LIF E o F

I S A B EL L A T H O B U R N

B I S HO P ! . M . TH O B U R N

C I N C I N N A TI ! J EN N I N G S A N D P YE
NE W YO R K ! EATO N AN D M AI NS
 I SAB ELLA THO B UR N s tood for a h os t ban nered
a nd res i s t less
. Sh e fil l ed th e eye of ou r young
w o m an h ood ; sh e was th e p ic k and flow er of

th e i r c hi val ry She un i t ed i n h erse l f th e li m i t

.

less recep t i vi t y of M ar y w i th M artha s ceaseless ’

ac t i vi t y Sh e made god li ness p l a i n t o th e a ged

.

and att rac t i ve t o th e youn g Sh e i l l us t rat ed th e

.

wh o l e c i rc l e o f C hr i s t i an vi rtues Speak of
.

Woman s Work and th e sa i n t l y form of Isabel l a

’

Th ob u rn ri ses t o th ought aur eoled i n love

,
H er .

l i fe gl ori fied th e m i ss i onary w ork ; her death

enshr i nes i t i n th e Churc h s h eart forever
’
.

B I S HOP D AVID H M O O RE
. .
 P R E FA C E .

IT h a s been a source of sincere regret not only ,

to the writer of the following p a ges but to m a ny of

,

Miss Thob u rn s friends that the public ation of this

’

book h a s bee n so long del a yed V arious causes

.

combined to m ake the del a y un a voidable The .

materi a l needed was widely scattered o n both sides

of the globe a nd in m a ny c a ses it w a s di ffic u lt to
,

trace the course of eve nts lo ng p a st a nd co nne cted

,

with p a rties of whom but slight tra ces could be

found Miss Thoburn kept no di a ry a nd w a s
.
,

averse to keeping anything in m anuscript O nly .

her most i ntim a te friends will u nderstand ho w it

h a s h appe ned th a t the full story of her tru ly noble
life ca n not now be told exc ept in me ag er outli ne .

! . M . T .
 C O NT E N T S
9
C HA PTE R

I . C H I LD H D OO ,

II . Y UT H
O ,

III . Y UNG W MA N H
O D O OO ,

IV . W M A N S W K IN T HE M I SS I N FI E LD
O
’
OR O -
,

V . A INT MENT A ND DE A T U E I N D I A
PPO P R R TO ,

VI . M I SS I N AO L I FE IN I N D I A
RY ,

VII . A I A L IN I N D I A
R R V ,

VIII . L U CKN W O ,

IX . E A L B G INNIN G S
R Y E ,

X . A R E I A L A N D ITS F U ITS
V V R ,

XI . THE L A L B AG H H ME O ,

X II . EXP N A S I N T HE W O OF OR K,

X III . EU EA N S IN I NDI A
R OP ,

XIV . S E A NT A LL
RV OF ,

XV . O N IN C H I S T
E R ,

XV I . TH FI S T F U L UG H
E R R O ,

XVII . THE S EC ND DECENNI A L C N FE ENCE

O O R ,

X VIII . H I G H SCH L A ND C LLEG E OO O ,

XIX . AM N G T HE M UNT AIN S

O O ,

XX . TH S EC N D FU L UG H
E O R O ,
 CO NTENTS

S E I CE IN CH I CAG
RV O,

Tw Y EA S IN C IN C INN A TI
o R ,

TH L w E AC H I S TI AN S E
OF I CE R R V ,

C U N SEL
O M I SS I N A
To CA NDI D A T ESO RY ,

FA M I L S E A ATI NS
Y P R O ,

T HE T H I D T E M S E I CE
R R OF R V ,

I N D I AN C H I STI A N W MEN
R O ,

L IT E ATU ER I NDI A N W MEN

R F OR O ,

PH E E R WE
O B O ,

T HE T H I D FU L UG H
R R O ,

AT T HE E CU MENI CA L C N FE ENCE O R ,

H MEWA D B U N D
O R O ,

H ME A T L A S T
O ,

M I SS S IN G H S R EC LL ECTI N S
’
O O ,
 L ife o f I s a be l l a T ho bu rn .

9
5
C H APTER I .

CH I L D H O O D .

I S AB ELLA T H OB UR N w a s born ne a r St Cl a irsville

.
,

Ohio March 291 840 Her parents were Scotch

, , .

Irish a nd c a me to this country from the Vi c inity of

,

Belfa st in 1 82 5 After livi ng in v a rious pl a ces in

, .
,

cluding a two ye a rs residence in Philadelphia they

’
,

finally settled on a farm a mong the be a utiful hills

which surround the town of St Cl a irsville The . .

chosen homeste a d w a s admirably adapted for the

upbringing of such a fa mily and her e the five ,

brothers and fi ve sisters spent m any happy years .

Is a bella r a nked as fourth amon g the S isters a nd ,

ni nth in the order of the family .

H er p a rents were both persons of marked ch a r

acter H er father died when she was but ten years
.

old but not too soon to m a ke a deep a nd a biding

,

impres sion upon her a s a man who fe a red and loved

,

Go d a nd who s t ood for the right everywhere a nd

,

a ll the time H e w a s a m a n of grea t s tre ngth of

.
I O L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

character good mental powers and w a s a m a n of

, ,

much local influence But she grew up at her .

mother s knee was quick to perceive wh at was best

’

and strongest in her character and seemed to inherit ,

very much of what was best and strongest in t h at

C haracter H e r mother was a woman of C lear
.

convictions prompt decision and extraordinary

, ,

courage O ne day when alone with one of her

.
,

daughters a maniac rush ed into the room brand

, ,

i shing an ax in a state of gre a t excitement The .

daughter w a s almost paralyzed with terror but the ,

mother spoke kindly to him continued at her work , ,

and in a minute or two asked him to let her take

his ax which he at once gave up and very soon he ,

became docile as a child Her moral courage was not .

less marked than he r physical and her general ,

c h aracter was that of a s t rong but tender and sym

pathetic woman .

An adj oining farm was occupied by a family of

Friends The mother in this family had been
.

brought up in Ireland and was a lady of culture and ,

in t elligence A warm and enduring friendship

.

sprang up between this lady and Isabella s mot h er ’

and it thus happened that when the fourth daughter

O f the family w a s born her mother asked t h at s he ,

might be named Isabella after her esteemed and ,

much loved ! uaker neighbor Isabella Sidwell T h e , .

bond thus created was slight enough no doubt but , ,

it made an impress upon th e child s heart which was ’

never e fl a ce d All through her life she felt a kindly

‘
.
 C h il d h o o d . I I

interest in the excelle nt people k now n as Friends ,

and was recognized by them in turn as standing in a

somewhat special relation to t hem as a people .

F amily discipline in the Thoburn household could

hardly be called e ither mild or firm It had no rules .
,

and recognized no penalties Parental authority was

.

absolute but seldom if ever needed to assert itself

, , ,
.

The children grew up with out ever supposing for

a moment that i t could be c h allenged Sunday was .

a sacred day and yet a day of freedom and always

, ,

the brightest and happiest of the week Work of .

every kind was suspended and play was not even

,

thought of but t h e children enj oyed a l a rge me a sure

O f liberty a nd wandered all over the fields and
,

through the woods in j oyous freedom and thus ,

learned in early years the j oy of a service which has

no bondage in it All felt a common interest in
.

family a ffairs and perhaps no one of the number

,

ever felt that parental authority was irksome or ,

family life hard in any of its aspec t s .

The best laws of society sometimes form par t

of a n unwritten code w h ich grows out of the very
,

nature of practical Christianity T0 this code b e .

longs what might be called the l aw of Christian

service Those disciples who are like the Master
.

count it a j oy to serve wherever they can render

service in the M a ster s name In this household no
’
.

special rule ha d been adopted a nd the survivin g ,

members of the family can not remember that the

matter w a s ever a subj ect of remark ; but it w a s
 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

understood at all times that if any case of sickness ,

trouble or death should occur each and every one

, ,

should be re a dy to go in person to render help

w h ere it was needed The father would rise at
.

midnight to go through darkness and storm to pray

with the dying or comfort the bereaved At a .

t ime when no trained nurse could be found in that

region the service of volunteer attendants was of
unspeakable value to t h e sick or t h e dying and for ,

such service t h ose sisters were ever ready while ,

t h e mot her outdid t h em all in unconscious courage

and devotion When the wife of a neighbor living
.
,

somewhat isolated and having dealings with very

few was stricken wit h small pox this quiet mo th er
,
-
, ,

with unconscious heroism went to her help and

, ,

night after night watched with her wit h out a ,

t hough t of fear either for herself or her children .

The daughter who was in after ye a rs to go to the

ends of the earth to serve her genera tion was then ,

in her early childhood but i n the course of this

,

story it will be seen how powerful an influence

this incident exerted upon her mind and heart in
after years.

Christianity is a reli gi on of service O ne of the .

most remark able of our Savior s sayings was his ’

ge ntle reminder to his disciples that he c a me not “

to be ministered unto but to minister The servant

, .

of Christ ca n not be greater th a n his Master a nd ,

Christianity loses both its glory a nd its power whe n

this law of service is neglected a nd the spirit of
,
 C h il d h o o d . I 3

service ce a ses to animate the heart a nd be a utify the

life of t h e man or woman who bears the name of
Jesus Christ It surely ought to be enough for the
.

disciple to be a s his Mas ter a nd the servant a s his

,

Lord .

Both pare nts in this fa mily were throughout life

e a rnest believers in the missionary enterpri se a nd ,

it is not strange that they deeply impressed their

convictions upon their children At the e a rnest re .

quest o f some Frie nds Isabella some years ago

, , ,

wrote a brief sketch of her mother s character in ’

,

which she relates an incident which a pparently

made a deep impression upon her during her early
days The farm had not been wholly paid for a nd
.
,

both parents and children were very thankful when

the last payment was made and the l ast note can
c el e d
. The father brought home the note and two
gold eagles O ne of these he tossed into the mother s
.
’

lap and said ! That is for a new winter cloak for

,
“

you ; let us give the other as a thank o ffering a t the -

missionary collection The mother quietly handed

” '

b a ck the coin and s a id ! L et us give both a s a

,
“

th ank o ffering ; I w il l tu rn m y ol d cl oa k
-
”
.

Some years after the father s de a th the mother ’

rel ated a n i ncide nt concerni ng his power in prayer

which deeply impressed some members of t he famil y
in after ye a rs Awakin g one night S he discovered
.

that he had left the roo m a nd a s he did not return

,

for a long while she beca me a nxious a nd went to

loo k for him I n another p a rt of the house she
.
14 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

fou nd him enga ged in e a rnest prayer ; but he begged

her to go back to her rest a nd let him continue
his special and earnest supplication as a peculiar ,

burden had been laid upon his heart At a l ater .

hour he returned to his rest and a s he l a y down he ,

gratefully remarked that Go d h a d given him that

for which he had been pleading a n assurance that ,

all h is children would be s a ved and brought into the

fold of Christ All the children nearly all the gra nd
.
,

children and all those of the fourth generation who

,

are old enough are now within the Church on earth

,

or the heavenly fold and nearly all the livin g are ,

active Christian workers .

The distric t schoolhouse stood a bout a mile

“ ”

from home but this d i stance was accounted as

,

nothing by the nimble footed c h ildren who gathered -

there from the surrounding farmhouses The sc h ool .

was rated as the best of its class in t h e township and ,

in early days w a s favored with the services of

several teachers who were quite above the average
of those early days Isabella entered t h is sc h ool
.

at a very early age and made as rapid progress as

,

was expected but did not take a ny special interest

,

in her books nor did she enter with much zest into
,

the j uvenile plays which usually a bsorb the a ttentio n

Of children in their early ye a rs She would some .

times be seen looking o ff i nto sp a ce with a dreamy

e xpression a s if absorbed in thought but at no time
, ,

did she ever seem to be wise beyo nd her ye a rs She .

w a s able how ev er to m ainta i n her position in her

, ,
 C h il d h o o d . I 5

cl a sses without much study and in l ater life some

,

times remarked th at S he had never been intellectually

awake until after her S ixteenth year During these .

early years she developed a superb physical consti

t u t io n and thus laid a secure foundation for the
,

laborious life which l a y before her .

When t en years of age she h a d a n a rrow esc a pe

from a violent death and in after years often re
,

ferred to t h e event in terms which showed that Sh e

regarded her deliverance a s in a peculiar sense prov
id e nt ia l
. Her father s funeral had been very largely
’

attended and some one among those present had

,

been followed by a large dog which failed to keep

sight of its m a ster in the procession and was found ,

a t the house when the family returned in the even

ing The animal seemed well disposed and accepted
.

the attentions of the children in a friendly way ;

but next morning when Isabell a was passing him
he flew a t her in great fury c a ught her hand which
,

s he had instinctively raised , a nd inflicted a success

sion of deep bites on her arm and w a s evidently,
“

a iming for her thro a t where a single bite would

prob a bly h ave proved fat a l A grown u p brother
.
-

who chanced to be near grasped a spade a nd res

cued the child but her arm w a s l acerated in a
,

fe a rful m a n ner a nd very n atura lly it was fe a red

,

th a t hydrophobi a might superve ne ; but it p ro v iden

t ia l l y so h a ppe ned t hat two physicia ns h a d spent
the night with the family a nd the child received
,

prompt a nd skillful t re atme nt a nd re covere d in d ue

,
16 L i fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

time although all through life S he occa sionally felt

,

a peculiar throbbing in the arm which h a d su ffered .

She had done not h ing to irritate the dog in any

w a y and why he S hould have made so s avage an
,

attack upon a quiet little child was a mystery to

all presen t In earlier days m a ny intelligent Chris
.

tians would have S aid that the prince of this world

probably knew she was intended for a speci al work
in after years a nd moved a dumb brute to destroy
,

her It is easy to push this theory a side a s absurd ;

.

but in the absence of any better explanation it may

not be amiss to remark that if angels guard the
little ones of earth it m a y cert a inl y be possible that
,

messengers of evil are within limits permitted to

, ,

attempt to do them harm .

Beyond most persons S he profited by the lessons

of her childhood a nd in mature years Sh e often
,

reca lled with grateful pleasure incidents which h a d

faded into the distant past but which in her mem ,

ory seemed as events of but the week before I n .

o ne sense S he never outgrew her child h ood life ,

and this emine ntly fitted her for her life work a s a
trainer not only of those of t ender years in school
, ,

but of the little ones in the ki ngdom of Christ

“ ”
.

She learned how to enter into the j oys a nd sorrows ,

the cares a nd anxieties of children a nd in short , , ,

k new the world of c hildhood the real world in ,

which little children live a nd move think a nd dream , ,

l a ugh a nd c ry plan a nd strive ; a nd S he k new this

,

world beca u se she never a llowed herself to forg et

 C H APTER II .

Y O UT H .

IN her fi ftee nth ye a r Isabella entered the Wheel

ing Female Semin a ry an institution which had been
,

established a few ye a rs previously for what was then

termed the higher education O f young women
“ ”
.

The school was a good one according to the stand

,

a rd of the times and a few ye a rs la t er was ele

,

v a t e d to the grade of a regularly ch a rtered college ;

-

but then as no w it was possible for a young student

, ,

to complete a given course without acquiring much

mental discipline and without securing a good foun
,

dation for future scholarship In Isabella s case .

’

the outcome w a s satisfactory and even credit able

,

a ccording to the current ideas of the period ; but

about the time that she left the school S he began
to become dissatisfied with the education which she
had received and resolved not to rest until S he
,

h a d taken a more thorough course In the me a n .

time S he secured a summer school in the country ,

and began the work which w a s to become her life

ca lli ng. H er success a s a te a cher w a s m a rked from
the fi rst a nd her taste for the work made her daily
,

ta sk not only light but in every w a y conge nial

,
.

I n t hose e a rly d a ys she formed views on the

18
 Yo u t h . 1 9
genera l subj ect of educ a tion to which S he held
firmly throug h out her life She often expressed .

regret for t h e time which she had wasted in trying

to study music a task for which S he had no taste
, ,

and throughout life she alw a ys inclined to eclecti c

courses of s t udy She believed in mental discipline
. ,

but did not believe that this discipline consisted in

imposing di ffi cult and uncongenial tasks upon young
students If she could h ave given the time devoted
.

to music to drawing a nd p a inting for which she had ,

both taste and gifts in a marked degree her edu ,

cation would have been worth more to her in after

life S h e believed in thorough work and in time
.
,

became so dissatisfied with her attainments that

S he returned to the same institution afterward a d ,

v a nc e d in grade and completed a course m a rked

,

out by herself To this S he added a year of a rt

.

study in the Cincinnati Academy of Design ; but the

busy life which fell to her lot made it impossible ,

for her in after years to pursue any line of study

as a specialty At the close of her sc hool days
.
-

s he had a well disciplined mind a cultivated literary

-
,

taste a knowledge of the great forces me ntal

, , ,

moral and political which were a ff ecting the world

, ,

in which she lived and an O ptimistic temperament

, ,

which admirably fitted her for the life work which

a waited her .

Those who have he a rd of the deep piety and

not a ble service of this disciple will be surprised to

lea rn tha t she w as not even a comm uni ca nt in the

20 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Church until nineteen ye a rs of age This was owi n g .

much less to herself than to t h e mista ken notions

which prevailed in nearly all Churches a generation
a go During the period of her childhood it is prob
.

able that there was not a communicant in the three

Churches of St Clairsville under sixteen ye a rs of
.

age The question of childhood piety or childhood

.
,

communion w a s little considered In M eth o dist

, .

circles it was univers a lly a ssumed th a t conver “

S ion must precede Church membership a nd in those

”
,

times it was usually assumed th at conversion could ,

or a t le a st would only take place in connection

,

with revivals But it so happened that for many

.

years no revival had taken place in the Churc h

a ttended by the T hob u rn family and the result was ,

th at none of the children were admitted to the co m

munion of the Church until reaching compar a ti vely
mature years It is a very great mistake a painful
.
,

and dangerous mistake to a ssume that there is even

,

a day or a n hour in a human life when it is

, ,

impossible for the possessor of the life to serve

Go d The newbo rn babe belongs to Jesus Christ
.
,

a nd should belong to him through life a nd for

evermore It will be said no doubt that this View

.
, , ,

if adopted practically would fill the Church with

,

unconverted members ; but surely the years of c h ild

hood and youth if spent within the S helter of Christ s
,
’

fold will better qu alify our sons a nd daughters for

,

Church membership th a n if spent i n the fellowship

of worldli ng s a nd in co nta ct with the evil that is
,
“
 Yo u t h . 21

in the world The inward change which makes one

.

a C hild of Go d a nd a member of the household of

f ai t h ca n take place a nd under normal conditions
,

will take place in the te nder years of childhood

, ,

i f parents Church authorities a nd the Christian

, ,

community generally do not unwittingly stifle the ,

work of grace in the hearts of the little ones .

I n M arch 1 8 5 9a bro ther had been appointed

, ,

to go to India as a missionary and the entire family ,

had met in Wheeling to say the fi nal good bye In -

.

those days it meant more to become a m is sio na r i l

than at the present time The s ea voyage and land .

-

j ourneys were expected to consume five months ,

and only a remote probability was admitted of a

return to one s n ative l a nd even after many ye a rs
’

of service abro a d Under such circumstances the

.

final parting w as a somewhat trying orde a l to the

fa mily and made a deep religious impression upon
,

all Before parting Isabella and her sister Mary

.
,

agreed together that they would unite with the

Church on the following Sunday the one inWheel ,

ing and the other in St Clairsville In this w a v . .

her na me be ca me enrolled as a probationer in the

Fourth Street Church of Wheeling and she w a s a t , ,

once assigned to a cl a ss a ccording to the univers al

custom of th a t period She faithfully attended the .

c lass meeting
-
and although extremely retice nt in
,

reference to everything personal to herself she took ,

up without hesi ta tion what seemed to be her duty

, , ,

a nd in after ye a rs ofte n quoted remarks whi c h S he

22 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

had heardin the meeti ngs But S he never con .

s c io u s l y experienced the marvelous C h a nge so often

termed conversion The fact S he did not doubt ;

.

but s he was not able to fix a date for the great

change It is probable that her spiritual life really
.

dated from early childhood and would have been ,

developed normally as she grew in years and knowl

edge had it not been for the influence of the mis
,

taken notions w h ich prevailed so generally h a lf a

century ago and which prevail too ge ner ally even
,

now .

The relation of childhood to the Church is a

subj ect which demands t he immediate and most
serious attention of all Protestant Churches It was .

a question which this young disciple was yet to deal

with prac t ically in what was termed a heathen land ,

but one in which her own experience in a Chris

tian l a nd could not satisfactorily serve as a n intel
l ig e nt precede nt In dealing with children some
.

Churches t rust too much to mere ceremony and

routine while others err by trying to develop a
,

standard of spiri t ual life w h ic h is foreign to the

range of t hought and feeling which pert ain to the
era of childhood In a more spiri t ual era the
.

Sunday school may yet become the children s

-
’

Church and the Sunday school teacher may b e

,
-

come the S piritu a l leader and guide of the little

ones e a ch one of whom is a n obj ect of the Sa vt o r s
,
’

tender love .

During these e a rly years while teaching a coun

,
 Yo u t h . 23

try school in O hio she took a step which illus

,

t ra t e d both her courage and her decision of char a c

ter In those days the agi t ation of the question of
.

religious t eaching in public schools had not reached

the country d i strict and each teacher was allowed t o
,

read or omit a Bible lesson daily a s might seem

best but though young and inexperienced Isabella
, , ,

took a step which was quite in advance of public

usage i f not of public opinion She boldly began
, .

the practice of opening her sch ool wi t h both read

ing a nd prayer ; but she did this s o quiet ly and
j udiciously that it did not create a single remark ,

and in fact hardly seemed to be known in the

neighborhood She never alluded t o it in her own
.

family circle thought it must h ave cost her an

,

e ffort to take a step which might have aroused

serious opposition in the community It is prob .

able that her first prayer in public w a s o ffered in

connection with t h e opening exercises of t his o h
scure country school This may seem like a matter
.

of no speci a l importance ; but it indic a ted a spirit

which w a s to prompt it s possessor to a ssume re
sponsibility in later years when face to face with new
,

questions a nd making decisions which were to form

,

precedents for comin g generations She had no .

unreasonable scruples in reference to religious e x e r

cises in schools but was glad to avail herself of
,

whatever me a sure of liberty chanced to be at her

di s posal It is not a lways easy for the missionary
.

in strange l ands to decide j ust where a nd how far , ,

24 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

religious duty c an be a llowed to yield to the dem ands

of either public O pinion or public law but it is the ,

part of wisdom to accept facts a nd adapt the best ,

possible means to eac h si t uation as it presents itself .

It may occasion surprise to the reader to day to -

learn that one w h o was destined to fill so prominent

a place in the foreign mission field did not in the ,

d a s of her youth manifest any special or at least

y , ,

personal interest in the missionary enterprise She

,
.

w a s interested in a general way as a ll sincere ,

Christians were but never spoke of a person a l cal l

,

to t h e work and never seemed to t hink that the

,

possibility of such a calling lay before her This .

S ile nce howev er c a n easily be accounted for Fort y

, ,
.

years ago the great mission a ry movement which ,

has since roused the women of the great Prot

e s t a nt Churc h es h ad hardly made itself felt The .

missionary authori t ies of the day did not see a ny

special work for women in the foreign field and ,

never even indirectly issued a call for young women

,

to offer themselves for the work O n the other .

hand they were perplexed by the tokens of a ris ing

,

conviction on the subj ect among the young women

in some of the Churches In 1 8 5 9Dr Durbin said
.
, .

to t he writer of these pages ! If I w a nted fifty “

youn g ladies I could find them in a week ; bu t

,

when I w ant five young men I must search for them ,

a year or more I c a n not underst and why it S hould

.

be so but suc h is the fact A religi ous phenomenon

, .

so ne w and so extraordinary ought certainly to have

, ,
 CHAPTER III .

Y O UN G W O M AN H O O D .

ON the twenty ninth day of M arch 1 860 Miss

-
, ,

Thoburn entered upon her twenty first year S h e

-
.

w a s a t that time living in Wheeling and very nat

,

u ra l l y felt the influence of t he electric condi t ions

which prevailed in the political atmosphere during

the summer and au t umn of th a t momentous year .

