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Cu. XI.]

ANTIQUITIES IN CENTRAL INDIA.

297

to you on the subject. Now I can only commit you in very earnest prayer to God's blessing, and I trust that you feel that you are not only called to a thoughtful life of duty, but also specially to a Christian life, that is, to the belief that in all temptations and troubles you must seek help and comfort from the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that you, my own darling, will have grace to see that a life of duty and a Christian life are in truth inseparably connected; and when I speak of doing your duty in Christ's strength, of course you understand that this strength is to be obtained by habits of prayer. To begin these habits steadily, and to persevere in them through the changes and chances of life, should be the chief lesson which you have learned from your Confirmation and from sharing the Body and Blood of the Saviour who died for you. May God bless you, dearest, and give you wisdom to think of these things while you are yet young, and before habits are formed which hinder good intentions from coming to maturity. One of the pleasantest parts of dealing with boys used to be that the work with them was hopeful.

To the Rev. F. W. Farrar.

Palace, Calcutta, April 9, 1863. I am once again in my own house after an absence of eleven months. Seven of these were spent in inhaling the pure breezes of the Himalayas at Darjeeling; four in hard travelling and confirming the churches' in Central India. The journey through it in the cold weather was invigorating and inspiriting, a relief after long travels through green but monotonous Bengal or the brown and desolate North-West, which has received so deep and lasting an impression from the taste and extravagance of the great Mussulman emperors. Nevertheless, I saw two very grand architectural relics of the past. The first was the great Buddhist Tope at Sanchi, near Bhilsa, which looks like a combination of Druidical, Assyrian, and Grecian art. There is a huge mount faced with stone like Silbury Hill, or Marlborough Mount, but much smaller, as you may suppose, from its being covered with masonry, round which is a great stone railing of upright and cross beams, covered with carving like a smaller but more artistic Stonehenge, and pierced by four entrances, two still adorned by

magnificent gateways covered with bas-reliefs, the columns having wonderfully grotesque capitals formed of elephants, dancing-girls, and other incongruous forms. There are also bas-reliefs in various stages of art, some being worthy to be classed with the Ægina though hardly with the Elgin Marbles. My other architectural sight was the grand old Fort of Gwalior. This frowns from the top of a lofty and very steep table rock, and consists of massive walls appearing to grow out of the natural cliff (the face of which is carved with Buddhist emblems and images), terminating in a great Hindu palace with towers and oriel windows, and a long line of quaint decoration in blue and yellow enamel formed of birds and flowers and various patterns. Up to this place we mounted by a very precipitous path on the back of an elephant, from which I felt as if I were constantly sliding, and after passing through its courts under the escort of some officers, came to some beautiful ruins of Jain Temples (the Jaina sect is a schism from Buddhism) of red stone, absolutely covered with elaborate carving. In contemplating the splendid works of our Hindu and Buddhist predecessors, or again, the great remains of the Mahometan times, the Taj at Agra, the Palace at Delhi, the mosques at Jounpore, nay, even the fairy-like grace of the entirely modern Sikh temples at Amritsur, it is impossible not to chafe a little at the thought that we, the English lords of India, have done so little to adorn it with beauty, and that in particular the buildings for Christian worship are some absolutely ugly, scarcely one more than just pleasing and tasteful. However, I must say that during the recent tour I was a little consoled in this point, and I saw structures, not churches, which will do something to ransom our name from this reproach. Some of our railway works are magnificent. The bridge nearly a mile long over the Soane, near Patna, now finished and traversed by trains, is not only a specimen of engineering, but is exceedingly light and beautiful. And the still unfinished railway bridge over the Jumna at Allahabad is in loftiness and grandeur, though not in length and grace, even superior to the Soane Bridge. These works will at least roll away the reproach that if we were to be turned out of India, we should leave nothing behind us but the ends of cigars and fragments of soda-water bottles in the jungle.

CH. XII.]

TRANQUILLITY OF INDIA.

299

CHAPTER XII.

ORDINARY LIFE IN CALCUTTA-PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE BISHOP -HIS POLITICAL OPINIONS-THE CATHEDRAL SERVICES-THE BISHOP AS A PREACHER-CHURCHES AND CHURCH ARCHITECTURE IN INDIA-MEMORIALS Or THE MUTINY CHURCH AT CAWNPORE-CEMETERIES AND MURAL TABLETS-INSCRIPTIONS AT LUCKNOW-CHAPLAIN'S WORK-THE BISHOP'S INTEREST IN SOLDIERS-RELATIONS WITH CHAPLAINS-EFFORTS FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL SERVICE-LETTERS TO CHAPLAINS.

