the true and the false. What wonder?--when the very

foundation-stones of the Church of Christ included a Judas. Wheat and

tares will grow together until the end; and bad fish as well as good will

be caught in the net. The Church planted in a new place is seldom long

without her Demas, who loves this present heathen world, and goes back to

it again.

 

But for one who is unfaithful, for one who turns his back upon the Light,

after seeming to be indeed a Convert, there are many who stand firm,

persevering to the end, despite difficulties, discouragements, and bitter

oppositions. These brave brown brothers and sisters of ours, who are

still in the fires of persecution, from which England has been so long

delivered, deserve our warmest sympathy.

 

In giving the story of Charlotte Tucker, and of the growth of the Church

at Batala, with which she was so intimately associated, it is of very

real importance to show frankly both sides of the picture,--the dark

side, as well as the bright; the cloudy as well as the sunshiny. There

were of course disappointments as well as encouragements. There were

goings backward as well as pressings forward. Missionary life is no

more one of unbroken success, even at its best, than any other kind of

hard-working life, with a high aim before it; and to present it as such,

by omitting to describe failure side by side with success, would--and

often does--produce only a sense of unreality. The story of the Church

throughout the ages has always been a chequered tale.

 

Hard as Miss Tucker toiled, she had not the delight of seeing many

individuals won to Christianity through her own efforts. Results of what

she did, still more of what she was, were visible enough to others,--but

rather in the shape of a general and widespread influence than in the

shape of conversions directly due to her labours. The worth of any work

can never be truly gauged by the amount of success which may appear to

follow within a given time; and to measure the extent or the effects of

her loving influence, alike among younger Missionaries and among Indian

Christians, especially among the boys in the Baring High School, is

utterly impossible.

 

No less impossible is it to measure the results of her years of toilsome

work in Zenanas. Some here are disposed to assert freely that she

accomplished very little. One Native Christian, sending a few slight

memoranda, goes so far as to say: ‘I feel sorry to have to add that she

signally failed as a Missionary, if by that term is meant the preaching

of the Gospel to the heathen of India.’ A very great deal more than mere

preaching is, of course, meant by the term; but in any case this would

be a most rash judgment for any man to venture to pass, were he English

or Indian. No _man_ could have entrance into the scores upon scores of

Zenanas which she visited, to test for himself the effects of her work;

and we all know what hearsay evidence is worth. Even if he could find

entrance, he would have no Divine power to see into the hearts of the

people there. The fact that she herself saw few results says nothing; for

the best results are often slowest in appearing. Judging from apparent

results is always a defective and a shallow proceeding.

 

From beginning to end she never so far conquered the languages of North

India as to speak them with ease. Grammar and construction she might

and did to a considerable extent master, but colloquial fluency was not

in her case attainable. Still, though she never became actually fluent,

it is a matter of unquestionable fact that she did both understand and

make herself understood, despite occasional verbal mistakes. There are

testimonies from all sides which abundantly prove this.

 

Her mode of working in Zenanas was peculiar to herself; and though she

always held to it, she did not put it forward as a model for every one

else to imitate. She made no attempt at systematic instruction, probably

feeling her knowledge of the languages unequal to the task; and this in

itself was a drawback. ‘In point of fact,’ as one says who was associated

with her, ‘she never considered herself as a teacher, but rather, like

St. John the Baptist, as a “voice crying in the wilderness.” Her visits

were almost always short,’--though to this rule there were evidently

exceptions,--‘she seems to have gone in, greeted the people, given her

message, and taken courteous leave. She always deprecated any attempt

to judge of her work by the number of Zenanas on her visiting list; and

indeed it would not be fair to do so, as she did not undertake regular

teaching in them.’

 

Zenana-visiting was only one portion of her work; regarded by herself

as the more important portion, but not necessarily the more important

because she thought so. We ourselves are poor judges of the comparative

worth of the different things which we have to do. She was also a warm

and true friend to the Indian Christians, entering into their trials and

difficulties, throwing herself into their interests, doing her utmost

to help them onward, to lift them upward. In this direction she had a

remarkable degree of influence; and in her intercourse with them she was

absolutely without pride, she was full of kindliness, consideration, and

affection.

 

With the schoolboys, as already seen, she was in her element. The

old spirit of fun, the old devotion to games, were invaluable here;

neither having faded with increasing age. One of her dharm-nephews, Dr.

Weitbrecht, writing about the High School in Batala, says:--

 

‘From this time for years to come Miss Tucker was a mainstay of

the Boys’ Boarding School, teaching the elder boys the English

language and history, taking a motherly interest in all their

pursuits, writing for them Batala School songs, inviting them

in the evenings to little social entertainments, enlivened by

parlour games; visiting the sick, comforting the home-sick

new boy; mothering the young convert, who had been sent to

Batala not less for spiritual shelter than for instruction;

and upholding the hands of workers in the School and Mission

generally; besides carrying on without fail her regular

visits to the town and villages, and her literary work for

publication, both in England and India.’

 

One of the former schoolboys, now a Native surgeon in India, Dr. I. U.

Nasir, writes on the same subject:--

 

‘Her good influence on the young minds cannot be overrated. Her

Bible Classes were eagerly looked for and well attended,--it

may be, for the sake of lozenges and bits of cake which she

distributed at the end, but also for the interest she made

everybody feel in the meeting. She would begin by asking the

verse and subject of the morning sermon, and the various points

of interest worth remembering. This led to the habit of closely

attending to the sermon.... Then every one had a choice of a hymn

to be practised for the evening services of the week; a short

verse of the Bible was repeated; and Sunday enigmas from the

Bible were solved.’

 

And also with reference to social week-day evenings:--

 

‘She amused us with stories, comic songs, historical anecdotes,

making anagrams, giving riddles to be solved, and several

amusements of the kind. Many an evening was spent in Miss

Tucker’s drawing-room, playing various indoor games, of which

chess and word-making and word-taking were her favourites. In

the latter game she would consider it a great triumph to have

made such long words as “Jerusalem artichoke.” But she took

particular delight in showing her old scrap-album to any one

who desired to see it. Many an interesting incident was dropped

in connection with her relatives, as she turned leaf after leaf

with her old slender fingers. She never got tired of this. Then

she would select good scenes from Shakespeare, whom she called

“The Poet of Conscience,” and give us lessons in recitation and

acting.’

 

Charlotte Tucker had a profound belief in the good _moral_ influence of

Shakespeare. She is said to have greatly wished that the Indians could

have the benefit of Shakespeare translated into their Native languages.

 

In addition to the Baring School boys, she had a never-failing interest

in the lads of the Mission Plough School, started mainly by herself, and

afterwards endowed by her with the sum of £50 a year. She constantly

visited there, and taught the scholars, knowing many of the older boys

by name, and asking them from time to time to pay her Sunday afternoon

visits.

 

Moreover, outside all these occupations, A. L. O. E. was still an

Author. For some years, indeed, after her arrival in India she wrote for

India only, and not especially for England. When, however, it became

gradually clear that books suitable for Indian readers were not adapted

for England, she found time to accomplish separate volumes for home

publication. Some would say that her writings for the Native population

of Hindustan are by far the most important part of her whole Missionary

work. By her pen she could reach thousands, even tens of thousands,

where by her voice she could reach at most only dozens. Her tiny Indian

booklets, published by the Christian Literature Society at very low

prices, are among the most widely selling of the Society’s productions.