Wheeling was situated in a Southern State but ,

in its business interests was a Northern city Its .

citizens were conservative in their political opin

ions and for the most part eschewed all sympa t hy
,

with anti slavery views ; but when t he crisis came

-
,

very few of them were willing to lift a hand in

favor of separation from the Union When Abra .

ham Lincoln was nominated for the Presidency th e ,

political lines were strictly drawn and six h undred

,

voters were found courageous enough to avow t heir

purpose to suppor t him at the polls Miss Thoburn
.

was always partial to minorities and in this case

,

her sympathy as well as her convictions led her

to support the s ix hundred adherents to the cause
of M r Lincoln She had no taste for politics in the
. .
,

ordin a ry sense of that word but she was among

,

the few who comprehe nded the ch a r a cter of the re a l

26
 Y o u ng W o m a nh o o d . 27

issue a t stake and did not hesit ate to do what

,

little lay in her power to help the cause w h ich S he

a vowed ; but beyond painting transparencies for the
public processions a nd avowing her views in pri
,

vate circles S he could do very little to aid the side

,

of truth and right according to her standards of

,

truth and righ t .

But a greater crisis w a s close at hand A ye a r .

later it seemed for a time a s if the clock of National

doom had struck its midnight toll It was an awful .

er a in the history of a great p e ople All her .

brothers and brothers in law went into the a rmy

- -
,

except one invalid a nd the brother who had gone

a s a mission a ry to the other S ide of the globe while ,

all her Georgi a cousins who were able to carry

a rms enlisted in the Confederate ranks Thus .

strangely do circumstances influence human a ction .

H ad the parents reversed their early choice t hose ,

of Georgia settling in O hio and t h e O hio parents,

in Georgia no doubt the sons on both S ides would

,

have been found in the ranks opposed to those

fi nally chosen by them For a time all thoughts
.

a nd plans were absorbed in the great struggle on

which the life of the Nation was staked and loyal ,

women not being able to serve otherwise sought

, ,

opportunities to help the cause by org a nizing sewing

circles collecti ng hospit a l supplies serving meals
, ,

to p a ssing troops and in many cases by goi ng to

,

the front to lend a ssistance as nurses to the sick and

wounded For a time Miss Thob u r n serio u sly con
.
28 L if e o f I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

the question of devoting herself to this line

s id e r e d

of work but finally conclud ed th at s he did not pos

,

sess the pec uliar qualific ations nee ded for this noble
callin g Her decision seems very remarkable in
.
,

View of the fact that in later years S he developed

an unusual aptitude for t h is kin d o f work a nd s o ,

much so indeed th a t it sometimes seemed as if she

, ,

h a d been anointed from on high to minister alike

to t h e su ffering sorrowing and stricken of every
, ,

C lass It seems probable a s we loo k bac k at t h e

.
,

train of events which followed that momentous

period that her steps were providen t ial ly guided
, ,

and that not only in this but in other instances S he

, ,

w a s strangely preven t ed from accepting spheres of

labor which might have kept her from enteri ng
u o p n the great life work for which God had s et her

a p a rt .

The weary years of war came to a n e nd a t

l a st the country settled down to normal conditions
,

a gain and not only returned soldiers but people

, ,

everywhere were l ooking for permanent situations

,

such as woul d be suited to an era of peace Schools .

of every grade were opening their doors to the

young and the h i gher seminaries and colleges were
,

enlargi ng their facilities for the steadily increasing -

influx of students which began to t hrong their h alls .

At s u ch a time and in the midst of such conditions

, ,

it is not strange that Miss Thoburn had her atten

tion direc ted to teaching as the calling most suited
to her ta stes a nd a bilities a nd a t the s a me time ,
 Yo u ng W o m a nh o o d . 2 9
o fferi ng her the best opport unity for a life of use
fulness During the war she had t a ught for a time
.

in one of the public schools of W heelin g a nd her ,

experience h a d abundantly demonstrated her fit ness

for that kind of work M eanwhile her missionary
.

brother had returned on furlough from Indi a and ,

constant intercourse with him h a d na tura lly created

a very deep interest in foreign missionary work ; but
a s yet there seemed to be no c a ll for unmarried

ladies in the foreign field a nd beyond an occasion a l

,

inquiry or an expression of a wish to h ave a share

,

in the work no o ne remembers that s he ever a t

,

this period considered the question of herself b e co m

ing a missionary That S he would have gone will
.

ing l y a nd cheerfully if the Church had a sked her

,

to do s o is quite cert ain ; but unfortunately not

, , ,

only was the o fficial O pinion a t our missionary head

quarters a t t hat time quite a dverse to sending u m
married ladies to the foreign field but the mis
‘

s io na ri e s at the front had also formed an unfavorable

O pinion on the subj ect . The only open d oOr to use

ful employme nt seemed to be that of teachin g but ,

here agai n a strange adverse fortune seemed to a t

tend all her efforts to find a S ituation .

While not in the slightest degree subj ect to see

taria n n a rrowness of feeling or opinion S he a lw ays ,

avowed a very decided preference for work co n

ne c t e d with her own Church and cheri shing S uch
, ,

a preferen c e she very n aturally made inquiries

,

a mong the M ethodist institutions ne a rest to her

3 0 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

home Among the fi rst to respond t o her i nquiry

.

was the President of the O hio Wesleyan Female

College at that time a separat e ins t itution but now
, ,

connected with the university at Delaware This .

college was in a flourishing condition and was a t ,

t h at time probably the leading Methodist college

, ,

for young women west of the Al l e gha nie s T h e .

at t endance was large and increasing and the po ,

s it io n of preceptress of suc h an institution seemed

exac t ly adapted to th e tastes and abilities of Miss

Thoburn T h e president went to s ee her and aft er
.
, ,

full and careful inqu i ries on both S ides it seemed to ,

be prac t ically settled that she would receive the

appointment But as time passed it gradually b e
.

came apparent t hat the agreement would never be

consummated No one seemed able to tell w hy
.
,

and indeed no one seemed to know how the neg o tia

tion had failed ; but as a matter of fact other, ,

arrangements were made and she was obliged to ,

look elsewhere for employment O t h er hindrances .

appeared as she made inquiries and in the end she ,

accepted a situation in a private school under t h e

auspices of t he Protestant Episcopal Church in the ,

town of New Cas t le Pennsylvania , .

This strange turn of events was somewhat try

ing both to herself and her friends and especially ,

to her missionary brother who little dreamed that ,

Go d by hi s providential guidance w a s preventing

, ,

her from becomi ng e nt angled with en gageme nts in

 Y o u ng W o m a nh o o d .
3 1

the United States which would hinder her a little

later from entering upo n the great life work which
awaited h er on the other S ide of the globe H ad she .

secured the situation in Delaware she would no ,

doubt have made a splendid success of her a dmin

,

i s t ra tio n ; but that very success would probably have

kept her in that corner of t h e world all her days ,

and would t h us have prevented her from entering a

wider sphere and laying the foundations of a
,

greater work than would have been possible in a

land already Christianized Go d trains his workers .

in a very wide school and does no t limit studies

,

to a cramped and crowded four years course of re a d ’

ing and recitations His school of experience often

.

—indeed usually—extends over a somewhat length

ened term of years ; but his students receive no
merely fo rn a l instruction and need expect no dis
'

hones t diplo m as T h is young disciple devoted

.
, ,

tra ined willing a nd ready for work now in her

, , ,

twenty fift h year seemed prepared for any S ervice ;

-
,

but God s time was not yet In early O ctober 1 86 5

’
.
, ,

s he and her brother parted at a railway sta t ion near

Pittsburg the one to go to New Castle and the

, ,

other to a remote station among t h e H imalayas ,

little dreaming that their next meeting would be in

the remote city of Nagpore in Central Indi a , .

I n New C a stle her S itu a tion was made as agree

able for her as circumstances permitted and her out ,

side a ssoc i ations wer e ple a s ant a nd cong eni al She .

 Li f e of I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

always spoke in gratefu l terms of the l a dy pri nci p al

of t he school and formed many v a lued friendships
,

in the town At t he close of the year S he w as

.

o ff ered the position of preceptress in t h e Western

Reserve Seminary an institution under the p atron
,
s

age o f h er own Church and accep t ed the o ffer as a ,

providential indication of the next field of labor

to which S he should go Thirty four years after her.
-

year spent in New Castle a relative visi t i ng t h at ,

town found many friends who m a de kind inquiries

concerning her and testified to the good work Sh e
,

h a d done a nd the hallowed influence she had ex

,

e rt e d in both C h urch and school At West Farm .

i ngt o n S he found a larger and more a dvanced school ,

and during two years of fait h ful service S he w a s

enabled to do a very important work among the
young men and women who a t tended that sem
ina ry
. It is needless to say that h er influence has
since been widely extended throughout the West ,

as the young people of both sexes who received

instruction from her h ave become scattered far and
wide over all the region between the Al l eg ha nie s
and the Pacific M eanwhile a gleam of light in
.

reference to missionary duty ha d been granted to

her early in 1 866 and slowly but surely a convie
,

tion was taking a firm hold upon her that in the ,

fullness of time Go d would direct her steps to

,

some fi eld of labor in the far o ff region -

,

Wh th g ld n g t
e re ef d y o e a es o a

Op e n th p l m y E as t ”
e a .
34 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

ing succeeded in this he lightly enough thought he

would go into the tent and see i f he could write
with the big pen O n trial t h e pen did its work
.

very well and the further t h ought occurred that

,

it might be interesti ng to send a letter written with

this strange pen to t h e writer s sister The letter ’
.

was written at once and the incident was destined

,

to become historic .

T h is letter con t ained a brief account of the work

among the villages and described the difficult situ
,

ation in which t h e girls were placed A S the best .

possible way to meet t h e di fficulty it was suggested

that the most promising of the girls S hould be gath
ered into a well equipped boarding school at some
- -

central point and carefully trained not only in

, ,

C h ristian ways but a lso for usefulness in future

,

years in th e hope t h at in this way lig h t mig h t grad

,

u a l l y be di ff used among a ll the homes of the future

Christian community The letter closed with the .

question written almost thoughtlessly How would

, ,
“

you like to come and take charge of such a school

if we decide to make the attempt ! By t h e first ”

steamer which could bring a reply came t h e ready ,

and swift response that S he would come j ust as soon

,

a s a way was opened for her to do s o T h is reply .

was not expected to be so prompt or S O decisive and ,

was a little disconcerting to the brother who had ,

somewhat lightly made the p rOpo sa l The Church .

a t home w a s not prepared to send out the intrepi d

vol u nteer and the brethre n of the missio n were

,
 Y o u ng W o m a nh o o d .
35

by no me ans sure th a t they w a nted a co nti ngent of

you ng women to be a dded to the permanent work ~

ing force in the field But the question had been

.

definitely r a ised and very soon indications beg an

,

to appear that God was c a lling the attention of

others to the importance of enlistin g the wom anhood
of the Church in the great missionary enterprise .

That enterprise was soon to enter upon a new era ,

to assume vastly wider proportions and to aim at

,

more direct result s and it began to be felt that in

,

the new era the help of the womanhood of the

Church would be not o nly valu able but absolutely
,

indispens able
.
 CAPTER I V .

WO M AN ‘
S WO RK I N T HE M I S SI O N
F I EL D .

TH E rem a rk able a dvent of Christi an women i nto

the great mission fields of the world some thirty
or forty years ago formed a part of a wider move
,

ment which a ff ected t he position of intelligent

womanhood throughout the English spe ak ing world -
,

and which to a less degree is making itself felt

a mong all civilized nations at the present day .

Wit h out pausing to seek for the source or sources , ,

of t h is movement it will su ffice for t h e presen to

,
t

note t h e facts of the case especially so far as t he v

,

a ffect missionary operations O n every side we to

.

day s e e women employed in positions from which

all women were rigidly excluded fift y years ago .

They are everywhere and by every one it is c o n

,

ceded that t h ey have come to stay In a great .

movement of this kind it would be strange indeed

if the great mission fields of the world S hould form
an exception to the general rule and women con ,

tin ne to be excluded from a serv ice for some de

p a rt m e nt s of which t hey have pre eminent fitness -
.

The thought will no doubt at once occur to

, ,

some mi nds th at women had not bee n wholly e x

3 6
 W o m a n s W o rk ’
.
37

cluded inasmuch as the wives of missionaries had

,

always rendered valuable aid to the work of their

husbands but this fact does not materially change
,

t he question at issue If for instance wives of

.
, ,

teachers in this country were per mitted to assist

their husbands while all other women were ex
,

cluded from the teacher s calling it would hardly

’
,

be claimed that the teaching profession was open

to bo t h sexes It oug h t to be said however that
.
, ,

a ll unm a rried women were not rigi dly excluded

from the missio n field Here and there a widow
.

would be seen trying to ca rry on the work in which

her husb a nd had fallen ; a nd now a nd then a n u n
m a rried wom an would be found engaged in some
speci a l work ; but such exceptions served only to
illustr ate the general rule No mission field in the
.

world w a s open to the Christian wom a nhood of the

Churches in the sense in which ne a rly all S uch
,

fi elds are open to day -

.

The time h a d certa inly come for such a mission

ary movement a s that which began to attract atten
tion at the period a bove noted The great mis .

s io na ry enterprise had passed its initial stage which

’

w a s in a large me a sure experimenta l had demon ,

s t ra t e d its right to be and the possibilities which

,

lay before it if fairly sustained ; but t he magnitude

of the t a sk to be accomplished was simply appall
ing Help from every possible source must be
.

sought a nd a ll help whi ch gave promise of prae

,

tical u sefulness m u st be acc epted Aside from the .

3 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

special claims of women in the mission field a time ,

had come when the laborers abroad could not a ff ord

to decline the help of lady missionaries who seemed
to be prompted by t h e same motives and to be ,

called by th e same Holy Spirit as their bret h ren ,

whose position on t h e foreign field had never been

challenged Just here it might be said that the
.

right and wrong of the whole question really de

pended upon t he reality of t h e claim which m a nv
put forward th at the Holy Spiri t had impressed
,

upon their hearts a distinct and unmistakable con

v ic t io n t h at t h ey should devote themselves to God s
’

work in the foreign mission field .

A glance at the situation abroad will S how in

unmistakable characters t h e extraordinary necessity
for more help which existed at the time whe n this
ne w movement firs t began to take definite shape .

For a number of years God had been wonderfully

opening doors of access to the non Christian peo -

ples of the world Nation after nation had

.

opened its gates and granted religious liberty

not only to the strangers who wished to
preach Christ but to the people who had
,

previously t hrough long centuries been str a ngers to

the very idea of religious liberty M e n were still
.

living who remembered the time when h a rdly any

Moh a mmedan or heathen people in the world were
freely accessible to the missionary ; but for a num
ber of years a ste a dy tendency could have been oh
served in the co u rse of eve nts tow a rds the e x
, ,
 Wo m a n s W o rk 9
’
.
3

te nsion of the area of freedom The most s a n .

gu ine friend of missions could not but see that it

would be impossible to meet the demands of t h e
new er a unless the missionary force could be very
largely increased Young men were coming for
.

ward as volunteers it is true but not at all in suf

, ,

fic ie nt numbers to meet the extraordinary emer

g e n c y w h ich presented itself to t h e C h urch .

By this time also it began to be perceived t h a t

, ,

some parts of the work in mission fields could only

be performed properly by women This was e s .

p ec i a l l y true in the matter of preaching T h e term .

preaching as used in modern times is somewhat

,
”
,

misleading In a mission field the preacher is one

.

who gives to the people a message which he re

c e iv e s from Go d . This message may be proclaimed
from the housetop or it may be quietly delivered
,

in the seclusion of a family circle As a simple mat .

ter of fact it can not be proclaimed at all by m e n

,

to a very large portion of the human ra ce .

Wherever the M oh a mmedan religion and Moham

medan authority have penetrated the custom of ,

secluding the respectable women of the country as ,

far a s possible from th e O bservation of men h a s been

largely adopted not only by Mohammedans but by
, ,

those ruled by them or C losely associated with them

, .

T h is custom also prevails to a great extent in man y

countries in which t he religious influence of Mo
ha m m e d ism ha s been but slightly felt In fact it .
,

i s of very a n cie nt ori gi n a nd d a tes b a ck t o the

,
40 Li f e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

earliest periods of history At the present da y pe r

.

h a ps nine tenths of all t h e untold millions of Asi a

-

a nd one fourth of t hose of Africa are more or less

-
,

subj ect to the prej udice created by this ancient cus

tom The practical result is t h at probably sever al
.
,

hundred mill ion women are living in the world to

day who would not be able to find admission to
,

any a udience to which a mission a ry w a s preaching ,

a nd who practically would be excluded from a ny

of the privileges w h ich at tend the a dministration
of public C h ristian worship Missionaries at the .

period above noted beg a n to observe that if these

women were to be reached at all it must be done ,

to a very great extent by messengers of their own

se x . This became more a nd more apparent with
every a dvance step taken and even when families
,

h a d been converted and C h ris t i a n communities

formed it was s till found that the male missionary
,

could not use his influence with at all the s ame free
dom and success which would be possible in Chris
ti an l a nds .

It need h a rdly be added that with the a dvent of

a n era in whic h the magni t ude of the work seemed
.

to be appreciated the t h ought began to present itself

,

in the mi nds of scores and hundreds of t h ose inter

e st e d in missionary work that the only way to meet

s o extraordinary a demand would be by enlisting

Christian women in large numbers for missionary

serv ice The necessity was not only urgent but a h
.
,

solute There seemed no re a so n why su ch a call

.
4 2 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

myri a ds of the non Christian world need Chris

-

t ia nity but they need a C h ristianity which will bring

,

to thei r doors modern Phoebes Priscillas Lydi as , , ,

a nd other female workers of like good report Chris .

tian women of at leas t a moderate culture and of ,

approved piety must go in and out among t h ose who

,

at best are but babes in Christ whose knowledge ,

is extremely limited and whose experience has no t

,

extended much beyond the walls of the carefully

gu a rded premises in w h ich the convert lives In .

many parts of t h e O riental world it seems prob

able that t h e institution known in New Testament
days as t h e Church in t h e h ouse will have to be
“ ”

recognized for several generations to come The .

house spoken of may perh a ps have been large

, ,

e noug h to accommodate a nu m ber o f families may , ,

in fact have been a large inclosure with many doors

, ,

O peni ng into a large cour t yard completely shut in

,

from the outside world In such a place a dozen or

.
,

twenty or possibly forty or fifty women and girls

,

could be assembled at times and t h us be privileged

,

to receive religious instruction and engage in wor

ship somewhat aft er t h e manner of those who a t
tend the usual Church services In fact it is more .
,

than probable that with the progress of the work

,

of conversion in the East many new developments

,

will present themselves and thus workers of ev e r v

,
-

class may be in requisition to a n exte nt which c a n

not now be a ppreciated .
 W o m a n s W o rk ’
.

A persist ent notion prev a ils widely throughout

Europe and America to t h e e ffect that in O riental
coun t ries the women are kept in close confinement
within the narrow precinct of the ordinary home ,

and are thus held like so many prisoners and are ,

more or less subj ect to the whims of suspicious a nd

j ealous husbands TO a limited exten t this picture
.

is per h aps true but t h e idea upon t h e whole is a

,

false one The women who have been brought up

.

in homes of this kind and who have always been ,

familiar with the idea of living apart from t h e out

side world and moreover who have imbibed the
, , ,

notion that any di ff erent kind of life would reflect

upon their personal character are quite as unwill ,

ing to go out into the busy world a s a ny mission

ary would be to induce them to m a ke the e xp e ri
ment Indeed j udicious l a dy mi ssionari e s h a ve
.
,

learned not to create discontent in such circles b V

picturing to the inmates of the zenana the attrae
tions of the outside world Their mission is a d if .

fe re nt one altogether They may disapprove of

.

the custom which vi rtually imprisons such women ,

but they soon le a rn not to discuss a question of that

.

kind t oo freely The custom is too intimately in

.

t e rw o v e n with the whole question of domestic dis

c ip l ine to be rashly discussed or agitated by Visitors

from the outside world The lady missionary m a y .

have and does h a ve a disti nct message for S uc h

, ,

women and ca n do a gre at dea l of good to the

,
 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

inm ates of the ze nana when permitted to do so but ,

her commission is to a larger a udie nce a nd her ,

field of labor embraces a wider world .

The progress of woman s work in India during

’

the past thirty years has been so rapid and so success

ful th a t the student of modern missions becomes
amazed as he notes the many phases which the
work has assumed and the wide and ever widening
,
-

field which is presented to the laborers as t h ey con

t inu e to come out from the home land L ady mis
.

s io na rie s are found not only in t h e modes t li tt le

mission schools for gi rls which existed thirty years

ago but in seminaries of hig h gr a de and regularly
,

c h artered colleges recognized by the governments

,

of the d a y They are found teaching in medical

.

Sc hools ; practicing medicine a mong the poor and

the helpless ; itinerating among remote villages in

which converts live ; writing books and tracts for the
comi ng genera tions ; holding re li gious meetings with
the secluded inmates of the zenana ; intr od uci ng the
person and the work of the deaconess ; in short ,

engaging in every fo i m of C h ristian work which is

‘

found in C h ristian l a nds .

This by no means exhausts the possibilities and

prob a bilities of the case All Chris t ian work in O ri
.

ental lands is practically in it s infancy Chri stian .

progress in this d a y is rapid everywhere The work .

of to d a y is but a n indic ation of the g re ater work

-

—
which must be performed to morrow The women .

who teach in our i nstitutions in India to day little -

 ’
W o m a n s W o rk .

dre a med whe n they left their e a rly homes th a t they

would ever s e e a college for women in the f a r o ff -

country to which they were going Those who .

follow them will be subj ect to even greater sur

prises The progress o f the future c a n not be d is
.

t inctl y described but it may in outline be c o nfi

,

d e nt l y a nticipated The work must be done a nd

.
,

the workers must be prep a red for the duties which

a wait them Th a t preparatio n m a y not consist in
.

speci a l training for duties which are cle a rly foresee n ,

but it must embrace the developme nt of char a cter ,

and a general cul ture which will fit its recipient for

any responsible position which may in the provi
,

dence of God be a ssi gne d in c omi ng ye a rs

, .
 C H APTER V .

A P P O IN T M E NT AND D E P ARTUR E TO
I N DI A .

A FTER leaving West Farmington Miss Thoburn ,

spent a year or more in St Clairsville ministering .

,

to the wants of an invalid and widowed sis t er in -

law who with h er t h ree little boys lived in that

, , ,

town The year spent here made a deep and last

.

ing impression on her c h aracter and helped to pre ,

pare h er for h er hallowed service in later years

among the stricken and su ffering in far o ff lands -
.

She ever afterward cherished a peculiar interest in

the boys and al th ough quite young t h ey received a n
, ,

impress from her teaching which was fully a pp re

c i a t e d in after years At a recent missionary meet
.

i ng t h e eldest o f t h e t h ree is quote d a s saying !

“
I c a n not resist t h e impulse to turn asi de fo r a
mo m ent long enoug h to lay affection s im m orte l le s
,
’

upo n that lonely grave yonder in t h e L ucknow Ce m

e t e ry. I t is
‘
A n w idg i n t h h hy d ;
a rr o r e e c u rc ar

Tw
’
ld ou t y h ild i n hi c ;
s c a rc e s a a c s ra e

B t t m
u o nd m y t h
e a gh t i t i w idou s s er

T h n th t
a wn v g
e s a r so-
f p a ue o s a ce .
’

I t i s t h e grave o f your first missio nary I sabella Tho ,

b u r n S he close d my mother s eyes i n death a nd

.
’
,

b ec a m e th e orp ha ns c ou nselo r a nd su pport H er

’
.

46
 A p p o i nt m e nt a nd De p a ft u re .
47

beautiful life so rich in simplicity and cour a ge was

, ,

poured out for others in a stricken home before S he

gave herself to India She will have thousands of
.

children from the valley of the Ganges who will rise

up and call her blessed b u t the three boys who
‘

,
’

found the shelter of her mother heart and whose -

,

lives never outgrew her gentle sw a y claim the first ,

privilege of paying love s tribute O ne of them is

’
.

with her in heaven to night ; another watches and

-

works by her rose —covered sepulcher w h ile the third ,

shares wit h you the blessedness of having had the

benediction of such a character a t the beginnin g of
”
life s active years I thank God for her l
’
.

During this time the question of becomi ng a for

e i g n missionary became to her a subj ect of c o n

s t a nt l y incre a sing thought and

-
prayer The late .

Bishop Parker had returned with his wife from

India in broken health and intercourse with them
,

had not only deepened her conviction on the general

subj ect but had also S hed much light upon the
,

si t u ation in India and the a pparently incre asing need

of the kind of help which she felt a desire to give .

