When the tidings of their state reached Calcutta, help was quickly sent. After some time dinghy boats began to appear; in one of these Mr. Duff and his patient wife at last reached Calcutta, the city of palaces, where by a Scotch clergyman they were hospitably received. The journey from London to Calcutta with such a succession of disasters, had taken them more than "eight months" to accomplish. When the natives of India heard of the perils surmounted by the Missionary Duff, the remark was made, "Surely this man is a favorite of the gods who must have some notable work for him to do in India." What Duff himself thought of his troubles may be seen by what he wrote in a letter on the day following that of his arrival in Calcutta. "The loss of earthly comfort and possession is a rich gain indeed, when accompanied by the increase of that treasure which nothing can diminish. Where is faith without a victory? Where is victory without a struggle? And can there be a struggle without enduring trials and encountering difficulties? To us, we would pray, be the toil and the hardship and the danger, and the crown of victory for our reward, or death when maintaining our Master's cause, for an eternal glory." Before this, Alexander Duff had written in reference to his large stock of books and valuable papers lost in the shipwreck of the "Lady Holland":— "They are gone, and blessed be God, I can say gone without a murmur. So perish all earthly things; the treasure which is laid up in Him alone is unassailable. God has been to me a God full of mercy, and not the least of His mercies do I find in cheerful resignation." Thus "Faith turns the sands of life to gold." ———————— CHAPTER V. BEGINNING WORK. The special work for which Alexander Duff had been sent to India, was to set up a missionary College. In doing this, he had to meet with some great difficulties, and some of the most trying of them from his own European friends. This sounds strange, and needs a little explanation. A great many English people, some of them doubtless sensible and good men, thought that though Hindu boys should certainly be taught, they should only be taught in Oriental languages. They might learn Sanscrit, Bengali, Persian, Arabic, it was said, but what would be the use of teaching them English? Some persons think the same thing now; they would feed boys' minds with stories from the Vedas, they would let them know ancient poems filled with impure legends, and become good Oriental scholars, but to teach English is, in such persons' opinion, to bring in insolent manners, vanity, deceit and infidelity.