ve, and the fellowship of
Christ by means of the haughty pride, the cruel hate, and the bitter
divisiveness of caste.

[Illustration: JUNGLE PEOPLE OF INDIA]

Protestant Christianity is to-day the pronounced foe of caste. It is
war to the death between them, and the missionaries have not yet found
a foe to their cause so subtle, deceptive, deep-rooted, persistent,
and pervasive as this. It is fortified by a thousand ramparts and
presents more discouragement to the Christian worker than all other
obstacles combined. Even Buddhism and Jainism, the former of which was
the ancient protest against Hindu caste, have fallen oft-times a prey
to the subtle and damning wiles of this system. In Bengal, a number of
Hindu castes are known to have been formerly members of the Jain and
Buddhist communities (see Census 1901, Vol. II, p. 523).

However, notwithstanding this growing prevalence and the marvellous
tenacity of caste throughout the land, there are encouraging signs of
its decadence. Its grip is certainly relaxing in many ways, and its
asperities are softening.

It may not untruthfully be said that the growing multiplicity of
castes is one of the sure harbingers of the downfall of the system.
For the divisions of caste are already beyond computation. The
population is cut up into so many minute sections that the caste
edifice overtowers everything else, so that it is in imminent danger
of toppling over. It is claimed that war among civilized nations will
soon become an impossibility because of the growing devastating power
of modern weapons of warfare. In like manner, caste is speedily
passing through its very excesses to a _reductio ad absurdum_; its
spirit is so rampant, and its gross evils are becoming so intolerable,
that even the patient inhabitants of India will soon cease to endure
the ruin which this monster of their own creation carries on among
them.

Educated Hindus are already denouncing it with great vehemence and
with considerable unanimity. They are convinced that India can never
win independence and power under the regime of caste; and they
proclaim their convictions upon the house-top. It is true, as we have
seen, that caste has so powerfully thrown its spell over them, its own
children, that they are too abject to withstand it openly and
unitedly. But I believe that they will erelong be driven to action.
Further, obedience and submission will mean ruin to them, their
families, and their country.

Ev