Ghuzni, who took the Hindu fort of Sirsa; the Emperor Ferozeshah, who used to hunt incessantly in the jungle, now cleared away, certain lions, of whom the last was killed by a Mr. Fraser, in 1828; and various English adventurers who tried to carve out for themselves principalities or large estates during the general break-up which began with the death of Aurungzib, and did not end till the Mahrattas were put down. Of the third region the heroes are yet more miscellaneous: Krishna, the giant Gunze, the Bhurtpore rajahs, Akbar, Lord Combermere, and a man probably descended from Gunze, being 7 feet 6 inches high, and requiring sixteen pounds of corn for a meal, who exhibits himself at Deeg to astonished and half-affrighted travellers. The mode of conveyance in the first journey was principally by four large native boats. . . In the second journey we were, as I said, chiefly dragged over the desert by camels, the carriages being lent by the rajahs of Puttiala and Jheend, two Sikh princes who dwell in the territory between the Sutlej and the Jumna. This journey was very cold and fatiguing, and afforded less compensation than the others in the way of secular interest, but perhaps more interest of a higher kind; for from the rarity of religious ministrations there, our presence seemed nowhere more acceptable. Three churches were consecrated in this desolate region. The third journey was luxuriously performed in the carriage of the Maharajah of Bhurtpore, who in entertaining the cousin of the Poliorcetes of his territory, was not sheltering a member of a hostile house, since he is grandson of the infant whom Lord Combermere placed upon the throne which was withheld by a usurping uncle. The only great city, not included in the limits above indicated, which I saw for the first time during this tour, was Moultan, a place of some interest from the murder of Anderson and Vans Agnew, which sealed our possession of the Punjâb, and from abounding in tombs of Mahomedan saints, covered with beautiful tiles of varied colours like the encaustic works of Wedgwood and others in modern days. It is said to be the hottest place in India. On approaching the tomb of Shamach Tabreez (Shamach the sun, cf. Beth Shemesh) we were told the reason of this excessive heat by the guardian of the shrine. Shamach Tabreez, he said, was a very holy fakir who came to Moultan 250 years ago, but the people refused to receive him,

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Cu. XIX.]

MOULTAN.

493

or to listen to his preaching, desired him to leave their city, and declined to supply him with any kind of food. A disciple, however, brought him some game from the jungle, and he begged from the churlish Moultanese fire wherewith to cook it. This they also refused, whereupon the fakir said that if they would not help him to cook his food, the sun should do so; and accordingly, by his prayers, brought the sun near enough to Moultan to provide him with an excellent roast hare. Once there, however, the sun declined to return to his former place in the heavens, and so the people of Moultan are still punished for the impiety of their ancestors by an extra allowance of heat. This, however, is the case only in the summer; when we were at Moultan the climate was cool and pleasant.

The tour, I trust, was not unprofitable; two at least of the missions-Agra and Amritsir-were in a state of great vigour and efficiency. I consecrated altogether sixteen'churches for European worshippers, and laid the corner-stone of another. . . Altogether life here passes very happily, though of course with some drawbacks; but I have never felt otherwise than thankful that I came to India, and had so great and effectual a door opened for doing some good in life. My main regret has been that I have made so little use of it. However, that is a matter rather for oneself than one's friends.

CHAPTER XX.

THE BISHOP'S OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE IN 1866-STATE AID AND VOLUNTARYISM-REVISION OF PENSION RULES-SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVING ECCLESIASTICAL SERVICE-INCREASE OF ARCHDEACONRIES-VIEWS ON

EXTENSION OF EPISCOPATE-COADJUTOR BISHOPS-ALARMS FOR THE POSITION OF THE INDIAN CHURCH-LETTER TO THE BISHOP OF LONDON THE CAPETOWN CONTROV1RSY-LETTER TO THE BISHOP OF CAPETOWN --REMARRIAGE OF CONVERTS' ACT-TWO LETTERS ON THE SUBJECT.

