CHAPTER XIII.

DIFFERENT DENOMINATIONS.

ALL SECTIONS ENGAGED IN THE STRUGGLE-UNITY AT HOME AND ABROAD A BLESSING GRANTED TO ALL-ENGLISH ESTABLISHMENT-LETTER FROM BISHOP WILSON-BAPTIST BRETHRENDIFFICULTIES OF THE INFANT MISSIONS-TRIALS-SUCCESSCHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY-LIBERALITY—TINEVELLY—LIBERTY-WESLEYAN MISSIONS-DISCOURAGEMENTS-MELNUTTAM

-A BRAMIN-GREATER EXERTIONS-THE INHERITANCE THE SAME.

ON a review of the last fifty years, during which the church has been engaged in this contest with the systems of paganism, it is delightful to see how the missionary spirit has increased, and has spread, from one party to another, like a flame of love, sympathy and zeal. Instead of sect being ranged against sect as in the days of old; instead of Calvinists thundering against Arminians, Baptists against Pædo-Baptists, Presbyterians against Independents, and Episcopalians against them all, and challenging them to defend their respective opinions and maintain the high ground which they had taken, they are now engaged against the common enemy, and are

assembling their hosts for the spiritual warfare. Some sections have been slow and reluctant to give up their prejudices and their antiquated notions, and to join with the confederated armies; but I know scarcely one whose opinions may be termed evangelical and whom it is our duty to respect, that continues to stand aloof from the consideration of this great question. Were it left to one tribe of our spiritual Israel to encounter the foe, and to take possession of the land, it must be a hopeless undertaking. But as all the tribes have consecrated themselves to the service, they present a united and a powerful phalanx to fight in the name of the Lord, and to subdue the enemy.

Much do I lament to find, that, at home, the feelings of love, harmony and goodwill are not so triumphant and so prevalent among different parties, as they once were. This is deeply to be deplored. Whatever may be the struggles of party, and whatever may be the efforts of the great adversary to divide and to destroy, it behoves every true Christian to fan the flame of love, to abstain from expressions and from deportment that would injure the heavenly spirit, and to cultivate and promote everywhere the sacred affections which may have been injured.

But if different sects can afford at home to divide upon points of minor importance, it is impossible to do so in India. In the field of battle; among millions of heathen who are prepared to convert every

thing to the disadvantage of our cause; and in the presence of principalities and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world, and spiritual wickednesses in high places, we dare not disagree but at the expense of our common faith; we feel under the heaviest obligations to stand united against the foe; and instead of turning our arms against each other in the camp, there is every inducement to present a strong and unbroken front in the contest. But from affection more than from fear, we live together as brethren. Love, unanimity, good will, peace and concord rule supreme. The triumph of one, is the triumph of all, and the defeat of one, is the defeat of all. We rejoice with each other, when called to rejoice; we weep with each other, when called to weep. There is no rivalry but that of love, that of bringing souls to Christ, and that of advancing the cause of God, against the confederates of evil. We bear each other's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. In a Christian and especially in a missionary you meet with a brother and a friend. However warm may be the atmosphere at home, it is cold and chilly, when compared with the one abroad; and the distance, the ceremony, the finesse, and ridiculous pretensions sometimes manifested in England, are a perfect contrast to the warmth, the friendship, the sincerity and the generous feeling which prevail in Hindosthan. Every one must feel how delightful it is, to enter a circle where pride and formality are laid aside as unchristian,

SUCCESS UNIVERSAL.

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and mingling with pure and hallowed spirits of a heavenly order, and separated from jarring interests and the grovelling affections of time, to hold intercourse with liberal and superior minds. Then we feel how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

Nor has the divine blessing in India, been confined to one denomination. As though the Lord would show his regard to all his faithful servants, and put bigotry and intolerance to silence, the benediction has rested upon all. Go from the Church Mission station, to that of the Wesleyan, from the Baptist, to that of the London Mission, from the American settlement to that of the General Assembly's and from that to the Christian Knowledge Society's, and you will find that the Shekinah has not rested upon one in particular-all have partaken in the supply of grace and mercy. Though expectations may not have been realized, yet none have been left to complain as forgotten or overlooked. At every station, there will be seen a native church of twenty, or thirty or fifty, or a hundred members who walk in the fear of the Lord, and in the comforts of the Holy Ghost. If there has not been success in one way, there has been in another. Some have had greater prosperity among the young, and the children in the schools have been the source of their joy; others have seen adults converted from among the heathen, and have been permitted to behold them casting their idols to

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DIFFERENT STATIONS.

the moles and to the bats. In this mission, the brethren have had many Europeans and Hindoo Britons as the crowns of their rejoicing; and in that one, Mahomedans and Roman Catholics have been led to abandon their superstition and join the number of the faithful. But all have had reason to give glory to the Lord our God for the measure of success with which their labours have been crowned.

My time and space will not allow me to go round and visit all the stations where my dear. brethren are engaged, and congratulate them and the Christian public on the testimony which they have borne, and the reward they have received. It might not be expedient to do so, as there are some parts of the field in Bengal and in the Bombay presidencies with which I am but ill acquainted, and though no one would be more disposed to do them justice, than the writer, it would be a very partial view which he could give. But I must be permitted, in a passing notice, to bear my humble testimony to the advancement of their work.

In accordance with the charter of 1813, the English establishment was planted in India, and in the charter of 1833, it was greatly enlarged. It now consists of three bishops, three archdeacons, and between eighty and ninety chaplains. It has chiefly a reference to the instruction and the spiritual welfare of our own countrymen. But long