Part II, Chapter VIII — Better Administration (1883-85)
On January 2, 1883, the seventh foreign missionary of the General Council arrived at Rajahmundry.
Franklin S. Dietrich was born in 1853, in Albany Township, Berks County, Pa. He was graduated from the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1882, and was ordained at the convention of the Ministerium of Penn- sylvania that year, on June 5th, in St. John's Enghsh Church, Philadelphia. He had received the call of the Foreign Mis- sions Committee in August, 1882, and, having accepted it, was commissioned in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., Tuesday evening, October 3d. Twenty-five ministers occupied seats in the chancel and front pews of the church, and the auditorium was filled to overflowing. The Rev. J. A. Seiss, D. D., and the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., conducted the services. The Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., preached the sermon in Enghsh and the Rev. H. Grahn, D. D., delivered a German address. The Chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., commissioned the missionary, calling on him to answer the following questions:
"Are you now wiUing and ready, after careful and prayer- ful consideration, to enter the service of our Evangelical Lutheran Church as a missionary to the heathen?
"Will you preach the pure Word of God according to the Confessions of our Church, and adorn her doctrine by a holy life?
"Are you willing and ready to sacrifice all things to your holy calling, if so be even to lay down your life for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ?"
In a clear, firm voice the missionary answered: "Yes, with my whole heart, the Lord helping me with the power and grace of His Holy Spirit." Kneeling, the missionary received
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 213 the laying on of the hands of the officers of the Committee. Then Dr. J. Fry, the pastor of the congregation, presented the missionary with a communion set, which was the gift of the Sunday school of Trinity Church.
Dietrich left New York on October i6, 1882, and arrived at Rajahmundry on the second day of the new year.^ Two days after his arrival the missionaries met at Rajahmundry to revise Luther's Small Catechism. The native pastors, together with C. James and J. Wilham, and a Telugu pundit, Subbarayadu, assisted the missionaries in this revision. After four days of incessant labor the work was done.^
Dietrich, besides studying Telugu under Subbarayadu, gave two or three hours' instruction each day in English branches in the Rajahmundry school and preached English every other Sunday in the church, alternating with Artman.
In January, 1883, Artman accompanied Schmidt on a tour through the district north of Rajahmundry. After visiting Metta and Peddahem they went to Tallapudi to select a site for a missionary's bungalow. Artman wrote: "Brother Schmidt and I are convinced that it is necessary to enlarge our work in this direction on this side of the Godavery River. . . . The missionary in Tallapudi should attend to the work as far as Polavaram. The whole district is in a very flour- ishing state and many are inquiring about the way of salvation."
Another town in which it was desired soon to locate a missionary was Dowlaishwaram. Had Carlson lived, Poul- sen would have been assigned to this station. The few Christians who resided at Dowlaishwaram were obliged to attend services in Rajahmundry, five miles away. The school which Heyer had begun in Dowlaishwaram had been abandoned. A retired engineer, Mr. Theodore Van S tavern, however, had established and maintained a number of schools in the town at his own expense, and, in 1883, offered to co- operate with the Mission and at his removal or death to
1 His travelling expenses to India amounted to $320.50.
^ The revision was published in a form to correspond with that of the Telugu Church Book, so that they could be bound together.
transfer his schools to the Mission. Moreover, he gave Rs. 300 toward the purchase of ground and the erection of a school-building for the use of the Mission. The site pur- chased was on the main road in a caste quarter. Artman undertook to preach in the town every Sunday evening except when on tour.^
On January 28, 1883, a bell for St. Paul's Church, donated by friends in St. Michael's Church, Germantown, Philadel- phia, and packed with other gifts for the missionaries in the so-called Christmas boxes, arrived at Rajahmundry. Schmidt superintended the hanging of this bell in the tower of the church, where it displaced the gong which had been in use up to that time.
The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt with their daughter Dagmar left Rajahmundry on March 27, 1883, on a well-earned furlough, Schmidt having been in India nearly thirteen years. He was accompanied by Duncan McCready, an orphan, whom 1 Artman described the festival of Juggernaut at Dowlaishwaram as follows: "I walked through the crowded streets till I came into the very center of the excitement, where the huge car of Juggernaut stood at the foot of the great stairway which leads up to the top of the hill on which the temple stands. The streets were full of devotees of all ages, sizes and descriptions, from all the villages within a circuit of thirty or forty miles, some on their way to make their ofiferings of fruit and money to the idol, others intent on enjoying the gay scene and making purchases of fruits, toys and confectionary from the stands which had been erected all along the streets. The number of people was great when I arrived, and it increased apace as evening drew nigh, when the great car was to be be dragged through the streets. This huge structure on wheels is built very strongly and is very ponderous. It has stages or stories, about five in all, which grow smaller toward the top. During the intervals between the annual festivals these cars are generally allowed to stand out in the open air. Sometimes, however, they are covered with a shield of palmyra leaves to protect them a little. On festival occasions the rough and uninviting appearance of the wood is quite hidden by the gaily colored cloth, plantain and cocoanut leaves, flowers and other decorations. At the apex of the car I saw a strange figure in brass with a gay purple umbrella over it, as if to protect it from the sun's rays. I concluded that this must be the representation of the god. I found a party of our boarding boys busily engaged in preaching to a number of heathen close to the car, and at once joined them to assist them to close the mouths of the ini- pertinent, bigoted young Brahmins. Some of the teachers from Rev. Joseph's district also joined us, and we at last succeeded in closing the mouths of the two brawlers, so that those who were willing to listen could do so. We preached in four or five other places, always singing hymns to gain silence and attention. We also went up the stairway to the temple wall but were not allowed to enter its precincts. Our colporteur, Venkataswami, our unpaid evangelist, Isaiah, Rev. Joseph and some of our Christian women and boarding girls were also present, so that there was a large force of Christian workers at hand to preach to the great multitude of heathen present."