A SPECIAL interest is attached to the Bishop's public correspondence in 1866. All that he wrote during these few months, before his sudden summons to resign his charge, has served to place on record his latest views and wishes for the work that he had in trust. Diocesan matters of mere routine, which usually largely occupied his pen, seemed for the time to recede before the exposition of broad and practical schemes, formed and ripened during eight years, in the general interests of the Indian Church. In an article contributed a few months before to the Calcutta Review,' he had traced the rise and progress of the Anglican Establishment in India' from the days of William III., when, at the request of the residents in Bombay, 'two godly ministers' were sent out to administer the Protestant religion in all garrisons, and to instruct the Gentoos as should be servants or slaves of the Company.' After describing its progress down to the present times, he asks:

And now what improvements and developments does our Church require in that branch of its operations which concerns Europeans and East Indians?... Undoubtedly, a Church establishment in India is as necessary now as it was when Wilberforce and Buchanan and Bishop Porteus and the Church Missionary

C. XX.]

VOLUNTARYISM.

495

Society clamoured for it. Its work would be mainly with the army and those in the employment of Government, though of course it must extend its charge to all with whom it is brought into contact. Obviously, too, this establishment, if it exists at all, should be an efficient one, and able to compass the objects above indicated; but, beyond this, the development of the Church should proceed from within, and the aid of Government should be given only in proportion to the liberality of its members. . . . The combined action of the State and of individual Churchmen, guided by the ecclesiastical authorities, will, under God's blessing, place the Anglo-Indian Church on a satisfactory basis.

Voluntaryism, thus put forward once more as a powerful lever of profitable Church work, was no new principle in India. Substantial charities, still in full operation, represent the helping hand stretched out in bygone days to relieve want and sickness among the Christian population. Bishop Wilson gave a new development to this same principle by the foundation of the Additional Clergy Society and the Seamen's Mission, a pastoral agency being thus provided, mainly through private support, for Europeans living beyond the reach of Government chaplains. His successor invoked it incessantly through his appeals to all members of the English Church to promote education within her borders, and to maintain her position as the foremost among Protestant communities in carrying the Word and Sacraments into the jungles of British India. A considerable augmentation of the reserve funds of the Church Building and Additional Clergy Societies; a threefold increase of agents employed by the latter society; an investment of 7,000l., contributed by the shareholders of the East Indian Railway towards the support of pastors along the line, and the great increase of schools throughout the diocese, are all tangible results of the late episcopate, and to these results the steady flow of voluntary aid largely contributed.

But while thus successfully pressing on Churchmen the

duty of self-help, Bishop Cotton none the less laid claim to a continuance of that support from the State which for 200 years has been a source of strength to the AngloIndian branch of the Established Church, gradually making that Church what it now is, a compact organisation, possessing, through its close and peculiar connexion with the State, foundations of stability, and a reserve fund of strength far beyond what falls to the lot of many struggling colonial Churches. One ecclesiastical measure, with which the Government were directly and exclusively concerned, was that of a revision of the regulations respecting chaplains' pensions. It was only completed in 1866, and demands more notice than the brief reference to it made in a former page. The movement was started in the Madras Presidency in 1862, and the case in outline was this. The changes impending after the mutiny led the chaplains to review their position. The amalgamation of the Company's forces with the Queen's threatened the destruction of the Military Fund, subscription to which by Government chaplains was compulsory and formed an insurance for a surviving family. Salaries were insufficient to afford a surplus for savings in days when the cost of living was constantly increasing; and the pensions, which had been reduced in 1834 from 365l. to 290l. a-year, were inadequate for the support of a family after retirement to England. The only prizes that gilded the service were the two senior chaplaincies in each Presidency, to which a somewhat higher salary was assigned. These posts, however, were but shadows of benefits to the service generally; the simple fact of seniority secured them to six members of the whole body. They exercised, moreover, in some degree, an injurious influence, by inducing chaplains to linger on, in the hope of succeeding to them, when it was evident that their energies had been seriously impaired by a tropical climate. The Madras chaplains carried with them a large majority of