was deep-seated, and that the wound must be thoroughly probed before healing measures could be efficacious.
My Lord, the mutiny has passed away; who knows what is in the future? As a clergyman and a friend to the peaceable residence of my countrymen in India, I beg to state the following as motive for my editing such works as the Nil Durpan. I for years have not been able to shut my eyes to what many able men see looming in the distance. It may be distant, or it may be near; but Russia and Russian influence are rapidly approaching the frontiers of India. Her influence so manifest in Cabul 20 years ago, as shewn in a recent Parliamentary Blue Book, was beginning to be felt in India during the last mutiny; now she goes on the principle of divide et impera; previous to invasion she gains over the Native population in various countries to her side. Could I, then, as a clergyman have watched with apathy measures like those in connection with the Indigo system which were furthering this Russian policy, and which might lead to war and dissensions that would retard for a long period the progress of religion, education and peaceful commerce. I now speak merely my own honest convictions on this point, and I ask if this conviction has any foundation in reality; as also if there be any ground for another as deeply rooted in my mind that mere armies can no more secure the English in India than they established the Austrans in Italy. Was it not my duty as a clergyman to help the good cause of peace, by showing that the great work of peace in India could be best secured by the contentment of the Native population, obtainable only by listening to their complaints as made known by the Native press and by other channels. I pass over French views in the East, but I say forearmed is forewarned, and even to the expense of wounding their feelings in order to secure their safety, I wish to see the attention of my countrymen directed to this important subject.
As a missionary, I have a deep interest in seeing the faults of my countrymen corrected; for after a residence of my 20 years in India, I must bear this testimony—that, of all the obstacles to the spread of Christianity in India, one of the greatest is the irreligious conduct of many of my own countrymen. Thousands of Natives have said to me, "We judge of the Christian religion by what your countrymen do, not by what they say; by the life, not by the Doctrine."
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