The question of a S peci a l call from the Holy Spirit

w a s not overlooked but S he wisely hesitated to a c
,

cept such a call a s fin a l so long as the indications of

Providence did not seem to harmonize with it She .

was willing and even anxious to go a nd caused this ,

fa ct to be k nown by those who would h a ve re spon

sibi l it y in sending her ; but beyond this s he di d not

think it her d uty to ta ke a ny fu rther steps .

4 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

In those d a ys no one in her o w n Church seemed

to have dreamed of so improbable a n event a s the
organization of a Foreign Mission a ry Society man
aged by women and conducted wholly in the in
,

f erest of missionary work among women while ,

recent events had confirmed the existing Society in

it s policy of sending out unmarried women only in ,

exceptional cases But the idea had taken shape

.

in the minds of some p rogressive women in the East ,

and in 1 860 the Woman s Union Missionary Socie t y

’

h a d been organized on a n undenominational basis ,

and two or three l a dies h a d been sent out under its ,

auspices to India and J apan Hearing of this move

, .

ment Miss T hob u rn s brother wrote to her from

,
’

India suggesting t h at she should apply for an a p

pointment under the ne w Society To this letter .

s he promptly replied ! I have no obj ection to the

“

plan or obj ects of the Society but for some reason ,

I can not get the consent of my mind to devote my

life to a ny work which is not connected with the
Church of my parents A s s he was known to be
.

remarkably free from sect a rian bias in all its forms ,

this reply was quite unexpected ; but in due time its

re a l meaning and the importance of her decision
, ,

beca me apparent Mrs Parker w a s living in Boston

. .

a t th at time a nd very naturally would in t a lking

, ,

with her friends mention the fact that a yo ung l a d v

,

in Ohio well q u alified for the work w a s willi ng to

, ,

go out to Indi a as a missio na ry but th at no w a v ,

seemed open to her and th at it seeme d a gre at pity

,
5 0 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

only be needed in the work of her ow n Church bu t ,

that in time s he would have a much wider field

within Church lines than she could have h ad with
out She had made no choice through sectarian feel
.

ing ; S he had not attempted to analyze her feelings

or convictions but by following her best spiritual in
,

st inc t s S he found the providential work for which

Go d had manifestly s et her ap a rt Willing and .

,

even eager a s S he had become to devote her life

,

to this work S he was by no means too confident

,

of her fitness for so great a responsibility and with ,

the modest feeling which was a lw a ys ch a r acteristic

,

of her she wrote to M rs Parker

, .

“
I thank you for the e a rly note which did in ,
~

deed relieve my mind of intense anxiety Long as

, .

I have anticipated this appointment i t seems all new ,

a nd strange to me now that it has taken place and ,

I can not s e e how such an ignorant child could have

dared to expect such a trust I know nothing at all . ,

except to believe that if Go d has indeed C h osen me to

,

serve him in this way he will not leave me nu ,

prepared for the service I am t hankful that you are.

here to advise me Tell me what to do what not

.
,

—
to do everything I should know I am grateful
, .

to the ladies of the Society for the appointment and ,

trust th at with God s blessing I S h a ll not dis

,
’

appoint their expectations ”

.

O ne of her friends had expressed the hope tha t

she might be the fi rst one to se cure a n appoi nt
 A pp o i nt m e nt d De p a rtu re
an .
5 1

ment from the new Society ; but the distinction did

no t seem very important in th a t d a y of small t h ings .

It is S omewhat di fferent now A long line of faith

.

ful disciples have followed in her footsteps to India ,

wh ile still more have enlisted under the same ban

ner for service in China and Japan in Kore a and ,

Mexico in Italy and South America in Mal aysia

, ,

and Africa Numbered at first by the score they are

.
,

now counted by the hundred and persons are now

,

living who will yet see the missionaries of t h is

child of Providence the Woman s Foreign Mission
,
’

ary Society numbered by the thousand not a s

, ,

counted from the beginning but living a nd w orking

,

in foreign lands a t the same time .

It was thought desirable to send at le a st one

additional lady missionary with Miss Thoburn to
India and an admirable candidate w a s found in t h e
,

person of Miss Clara A Swain M D of Castile

.
, . .
, ,

New York Miss Swain was a regular graduate in

.

medicine and otherwise well qualified for the work

,

of a missionary in a foreign land and it was pro ,

posed that S he should be sent to India distinctly

in the character of a medical missionary In some .

respects this was a bold step to take The opini on

, .

O f a large maj ority of the medical m e n in Indi a w a s

distinctly adverse to the propos a l The obj ecti o ns.

were m anifold but not very weighty It is proba ble

, .

that underlying all the other obj ections was a feeli ng

of hostility tow a rd the pra cti ce of medi ci ne by
5 2 Li f e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

women in a ny country or u nder a ny circ u mst ances ;

,

but in a ddi t ion to this it was urged that the attempt

, ,

would be misunderstood by the people ; t h at it

would create suspicion and hostility ; that it might
lead to serious ou t breaks in cases of surgical oper
ations with fatal results in zenanas e tc The pro , .

pos a l w a s not only ne w but did u ndoubtedly in

,

volve a measure of uncertainly ; but the ques t ion w as

one which c a lled for the exercise of calm cour age
a nd c a reful steps r ather than superficial discussion
,

a nd timid ab a ndonment of all e ffort It au gu red .

well for the new Society that its managers were

gifted not only with clear vision but no less with
, ,

a c a lm courage which enabled them to take a bold

step forward at one of the most critical points in the
progress of modern missions Miss Swai n w a s will
.

ing to accept the responsibility with its risks and the ,

ladies of the new Society assumed t h e responsibility

of sending her to the field of action .

The prompt action of the new Society in selec t ing

a nd a ppointing two missionaries almost immediately
a ft er completing its organization made a very favor
,

a ble impression o u t h e Church a nd inspired earnest

,

friends of missions with a measure of new hOp e and

confidence In prosecuting missionary work a s in
.
,

war prompt and vigorous action is necessary in

,

order to maintain public confidence It was inter .

esting to note that a new movement had been

started a nd a new Society organized but it w a s ,

worth v a stly more to dis cover th a t a vital spiritu al

 A p p o i nt m e nt an d D e p a rt u re .
53

force was animating the ne w movement and that ,

the spirit of deep and unquestioning co nse c ratio n

still survived in the Church .

With M iss Thob u rn s acceptance a nd appoi nt

’

ment as a missionary to India t he question of her

future position and work w a s settled forever No .

S hadow of doubt on the subj ect of her call to a

specific life work ever a fterward crossed her mi nd .

She at once bega n to make preparations for her

long j ourney to India and in t h e meantime em
, , ,

braced every opportunity o f helping forward the

cause to which her life was henceforth to be de
voted She organized a local branch of the new
.

Society in her own home Church in St Clairsville .

,

with over thirty members and wrote to the secretary

,

that S he would help the good work wherever she

went This was probably the first local Society
.

organized wes t of the A l l e g ha nies The summer .

mon t hs passed rapidly by and soon S he was busied

,

with prep a ration for the long j ourney which l a y

before her .

The prompt appointment of these two ladies a s

missionaries to India produced a n immediate a nd
deep impression in the Church It w a s instinctively
.

felt that not only were those who had undert a ke n

the new movement in earnest but they were wise a nd
,

c a pable m a nagers The choice of two doubtfu l

.

workers as the first her a lds of the g re at host of

Chri sti a n women who were to follow would nu ,

doubtedly ha ve bee n d is a stro u s to t he co nfi d e nc e

54 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

of the publi c but in this case the sending forth of

,

t wo capable Vigorous practic a l a nd spiritual young

, , ,

women both of whom had been well tested in the

,

h ome land not only inspired confidence but cre

, ,

a t ed a hopeful interest in what seemed to be a new

missionary departure From the very hour of the
.

announcement that the two ladies had been a p

pointed the question o f a c a ll to S imilar work began
,

t o be agitated in t h e minds of other young women

all over the land and while this in turn did not lead
,

every such inquirer out to the foreign field it did , ,

undoubtedly le a d to the consecration of many to

,

special work in t h e home land The reflex influence.

of foreign missions on the home Churches is one of

the most notable benefits which this good cause
confers upon its supporters It dem a nds much but
.
,

it enric h es those who give either money or service

for it s S upport .

The question of a ppointme nt to I ndi a h aving

been settled no time was lost by the two ladies who
,

had been selected for that service in making their

preparations for an early departure T h e announce .

ment of their going attracted much atten t ion and ,

seemed to m a ke a deeper impression upon the pub

lic mind th a n that of ordinary missionaries A f a re .

well meeting was held for them in Boston at which ,

the late Bishop Gilbert H a ven presided and a second ,

meeting held in the old Bedford Street Church in

,

New York proved to be one of the most notable

,

farewell meeti ngs ever given to missionaries in that

 Ap p o i nt m e nt an d D e p a rt u re .
55

city It w a s from this church that Ann Wilkins

.
,

one of the pioneer lady missionaries of Methodism ,

had gone out to Afric a long years before and it ,

seemed fitting that the new movement S hould select

that ch u rch as in outward appearance at least a
, ,

new start ing point in mi sionary work T h e audi

s .

ence room was crowded to the very door All the

-
.

stairways were occupi e d and the aisles filled An .

intense interest was manifes t ed and t he S imple and

,

practical addresses of t h e two departing missionaries

made a profoun d impression upon t h e audience .

It was evident in many ways that this new move

ment among the womanhood of the Church w a s
going to be appreciated more fully and in a more
practical way than had up to this hour been a n
, ,

t ic i p a t e d .

The next morni ng the two l a dies left for their

dis t ant Eastern field of labor by t h e steamer N ev a d a ,

and a large concourse of friends w a s at the dock

to s peak farewell words of encour a gement and to ,

send them away upon thei r noble erran d l aden with

their prayers and blessings The event of that
.

mornin g marked the beginning of a new er a in the

history of Methodist missions in foreign l ands .
 C H APTER V I .

M I S S I O N A RY L I F E I N I N DI A .

A SI N GLE generation ago or even at a later date , ,

very li t tle was known with accuracy in t h e Uni t ed

Stat es concerning India and the every day condi ,
-

tions which attend human life in t hat far o ff country -

.

The tide of travel h a d not yet commenced to flow

a round the globe and tourists very seldom selected
,

India a s a field for their observations The Indian .

people like the Chinese were well known as keepers

, ,

a t home and
-
, a lthough familiar enough wi th their
,

English rulers they had never manifested much

,

interest in the American people or their dist a nt

country Hence when the gre a t missionary move
.
,

ment which distinguished the second half of the

past century began to m ake itself felt it is not ,

strange t hat a new interest in India and all t h ings ,

pertaining to India began to manifest itself and

, ,

questions of all kinds began to be asked concerning

the practical every d a y life of those engaged in
,
-

mission a ry work among the teeming millions of

that great empire T h is was more especially true
.

in the case of those interested in the remarkable

development of the new missionary work proposed
for wome n Under wh at conditions could women
.

56
5 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

th ey h a ve made very slow progress in the arts o f

civiliza t ion t h ey c e t a inl h a ve not receded The
,
r v .

word heathen h as become an equivocal term in

“ ”

our modern times T h e people of India with t h e

.
,

exception of a few remo t e tribes are a civilized ,

people and strangers go i ng among t h em need have

,

no fear of being left wit h out home food or clot h ing , ,

.

T h e ordinary comforts of life can be found in suffi

cient measure to meet the moderate needs of
strangers from other lands and all misgivings on ,

this h ead may be at once dismissed .

India is a vas t empire wi t h a governmen t a d ,

ministered in t he coun t ry itself All over th is great .

empire s t ations have been selected for the a d m inis ~

t ra t io n of lo c al a ff airs and at each of t h ese five

,

or s ix European officials are always found Among .

th em a doctor is usually included Supplies for .

th e table are provided according to European ideals ,

and hence a missionary family has only to establish

itself at one of t hese stations in order to be within
reach of medical assistance and also of a market ,

sui t ed to its wants If t h e station in question is a

.

city th e si t uat ion is still more favorable ; but in any

,

case th ere need be nothing no t even in a remote ,

degree wort h y of t h e name or even t h oug h t of

, , ,

serious priva t ion The necessities and many of t h e

.

comforts of advanced civilization are ready at h and

for the missionary when h e reaches the coun t ry .

He finds h imself in the very midst of the people of

t he land ; and yet his mode of life a nd the measure ,
 M issi o na ry L if e in I nd i a .
5 9
of physical comfort which he enj oys do not usually ,

strike him a s much inferior to wh a t he h a s bee n

accustomed to in his n a tive land .

India is a tropical country a nd is much like,

other parts of the tropical world Nearly every .

fruit found in other tropical regions c a n be found in

some part of India The mango is the apple of the
.

coun t ry ; the orange and indeed t he whole C itron

,

family of fruits grow everywhere ; the banana forms

,

a n important article of food ; the pineapple the ,

custard apple and other fruits peculiar to the

-
,

tropics abound while among the hills and even on

, ,

the plains of the Far North west the fruits found in

,

American orchards appear in moderate qu a ntity a nd ,

sometimes of fair quality During the cold season

.

the gardens produce a fair supply of vegetables ,

while tree shrub and plant Vie with one another

, ,

in putting fo rth a splendid bloom of fr a grant a nd

beautiful flowers .

The public roads a re limited as yet but whe n an ,

Englishman makes a road he may usual ly be de

pended o u to make a good one Except on the .

rugged mountains the mission a ry will find it eas y

to utilize a horse and buggy in most districts ; but
owing to the prevailing sand in the soil those in ,

Guj arat have been obliged to u s e camels when on

t our while in regions where forests still linger the
,

mission a ry sometimes resorts to the u s e of elephants .

These a nimals can occasionally be borrowed from

wealthy native gentlemen La dies however es .
, ,
 Li f e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

p e c i a lwhen at work in large cities sometimes find

l y ,

it advisable to u s e the pa l k i bett er known in West

,

ern lands as the palankeen “

Horseb a ck riding i s
.

also very common .

T h e cl imate of India is always a subj ect of car e

ful and anxious inquiry on t h e par t of t h ose who
have serious thoughts of missionary work in that
land and it is well that not only t h e missionaries
, ,

themselves but also those who support t h e work

, ,

s h ould have correct ideas on t h e subj ect Like all .

widely extended regions of the globe th e vast tract

-
,

known as India presen t s many varieties of climate ,

and is by no means uniformly healthy or unhealthy .

Some of its peculiari t ies belong to th e tropics in ,

common wi th t h e whole equatorial belt w h ile other ,

climatic effec t s may be regarded as India s own ’

.

It is t he bir th place for instance of c h oler a and

, , ,

nearly every march of that dread scourge amo ng the

natio ns has its beginning in this far off re gion On -

.

the other hand yellow fever never re a ches it s

,

S hores nor any pestilence resembling it

,
.

Strangers in India and especially Europea ns

, ,

have less to fear from acute attacks of disease th an

from the depressing e ff ec t s of the climate through
a term of years owing to which one s p h ysic a l
,
’

stren gt h becomes gradually reduced and the fou n ,

dation of some chronic ailment is thus s ecu rel v

laid Hence it is gener ally considered prude nt for
.

foreigners in India to take frequent resting spells ,

by goi ng to some q u i et resort a mong the mountai ns ,

 M i s si o na ry Li f e in I nd i a . 61

a nd spending a t least a few weeks in u nbroken res t ;

and in addition to this it is generally conceded
, ,

that all foreigners who engage in exhausting work ,

should leave the country altogether about once in

ten years a nd spend a full year or more in the home
,

l a nd or at least in some region outside the tropics

,
.

Aside from the question of health al t ogether most ,

persons need the ment a l tonic which such a com

p l e t e ch a nge would give after
, an absence of ten
ye a rs from the activities of life a nd thought which
a re peculiar in our era to the English speaking -

world The pra ctic a l bearing of this question will

.

be amply illustrated in the course of t he S ket ches

found on the following pages .

It is very generally understood that domestic

arrangements in India a re somewhat complicated ,

and often more or less hampered by t h e peculiar

system which prevails of employing a special serv ~

a nt for each special department of household work .

The cook will not carry the wat er and t he m a n who

,

tends the horse will not work in the garden and so ,

on. This peculiar rule is enforced so universally

that busy missionaries have no time to S pend in
contending against it The origin of the custom
.

is usually traced to the Hindu cas t e system bu t ,

this has little to do with it now however it may ,

have been at the beginning At the present d a y

.

the system is not unlike the plan adopted by a mod

e rn labor union .It is for the interest of the whole
serv ant community to m a i nt a i n the li nes of sep a ra
62 L if e of I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

tion a s long a nd a s rigidly a s possible Foreign .

residents find it best to accept the condi t ions O f

domestic a nd social life of the country as they meet
them and to make only indirect e fforts to e ff ect
,

a change .

The daily division of time for home and business

purposes in Indi a di ff ers widely from American or
English usage and sometimes provokes a tempo
,

rary protest from new missionaries In the large .

seaport cities European usage has to a great ex ,

tent asserted itself ; but throughout the interior the

,

business and official day from April first to O ctober

,

fi rst begins at six A M and closes at eleven or

, . .

twelve Sunday morning service begins at six

.

o clock ; schools open at six and all places of busi

’

ness and a l l government offices includ i ng courts of ,

j ustice open at the same hour T h e natives g en

, .

e ra l l y eat their fi rst meal a t noon and often the ,

second does not follow until long after nightfall .

A hundred native girls may be seen entering their

schoolroo m fasting at six in t h e morning and ,

applying themselves closely to study and recitations

till eleven when their day s work is over and t h e y
,
’

are permitted to go to breakfast The few sca t tered .

speci a lists in America who have adopted the plan

of omitting breakfast from their list of daily meals ,

would find abundant comp a ny if they transferred

their reside nce to the other S ide of the globe .

The noonday s ies ta is very widely observed by

the p eopl e o f I ndi a a nd their e xam ple sho u ld be
,
 M issi o na ry L if e in I ndi a . 63

followed by all foreigners who expect to do hard

work in a n Indian climate A missionary of long .

and wide experience has bee n known to sa y to

workers newly arrived from home O mit a meal ,
“

if you will but do not rob yourselves of S leep

,
”
.

O ne of the best missionaries ever enlisted in our

ranks cherished scruples on the subj ect of indulgi ng
,

in a noonday sleep and made a sad Sh ipwreck of

,

h eal t h a nd ultimately of life in consequence John ,

.

Wesley s t eaching on the subj ect w a s very seriously

’

misleading .

Most missionaries breakfa st a bout ten or eleven

’

after a solid morning s work is done ; but one and

’

all take a cup of tea and a slice or two of to a st o n

rising Many probably a maj ority dine betwee n
.
, ,

four and five and h ave tea again a fter the evening
,

mee t ings The custom is gaining however of post

.
, ,

p o nin g dinner until all t he work of the day is fin

i she d and this a rr a ngeme nt is perh a ps the one
,

which from every point of View is the most s atis

, ,

factory I t was the arr a ngement made b y M iss

.

Thoburn for her large household a fter other plans ,

had one after another been found not to work

, ,

s atisfactorily al though it not infrequently threw the

,

dinner hour as late as nine o cloc k ’

.

The gener a l conditions which prevailed in Indi a

at the time Miss Thob u rn was considering the ques
tion of going into the mission field were not wholly
a s above but at that early date these conditions
,

were not underst ood as at the present d a y and the ,

64 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

ide a of sending ladies to such a cou ntry to live a lone

'
,

a nd carry on missionary work in most respects a t ,

least on their own responsibility seemed wholly

, ,

preposterous to many good and wise people But .

conditions were changing a nd the way was bein g ,

prep a red more rapidly and much more e ff ectu ally

, ,

than a ny one perceived The conditions of daily

.

life were strange ; but after all they interposed no

, ,

real obsta cle in the way a nd it only remained for

,

those who were to enj oy the privilege of being the

pioneers to move forward and demonstrate the f a ct
, ,

not that a way could be prepared but that God had ,

already prepared it a nd w a s beckoning to his hand

,

maidens to advance and enter The experience of .

thirty eventful years h a s abundantly j ustified the

experiment a nd s o r a pidly has the number of l a dy
,

missionaries increased th a t in the large se a port c ities

t hey constitute a m a j ority of those who be a r the
missiona ry na me .
66 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

We thus s ee a striking illustr ation of the w on

d e r fu l manner in which God is opening highw a ys
for his missionary messengers among the nations .

The non Christian world was peculiarly di fficult of

-

access at the middle of the l ast century Steamers .

were very r a re on all the African and Asiatic co a sts .

Railro a ds had not yet been introduced and even ,

ordinary roads for vehicles were unknown in m any

countries and in wretched condi t ion in others All
, .

this has been changed during recent years Indi a .

h a s more than twenty fiv e thousand miles of rail

-

laid down in her wide domain L ines of ste a mers.

a re in operation all along the coas t s of Southern

and Eastern Asi a The islands of the sea are in
.

easy postal communication with all the rest of the

world . Railroads have been built throughout
Southern Africa and are now beginning to pierce
,

the great depths of Central Afric a In ther words .

o
,

the whole world is becoming not only subj ect to

Christian l a w but a ccessible to C h ris t s messengers
,
’
.

The voyage of the two ladies across t he A t lantic

w a s not eventful in any way but on reaching ,

England they were obliged to stop some little time

before passage could be secured on an outward
bound ste a mer to India They naturally regarded
.

this brief stay a s fortunate rather tha n otherwise ,

a nd improved their oppo rtu nities for seeing a nd

studyi ng L ondon which in an import a nt sense ha s
, , ,

long been reg a rded as the metropolis of the world .

To Miss Thob u rn this soj ou rn in the grea t city w a s

 A rri va l in I nd i a . 67

one long d elight a nd she wrote b ack to her frie nds

,

in ent h usias t ic terms of what she s a w and heard .

A brief quotation from a letter to the H e a t/zen Wa

m a n s F r ie nd dated November 2 7 1 86 9will Sh ow
’

, , ,

how capable she was of apprecia t ing the privilege .

Nothing it ! L ondon ! contains is more worth

“

—
seeing than the great city itself so full of life and
work of records of gre a t e ff orts a nd successes of
, ,

wealth and security and yet bearing m a ny sa d wit

,

nesses to the fact that it h a s the poor always with

it the wretched a nd su ffering poor

, The streets .

a nd squ a res scarcely seem new to us bearing as t he v ,

do n a mes made familiar by English literature The .

stones still r attle o n Cheapside as when John Gilpin

rode so famously and that part of H olborn,
‘

christened High looks like a street we have walked

’

before while Dickens s odd places and odd people

,
’

meet us at every t urn We recognize the country no

.

less quickly as that of M rs Browning and Jean .

Ingelow The l a nes and hedgerows the green fields

.
,

which the spring will cover with buttercups and

daisies th e ivy that creeps lovingly over every waste
,

a nd ruined spot and the happy homes of England

‘ ’

, ,

a ll impress us as pictures that h a ve been faithfully

described by eloquent witnesses .

The further voyage from L iverpool to Bombay

was pleasant but not eventful The passengers re
, .

garded Dr Swain as somewhat of a novel t y as they

.
,

had never before seen a l a dy doctor ; but some of

them d id not hesita te to ca ll on her for me di ca l
68 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

advi ce All of them treated her with much respect

.
,

and seemed quite interested in the gre at experiment

which she was about to undertake They also e u .

c o u ra g e d her to believe that a great opportunit y

awaited her in Indi a and in this way did something

,

to remove the mis gi vings which had bee n cre a ted

by previous report s .

After a quiet though not very speedy voy a ge ,

the two l a dies arrived in Bomb a y on the seventh

of Janu a ry 1 870 The Rev George Bowen at that
, . .
,

time a very prominent missionary in Bomb a y a nd ,

still remembered a s one of the most sai ntly men of

his gener a tion g ave them su ch assistance as they
,

needed in landing and st a rting on their long a nd

somewhat di ffi cult j ourney to Northwest India .

A li ne of r a ilway w a s under cons t ruction from Bom

b a y to Allahabad but a break in t h e line thro u gh
,

Ce ntral I ndia made it necessary for passengers to

travel a week or more by what was c a lled the
bullock tr ain Comfortable c a rriages were pro
.

v i d e d but the progress was somewhat S low

,
U nfo r .

t u na t e l y the a rrangements for forwarding bagg a ge

which had been recently made were very in complete ,

a nd when the two ladies reached the city of Na gpore ,

where Miss Thoburn was met by her brother from

North India they found that their baggage had
,

been left behind and they were obliged to stop ten

,

days u ntil it could overtake them This pause was .

an noyi ng in m any respects but was enj oyed by ,

both as it g ave them an opportunity of studyi ng

,
 A r ri v a l i n I ndi a . 6 9
Indi a at leisure before entering upon the duties
,

which awaited th em a s soon as t h ey could re ac h the

seat of the Annual Conference In due time their
.

di fficulties were adj usted and by pushing forw a rd

,

with all possible urgency they were able to rea ch

,

the city of Bareilly in Northwest India where the

, ,

Annual Conferen ce w a s in session before th a t body

,

adj ourned.

