REGISTERED No. M-775 T he H arvest F ield FEBRUARY, 1923 Vol. XLIII. New Series CONTENTS Editorial Notes: P a g e In d i a n P o l i t i c s a n d Je s u s C h r i s t ; T h e M i s s io n W o r k FORMERLY CARRIED ON BY THE BASEL MISSION ; T h e National Missionary- Counc il Ourselves ; Index to “The Harvest Field” .j .. .. .. 41 Articles: - C h a n g i n g A t t i t u d e s a n d t h e M i s s i o n a r y T a s k i n I n d i a 45 W o r l d C o n f e r e n c e o n F a i t h a n d O r d e r . S3 Literature: Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faith; Directory of Christian Missions in India, Burma, and Ceylon, 1922; A Sunduy School in Utopia: a Manual of Psyckdtogy and Method,for the Sunday School Teacher; Impasse or Opportunity? The Situation after Lambeth; India on the.March'; Hymns from Ihe'Rigveda, Selected and Metrically Translated; Child Training through, Kindergarten Methods Vanity Fair; Year Book for 1923 ; Selections from the Qur'an .. .. ' ., 60 Correspondence: . D r . S h e r w o o d E d d y 's V i s i t t o I n d i a 66 T y p e w r i t e r s a n d V e r n a c u l a r S c r ip t s 66 R a c e . 67 A S i m p l i f i e d A l p h a b e t f o r I n d i a n V e r n a c u l a r s 67 T h e D r i n k T r a f f ic 68 A H o s p it a l L i b r a r y . ,■ Obituary: M r . F r a n c is D . P h i n n e y 70 B is h o p Ja m e s M i l l s T h o b u r n 70 R e v . E l i a s W i l l i a m K e l l y . 72 Current Mission News : South India Missionary Association .. .. 73 The India Sunday School Union .. .. .. 73 Special Period of Evangelism, 1923 _ .. ... 75 The C.M.S. Crisis .. .. .... ... 76 Missions of the Church of England .. .. 77 A Comradeship of Love .. .. .. ' 77 A Motor Tent . .... .. .. " .=. 78 World Conference on Faith and-Order .. ; 79 Gleaning: Young Women’s Christian Association Summer School. 80 NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS, Literary Communications only should be sent to the Editor, the Dr. J. H. Hoyland, Holyrood, Nagpur. The W riter s name and address must accompany each contribution. _ All letters regarding subscriptions, advertisements, etc., should be addressed to The Manage«, The Harvest Field, -MyMysore City. - Ê k . T h e H a r v e s t F ield A MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF MISSIONARY WORK IN THE INDIAN EMPIRE VOL. XLIII FEBRUARY, 1823 No. 2 Editorial Notes Indian Politics and Jesus Christ The Indian National Congress held its sessions at the close of last year, and the President, Mr. Desabandhu C. R. Das, gave an elaborate address. As far as we can understand it, the speaker attempted to show that the efforts made by Government to maintain “ Law and Order ” restrained or destroyed “ freedom.” We are not going to follow the address through all its wanderings, for in it is a lack of clear statement as to what constitutes “ freedom ” and “ Law and Order,” but we are interested in the way in which Mr. Das appeals to Jesus Christ. There is plenty of appeal to history, to various authors, but there is no reference to the sacred books of the Hindus or Muhammadans. Jesus Christ is the only religious authority appealed to, and it is interesting to see in what way the appeal is made. The address begins with a reference to the trial of Mr. Gandhi, now in prison, and the speaker said, “ To read a story equal in pathos, in dignity, and in sublimity, you have to go back over two thousand years, when Jesus of Nazareth, 1 as one that perverted the people,’ stood to take his trial before a foreign tribunal.” He proceeded to read from St. Matthew’s Gospel the account o f Jesus standing before Pilate, silent and innocent. But the speaker admitted that Mr. Gandhi took a different course, and pleaded guilty to the charge of sedition, “ that his guilt was greater ” than the prosecution had alleged. The people who mocked at Mr. Gandhi were the “ Scribes and Pharisees of the days of Christ.” The next reference in the address to Christ is to show how He dealt with Law and Order. The speaker said, , “ There was a law in the time of Christ which forbade the people from eating on the Sabbath, but allowed the priests to profane the Sabbath. And how Christ dealt with the law is narrated in the New Testament.” 4 2 EDITORIAL NOTES He proceeded to read the account as contained in St. Matthew's Gospel. Our readers will see at a glance that the speaker was not familiar with Jewish customs, but is prepared to turn the incident to his own purpose. The same method is more clearly seen when he tries to justify the action of the Congress in urging pupils to disobey their parents and leave schools under Government recognition. These are his words : “ We have been denounced by the Moderates for having corrupted the youth of the country. It has been asserted that we have taught sons to disobey their fathers, pupils their teachers, and the subject the Government. We plead guilty to the charge, and we rely upon a very- spiritual movement as argument in our support. Christ himself was tried for having corrupted the people, and the answer which he gave in anticipation is as emphatic as it is instructive. “ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I come not to send peace, but a sword. “ For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- in-law.” It requires the pleading of an astute lawyer to use Christ’s teaching to justify the immense amount of useless suffering Mr. Gandhi and his followers have wrought in India. In his peroration Mr. Das appeals for courage and sacrifice to meet the difficulties that lie in the way of success, and again he refers to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He said, “ But though the ultimate success of the movement is assured, I warn you that the issue depends wholly on you, and on how you conduct your­ selves in meeting the forces that are arrayed against you. Christianity rose triumphant when Jesus of Nazareth offered himself as a sacrifice to the excessive worship of law and order by the Scribes and the Pharisees. The forces that are arrayed against you are the forces, not only of the Bureau­ cracy, but of the modern Scribes and Pharisees, whose interest it is to maintain the Bureaucracy in all its pristine glory. Be it yours to offer yourselves as sacrifices in the interest of truth and justice, so that your children and your children’s children may have the fruit of your sufferings. Be it yours to wage a spiritual warfare so that the victory, when it comes, does not debase you, nor tempt you to retain the power of Government in your own hands.” One cannot but recognise the idealism that runs through the address, but the whole of it is historical and theoretical and has not clear reference to the actual facts of the situation. If it were shownhow the modern “ Scribes and Pharisees ” were tyrannis­ ing over people of India to-day, there would be more sympathy with the movement. A more patient and thorough study of Jesus Christ would lead to more practical methods. The Mission Work formerly carried on by the Basel Mission It may not be generally known that a great part of the funds for financing the mission work carried on by the Basel EDITORIAL NOTES 4 3 Mission in India was obtained from the profits of the industries maintained by them. The Government of India transferred these industiies to the Commonwealth Trust on the condition that the profits for some years were to be devoted to maintaining the work after five per cent, had been paid to the shareholders.- The Commonwealth Trust manages the industries formerly belonging to the Basel Mission in India and on the West Coast of Africa. The industries in Africa have fallen on evil days, and instead of a profit there has been great loss, which has more than swallowed up the profits made in India. The result is that the Trust has practically no funds to distribute to the societies that took over the work of the Basel Mission. All of these societies are in a most difficult position this year. The societies involved are the South India United Church, which has the care of the work in Malabar ; the Kanarese Evan­ gelical Mission, which carries on the work in South Canara and South Maratha ; the Wesleyan Mission, that has charge of the Nilgiris and Coorg; the National Missionary Society, which is working in North Canara; and the Madras Christian College, which is responsible for the college in Calicut.