On this Sunday they were conducted to a Sunday-school of two
hundred scholars, under the direction of the missionaries, though the
teachers are mostly natives.
It was a strange sight to them, the variety of races, the strange costumes,
and the absence of any considerable portion of costume at all. There were
Mohammedans, Chinamen, negroes, Jews, and a few Europeans. They fell in
with the missionary from England, who told them a good deal about their
work, and how interested they were in it, declaring that they could see the
fruits of their labors, detailing a number of instances of conversions.
They had a day-school also, and they hired a strict Hindu because he taught
English so well. He hated the Christians, and did his work only because he
was paid for it; but he had to listen to the prayers and exhortations, and
finally he yielded in spite of himself, and became a very useful Christian
minister.
This gentleman said that the number of Christians in India had doubled
within ten years. He invited the party to come to the church, and the boys
hastened back to the hotel to tell their friends about it. They all went to
this meeting, including their three distinguished guides. The service was
about the same as at home, the clergyman was a native of the Brahmin caste,
and he preached a very earnest and sensible sermon.
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