Part II, Chapter XV — Dissension in the Mission (1896-99)
PoHL was busily engaged during the year 1896 in the erec- tion of the TadepaUigudem bungalow and chapel. In September he finished the latter and occupied it temporarily with his family as a dwelling. On one of the last Sundays in February, 1899, while Miss Sadtler was on a visit to TadepaUigudem, the first service was held in the chapel. "Building is slow in India," she wrote, "especially as our missionaries have usually had the bricks and tiles burned, the logs sawed and then made into doors and windows under their personal supervision. This was the case with Mr. Pohl. When work was first begun on the site he sometimes lived in a small boat which he had fitted up, and later he slept in a shed with a palmyra-leaf roof. Still later he occupied the church which was the first building finished. During my recent visit Mr. and Mrs. Pohl and their children were living there. While the necessary supervision of the work went on, the Christians of neighboring villages were visited. It was odd to see the in- genious contrivances which were made to answer the purpose of necessary furniture. The box, for instance, in which the church bell came from Philadelphia, was converted into a table. During my visit we were only one day in the church, when Mr. Pohl proposed that we move to the kitchen. We moved Saturday afternoon and took possession of the three small rooms in it. . . . The new bungalow is conveniently arranged, differing from most houses in having gothic arches above the windows and on the verandahs, which greatly add to its appearance. The iron trusses which support the roof have just been placed, and as soon as the necessary carpenter work is done the tiles can be laid. After we moved from the church it was all cleaned and prepared for the service next day. Mr. Pohl had just had the altar, made of teak wood with
3l6 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL carving on it, brought from Rajahmundry. This was put in its place. On Sunday morning the new bell from Philadelphia, which has a clear, pleasing ring, called the people from Tadepalligudem and a neighboring village to service. A few benches were put in the rear and so placed as to allow room for the school-children and women, who prefer sitting on the floor. The altar cloth sent by Miss Emma Endhch was used, and Mr. Pohl wore the gown. A white gown is used during the hot season. It was the first service at which all was in order. The Telugu Church Book was used, the carpenter boys from Rajahmundry rendering good assistance in the singing. Mr. Pohl spoke to the congregation in the form of a catechisation, as this method suited the comprehension of the people better than a regular sermon. The church was well filled with Christians, and he made the parable of the sower very plain to them. At three o'clock he held a Sunday school for the children. At 4.30 p. m. I accompanied him to Pentapad, four of our Christian carpenters going with us. Reaching the place, we walked through the bazaar or market place, where grain, tobacco, cloths and other materials were for sale. Tracts, Telugu and English, were given to the people who could read and would take them. Mr. Pohl, the Christian boys and I, seated on a chair, were soon hid from view by the crowd of men and boys who listened to the singing of our h}TTins, and Mr. Pohl spoke earnestly to them. There was no disturbance. Occasionally questions were asked. It was quite dark when we again reached the house. At eight o'clock in the evening Mr. Pohl again held a service in the church, some Christians from a distant village being able to come then better than in the morning. After church, at 9.45 p. m., while we were seated in the house conversing, half a dozen men came to talk to Mr. Pohl about religion. He took a chair and a candle and went into the unfinished bungalow and talked with them until nearly eleven o'clock. They were earnest inquirers and wanted a teacher to be sent to their village, but their request could not be granted because, at present, instructions from the Board tell us not to undertake any new work. Do you not call this a full Sunday's work?"
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 317
The Board and the Mission entertained the hope that Pohl would be allowed to remain indefinitely or, at least, long enough to complete the building operations at Tadepalligudem; but the Schleswig-Holstein Mission Society, after having given notice a number of times of its desire to recall him, insisted, in 1897, that he should withdraw from the Rajahmundry Mission; and in August, that year, he left the
field to go to Parvatipur, Vizagapatam district, a station in
the Breklum Mission. In its report to the General Council
in 1897 the Board bore him the following testimony: "His seven years of labor before he came to our Mission gave him an experience that made him a valuable and efficient mission-
ary, and his fidelity to his calling and his Lord secured for his P^ labors a blessing from God that none could fail to recognize^" k JJ,^ J, |V»UL Toward the close of the year 1895 Baehnisch was granted a six months' leave of absence in order to take his wife back to Germany, in the hope that her impaired health would be
restored; but while in Germany he resigned and his resigna-
tion was accepted to take effect on January 31, 1897.
