A Lady of England 65

A Lady of England 65

‘Ours is such a dear little Church,--I am not aware that there

is one really black sheep in it, though there are some infirm

ones. Ten women are to receive Confirmation. I think that

all but perhaps one have been converts from Muhammadanism or

Hinduism. I do not mean to say that they are all Batala people;

but Batala is a genial place to which converts seem drawn.

 

‘To-morrow, after Confirmation, we hope to spread, not the

_board_ but the _floor_, for a goodly number of welcome guests,

more even than we had at Christmas. One feels very thankful

to see such a nice large Christian family.... Of course some

Stations are more trying to faith; some of God’s servants have

to toil for years, and apparently catch nothing; but about here

in various directions one hears of converts and inquirers.

There is feeling of _life_ stirring among the dry bones.’

 

TO MISS ‘LEILA’ HAMILTON.

 

‘_April 1, 1879._

 

‘Do you ever enter Trinity Church?[93] Probably not, it is so

far from you. To your sweet Mother and myself many memories are

connected with it. Weddings and Christenings,--the overflowing

pew,--the corner of it where we used to see the dear bald head

of our venerated Father!...

 

‘We have a dear young convert from a village, who, like others,

finds in Batala a refuge. A simple guileless lad, who likes to

come, as dear U. did, to sit at one’s feet, and have a talk

about God’s Word.... He does not know much, but enough to have

enabled the lad to resist temptation and endure persecution....

I wish that dear ---- would take up the subject of _portable_

Bibles in Persian Urdu. Even the children of clever Christian

parents are apt to be sadly ignorant of Old Testament

scriptures. How much would English school-children know of

them, if they could only buy Bibles in three (Persian Urdu)

large volumes,--or in one (Arabic Urdu), very large and heavy?

 

‘It is not only the expense but the extreme inconvenience of

such bulky books that must be considered. Mera Bhatija has

English Urdu Bibles for his boys, but some read them with

difficulty; and we cannot expect a _nation_ to adopt a new type

utterly different from its own. There is a beautifully written

New Testament in Persian Urdu ... light, easily carried about,

and costing only half a rupee. This is a great boon; but we

want the Old Testament scriptures.... They are at present almost

shut out from the people. Our great want is a complete Bible,

as delicately written out, and on as fine light paper, as the

New Testament, and not very expensive. Most of the Natives are

so very poor. I can scarcely imagine how they manage to live.’

 

TO MRS. HAMILTON.

 

‘BATALA, _April 20, 1879_.

 

‘Your dear, sweet letter received to-day was like a nice little

visit to me in my comparative loneliness. Mera Bhatija and Babu

Singha are both away at Amritsar.... If, when proposing to come

out, I could have been told that I should be all alone in a

house with thirteen Native boys,--my Ayah is absent from late

illness,--I should have been startled, perhaps half-frightened.

But these dear fellows do not worry me at all. I asked one of

them yesterday: “If I were ill, which of you would nurse me?”

“All of us,” was the reply. I thought that thirteen boys would

be too much for a sick-room; so--“We would take it in turns,”

was the second answer....

 

‘Many thanks, love, for the two copies of the nice work

on Prophecies in the Old Testament. It ought to convince

any candid mind.... It might be valuable to English-reading

Muhammadans. But it is not at all necessary with them to

avoid the Blessed Saviour’s Name. Yesterday, in a Zenana a

bright-looking young woman exclaimed, not particularly apropos

to anything that I was saying: “Jesus Christ is the Son of

God.” “Beshakh!” (Without doubt!) instantly rejoined an older

Bibi.

 

‘Not that the offence of the Cross has ceased. The persecution

which dear ---- is enduring shows this. He has been beaten

five or six times; and I think that we shall have to try to

get his enemies bound over to keep the peace. Personally, I

am courteously, sometimes affectionately, treated. The poor

converts are those who have to endure hardness!’

 

* * * * *

 

‘_April 27._--I know that some of my dear ones think that I

must be very lonesome, with no white woman near me. But there

are three things to prevent this:--1st, The Presence of the

Master. 2nd, The feeling that separation of body is nothing

compared to separation of soul. My ties to loved ones in

England are _not_, thank God, broken! They do not depend on

mere space. 3rd, Real loneliness, as regards even this world,

is the want of love and sympathy. Some count my brown friends

for nothing in this way. I do not do so. They draw out one’s

affections, and respond to them. The heart does not shrivel up

in India, even when one lives in such an out-of-the-way place

as Batala.’