It need h ardly be said that the two l a dy mis

s io na rie s received a most cordial reception The .

ch a nge of opinion a mong the missionaries on the

subj ect of employing women in the m i ss i o n field
had been very remark able It is di fficult to account
.

for this ch a nge wi th o ut attributing it very largely

to the direc t agency of the Holy Spirit V ery little .

new light had come fro m a ny source and very little ,

discussion had taken place on the general subj ect ;

but when these t w o first agents o i the new Society
'

put in an appearance among those already in the

field they were cordially greeted and the fact w a s
,
.

accepted without further ch allenge that Go d had

introduced a new and most important agency in t o
the great missionary work of India Kindly resolu .

tions were passed by the Confere nc e welcoming the ,

two sisters to the needy field which they were enter

ing assuring them of cordial support a nd speaki ng
, ,

kindly and hopefully of the future of t heir work .

O n reaching the seat of the Conference Miss

Thoburn seemed like one who had realized the con
summ ation of a long cherished hope She felt at
-
.
7 0 L i fe of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

home in the missionary circle and seemed to re a lize ,

that in a practical sense she belonged to it I t

, , .

would be too much to sa y that she left her native

land without regret ; for till her latest h our s he cher
i she d a fond recollection of her early home with its
hallowed associations ; but on her arrival in India
s he seemed like one coming home rath er t han like ,

an exile in a strange land She was at home in .

India from the first Her consecration was so com

.

p l e t e that home became to her the place where she

believed Go d had placed her and hence it was with ,

out any a ff ectat ion that she was known to sa y in

later years I h ave never felt h omesick S ince I knew
,
“

Go d to be my Father To some exten t at least

.
”
, ,

s he had entered into the feelin gs expressed by

M ada me Guyon
To m e re m a ns i no r p l a ce no r tim e ;
My t
c o u n ry i s in e v e ry C li m e ;
I ca n be ca lm a nd fre e fro m c a re

On a ny s h o re , Si nc e G o d i s t h e re .

When the a ppointments were read Dr Sw a i n , .

remained at Bareilly to be gin her grea t work while ,

Miss Thoburn was sent to the great city of L uck

now in O udh This appointment w a s probably in
, .

a large measure owing to the fact that her brother

had j ust been transferred at the s a me Conference
sessio n from his former appointment and m a de pre
siding elder in O udh with Lucknow as head ,

quarters Aside from this re a son for her appoint

.
 A rri va l in I ndi a .
7 1

ment however it seemed to most of the older mis

, ,

s io na ri es th a t L ucknow would be a better pla c e for

t he kind of work which she felt inclined to under

take than a ny other station in the field oc cupied by
t he mission a t that time .

The original idea which had in a measure sug , ,

gested itself to her when she first o ff ered her serv

ices for India w a s no t abandoned but a very brief ,

survey of the field led her to think seriously of

cha ngi ng her first plan in part Subsequent events .

soon began to make it manifest that her ch a nge of

plan was wise O thers were found to carry forward
.

successfully the original plan while in the great city

,

of L ucknow she w a s able to deal with the whole

subj ect of female education on a basis which secured
better adv a nt a ges th a n would h ave been a vail a ble
elsewhere .

It may be here noted that each of these two

ne w missionaries was in her way a pioneer A S for .

D r Sw a in s he was not long in discovering t h a t

.
,

t here were many in Indi a who looked upon her '

mission with extreme distrust The most of the .

medical men then in the country although fair ,

minded intelligent and very capable men and in

, , ,

most cases friendly to missionary work looked upon ,

her coming with much disfavor Many others in .

offici al circles who had been in close contact with

,

the most intelligent n a tives of Indi a were also ready ,

to doubt the success of new methods of educ ation

among the people of th a t conserv ative empire a nd ,
7 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

were natura lly very ready to believe th at what

would be doubtful among the men of India would ,

be w h olly impossible to attempt a mong the women .

I n other words many intelligent and good men did

,

not hesitate to express their O pinion as distinctly

a dverse t o any medical work by women .

As the w riting of this memoir wil l not le a d i n

na t ural course to any further account of D r Sw a in s .
’

work it may be proper t o remark here that her ex

,

p e ri m e nt proved an unqualified success The most .

intelligent of the people so far from taking al a rm at ,

the idea of a medical l a dy visiting their wives a nd

daughters soug h t her help without hesitation a nd
, ,

her success became at once s o distinctly marked that

the lieuten a nt governor of the Northwest Provin ces ,

Sir William Muir g a ve her the benefit of his ,

offi cial commendation and very soon S he had not ,

only won an unchallenged position in h er own work ,

but other medical l a dies were entering the country

at di fferen t points and prep a ring the way for what
,

might be called the gre a t medical advance movement

of India under the auspices of L ady Dufferi n in
, ,

1 88 5 .

It is worthy of special note th at soon after Dr .

Sw a i n established her medical work in Bareilly the ,

Nawab of R a m po re an intelligent M ohammedan ,

prince gave her a s a free gift a fi ne building wit h

, ,

ample grounds for a woman s hospital This

,
’
.

building was adj oining to the premises o ccupied

74 of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

chief founder of higher educ ation a mon g Indian

Christian women a nd to lay the foundation of the
,

first Christian college for women ever established

on Asia t ic soil The Wom a n s Foreign M is sio na r v
.
’

Society in making its first venture in the foreign

,

field had done a service which was not only to

,

signalize its early organization but also to j u stifv

,

its existence for a ll comin g ye a rs .

 C HAPTER V III .

LU CKN O W .

L U C K NOW the city to which Miss Thoburn w a s

,

appointed in February 1 8 70 continued to be her

, , ,

Indian home throughout the rest of her life It h a d .

been for many years previous to the great w a r of

,

the M u t iny the largest inl a nd city of Indi a It had

, .

been the residence of the kings of O udh a nd had ,

risen to opulence and power as Delhi the great ,

Mogul capital had declined Its kings had to some

, .
,

extent adopted t he very old O riental custom of eac h

,

one building his own p a lace a nd as a great a rmy ,

of retainers must be provided for a small c it V ,

would thus gradually grow up around each ne w

roy a l residence It was thus in ancient Nineveh a nd
.

Babylon and it would be thus again i f any O rient a l

,

people could find a fair field in which to realize their

peculiar ideal .

Twenty four years later Miss Thoburn in a pub

-
, ,

l i she d le tt er to the F r ie nd described the situatio n

,

in Lucknow as she found it as follows ,

“
I arrived in L ucknow the eleventh of February .

Spring w a s appro achin g ; gardens were bright with

roses the air fragrant with blossomi ng trees and
, ,

the high wide sk y full of light During the weeks

, .

75
7 6 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

t h a t followed I w a s going to housekeeping or rather ,

making awkw a rd attempts at it as one must in a ,

foreign land where all the conditions of life a re

,

reversed ; making other a wkward attempts at using

the language I was trying to learn ; watching the
people a round me and their strange customs with
, ,

the curiosity of a newcomer as well as the sympath y

of a missionary Responsibilities had not come and
.
, ,

notwit h standing the blunders and the sense of in

su ffi ciency those days from this distan ce look like
, , ,

a holiday time .

“
There were three girls schools in L ucknow ’

then a nd eight Bengali houses open to zenan a

,

te aching What di fficulties had to be overcome b e

.

fore that beginning was made M rs Messmore a nd , .

M rs L illie Waugh knew by an experience that pre

.

ceded the work of the VVO m a n s Foreign Mission a ry ’

Society Those were days when the stories were

.

current in India that are no w heard in inland Chin a ,

that mission a ries wanted to collect girls to send by

shiploads to America or that t hey would kill them
,

and make medicine from their eyes And it w a s .

after much of this prej udice and ignorance had been

overcome that opposition was roused again by
the conversion of a teacher and her two d a ughters .

These women had to fly no one knew whither and , ,

their school was broken up Soon a fter this the .

,

few zenan a s th at we prized SO much were Closed b e

cause a woman of the same cl a ss h a d bee n b a ptized
in Calcutta seven hu ndred miles a way
,
.
”
 L u c k no w .
77

When our mission w a s fi rst est a blished in L uck

no w a t the suggestio n of the chief commissioner
, ,

a royal suburb on the wester n side of the city was

selected for its headquarters The European co m.

munity the ra ilw a y st a tion and the military canton

, ,

ment were on the opposite side at distances rang

’

ing from three to five miles This was the S ituation

.

when Miss Thoburn took up her reside nce in the

city but she q ui ckly found th a t it would no t suit
,

her plans a s she had been led to form them a nd

, ,

th at her he a d qu a rters m u st be moved to a point

within th at part of the city occupied by the Euro
pea ns a nd tow a rd which the native popul ation
,

seemed to be ste a dily driftin g Almost immediately

.
,

therefore she bega n to look for suitable premises

, ,

no t too ne a r the Europe a n lines and yet ne a r e nough

,

to be in touch with the m a i n c u rrent of life of the

gre at city
O n looking a ro u nd her she found th a t a n inter
,

esting a nd deeply import ant work h a d been started

among the secluded women known in India a s in
,

mates o f the z ena na She u nders t ood perfectly th a t

.

in the mi nds of those who had sent her to I ndi a

the uppermost thought w a s that she would bec ome
a messenger of light a nd life to these poor women ,

none of whom could ever re ceive a gospel mess a ge

except through some o ne of their ow n sex She .

recognized the import a nce of such a work a nd a p ,

proved it a nd would have permanently devoted her

,

life to this special calling but for the fact that a n

7 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

other ide a l h a d t a ke n possession of her mi nd a nd

heart a lmost from the very moment that she c ame
,

in con t act with the first Christian women and girls

who had crossed her path In the meantime s he .

did not lose time by pausing even for a day until , ,

her ideal could be fully and fairly put upon trial ,

but on the other h and took u p the zen a na work

which fell to her lot a nd in doing s o quickly gai ned
,

a n insight into the char a cter of these women a nd ,

into the char a cter of the India n family system a nd , ,

perhaps it might be added in t o the character of the

, ,

men as seen in t h eir family relations which proved ,

most v a luable to her in her lat er years She never .

afterward s lost her interest in the work ; but it

seemed evident to h er a s it seems to many others a t
,

the present time that a s soon as converts begin to

,

multiply in considerable numbers their claims e s , ,

p e ci a l l y in the ma t ter of education must become ,

s o imperative that ot h er forms of work which do not

give promise of early results will have to take a

secondary place a t least for a generation or two
, .

At h er first introduction to the converts wh om

s he met at Bareilly and M oradabad s he no t iced at ,

a glance that the men were more intelligent than

the women and that the schools for boys were very
,

far in advance of those for girls She lost no time .

in calling the attention of the na t ive preachers to

this fact and said to them over and over again
, , ,

“
No people ever rise higher a s a people than the , ,

poi nt to whi ch they elev ate their women To her”

.
80 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

lowing extra ct from her a ppeal is ta ken from the

F r iend of M a rch 1 8 70 ,
“
I thi nk of you often here a nd of your bright , ,

hopeful lives in comparison with the limited privi

,

leges a nd dark prospects of th ese girls arou nd me .

You h ave every incentive and opportunity to culti

vate your minds ; they are shut away from all me a ns
of improvement a nd a re kept in a S t ate of perpetual
,

,
—
childhood childhood in ignorance but not in inno ,

cence or happiness If you des ire education your

.
,

friends gladly assist you ; they meet only discourage

ment ; and instead of t h e approbation you receive
a t every step of your progress they are watched ,

with j ealous suspicion You enj oy a wide world of

.

e a rth and sky ; you h a ve treasures untold in books ;

in the fine arts you h a ve measureless fields of de
light a nd in society all your pleasures are redouble d
,

by participation and sympathy ; their world is

bounded by the walls of the zenana but there the y ,

h a ve none of those influences and a ssociations that

make home life so dear to you W h en you give .

your hearts to C h rist there is rej oicing among all

,

who know you ; if th ey confess a faith in the gospel

t hat they seldom have it is at the peril of all they
,

—
possess home and friends and even life ,
.

“
I have thought it possible t ha t you might unite
in some scheme to do a permanent work for them .

Could you not from the Confere nce seminaries of

,

the Church send a missionary to Indi a !

,
”

Human life in India a s elsewhere is full of con

, ,
 Lu c k no w . 81

and this nowhere more strikingly evident

t ra d ic tio ns ,
than in the zenana Its inmates are often called
.

prisoners a nd the rules which govern them would

,

seem at first glance as i f made for the subj ects of

prison life and yet a proposal to an ordinary inm ate
,

of one of these homes to break through her seclusion

would probably be resented as an insul t Stranger .

s t ill t h e average woman outside would cheerfully

, ,

and even gladly hail a change in her social position

,

which would give her the privilege of belonging to

the social C lass know n a s pa rd a nis hin i e liter
“
. .
,

ally s itting be hind the s cre en

,
“
All women of .
”

good s o cial position lead this kind of life a nd soci a l ,

posi t ion the wide world over ha s charms which few

women seem able to resist It is doing much less .

than j ustice to the husbands of these women to

regard them as j ealous and heartless j ailers and ,

t h e wives as unwilling victims of their suspicion and

j ealousy The system i s thorough ly bad but it is
.
,

deeply rooted in the most ancient traditions of the

O riental world and can not be uprooted a nd cast
,

away in a day or a year or a generation But

, ,
.

light ca n be made to penetrate to its inmost recesses ,

and in God s own good time the unn a tural system

’

must give way and the O riental h a rem be sup

,

planted by the Christi an home M ay God S peed .

the day !
Miss Thoburn was pleased with the city in which
her lot had bee n cast although by no me a ns bli nd
,

or i ndiffere nt to some of it s forbiddi ng fe at u res .

6
82 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

She found the withering heat of it s hot winds de

pressi ng ; but on the other hand its O riental pic
, ,

tures always interested and pleased her To her it .

was the East t h e very Eas t and if the burning

, ,
”

heat and blinding dust of May proved depressing

in a measure to her spirits on t h e ot h er hand the ,

coolness and beauty of November and t h e following

months were attractive in the extreme Two ex .

tracts from published letters written to t h e F riend

will S how how much enj oyment S he found in the
many beautiful pictures to be seen in L ucknow at
that season of the year .

Describing the striking scenery of the city and

it s vicinity as it appeared to her in November she ,

used the following gr a phic language

In these bright days when we go out of doors , ,

n a ture presents to our view one vas t picture of e n

chanting beauty Here is a sun shini ng through
.

a c ryst a l atmosphere from a sk y

A S bl
‘
u e as A ’
a ro n s pr i t ly b
es ro e a p p e ar e d
T A o a ro n w hen he t k i t ff t
oo o o d ie .
’

S u cha wide sk y such a largeness of light ! Rising

,

here a nd t here from a mong the trees or in the dis ,

tance a g a inst the horizon are the Lucknow domes , ,

light a s air bubbles It almost seems that i f they

.
,

could be let go they would rise and float up into

,

the higher blue They a re the very children of this

.

S ky
There are bri ght wi nged b utterflies floati ng -
 L u c k no w . 83

over a flowering shrub by the door a nd convol vu ,

l u s e s with cups the color of the sky C limbing over ,

t h e veranda ; a little way beyond a group o f babool

trees a re dotted over with the little golden stars that
come out in the last months of the rains ; and the tall ,

graceful b a k a ins which border so many of the roads

are covered with white pende nt blossoms w a xlike ,

a nd fra grant a s tuberoses Among them all birds

.

twitter and sing from dawn to dark The garde ns .

overflow with fresh fruits and vegetables cauli — ,

flower lettuce tom atoes oranges gu ava and c u s

, , , , ,

t ard apples and all around the city the plain is gree n
,

with young wheat a nd flax and pulse , ,

.

This is the month for work The inte nse he a t .

has given place to ple a sant coolness and with the , ,

ever essen t ial umbrella for protection from the ever

-

dangerous sun one can stay out as long a s one

,

pleases ; so if a new door is open we c a n go in a t ,

once ; or if the talk with the group of women in the

lane or by the well is more interesting than usual ,

we can stay with them as long as they will listen .

Many missionaries a re out t h is month going hither ,

and thither among the villages pre a ching teaching , , ,

t alking , praying going about their Father s

,
‘ ’

business .
’

“
Through u ncounted ye a rs such fair days and
months have been coming a nd going a ll beauty ,

and purity perfect gifts of God s perfect love ; a nd

,
’

yet what love have they taught to these his o ff ,

spri ng for whom the s uns h ave shone the flowers

, ,
84 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

bloomed a nd the fields ripened ! Surely in this

,

l a nd he h a s no t left h imself without a witness ; and

yet in their attempts to seek the L ord if h a ply they ,

might feel a fter him a nd find him a ll these millions ,

have gone astray so blindly ! It came to me mos t

forcibly once as I crossed the Ganges at sunset .

The great river flowed through the fruitful pl a in ,

a nd a ruby sun hung over it and glowed bene ath

it ; deer came to the bank to drink and white water ,

fowl skimmed over the ripples or rested on the

water ; but there blind to all a nd blinder to the
, ,

Creator of all a poor man sa t by his rude stone

,

idol which had been daubed with red paint and

, ,

g a rlanded its shapelessness with pet als of yellow

m a rigolds God s witnesses were bearing their tes
.
’

t im o ny as f a ithfully as they had done to all h is race

for ages p a st ; but like theirs his eyes were blinded
, , ,

his ears dull of hearing They that m ake them .

”
! the idols ) have become like unto them .

Another sketch published in the F riend in 1 8 72 ,

under the heading A Night hour in L uckn ow

“
,
-
,
”

gives an equally grap h ic picture of the city under

a wholly different aspect
“
The moon here does not seem a s in colder coun ,

tries a fl a t disk a gainst a surface of sky ; but a

,

perfect sphere floating in the high far dome a nd , ,

shedding down a mellow golden light like the re ,

fl e c t e d shining of an India n summer su n I t s image .

floats below in the placid Goo m t ee before it a ,

shi ni ng p ath a nd beyond wi ndi ng hither a nd thither

, ,
 Lu c k no w . 85

betwee n its gree n banks the river w a nders a way

,

into the misty distance The trees are in their spring

.

bloom and the soft air is full of odors from mango

,

orchards and g a rdens where the white orange a nd

,

flaming red pomegr a nate fl ow ers look together over

-

the wall .

“
Meeting a nd passing e a ch other along the river
road are stately men in long robes a nd turbaned
heads and men with bare brown limbs whose salu
, , ,

t a t io ns have a courtly grace There are plodding

.

donkeys and prancing Arab horses There is a long .

line of patient c a mels with tinkling bells keeping

,

time to their slow swinging w a lk ; and farther on

, , ,

a huge elephant mounted by a gorgeous party a nd ,

covered with trappings of scarlet and gold .

“
Stretching away to the right of the river lies
the city The moonlight reve a ls only its be a uty
.

here a palace wall surmounted by it s emblem of

royalty a golden umbrella ; there a high arched gate
,
-

w a y a nd many a white dome and penciled min a ret

,

rising a bove the line of terraced roofs .

“
To outw a rd seeming the scene is worthy of the
,

O rie nt a l romances T h is is the land of magi c and

.

ench antment of fairy tales and story books This

,
-
.

is the East that sent Solomon his glory a nd whose ,

j ewels still go to deck the brows of Western prin c es .

“
But the sounds t hat issue from the na rrow ,

crowded streets dispel the illusion It is no dre a m .

land but a very human dwelling place a dark home

,
-
,

for many a sin d a rke ned soul Above the mi ngled

-
.
86 Li fe of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

voices from the bazaar the rumbli ng of wheels and ,

the barking of dogs is heard the j argon m a de by ,

a bell and horn in a n idol temple A beggar cries .

,

‘
Pity me for Al lah s s a ke And from an upper room
’
.
’

comes the weird monotonous singing of a band

,

of dancing girls These th ree sounds can best tell

.

the s tory of the sin and misery that darken this fair
Eastern city They can be heard every night but
.
,

other sounds are accidents of the hour F rom some .

low rooms in a na rrow lane comes first a tempest of

angry voices ; then a scream followed by ot h ers in ,

quick succession and words in high al t ercation

,

shrieked out and s o torn with rage that no ear

,

could tell their meaning They continue until the .

loudest most violent voice has spent all i t s strength

,

and hoarsely given up the contest There has been .

—
no bloodshed murders are done more quietly ; no
blows except perhaps a tap from a shoe O nl y
, , ,
.

some poor women have had a quarrel and settled it ,

a ccording to the promptings of their untutored

i nstincts .

“
There is an interval of ordi nary sounds and ,

then t h ere comes from out the city a band of music ,

followed by two lines of flaming torches between ,

which walk stately elephants carrying a bridal party ,

a nd followed by a long torch lit procession of men ,

-

and women bearing on their heads trays of wedding

prese nts Behold the bridegroom cometh ! go ye
.
‘

out to meet him w a s spoken to those accustomed

,
’

to a scene like t his And soon from a nother street .

, ,
88 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

u nhe a lthy but most foreigners

,
them very try find .

ing During this season the ski es are dull a nd

.

sometimes hazy and every vestige of green d isa p

,

pears from the landscape except the folia g e of the

trees The rainy season which lasts a bout three
.
,

months quickly restores beauty to the landscape a nd

, ,

to the skies as well ; but the excessive dampness ,

added to the heat makes the daily routine of life

,

a nd work less enj oy a ble than it would otherwise .

be Miss Thoburn never wrote a nd seldom spoke

.
, ,

about the discomforts or what a re often called the

,

“
trials of life in Indi a She loved her L ucknow .

home and to the last considered it an unspea k able

,

privilege to be permitted to live in it

“

.
 C H APTER IX .

EA R LY B E G I NN I N GS .

IT w a s e a sy enough to decide upon the ki nd of

work to be undertaken ; but in Indi a as in all old ,

countries it is seldom an easy task to introduce new

,

methods in any dep a rtment of labor while t h e d iffi

,

culty is greatly increased when the change proposed

is one which seems in the slightest degree to a ff ect
the existing state of society H ence th ere was noth
.

ing in the proposed new policy of female education

to attract favorable notice while many influences
,

stood in the w a y V ery many missionaries if not

.
,

indeed a large maj ori ty seriously doubted w h ether

,

the time h ad come for a forward step of this kind ,

while some regarded the proposal as unwise and ,

even dangerous to the best interests of t he infan t

Chris t ian community The converts were few in
.

number and most of them were very poor No

, .

building was avail a ble no fu nds had as yet been

,

provided and prudence seemed to S uggest delay

,
.

But Miss T ho b u rn took a very di ff erent View of the

S ituation Having m a de her decision s he resolved
.
,

on immediate action She beg a n to searc h for a

.

suitable room in whi ch to open her school and ,

caused it to be k nown th a t a b e gi nni ng would be

89
90 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

made at once No other place h aving been found

.
,

S he fin a lly accepted t h e offer of a small building

containing only one room and standing in o ne ,

of the most noisy streets of the city It seemed a .

great mistake to a tt empt to h old t h e sc h ool in such

a place ; but the venture was made on th e principle
t h at the best thing possible is always the right
thing to do .

The attempt w a s made a nd S ix girls put in a n ,

appearance on t h e first morning A dozen or more .

years later Miss T h oburn in a published leaflet

, , ,

told the story of the unpromising opening of the

school !
“
The 1 8 th of April 1 870 w a s one of the fair
, , ,

white mornings that dawn on India all t h e ye a r

round except during the monsoon At sunrise of
, .

that day the L ucknow sc h ool for Chris t ian girls was
O pened not on its presen t site at L al Bagh but in
, ,

a little room in t h e bazaar in sight and in the dust ,

of all the passersby The beginning was small i n

.

numbers as in space only s ix girls being present

,
.

Some visitors were there to wis h us well among ,

them the sain t ed mot h er in law of Joel Janvier who

- -
,

had come with her granddaug h ters and whose ,

grandson s t ood guard outside fearing that the new ,

venture in such a place might awaken overbold

curiosi t y ; but nei th er he nor his stout bamboo stick
was required to protect us A few weeks later we .

moved into better quarters in a vacant room of Dr .