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 215 Mr. and Mrs. Artman sent to America to receive an educa- tion.
After the departure of the Schmidts the Artmans moved into the "Riverdale" bungalow, Dietrich remaining in full possession of the one in the church compound. Poulsen lived at Samulkot.
Concerning the Hindu Girls' School, of which Mrs. Artman had charge after the departure of Mrs. Schmidt, she wrote in 1883 : "The fact that a missionary's wife spends one hour in the school every day teaching the childrea needle-work proves to be one of the main attractions of the school. At present there are at least seventy pupils, but there is an average attendance of only forty. This is due to the innumerable feasts, weddings, etc., which the children attend. At present sore eyes, a disease peculiar to this country, is keeping many away. There are two classes. The first, taught by P. V. Ratnam, has finished the Telugu First Book, which is a Christian book, has learned a little arithmetic, and is ready to begin geography. In the second class, taught by Venkayya, the Brahmin, some are studying the alphabet and some have begun to spell. As soon as they can spell they are allowed to join the sewing class. Most of the children are very young, none over twelve years of age, and some are as young as four, so that Mrs. Schmidt and I found it necessary to engage a person to bring the little ones to and from school. . . . The little Christian sentences which many have learned, carelessly perhaps now, and the hymns they sing, may take a hold in their young minds, which will have a bearing on their future lives and, we hope, may bring some to the true life. . . . The girls are very dirty, even though they are caste girls. Upon occasion, how- ever, they can look well, and load themselves with jewelry; but, as a rule, they have very little idea of cleanliness and cannot understand our scruples on this point. As soon as the girls come to me I send them to the Godavery with a piece of soap, and if their hair still looks untidy I do not allow them to sew, which is a great punishment. As they never have been in school before it is hard to teach them how to behavs properly. At first they act as if they were in the street, talking, laugh-
2l6 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL ing and quarreling with each other. They show their caste prejudice strangely in regard to water. They will not drink our well-water but must have water brought from the Go- davery by a caste man especially for them. Our well-water is filtered, clear and cool, while the Godavery water is muddy; but I suppose they receive their instructions at home. Occa- sionally, if it is impossible to get other water, they will taste ours, if buttermilk is put into it, which is supposed to be very purifying. They will, however, eat oranges, plantains and candy, which we give them, without hesitation."
As helpers in the woman's work Mrs. Artman engaged Miss J. G. McCready, a sister of Mr. F. J. McCready, and Miss M. A. Payne. In her letters to America she urged the sending out of single ladies as woman missionaries, but the Church was not yet ready for such a step.
Artman rapidly developed the educational work of the Mission during the year 1883. On February 27th he organized his class of Brahmin boys into the sixth grade of the mission school, beginning with twenty-one pupils. They were taught in all branches necessary to matriculation. The Telugu pundit, Subbarayadu, was engaged as the Telugu teacher with a salary of 20 rupees a month. Artman and Dietrich took the English branches, each giving two hours instruction daily. One hour each day was spent in reading the Bible with comments by the missionaries. The class met in a room of the bungalow opposite the church compound and in one of the schoolrooms of St. Paul's Church. The pupils were also obhged to attend the English services in St. Paul's Church every Sunday and Wednesday and were expected to come to the English Sunday school. This was, therefore, the first attempt in our Mission to conduct a Boys' High School, the organiza- tion and maintenance of which became a source of much dis- cussion and difference of opinion both in India and in America; but Artman undertook the work with the sincere desire of influencing the higher classes in Rajahmundry through this Brahmin school.
Artman also started a Normal Department on June 20th, beginning with fifteen teachers whom he wished to give a nor-
HINDU FAKIR LYING ON A BED OF SPIKES One of the many practices of Hindu fakirs who seek to gain merit by enduring self-inflicted pain.
THE CAR DfTlIK (.OD ol- KORl KONDA
\\ lien the festivals are observed the idols are drawn about through the streets in procession in cars like this one.
THE SACRED HILL OF KORL^KONDA THE TEMPLE ON KORL'KONDA HILL
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-85) 217 mal training. This department was divided into two classes and was taught by three teachers, namely, J. John Henry, N. Sriramulu and N. Isaac.
Despite his special interest in the educational work Artman did not neglect the district work during Schmidt's absence on furlough. In March, 1883, he visited Korukonda at the time of the annual festival of the god Narasimham, accompanied by Pastor Joseph and a number of Christian teachers, preaching to the multitudes which congregated there on that occasion.^ 1 "Korukonda," wrote Artman, "is noted for its peculiar cone-shaped hill about 700 to 800 feet high, on the summit of which a large heathen temple has been built, which is annually made the center of a great heathen festival, the pilgrims coming from a great distance to worship the god. The steep stone steps leading up to the temple were covered with devotees going up to make their ofTerin^s of rice, fruit or money to the god, and then returning.
