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We should take a correct survey of the field of benevolence in which we are called to labour; we should consider well the various and contending claims that may be made upon us for assistance; we should try to estimate the extent of our outward means, and the peculiar fitness of our personal talents and capacities; we should endeavour to draw the line within which we need not confine ourselves, and the line beyond which it would be wrong or foolish to venture; we should be aware of the facilities which are afforded by our professional employments, our local situation, our general influence; we should ascertain the cases in which individual must give place to associated labour; we should settle in our minds certain fixed maxims by which we are to be guided in our plans and movements; we should determine what it will be best for us to do, how much in any given circumstances we can probably achieve, when, and in what way, and on what occasions, we can be truly and can be most useful;--and thus furnished, we may go forth to our labour of love,' with the hope of doing as much good as the opportunities that present themselves will admit of, and as is consistent with that imperfection which adheres to the best of our schemes, and the most vigorous of our performances. We shall be seldomer disappointed by failure; we shall have less cause to regret the misapplication of time, and means, and faculties; we shall have fewer grounds of selfreproach for going wrong, by not being careful to go right, and for missing the object which less feeling and more discretion would have enabled us to attain."*.

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General Inquiries.-The Missionary should take a comprehensive survey of his whole district. A blank book, foolscap size, of two or three hundred pages, should be provided, to arrange under different heads the information collected from time to time. Some of the points which should be investigated are noted below.

Map of the District.-The Atlas Map of India, four miles to the inch, contains every village of any impor

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Introductory Essay to Mather's Essays to do Good. The whole Essay, as well as Mather's work, deserves attentive perusal. See also Lectures I and II, in Hinton's Active Christian.

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tance. The sheet required can be obtained for two Rupees. Mark off your district on the map, and compute the area in square miles. If there are out-stations under Catechists, let them be similarly indicated.

Population Returns.-In many parts of India the authorities have minute lists of the population, with their castes, &c. On an application to the Collector, he will doubtless give access to the Government Returns with reference to these points. He cannot be reasonably expected to employ his officers in making copies; but any person whom the Missionary may send will probably be allowed to write out the information required. The Missionary should call on the Collector, if possible, soon after his arrival, and state his object. Should he reside at some distance, a letter may suffice, or a request may be made through a brother Missionary at the principal station. The number of inhabitants in each village should be entered in the map.

Physical Geography.-General aspect of the district. Tracts subject to inundation. Climate: duration of the seasons, prevailing winds, mean monthly temperature and rainfall, dews, miasma. Minerals. Soil. Distance of water from the surface. Vegetable productions. Principal animals.

History and Antiquities.—Aborigines and traditions connected with them. Invasions and territorial changes. Accounts of successive dynasties. Comparative condition of the people at different periods. Historical scenes. Antiquarian remains. Present government. Duties of European and Native Officers.

Social Life.-Population how distributed, number to the square mile. Castes. Occupations. Food. Dress. Houses and furniture. Home life. Topics of conversation. Music. Ceremonies at births, marriages, and deaths. Condition of females. Polygamy. Widows. Average earnings. Average monthly or annual expenditure on house-rent, furniture, clothes, ornaments, food, servants, education, religion, by families of different

classes. Comparison between Christians, Hindus, and Mohammadans in modes of living. Condition of the poor; beggars. Prevalent diseases. Probable causes. Vaccination how far introduced. Character of native doctors. People temperate or the reverse. Use of opium and bhang. Social evil. Gambling. Crime.

Agricultural population. Size of farms. Modes of cultivation. Crops. Wages of labourers. Value of produce. Land tenures. Zemindars, resident or absentee. Middlemen. Peasant proprietors. Modes of life. Degree of indebtedness. Proportion of waste land.

Manufactures of district. Commerce. Roads. Markets where held, how often; commodities sold. Emigration. Education.-No. of Indigenous Schools. Character of teachers. Course of instruction. Fees paid. Time pupils remain. Knowledge acquired; how far turned to account. Similar inquiries with respect to Government and Mission Schools. Desire for English education. Night schools. Female education, condition and prospects. Proportion of readers.

