66 BAPTISM OF A THIRD CONVERT. "On Saturday last, April 19th, a third student in the Institution at Bhowanipore left his home and came to Calcutta, with a view to profess himself a Christian. His name is Kásináth Datta; he is the son of a respectable tradesman in the Bhowanipore bazar, and is twenty-one years of age. He entered the Institution more than ten years ago, and has gradually risen from the study of A, B, C, to almost the highest place in the first class. He has gained two or three prizes in the second and first classes, and has enjoyed a monitorship for more than eighteen months. His steady perseverance and great regularity have done much towards raising him to his present position; while the propriety, gentleness, and amiability of his conduct have acquired for him general esteem. That such an one, against whose age, intelligence, or moral character, nothing can be said, should come forward to avow himself a Christian, is a subject of the deepest thankfulness; it is calculated both to impress his fellow-students and the Hindoos in general favourably, and leaves no room for the reproach, which they sometimes cast against Missionaries, that they make Christians of young boys. The growth of religious conviction and change of heart in Kásináth Datta seems to have been gradual: various circumstances from time to time, acting in conjunction with his regular studies, were employed by the Spirit of God to strengthen impressions and remove all barriers to a firm and enlightened faith. But there was one circumstance that led to his immediate decision to declare the faith in Christ which his heart had received. On Sunday, April 6th, two days before the foundationstone of the new Institution was laid, one of the teachers, about twenty-two years of age,

was suddenly carried off by cholera. The event made a solemn impression on many minds; but it led him to say, 'There is no time for delay; I must confess the Saviour at once.' Of the convictions forming in the minds of others in the Institution, he was quite ignorant; and he felt, therefore, surprised, as well as encouraged, when the two lads, whose cases have been formerly described, openly did what he was then contemplating. In a few days he opened his mind to Mr. Mullens, and with a heart expecting the struggles of affection, but prepared to meet them, he left home to declare himself a Christian.

"It is not to be supposed that he was allowed to do this in peace. On Saturday afternoon, his father, brother, and other relatives; and on Sunday, the same relatives, with his mother and sisters, made constant endeavours to draw him away from Mr. Parker's house. He saw and spoke with them ; but neither their pertinacity, their ignorance of his intentions, their entreaties, nor their tears, though deeply and powerfully felt, for a moment shook his resolution. The trial was a very hard one, but it was borne manfully, and served only to prove the sterling character of the metal on .which it was exercised.

"On Sabbath evening, April 20th, he was baptized in the Union Chapel, Calcutta. After the usual service, which was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Boaz and the Rev. Dr. Poor, who was to leave the next day for Ceylon, the Rev. Joseph Mullens addressed the congregation on the circumstances in which the Institution was now placed; and described the history and character of his young friend, particularly in relation to the steps which have ended in his conversion. He also set before them the reasons why such

struggles of feeling arise in these cases; and why young Hindoos cannot be Christians and reside with their Hindoo parents; showing that the whole evil arises from the spirit of Hindooism, and especially the institutions of caste. In reply to various questions, the convert proceeded to state the reasons which had led him to be a Christian. He described, first, the general features of Hindooism; pointing to its gross idolatry, the character of the gods (of whom he specified Krishna, Siva, and Rám), the general fruits of the system among the people, and especially the influence of caste. On these accounts he had given up Hindooism long ago. He then stated that the Natural Religion, so great a favourite in Calcutta at present, had never satisfied his religious wants: it did not teach him enough about the character of God, the duties of man, or the future state of the soul; it provided no atonement for sin, and supplied no motives for the practice of virtue powerful enough to overcome the sinful tendencies of man's nature. He could not rest, therefore, in Natural Religion, but was compelled to go forward. In Christianity he had found what he needed: mercy in God, as well as justice; a sufficient atonement in Christ; a new nature from the Holy Spirit; the hope of everlasting life. On these accounts,' said he, 'I take Jesus Christ to be my Saviour; and, according to his own command, profess my faith before men.' Mr. Mullens, in the name of the church, then welcomed him into all the privileges, joys, and blessings of the Christian church; to its ministry, its Bible, its fellowship; and baptized him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He concluded by entreating the prayers of the congregation for the Institution under its present interesting circumstances; that the good work now begun may be finished from above; that those who have just confessed Christ may be stedfast in their faith and consistent in their lives; that other inquirers may be led into the way of truth, and have strength to brave its consequences; and that the schemes of Hindoo opponents may be brought to nought. He trusted that as they had laid the foundation-stone of their new Institution in the name of the Saviour, He would make these converts 'living stones' in his own spiritual temple: even as he has said, 'I will

lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires; I will make thy windows with agates, and all thy borders of pleasant stones: and all thy children shall be taught of God, and great shall be the peace of thy children.' The whole service proved exceedingly interesting, and gave great encouragement to those the fruit of whose labours it tended to show.