_ The stairway being steep and difficult of ascent, and as there are over 600 steps, it is considered a work of merit to ascend them. We found the steps lined with beggars of both sexes and all ages and descriptions, who were continually calling out to the passers-by for alms at. the top of their voices. Some charitable women dropped a few grains of rice or a few cowries (shells used in exchange, much less in value than a United States mill) into each outstretched hand or basket. About 7.30 p. M. the great heathen car of Juggernaut was pulled along the rough and crooked streets with a heavy rumbling noise as of distant thunder, amid the acclamations of the multitudes and showers of plantains, which were being hurled up at the idol in the car from all sides and greedily grabbed and stored away for sale by the fat Brahmins who were riding in the car. At the same time the dancing or nautch girls were disporting themselves in their slow, unanimated and uninteresting attempt at dancing before the car. Here and there priests in dirty red robes and tinsel ephods were going about among the poor, ignorant people and extorting money from them by various superstitious and deceitful methods. In one place we saw one of the weirdest and most fanatical scenes of the occasion. A large circle of people had been formed, within which ten or a dozen men were jumping and capering about. Several had a network of flaming fire-brands on their heads, the flames almost enveloping their heads and shoulders as they made upward leaps, and the sparks frequently fell upon their bare skin. It was the duty of the attendants in the circle, who carried brooms or dusters, to brush away the sparks from the bodies of these fire-fiends. We made our way with some difficulty to our cart and started homeward, not without admiring the illumination of the hill and temple by means of small oriental lamps of a very simple pattern, which were placed one on each end of every step and all around the temple wall. I must not forget to relate an incident which occurred to-day. John and I were standing at a corner speaking to a crowd of men who were anxious to learn something about the way of salvation, when, as is often the case, a bigoted, caste-bound and most insolent upstart, a young Brahmin, made his way into the crowd and put an end to all preaching by his vile and unreasonable remarks and sarcasm. At last, when we threatened to hand him over to the police, he went a short distance away and, mounting a slight eminence, began to blaspheme and mockingly tried to imitate our preaching and manners. At this juncture one of our old Christian women in Rev. Joseph's party came to the rescue. She walked straight up to the young brawler, and although he abused her and tried to drive her away, she stood firm and spoke so earnestly to him about Christ and his love and showed the wickedness of
2l8 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
After closing the schools for the hot season he toured in the Tallapudi district and took possession of sites for school- houses granted by the government in Guddigudem, Nandamur and Kovur.
The parochial reports at the end of the first half of the year 1883, showed that the work in the Velpur district under the direction of Pastor Paulus was making much more rapid progress than in any other district. While Pastor Joseph in the Jegurupad district reported fifty-seven baptized Chris- tians and thirty-three inquirers in twelve villages, and Rev. I. K. Poulsen in the Samulkot district, twenty-three baptisms for the whole year. Pastor Paulus reported as many as one hundred and thirty-nine baptisms during the year, one hundred and six communicants, twenty- five villages in which Christians or inquirers resided, and one hundred and seventy-seven children in thirteen village schools.^
At the annual Conference of missionaries and native agents held January 3-5, 1884, a number of important matters were discussed and decided. The Rev. I. K. Poulsen was elected chairman of the Conference. Forty persons were enrolled as members, among them two lay delegates. The question of admitting a person into the Church by Holy Baptism if he had more than one wife, was discussed and finally left to the discretion of each missionary. The motion to permit government school-inspectors to visit and examine village schools with a view to their receiving grants was defeated. C. James resigned as the Mission's Inspector of Schools, and that office was left vacant. The problem of caste was dis- his conduct so convincingly to all present as well as to the fellow himself, that he turned about and slunk away in the crowd, followed by the laughter and jeers of his companions. To-day I also saw a genuine devotee or fakir, whose method of gaining merit was in lying full-length upon the ground and propelling himself from place to place by his knees and elbows. He was attended by a little girl who looked dirty and neglected. The miserable man held a small pot in one hand to receive alms, and it was wonderful to see with what skill he managed to keep his pot upright as he rolled along without spilling its contents of rice and cowries. Is not this a heart-rending commentary on the sad and lost condition of the Hundus?"
' The total expenditure in India during the year July i , 1882, to June 30, 1883, was $7225.01, of which $3600 were for the salaries of the four missionaries, $1373.72 for the salaries of native agents, $697.65 for schools in Rajahmundry, $1307.98 for buildings and sites and $245.66 for miscellaneous expenses.
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 219 cussed, and it was resolved, as the sense of the Conference, that among Christians there can be no caste distinctions; nevertheless, in the treatment of caste people the admonition of the Lord should be observed, "Be ye as wise as serpents and harmless as doves." In the matter of self-support it was resolved that every mission agent should give one pice more, namely, four pice for every rupee of salary.
After the adjournment of the Conference the ordained mis- sionaries met as a ministerial committee, and resolved, among other things, that the district lying north of a line drawn from Polavaram to Guddigudem to the left of the Godavery River, and between Purushottapatnam and Gokavaram to the right of the river, should be regarded as the fever district (manyam), and that teachers stationed in this fever district should receive higher salary.^
The salary of a catechist was fixed at Rs. lo a month, that of a Bible woman or female teacher at Rs. 3 to 5 a month. The erection of a schoolhouse and church at Samulkot was recommended, and Poulsen was given authority to begin a boarding school for boys and girls in the Samulkot district. The missionaries requested the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council to formulate rules and regulations for the better government of the Mission.