Literature.-Language and dialects. Proverbs and local sayings. Nursery rhymes, songs, ballads, riddles. Letter writing. Tales. Almanacks. Religious books, including Hindu philosophy. Places where books are sold. Which books have the largest circulation? Specimens to be obtained. Extent to which Christian publications have been circulated. By sale or gratuitous distribution? Effects. Practicability of employing a bookhawker or opening a book-shop.

Religion.-Demonolatry. Village deities. Principal temples and places of pilgrimages. Pilgrims where from? Number and influence of Brahmans and Gurus. Principal Hindu sects, tenets, religious observances. Festivals. Ascetics. Hindu reformers. Number and distribution of Mohammadans. Condition of Mohammadans: do they proselytise? Mutual influence of Hindus and Mohammadans. Roman Catholics.

Statistical Summary.-The information should be tabulated as far as practicable and entered at the beginning of the note book. The following are some items: distance of the village or town from the mission house; number of houses, brick, mud, huts; population divided into castes and employments; number of schools, indigenous, Government and Mission; number of pupils; proportion of readers; religions. The vertical columns will contain the above; the horizontal, the names of the villages in order.

Years will elapse before the Missionary can obtain a detailed knowledge of his district. The practical value of information of the above character will be apparent. The temperature and rainfall must be known to guide the Missionary in itinerating. The question of salaries is one of importance. It can best be decided by an acquaintance with the expenditure of different classes. The discourses of our Lord show how the knowledge of every-day life, agriculture, &c., may be turned to

account.

Special Inquiries.-The evil consequences of dissipating effort over too large a surface have already been pointed out; but as it is a point of much importance, further testimony is adduced. The late Bishop Corrie said, "Experience has taught me that a little attended to carefully and perseveringly produces more fruits than labours widely diffused."* Hough gives the following counsels :

"It is natural for an active mind and a zealous spirit to wish to extend his sphere of action to the widest possible extent. But he should guard against the feeling of impatience, and, instead of flying over the ground, be content to feel his way. The more you can concentrate your labours the better. To confine your exertions within narrow limits will not present so flattering an appearance as the culture of an extensive surface. But, like a prudent husbandman, you should endeavour to measure

* Memoirs of Weitbrecht, p. 59.

your field by your means for its cultivation. Otherwise, your vineyard, though planted in every corner, will be overgrown with weeds, and you will see little or no fruit come to perfection. To contract your limits when, through disappointment and other painful results, you find that they embrace too wide a circumference, will be always found a difficult, and sometimes a humiliating task. But it is comparatively easy, more satisfactory, and of better report, to extend them, when your immediate plot is well cultivated, and you have saplings carefully trained, and ready to be transplanted in a distant soil. A mission conducted with a care like this, and in the spirit of dependence upon the Lord of the vineyard, can hardly fail to prosper."+

The analogy between natural and spiritual husbandry is very close. The farmer can no more cause the seed to spring up, than the spiritual labourer can convert a soul. Both may plant and water, but God must give the increase. Granting that the latter cultivation is attended by peculiar difficulties, that even the best may sometimes labour in vain, it is unquestionable that the former is so much more successful because it is conducted with more wisdom. The Missionary who attempts to work the whole of a large district, is like a man scattering seed over a wide extent of uncultivated land and then leaving it. A grain here and there may spring up, but the entire crop must inevitably be small.

The Missionary, therefore, will do well to concentrate his attention on some special objects. The first duty will be to collect detailed information about them.

1. The immediate Neighbourhood. As a rule the Missionary should endeavour to begin at home, gradually widening the circle, unless there is a providential call elsewhere. As the highly favoured Capernaum profited least from our Lord's ministry, it sometimes happens that the village or town adjoining the Mission house is very unpromising. Still, this is by no means always the case. The Missionary should make himself acquainted with each family, if the place is small. It is a

+ Vade Mecum, p. 108.

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