Mrs. Kuder, on account of weakness and desirous of providing for the education of the elder children, came to the
United States in the spring of 1896, and, after having made arrangements for their care and education, returned to India with a child who had been born in Virginia, in October, 1897.
To take the places of Pohl and Baehnisch the Board called Mueller and Holler, neither of whom, however, remained in
the Mission long enough to render any lasting service.
Rev. Edward Hans Mueller was born at Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, and received his preparatory training in Germany. He was called by the Board while still a student at the Theo-
logical Seminary in Philadelphia, in 1896, was ordained that year at the meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in St. John's Church, Allentown, Pa., was commissioned June 3, 1896, in St. Michael's Church of the same city, and sailed
directly afterward for Germany, where during the summer he took a short course in medicine at Strassburg, and mar-
ried. He reached Rajahmundry early in October, 1896, Hved and studied Telugu at Samulkot and then at Tadepalli-
3l8 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL gudem, and after having passed his final examination in Telugu at the end of his second year, he assumed independ- ent charge of the TadepalHgudem district, and continued to look after its interests until his resignation in 1899. Rev. Peter Holler, pastor of a congregation at Schuyler, Neb., was called by the Board at its meeting on August 30, 1897. He was commissioned on October 5th, in St. Michael's Church, Germantown, Pa., sailed the next day, and arrived at Rajahmundry on December 21, 1897. He was the first mis- sionary to take his Telugu examination before a committee of the South India Missionary Association. After the return of Kuder to the United States in 1898, he was associated with Dr. Schmidt in the care of the Boys' Boarding School. He resigned on June 14, 1901, and his relation to the Board terminated a month and a half later.
Miss Kate L. Sadtler returned to the Mission in 1896, and reaching Rajahmundry on November 12th, she resumed charge of the Hindu Girls' School in the Riverdale compound and assisted in the zenana work, until she finally left the field March 15, 1902, to come to the United States and care for her mother in her declining years. Just before leaving Rajahmundry she furnished the following review of her work as a foreign missionary: "The Caste Girls' School was started by Mrs. Schmidt in 1882 with four scholars. ... I was given charge of the school in July, 1891. Many girls have entered and left in the twenty years since it was opened. There have been even more changes than there would be at home, for in India girls are not, as a rule, allowed to remain in school after they are considered grown, that is, after twelve years of age. ... In October, 1893, I opened a Sunday school for the girls, which, except during my absence in America from 1895 to 1896, has continued uninterruptedly. ... I have formed a number of classes in the homes of former pupils of the school. I have always found them delighted to sing the Christian lyrics learned in school and to continue the Bible lessons. I find it very hard to leave many of these former school girls, now married women with children of their own, as I am attached to them and they to me. I also think some
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 319 of them believe in Christ as their Saviour but have not the courage to confess Him before men. ... It was eleven years ago last December since I came to India. ... I find that my first zenana classes were formed in June, 1893. I began with three classes. The first of all was among some Sudra girls who had been pupils in the school, and I still teach them. There have been changes, but two of the young women are those with whom I started. They are married now and have children but still wish to be taught. Another class was composed of four Brahmin women, the wives of professors in the Government College here. The husbands asked me to come and teach their wives. When we began zenana work, not having so many classes, we also taught, after the Bible lesson, some fancy work. As the classes multiphed I could no longer, as at first, give an afternoon to a class, and the fancy work had to be discontinued. I have now twenty-four classes to attend to in five afternoons, and either teaching Bible lessons or singing Telugu hymns from 