ONE day a number of young Hindus met a
Brahman, saluted him with apparent reverence, and proceeded to ask
him, "What is the shape and size of the earth? How far away are the
sun and the moon?" When, however, they questioned him about the Hindu
gods, he realized that they were quizzing him, and in anger he openly
cursed them. The lads, who were former students of the Government
Hindu College, seemed to be enjoying the incident. What did it mean?
Convinced that the teaching of the Shastres about physical science was
demonstrably false, and as the Gurus claimed that the teaching was
revealed directly from Heaven, they had ceased to believe in the Hindu
religion, and, concluding that all religious instruction must be
false, they became practically sceptics.
Their conduct caused the Government much anxiety,
and strengthened those who had opposed Duff's plan for his school. He
was not, however, surprised, for, while teaching Western knowledge
inevitably destroyed belief in Hinduism, any reference to the
Christian faith was prohibited in Government
schools. As long as boys are taught that to obtain Western education
God must be ignored, they naturally become materialists, set aside the
sanctions of morality, are a law unto themselves and become members of
the don't care brotherhood which exists in all nations. Scolding would
do no good, leaving them alone spelt disaster; what then was to be
done? Duff, who understood and could sympathize, invited them to come
to his house to see if he could help them in their difficulties. When
they came, he asked them as students of logic whether they considered
it sound reasoning to say "I know that such teaching is wrong when
tested by satisfactory evidence, and I, therefore, reject another
subject which I have not studied." "Well," they answered, "we do not
think it is."
Twelve of them thereupon agreed to attend the opening lecture of a
course which he arranged with other missionaries; but the commotion
caused by their attending the first lecture prevented the delivery of
any other lectures of the course. The authorities of the Hindu College
threatened to expel any students who in future went to hear such
lectures. The more advanced students resented this as interfering with
their liberty, but arranged debating societies upon the forbidden
subjects in their own homes, having asked Duff to be present so that
he might present the Christian side. From forty to sixty attended—some
earnest seekers who became Christians, with others who were proud,
forward, rude, boisterous, and often grossly insulting. Duff also
lectured on one of the Gospels on Sunday evenings in a bungalow
chapel, situated in one of the squares of the native city, and during
the second year, when he lectured on Christianity and Hinduism, the
place was crowded.
Young Converts
One of the Hindus who attended
the second course of lectures was Gopee Nath Nundi. He was baptized in
1832, refused a government appointment, became a Christian minister,
and during the Mutiny of 1857 he was in the greatest danger at the
hands of the mutineers, because of his refusal to join them, until he
was rescued by British troops. When Duff was at home, at one of the
meetings in Exeter Hall a clergyman handed to him the journal of a
godly British officer in India. In it the officer had written that he
had despaired of seeing a vivid manifestation of real piety among the
apathetic sons of India, but that he had no doubt whatever left on his
mind that the religion of Gopee Nath was a heart religion.
As child marriage was the
custom in India, one of the scholars, eager to confess Christ, wished
to persuade his wife, to whom he was married when ten years old, to
leave Hinduism with him. At odd hours, and very often when the rest of
the household was asleep, they studied the Scriptures together. The
husband taught the wife to read "The Pilgrim's Progress" in Bengalee,
a gift from another convert. One night when reading the story of
Christian fleeing from the City of Destruction, the wife exclaimed "Is
not this exactly our condition? Are we not lingering in the City of
Destruction? Is it not our duty to act like Christians, to arise,
forsake all, and flee for our lives?" The two accordingly came to Mr
Duff's house. This action caused a great uproar, which almost led to
violence, but no persuasion, which the missionary freely allowed the
relatives to use, could shake the resolution of the converts. The
relatives then appealed to law, claiming that as the youth was under
age, he should be restored to them, but, as he was proved to be really
eighteen years of age, their efforts failed.
It is a well-known fact that
even in games all the members on a given side must work unitedly as a
team or that side is likely to lose the game. There is an old Greek
story of a father who wished to teach his sons this lesson. He took a
number of rods tied in a bundle, and asked them to break the bundle.