The year 1884 proved to be the most eventful one in the history of the Mission up to that time. With Artman as acting director of the Mission, in fact though not in name, it began to assume the position of a recognized and influential factor in the hfe of Rajahmundry and its environs. The natives, unaccustomed to such zeal and activity as Artman displayed, were amazed at his untiring efforts in every department of the work. On January i, 1884, he formally organ- ized a Mission High School for Boys, beginning with seven teachers, all of whom were non-Christians, and fifty students, ten of whom were Christians and the rest Brahmins. The classes met in the bungalow opposite the church compound. Dietrich helped him to organize and conduct this school.
^ N. Timothy, B. Prakasam, K. Joseph, P. Moses and A. Samuel, graduates of Class A., Normal School, were examined and assigned work as teachers.
2 20 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Of the 74 boarding boys reported in January, 1884, 25 were supported by patrons in America, 58 lived in boarding houses on the mission compound, 6 with parents or relatives in town, and 9 were married men. Of the 28 boarding girls, 9 were supported by patrons in America. Three Sunday schools continued to support as teachers those whom they had supported as pupils in the boarding school, thus inaugurating this system of supporting native Christian workers.
Artman felt that some effort should be made to reach the Mohammedan population of the town and, therefore, began a school for Mohammedan boys on January 10, 1884, starting with thirty pupils and three teachers, all of whom were Mohammedans. Hindustani was taught instead of Telugu. In order to give it some semblance of a Christian school, Artman, Dietrich and, in their absence, J. Wilham Henry, gave an hour's instruction each day in the Old Testament. After the girls had been moved into their new boarding house and the Normal Department had been reopened, Artman spent the closing week of January in the Tallapudi district, where he visited nine villages, baptized twenty-four persons^ and confirmed three. He administered the Holy Communion to over forty persons in these villages. Some time during February he dedicated a chapel at Dowlaishwaram, which he called St. Mark's Chapel. Then for ten days he itinerated with Dietrich in the Velpur district, going as far as Narsapur.^ After the government inspection of the Rajahmundry schools by Mr. Grigg, about the middle of March, Artman and Dietrich took a trip up the Godavery River in the "Dove of Peace," going as far as the gorge. After the Easter festivaP Mr. and Mrs. Artman with their two little sons went to spend the hot season at Bimlipatam on the coast; but Artman was not content to remain idle for any length of time, so, leaving his family there, he journeyed ' Six at Sringaram, eight at Guddigudem, one at Peddahem, eight at Penakalametta and one at Tallapudi. ^ They visited Agartipalem, where sixteen persons were baptized by them; Palkole, where five were baptized; Jagganathpuram, Pennagonda, Vodal and Mallaishwaram.
' Two infants were baptized and eighty-six communed at this time.
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-85) 221 to Salur to pay a visit to Missionaries Pohl and Bothmann of the Breklum Mission. Returning by way of Vizagapatam, he got back to Rajahmundry with his family on June 14th, in time to reopen the schools after the summer vacation. Speaking of the High School he wrote: "The High School is a great and acknowledged success, and we will have no more trouble hereafter about the higher education of our most promising Christian boys. I hope the Committee will not hesitate in giving their full sanction to such an important and indispensdjle branch of mission work."
On July ist Artman wTote the following report: "To-day a new venture was commenced in the shape of a Mission Mohammedan Girls' School. This is the first time that such a school has been attempted here, but we have every reason to hope for success. The great thing needed now is a lady who will be able to devote her whole time to such schools and to zenana work, as the unmarried ladies of other Missions do." The Mohammedan Girls' School was held in the same build- ing as the Mohammedan Boys' School, which was divided by a bamboo mat, used as a partition. A Mohammedan woman was engaged to teach Hindustani, a few primary branches were taught by J. William Henry's wife, and another Christian woman taught the girls to sew. Artman undertook to raise enough money to support the Mohammedan schools without expense to the Mission. From interested friends he succeeded in getting about 11 rupees a month for the boys' school and 7 rupees and 7 annas a month for the girls' school. Moreover, the municipaUty of Rajahmundry offered a grant of Rs. 400 a year for these schools, which were estimated to cost approximately Rs. 70 a month. They failed to succeed but proved, nevertheless, to be an interesting venture.
The annual reports of the missionary, submitted on July I, 1884, showed good progress everywhere, especially in the Velpur district. The Rajahmundry district reported 170 Christians, 93 communicants, 47 inquirers and 25 baptisms for the year; the Tallapudi district, 162 Christians, 87 com- municants, 44 inquirers and 15 baptisms; the Jegurupad dis-
222 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL trict, 2x8 Christians, iii communicants and 34 inquirers; the Samulkot district, 195 Christians; the Velpur district, 360 communicants. The receipts in India during the fiscal year, from July 8, 1883 to July 8, 1884, showed a number of interesting items. English residents contributed $1 1 1 .50, and Mr. T. Van Stavern $171.68 in addition for Dowlaishwaram schools. From the sale of bricks made by Christians $67.85 were realized, and $40.44 from rents. The expenditures were as follows: Salaries of missionaries, $3700; of native agents, $1854.89; for boarding schools, $920.05; new buildings and repairs, $1422.99; miscellaneous, $632.52; a total expenditure of $8530.45-
Under Artman's zealous leadership the Mission was forging ahead rapidly, when suddenly he fell, stricken with fever, a severe loss to the work in India and to the cause in America. He had reopened all the Rajahmundry schools for the work of the second half of the year 1884, the Boys' High School with an enrollment of over two hundred pupils, and then left early in September for a short visit to the Tallapudi district of which he had charge. On his return he had an attack of fever, which he treated lightly as his "annual fever," for it seems that since his trip to Bastar he had suffered about once a year from this illness. This time, however, the symptoms became alarming. Dietrich and Poulsen were called to his bedside and found him delirious. In this condition he remained until, on September 18, 1884, his spirit returned to God who gave it. He died at the age of twenty-seven years, having been in India less than four years; but the impression which he made upon the community remained for many years and still remains, Poulsen wrote: "Our Mission, according to our short-sightedness, has sustained an irreparable loss. He had his heart fully set on his work. He had a very good knowledge of Telugu and was always willing to work and co-operate with us all. He really undertook too much and overworked himself." In America a memorial service was held on November 5th, in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., pastor. The Father Heyer
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 223 Missionary Society of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, which he had helped to organize, passed resolu- tions of respect, and money began to be raised for the build- ing of a missionary's dwelling or bungalow at Dowlaishwaram as an Artman memorial.