2 o'clock to half past five is very tiresome, but when the women are interested one forgets the fatigue. Since Miss Swenson left for America, now two years ago this month, I have had the oversight of all the zenana work. Ruth, Pastor Joseph's widow, is employed as a Bible-woman. Miss Dagmar Schmidt very kindly came to my assistance and took a number of Miss Swenson's classes, to which she has added many new ones. She does the teaching in the zenanas gratuitously for the love of the work. I regret greatly that circumstances should have arisen that call us both away from the work at the same time. Owing to Miss Strempfer's longcontinued illness, she is unable to take charge of the zenana work at present. If Miss Schade, who has agreed to give the work oversight until Miss Strempfer is better, is successful in finding Bible-women, the work m^ay be continued; otherwise, I fear, many classes will have to be dropped. We have now eighty-nine houses in which 290 pupils are taught. I have six classes in Dowlaishwaram, where I drive every Wednesday afternoon, leaving here at one o'clock and returning at six. These, I fear, will have to be dropped. . . . When the first trying years in which you can only study Telugu and feel
320 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL that you are not very useful, are passed, the work grows increasingly interesting. It is with regret that I leave India and the zenana work, for I am greatly attached to some of my women and girls, but I am called home for reasons which I cannot disregard. I have taught these women and prayed for them. I must now leave them in God's hands. If He will, He can cause the seed planted and watered to spring up and bear fruit. I may see them no more on earth; may God grant that I may see some of them in heaven!"
Miss Charlotte Swenson was associated with Miss Sadtler in the zenana work from November, 1896, until she left the field in February, 1900, on account of ill health. During the hot season in May and June the missionaries usually take a vacation of six weeks on che hills, for which the Board grants an allowance.^ The most popular summer resorts for missionaries are Waltair, Kodaikanal on the Pulney Hills, and Kotagiri on the Nilgiri Hills. Miss Swen- son and Miss Sadtler spent the hot season of 1899 at Kodai- kanal, and Miss Sadtler furnished the following interesting description of the journey to that resort: "We are fortunate in now having a short route to Madras, only twenty-four hours by rail. From there we continued southward from Madras about 350 miles, where our railroad journey ended. Then we rode for 30 miles by bullock bandy. ^ Straw is put in the cart, over which we spread our rugs and lie down. The jolting makes man)^ people sea-sick. Starting at 4.30 p. m., we reached the foot of the Ghats at 2.30 a. m. There at a dak-bungalow we had lunch, previously ordered, and after putting on heavier clothing we started at 4.30 a. m. by starlight to ascend the Ghats, a distance of 12 miles. The ascent is made on a pony or by being carried in a chair to which poles are attached, the poles resting on the shoulders of the bearers. I chose a chair which broke when I was half-way up the mountain and had to be tied together with ropes, after which I felt uneasy, especially on the steep ascents. However, I reached our cottage safely at 10.30 a. m. It is beautifully situated on the
^ Rs. 75 for an adult and Rs. 25 for a child.
* A "bandy" is a cart with or without springs; any vehicle.
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 32 brow of a hill, with a fine view of the valley and surrounding hills. Sometimes we are far above the clouds which fill the valley with a billowy, fleecy effect like high banks of snow. The air is bracing and cool, the thermometer ranging from 58 to 72 degrees above zero."
Besides the recreation afforded at the summer resort, there are many conferences and meetings of missionaries, which always prove to be helpful and inspiring. The weeks spent at these resorts are both a physical and spiritual refreshment to the tired missionaries, who return to their work on the plains with new vigor and interest. Several Missions have pur- chased property and erected cottages at Kodaikanal and Kotagiri for their missionaries.^
Closely associated with the zenana work is the medical work for women and children, and the beginning of such work in our Mission was made during the period under review in this chapter, by the sending out of Dr. Lydia Woerner.