Waugh s bu ngalow and from there in the ra inv

’
,
 E a rly B e g i nni ngs .
9
1

season to a rented house which we left a ye a r l a ter

,

to take possession of the first purchase of the W0

man s Foreign Missionary Society a place called
’

then and ever since L al Bagh

,
”
.

The outlook was certainly unpromising enough

on that April morning with only S ix girls in attend
,

ance ; but two months later the number had increased

to seventeen and t h e school was beginning t o at t ract
,

the favorable notice of the na t ive Christian com

munity At the outset Miss T h oburn was the onl
.
y

teacher She understood thoroughly that no such

.

school as the one proposed could be built up without

work and that the only way to secur e the kind of
,

work needed would be to inaugur a te it herself .

The world seems full of people of both sexes w h o

, ,

a ppe a r always to be in S earch of a cause a move

“
,
”

ment of some kind which they ca n direct and in ,

which they ca n s et other people to work The .

mission fields of the world have no t es caped the

notice of such people but in no other region of the
,

world could they be more out of place Every re a l .

founder of permanen t work must be a worker .

Be ginning with th a t April morning Miss Thoburn ,

faithfully helped in the work of te a ching ye a r in ,

a nd year out almost to the e nd of her laborious life

, ,

and in doing so succeeded in an attempt which must

inevitably have failed without this invaluable service .

Having organized her school a nd continued to

,

lend assis tance in the zenana work M iss Thoburn

,

ne xt be ga n to l o ok around for other doors of useful

9 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

n ess a nd very nat u rally turned to the loc a l Ch u rch

,

to lend such assist a nce a s might seem to be needed .

H ere she fou nd a very peculiar situation Some .

years before by the request of t h e superintendent of

,

the Mission the English work a s it w a s then

,
“
,
”

usual to term the work among the English speaking -

people had been taken over by the English Method

,

i st s ; but unfortunately they had built t h eir new

C hurch in the military c antonments a t too gre at ,

distance from those who had worshiped wi th us to

a ttend their services The station church as the
.
“
,
”

fine C hurch provided by the Government for the

Church of England was called was near by ; but ,

very few of the poorer classes ever darkened its

doors These poorer cl a sses were made up of
.
“ ”

m a ny diverse kinds of people A l a rge maj ority of .

them were c a lled Eur a sians i e persons of mixed

“
. .
,

European a nd Asiatic parentage ; but not a few who

claimed a pl ace in this commu nity were probably
ordinary natives of I ndi a who h a d learned to spe a k
English put o n European clothes and adopted to
, ,

some extent Europe a n habits of living But m in .

gling fr eely with the rest were m any Europeans of

v a rious gr a des of int elligence and culture who ,

seemed to h a ve become permanently domi ciled in

I ndi a .

The c ondition of most of these people w a s by

no mea ns s a tisfa ctory Intempera nce prevailed to
.

a deplora ble e xtent a nd the cl aims of reli gion were

,
9
4 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

to this rule now a nd then a n exception would

, ,

a ppear What w a s to be done in such cases

.

Should the school be for native Christi ans onl y !

“ ”

O r s h ould it admi t pup i ls of all races and a ll relig

,

ions on equal terms !

,

These questions which were perplexing enough

,

at best became more urgent and more perplexing

,

when it began to be apparent that very soon a board

ing department would h ave to be added to the school .

The decision reac h ed w a s th a t t h e door should not

,

be s h ut in the face of any girl of proper char acter ,

and that special arrangements should be made for

the daughte s of Hindus and M ohammedans if a
r

necessity should arise for doing so O f course .

,

questions of this kind are not settled in a day and ,

the whole question was studied by Miss Thoburn

from every possible point of view The subj ect of .

religious scruples and social prej udice w a s weighed

with the utmost care with the result that s he deter
,

mined to make it one of the great obj ects of her life

to demonstrate the possibility of Christians O f differ
ent races rising superior to all adverse influences ,

and living together in harmony and love The .

effort to realize this ide a l cost her much anxiety at

di ff erent periods but she never gave up the ideal
,

or ceased in her e fforts to realize it In a recent .

letter Miss Lil a v a t i Singh mentions three notable

obj ects which Miss T hob u rn kept in view in her
work in India the fi rst of which was the inaugura
,

tio n Of a st a nd a rd of good feeli ng a nd goo d Chris

 E a rly B e g i nni ng s .
9
5

tian living which would lift people above the annoy

anecs of race prej udice Miss Singh says !
.

O ne obj ect w a s the attempt whic h has proved

“
,

a success to have a school for all classes and races

,
.

She has said to me several times ! O f the firs t s ix ‘

pupils that came to me two were Eurasians and it

, ,

has seemed to me that part of my work in India

must be to bring Eurasians natives and Englis h
, ,

people together and make them love each other

,
.
’

I have not seen t his so illustrated in any o t her part

of India I mean I have not seen any place where
.

race prej udice is put so nearly out of S ight .

”

It is proper to remark here that her success in

this attempt w a s not owing to the enforcement of
any rule O f equality or to obt rusive lectures upon the
,

general subj ect or to sh a rp rebukes but rather to

, ,

t h e exhibition of a distinct and yet perfectly reason

a ble and moderate course of life Human conduct .

c a n no t be regulated by rules alone Behind the .

rules there must be a proper spirit and in addition , ,

to the rules there must be in clear o u tl ine t he con

'

sistent example It has been often noted that the

.

discussion of the general subj ect O f race prej udice

in mission fields is apt to intensify the evil whic h it
is intended to suppress With the love of Chris t
.

in the heart a s a basis of power good example and

,

j udicious teaching c a n e ffect a prac t ical reform t o a

reasonable extent ; but Go d never intended that peo
ple of di fferen t r aces S hould be alike in all things .

The one thi ng alone th at ca n bi nd them to g ether ,

96 Li f e of I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

and the only one thing which is absolutely indisp en

sable to a perfect Christian life in the individual in ,

the home in the Church or in the community is

, , ,

the love of Christ as a vital power in the he a rt .

Before the close of her first year in L ucknow ,

it became clearly apparent to M iss Thoburn that

her sphere of labor could not by any means he a
narrow one A S her acquaintance with the Hindu
.

and the Mohammedan women of the city became ex

tended she found there a world of intense interes t
, ,

and alt h ough not permitted permanently to do much

,

special work among the women in the i r ci t y homes ,

yet to the very last s he maintained a very close con

ne c t io n wi t h many of them and some of the most
,

tender expr essions of regret that were sent in a t

her dea t h came from the women in their secluded
homes in di ff erent parts of the C ity Through t h e .

girls attending her school her acquaintance with

,

the native Christians of that period be came also

much enlarged and here she found another mos t
,

interesting a nd hopeful sphere O f usefulness The .

limited native Christian society of t h at day was in

w h at mi g h t b e cal le d a formative state M any of .

the women were su fficiently intelligent to appreciate

efforts made for their improvement ; but wrong
habits had to some extent been a dopted in their
, ,

homes and there appeared urgent need for setting

,

before them a better ideal and putting forth prae

tical e ff orts for their improvement .

It beca me m anifest however as time p a ssed th at

, ,
 CHAPTER X .

A R EV I V A L A ND I T S F RU I T S .

U to the close of the fi fth decade of the l a st

P

century no instance of a religious revival in the

, ,

popular sense O f the term had been reported in any

,

part of India When the first Methodist mission

.

aries arrived in Northern India they quickly took

note of t h is fact and wondered at it all the more
, ,

because of all places in the world a great mission

, ,

field seemed most in need of suc h help as a genuine

revival would probably give ; and w h en the language
was su ffi ciently mastered some of these earnest,

men lost no time in trying to inaugurate revival

movements These e ff orts were not wholly without
.

result ; but nothing like a revival in the popular ,

sense of the word took place The reason of this

, .

in time became apparent A revival in a Scriptural

.
,

sense presupposes t h e presence of a living organiza

,

tion to be revived It is the giving of a new or

.

increased life to a body w h ich lives but does no t ,

possess a normal measure of life and power It is .

a movement which in the nature of t he case mus t be

limited at the outset to a people who already possess ,

in some measure at least a basis of knowledge and

,

faith a nd hence it could hardly be expected that

,

s u ch work would begi n in su ch a fi eld a s I ndi a pre

98
 A R e vi v a l an d it s F ru i t s .
9
9
s ented a t th at e a rly d a y I t w a s di ff erent however
.
, ,

w h en after a few years a few bands of converts h a d

been gathered together and a basis formed for nor
mal C h ristian e ff ort such as is carried on in Chris
,

t ian lands Here and there at points in the mission

.
,

stations of R ohil k ha nd revivals of very limited ex

,

tent but eviden t ly genuine began to be reported

, , ,
”
and were accepted as hopeful tokens for good by “

the missionaries who had see n greater things in the

far o ff home land
-
.

Up to 1 8 70 no token of this kind had a ppeared

in L ucknow ; but in the course of that year signs of
promise were noted by the e a ger and somewhat ex
p e c t a n t missionaries The attend a nce at the services
.
,

both Hindustani and English steadily increased , ,

and signs of interest and even earnestness were

, ,

noted by those who watched eagerly for the coming

of a day of sp i ritual power among the people .

The time seemed opportune No local interest of .

any kind stood in the way Word had come that .

a great evangelist named William Taylor who had ,

won fame in Australia and South Africa was on his ,

way to India and would probably begin his work

,

in the city of L ucknow Not many understood how

.

much or how little this announcement migh t signify ;

but it did its Share in awakening public interest ,

and preparing the way for a genuine and reall y

great movement .

It was noted at the time th a t M r Taylor opened .

his I ndi a n ca mp a ign in L uck now not a ccordin g to ,

1 00 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

a preconcerted pl a n but contrary to his wish a nd

,

expectation He h a d intended to enter I ndi a at

.

M adras and leave Nort h India till a later pe riod

, ,

but his way was so blocked that h e found himself

in a measure S hut up to a plan which had been
suggested to him of going first to L ucknow a nd
, ,

from that point moving out to other points in India .

H e a rrived in L ucknow l ate in November 1 8 70 and , ,

at once began his work by preaching to the English

speaking people in the evenings and to the H indu ,

st a ni people through an interpreter in the morn

, ,

ings T h e impression produced was immediate

.
,

deep and abiding A new element of aggressiveness

,
.

was introduced into the work and wi t h the open , ,

ing of the new year it became apparent that s o far

, ,

from being a somewhat spasmodic excitement the ,

revival had marked the introduction of a new and

higher standard of piety and Christian fi delity
a mong those bearing the Christian name I quote .

from My Missionary Apprenticeship

“
The spirit of revival which had been kindled
in Lucknow burned brightly t h rough out the year ,

and both European and native C h ristians were

powerfully influenced by it The work of grace .

was deep and powerful and some of its manifesta

,

tions surpassed anything of a similar kind w h ich

I have ever seen There was a searching energy
.

in the word which seemed to find out hidden sin ,

a nd a power in the gospel pre a ched which saved

to the u ttermost .
10 2 Li fe of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

Another worker was found in the person of a

young Bengali widow who had been employed to
teac h the daughters of some a dvanced B e ngali
gentlemen who wished to have their wives and
daug h ters educated This young woman was a
.

gifted speaker and writer both in E nglis h and Ben

,

gali and when S he j oined the M ission as a worker

, ,

her coming was the means of widening the field of

usefulness occupied both by the sc h ool and the
zenana mission .

It must not be supposed however that the open , ,

ing of a work of th is kind was attended only with

pleasant incidents and that in i t self it involved no
, , ,

severe labor Nearly everything connected with it in

.

volved serious di fficulty Funds were wanting and

.
,

t h is cause d much perp l exity a nd sometimes pain fu l

a nxiety Converts were sometimes disappointing and
.
,

few things are more p ainful to a conscientious mis

s io na ry than to find that confidence given t o a p ro m i s

ing convert ha s been misplaced M uc h disgusting .

wickedness was brought t o light as the work went for

ward and even from contact with this refined ladies
,

who have once undertaken genuine missionary work

c a n not shrink The family relations of not a fe w
.

of those converted in the revival had to be thor

oughly revised No less than sixteen persons who
.

had been supposed to be m a rried had to be legally ,

united in the marriage bond in the course of this first

vear O thers who had become separated had to be
.

reconciled Ab andoned children had to be pi cked

.
 A R e vi v a l an d it s F ru i t s . 10 3

up and provided for Perhaps at no time during

.

her l ater life did Miss Thoburn encounter so muc h

that was repulsive and tryin g as during the firs t
year or two aft er this new movement began ; but
never for one moment did she think of shrinking
from i t and in time s he learned the secret which few
,

seem able to understand that no diamond c a n be

,

tarnished by falling into the sewer that no harm can ,

come to t h e servant of Go d who walks boldly into the

midst of fiery flames a nd that the only danger the
,

Christian encounters in this wide world is that which

comes from yielding to sin More than this the .
,

highest type O f character is developed not by ,

shrinking from duty but by calm and c h eerful

,

obedience in the pathway which Go d by his Spirit ,

and providence m a rks out for e a ch one of his

,

servants .

It would hardly be correct to sa y th a t Miss

Thoburn was at a ny period of her life wh a t in ,

modern phrase is called a revivalist She was

, .

usually averse to speaking or praying in public ,

and never did so except w h en prompted by her

sense of duty H er words were always few and
.

well chosen When she saw or deeply felt that

-
.

something ough t to be said that the time and place

,

demanded that it be said a nd that no one else

,

was disposed to speak she would calmly and briefly

,

make t h e statement which she thought the occasion

called for Her voice was not O ften heard in public
.

prayer but in her prayers it might have been always

,
104 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

noted th at she ri ever wasted words Prayer h a d an .

unspe a kably deep meaning to her S h e never used .

it merely a s a means of giving expression to her

feelings ; in other words S he never fell into t h e
,

mistake of supposing that prayer was a convenient

channel for the overflow of religious emotion .

Every phase of her Christian life exhibited her

tra nsparent sincerity a nd her unvarying spirit of
,

obedience to wh a t she believed a call O f duty .

A movement of this kind could not fail to ren

der a most valuable service to the mission a ri es by ,

giving a striking exhibition of the true nature of

Christian morality A code of rules may serve a
.

good purpose as a guide to conduct but no rule ,

c a n enforce itself and the people of India could not

,

understand the superior character of a religion

which seemed to have no power to enforce its o w n
precepts They sa w some good Christians living in
.

their midst but they sa w a great many more who

,

were mora lly very bad and utterly destitute of re

,

spect for the most sacred obligat ions O f the C h ris

tian faith and it was no wonder t h at they failed
,

to be impressed by w h at they heard about the

Divine origin and claims of t he C h ris t ian rel i gion .

So far from it the presence of so many people

,

around them who seemed to be utterly desti tute of

all respect for religion proved a fatal stumbling
block to Hindu and Mohammedan alike But all .

this w a s ch a nged whe n the people began to see m en

repent of their evil w ays a nd become ra dically,
1 06 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

Before dismissi ng the subj ect of this reviv a l

moveme nt it may be well to call attention to the
fact t h at its influence was very widely felt and t ha t ,

it really marked the beginning of a new era in the

mission fields of India T h e missionary situation
.

h as not only been c h anged S ince 1 8 70 but it might ,

almost be s aid revolutionized

, If the revival
.

methods i ntroduced a t Lu cknow have not been

adopted generally the spirit of the movement a nd
,

the basis of the work have been so ge ner a lly

adopted th at they a re seldom ch a llenged a t the
present day The agency of Christi a n women in
.

such movements is seldom made a subj ect of eri ti

c i s m or even of remark
, The most hopeful feature
.

of this improved condition is seen in a higher and

more spiritual type of piety found a mong the Chris
tian converts Many preachers are found a mong
.

them who seem to be anointed from on high and , ,

more hopeful still excellent workers are found

,

among the wives or widows of the great hos t of

native preachers who have j oined t h e missionary
ranks In short the revival proved to be the in
.
,

auguration of a new and better era and its fruits ,

still remain to encourage and gladden the hearts

of all friends of the great mission a ry cause The .

next great movement of the kind will find India

prepared for it throughout all its extended borders ,

and the results will be such as h ave thus far never

been see n in the mission fi elds of the world .
 CHAPTER XI .

THE LAL B A GH HOM E .

F RO M the fi rst it had been intended to buy or

build a permanent home for the Woman s Mission ’

in L ucknow ; but for a long time it seemed im po s

sible to find a suitable site at a cost which the
Society could a ff ord to pay The search w a s long
.

and diligent and at last the outlook became not

, ,

only puzzling but also very discouraging The

, .

C hief di fficulty lay in the want of sufficient money

to purch a se either a suitable buildi ng or a large
,

enough plot of la nd o n which to erect both a home

and a school building In those early days mission
.
,

aries had very modera te ideas of expenditure and ,

three thousand dollars was considered a very large

sum to pay for a mission house and grou nds ; but
it quickly became apparent that no such sum would
su ffi ce for the home needed for a new mission in
the big city of Lucknow .

A ge neration a go it w a s more common th an

now for offici a ls in India to i nterfere actively in
private arrangeme nts m a de by parties in civil sta
tions especially in matters a ff ecting buildings
, .

When for instance it was proposed to locate a

, ,

Methodist mission with a n E nglish servi ce in the

, ,

m7
108 Li fe O f I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

civil lines of L ucknow a very high offi cial occupy

, ,

ing the second best house in the station did not ,

hesitate to oppose the movement a ctively and , ,

a lthough he failed in his e ffort his O pposi t ion had ,

been keenly felt He soon left the city however

.
, ,

a nd others occupied the house ; but it so c h anced

that for a season no one rented it and the native ,

owner becoming alarmed lest it might permanently

,

remain emp t y became willing to sell it T h e mis

,
.

s io na rie s advised Miss Thoburn to take what then

seemed a bold step and buy the big house with

,

its splendid inclosure of nine acres and establish ,

there not only a school but the h eadquarters of

, ,

the woman s missionary work in L ucknow Nego

’
.

t ia t io ns were opened and quickly concluded

, The .

owner demanded payment in coin and two mis ,

s io na ri e s drove to a b a nk a nd brought aw a y i n

their buggy fourteen bags each containi ng o ne ,

thousand silver rupees which were delivered late,

on Saturd a y evening to the owner of the property .

The next d a y was a h a ppy Sabbath to the little

circle of missionaries in L ucknow The o ffi cial .

who h a d opposed them was a goo d man but mis ,

taken and they h a d no wish to remember his oppo

,

sitiou ; but they could no t repress the conviction

that Go d had given them a sign a l token of his
a pproval and blessing .

This property h a d occupied a promi nent place ,

a nd, during the reign of the last king of O udh ,

h a d bee n the reside nc e of the roy a l tre a s u rer It .

1 10 L if e Of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

with stuc co a nd w a shed a drab color the cornice ,

being white The fl a t roof is supported by large

.

be a ms but not covered by ceiling ; the roof two

,

feet thick of brick and earth and plaster well

, , , ,

beaten down a nd covered by cement The house

, .

h a s only one story and the high brick wall a nd ,

large roof add much to the comfort of the i nmates

duri ng the hot months when so many hours must
be spent indoors Its first room beyond the entrance
.

is so large th at one hundred persons h ave a ssembled

t here for teas and prayer meeting and often an -
,

overflow liste ns from the verand a from which its

doors open The dining room is almost as large
.
-

there is a stud y s ix bedrooms bath and store , ,

rooms The roof which is reached from a stair

.
,

way within th e house is the general dormitory dur ,

ing the hot dry months of April M ay and June

, , ,
.

“
Americ a n housekeepers would not t h ink the
furniture in keeping with the fine exterior The .

earthen floors a re covered with coarse palm leaf -

matting not at all like the India matting we buy

,

in this country That is used in the Cities farther

.

south but we seldom s e e it in our latitude In some

, .

rooms cotton rugs are S pread over the m atting The .

dining room is covered with a coarse carpet of aloe

-

fi ber very durable but not pretty The c h airs and

, , .

couches are of cane There are pictures and il l u m .

ina t e d texts on the walls some books on S helves ,

and tables a nd flowers in v a ses a nd b a skets all the

,

yea r rou nd .
 The La l B a gh H o m e . 111

Across the l a w n is the g a rden plot in front ;

then farther on through the fl o w e r garden a nd -
,

across anot h er garden plot is the schoolhouse a , ,

pret t y building of brick and stucco with terraced ,

roof a nd small verandas in front and back It has .

a central h a ll and six classrooms three on each ,

side West of the schoolhouse and flower garden

.
-

is t h e long high wall which incloses the boarding

,

hall North of this wall a lmost hidden by a group

.
,

of t rees is a little cottage which now serves as a

, ,

refuge for an outcast Hindu woman T h ere is a .

small vegetable garden north O f this ; then the

kitchen which is an outbuilding ; and farther on
, ,

in t h e northwest corner is the house of Caroline ,

Richards a Bible woman It is a n Ol d house

,
-
.
,

which had been built for a zenan a with t he interior ,

court open t o t h e sk y and a blank outer wall .

“
All about the compound are trees and shrubs ,

some of which are always blooming When the hot .

winds of April are scorching the annuals in the

flower bed t h e amaltas trees which the Engl ish call
-
, ,

Indian laburnum hang out their long golden pe nd

, ,

ants making a glory abou t us brighter than the

,

morning sunlight while deeper than the noonday

, ,

heat blaze the red pomegranate flowers all through

,

May and June The rains bring out the dainty

.

tassels of the babool trees and lower down the , , ,

oleanders and the sweet white k amini which ,

scarcely find breathing room a mong the odors of -

t u beroses a nd j asmi ne I n O ctober a nd Novembe r

.
1 12 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

t he Pri de of India a t all tree of delicate foli age

‘

,
’
,

puts forth branches of waxlike white flowers All .

t h rough the cool season convolvulus bignonia and , , ,

other creepers are blooming everywhere clinging to ,

the portico upon all the trees over gateways and

, ,

trellis work A passion flo w e r covers one whole

-
.
-

side of the portico Febru a ry is t he month of roses

.
,

a nd as the days grow warm and autumn comes

in the whole ga rden overflows with color and
,

sweetness .

“
This Mission H ome a s it is c a lled is not merely , ,

a pl ace to stay but it is a very home in the true

,

sense of the word Every one who has lived in .

it has given t h is testimony and the writer adds ,

hers with th anks for the hundred fold of promise

,
-

which has been fulfilled to her within its walls .

Even from this blessed America her heart turns

with longing to La l Bagh a nd its h a llowed
a ssociations .
”

O ne of the virtues which Miss Thoburn alw a ys

c ultivated conscientiously and y et cheerfully was , ,

th a t of Christ i an hospitality Her feelings were .

abundantly supported by her convictions on this

subj ect She liked to entertain her friends and at
.
,

the same time appreciated t he beautiful reminder

of the New Test a ment not to be forgetful to enter ,

t a i n strangers She alw a ys reg a rded this not as

.
,

a n obligatio n but rather a s a delightful privilege

,
.

The situ ation of the H ome a lso m a de it a convenient

pl ac e for a ll ma nner of s pec i a l r eli giou s meeting s .
1 14 L if e Of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the chu rch a nd it is S O well known that L al Bagh

,

i s always ready to open wide its hospitable doors

for every good purpose that people seem to feel ,

more free to come there t h an anywhere else V ery .

many Visitors are also entertained here for a day

or two at a time chie fly members of other missions
, ,

and religious people traveling throug h t h e country

who have occasion to stop in the city In some way .
,

such people seem to have fallen into the habit of

stopping at L al Bagh and as they always receive
, ,

a cordial welcome and are made to feel completely

a t home the habit seems likely to continue
, .

“
Miss Thoburn has been at the head of the
H ome from the beginning Miss Tinsley ! now M rs . .

Waug h ) was associated wi th h er for three or four

years in t h e management of the household and her ,

sympathy wit h Miss Thob u rn s ideas as to wha t its ’

influences should be was S O cordial and her co ,

operation so hearty as to make it seem that one

,

spirit ruled the place ”

.

Early in 1 8 80 while on her voyage to t h e home

,

land and in a state of health whic h made it doubt ful

,

whether she would ever return Miss T h oburn was ,

led to speak in a remarkable manner upon the

subj ect O f hospitality Some remarks h ad been
.

made about the abuse of t h is g ra ce by selfish or

thoughtless strangers when she remarked with u n
,

wonted earnestness ! I have been thinking much

“

S ince leaving India of the events of the last ten

ye a rs a nd have found much pleas u re in ru nning
,
 The L a l B a g h Ho m e . 1 15

over in my mind many th ings which have happened ;

but on the whole I have felt more grateful for t h e
, ,

privilege of extending hospitality to the many peo

ple who have come to our doors than for any other
one thing connected with the past ten years of my
life If I never se e India a gain it will always give
.
,

me pleasure to think of the m a ny people whether ,

fri ends or strangers whom we have S heltered dur

,

ing these t en years .