Just one month after Artman's death the eighth foreign missionary of the General Council began his labors at Rajahmundry. The Rev. Frederick James McCready, a Eurasian by birth, had been sent to America by Artman to prepare for the holy ministry. He took the regular three years' course at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, was graduated in 1884, and was ordained on June loth, that year, at the convention of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa. Five days afterward he was commissioned at a solemn service in the Church of the Transfiguration, Pottstown, Pa., of which the English secre- tar}^ of the Foreign Missions Committee, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., was then the pastor. He sailed from New York on August 9th, and reached Rajahmundry on October loth. Dietrich, who was given charge of the Mission with the exception of the Samulkot district, needed McCready's assistance in the educational work at Rajahmundry, and so the latter at once began to teach, daily giving three hours in Luther's Catechism, Church History and Bible Study in Telugu, and one hour in English in the Boys' Boarding School. McCready also preached Telugu in St. Paul's, Rajahmundry and In Dowlaishwaram.
After her husband's death Mrs. Artman was requested by the Foreign Missions Committee to remain at Rajahmundry and superintend the Girls' schools and the zenana work. The Committee agreed to pay her $600 a year as a salary and give her the use of the "Riverdale" bungalow until the Schmidts returned. Mrs. Artman accepted the offer and thus became the first salaried woman missionary of the Gen- eral Council in India.
Poulsen had begun a boys' boarding school at Samulkot early in the year, because he could not get the teachers he needed from the school in Rajahmundry. Those who were
2 24 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL graduated from that school, having been sent in from other districts, were not wiUing to be assigned positions in the Samulkot district; and the boys who attended school in the Samulkot district were not allowed by their parents to go as far away as Rajahmundry for further training. Nine boys and two girls were attending Poulsen's boarding school at the close of the year. On September 7th a new school and prayer-house, located in the Mala section of Samulkot and costing $235, was consecrated. Mrs. Poulsen did a little zenana work in Samulkot and taught the boarding pupils to sew; but her duties in her home prevented her from doing any regular mission work.
The success of Pastor Paulus in the Velpur district, where at the close of 1884, he had raised the number of Christians to nine hundred, had aroused the antagonism of a certain native society, calling itself the "Rama dandu." "On the Sunday after Christmas, 1884," wrote Paulus, "while we were making preparations for our morning service in Velpur, cer tain enemies of Christianity, mischievous devotees of Hindu- ism, amounting to nearly two hundred in number, came all of a sudden and fell upon me. I frightened them away somehow and escaped their hands by the grace of God. The con- spirators call themselves the army of Rama. They seek to force those whom they meet to utter the word "Govinda," which is one of the names of Krishna, their god. The con- spirators made every effort to seize me and force me to join their army. They, with much passion, uprooted the young plants and small trees, and destroyed the palmyra verandah of our church. In the afternoon they made another attempt to reach our house but were forced to go away by our friends. I wrote to the police for help and three constables were sent. Nevertheless, in the evening they made a third attempt to harm us, but the constables and some Hindu friends prevented them. They are troubling our Christians everywhere and doing all sorts of mischief. In one village they burned the Bible and some school-books at night and also destroyed the schoolhouse. In another village they destroyed some of the houses of Christians."
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 225
Pastor Joseph in the Jegurupad district ^ also had enemies with whom he was forced to contend. "For two or three years," he wrote, "the Canadian Baptists from Coconada have been against my work. They try their best to come into my villages. I know that the Gospel should be preached to sinners by the children of God from different Missions, but I guess the Baptists forget that every child of God must serve the Lord in the beauty of holiness. In a number of villages the Gospel is not yet preached. They may go and preach it there. I have sustained a great loss by the Baptists."
During the summer and fall of 1884, the Rev. and Mrs. H. C. Schmidt were doing deputation work in America, stirring up a deeper and more extensive foreign mission interest. In consultation with Schmidt the Foreign Missions Committee prepared the first Rules and Regulations of the Telugu Mis- sion, adopted February 23, 1885, and subsequently approved by the Mission. Moved by an appeal from Mrs. Schmidt, the Junior Missionary Society of Holy Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., the Rev. Dr. Greenwald pastor, contributed $400 for a mission printing-press and tjpe, and, beginning with the year 1885, the women's missionary societies of St. John's and St. Mark's churches, Philadelphia, undertook the sup- port of the Riverdale Hindu Girls' School, each' contributing one-half, or $15 a month, for this purpose.