Dr. Lydia Woerner, a daughter of the Rev. Gottlob Fried- erich Woerner and Friederica, nee Woern, was born at Spring Station, Tex., while her father served a congregation at that place. The family afterward moved to Roxboro, a suburb of Philadelphia. She studied medicine at the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, for three years at the expense of the Women's Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and was graduated in 1899. The Board called her to go to India that year as the first medical missionary of the General Council, pledging itself to establish a Dispensary and a Hospital in Rajahmundry for women and children. Dr. Woerner was commissioned for her work on Friday evening, October 13, 1899, in St. John's English Lutheran Church, Phialdelphia, sailed from New York four days later and arrived at Rajahmundry on November 29th, having taken the overland route from Bombay. She applied herself to the study of Telugu, spent ^ In 191 2 Mrs. J. H. Harpster donated a choice building site at Kotagiri to the Boards of the General Council and of the General Synod, giving each onehalf or about an acre. The bungalows erected on this site are memorials to Dr. Harpster. The funds for the bungalows of the General Council's missionaries were secured through Mrs. F. A. Kaehler's activity from women's missionary societies throughout America.
322 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL some time at Guntur, took Miss Schade's place as manager of the Girls' Boarding School while the latter was on furlough in 1901, and began the medical mission work in Rajahmundry. Before taking her first furlough^ Miss Schade was able to complete the erection of new and adequate buildings for her boarding school for girls, which in 1897 enrolled fifty Christian boarders, twenty-three Christian day pupils and twenty Hindu day pupils. In December, 1896, a site of four acres was secured from the Government through Mr. Brodie, the Collector of the District, as a grant, by merely paying for the trees which grew on the lots. Miss Schade contributed from her private purse sufficient funds to build the main school building, and the Board appropriated Rs. 8100 ($2700)^ for the dormitory building. McCready supervised the building operations. The corner-stone of the Dormitory was laid April 22, 1898, and that of the main school building July 13th of the same year. On October 31, 1898, Miss Schade and her pupils moved into the new dormitory. Miss Schade described the occupation of the building as follows: "All arrangements having been previously made, we started out in procession seventy-five strong, each child taking her belongings with her. In two hours we were quite settled and ready for the dedication service. The missionaries present at the station and many of the native Christian attended. First we assembled on the west verandah and the blessing of God was invoked upon the children who were to occup}^ the rooms. We next proceeded to the prayer-room where an interesting little service was held. A few addresses were made, and then one of the girls, after rehearsing some of the difficulties encountered during the time of building, thanked Rev. Mr. McCready in behalf of all the girls for his great interest in the school and his untiring labors in erecting this building for them. We next went to the well, the kitchen, the work- ' Miss Schade remained in India ten years and three months before taking her first furlough which lasted only eight months. In Sept., 1896, the Board passed a rule making the term of service for woman missionaries five years. It has since been lengthened to six years. ^ Besides the Board's appropriation, Miss Swenson contributed Rs. 500; Miss Sadtler, Rs. 200, and Rev. Isaacson, Rs. 20, making a total of Rs. 8820 (or $2940) contributed and used for this building.
MAIN Ki:ifJ)].\(; OF THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL AT RAJAHMUNDRY DORAirroRIES OF THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY
A (iROL'P OF .MISSION.\R1KS
K. I'ohl
Dagmar Schmidt 11. E. Isaacson
I\Ii-s. E. Fc.lil Mr
^. H. C. Schmidt II. C. Schmidt Mrs. II. K. Isaacson Sister Pnhl Kate L. Sadtlcr TllK WKI.I. l.\ Till': (O.Ml'OUXI) OF illl-: OIULS' R.\T.\HMrxi)m'
t F.\TR.\L SCHOOL
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 323 room and the sick-room, and in every place appropriate prayers were offered. Finally, we reached the rooms of the zenana sister in charge, and there a very fervent prayer was offered for her who was to teach and guide all those who for a longer or shorter period of time would find their home within these walls. After a prayer at the gateway this simple and pleasing service was brought to a close with the Lord's Prayer, the doxology and the benediction."