Six hot months of 1863 were spent at the palace in a quiet round of ecclesiastical duties and occupations, and were barren of incidents worthy of record. It may be said indeed that the whole of the Bishop's Indian life derived far more variety and interest from the everchanging scenes supplied during constant and extensive travels, than from an eventful course of State affairs. The years following the mutiny enjoyed to a great extent the calm that succeeds a tempest. Among the few episodes productive of temporary alarm was the 'White Mutiny' of 1860. It was wholly quelled when one very young English soldier and ringleader paid the forfeit of his life for instigating resistance on the part of the European troops of the Company to their somewhat abrupt transfer to the Queen's service. There were also the small border wars of Umbeyla in 1863, and of Bhotan in 1865; and here and there chronic Mahometan fanaticism tried to raise its head and foment intrigues. Such breaches of the general peace, though troublesome at the time, were comparatively slight and transitory; and the Bishop was called upon during eight years to watch the gradual progress of a new era in Anglo-Indian policy,

rather than to share the anxiety of any great national disturbance. Within his own sphere of action, obstructions to his projects arose mainly in the world of nature. Floods, cyclones, droughts, of no rare occurrence in tropical lands, followed by disastrous and lingering results, were the public calamities which most closely touched the ecclesiastical department. Relief funds for some sudden emergency or widespread distress claimed precedence ever and anon over other appeals for voluntary contributions, and formed one of the chief impediments to a steady and rapid progress on some special lines of Church work which were taken in hand. The period which this memoir has now reached was, however, under all aspects eminently tranquil. The absence, therefore, of incidents calling for separate notice, affords an opportunity for a glance at some traits in the Bishop's character as they found expression in his personal and private life, or could be traced in the general direction of matters relating to the Church. The chief occupation during many weeks was the preparation of the second Charge. It engrossed much of his time and attention, and he seldom quitted his books and the quiet seclusion of the house, except to attend to some call of business from without. Such calls chiefly arose from the committees of the various Diocesan Societies which are the head-quarters of ecclesiastical operations carried on between far-separated extremities of British India and British Burmah. The Bishop strongly felt their practical use, and when in Calcutta he regularly attended their meetings, not only as president, but as an active working member. His clear head and good memory made him a trustworthy referee on matters of detail and on local points with which visitations brought him into contact, while confidence in his sound judgment secured attention to his views on manifold subjects that came under discussion. He thus became a connecting link between

CH. XII.] COMMITTEES OF DIOCESAN SOCIETIES.

301

centres of organization, and the widely-scattered work administered from them. His personal sway over these council boards is best described in the words of an eye and ear witness, who was occasionally associated with him at meetings for educational or general purposes: Amid irritating discussions, he would exercise self-restraint, and sit still as if he were indifferent or had nothing to say; but keenly observant all the while, he would watch his opportunity, and then, with the utmost composure, give utterance to a few well-weighed, welldigested remarks, which, clearing up all obscurities and setting aside all irrelevance, seldom failed to carry the convictions and gain the concurrence of all present.'* Life in Calcutta, though full of repose and comfort, and affording seasonable refreshment after the fatigues of protracted travel, was in the hot weather comparatively monotonous. All were astir in the house by six in the morning, and the Bishop, buried in the depths of a huge Chinese chair, generally took an early Bengali or Hindostani lesson in the cool end of the noble verandah which runs round the south and west sides of Bishop's Palace. At nine, prayers and breakfast assembled the party, and a long morning of work followed. After the two o'clock luncheon, a lull falls over Indian life, although the siesta of olden time has ceased to be more than the rare indulgence of modern days. The Bishop sought refreshment for an hour in light literature, and then resumed his work with very little intermission till the sunset drive. There were often guests at dinner; he liked evening gatherings; they did not interfere with graver duties, and were so real a refreshment at the close of a day, trying from its heat and from longsustained occupation, that he seldom thought the heat too great for a dinner party at his own house or elsewhere. He appeared to best advantage socially in a small circle

*Free Church of Scotland Monthly Record' for January 1867.

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