Despite the fact that the contributions for foreign mis- sions during the year 1884 had been over $3000 more than the previous year,^ the Foreign Missions Committee was obliged in December, 1884, to borrow $1000 to pay expenses, and to issue an appeal for larger offerings.
Artman, by showing what could be accompHshed by a vigorous educational campaign in the Mission, had demon- strated the need of a missionary for the educational department alone. The Foreign Missions Committee was not pre-
1 At the end of the year 1884 he reported 250 Christians, 146 communicants 43 inquirers, 8 schools and 91 pupils.
2 The " Missionsbote " accounts continued to show good balances which were turned into the General Fund, while the accounts of "The Foreign Missionary" showed deficits which had to be met from the General Fund.
IS
226 THE TELTJGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL
pared to endorse and authorize the entire educational program which Artman had outHned and to some degree carried into effect, holding that chief stress should be laid on the evan- gehstic and pastoral work, and that the educational department should be conducted with the special view of training native Christian workers, teachers, catechists and pastors. The maintenance of schools of a higher grade, which were patronized by the non-Christian portion of the population and which had a staff of non-Christian teachers, was not regarded with favor. Some one, however, had to be secured to follow up the work which Artman had so successfully inaugurated. While Schmidt was on furlough in America he had suggested the name of WilHam Groenning, a son of the Rev. C. W. Groenning, then the Inspector of the Breklum Society. He was authorized to confer with him and, if he were willing to go to Rajahmundry, to extend a regular and formal call in the name of the Committee. Schmidt did so, and the call was officially ratified by the Committee on January 26, 1885.
At the Annual Conference of missionaries, native agents and representatives of congregations,^ held January 5 to 6, 1885, the Rev. I. K. Poulsen was re-elected president; the Rev. F. S. Dietrich, Enghsh secretary; and C. James, Telugu secretary. Dietrich had been appointed by the Foreign Missions Committee to succeed Artman as the treasurer in India. J. William Henry became the headmaster of the Boys' Boarding School. The question of starting an indus- trial school was discussed, and it was resolved that, while such a school might be of value to the Mission, the men and means needed to conduct it were lacking. The native agents had neglected voluntarily to pay 4 pice for every rupee of salary received during the year; but the Confer- ence insisted on the payment and the dues were then and there collected. It was resolved to devote the money thus raised to pay the salary of a catechist or evangelist in the ' Five lay-delegates were received as members of this Conference, namely, A. Abraham, of Mahadevipatnam; P. Samuel, of Gorlamudi; V. Daniel, of Mallaishwaram; Abraham, of Korrapadu, and Kokiri Guriah, of Ragampetta.
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 227 "fever district."^ Thus the so-called "Rampa Fund" was established. Four graduates of the Normal Department of the Boys' Boarding Schooland seven married men who had been boarding pupils were given work as teachers. It was resolved that ''as there was no longer so great an ur- gency in sending out teachers, no more married men should be entered in the school as boarders, except in very special cases." The number of boarding boys in January, 1885, was 67; of boarding girls, 23; and 31 day-pupils were enrolled in the Anglo- vernacular school in which McCready had been teaching seventeen hours a week. The Conference decided, however, that McCready could best be used in the district work, and he was assigned to the Tallapudi district and authorized to begin at once the erection of a bungalow in the town of Tallapudi.
Among the incidents of the year especially reported by the Conference was the conversion of a young caste-man, a former pupil in the High School, Vungara Sriramulu, the son of a pensioned government official, belonging to the weaver caste, who, though his relatives alternately threatened him and pleaded with him, nevertheless remained firm in his allegiance to Christianity. After serving for some time as a teacher in the Hindu Girls' School, he assisted McCready as an evan- gelist in the Tallapudi district.^
^ The "fever district" was redefined as extending from the Godavery to the Zellam River, above a line drawn from Polavaram through Gokavaram to Yellaishwaram. ^ The regular graduates that year were: A. Isaac, P. Caleb, B. Gnananandam and P. David. The married men were: P. Samuel, Daniel, P. Benjamin, K. Philip, V. Samuel, K. Venkataswami and G. John. ^ "This young man," wrote McCready, on April 2, 1885, "spent last Saturday with me and toward evening expressed his willingness to take up his cross and follow Christ, braving all the trials such persons become subject to on embracing Christianity. I communicated his wish to Rev. Poulsen who was here at the time on a visit. We decided to act at once. While I was away seeking the assistance of the police to protect him, Mr. Poulsen, in the presence of a few Christians, baptized him in my study in Riverdale bungalow. Two policemen were ordered to guard our house and prevent any disturbance. We were permitted to rest in peace that night. The news did not spread and his relatives did not know of his conversion until he informed them by letter. ... At length, in the company of a policeman, we visited his father's house. The object of this visit was to seek a pubHc interview with his wife. She refused to accompany him, being under the influence of her parents. His child they would not give up. Having satisfied ourselves that she would not for the present join
After the death of their baby, born shortly before the death of Artman, Mrs. Artman decided to return to America. She wrote: "It is with much sorrow that I leave India and the work here, for it has been a happy home to me for more than four years. It is painful to leave when I think that I must go when laborers are so much needed. After much prayer, however, this seems the only way, and all the missionaries agree with me." She left Madras with her two remaining children on May 4th, and arrived in Philadelphia on June 25, 1885. The furlough of the Schmidts lasted over two years. On August 9, 1885, they were back in Rajahmundry, having left their daughter, Dagmar, in Denmark to receive her educa- tion. Eleven days after their arrival Captain C. Taylor, a consistent friend of the Mission, who every year contributed toward its support, died at the advanced age of nearly eighty us, we returned home. Some days thereafter Sriramulu's brother who made believe he was working in our behalf, came and begged that our convert be allowed to go home and intercede with his wife. Rev. Poulsen and I accompanied him, not suspecting anything. We were treated cordially, the father especially being very respectful. An hour passed away