”

A missionary in I ndi a used to say to visitors

You a re welcome to our home but I have no time
,

to be civil If you will be g ood enough to look

.

a fter yourself the house is at your service It was

, .

v e rv di fferent with Miss Thoburn She found time .

to be civil and in a country where servants

, ,

abound she always arose in the night hours to give

,

a cup of tea to any guest who h a d to leave by a

night train Like her Master she knew the blessed
.
,

ness of service F e w Christians it is to be fe a red

.
, ,

ever learn the se c ret of this pri celess grace .

 C H APTER XII .

E X P A N S I O N O F T HE WO R K .

M ISSI O N AR I ES like present d a y st a tesmen a re

,
-
,

v ery ofte n troubled with questions of exp a nsio n .

The e a rly beginnings of their work are always

sm a ll and sometimes obscure ; but if success attends
,

their e fforts they a re inv a riably compelled to

,

“
le ngt hen their cords as well as strengthen their
” “

stakes and this necessity very often gives rise

,
”

to serious di ff erences of O pinion among workers who

a re equally devoted and conscientious V ital Chris .

t ia nit y i s in the very nature of the case expansive

, ,
.

It must O bey a law of universal life Its expansion .

,

however is subj ect to its own laws of being and at

, ,

this point the best skill and highest wisdom are im

p e ra t iv e l y needed It soon bec a me manifest t h at t h e
.

new work in Lucknow was to prove no exception

to the general rule At t h e end O f two years the
.

new school for girls numbered fo rty pupils with ,

an a ssured prospect of a large increase and it he ,

ca me eviden t that a boarding department would

h a ve to be provided for girls from a distance F o r .

t u na t e l y the extensive grounds connected with the

,

Lal Bagh Home made it possible to erect the build

ings needed ; but many di ffi culties attended this new
exp ansion of the work .
1 18 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

at th at time to two a nd a h alf dollars This su m .

was to pay for boarding w a shing a nd tuition , ,

.

Those who wished for better fare t han the common

table provided were obliged to pay extra but not ,

many chose to pay for anything beyond the usual

fare.

The building provided for the boarding dep a rt

ment was as di ff erent as possible from what a re a der
in Americ a would expect Instead of an immense.

building three or four stories high a continuous ,

number of rooms were built around a quadrangle

in such a way that one side of eac h room formed
part of the wall around a large inclosure with a ,

single entrance which could easily be guarded nigh t

and day The rooms were large enoug h t o a cc o m
.

m o d a t e four persons if necessary,

T h e large court .

yard inclosed by this truly O riental style of build

ing could not only be adorned with flowers but was ,

quite large enough for several shade trees The -

.

inclosure could also be used as a playground by the

gi rls People in India a re ext remely averse to hav
.

ing their doorways open outward upon a public

street or in a ny way which would allow people from
,

the outside to catch a glimpse O f what was p a ssing

withi n It has also been found that in the extremely
.

hot weather of Northern India a room on the

ground is cooler than o ne at an elevation of even
one story ; and this fact which is well appreci ated
,

by a ll the children of the soil made a room on the ,

 E xp a ns i o n o f t he W o rk . 11 9
g round fl-
oo r more a c c eptable to them t h an one
higher up would have been .

The table fare set before these gi rls i f not up to

,

the standard of that found in American schools was ,

quite wholesome in quality a nd s u flic ie nt in quantit y

,
‘
,

not only to meet the expectations of parents but it , ,

might also be said equal to that gi ven in American

,

schools at least in its nourishing qualities

,
.

A detailed account of the di fficulties which were

met a nd overcome in inaugurating this new e xpe ri
—
ment for it was an experiment at that time would —
be i nteresting but space will not permit the story to
,

be told The d ifli c u l tie s encountered were ma ny

.
,

some of them amusing a nd some unpleasant ; but

success a ttended the enterprise and ye a r by year the
,

school gained in popularity and soon became widely

,

known not only throughout Nort h ern India but

, ,

at points more than a thousand miles distant Its in .

fl u enc e thus became very widely extended It is .

possible that similar schools h a d been inaugurated

in Southern India at an e a rlier day ; but throughout
the whole of the northern part of the empire with ,

a S ingle exception the opening of this boarding

,

school m a rked a new dep a rture in missionary work .

It no longer stands alone a s similar schools have

,

been since opened in all parts of the country and it ,

has thus accomplished a good work by serving as

a model to those who h a d to meet simil a r diffi culties
in later yea rs .
1 20 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

It would h ave been stra nge indeed if a move

, ,

ment of this kind should have been inau gurated and

c a rried into successful execution without exciting ,

not only misgivings in the minds of many good

people but also stirring up active opposition on the
,

part of those who failed to compre h end either the

spirit with which the work was inaugurated or the
purpose for which it was carried on In t h ose days .
,

which now begin to seem very far o ff t here w a s ,

less unanimity both of O pinion and sen t iment

, ,

among mission a ries than is witnessed at the present

dav AS intimated in anot h er chapter many m is
.
,

s io na ri e s looked with grave misgivings upon e v e r v

proposal which a imed at giving more than a very

moderate education to the daughters O f Christian
converts in India It so happened that a good and
.

very conscientious man was in charge of a neighbor

ing mission at the time Miss Thob u rn s school b e ’

gan to a ttract a ttention and draw pupils not only ,

from the Methodist missions but from those of other

,

denominations Many of the members of t his good

.

man s congregation began to send their daughters

’

to the new school and were unwilling to forego the

,

privilege when thei r faithful pastor remons rated t

with them This di fficulty led to a visit from the

.

missionary in question who kindly but calmly and

, ,

earnestly asked M iss Thoburn to dismiss all t h e

,

g i rl s belonging to his congregation from her school .

The request was simply a mazing to her ; for until

th at moment S he h a d not suspected th at there could
1 22 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

two gi rls schools which now open th eir doors with

’

out regard to religious a ffiliations to the daughters ,

of all Indian C h ris t ians who apply for their

a dmission .

Normal expansion of Christian work almos t in

variably leads to still wider expansion Work begets .

work and successes in one field seems to beckon o n

,

ward to greater achievements in other fields This .

law began to illustrate itself in L ucknow a nd at ,

other points near enough to feel the influence of the

new activity in the Methodist mission A remark .

able expansion o f Sunday school work began about -

this time in L ucknow and spread to other stations ,

.

Up to this t ime non Christian boys had not attended

-

Sunday school while a s to girls t he thought of

-
, ,

gathering them into Sunday schools had probably -

never crossed any one s mind But new life had ’

.

come to m a ny of the older girls and it was found ,

a very easy t a sk to get them to a ssist in Sunday

schools held in quiet and retired places exclusively
for women and girls The following extract is taken
.

from M iss Baker s S t ory of the Wom a n s Foreign

“ ’ ’

Missionary Society
M iss T h oburn has furnished t h e following a c
“

count ! A Bible woman living in a heat h en neigh

‘
-
,

b o rho o d began gathering the women who could

'

come and th e children into her home on Sunday

, ,

afternoons She had them well in h and before I saw

.

the school I think it was the second mont h when

.

S he asked me to go and see it A day school grew .

-
 E xp a nsio n o f t he W o rk . 1 23

out of it I think this was the first heathen S u nd a y

.

school of any kind in L ucknow In March 1 872 .

’
, ,

M iss Thoburn taught a girls Sunday school by

’
-

t hemselves in a little room in the corner of the

,

court—all Hindus and all very poor ; for only

,

daughters of the poor a re allowed to come out in

t h e streets The girls would bring their baby
.

brothers and sisters with them and one time whe n ,

twenty girls were present seven babies came also

,
.
!

This beginning also led m any of these new

workers to become familiar with the idea of doing
useful work in life ei t her as teachers or as voluntary
, ,

workers among the people It is probable that .

,

before two years had elapsed more non Christi a n ,

-

girls and women had been gathered into the Sunda y

schools of L ucknow than were at that time in a t
tendance upon Sunday schools in a ll the other cities
-

a nd towns of India .

But it was not in Sunday school work alone th a t

-

this new influence became apparent Christian work .

of every kind soon began to manifest a ne w ac t ivity

and a new power The ancient promise was verified
.

that the Spiri t of God S hould be poured o ut upon

both sons and daughters and it thus c a me to pass
,

that not only was a higher sta ndard of education

,

introduced among Christian women and girls but a ,

higher standard of pie t y and working e fficiency he

came recognized a nd in this way the possibility of
,

raising up a trul y Christian community in Indi a

ceased to be the hazy dre a m of a dist a nt fu tu re .
1 24 L if e of I s a b e l l a Th o b u rn .

Miss Thob u rn s vision w a s usually both far

’

sighted and clear sighted She looked forward to a

-
.

time when a boarding school would be needed in

-

every district and saw that for these well educated

,
-

teachers would be needed She looked very far .

ahead when s he wrote ! Then there is a mos t im

“

portant branch of work that we have scarcely

—
touched yet the preparation of literature for our
,

Christian women and girls F o r such service we .

must have t h e highest a nd best education possible ”

.

In short Christianity when it really is Christianity

, , ,

sets forth high ideals demands unconditional sacri

,

fic e s and promises perpetu a l miracles

,
.
1 26 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the country with a distinct impression that they are

going to the non Christian people—the Hindus-
,

M ohammedans and aboriginal tribes who worship

,

demons spirits or other imaginary obj ects and

, ,
—
very few dream of any obligation to preach or in any
way minister to the wants of those bearing the
Christian name whom they find in t h e community .

It would seem a s if le a s t of a ll would the Americ an

, ,

missionaries who represent a country having no

,

political interest in India recognize a ny O bligation ,

to turn aside to these people who belong to what h a s

been c a lled the Anglo Saxon dispersion but it
“
-

has strangely happened that in the progress of the ,

work the M ethodist missionaries from the United

,

States have been led step by step not only to take ,

up this work but to assume the leading position in

,

its prosecution s o far as t h e N o nco nfo rm ist part of

the community is concerned This h a s happened .

without any one s demand or expectatio n and a p

’

p a r e nt l y has been brought about by simply following

the indications of Providence or in other words , , ,

by accepting t h e calls of duty as they occurred from

time to time The process is fairly illus t rated by
.

what occurred at L ucknow The revival brought a .

large number of these people into the Church and , ,

not finding the kind of schools which they wished for

t heir children these persons began to importune the
,

mission a ries to est a blish English boarding schools - .

A few pa re nts of this class were sendin g their

d aug hters to Miss Thobu rn s school ; but others ’
 E u ro p e a ns in I ndi a . 1 27

wished for a school less O riental in style a nd more ,

after the European pattern with which they were

familiar It soon bec a me evident that a new school
.

was needed ; but the venture would require a large

s u m of money while not a penny was in sight
,
.

Miss Thoburn watched and waited for some token

from above and at length t h e token appeared
,
.

O ne day a gentleman who had a daughter to be

educated called and handed over a currency note
,

for one thousand rupees saying that he tendered it ,

as the first contribution for a new English school

for girls The acceptance of this money meant a
.

committal to the new enterprise The money w a s .

accepted the missionaries a ssuredly gathering t hat

,
“ ”

Go d had given them a token of approval It w a s not .

thought best to open a n additional school in L uck

now and so Cawnpore a large and growing city
, ,

forty fiv e miles to the westward was chosen for t h e

-
,

new venture a missionary a nd wife appointed to the

,

C harge and arrangements made to a dmit both boys

,

and gi rls as pupils ; but this plan w a s not found

satisfactory The era of c o education in India is
.
-

“
not yet It was found necessary to establish a
.
”

separate school for girls and in reference to this , ,

enterprise as well a s to the general situation Miss

, ,

Thoburn wrote under d ate of O ctober 1 8 76 a n

, , ,

a rticle from which the following extract is t aken !

“
No one engaged earnestly in Christian work is
ever surprised to hear of a new field or to receive a ,

c a ll to a p a rt of the world wide vi ney a rd not before-

,
1 28 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

known or explored Not only are new places all .

,

j ungle or desert discovered but in the old cul t ivated

, ,

fields one work is ever growing into or out of

another each with its individual interest and yet
, ,

so related to each other that the neglect of either

is a mutual loss .

“
It is however scarcely a new thing to those
, ,

who take an intelligent interest in the evangelization

of India that missionaries begin to realize in a
, ,

gre ater degree than before th a t they have a call and ,

a duty not only to the heathen to whom they were

,

sent but to the English and English speaking resi

,
-

dents O f the country By t h ese a re meant not so .

,

much the official class who have entered government ,

service for a term of years and expect afterward to ,

return to England as those Europeans and descend

,

a nts of Europeans whose home is here and who are ,

more truly n a tives of India th a n we are of Americ a .

They are called East Indians a nd a re found in ,

every p a rt of the country from the mountains to ,

the Cape They are more like their Indian than

.

their English ancestors in manner being almost ,

uniformly polite and gentle and they are bett er edu ,

c a t e d than might be expected from t h e limi t ed a d

vantages a fforded by the very few a nd very poor

schools scattered here and there Among them a re .

good and noble men and women like the E a st Indi a n ,

members of our Conference and the inmates of our

L ucknow H ome ; but of their moral chara cter as a ,

class it is e nough to sa y th at they bre a the th e

,
130 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

when those who profess it c a n not be pointed to a s

examples of its power and much less when they ,

ca n be cited to prove the contrary When I ndi a s .

’

nominal Christians become a living a ctive Ch u rch , ,

imbued with t h e missionary spirit which is ever

a part of the gi ft of the Holy Spirit the s a lv ation ,

of the heathen will not be far o ff It is not strange .

,

but interesting to observe how immedi ately the

,

thought and he a t of one truly converted here goes

r

out to the H indu and Mohammedan O ne wom a n .

t a lks to her nurse a nother to her cook a nd another

, ,

g athers a few children on her veranda on Sunday

aftern oo n to teach them of Christ and heaven An
,
.

illiterate Englishm a n who had been some time in ,

India w a s converted a t our last Dasehra meeting

,
.

I m a y as well u s e his case to illustrate or introduce

my Obj ect in writing this letter He has seven .

children all of whom will most probably spend their

,

lives in India Their parents have hitherto lived

.
,

and may continue to live in the j ungle or in some , ,

small station where they have no educational a d va n

tages They a re poor a nd can only a ff ord cheap
.

schools of which there a re few in t he country a nd

, ,

most of those in t h e hands of Roman Catholics .

What will be their future In Indi a want of edu

!
,

c atio n in a European usu a lly results in miserable

poverty And yet their sit u ation is better th a n th at

.

of m any others for they h ave a careful English

,

mother ca p a ble of d e nyi ng them wh a t is hurtful

,

to them I k now m any other chil d re n whose I ndi an

.
,
 E u ro p e a ns in I ndi a . 13 1

mothers love them blindly and gratify a ll their

wishes ; but that is all they can do and that is ofte n ,

too much When we know that surrounded by

.
,

heathen and with he a then servants it is diffi cult

, ,

in the bes t of homes to keep children pure and true ,

we can realize the condition of families like these .

They h a ve homes as far a s affection c a n bind them

together— for Indi a n love is strong—but they have
neither order nor be a uty a nd too O ften not even, , ,

purity to hallow them .

“
As to any one who c a res for these things the
‘ ’

duty is evident H ere as elsewhere prea ching a nd

.
, ,

teaching must go ha nd in hand ; the school a nd the

c hurch must be built side by S ide
”
.

It m a y be proper to remark that in usi ng the

term East Indian Miss Thoburn no doubt had
,
“
,
”
, ,

in mind persons of mixed parentage V arious terms .

a re used in speaking of the English speaking people -

of India a nd the subj ect is very n aturally a deli

, , ,

cate one It is h a rdly necessary to say that no one

. .

h a d less r a ce or caste feeli ng th a n the subj ect of

this memoir .

O ne unexpected result of ope ning the ne w

school in C a wnpore was that Miss Thoburn was ,

compelled for a time to become it s principal but ,

without severing her co nnection with the school in

L ucknow During the most trying part of the year
.
,

s he fl itt e d back and forth between the two c i ties by

r a ilway always m a king the j ourney by night for

,

the do uble p u rpos e of savi ng time out of workin g

132 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

hours and escaping t h e excessive heat which a ll

,

Europeans a re careful to avoid as far as possible .

The funds of both schools were so low that she felt

obliged to travel third —class and the railwa y a u t ho ri ,

ties could not be prevailed upon to make a ny e o n

cession in her case This was probably the hardest .

term of service in all her Indian life ; but in a country

like Indi a and especially in the e a rly d ays of the
,

work circumstances O ften became so complicated

,

that a missionary w a s compelled to choose between

doing double work or giving up the work altogether
,
.

NO alternati ve seemed possible in t h is case and so ,

the almost impossible t a sk w a s undertaken fa ithfully

and cheerfully .

Some twenty odd years a fter this h ard e xp e ri

ence Miss Thoburn once mentioned in an incidental
,

way that during one of those night j ourneys she

, ,

had su ff ered an attack of cholera She spoke lightly .

of the event but sai d s he had not realized a t the time

,

the peril she w a s in In c h olera times s he always .

“ ”

carried the best known remedies wit h her and by

-
,

a prom pt u se of these and by a rapid drive to her ,

room after her arrival she succeeded in passing ,

through the ordeal wi t hout a fatal result The .

founding of new institutions such as schools and ,

hospitals very often costs more in t h e way of per

,

sonal sacrifice than could be expressed in money

values even though the figures mounted up to the
,

million point To say this however is to speak

.
, ,

a fter the m a nner of m en To the fa ithfu l disciple .

 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

permanence c a n hardly be longer regarde d a s an

open question The European element in the p opu
.

lation though relatively very small i s permanent

, , ,

a nd will no doubt increase although slowly for , ,

many years to come The influence of this element

.

of t he population is and must continue to be very

, ,

gre a t and it would be a grievous mistake for the

,

Evangelical Churches to withdraw from active work

a mong the people on the mistaken plea tha t their
first and special obligation is due to the non C h ristian -

masses of t h e people No more direct and consistent

.

method of reac h ing these masses could be devised

than that O f raising up communities of European
Christians in their midst composed of men and,

women who not only bear the name but illustra te ,

the saving power of the Savior of t h e world .

This necessity becomes the more striking a nd

urgent from the fact that most of the public schools
in I ndi a which have bee n provided for the education
O f European children are so far u nder the control of

parties unfriendly to evangelical te a ching that an

imperative demand h a s arisen for schools under a
d iffe i e nt ma nagement But for the character of the
.

religious teac h ing given in these schools it is pos ,

sible th a t many years might h a ve elapsed before

a change would h a ve been a sked for ; but the general
drift of religious a ff airs in I ndi a duri ng the past
thi rty or forty ye a rs h a s been such th at a vigorou s
moveme nt of the kind now wi t nessed became in
evit a ble a nd in every way commendable
,
.
 CHAPTER XI V
S ERVA N T O F AL L .

IN the latter part of 1 8 73 Lucknow bec a me

,

s u bj ect to a severe visitatio n of cholera which for ,

a time ga ined a strong headway in the European

qu a rter of the city and carri ed O ff an unusual num
,

ber of Victims Both cholera and small pox are S O

.
-

common in Indi a that the presence of either or both

seldom attracts any serious alarm a nd a p anic suc h
,

as is witnessed in Europe or America when the ,

prese nce of cholera is a nnounced would be im p o s

,

sible in the land where this dread disease first

originated Its fat al work is oft en d one with start
.

ling rapidity The late Miss L ayton one of our

.
,

missionaries at Cawnpore s a t at the table as usual

,

in the evening and was laid in her grav e at six

,

o clock the following morning By government

’
.

order in all cases of death from C holera or small

,

pox the interment takes place at t h e earliest pos

,

sible moment a nd Visitors to the cemeteries are

,

confronted by the gruesome spect a cle of open graves ,

kept in readiness all the time for those upon whom

t h e lot of deat h may fall .

India is well provided with highly educated a nd

experienced medical men but these would be the
,
136 L if e Of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

first to co nfess their comparative h elplessness when

dealing with a case of cholera in its worst form .

It is somet imes more fatal than usual and on the ,

occasion of this Visitation to Lucknow very few

of the Europeans who were attacked recovered .

The civil surgeon of L ucknow at that time was

“

a kind hearted Irishman wit h a grim sense of

-
,

humor who when asked by a missionary wha t

, ,

remedy he should first use if at t acked by choler a .

while waiting for t h e doctor to come replied ! If ,

“

you are attacked by the real cholera t h e very first ,

thing to do would be to make your will It is .

”

probable that medical science h as made some prae

tical advance in dealing wi th c h olera in the thirt y
years which h ave elapsed since ; but at t hat time the
doc t ors confessed t hat t h ey were doing little more
than trying new remedies which had been a n
nou nc e d and meanwhile using their gener a l knowl
,

edge according to the apparent need of each par

t icu l a r case T h ey were as might have been ex
.
,

p e c t e,d overworked and could,

not possibly give
that C lose and continuous attention to eac h patient
which t h e urgency of the case demanded Trained .

nurses were very few and like the doctors were

, , ,

overworked .

Miss Thoburn had become well known in the

s t ation ; but s he had never received any training for
an emergency of this kind a nd h ad indeed regarded
, , ,

herself as in a measure disqualified for such service ;

but S he w a s sent for in one c a se a fter a nother a nd ,
13 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the little missionary community a nd which illus ,

t ra t e d in a striking w a y the full a nd true me a ning

of Christi a n service Small pox comes as a scourge
.
-

in many parts of India about once a ye a r These .

V isitations vary more or less in severity but a t best ,

they cause widespread su ff ering and usually occa ,

sion a serious loss of life O ne of these periods .

occurred in L ucknow during the hot season and ,

among those who were stricken down was a Bengali

lady who h a d for some time been employed as a
,

teacher in Bengali zenanas She was the wife O f .

a European and lived in a house a t some distance

,

from the mission premises The attack was O f a .

Very severe type and the attending physician did

,

no t hesitate to sa y th a t in the nature of the c a se

, ,

it would almost certainly prove fatal Miss T ho .

burn went far and near in search of a nurse for the

invalid ; but in a time of so much sickness all nurses
were found engaged and no help of a ny kind could
,

be found Miss Thoburn faced the emergency

.

calmly a nd a t once decided to go in person and

,

assume the position of nurse to a person su ff ering

from a very severe attack of confluent small pox — .

She was told that i f she went into an infected house

on such a mission s he would not be permitted to re
turn to her own home for a full month but th is made ,

no change in her own purpose She set her house in .

order said goo d bye to friends as if leaving for

,
-

a long j ourney and cheerfully took up her task

,
.

D ay a fter day the doctor assured her th at her patient

 S e rv a nt o f All . 13 9
would certainly die but his predictions signally
,

failed The pa t ient recovered and the courageous

.
,

nurse returned to h er friends apparently u nco n ,

scious t h at s he had performed a nythin g beyond o r

d ina ry duty .

T h is heroic and truly Christian service made a

profound impression upon the Christian commu nity
in w h ic h Miss T ho b u rn lived and moved in L uck
now Many per h aps most had disapproved of the
.
, ,

a c t and the wife of a missionary had earnestly re

,

m o nst ra t e d wi t h her and tried to dissuade her from

her purpose ; but aft er hearing all the obj ections
which were urged her simple reply was ! If my
,
“

mot h er were here s he would go, The incide nt .

”

illustra t ed in a most striking manner the power of

teaching received in a receding and now far o ff -

childhood bearing rich a nd hallowed fruit in the

,

distant ends of the earth But it was more than

.

this It was an exhibition of the mind of Christ

.
“
.
”

It was an illustration of the spirit of Him who came

no t to be ministered unto but to ministe r ,
The .

present generation of Christi a ns it is to be feared , ,

hardly know the meaning of the word service as

rel ated to personal duty a nd perhaps nothing but
,

personal illustr ations like the above will at once

convey the meaning of the term a nd impress it
upon the mind and heart of the Church .

