en the result in a few instances, but the more general
outcome has been that secular interests have become so absorbing that
spiritual matters have been crowded out, and the mind has proved less
rather than more receptive.

Great efforts have been made to reach the so-called "high-caste" men
of India. This was done, partly under the idea that their traditional
intelligence and opportunities of education would make them specially
capable of religious thought, and partly because it was felt that the
conversion of some of the leading men of India would surely result in
the conversion of the rest. There have been many notable conversions
of Brahmins, so that these efforts cannot be said to have been wholly
without result. But it must be added that the results do not seem
commensurate with the amount of labour and money which has been
expended in this particular direction. It was, perhaps, not
sufficiently taken into account that mere intellect may in itself be a
barrier to the reception of spiritual truth, unless there is also the
grace of humility and the desire to be taught. A Brahmin who has been
trained from his earliest boyhood to think himself worthy of divine
honour, naturally finds it difficult to sit at the feet of a foreign
teacher who preaches the need of repentance.

Nor does the conversion of a Brahmin lead to the conversion of other
Indians to the extent that might have been expected. Possibly the
unpopularity of Brahmins as a class, although they are still to some
extent venerated and feared, may partly account for the fact that the
conversion of some of them has not made others anxious to follow their
lead. In the case of low-caste people the conversion of a few has, in
many instances, led on to the conversion of large numbers. The
multitude of village folk who have, at various times, pressed forward
for baptism has been in certain places a real perplexity. The clerical
staff has been wholly inadequate to deal with them, and the greater
part of their instruction has had to be left to lay teachers, not very
competent for the task.

In some of the earlier famines missionaries were not always
sufficiently alive to the risk of people professing a desire for
Christianity, when their real motive was the hope of getting special
consideration when famine relief was distributed. In some districts
serious lapses took place after the distress was over. It is now the
almost universal rule in missions, in order to avo