hey seek an alliance only among Christians, nevertheless marry not on
lines of Christian affinity so much as on Hindu caste lines. It is not
often that we find a man among common Christians who has courage and sense
enough to seek a match for son or daughter outside of the limits of that
caste to which he and his people belonged in Hinduism. This custom is
found not only extremely inconvenient and troublesome to them; worst of
all, it perpetuates, in the Christian fold, the old heathen lines of
cleavage. And thus life in the Christian community is still running
somewhat in the old channels of Hinduism and largely preserves those
social distinctions of the past which should have been buried with them at
baptism and forever abandoned.

Under these circumstances what should missions do? What should be their
attitude towards caste spirit and customs? Through former misapprehension
and neglect the evil is in the Christian Church and exercises a potent
influence. How shall it be overcome or expelled? Some believe in the
_laissez faire_ method. They maintain that, if left to itself for a time,
it will die out, or the general spirit of Christianity will naturally
drive it out. The spirit of caste is not exorcised in that way. So long as
it is perpetuated by marriage affinity, the source of the whole evil, and
by habits of eating together on caste lines, it will not diminish very
much or cease to torment the Church. A century of such waiting, in some
missions that I have known, finds the evil not much diminished. It is only
in those missions where it is attacked and constantly denounced and its
terrible evils exposed, that progress is evident.

That which can do speedy and sure work, in the destruction of this evil in
Christian missions is inter-caste marriage. And through this I am glad to
see that increasing good is wrought. Missions should in every way
encourage and put a premium upon marriages among their members from
different castes. They should teach frequently and emphatically that
membership in different castes does not constitute a prohibited marriage
relationship; but rather does it furnish the best ground for marriage. In
this way, and in this way only, will this wretched caste feeling speedily
die a natural death and Christians come to marry, eat, sympathize, love
and live on Christian, rather than on Hindu, lines. A mission which does
not improve every opportunity to show its hatred of the caste system and
to antag