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REMINISCENCES OF A MISSION TO THE MYSORE.

BY THE REV. WILLIAM ARTHUR.

CHAPTER II.-MADRAS.

(Continued from page 695.)

On the Sunday morning I proceeded to Royapetta, in order to be near St. Thomé, where I had to preach at night. Here first it was my happiness to see a native Christian congregation, of which the number was small, but the appearance devout and pleasing. Mr. Haswell read the Liturgy and preached in Tamul; and though I could not understand a single sentence, yet the scene awakened reflections which made it a season of surpassing interest and profit. In the afternoon Mr. Haswell went to distribute tracts, and converse with the multitude he knew would be assembled in the immediate vicinity to be present at the celebration of the chettle feast; and I gladly embraced the opportunity of accompanying him. We found an immense crowd congregated in an open place around a pole, similar to the one we had remarked at Royapuram. They received the tracts offered, and freely entered into conversation; but all that passed was secret from me, except so far as looks might happen to reveal it. It is a fearful thing to see a number of men met together to do evil. But when the evil is part of a system, when it is accounted right and even religious, when it includes both dishonour to God and cruelty to man, when nations are in sympathy with the deed, and when, standing in their midst, you see them rush along the road that leadeth to destruction, and are not able so much as to say, "Turn ye, turn ye;" O, then there is a pressure upon the heart, the intensity of which none can tell, but he that with a Christian's feelings has looked upon the abominations of Heathenism perpetrated on the Sabbath. A movement in the crowd presently called our attention towards the pole. From a shed placed near it, was led forth a man naked from the waist up, but having a cloth round it, so tied that a part of it formed a kind of bag, which was filled with flowers. A little below the shoulder appeared two large hooks, inserted into the back, one on either side of the spine. Across the top of the upright pole was another of great length, and so affixed that it could revolve freely, and either end be lowered or raised at pleasure. A rope was attached to each extremity. One of these was seized, the end of the cross-beam was lowered nearly to the man, the rope was then passed through the loop of the hooks, and tied fast. Four men then began to pull upon the rope attached to the opposite end, and thus gradually raised that to which the poor victim was attached. He bent forward, was lifted from the ground, and hoisted into high air amid the loud plaudits of that great concourse of people, over whom he hung quivering. The men holding the rope then began to move slowly round, causing a corresponding motion in the other end of the transverse beam, by which the miserable object suspended from it was made to describe a circle in the air; where, as he writhed and shuddered, he frequently took a handful of flowers, and let them fall on the crowd below, by whom they were caught with avidity as if an angel were scattering blossoms from the tree of life. After having four times traversed the circle, the poor victim was taken down, and led away. Mr. Haswell continued earnestly conversing with the people, and distributing tracts at such intervals of excitement as permitted the withdrawal of their attention from the spectacle, until four persons had

submitted to this revolting penance. Disgust rendered a longer stay impossible; and as we left, I could hardly prevent my desire for the ability to preach Christ to those multitudes from heaving into impatience. Sympathies, at once poignant and ennobling, are stirred in the breast of a Missionary standing mid masses of heathen men, when he knows that he bears a commission, which has the intention and the competency to unchain the souls which Satan has bound, lo, these many years, and lead them to freedom, security, and bliss. The heart bleeds to think of their darkness; but finds large consolation in the assurance of being an agent, however humble, in God's great plan for their regeneration. Faith opens the view of better days when Jehovah shall be honoured and man blessed; hope exults in the prospect, and joy, unique and fervid, glows upon the heart. Then does the Gospel seem glorious, and the commission to preach it an unspeakable gift. When standing by the death-bed of the venerable Henry Moore, I asked him, "Were you again young, would you wish to apply your life to any other purpose than that to which it has been devoted?" the aged servant of God raising himself in his bed, and looking me steadfastly in the face, said, warmly, "No, not at all, not at all: the best thing a man can do, the very best, is to preach the Gospel." It is truth. To be employed as God's instrument in making men good, is the noblest, happiest, most remunerative application of our brief, but momentous life. Would to God that every Christian parent and every Christian youth felt it so! Then we should not see the offer of a Cadet's commission, a merchant's partnership, or a civilian's appointment, hailed as a good thing," and a commission to preach Christ to the Gentiles yielded to reluctantly with speeches about heroism and sacrifice.

During our stay, the friends at Madras held their Centenary Meeting, having purposely delayed it till our arrival. It was numerously attended, and evinced the same spirit of holy joyfulness and gratitude which so remarkably characterized the proceedings of similar convocations at home. Many delightful testimonies were borne to the power of saving grace. From some of the statements it appeared that a few pious individuals had formed themselves into a society, adopted rules very similar to those of the Wesleys, and taken other measures remarkably coincident with the usages of Methodism, before they had any correct information of its character, and previous to any of our Missionaries reaching their shores.