46

BAPTISM OF A FOURTH CONVERT.

"Last Wednesday evening, May 7th, the ordinance of Christian baptism was publicly administered in Union Chapel to another of the pupils of the Missionary Institution at Bhowanipore. The young man then baptized, whose name is Keshab Chandra Haldar, is one of the three referred to in our issue of April 19th, as having been induced-after he had come forward for baptism-to return home for a short time in order to see his mother, with the promise that he should be permitted to come back and be baptized whenever he desired it. On reaching home, however, he found such permission was not granted him. He was most carefully watched and guarded all day, wherever he went; and during the night, for the greater part of the time that he was in his father's house, he was locked up in order to prevent his escape. Within the last few days, this vigilance has been somewhat relaxed; and he most gladly availed himself of the first opportunity he found, again to escape from his father's house, and return to the care of the Missionaries which he had once or twice in the interval unsuccessfully attempted.

"Keshab was baptized on Wednesday evening, by the Rev. J. H. Parker, who, after reading the Scriptures and offering prayer gave some account of the young man who had come forward for baptism, and of the circumstances which had led him so to do He is about seventeen years of age; by caste, a Brahmin; and belongs to a very respectable family residing at Behala, a village about three miles south of Kidderpore. He has been a pupil of the Institution at Bhowanipore more than two years; and previous to that, was in the Branch School at Behala, from the time of its commencement, about six years; so that for the whole of that time he has been receiving instruction in the Institutions connected with the London Missionary

Society.

The school of that Society at Behala stands upon ground belonging to one of Keshab's uncles; and for about a year after the establishment of the school (before it had been determined to erect a building for the purpose), the pupils were regularly taught in the dálán, or large hall in the house of the same gentleman, usually appropriated to pujas and religious ceremonies. Several of Keshab's relatives-his brothers and cousins-have received instruction in that school, and continued to do so till the events of the last few weeks led their friends to take them away. It will thus be seen that his family have most gladly availed themselves of the instruction given gratuitously on their own premises to the youths of that village; the benefits of which they, in common with a large number of the inhabitants of the place, gratefully acknowleged on the occasion of the annual examination a year or two ago, by a letter of thanks addressed to the Superintendent Missionary, and published at the time in the Christian Advocate. They were glad that their families should benefit by the instructions of the school, so long as that benefit was confined to mere secular matters; but now that some of the fruits of that instruction have been produced, and a member of their own family has come forward to declare himself a Christian, they are filled with anger against all connected with the school, and would gladly, if they dared, destroy it altogether.

'It was chiefly by the reading of the Word of God, and the explanations given of it by his teachers in the Institution at Bhowanipore, and also by reading it in private, with prayer to God for his teaching and his help, that Keshab was led to the conviction of the truth of Christianity and of his duty to profess it. He prayed much in private that God would help him to understand that Word, and show him which was the right path; and he testifies that the more he thus prayed, the better he found that he could understand that Word, and the more was his heart drawn towards it; -a sign, it may be hoped, that the Spirit of God, the Author of that Book, was by its means drawing him unto himself.

"For some months his mind was thus exercised upon these subjects. On finding that some of his class-fellows were under similar

impressions, he had much conference with them; and the result was that, after some time, they determined to act out their convictions, and declare themselves the followers of Jesus Christ, whom in their hearts they regarded as their only Saviour. After repeated interviews with the Missionaries connected with the Institution, they came to the house of Mr. Storrow, on Saturday, April 12th. Of the five who thus came, three were persuaded to return for a short time, as before stated. Among these was Keshab, who was led to do this, not from any change of mind as to his duty in this matter; but because he was told that his mother was very ill, almost dying, in consequence of his intention to become a Christian, and that if he would go and see her for a little while, and comfort her, he should be at full liberty to return and carry out his purpose, if he so desired. Who can wonder that this appeal to the tenderest affections of our nature-the love of her who bore him-should have induced him to go and see her, in the full belief that he would be permitted to return the next day?