The main school building was completed and occupied on June 18, 1899. The estimate for this building was Rs. 5700 ($1900), of which the government gave Rs. 1900 as a building grant, so that it cost Miss Schade about $1300.
Despite the commendable progress which was made in India the Board found itself unable to finance the work ade- quately on account of a lack of income. In September, 1896, it became necessary to negotiate a loan of $3000 from the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia on a note endorsed by the Rev. William Ashmead Schaef- fer and WilHam H. Staake, Esq. A special appeal for larger contributions was pubhshed in the church and missionary journals, and the General Council at Erie, Pa., in 1897, re- solved to urge the synods to raise $50,000 a year for the next two years. These efforts, however, failed utterly, and the next two years actually showed a decrease of income.^ By strict economy, however, the Board was able to Hquidate its indebtedness in 1899. It was exercised in two directions, namely: first, in a systematic reduction of the estimates for the regular work of the Mission and in stringent orders to the missionaries not to begin any new work; and, secondly, in dispensing with the full services of the Missionary Superin- tendent, the Rev. J. Telleen, who voluntarily withdrew to take charge of a congregation in Chicago during the year 1897, giving only a part of his time and attention to the Board on a greatly reduced salary. He again resumed his work in full ^The income for the biennium 1897-99 was $39,476.64, as compared with $41 ,051 .1 2 for the previous two years. While the report of the treasurer in 1897 showed receipts of $1333.33 from the proceeds of the German and English publications of the Board of Publication, no such receipts are recorded in the treasurer's report of 1899. This to some extent accounts for the reduced income.
324 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL on June i, 1898. On this subject the Board reported to the General Council in 1899, as follows: "To keep the subject before the people is the idea of the Board as well as of the General Council, and this can only be done by having a man constantly employed, as Mr. Telleen is at present, in visiting synods, conferences, missionary conventions, Luther leagues, congregations and individuals in the interest of the work. The activity and intelUgent zeal of our Superintendent, who has headquarters both at Rock Island and Chicago, have been put to good service in the effort to increase the interest of the Church in the work of bringing the heathen to the knowledge of Christ Jesus."
A number of important changes occurred in the Board during the period under review in this chapter. The Board sustained a decided loss in the death of its President, the Rev. Professor Charles W. Schaeffer, D. D., on May 15, 1896. He had served as a member of the Board since August, 1880, a period of almost sixteen years, and had been its President since September, 1892. The Rev. H. Grahn was elected his successor on May 11, 1896.
The Rev. E. H. Pohle was elected the German Secretary of the Board June 12, 1896, succeeding Dr. Grahn in that office, but he resigned a year and a half later, Mr. Conrad Itter becoming his successor. Mr. J. Washington Miller, of Philadelphia, an efficient lay member of the Board, who served since the beginning of 1887, died in March, 1900, the Board paying him a just tribute for his service. Quite a change was made in the membership of the Board by the General Council at Erie, Pa., in 1897, when it was resolved that the Board should consist of eight clergymen and eight laymen. As a result the following new members were elected: Messrs. Albert Gettinger, Conrad Itter, J. A. Bremer, F. Veit, George W. March and Henry S. Cassel, taking the places of the Revs. E. Niedecker, J. F. C. Fluck, S. A. Ziegenfuss, J. J. Heischmann, and C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., deceased. Those who remained in the Board were the Revs. Carl A. Blomgren, E. H. Pohle, E. R. Cassaday, F. W. Weiskotten, W. A. Schaeffer, J. L. Sibole, E. E. Sibole, H. Grahn, and
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 325 Messrs. J. W. Miller and W. H. Staake. Mr. L. Heist was elected by the Board in the stead of Mr. Cassel, who declined to serve. In 1899 ^^e General Council elected Mr. Chas. A. Smith in the place of Mr. F. Veit and the Rev. L. G. Abraham- son, D. D., in the place of the Rev. August Fischer, who had filled the unexpired term of the Rev. E. H. Pohle. To fill the vacancy created by the death of Mr. J. W. Miller, Mr. Chas. B. Opp was elected by the Board, and when the Rev. J. L. Sibole resigned in September, 1900, the Rev. S. A. Ziegenfuss was restored to membership in the Board.