During our stay, we visited St. Thomas's Mount, which, beside its religious celebrity, has a military importance as the depôt for the Company's troops. The drive is said to be one of the finest in India, and certainly is the most interesting in the neighbourhood of Madras. Leaving Blacktown, you cross the spacious esplanade which is flanked on the east by Fort St. George, with its sloping glacis and all but impregnable rampart, beyond which rises the roar of the "much-resounding sea." You shortly pass Chantrey's noble equestrian statue of Sir Thomas Munro, a man who, by eminent talents, unswerving rectitude, and careful attention to the people's interests, in the various offices to which his merits raised him, attained a reputation among the natives of South India, far higher than that of any other European. In the remote villages the brilliant name of Clive is forgotten, that of Wellington barely known; but Munro's is cherished and dwelt upon with the liveliest admiration. I have known a native say, with evident pride, when asked from what country he came, "I am from the country of Munro," meaning the ceded districts. I once heard a Bramhan bitterly complaining of the Madras authorities for placing his

statue in the open air, as he thought exposure a mark of deficient respect; and added, with as much feeling as if resenting an insult offered to his mother, "I saw an unclean hird perched on the head of the illustrious Munro." I was told that, in the districts which were favoured so long with his judicious government, the natives frequently call their children by his name; and that, somewhere near Gooty, a likeness of him is kept, and treated with a veneration very similar to that entertained for their gods.

As you proceed, the way is crowded with pedestrians, steeds, and equipages. The English soldier, the brown native, and the Indo-Briton, with light garments and easy pace, pour along in continuous and picturesque succession, a stream almost as constant, but not so impetuous, as the torrents of Cheapside and the Strand. Mingled with these are the light Arabian, the sturdy Persian horse, the sprightly Pegu pony, the bullock, belled and caparisoned, and occasionally the tall, soft-paced camel, bearing riders in the respective costumes of England, Persia, and Hindustan. There you have the open carriage, with a black groom holding on by either side, and keeping pace with the horses, however fleet; brandishing their switches the while, as a warning to all musquitoes; buggies, with the master driving and the servant pursuing on foot; native carriages, with a dome-shaped roof supported on four pillars, showing you the portly bust of some Hindu seated cross-legged, while the coachman, perched upon the pole, urges on two bullocks, each graced with a necklace of tinkling bells: then there are palankeens, with their troop of singing bearers; tonjons, with pale children and black ayas, and of bandies no end. The way, thus animated by such varied exhibitions of life, is lined by rows of trees, among which you recognise the aloe, the palmyra, yellow tulip, mango, banyan, and lime. At every few perches a neat gate opens into a cultivated enclosure, with a handsome residence, while a glow of intense sunlight sheds brightness over all the scene. The Armenian bridge of Marmalong is an interesting object, near which is a Romish church, said to stand on the spot where the Apostle Thomas had his residence, and whence he took his last flight when assailed by the Heathen. The Mount, distant from Madras about eight miles, is an isolated cliff of granite, rising abruptly from a plain, near the shore, and crested by a simple but picturesque Romish church. Steps have been cut in the rock to facilitate the ascent, which they may do in the case of the infirm or timid, many of whom, doubtless, are to be found in the crowds of pilgrims resorting hither; but for my own part, I would much rather clamber a hill side, however rugged, than drag up flight after flight of dull, heavy stone steps. The summit was the first place from whence we obtained any extensive prospect of the country. To our east spread the wide and placid sea, fringed by the foaming surf, and agreeably spangled by the strange sails of the dhonie and catamaran. Immediately below us lay the cantonment, with its barracks and bazaar, the noble English church, and our own beautiful gothic chapel; enlivened by figures in light costume, and the evolutions of the soldiery at drill. The view inland has but little interest, the land spreading abroad in one extended flat, with a few hills in the distance, scattered clumps of trees, and paddy-fields of rich green; but not anything to save the landscape from an air of dulness and monotony. Persons at home are apt to look at every thing oriental through an atmosphere of beauty and romance, with which the books read in childhood surround them, and which those of after-years, too often, leave undisturbed. Lands where the orange and lime, the banana and tulip-tree, the talipot and banyan, flourish; whose soil imbeds diamonds

and nourishes incense; in whose forests elephants range and peacocks glitter; where the tedious night never abridges the day, nor the dew-drop chills to frost, nor does nature put on the hoary covering of a barren age, but stands ever dressed in the green of productive youth;—such lands, it is thought, must be far fairer to the eye than the common-place scenery at our own doors. But it is not so: our groves and gardens, our fields and flowers, are lovelier than theirs. Palms are graceful; but when constantly before the eye, the branchless and scaly shaft becomes monotonous : banyans, when extensively trained, form an object of singular interest; but their occurrence in such specimens is not so frequent as to affect the general aspect of the scenery; and, on the whole, though the woods of India never are leafless as ours in January, they are never equal to them in May, either as regards appearance or perfume. Those who have wandered in the woods of Bolton-Abbey, by the banks of the Dart, the Avon, or the Wye, have stood on Croagh-Patrick, or Richmond-Hill, or sailed on the waters of Lough-Erne or Lough-Gill, need not sigh for the region of cloudless suns, nor envy "the green of its shores, or the blue of its skies."

