Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877Kennedy, James
History
Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877
Kennedy, James
India -- Description and travel; India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947 -- Biography; Missionaries; Missions -- India
In Travancore and Tinnevelly, in the far south, there are large native
churches, in connexion with the Propagation, Church, and London
Missionary Societies, composed of Shanars, a people outside the Hindu
pale and greatly despised by them, with a sprinkling of caste people.
When whole villages come over to the profession of Christianity, we
generally find a few who may be regarded as true believers in the Lord
Jesus Christ, with limited knowledge but genuine faith, while the many,
though favourably impressed, simply assent to the action of their
friends and neighbours, and are little changed except in name. They are
on the way to a happy change by having come under new and elevating
influences.
All over Southern India there are native Christian churches, the work of
conversion having proceeded in some cases gradually, individual by
individual, while in other cases numbers have been admitted at the same
time.
[Sidenote: THE CONVERSION OF NON-ARYAN TRIBES.]
Among the non-Aryan tribes, the Kols and the Santhals, occupying the
hills and forests of Central and Eastern India, a great work has been
done during the last thirty years. Thousands have been brought into the
fold of the Christian Church. In habits, character, and condition, these
tribes bear a considerable resemblance to our rude Teutonic ancestors,
and they have been brought to the profession of Christianity in a
somewhat similar manner; with this difference, that they have not been
headed by chiefs in the reception of baptism, and in many cases
commanding it. The first converts were the direct fruit of mission
labour; their number increased, inspired by zeal they told their
countrymen the treasure they had found, and called on them to share it
with them. Many listened to their words and accepted their message. The
work thus spread from village to village, and from hamlet to hamlet,
till it extended to parts of the country never visited by a missionary,
and included many who had never seen a missionary's face, in some cases
who had never seen a white face. A very dear friend and enterprising
missionary, the late Rev. William Jones of Singrowlee, made his way
through a wild roadless country to the border of the Kol region, and
came to a hamlet where the people were startled by the appearance of a
European, as they had never been visited by one before. Though from
difference in language their intercourse was limited, they understood
each other sufficiently to discover, to their mutual delight, that they
had a common faith. The general character of a community formed of a
rude people, emerging from fetish and demon worship, can be readily
supposed. I suspect the converts made by the monk Augustine and his
companions had not a little in their character and conduct to show the
pit from which they had been taken; and yet that was the dawning of a
day for the Anglian and Saxon race in our country for which we have
abundant reason to be thankful. There is no doubt much imperfection in
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account