in conversation. We then hinted that it was time to take leave. Word was sent to the back part of the house where Sriramulu was talking to his wife and mother. We were told that if we were in a hurry we should not wait for him; he would follow us at 3 o'clock. We were alarmed by this announcement. In the meantime the courtyard of the house was being thronged by men. The truth dawned on us that he was in danger. We had fallen into a trap. I immediately ran in the direction in which the crowd was moving. They crowded around the door at the back of the house. I pushed my way through and reached the door. A large padlock was on it. Sriramulu was locked in. I lifted the Venetian blinds and could discern a figure sitting with several females embracing him. I called his name. He answered me. I asked him if he were there of his own choice, and if he wished to remain. He answered in English: 'I am a prisoner; my wife and others have hold of me. I wish to be free to follow you.' The question was asked several times and he always answered the same. Mr. Poulsen went for the police. I remained behind. As soon as he left the mob turned on me and with anger in their eyes ordered me to leave the premises. I declined to do so until requested by the master of the house. He befriended me, quieted the mob and, rising from his sick-bed, begged that if Sriramulu wished to go, he should be set free. They would not hear him. The trial was a hard one for Sriramulu, but the pleadings of wife, mother, brother and friends could not change him. They wept, promised, threatened; but all endeavors to keep him from Christ were futile. I thank God for the strength given him during these hours of trial. He was released. The crowd followed us with hisses and curses. This man in taking up his cross gave up all dear ones, friends, property, worldly standing, everything, and followed Christ. At his request I cut his hair short or, rather , removed the Hindu top-knot."
RELIGIOUS BATHING IN THE GOD.W'ERV RINER
The Godavery is one of the twelve sacred streams of India. Every twelve years, therefore, multitudes from all parts of India come to bathe in its waters to wash away their guilt. The festival of bathing is called Pushkaram.
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THE BRIDGE OVER THE GODAVERY RIVER AT RAJAHMUNDRY There are fifty-five solid masonry piers, fifty-six spans of steel girders, forming a bridge a mile and a half long.
LOADIXC A RADARI I'.OAT WITH KICK HAGS 1
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883-8 5) 229 years, having lived in India without interruption for sixty years.
After the return of Schmidt the Mission was redistricted. Schmidt took charge of the work in Rajahmundry except the schools, which were given to Dietrich, who also preached at Dowlaishwaram. The Velpur district, with N. Paulus as pastor in charge, was placed under the general oversight of Schmidt; the Jegurupad district, with Pastor Joseph in charge, under the general oversight of Dietrich. McCready took the Tallapudi district and Poulsen the Samulkot district.
Dietrich did good work at Dowlaishwaram. He preached there every Sunday or sent a catechist as his substitute. The congregation, at the close of the year 1885, numbered eighteen communicant members, and during the year eleven persons had been baptized. The school enrolled thirty pupils. Luth- er's Small Catechism, reading, writing, arithmetic and singing were taught, the older and more advanced pupils receiving some instruction also in geography and history. Evangelistic work was done during the week in the Mala section of the town. While in the other districts the majority of the converts were Malas, those in the Tallapudi district were mostly Madigas. "To the pariahs, the Chucklers," wrote McCready, "and other people of low caste and no caste the Gospel is a welcome message. They are simple and uneducated people. The women join the men in the audiences. Most, if not all, of the converts come from these classes, hence we work chiefly among them. Few Christians in the Tallapudi dis- trict are Malas. We have Mala Christians only in two vil- lages. This is to be accounted for in this way: When Chris- tianity first enters a place, should those who first embrace it be of the Mala caste, which is one of the lowest castes, others still lower will join us; but should the first converts be Chucklers, the Malas keep aloof." Concerning the character of the new converts he wrote: 'Tt is a sad fact that there is a lack of piety among the people. In the hour of trial they are weak. When temptations come they surrender without a struggle. Many bad habits, such as drinking, falsehood, getting into
230 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL debt, spending their earnings thoughtlessly and uncleanness in their personal and household life, are common. Having abandoned heathenism they have left much behind them as overcome, but much still remains to be conquered." McCready followed the practice in the Mission not to baptize an adult until the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Lord's Prayer had been learned. "Many in their old age," he said, "learn some hymns. The young people can sing the 'Gloria in Excelsis.' The order of the service has become very familiar to them. The services, consequently, grow more interesting to them and more orderly." He introduced a Sunday school at Tallapudi, induced the Christians to give a day's wages every year for the building fund of the Christian Inn proposed for Rajahmundry, and encouraged the children to spend their Saturdays at work earning something for the Mission. Every Monday, being market day, he and his cate- chist or a teacher preached in the market-place. Thirty-one persons were baptized during 1885, raising the total number of Christians in the district to 172, of whom 68 were communi- cants.^
In St. Paul's, Rajahmundry, Schmidt preached Telugu, assisted by P. V. Ratnam and C. James. The English ser- vices and Sunday school were discontinued. An unsuccessful attempt was made to introduce a church council or Panchayet. The time for self-government had not yet come. The number of communicants at the close of the year 1885 was 94. An evangelist was engaged for the district north of Rajahmundry, called the Korukonda district. In the Velpur, Jegurupad and Samulkot districts the work was slowly progress- ing, the number of communicants at the close of the year being respectively 325, 117 and 37.- The total number of baptisms in all districts during the year was 311; the total number of ' In the largest congregation, Tallapudi, there were 46 Christians and 20 communicants; in Pcddahcm, t,;^ Christians; in Nandnmur, 14 Christians; in Tutigunta, 18 Christians, and in Guddigudcm, 35 Christians. In five village schools 29 pupils were enrolled. ^Pastor Paulus reported 211 baptisms for the year, 40 villages in which Christians resided and about 300 pupils in school. Pastor Joseph reported 16 ^'iIlages, 289 Christians and 68 pupils in eight schools. Rev. I. K. Poulscn reported 25 baptisms, 147 Christians, 84 pupils and 13 teachers.
