A Tour of the Missions: Observations and ConclusionsStrong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
A Tour of the Missions: Observations and Conclusions
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
East Asia -- Description and travel; Missions
I must take four separate stations as illustrations of my thesis.
Fortunately, all of these stations are now under the administration of
Rochester men, whom I am proud to recognize as my former pupils. But
before I proceed to describe our experiences with them, I must to some
extent repeat what I have said in my last letter about Madras and the
conference there at the house of Doctor Ferguson. Because Madras is the
greatest city of South India, it is the natural source of supplies and
the easiest place of gathering for our Telugu missionaries, even though
most of them live and work much farther to the north. The principle of
home rule requires such gathering, and the missionary at Madras, without
seeking it, naturally becomes a sort of secretary and treasurer and
entertainer of the whole body of Telugu workers. No one could be
better adapted to this position of responsibility than is Doctor
Ferguson. His abounding hospitality and his command of the whole
situation make him sought as a counselor and as a leader. As the older
men, like Clough and Downie, pass away, Doctor Ferguson, by common
consent, forges to the front. The present prosperity and harmony of
the Telugu mission are largely due to his unassuming and welcome
influence. He too is a man whose scholarship and character reflect
honor upon the Rochester Theological Seminary, where he sat under my
instruction twenty-two years ago.
Coming now to our stations north of Madras, I begin with the Theological
Seminary at Ramapatnam, in charge of the Rev. Dr. Jacob Heinrichs. Its
students met us at the entrance of the mission compound, and we passed
under an arch over which were inscribed the words, "Welcome to Dr. and
Mrs. Strong." We had garlands of flowers thrown about our necks, and we
were sprinkled with eau de Cologne. In the large assembly-room of the
seminary, we listened to addresses in excellent English from pupils of
the higher grades, and we made responses in the same language, which
were interpreted to the scholars of the lower classes by the pastor of
the village church. A beautiful casket of carved ivory and pearl was
presented to us, containing engrossed copies of the addresses delivered
by the students. There was singing of hymns, both in English and in
Telugu, by choir and congregation. The beauty of it all was its
spontaneity and naturalness, for the pupils themselves had planned and
executed the whole program.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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