Pastor N. Paulus died May 25, 1897, and less than two years later, on Palm Sunday, March 26, 1899, Pastor T. Joseph also fell asleep in Jesus. Concerning Pastor Paulus Dr. Schmidt wrote: "He was a remarkable man and one of the most influential native pastors in these parts of India. He dated from olden times when education was at a low ebb in India, especially among his class of people. He could not write English well enough to compose glorious reports, else the missionary journals would have printed them and not forgotten to record that this native pastor in little more than eighteen years baptized close to five thousand persons, not to speak of other ministerial acts. . . . He was a good speaker, had a powerful voice, and his language was plain and easily understood, even by the most ignorant. The secret of his success was his love for the people, even the poorest. He worked with great self-denial and to his end never grew tired of seeking the lost. He would go to the Mala quarters and preach to them, and when they were friendly he would go into one of their houses, put up with them for the night, sit on their cot and tell them of God's wonderful plan of salvation. That was his mode of working even after his ordination and to his very end. Pastor Paulus never was discouraged in his work and often said, *It is only a question of time. They will all come. We must only wait a little.' For eight years he worked under me as a catechist, and when he was ordained at Christmas, 1878, he took charge of a large part of my field, where I considered him as the pastor loci. Although it remained part of my work and I came twice a year to visit the Christian villages, examine the schools and congregations, still I never performed ministerial acts or interfered with his work, except as supervisor. He always consulted me on important matters, and he never did anything without my consent. He managed the work remark- ably well and showed as much sound judgment as if he had grown up in congregational work at home. He paid all the teachers and preachers, between fifty and sixty of them, and looked after buildings and repairs. I always found that he got more help and labor out of the Christians than a mis- sionary could have done. But he was principally an evan- gelist and understood how to bring the people into the Church."
Pastor T. Joseph's health for some time before his death was such as to interfere with his activity. For years he was almost blind. Still his ministry was abundantly blessed up to the last, and he preached the Sunday before his death. After his death Dr. Schmidt wrote: "Oh, that we had more such native pastors! When we see so many missionaries leave on account of ill health and for other reasons, we cannot but pray that the vacancies caused by the deaths of these native ministers may be filled soon, and that we may get even more of them to look after the growing con- gregations."
For the better administration of the Mission a revised set of Rules and Regulations, which had been worked out by the Board while Dr. Schmidt was on furlough in the United States, was adopted and published in 1895. Under these Rules the Mission Council in India, composed of all missionaries, women as well as men, who had been placed "in charge of mission work," constituted the governing body, "the executive com- mittee of the Board on the mission field." Through official correspondence between this Council and the Board the mission work was to be regulated; but unfortunately several of the missionaries wrote private letters to certain members of the Board, and these letters were sometimes read to the Board and made the basis of its action. The inevitable result was dissension among the missionaries, which came to a head
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 327 in connection with the ordination of J. William Garu;^ but it is due Mr. WiUiam to state that he was the innocent cause of the trouble. It was not his fitness for the holy office, but the manner in which his ordination was effected, that was in question.