O ne morning in 1 8 72 when the Rev E Cun

,
. .

h ingham a nd wife were st a tioned at Sit a pur a tow n ,

sixty m iles from L uck now Miss Thob u rn s brother

,
’
,
1 40 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Who wa s presidi ng elder at the time w a s about to ,

start for his regular visit to Sitapur and was at the ,

door with the conveyance for the j ourney when t h e ,

sister as i f moved by a sudden impulse proposed to

, ,

go with him There was no time to make any

.

preparation and in a few minutes the two were on

,

their w ay T h e j ourney occupied about eight hours

.
,

and when the little hack drove up to t h e mission

house in the evening M rs Cunning h am was over
, .

j oyed to s ee that the presiding elder was not alone .

O M iss Thoburn s he cried Go d has brought

“ ” “
, ,

you to us O u r twin babies are bot h ill and I am

.
,

afraid the baby boy may die ”

The two went to .

gether into the sickroom and after a time M iss,

Thoburn came out and quietly said I fear the ,

“

little girl is ne a rer de a th than the boy and the ,

mo th er does not realize it It w a s as S he feared ;

.

the little girl was taken and the boy left When .

we buried the little sister 5 body we g a ve directions ,

to have the grave only partially filled so that whe n , ,

the other child should follow his sister both bodies ,

might sleep in the same grave .

But it was not thus to be The delicate little .

babe did not die and yet seemed to be in a dying

,

state day after day His body became so wasted

.

th a t every one who saw h im was startled and won ,

dered that he lived Being obliged to return to

.

L ucknow Miss Thoburn persuaded the mother to

,

acc omp any her with the a pp a re ntly dyi ng child .

1 42 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

th a n to do right a nd conform her life to the meek

a nd quiet pattern which becomes a disciple of Jesus
Christ .

A few yea rs later when engaged in deaconess

,

work in Chicago Miss Thoburn chanced to meet this

,

former missionary face to face but t h e poor creature ,

turned abruptly dow n a nother street to avoid recog

nitio n. It h a s been reported since that she was there
a w a iting the action of a divorc e court with the ,

inten t ion of contractin g a so called marriage with -

the h usband of another woman as soon as t h e wicked

farc e of a S O c alled divorce could be enacted by a
-

heathenish Chicago court A S a fitting sequel to the .

c a reer of such a woman it rem a ins only to add that

,

S he is now engaged in lecturing on the beauties a nd

profundities of Hinduism a nd is s a id to h ave m any
,

admirers .

The thought may occur to some reader that here

is a clear case of failure a nd that it S hould serve a s
,

a warning rather than example to those who a re

anxious to do the greatest possible amount of good
during the S hort period of a human life But we .

need to be very careful in drawing conclusions of

this kind NO honest and unselfis h e ff ort t o do good
.

is ever t h rown away and in a case of this kind

, , ,

the rew a rd does not depend on the failure or success

of the e ff ort O u r Savior when on earth me t with
.
, ,

many c a ses of seeming failure and yet his work as ,

a whole was the one s t upe ndous achievement of all

history The most s uccessfu l workers in the M a s
.
~
 S e rv a nt of A ll . 1 43

t er s vineyard i nva ri ably become more or less

’

famili a r with what the world calls failure but such ,

persons soon learn that this does not a ff ect the ques
tion of the highest possible good .

It must not be supposed that the care of the sick

exhausts the list of duties which fall to the lot of
the disciple w ho aspires to be a s the Master in
rendering personal service to those in need It only .

illustrates one feature of t h is service T h e world is .

full of people who need help and this help must,

”
be rendered in many ways In her Recollections
.
“
,

Miss Singh tells how Miss T hob u rn wi t h her o w n

hands ministered to the children in her school in
c a ses of serious illness and how S he even prepared
,

the bodies of the dead for burial a nd yet how with , ,

equal fidelity she assisted young brides in prepar

,

ing for t heir weddings It was not that suc h help

.

was ac t ually needed ; but she remembered that hu n

dreds of eyes were watching her and S he wished , ,

by example to point out to those around her how

,

in later life they should m a ke the j oys and s orrows

of others their own .

V ery many perh a ps a maj ority of the men a nd

, ,

wome n in our world need help in other forms th an

c a n be expressed in money values Some can not .

t h ink for themselves can not devise methods of pro

,

c e d u re
, or ca n not se e opportunities which are in
full view before their eyes A widowed mother
.
,

suddenly bereft of her h u sb and a nd left withou t

money may loo k aroun d her u pon a worl d which
,
1 44 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

appea rs to her saddened gaze a cheerless blank but ,

a visitor may have the gift of ch a racter reading and ,

may perceive at a glance that one or more of the

children would succeed well in positions which are
—
within easy reac h and waiting for applicants .

Christian helpfulness is by no means confined to the

rich In very many c a ses money is the last thing
.

needed by those who have claims upon the servant

of Christ and no one understood this better than
,

did Miss Th oburn She h a d the fidelity of a servant

.

in obeying every call and meeting every obligation

which came before her and ever m aintained an ex
,

p e c t a nt attitude
, ready to accept a ny kind of service
to which the L ord of the vineyard might call her .

This was strikingly illustrated in 1 886 w h en she was ,

sent out of India in impaired healt h for a prolonged

period of rest in her native land S h e accepted the .

necessity of the furlough ; but understanding well

that res t did not necessarily mean inaction s he threw ,

herself into the Deaconess M ovement at a most im

portant moment and was able to lend her invaluable
,

help at a time when help was most sorely needed .

She perceived clearly from the very first that this

, ,

service was simply t h e service of needy humanity

in an organized form To her it was merely t h e ex
.

tension o f the work which S he h ad been doing in the

palaces a nd slums of L ucknow to the wider field ,

presented by t he gre at cities a nd quiet villages of

the United Sta tes .
1 46 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

sometimes p a i nful di fficulties growing out of the

, ,

social ideals of the people in a country where such

a system has bee n firmly rooted for many long
centuries The first two converts m a y refuse t o
.

commune together and at every step questions of ,

precedence may arise to v ex and embarrass t he mis

s io na ry Then the astonishing disparity in income
.

seems to defy a ll attempts to introduce uniformity

among Christian workers O ne convert lives in a .

village where he has never received more than two

doll a rs a month while another is a cultured man
,

in a city enj oying an income of twenty five dollars

,
-

a month Nine tenths of t h e converts belong to the

.
-

former class To advance the first man s salary to

.
’

twenty five dollars would be impossible for two

-

reasons ! F irst it would create a w h ole host of

,

unworthy preachers ; and second it would exhaust , ,

the missionary treasury in six months O n t he .

other hand the m a n of higher cul t ure living in

, ,

a different style and accustomed to a higher civili

,

z a t io n
, can not be asked to reduce his expenses
twelve hundred per cent at a stroke If bot h men .

a re gifted with common sense and i f both are ,

truly Christian men no special t rouble will ensue ; ,

but unfortunately many good men in t h is world are

not wise and hence trouble is often created by men
, ,

and wome n too presenting demands which whe t her

, ,

reasonable or not are plainly impossible ,

.

It is not a mong converts a lone that questions of

this kind a rise When Miss T hob u rn opened her
.

first sc hool on the memorable 1 8th of April 1 870 , ,

 O ne i n C h ri s t . 1 47

she e nrolled six pupils fi ve of whom were of H indu,

st a ni birt h and one Eurasian When she opened her

,
.

boarding school she aga in found s ix girls present

-
, ,

and of these two were Eurasians A little later

, , .

European girls bega n to appear in the school and ,

thus the double question of race and rank was thrust

to the front almost from the very first Nor did .

the trouble end there The question of compensation

.

h a d to be considered Among women as among .

,
‘

members of Conference and other preachers it ,

seemed inevit able that certain di ff erences would h a ve

to be recognized Then the question of socia l
.

equality thrust itself to the fro nt a nd under such ,

circumstances it was of the utmost importance that

right precedents should be est a blished and a right ,

policy initiated Miss Thob u rn s instincts and c on

.
’

v ic t io ns were all strongly democratic but s he never ,

was tempted to make shipwreck of pr a ctical work ,

a nd sacrifice the possibilities of success by applyi ng

abstract theories to impossible conditions ; in o ther

words she believed that common sense demanded
,

recognition as clearly as conscience and the situation ,

as it developed in her work was clearly such as

called for the exercise of the highest possible wis
dom no less than the application of abstract prin
,

c ip l e s of right After much thought a nd prayer to

.
,

sa y not h ing of practical experience she finally ,

adopted as her guiding principle the supreme c on

v ic t io n that the only real bond of union in this

world among all classes all l anguages all races a nd

, , , ,

a ll nati ons is tha t of be i ng m a d e one in Chris t

, .
1 48 Li fe of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

It need hardly be said that this bond of union

m a y be a very real one a nd yet not become a san e
,

tion for a purely artificial rule of equality which

would give to all persons a sameness of service an ,

equalization of salary a common standard of dress

, ,

of house or belongings and in short of all other

, , ,

things which pertain to a C ivilized life In other .

words when a C h ristian is absolutely sw a yed by

,

the love of Christ instead of demanding equality in

,

all the possible phases of that word he will be more ,

anxious to hold his right in abeyance and will be ,

more concerned in asking what s a crifices he ca n

make than what rights he can claim Mere matters .

of personal slig h t will become trifling in the estima

tion of such a person and a demand for social recog
,

nitio n will appear S O absurd as to become an obj ect

of contempt rather than a lofty principle for which

one should strive .

Many di fferences some of them petty a nd some

,

of them painful grew out of this question of r a ce

,

from time to time and it is probable that Miss

,

Thoburn at times su ff ered more acu t ely in her feel

ings on this account than from any other one c a use
during her whole life in India She believed th a t .

in a country like India where the very atmosphere

,

seemed surch a rged with caste and class feeling it ,

would be impossible to plant a pure a nd a ggressive

Christianity unless the problem of r a ising up a peo
,

ple of one mi nd a nd one he a rt could be practica lly

“ ”

solved She k new well th at this problem could

.
150 L if e O f I s a b e l l a T ho b u rn .

e ff ort was to instill a better spirit into the minds an d

hearts of those around her ; but this proved to be
no easy task F rom t h e first she had found questions
.

of personal right and privilege both di fficult and dis

tressing and at last the problem seemed to reach
,

a climax .

It was in 1 89 3 that an a gitation of this kind had

cost her much painful anxiety and at last she b ega n ,

to feel that the strain was becoming too heavy to be

much longer endured T h e questions at issue were
.

not serious ; but they were felt t o be serious by t he

parties concerned and t h ey su fficed to mar the peace
,

of a C ircle in which peace was essential to life .

Miss Thoburn s a w the situatio n a nd felt it keenly ,

but sa w no prospect O f relief But Go d came t o her .

relief in a very unexpected way She rarely spoke .

of dreams or visions and w a s S low to give credence

,

to narr a tions of such manifestations At the time .

above mentioned she h a d S u ff ered anxiety and per

pl e xit y to a n u nusual degree a nd o ne night her sleep
,

departed from her for long weary hours w h ile she , ,

lay anxiously s t udying the di fficult situation in t o

which her administrat ion had drifted In the earl y .

morni ng what S he called a vision of the Son of “

m a n passed before her a nd words were spoken to

”
,

assure her that Christ was with her in her struggle ;

and when she became fully aw a ke s he fou nd herself
repeating the words They sh a ll mount up with
,
“

wings a s eagles ; they S hall run and not weary ; t he v

sh a ll walk a nd not f aint Care anxiety pain and
.
”
, , ,
 O ne i n C h ri s t . 15 1

even weariness had vanished and a sweet sense of

, ,

trustful relief had come to her .

Some months a fter this event she m a de a refer

ence to it publicly during a session of the Annual
Conference but with characteris t ic reticence made
,

no reference to the remarkable character of the mani

fe st a t io n which had been received She never how .
,

ever doubted the fact that Christ himself had

,

appeared to her in her time of great need and had ,

bo t h given her relief and at t h e same time taught

her a lesson whic h w a s to go wi t h her through life .

M iss T ho b u rn regarded it a s a part O f her special

call to missionary work in India to strive to erase
lines of class and race separation s o far a s these ,

lines a ff ected the work of Christ and the peace a nd

prosperity of h is C h urch In a letter to a friend not
.
,

long before her death she wrote ! O f the first six

,
“

boarders who came to us two were Eurasians and , ,

it has seemed to me that part of my work in India

w a s to bring Englis h Eurasians and natives to
, ,

gether and make t hem love one another

, In this .
”

e ff ort she was remarkably successful She did not .

dream of trusting to rules or using a uthority a s , ,

an aid in such a work but her appeal was to the,

higher motive Writing to a friend S he said ! We

.
,
“ '

must commit ourselves to the will and way of Christ

that he may rule u s If he sits at our table if he
.
,

speaks to us in our rooms if he is pre eminent in ,

-

all things our regard for his rights and his honor
,

will sw a llow up cover up put out of sight or even

, , ,
152 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

thought our little troubles from hurt feeli ngs even

, ,

though they be from positive wrong or inj ustic e .

”

It need hardly be added that one who sa w so

clearly the real nature of that bond which unites in
one the hearts of all true believers in Jesus C h rist ,

w a s never misled by theories of merely formal

Church union and yet she did not regard this a s
,

a matter of indifference She valued outward and

.

visible union for its own sake and w a s a lways re a dy

,

to meet fellow Christians at a ny communion table -

to which she was invited O n one occasion when a n

.

invita t ion to j oin in a series of prayer meetings w a s -

under discussion she said in reply to a n obj ection

,

that the meetings would be so conducted a s to be

fruitless ! Then let us attend for the sake of meeti ng
“

other Christians on common ground The comi ng .

together in one place of all these congregations is

worth something L et us meet for the sake of meet
.

ing She regarded the existence of di fferent Chris

.

ti a n denominations as unavoidable under existing

circumstances but deprec a ted all deb ate and strife
,

between them a nd looked forward to a time when

,

the i r differences would be greatly reduced .

A s a matter of practical interest some re a ders ,

will no doubt wish to know to wh at extent Miss

T ho b u rn succeeded in realizing her ideal of a har
m o nio u s community made up of earn est Christians
of di ff erent races all closely assoc iated a nd yet re
, ,

taining distinctive peculi a rities of character I n .

reply it m a y be s aid th a t she never attempted to

,
 CHAPTER X V I .

THE F I R ST F UR L O U G H .

TH E privilege of returning to one s native l and ’

for a period of rest and recuperation is conceded

to workers in the foreign field by almost all mission
ary socie t ies The condi t ions on which t h ese fur
.

loughs are gran t ed vary more or less accordin g to

the healt h fulness of climate c h arac t er of work state
, ,

of heal th of individuals condi t ions of enlistment

, ,

and other considerations w h ich depend on special

conditions At an early period in th e progress of
.

the Met h odist Mission in Indi a an informal agree

ment was reached among the missionaries t h at in ,

ordinary cases workers should be entitled to a fur

,

loug h to the home land aft er ten years of active

service This rule has never been formally approved
.

by th e M issionary Board ; but as each application

for leave must receive t h e sanction of the Board the ,

prac t ical application of the unwri t ten law remains

with that body M iss Thoburn was at firs t averse
.

to the policy of granting furloughs except in cases

whic h involved the saving of life and consistently , ,

with her theory for ten years she declined to leave

,

her work in India except for very brief peri o ds

,
.

In a p a rt of the cou ntry where the c ust o m w a s almost

I 54
 T he Fi rs t F u rl o u g h . 155

universal for Europeans to spend some weeks or ,

perhaps mont h s in the cool retreats found among

,

t he great Nort hern moun t ains she resolutely re ,

mained at her post for eight successive years and ,

when at last S he so far yielded to importunity a s to

accept an invitation to visit the beautiful mountain
station of Naini Tal she limited her stay to nine
,

or ten brief days .

But courage and devotion can not ignore t h e

simple yet imperative laws of heal t h In the course .

of her tenth year in India S he became convinced t h at

a Somew h at prolonged visit to her native land would
no t only be beneficial to her health but that it had ,

become almost an absolute necessity To remain at .

her post on the hot pl a ins of Northern India even

o ne more year would involve a serious risk of per

m a ne nt failure of health while a voy age to America

,

would in many respects be preferable to a pro

, ,

longed stay in the mountains Convinced at last th a t .

a Visit to her native land was needful and yielding ,

t o the urgent advice of her missionary ass ociates ,

s he finally decided to accept the leave of absence

which had been granted to her and on the twenty ,

third of January 1 880 sailed from Calcutta for Port

, ,

S a id h a ving made a rrangeme nts to turn aside at tha t

,

port and make a brief tour of the Holy La nd A .

little party of five persons ha d been made up for the

tour consisting of Miss Bl ackmar a former col
, ,

league ; M iss Pratt of the Presbyterian Mission ;

,

the Rev J H M essmore Miss Thoburn a nd her

. . .
, ,
156 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

brother After a pleasant voy a ge the p a rty re ached

.

Port Said and having made immediate con nection

, , ,

p a ssed on to Ja ffa the same night and landed at that ,

renow ned port the next morning .

It would be interesting to follow Miss Thob u rn s ’

footsteps during the eighteen days which s he spen t

a mong the hills of Palestine ; but a detailed account
of her very interesting tour would be somewhat
foreign to the purpose of this brief memoir T hé .

party adopted an itinerary which took t h em up to

Jerusalem and its environments down to Jeric h o ,

and the Jord a n t h en up to Bethel and t h ence north

, ,

ward throug h Samaria to Galilee and b a ck through ,

Nazareth M ount Carmel and C aesarea to Ja ff a A

, ,
.

hundred poin t s of in t erest were noted a hundred in ,

c i d e nt s enlivened the otherwise weary j ourneying ,

and an endless train of reflec t ions occupied the mind

and touched the heart a s day after day these pil
, ,

grims from the distant East pursued their way in the

midst of scenes which had been familiar to patriarch
and prophet in a vanished age and hallowed by the ,

footsteps of Him who had fashioned these hills and ,

set bounds to the mighty throbbing sea which beat

,

unceasingly upon the western S hore The tour as .

a whole w a s extremely interesting but so hurried ,

as to give no time for study T h e O riental drago.

man is a driver rather than a guide and when he ,

lays out a n itiner a ry he is apt to assume that his

,

victims have a s much power of endura nce a s him

self
.
15 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

over a ga in the scenes a nd events of ages long p a sse d

by The evening a nd morni ng spent at Tiberi a s
.

were m a rred by no unple a sant a ssociations and in ,

the early morning Miss Tho b u rn went aside alone ,

a nd sitting dow n close to the margin of the w ater

, ,

s he g a zed a cross the lake in silence with that pe ne ,

t ra ting far O ff look which h a d bee n ch a r a cteristic of

-

her in childhood She remai ned in silenc e there u ntil

.

c a lled to prep a re for the d ay s j ourney but of her ’

,

thoughts she never spoke H er deepest feelings .

were usually if not always kept to herself a s if

, , , ,

perhaps too sacred to be m a de a subj ect of conver

,

s ation It was somewh at the same d u ring the ple a s

.

a nt Sabb a th d a y spent a t Nazareth

-
It w a s a beauti .

ful peaceful hallowed d a y of rest a nd no qu estio n

, , ,

c ould be raised as to the identity of the pl a ce The .

visit to Carmel though brief was interesting a nd

, , , ,

in a measure inspiring The whole tour in spite

, . ,

of its drawb a cks w a s a great privilege and in after

, ,

years furnished the b a sis for m a ny instructive les

sons .

L eaving Jaffa a brief call w a s m a de at Alexan

,

dria followed by a week in Rome and a short stay

, ,

in P a ris and L ondon But before returning to h er

.

native land M iss Thoburn availed herself of the o p

,

p o rt u nit y of visiting the birthplace of her parents in

the north of Ireland The principle of loyalty to her .

p a rents w a s deeply ingrained in her character and ,

everything con nected with their early life possessed

a pe culi a r i nterest to her I n e a rly childhoo d her .
 T he F i rs t F u rl o u gh . 15 9
mi nd had become stored with a great variety of
Iri sh stories told her by her mother a nd she eagerly ,

embraced the O pportunity given her of visiting in

person a region which seemed only second to the
Holy Land in its personal attractions to her She .

w a s able to spend ten d a ys there to visit many rela

,

fives to look upon many hallowed spots which

,

seemed to possess almost the sanc t ity of so many

shrines and to bring away memories which it gave
,

her ple a sure to recount throughout the rest of her

li fe
.

O n the fi fteenth of April she sailed from ! ueens

town and arrived in New York on the twenty
,

fourth after a n abse nce from her native l a nd of

,

a bout ten and a h a lf years .

T h e decade included between the years 1 8 70 a nd

,

1 880 marked an important era in the world s prog

’

ress both political and religious It witnessed the

, .

overthrow of L ouis Napoleon and with him passed,

away the Vicious policy bot h political a nd moral

, ,

which he had introduced and popularized It wit .

nes se d the end of the temporal power O f the Pope ,

and the extension of the law of religious toleratio n

throughout Roman Catholic Europe In the relig .

ious world it included what might be called the

Moody movement which represented a remar k able
,

development of revival agencies throughout the Eng

lish speaking world It also witnessed t he appear
-
.

ance of a new and very remarkable mission a ry ih

t erest throu gho u t the whole Protest a nt worl d O ne .
1 60 Li fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

other extraordinary movement of th a t deca de whi ch ,

deserves more careful study th an it h a s yet received ,

was the Woman s Temperance Crusade in th at p a rt ’

of the United States no w gener ally k nown a s the

Central West The results of this very singu l ar a gi
.

tion were by no means confined to the t empera nce re

form I t was in fact a religious reform M ore
.
, , .

than anyt h ing else in American histor y it obliterated ,

sectarian lines neutralized sectarian j e al o u sie s

, ,

united all Christians in the common service of a com

mon Savior and unsealed lips long closed to spre a d
,

abroad t he tidings of a risen Redeemer of the hu

man race .

When Miss T hob u rn left her native land in NO

v emb e r 1 8 6 9it was common enough for wome n
, ,

to speak in religious meetings but such speaking ,

was usually confined to a brief statement of religious

experience When she returned in 1 880 S he found
.
, ,

a whole host of earnest women publicly advocating

the missionary cause while at camp meetings 1 , ,

churches I n lecture halls and even at political meet

, ,

ings the appearance of women among the speakers

,

had ceased t o occasion remark O n the gener al .

question of the right of women to speak in public ,

her position like that of her m other before her had

, ,

been delightfully inconsistent

“
Her mother had .
”

obj ected to having the fourteenth chapter of First

Corinthians re a d a t fam ily pr a yers because of its re ,

q u i r e m e nt for women to keep sile nce in the c h u rches ,

and yet she h a d little p ati ence with those wom en

162 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn
have been anticipated ! uestion followed question ;
.

the replies became somewhat len gthy and before ,

very long it seemed necess a ry for the speaker to rise

from her chair in order to be better heard in all
parts of the church and thus it came to pass th at
,

s he found herself a lmost before she realized it

, ,

standing in a Presbyterian C hurch a nd delivering an

a ddress t o an audience o n Sunday afternoon B e .

fore th e meeting closed she realized what had hap

pened She had crossed her Rubicon a nd any one
.
,

who knew her would h ave known th a t she h a d

crossed never to return She accepted the ne w re .

sponsibility cheerfully and said to her new frie nds

, ,

“
If there is a nything wrong about this you must ,

bear me witness that the Presbyterians are re spon

sible for it .
”

The meeting in the Presbyterian church at Pea

body proved to be a most unexpected means of e n
l a rg ing Miss T ho b u rn s sphere of active usefulness
’

while in the United States and indeed throughout , , ,

the rest of her life She was soon in demand every

.

where and responded to the invi t ations w h ich

,

reac h ed her more freely than her health warranted .

T h e annual meeting of the General Execu t ive Com

m itt ee w a s held in Columbus in M a y and her cou n ,

sel w a s not only sought on many important ques

tions but S he w a s drafted into service on the plat
,

form in the city and adj acent towns ; and through

,

out the rest of the year a nd indeed from that time

, , ,

u p to the d a te o f s a ili ng fo r I nd i a on the twe nty

 The Fi rs t F u rl o u gh . 1 63

second of O ctober 1 88 1 she k new little of rest

, ,
.

She found as hundreds of missiona ries h ave found

, ,

that the so called furlough for rest and recuperation

-

is very apt to be turned into one long camp aign of

wearisome j ourneys broke n rest and distractin g
, ,

public meetings until at last the day of saili ng for

,

the foreign field of labor is looked forw a rd to with

a feeling of relief a lmost a ki n to th a t whi ch is ex
p e r i e nc e d when a we a ry worker le a ves a dist a nt
mission field for the home land .

