by our own Church in Tinnevelly, by the Lutheran Mission of Pastor Gossner in Chota Nagpore, and by Judson and his American brethren among the Karens of Burmah." p. 17.

Judson compares the difference between labouring among the Karens and Burmese Buddhists, to offering to fill two jars with pure water, one of which is empty, the other full of stinking petroleum.

Several of the few converts from the high castes are the result of education. In 1852 an interesting list was published of 107 converts from Schools in Calcutta. Of these 31 were Brahmans, including 11 Kulins, the highest class; 36 belonged to the writer caste; two were Rajpoots; five were sons of Zemindars or landholders; five were weavers; of goldsmiths, braziers, blacksmiths, and carpenters, there were one each; the castes of the remainder are not given. In 1862, there were 44,361 Native Christians in Tinnevelly; but there has been only one Brahman convert. No statement seems yet to have been published with regard to the original castes of the Tinnevelly Christians. The Rev. W. T. Satthianadan, Native Missionary, roughly estimates the Shanars, or Palmyra climbers, at nine-tenths of the whole. The Revs. J. Duthie, J. J. Dennis, F. Wilkinson, and F. Baylis, in charge of the London Mission Stations of James' Town, Nagercoil, Santhapuram, and Neyoor, in South Travancore, which adjoins Tinnevelly, have kindly furnished the following statistics:

The Church Missionary Intelligencer states of the Malayalim Christians, 7,919 in number, connected with the Society in North Travancore, "The majority of our converts have come" from the " Low Castes."*"

The American Madura Mission Reports furnish admirable Statistics. The Report for 1863 gives in detail the castes from which the converts at each station were drawn. The more important may be mentioned: Pariahs, 2,830; Shanars, 786; Pullars, 759; Vanneyars, 368; High Caste Sudras, 243; Telugu Settlers, 177; Barbers, 108; Shoemakers, 54; Kullars (Thieves) 53; other castes or castes unknown, 378. Total, 5,756.+

The Rev. C. S. Kolhoff says, that of 4,463 baptised Christians in the Tanjore, Trichinopoly, and Cuddalore Missions of the S. P. G., 2,407 are Pariahs and Pullars; of the remaining 2,056 about one-fourth are Vellalars (the higher class of Sudras), and three-fourths Ambalcaram, &c. (the lower classes of Sudras). There are no Brahmans.

The Rev. J. Clay states, that of 2,096 persons under Christian instruction connected with the S. P. G. Mission in the Cuddapah district, 5 are Sudras and 2,091 Mâlas, or Pariahs.

In the Ahmednuggur district there are 592 baptised adults connected with the American Mission. At Ahmednuggur there are a few high caste converts; but the compiler cannot give details. At three rural stations, out of 213 members, 209 were Mahars and 4 Mangs.

The compiler is unable to give any information about the castes of converts in other parts of India.

It will be seen that the Shanar caste, though comparatively very small, has furnished a large proportion of the converts. The Shanars rank among the highest

*Vol. xiii. p. 215.

The return seems incomplete, as the total should be 6,391.

of the low castes. They are, in general, a hard-working, temperate people.

Converts from the caste known as Pariahs, Mâlas, and Mahars, are next in number. Europeans often consider the Pariahs as out-castes; but this is not correct, they are only very low in the scale. They derive their name from Parrai, a drum. Their special office is to beat the drum on festival occasions. As already mentioned, some of them are great sticklers for caste. In the Madura district, there are said to be 28 divisions of Pariahs. Dr. Wilson of Bombay thus describes the duties of the Mahars

66

:

They form the attendants of the village headman and the elerk; and it devolves upon them to convey all messages and give all notices connected with the public business of each township. They keep themselves acquainted with the boundary lines of each village, and are the oracles in all disputes connected with landed property. They wait upon strangers, assist in supplying their wants, and conduct them to the neighbouring settlements, when they set out upon their journey. They clean the places of public meeting, and perform a great many other menial offices.

