divided into different sections according to their rank, they entered to their seats by different doors, and under the same roof, they worshipped the same God, and could not look but with scorn and contempt upon each other. A civil rite! yet they would not come to the table of the Lord together, would not eat of the same bread, nor drink of the same cup, and would not live in the same village, nor allow the same catechist to enter into their houses to instruct them and their children. A civil rite! yet they consulted Bramins as to fortunate and unfortunate days; Shoodra widows and virgin widows were not allowed to marry again; their wives were treated as slaves; their marriages were celebrated with intemperate feasts, and with processions of tom-toms, music, and all kinds of heathen peculiarities. A civil rite! yet the Bramin looked with disdain upon the Cheitra; the Cheitra, in his turn, despised the Veishya; and the Veishya treated the Shoodra with contempt; and the Shoodra trampled upon the Pariar as a slave; while every diabolical passion and temper were rampant among them. This was caste in reality, and well might the missionaries be loud in their complaints against such a system.

But at length, Bishop Wilson came to India. I cannot approve of all the measures which this prelate has adopted to further the interests of Christianity, in Hindosthan; but I rejoice to think that

he looked at this monstrous system with decision, and determined to put it down. From his residence at Calcutta, he issued one epistle after another, calling upon the people to abandon such superstitious rites, or to prepare for such Christian discipline as had never been tried before. Afterwards, he visited the churches in the south, and in the midst of the evils which every one must deplore, he declared that, while the greatest consideration should be shown to the prejudices of the old, and those who had grown up in the system, the man who would not abandon caste was no longer to be regarded as a member of the church or congregation, and that the ordinances should no longer be dispensed to him or to his children; and that the catechist who would not relinquish caste, and enjoin its abandonment upon others, was to be deprived of his office and regarded as a heathen man and as a publican.

Such Christian discipline has, no doubt, created a schism in the body; but it is better that there should be a schism, than that the name of Christ should be blasphemed among the heathen; better there should be a schism than that idolators should be able to point to such churches, and instead of saying, "Behold how these Christians love one another,' should be able to say, "See how they hate and devour each other."

So long as such evils were allowed to exist,

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INFLUENCE OF CASTE.

they were like so many goads in our sides, and thorns in our eyes, as the Philistines were to Israel in Canaan. However much we might frown upon caste and disallow of its existence in our churches, it was impossible to hide from the converts that it was looked upon with favour at Tranquebar and at Tanjore. Greater privileges, more temporal security and protection, lighter trials and crosses, therefore, were thought to attend a profession of Christianity in the older stations, than in the younger. Individuals who had resided in the south for a time and who had enjoyed these advantages were often, in the course of providence, called to visit other mission-stations, and were found to recount the many temporal immunities which the Christian caste enjoyed on the coast of Coromandel, when compared with those of other parts of the country; and such reports were calculated to create discontent and dissatisfaction among the native Christians who are still babes in knowledge and in experience; and make them to sigh for lighter crosses and greater privileges.

But now that this evil is removed and this discipline is enforced what effects are likely to be produced? We hope that the old leaven will be purged out; that primitive Christianity will be revived; that faith and love and peace and all the graces of the spirit will take the place of

FUTURE PROSPECTS.

167

faction and of strife; and that these churches, instead of being cold and dead, and exerting a baneful influence over others, will repent, will return to their first works, will strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die, and will shed a sacred, a healthful, salutary, reviving spirit over all the Christian societies of India.

CHAPTER XI.

SUCCESS AMONG EUROPEANS.

FORMER CHARACTER OF EUROPEANS IN INDIA-MORAL CHANGE -BRITISH SOLDIERS-LETTERS FROM A SERGEANT-EUROPEAN OFFICERS BIOGRAPHY OF DEPARTED SAINTS-JUDGE DACRECATHCART-GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE BELIEVERS LIBERALITY OF VIEWS-FEMALE INFLUENCE-WIVES OF MISSIONARIES.

MR.

DURING the first three centuries after the landing of Europeans in India, the natives had a most deplorable specimen of their character and principles. If the Portuguese, the Jesuits, and the whole Catholic party, only fomented intrigues, and cabals to advance their interests, converted the various settlements into so many depôts for spoliation, rapine and empire, and rendered their religion a handmaid to their commerce, their worldly greatness, and their own rapacious designs; the British and the Protestant party threw off every restraint, lived like infidels and heathens, indulged in every species of riot, and disregarded the authority of God and of men. As soon as a young man left