After the death of Pastor Paulus the need of ordaining some one to take his place in the Bhimawaram district was strongly urged by Dr. Schmidt. The first native worker suggested for this high honor was P. V. Ratnam, who, how- ever, just at this time withdrew from the Mission and went over to the Church Missionary Society.- At a meeting of the ordained missionaries held at Dr. Schmidt's residence, "Riverdale," in October, 1897, it was moved to hcense J. William to perform marriages rather than to ordain him at once. Three of the missionaries voted for this motion and three against it. In due form and order this meeting and its action was reported to the Board; but in private letters two of the missionaries urged the immediate ordi- nation of J. William. The Board decided to have him ordained and, after having obtained the authorization of the President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, directed the officers of the Mission Council in India to perform the act of ordination. This action of the Board was taken on January 24, 1898. The officers of the Mission Council, Kuder and McCready, joined by Arps and Mueller, thereupon wrote to the Board, explain- ing that the Mission Council, as such, had not yet acted on the question of ordination, and that the only question then before it was that of licensing to perform marriages. However, when the Mission Council again met, in April, 1898, the ques- tion of the ordination of J. William was formally presented and debated, and the final vote stood two for the motion to recommend for ordination and three against it. Schmidt, who was absent from this meeting, was known to favor the ordina- tion, and as a matter of courtesy his vote was recorded in the affirmative. The officers of the Mission Council now declared themselves ready to ordain J. WilUam, if the Board so ordered;
^"Garu" signifies Mr.
^ Subsequently he ret umed and was ordained at Rajahmundry.
but instead of renewing its former action, it rescinded it, at a meeting held May 23, 1898, and authorized and instructed Schmidt and Isaacson ''to ordain J. Wilham to the office of the holy ministry, said ordination to take place in the presence of the missionaries or at such time and place as the circum- stances of the case may demand." It was this order of the Board that led to the resignation of four of its missionaries, Kuder, McCready, Mueller and Arps, who resented the Board's nullification of the constituted authority in the Mission.
Kuder, who had not been well for some time, left Rajahmundry on November i, 1898, and returned with his family to the United States. He sought and obtained an audience with the Board at its meeting on January 16, 1899. The Board, however, refused to hear him concerning the matter in question between the Board and four of its missionaries, whereupon Kuder handed over the written resignations in his charge. Arps meanwhile had written to the Board, asking that his signature to the paper presented by Kuder be erased, and that his resignation be withdrawn.
Jeriprolu William was ordained, as ordered by the Board, on January 8, 1899, by Dr. Schmidt and Rev. Mr. Isaacson, assisted by the Revs. P. Holler and E. Pohl. He was forty years old when he was ordained, having been born at Guntur in 1859.
At a special meeting of the Board, on January 30, 1899, the resignation of Kuder was accepted to take effect on Decem- ber ist, that year, with sick-leave allowance of one-half salary and with permission to deliver addresses in America in the interest of foreign missions under a special financial arrangement with the pastors of congregations inviting him. Mc- Cready's and Mueller's resignations were also accepted to take effect on April i, 1899. At its meeting on February 26th, that year, the Board resolved to cut the Gordian knot by suspending the Mission Council in India, and the notification of its suspension was cabled to the Mission.
This most unfortunate state of affairs was reported in full by the Board to the General Council at Chicago, in 1899,
DISSENSION IN THE MISSION ( 1 896-99) 329 which resolved to direct the Board to send a suitable person to India as a special agent to settle the difficulties there. The action of the Board in accepting the resignations of three of its missionaries was approved, as was also the ordination of J. Wilham, with an expression of regret that such an im- portant step had been taken "while the Mission Council in India had postponed its final vote on the recommendation of the candidate."^
1 The General Council adopted the following resolution: "When native pastors are needed for the pastoral care of congregations, the ordained members of the Mission Council, who are entitled to vote, shall examine and propose the candidate for ordination to the Board of Foreign Missions; and if two-thirds of said ordained members of the Mission Council agree in such recommendation, and if the Board of Foreign Missions, by a two-thirds vote, decide in favor of the applicant, the Board shall authorize the ordained ofi&cers of the Conference to ordain the candidate as a member of 'The Telugu Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in India.' No one shall be ordained except for the direct ministration of the pastoral oflSce."