But it was not possible to stand on St. Thomas's Mount without other reflections than those suggested by the landscape. On this spot tradition states, that the Apostle, having fled from his usual dwelling-place, before referred to, was overtaken and slain. On the strength of this tradition the church now standing was erected by the Portuguese; and time was when their war-ships never sighted the sacred place without greeting it with the honours of a royal salute. A Christian Missionary, then, was not likely to stand here without asking, "From that plain below did the very hand which our blessed Lord called to touch his sacred wounds, point the eye of nations to their God? and did that hand, on this very spot, stiffen in a death incurred for love of Him whom once he doubted?" The authenticity of the tradition is matter of dispute. Hamilton doubted not; Bishop Heber believed it firmly; and Captain Swanston, in a paper on the "Primitive Christians of Malayala," in the Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, boldly states, "This is not asserted on the authority of any obscure tradition; but unites in its favour all the proofs which can warrant its correctness; the accumulated testimonies of the first ages of the church, of St. Jerome, of St. John, surnamed Chrysostom, Athanasius, and Eusebius." Mr. Hough, however, to whose historical researches Christianity in India is greatly indebted, has given to the question a lengthened review, and concludes decidedly against the tradition. He does show that in the ancient ecclesiastical histories of the West, it has a very slender foundation; but does not inform us of the records held by the native churches, or what credit he supposes due to them; an omission which certainly weakens the impression of his argument. His own pages, however, contain enough to show that his conclusion is no more free from historical difficulties than the other; nor, indeed, so much so. The tradition exists, and has existed from a very early age: if we deny its truth, it is but reasonable that we account for its origin. This Mr. Hough endeavours to do by referring to two persons of the name of Thomas, who, having an early connexion with the native churches, might have given rise to a confusion of the person with the Apostle, owing to the identity of name. It is not professed that either of these introduced the Gospel into India; for Mar Thomas lived in the ninth century, and Thomas the Manichee in the latter part of the third; whereas Mr. Hough admits the existence of Christianity previous to the mission of Pantænus from Alexandria, which occurred in the second. Now, the

existence of churches in the second century being proved, it follows, they could not adopt the name of any labourer subsequent to that period, as the name of their founder; and that, if adopted at all, it must be on account of eminent influence and reputation. But had any man attained such consideration amongst them that they delighted to be called by his name, they would surely not have rejected his doctrines; and there being no kind of proof that these churches embraced the heresy of Manes, is strong presumptive evidence, that whosoever might be the Thomas from whom they took their name, he was not a Manichee. All the information given of such a Missionary is, that Manes “is said to have sent one of his disciples, named Thomas, into India to propagate his heresy ;" which certainly is slender ground whereon to rest a grave conclusion.

As to Mar Thomas, Mr. Hough himself scarcely goes so far as to attribute to him the origin of the name; and that he should at all cite him in the case is not easily accounted for, when himself informs us, that in the seventh century the claims of the Patriarch of Seleucia were disputed on the grounds that "the Christians of Persia and India were Christians of St. Thomas;" a statement sufficiently proving, that a person who lived in the ninth century could have nothing to do with giving them that name. Again, he notices the celebrated mission of our own Alfred the Great to the "shrine of St. Thomas in India," which, leaving England, as it did, in the same century as that in which Mar Thomas flourished, sufficiently proves, that there was prevalent in the West a belief that the Apostle had laboured and died in India, long before it could possibly have arisen from a confusion of two persons separated from each other by so many centuries. From whatever source the primitive churches of India derived the name of Christians of St. Thomas, and whatever may have been the origin of the tradition which ascribes that name to an Apostle, it seems tolerably plain neither is to be found in the persons from whom the historian of Christianity in India supposes them to have arisen.

But beside these matters of consideration furnished by Mr. Hough's own pages, there are others which go strongly to corroborate the tradition. There must be taken into account the ancient origin of those churches, their own confident belief that the Apostle founded them, their use of the Syriac language, and the assertion of their own historians, (see Swanston's treatise as above,) that, up to the year 345, there had been no foreign Bishop or Clergyman amongst them,—a fact which goes far to confirm the opinion, that the India visited by Pantænus was, as so many good authorities suppose, not Hindostan, but Ethiopia. Another fact of great moment is, that the Jews on the Malabar coast have a tradition stating that their fathers landed in India in the year of our Lord 69, and that the Apostle Thomas had reached it seventeen years before, having arrived in 52. Now, as this leaves a space of nineteen years after the ascent of our Lord, and mentions a time when the intercourse with India had just become greatly facilitated by the enterprise of Hippalus, there is about it an air of considerable probability.

As Parthia is named by Eusebius as the sphere of St. Thomas's ministry, we should have been led naturally to expect that he would penetrate into the north of India, which lay so adjacent, to which attention had been long directed, and which had been made comparatively known by the residence of Megasthenes at Palibothra, which, notwithstanding the opinion of Robertson in favour of Allehabad, appears to have stood on the site assigned by Major Rennell, at the junction of the Sone with the Ganges near Patna.