THE OXFORD MISSION TO CALCUTTA.* Tins book is a sketch
of the history of one of the most remarkable and interesting missions that have ever been
undertaken by Engli ; and if any of our readers feel that their interest in missionary work is not what, as belong- ing to a Christian nation, it should be, or that it is in suspense until they can find a mission with whose aims and methods they shall be in full sympathy, we advise them to read this record of twenty years' devoted work among the Hindoos of Calcutta. Some of us who were at College when this Mission was started can remember that at that date the correct tone among the more intellectual undergraduates was one rather of interest in the Old World religions than of any enthusiastic desire to supplant them by Christianity ; and the present writer can remember that at a College missionary meet- ing the Head of the House congratulated some missionaries who were present en the opportunities their residence in India afforded them of studying Oriental faiths. One thing, how- ever, made abundantly clear by the experience of the Calcutta Mission is this, that these Oriental religions are already fast being destroyed by the disintegrating influences of English education ; so that, even although in the abstract the position
• A History of the Ozford Minims to Calcutta.. By Rev. George Longridge. John Murray. [78.6d.]
should be defended that a man is best left in the religion in which he is born, to Englishmen this position is no longer open. The fifth chapter of this book, which describes in detail the life and general character and habits of the ordinary student at the Calcutta University, is one that cannot be read without grave disquiet and (one could hope) searchings of heart by all Englishmen who feel the responsibilities that Empire and higher civilisation bring with them. Especially we would ask attention to some very carefully weighed words quoted from a speech by Sir Arthur Wilson :—
" In proportion as these young men have been trained in English-speaking schools and Colleges, in that very proportion their old faith and their old creed grow weak ; in that very pro- portion their old worship and their old ritual tend to lose their spiritual meaning; in that very proportion all the old morality, based upon their old creeds, loses its binding force; and all those powerful ties based on social organisation and family system which are so tremendously powerful in maintaining them within the limits of the recognised morality begin to lose their efficacy. That is surely an exceedingly serious state of things. But the question comes next, What is being given them by this English education in exchange for all this morality and spiritual force, and for all the influence which it takes away ? There is only one answer, it gives nothing. To my mind it seems, perhaps, the most depressing and discouraging circumstance of any that now exist in connection with the administration of India; and I must say that to my knowledge there are many of the best friends of the people of India, and many of the best friends of the spread of knowledge, who would say without hesitation that it would have been far better for the people of this country if English education had never come there at all, than that it should have come, and such a price should be paid for it as the moral declen- sion which it has brought with it."
The Bengali Baboo has long been a by-word in England. but it is perhaps not sufficiently taken to heart by Englishmen that the Bengali Baboo is their own illegitimate offspring, whom they have left to chance for his bringing-up. The special claim of the Oxford Mission upon the gratitude of the country is that they have from the first devoted themselves to the difficult problem of his moral salvation. And the problem is intensely difficult, because the Bengali has an abnormal appetite for religious discussion, combined with a very rudi- mentary moral sense. The method of the Mission has been to take advantage of this taste for discussion, with the object of insisting as strongly as possible that Christianity, although it has its own system, is before everything a way of life. As an example, we may quote the story told here of a youth of about sixteen who called at the Mission House the morning after a lecture and said, "I want some higher ideals of life." One of the members of the Mission began to read and explain to him the Ten Commandments, when he was interrupted by the remark : "Oh, I have written a book on the Ten Commandments, and made ten more of my own." The missionaries allow that conversions among the students are rare, but several do occur each year; and the moral effort required to break through family opposition is so great, that each conversion represents a great spiritual force. From these catechumens in two decades has been built up a band of native clergy, catechists, and schoolmasters, from whom much may be expected in the future. Among labours whose result is more readily appreciable may be reckoned a high school for the sons of Christian parents, preparatory to the University;
an industrial school, in touch with the villages, and also affiliated to the Government Engineering College; and above all, a hostel for a certain number of University students ; in which, although no pressure is put upon them to embrace Christianity, they live under Christian influences and restraints. What the normal moral condition of the Bengali student is, who lives in Calcutta lodgings without discipline of any kind, can be better imagined than described.
Mr. Longrifige's annals of the Mission are written with sim- plicity, and are full of interest. They show that this Mission, like all others, has had its martyrs. They show, too, that greater help and interest at home would have saved the members of the Mission from the overwork and anxiety which have again and again broken down the health of the most vigorous. The Bishop of Rochester contributes a preface written with his usual sanity and earnestness, and we hope his appeal may be widely read and responded to. . - .
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