BETTER ADMINISTRATION ( 1 883 -85) 23 baptisms in the Mission from January i, 1880, to December 31, 1885, was reported to have been 1705. The report of the Foreign Missions Committee to the Eighteenth Convention of the General Council, held in Phila- delphia, October 15-21, 1885, included the recommendation that for the better government of the Mission the Rules and Regulations, after their adoption by the General Council, should go into effect on January i, 1886. Another recommendation was that more laymen be added to the Committee. "There would be a great gain to the work entrusted to us," is the language used, "if we were given the presence, counsel, practical tact and hearty interest of a number of prudent, devoted, earnest laymen. There are now but three laymen on the Committee, and even these are scarcely ever able to attend. Would it not be well to seek out men of the kind desired, who have such command of their time as to enable them to give one day each month to this work?" As a consequence the Committee was given power to add six laymen to its membership. The former committee was reappointed, with the exception of the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., who was succeeded by the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D. The Rev. F. Wischan was elected the Committee's German secretary in the place of the Rev. H. Grahn. Otherwise the officers remained the same.
Under the head of "missionary organizations in the con- gregations" the Committee sanely remarked: "The General Council has expressed its conviction that the Church, as an individual congregation or as a combination of congregations, is the proper agency through which the mission work should be done, enlarged and directed; but within the congregation it is often found of great advantage that the mission work should engage the special attention of organizations. Sometimes the Sunday school takes up the work; sometimes mis- sionary societies are formed. Sometimes these associations are of young people; sometimes of women; sometimes all kinds may be found. The congregations which have shown the greatest interest in missions and wherein that interest has endured longest and been most constant, have such associations."
A large part of the Committee's report was devoted to a dis- cussion of the educational work of the Mission, especially to the Committee's attitude toward the Hindu High School organized by Artman. The Committee had requested him to furnish full information concerning it, but before he could comply death had claimed him. Then, in November, 1884, the Committee had resolved to abandon the enterprise. The missionaries were forbidden to teach in this school and were directed to send such Christian boys as were capable of higher education to the Government High School at Rajahmundry. The thorough and careful training of native workers in Biblical knowledge was emphasized. All the missionaries, however, except Poulsen urged that the Mission High School be continued. The Committee then advanced four reasons for abandoning it: "i. We have not a sufficient force of men at Rajahmundry to allow that their time should be occupied with this work. 2. It is not desirable to maintain a school in which the whole staff of teachers is non-Christian." "If the Christian influence of the school were the controlling one," said the Committee, "our views might be different; but with only one hour a day given to it by a mission- ary, while the corps of teachers is heathen, we feel very doubtful of the Christian influence of the school." 3. The maintenance of such a High School, it was claimed, would place the Mission in opposition to the Government school, and array the English officials and their influence against the Mission. 4. The school threatened to become an expensive undertaking. "Instead of being self-supporting, as Mr. Artman first believed it would, it cost, beyond its receipts for the first year, $500, although occupying our mission house gratis."
Considerable correspondence passed between the Mission and the Committee concerning this school. Dietrich and McCready wrote long letters. They asserted that the school was a necessity, that no successful Mission was without such a school, and that it was the only agency by which Brahmins and high castes could be reached and influenced. Before reaching a final decision the Committee, in September, 1885, passed the following resolutions:
BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 233 "Resolved, i. That as the care of the schools at Rajahmundry has been assigned to Rev. Mr. Groenning, he be requested very carefully to examine into the whole school system at Rajahmundry, and, after full consultation with the other missionaries, propose a plan for the school S3^stem in all branches, but especially with reference to the Hindu High School, the Mohammedan Schools and the Caste Girls' School, and their relation to the Mission.
"2. That this plan when prepared shall be submitted to the Mission Council, and, after full consideration, an opportunity be given the several missionaries to send their views to the Committee.
"3. That until the submission of such a plan and action on it by the Committee, the missionaries may continue to give religious instruction in both the Hindu High School and the Mohammedan School, and that the High School may occupy the mission house in which it is now located, unless it should be needed for the use of our missionaries; but that no other expense of these schools be borne by our treasury." The financial argument of the Committee was all the more emphatic because the Committee was forced in December, 1885, to make a special appeal for contributions to wipe out an accumulated indebtedness of $2500.