n said, I think unjustly, in condemnation of this arrangement. It
is not the hot-bed, which it has been called, in which robust Christian
character cannot be produced. Native Christians, thus living together,
hold constant intercourse with the heathen in the business of life, and
are at the same time saved from the peculiar trials and temptations
incident to living among Hindus and Muhammadans. So far as native
Christians make their light to shine, it will be well seen by the
heathen though their dwellings be apart. One great advantage of living
in a mission compound, near the place of worship and the missionary's
residence, is that wives and children can regularly attend public
worship, and can come under the teaching of the missionary, and
especially the missionary's wife, as otherwise they could not have come.
For a time we had quite a number of native Christians in our compound at
Benares, who paid a small rent for their houses, and went out every day
to attend to their respective callings. If they had lived in the city I
cannot conceive how mothers and children could have attended worship as
they did, or how my wife could have taught the children and held
constant intercourse with the women. Because living in the compound, it
does not follow that they are dependent on the mission for support.
There is nothing more desired by missionaries than that their people
should maintain themselves, by their own exertions. Living among the
heathen is often indispensable--it is so increasingly with our native
Christians; but where circumstances admit, I think great advantages
result from Christians living near each other and near the mission
church. In our own country, are not favourable surroundings sought for
the young and the inexperienced?

[Sidenote: PROGRESS.]

When I look back to the beginning of 1839, when I landed in Calcutta,
and compare the native Christian community of that day with what it is
now, I am struck with the great change which has taken place. If we
confine the term to those connected with missions, they were then a mere
handful. Now they are considerable in number, and they have become a
recognized and appreciable portion of native society. They are
increasing in number, though not so rapidly in the North as in the
South, and are becoming rooted in the land. The largest native Christian
community in the North-West is, I suppose, that connected with the
missions of the American Episcopal Methodist Church