y and its many
cheering features of life and of activity; or whether we study the
non-Christian community and all the social and national institutions of
that land, we find large encouragement and a rich assurance of the speedy
coming of the Kingdom of our Lord.

Nearly a century ago--the very time in which America, through the America
Board, sent its first missionaries to that great land--the Directors of the
East India Company placed on record their sentiments in the following
words:

"The sending of Christian missionaries to our Eastern possessions is the
maddest, most expensive, most unwarranted project that was ever proposed
by a lunatic enthusiast." This was, at that time, the conviction and the
confession of the English rulers of India. It was the voice of unbelief
and the declaration of defiant opposition. How different the attitude and
the words of Sir Rivers Thompson; the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, near
the close of that same century. "In my judgment," he says, "Christian
missionaries have done more real and lasting good to the people of India
than all other agencies combined." Certainly, a no more competent witness
than he, and a no more conclusive evidence than his, could be desired.

In my compound in South India, for a quarter of a century, a date palm
tree grew and flourished. Years later a seed was carried by a bird and
dropped at the foot of this palm tree. It was the seed of the sacred _boh_
tree. It also sprouted and its slender, subtle shoot wound round the
sturdy palm. Every year it grew higher until it finally towered above the
date palm; and the higher it grew the more its winding stem thickened; and
as it thickened it began to tighten its grip upon the other tree. That
grip, so weak and innocent at first, soon became to the palm tree a grip
of death. For every day so added to the encircling power of the _boh_ tree
that, about three years ago, it completely enshrouded and killed the palm.
Today that _boh_ tree stands alone, indicating, by its spiral form, where
the unfortunate palm found its death; and it stretches forth its beautiful
branches in rich verdure and in welcome shade to all who seek refuge from
the heat of the tropical sun.

This is only a parable of the struggle which is witnessed in India today.
For many centuries the tree of Brahmanism has flourished. It covers that
whole land. But at its very root has been sown the seed of God's Word and
there is growing out of it, in its b