"In acknowledgment of their services, certain fields are allotted to them for their own culture, and certain allowances, generally inadequate as a reimbursement, are made to them from the village funds. They claim all dead cattle as their property; and they eat their carcases, even those of the cow and buffalo, when they have not been much injured by disease."*

The Pallars derive their name from Pal, hollow; because their occupation is digging. They were originally agricultural slaves, though many of them now are weavers. Great enmity exists between the Pariahs and Pallars, each claiming superior rank. The Pallars consider themselves above the Pariahs, because they do not eat the flesh of the cow or ox; while the latter despise the former as belonging to the left-hand castes, Both are noted for drunkenness. Shoemakers, Barbers,

* Evangelization of India, p. 315,

and Washermen are nearly at the bottom of the caste scale.

Motives for embracing Christianity-These have varied with the previous enlightenment and Christian knowledge possessed. As a rule, with some striking exceptions, converts from English Institutions, from their previous standing in society and long instruction, have come over from far purer motives than others. Among the exceptions may be mentioned Pundit Nehemiah, who never seems to have attended a Mission School, as well as some very interesting cases in rural districts. For the most part, the original motives have been very mixed. This is invariably the case when bodies came over. The preceding chapter on Inquirers will give a general idea of the state of things. A few additional remarks, may, however, be made.

Dr. Caldwell gives the following general view

"Wherever we have gone, we have preached to the people the Gospel of Christ, in accordance with Christ's own command; we have known nothing amongst them save Christ, and Him crucified, and it is unquestionable that the Gospel, without the help of any extraneous influences, has again and again proved itself' mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.' Still, it is equally true, that in the greater number of instances the conversions that have taken place have been the result, not of spiritual motives alone, but of a combination of motives, partly spiritual and partly secular, the spiritual motives predominating in some instances over the secular, in others the secular predominating over the spiritual: and this holds true, not only with respect to Tinnevelly and the Missions of the Church of England, but with respect to every rural Mission in India, with whatever Society it may be connected, and whatever may be the idea of its condition which is commonly entertained. May I not add that this has held good of every conversion of tribes and nations, as distinguished from the conversion of isolated individuals which the history of the Church has recorded ?"*

* Lectures on the Tinnevelly Missions, pp. 166, 7.

The hope of direct temporal aid has not been the motive in Tinnevelly. Dr. Caldwell says:--

"It is an evil much complained of in Missions established in great towns in India, that persons who wish to live in idleness profess to become Christians, and expect to be supported by the Mission; but this evil is almost unknown in these rural districts, where every man is accustomed from his earliest years to work for his own subsistence, and where, on his becoming a Christian, he is expected to give, not to receive."*

:

The prevailing influences are thus described:"Their motives, generally speaking, resemble those by which multitudes in Christian countries are retained in the profession of Christianity.

"Conviction of the Divine authority of the Christian religion, and of the necessity of being cleansed from sin by a Divine Saviour, is but seldom apparent.

"The advantage of having comfort in adversity, help in sickness, and advice in difficulties; the feeling of being comparatively secure from the oppressions of the wealthy; the fact that native Christians appear, after a few years, to acquire a more elevated character, and to enjoy more peace and prosperity in the world than their Heathen neighbours; the desire of advancement on the part of the lower castes, who find that they are considered by the Missionaries as capable of advancement, and taught to feel that they are men; the family-feeling and the caste-feeling, which begin to operate in alliance with Christianity, when families and castes have become to some extent leavened with the Gospel; the social advantages of congregations; the corporate union of the Christian community; dissatisfaction with the ignorance and sottishness of heathenism; the disreputable character of their own deities and devils; and an undefined conviction that the Christian religion must be superior to all others ;-these are the facts and impressions by one or other of which (not, of course, in any case by all at once,) the greater proportion of the converts appear to be influenced, and which, though not of a sordid character, are obviously secular in their origin and end."+

Missions to the Heathen, No, XIX. p. 10.

+ Missions to the Heathen, No. XIX, p. 12. See also Lectures on the Tinnevelly Missions, pp. 75-80.