They failed to do this, although they could easily have broken each
rod taken separately. For the purpose of united Christian effort,
therefore, Duff submitted to a weekly conference of missionaries in
Calcutta a plan for a central institution, to be supported by all the
societies, where their best vernacular pupils would receive the
highest Christian education to fit them for carrying the Gospel to
their own people in their mother tongue. All the missionaries
cordially supported the proposal, but in the homeland the scheme was
rejected as impracticable. Duff, who hoped to live to see it carried
through, was in later days greatly cheered by the practical
illustration of his idea in the Madras Christian College, which
embodied the life work of one of the greatest missionaries Scotland
ever sent to India, William Miller.
As if he had not more than
enough on his hands, a fresh call came for Duff's services. The
chaplain of the Scottish congregation in Calcutta, finding himself
obliged to leave Calcutta because of his wife's health, his colleagues
also being absent on sick leave, asked Duff to take charge of the work
until a successor was appointed, left Calcutta and sent a letter from
the ship to inform Duff. The suggestion was actually made by some that
he should allow himself to be nominated as successor to the chaplain,
but as the act might be regarded as an inglorious abandonment of the
cause which he had engaged to promote and the cause would suffer, Duff
would not listen to such a proposal. There were, however, urgent
reasons known to the missionary which led him to add the chaplain's
work to his own, and he had sole charge of the Scottish congregation
for a whole year.
Surprises for Visitors
One morning a surprise visit was paid to Mr
Duff's school by members of a Committee appointed by the
Governor-General, to enquire whether a medical school could be founded
in Calcutta. The members of the deputation, who examined the senior
class very 'carefully, were amazed to find the high-caste youths so
free from prejudices as to be willing to attend a medical school.
"What! would you actually touch a dead body to
study anatomy?"
"Most certainly,"
replied the head youth, a high-caste Brahman. "I for one would have no
scruples in the matter. It is all prejudice, the old stupid prejudice
of caste, of which I at least have got rid." By these different ways
the campaign was carried on against error.
In addition to all his more directly spiritual
work Duff took every opportunity to advance, the material welfare of
the people. With this end he joined the Agricultural Society of
Calcutta, and with earnestness followed its work of enlightening the
peasantry which form so large a proportion of the population.
Just before he left Calcutta, Duff took a visitor
to the Institution and gave him permission to examine all, the
classes. When he had done this Duff called him into another room,
where the senior class of some fifteen youths was, and said: "Ask them
any question you please in general learning." Delighted beyond measure
with the answers he received the visitor then examined the lads in
religious knowledge, and was so carried away that he broke into an
impassioned - address, which riveted their attention, tears shining in
the eyes of one boy whose shoulders still bore the sacred Brahmanical
thread. "How is this?" exclaimed the visitor, "I feel, I cannot but
feel, that every word is finding its way within. I feel as if I could
empty the whole of my soul into theirs. How is this? " The missionary,
turning round, opened the door which disclosed the busy scene in the
large hail. "There," said he, pointing to the class which was learning
the Alphabet, "there is the true explanation, the real source and
origin• of what has transported your soul. The teaching which followed
the Alphabet gradually broke the barrier between teacher and scholar.
And tell me now, do tell me candidly, if it was not worth while to
begin so low in order to end so high." "I frankly confess to you," the
visitor replied, " that I left England an avowed enemy to education in
connection with missions in any shape or form, but I now tell you from
what I have seen to-day that I shall feel hence forward at liberty to
avow myself its friend and advocate." The visitor was Anthony Groves,
who afterwards founded the Plymouth Brethren.
The strain of all these
labours was more than the strongest human frame could bear in the
climate of India, so that after passing through three severe illnesses
in ten months, Duff was, as a last resource, carried on board ship in
an almost dying condition to make the voyage home to Scotland. He
landed at Greenock in December 1834, and, to his great delight, in
keen frosty weather.