"He went, but (as had been expected by his Missionary friends) he did not return so soon. During the time that has intervened, he was kept under strict surveillance, and could not move about anywhere without the knowledge of his friends. It is true that on application being made on his behalf to Mr. Elliott, magistrate of the Twenty-four Pergunnahs, that gentleman sent two officers to inquire into the case, with instructions to set him at liberty if in confinement, and to enable him to act as he thought proper in the matter. But he felt, even then, that, surrounded as he was by all his family and neighbours, he was scarcely able to do as he desired, and replied to the inquiries of the officers that he was prepared for the present to remain where he was. That it was well known by his friends that his purpose was not changed, is evident from the fact, that he was still closely guarded by them, and that they thought it necessary to use all sorts of persuasions and promises in order to bring him round. All was, however, in vain. He remained firm; and declares that he never felt the slightest inclination to give way, and to go back into that system of soul-destroying crror which he feels it to be his duty, and his

only means of safety, to renounce for ever. The trial he has thus been enabled to stand may, it is hoped, be regarded as another indication that the work is of God, and will by him be carried on unto the end in the heart of this young disciple.

"After this statement of facts, several questions were put to the candidate, as to the motives which had led him to renounce Hindooism, and to declare himself a Christian, and as to his views of Christian truth and Christian duty; to these, brief but satisfactory replies were given. Mr. Parker then admistered to him the ordinance of baptism in the name of the One God-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-receiving from him his poita or Brahminical thread, and giving him in exchange a copy of the Word of God, as the guide of his future course in life, and the warrant of his hopes for eternity. Prayer was offered up for him that he may be kept in the way he has now entered, and made faithful unto the end, and that God's blessing may rest upon that Institution to which he belongs, and bring forth from it many others who are now halting between two opinions.

"This is now the fourth youth who has been admitted to the profession of Christianity from among the pupils of the Institution at Bhowanipore, since the services in connection with the commencement of the new building only a month ago. For a long season there appeared to be no spiritual fruit of the labours there put forth. But now the Lord has been pleased to reveal his arm,' and to show he is with his servants, and that his blessing is upon their efforts. These manifestations of his favour and approval, coming especially at a time when they are seeking to enlarge their sphere of labour, are most refreshing to their hearts-often 'faint yet pursuing' amidst many difficulties; and beholding these tokens of their Lord's approval, they would 'thank God and take courage.' May his blessing be given yet more largely, even 'showers of blessing,' according to his promise!"

EFFECTS OF THE MOVEMENT ON THE

PUBLIC MIND.

"The neighbourhood of Bhowanipore and Kálighát continues in a very excited state. Rumours have been afloat that the Institution is to be burnt down, and the Behala schoolroom broken to pieces. The parties who advocate the latter injury, are, however, perfectly well known. Messages have reached the Missionaries, that if they go into the Kálighát bazar, or to Behala, they will get their heads broken, &c.: messages illustrative of the amount of toleration existing among the Hindoos, and of their respect for liberty of conscience. A school is to be established at Kalighat on the 1st of May; one existing in Bhowanipore has put forth a few symptoms of activity and abundant promises of good teaching; while Mr. Scott, of Russapugla, has hoped, by the tempting bribe of four scholarships, to draw away some students of the first class in the Missionary Institution, to his own expiring school. A meeting of all the great Babus in Bhowanipore was held a few days ago at the house of Babu Kámkomal Mukárji, to take the state of affairs into consideration. It was agreed to, nem. con., that the Missionary school was a dangerous place, and the Padris a bad set. Also, that any gentlemen sending their sons, nephews, &c., to that school should be put out of caste [a most harmless resolution, which they dare not enforce]. Thirdly, that it was very desirable to establish a school of their own, in which no danger should be feared from Christianity. Fourthly, one gentleman suggested, that a good school would cost a large sum of money, and asked who was willing to subscribe towards it. A great deal of advice was offered, and the meeting speedily broke up.

"The Institution has, of course, suffered from all these agitations, but out of six hundred, not more than one hundred and fifty have for the present been withdrawn; the majority of whom, strange to say, are young boys. This number is so distributed among all the classes, that it has made no interruption in the regular work of the school."