 

TO MISS ‘LEILA’ HAMILTON.

 

‘_May 1, 1879._

 

I am sure that your dear Mother and you would peruse with

interest Keshab Sen’s lecture, or rather the review of it

in the _Statesman_ which I sent home.... Keshab Sen was a

brave man, not only as regards the Hindus, but the English

officials, to say what he did. To aver that it is Christ’s

Religion--not our superior strength, wisdom, intelligence--that

holds India for us, is likely to give great offence in high

quarters. To say what this Hindu did of despised Missionaries,

a band of weak-minded amiable enthusiasts, if not something

more contemptible,--as the world thinks them,--showed moral

courage.... He has probably made a good many people, both white

and brown, angry. His cry, “Jesus alone!--Jesus alone! India

for Christ!” would find no echo in the large majority of

hearts....

 

‘I suspect that there is an impression amongst some Europeans,

as well as Natives, that Auntie is very old. I have three times

heard the latter say that I am a hundred; and I notice that

in the last _Female Evangelist_ I am pronounced “advanced in

years.” To my mind that means at least seventy!!! I was guessed

to-day as eighty in a Zenana. But I must be thought a pretty

active old dame, to get up such steep stairs as I do.’

 

TO MRS. HAMILTON.

 

‘_June 2, 1879._--Of course I cannot tell what God wills for

me. I do not intend to do anything foolish. I do not even let

my mind dwell _much_ on the joy of going to a Heavenly Home,

because it would seem selfish at present to wish to desert

others. I realise more the value of life below than I used to

do, and am thankful that at former periods God did _not_ fulfil

my wish to leave this Earth for a better. He is a poor soldier

who is always pining for the end of the campaign!’

 

* * * * *

 

‘_June 14._--I never felt so that the Word of God in my hand

was rejected, as in a Zenana to-day. When I came out, V., my

kahar, said, “You should not go to that house again. I was

outside, but I heard words that grieved me.” But I had two nice

Zenanas and a nice Native Christian home to balance. One of the

nice Zenanas was N.’s. He spoke almost like a Christian, before

his mother, grandmother, and handsome young bride. They all

seemed quite friendly.’

 

* * * * *

 

‘_June 20._--Darling Laura, your sweet letter has arrived

since I wrote the first note. Would you fairly _kill_ me

with kindness? You have already done too much. No, my sweet

sister, I would never like to take your money for needless

luxuries,--of comforts I have many. Ice is not to be had, is

_not_ needed, and I hardly ever even think of it. We are much

better without a carriage; walking is more wholesome, and to

me more pleasant. I kissed the signature on the cheque--and

then--destroyed it! Forgive me! In about two years I have had

_three_ cheques declined; so you see that I have enough and to

spare. I am quite easy-handed, love; not at all in straits,

thank God.’

 

TO MISS ‘LEILA’ HAMILTON.

 

(_Probably July 1879._)

 

‘I am engaged in a matrimonial affair. B., Mera Bhatija’s

Christian servant, having just been rejected by one woman,

solicits, through my Ayah, my good offices to find him a wife.

He bears a first-rate character, and would make an excellent

husband, but he has the single disadvantage of having only one

leg. I know that Mera Bhatija wishes B. to have a nice wife;

so--after consultation with one who knows the Orphanage maidens

well, and has an excellent judgment,--I have fixed on a jolly,

good-tempered girl, ... able to cook and scrub, and have written

a note to the Lady Superintendent, requesting her permission

for B. to pay court to C. C. is to be told of the lameness,

etc., and then if she too be willing, B. will be allowed to

have an interview with her. This interview decides the affair.

Both parties have a negative voice; both must be pleased; and

if so--the banns are published! This is the compromise between

European and Oriental ways of arranging marriages. I think that

Mera Bhatija takes a lively interest in the matter; and if the

marriage comes off, we should both like to have the wedding at

Batala. The people here ought to have the opportunity of seeing

a Christian wedding.’