But even with this drawback the home furlough ,

w a s greatly e nj oyed and was the me a ns of a ecom

,

p l i s hi n g much good She

. Vi sited m a ny parts O f the
country organized new societies directed the a tte n
, ,

tion of many young women to the foreign field and ,

aided by her cou nsel in the settlement of various

important questions which came before the o fficers
of the Society When the time for returning to her
.

chosen work a rrived the General Executive Co m

,

m itt e e of the Society adopted a resolution express

ing appreciation of the work which she had aecom
p l i s h e d while at home a nd hopeful
, confidence in
that to which she was about to return A farewell .

meeting w a s held in New York for the eight l a dies

who composed the outgoing party a t which Miss ,

Thoburn spoke with quiet earnestness From the .

brief report of this meeti ng which was published ,

in the F ri end the following extract is t a ken !

,

Miss Thoburn wondered greatly at the question

sometimes a sked her here at home i f she did not thi nk ,
1 64 Li f e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

s he h a d done enough for Indi a Little do those who .

a sk such a question realize the spiritual degradatio n

of India or the poverty and physical distress which

,

prevail in large portions of its communities Hav .

ing once known t hese people how c a n we as Chris , ,

tians leave them to themselves ! I am asked if I do

,
‘

not dread t h e voyage How could this be possible .

when on the Master s errand Am I not homesick

’ ‘

in India I have never known what it is to be home

!

s ic k since I knew that Go d is my Father

’
.

She w a s returning to the people of L uck now for ,

many of whom she had learned to have a personal a f

fe c tio n But it was more than this that s he needed
. .

She wanted a patient all enduring love for the souls ,

-

—
of the people that divine power of love which will
,

win their h arts for Christ T h e darkness is so o p

e
.

pressive in that land the di fficulties s o numerous , ,

that it req u ires an unusual power of love a larger ,

gift of spiritual power to carry on successfully the ,

w ork of the gospel in Indi a

“
R e m e m ber this w hen .

”
y o u pra y fo r i ts .

The ou tward voy a ge was pleasant and prosper

ous but it would probably have been better if at
,

least half of the time spent at home had been de

voted to a bsolute rest As it w a s a weary worker .
,

had enj oyed the benefit of a change of climate and

occupation but had hardly found a chance to learn
,

the meaning of the word rest and the result was ,

”

th a t her second st a y in Indi a w a s destined to b e

 C H APTER X V II .

AT T H E S E C O N D D E C E N NIA L CO N
F EREN CE .

R ET UR N I N G from her furlough at t he beginning

of 1 88 2 Miss Thoburn resumed her position in L uck
,

now as principal of the Boarding sch ool for Girls -

,

with the widely extended miscellaneous duties

-

w h ich had become inseparable from h er residence

in that city She h ad become widely known through
.

out North India and her advice and sometimes her

, ,

help were O ften sought by members of ot h er mis

,

sions Her acquaintance among the increasing com

.

munity of native Christians had become widely ex

tended a nd her influence among these people more
,

than kept pace with the extension of her acquaint

a nce It thus came to pass th at unsuspected by her
.
,

self S he began to be looked to as a leader in many

,

matters connected w ith woman s work in Nort h ’

I ndia not only in strictly mission a ry lines but in

, ,

a wider sphere embracing all matters which per

,

t a ine d to religious progress in the general c o m

munity L ucknow had become somewhat noted at
.

that time as a radiating center from which an active

religious influe nce we nt out through a l a rge por
tion of North I ndi a a nd this added to her oppo r
,

1 66
 S e c o nd D e c e nni a l C o nf e re nc e . 1 67

t u ni t i e s fo r
“
doing goo d in eve ry w ay t h at was
possible .

During the seventh dec a de of the last c entury ,

India witnessed a rem a rkable developmen t of w o

man s missionary work In every part of the empire
’
.

there had been a n advent of young women who had

come out from Great Britain Germany and the ,

United States to devote their lives to the mission

ary calling but they h a d come so quietly t h at few
,

persons on the field realized how grea t the host had

become and how import ant an influence the new
,

workers must exert A great Missionary Confer .

ence known as the Decennial M issionary Confer

,

ence of Indi a h a d been announced to hold its sec

,
”

ond session in Calcutt a during the Christmas holi

days of 1 882 3 When t h e committee intrusted with
-
.
,

the duty of preparing a program for this Conference

bega n its work it did not occur to a maj ority of i t s
,

members that they would be expected to give women

a place on the platform or a ny special consideration ,

in a ny way After much careful discussion h o w

.
,

ever it was finally decided to admit a few papers

, ,

and three or four ladies were n a med a s probably will

ing to appear on the platform and read their own
papers Among these Miss Thoburn was given a
.

place and her paper is given below It may be s aid

, .
,

in passing th a t when the time arrived a dozen

, ,

ladies appeared on the platform and t h at the ,

“
women s day was really the great day of the Con
’ ”

fere nce Miss Thob u rn s p aper w a s o n the subj ect of

.
’
168 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Ev angelism as it st ands related to wom an s work ’

in the mission fiel d Her views on this subj ect nu

-
.

derwent no change during later ye a rs but on the , ,

other hand h er convictions were str en gt hened by

,

a dded observ a tion and experience .

E V A N GELIS M I N WO M A N S WO R K ’
.

Woman s work in England and America is an

’

economy a division of labor that results may be

, ,

greater and more readily attained ; but wom a n s ’

work in India is a nece s sity wi t hout which a w ide ,

fi eld may remain uncultivated Its impo rtance has .

long been felt but its magnitude we only begin to

,

realize a s we draw nearer our lines of approach .

Beginning with the ragged schools and orp h anages ,

filled with waifs left by famine and pestilence by th e

wayside we h a ve now upon our hands and hea rt s
,

zenana teaching medic a l missions boarding schools

, ,
-
,

normal schools Sunday schools high schools homes

,
-
, ,

for the homeless and every department of C h ristian

,

work found in any land Yet our greatest e nco u r .

a g e m e nt as women missionaries to dav is no t the -

progress we have made but our opportuni t y ; and ,

our greatest di fficulty is to know how to apply wise

methods ; how to conserve and increase our co m
p a ra t i v e l y small strengt h so that nothing be wasted
, ,

while every individual power and talent wi t hin our

influence is employed ; how among all that may ,

be done to undert ake that which is most far reaching

,
-

in res u lts ; a nd how to l a y bro a d a nd deep found a

1 70 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

to imp a rt Curiosity to see a nd hear the strange

.

things of the world outside their nar row w alls over

came both fe a r and prej udice and gradual l y t he ,

women expressed a desire to read for themselves ,

and zenana teaching added one subj ect to another ,

and grew in importance and interest un t il we have ,

perhaps co m e to lay too muc h stress upon it and ,

too little upon pre a c hing I use that word b ecause .

no other so clearly expresses my meaning a nd i t is ,

t he word alw ays used by our Bible women in North

Indi a They s a y w h en giving a report of t he day
.
, ,

‘
We have taug h t in so many houses and prea ched ,

in so many meaning that they have read a portion

,
’

of Scripture or sung a hymn and then explained ,

and illustrated a nd closed wit h their own testi

,

mony and a personal appeal .

“
It is obj ected that knowledge is necessary to
faith a nd that no method of impar t ing it ca n take the
,

place of regular instruction w h ich is true ; but while ,

we te a ch Bible history and precepts Church history ,

and general knowledge there will still be frequent ,

opportunities to preach and for the sake of the old

,

women who will never read of the servants who ,

stand by of the neighbors who will not open their

,

own houses but who co m e shyly in by a side door

,

to s e e and hear and of the pupils who m a y never

,

finish the books they are reading the opportunities ,

s h ould not be neglected A zenana teac h er sa y s My

.
,
‘

system was to begin to teach at t h e begi nning of

t he Bible but often a li ttle girl was m a rried before
,
 S e c o nd D e c e nni a l C o nf e re nc e . 17 1

she got through Genesis and went away without

having heard t h e gospel at all and I learned no t t o
,

put off the best part of my message to t h e last .

’

“
But evangelistic work is not confined t o the
zenanas In giving so much atte ntion there in
.
,

coun t ing pupils taught and houses V isited w e have ,

often overlooked the largest class of women in Indi a ,

t he working women They are free from restra int

.
,

but t h ey have t h e S hadow of deep poverty over them ,

and t h e necessi t y of constant hard labor is t he oh

s ta c l e in the way of their regular instruction They .

ca n not be gathered into schools they c a n spare no ,

t ime in their busy day for teachers or lessons and ,

there is no room in their minds intent on thoughts ,

of food and S helter for slowly spelled books Their

,
-
.

lives are narrow beyond the power of imagin a tion

to conceive ; but they are human and as they go ,

about their lowly tasks there have come sometimes

,

t o every one of them human sorrow and its a waken

ings and questi o nings and they have h a d thou g ht s
, ,

perhaps too vague to put into words of life a nd ,

death of sin and responsibility of destiny and God

, ,
‘
.
’

As they S it in their doorways or rest under the nim

tree t hey will listen a ttentively a nd sometimes with
, ,

eagerness to a Bible woman or missionary who has

,

the divine power to touch the responsive chord in

their hearts M a ny will forget all they hear but
.
,

some will remember enough to lead to further in

quiry and future light O ne wom an of this cl ass
.
,

who ca me a long way to be taught a nd who ha s ,

 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

since taught others told me that she was first awak

,

ened by the word salvation which caught her ear

‘

,
’

a s s he passed a preaching st a nd in the bazaar-

.

“
Those who work in t h e Villages do not forget
this class of women but in the cities we pass them
,

in the streets and walk by their low doorways to

,

reach the zenanas where we meet a more doubtful

,

welcome t h an these would give u s As we gather .

their daughters into schools let us not forget t h e ,

mothers O u t of their low dark lives away down

.
, ,

in poverty and superstition a nd sin have come true ,

womanhood on earth and bright angels in heaven .

“
A good impression can be made in a mohalla ,

or town by what if we belonged to the S a lvation

, ,

Army we might call a fiel d day All the mission

,
-
.

workers missionaries te achers a nd Bible women

, , ,
-
,

a nd a ny other Chris t ians who can j oi n meet in t h e ,

schoolhouse as a center or if there is no school

, , ,

in a ny house where they a re a llowed to pray to

gether a nd goin g out in a body or in a procession
, , ,

separate and go two and two into the lanes and

a lleys speaking to all the women they meet sing
, ,

ing and talking t o groups that will gather to hear .

Soon the news is carried into the houses and inv i ,

t a t io ns to enter come from one after another until ,

a whole neighborhood is visited Such a day im .

presses the people a nd is i nspiring to solit a ry

workers .

“
To know how impartial and inadequate has
been Go vernment provision for fem ale educ a tion ,
1 74 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Christians are as anxious as any class of people in

the world to have their d a ugh t ers well educated .

They a re willing to deny themselves many comforts

to send them to the best schools a nd cheerfully pay ,

for t heir support t h ere and Sh ow in every way that

,

they are thoroughly emancipated from the old tra

d it io ns about their weakness and worthlessness Bu t .

they have still lessons to learn about the evils of

child m a rriage Some of the most promisi ng girls
-
.

in the bo a rding schools a t L ucknow h ave been

-

dwarfed in ment a l development and thwarted for

life by being taken out of school at fourteen and
married j ust at the time when they were becoming
,

responsive to the ambitions and purposes their teach

ers tried to import Fourteen is better than seven
.
,

and we are thankful for progress to this stage but ,

until we go further yet general adv anced edu ,

cation is imp o ssible Not in Indi a nor in any other

.
,

country does a girl s mind mature at fourteen or

,
’
,

even sixteen except in persons of r a re talent or

,

genius for whom rules a re not made Every girl

, .

who takes a degree or even enters a university

, ,

raises t he standard and proves the possibility of fe

male education to all the unbelieving O pponents of
India ; and missionaries and na t ive Christians and ,

indeed all Christians sh ould unite to multiply the

,

number .

“
It has been s a id that no one h a s done for the
girls of Indi a what Dr Du ff did for t he young men
. .

The ci rc u mst anc es a re so w i del v di ffere nt that such

 S e c o nd D e c e nni a l C o nf e re nc e . 1 75

a thing has bee n and still is impossible There

, ,
.

were incitements to ambition among the young m e n

from time immemorial L e a rning for them was hon
.

o ra b l e and remunerative At present no lucrative .

position is open without it and by means of it high ,

places are attained But a n educated girl wins as

.

much blame as praise is often misunderstood by her

,

own friends and is not sure of even a money recom

,

pense If S he is a Chri stian she is freed from the

.
,

O l d chains of seclusion and ignorance ; but the

shadow of the past is still over her and its cold ,

benumbs her aspirations a nd I have sometimes , ,

thought her he a rt a nd br a in She must h ave time

, .
,

and her teachers must have time to develop her ,

capacity and mental character Here and there like .

,

early spring flowers we se e the promise of full

,

bloom and fruitage but we c a n not expect the

,

harvest while the winter is scarcely overp a st .

“
But mental developmen t is not the only work
of our girls boarding schools There more th a n
’
-
.
,

any o t her place we are shaping the home life the

, ,

social li fe and through these the whole character

,

of Christian India The stamp we put upon our

.

girls they will impress upon their households a nd ,

from these the influence will go out into communi

ties and down through gener ations The work has .

too many phases to permit of mention of each a nd ,

I pass on to one of greatest import a nce now the ,

mission a ry zeal with which we S hould inspire o u r

pupils a nd the lessons we sho u ld give them in pr ae
,
 1 76 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

tical Christian work We go through the streets to

.

the zenanas and refuse almost daily invitations to

,

enter new houses because our numbers are iusuf

,

fic ie nt . We are obliged still to employ Hindu and

Mohammedan teachers in schools because there are ,

not Christians willing and able to take t h eir places .

We should train t he girls in our boarding schools -

for this work and when t h ey go to their homes in

,

villages towns or cities it S hould be to engage in

, , ,

some direct daily e ffort to teach ot h er less favored -

girls what they have learned We know by sad ex .

p e r i e nc e the di fficul t ies in t h e way of young women

working in zenanas or in schools at a distance from
,

the sheltering mission house but our training s h ould

-
,

be with a view t o overcome these di ffi cul t ies b v

adapting t h e girls to the situation ; in t roducing t h em
gradually and in our company to the work they
, ,

have to do ; establis h ing their Christian c h aracter ;

teaching them self reliance and l aying upon their
-
,

consciences the same sense of duty to the perishing

that brought us to India .

Even if they dare not for some years work out

side their home circles they c a n treasure the lessons
-
,

they receive until having brought up c h ildren and

,
‘

,
’

‘
entertai ned strangers and washed the saints feet ,
’ ‘ ’
,
’

they have earned the right to go where they will .

We fi nd that girls from lower grade schools O ften -

take up mission work because they a re poor and

-
,

often need the money pai d them by the Societies .

There is a ca ste of position a nd i ncome creeping into

1 78 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

days who c a n not read a chapter from the Word

,

of life to their servants though they c a n talk fl u ,

ently on any subj ect that a ff ects t h eir personal in

t e r e st s A young lady of eighteen told me that
.

when after her own conversion she wanted to talk

, ,

to her a y a h she w a s brought to a standstill because

,

she did not know the words for soul or salvation .

She never had to hesitate in talking about food or

dress or any pleasure or necessity of this life but
, ,

s he was dumb when her he a rt learned the language

of t he life eternal and longed to sing the new song

,

to her heathen nurse I have heard the English .

speaking people of India charged with a ff ectation

when being called upon for any Christian work
, ,

they have excused t h emselves by saying they did

no t know the language It is not a ff ectation ; i t is a
.

painful fact that English schools i n India teach

girls everything but what they most require the — ,

language that fills their ears It is said they should .

know French because they may go to England some

,

t ime ; but the fact that they are in I nd ia now makes

the study of it s languages most essential In the .

diocesan schools and in the conven t s t h ere is gen

e ra l l y a munshi or a pundit provided for a v e rna c u l a r

class but only for those w h o choose to enter and

, ,

very few choose The private schools make no pro

.

vision The normal schools are thorough in this

.

respect but they a re too few in number t o mee t

,

this w a nt .

O u r need is m is s io na ry Eng l is h s chool s where

“
,
 S e c o nd D e c e nni a l C o nf e re nc e . 17 9
every girl will learn to re a d and talk correctly in
some Indian tongue and where in a ddition to pra e
, ,

tical and a dvanced educa tion the pervading spirit ,

manifested in a ll arrangements a nd instructions shal l

be outreaching Christian love and helpfulness To .

this degree all our Christian schools of all gr a des

should be norm a l schools whose pupils should be
-
,

pledged not to serve in a mission a few years in

,

fulfillment of their agreement but to serve Go d ,

their lives long by winning t h eir Indian sisters to

Christ Girls so educated will live to some purpose
. .

They will teach their servants and what they may ,

a ccomplish by this comparatively easy work would

surprise those who have never tried it I have .

known the e ffort of one woman in this w a y to result

in the baptism of eight earnest true hearted and ,
-
,

intelligent Chri stians They will gather their neigh

.

bors children in their o w n verandas they will Visit

’

those who do not come to them they will live as our ,

mothers lived in Europe and America when th ey

t a ught the missionary spirit to us It is part of .

our duty to day to bring this work with all its

-
,

far reaching results before the Christi a n women of

-
,

all classes It m ay not be an easy task to keep a live

.

and active the mission circles a nd societies at home ,

but it is done by voluntary e ffort It is not an .

easy t a sk to carry messages to those who do not

wish to hear to enligh t en those who do not want
,

to learn to suggest h a rd work to those who love

,

their a cc u stomed e a se To do it we m u st d a re so me
.
1 80 T he Fi rs t F u rl o u gh .

thing a nd renou nce something To work for and

.

with all cl a sses of people we m u st be one with all

, ,

and belong to no cl a ss ourselves which will some

,

times mean that we must become low caste What-

.

ever it m a y cost the result will pay for the e ffort a

,

thousand fold A thousand fold every ye a r we

-
.
-

should incre a se the company of those who publish

the glad tidings of a ri sen a nd livi ng S avior I n this
l and of sorrow a nd de a th ”
.
 C H APTER XV III .

HI G H S CH O O L AN D C O LL E G E .

W H EN Miss T h oburn resumed her position a s

principal of the boarding school at the beginning of
-

1 8 8 2 s he found a large a t tendance and a wide a nd

,

steadily expanding sphere of usefulness in L ucknow

-

and other places in North India M a ny of the .

former pupils had gone to distant homes but still ,

retained a warm a ffection for the institution in whi c h

they had been educated ; and in this w a y a n exte n
sive correspondence gre w up which a dded much to ,

her labors al t hough the influence thus gained w a s

,

valuable in many ways The attendance incre a sed

.

until the boarders numbered about one hundred The .

grade of scholarship also rose steadily until a few ,

years later the following remarkable testimony w a s

'

recorded in the Annu al Ed u c atio nal Report of the

Go vernment
“
The La l Bagh school takes the highest place
among the native girls schools of Upper I ndi a O ne
’
.

candidate was se nt u p for m atriculation in the C al

cu t t a University a nd passed
,
Two ot h ers were sent
.

up for first arts and passed If the school contin u es

, .

to p a ss such c andid ate s it will h ave to be cl a ssed

,

as a colle g e .
1 82 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

The closing i ntim ation of this paragraph seemed

to point to a very distant and improbable contin
geney at the time but its realization was nearer a t
,

hand than even the friends of the school were pre

pared to believe .

While a college for women had perhaps been , ,

t hough t of as a remote poss i b i li t y no one was dream ,

ing of immediate action and but for a case of actual

,

necessity the attempt to make even an informal b e

,

ginning would probably have been deferred for many

years To explain th is case fully it will be necessary
.
,

to give a brief account of a Bra h man lady of marked

character who became a Christian when thirty fiv e -

years of age She was a nat i ve of t h e sacred ci t y

.

of Benares and her family belonged to w h a t mig h t

,

be called the s t raightest sect of orthodox Hindus

“ ”
.

From child h ood she had been thoughtful and h e r ,

father had evidently allowed her a much larger meas

ure of religious freedom than is common in Indi a ,

or in the civilized world generally .

When the zenana missionaries began their work

in Benares this Brahman lady who had become a
, ,

widow some years before and who with her d a u g h, ,

ter an only child was living with her father met

, , ,

with them and began to read the Bible but failed ,

to comprehend its teachings But a s time passed .

she became more e a rnest a nd dimly felt her way to

,

w a rd the light She says My soul began to year n

.
“
,
”
fo r the tru e God but I cou ld not find him
, She .
1 84 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

which qualifies pupils to enter college This course .

i s prescribed by Government a uthority a nd no s chool ,

ca n plaster the word college above its doorway

“ ”

unless it c a n produce a freshman cl a ss which has

passed the ordeal of the entrance examination “ ”
.

Then the college h a s limited powers a nd c a n con ,

fer no degrees honorary or otherwis e It is a teach

, .

ing institution pure a nd simple a nd ca n not even

, ,

examine its o w n students The university on the .

,

other hand is a n examining body It does no te ach

, .

ing and very rarely indeed almost never confers

, , ,

a degree which has not been earned by honest study .

All college students are sent up to the university for

examination and all examinations are conducted in
,

wri t ing with the most careful prec a utions against

,

a ny kind of partiality or dishonesty .

This system has many advantages and is worthy ,

of general adoption In the United States it would

.

put an end to self constituted colleges which do

-
“
,
”

not deserve the name of even high schools and at ,

the same time it would lead to the abolition of the

childish custom of conferring high sounding literary -

titles upon persons who have no s h adow of honest

claim to any titl e above that of graduates of ordinary
high schools Still another benefit would result in
.

the disappeara nce of a host of miscalled univer “

sities institutions many of which are travesties

,
”

upon the name which they flaunt before the public .

All this no do u bt seems a light m atter to mos t

, ,
 H i gh S c h o o l a nd C o ll e g e . 1 85

persons ; but the general e ff ect of these loose prae

tices is to put a false ideal before the youth of the
land a nd to lower the st andard of general edu
,

cation .

The re a ders O i the above st atement will now be

able to se e what is really meant when it is stated
that the little school which opened its doors to girls
in 1 8 70 and which was planted among people who
,

believed fem a le education to be alike impossible a nd

undesirable had re a c h ed the grade of high school
,

by the middle of its second decade and a year or two ,

later w a s confronted by a necessity for a college o r

g a n i z a t i o n and c ha rter In view
. of t h e many d i ffi
c u l t ie s which had been encountered and the scanty ,

resources which had been available this mark of ,

progress was truly rem a rkable while the calm cour

,
.

age of those in charge of the school as they met ,

the demand for a still further advance shows both ,

a strong fait h in Go d and a clearness of vision

which must h ave given assurance of ultimate success .

After M rs Chu ck e rb u tty had passed the e u

.

trance examination the daug h ter wished to go on

,

with her studies and this precipitated t h e question

,

of a Christian college for women some years before ,

those in charge of the L ucknow school were pre

pared for it In January 1 886 M iss T hob u rn wrote
.
, ,

from Calcutta to the F rie nd the following statement

of the case under the heading A Woman s Col
, ,
“ ’

le g e for Indi a . This was the fi rst present at ion

1 86 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

of the case to the American public and it led to ea rl v ,

and decisive action

“
T h e best way to introduce my subj ec t to the
readers of the F ri end is to tell them how it was ih
t ro d u c e d to my own mind .

O ne O f our L ucknow schoolgirls who has c o m

“
,

p l e t e d the course of s t udy t h ere h as decided t o study ,

medicine and wishes first to pass the first arts ex

,

amina t ion without which she ca n not get a degree

,
.

S h e may take a medical course of five years and re

ce iv e a certificate but t h e degree of doctor of medi
,

cine is only given to those who h a ve had a prepara

tory college course I f my pupil studies medicine
.
,

s he has t h e wise ambi t ion to O b t ain t h e privileges and

advantages that will come with a degree ; and so .

when I was leaving Lucknow for t h is visit to Cal

c u tta ,I promised h er and her mother that I would
arrange for her to continue her studies here I went .

t his morning to the only Christian school where

girls have taken a college course and found that ,

she could not be admitted T h e energetic Scotc h .

missionary in C harge said I c a n get no sympa th y at

,
‘

home for high er education and c a n not maintain ,

a college department without the h elp of the So

ciety There is only one ot h er place and that is
.
’
,

non Christian with a strong Brahmo influence O ne

-
, .

of our Cawnpore graduates went t h ere and w h en s h e , ,

left h er Christian fai th w a s so unsettled that s he was

,

duly saved from Brahmo errors by the faithful and

timely w atch c a re of a n elder S ister The mother
-
.
1 88 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

hundred rupees a nd I send my plea to you with

,

strong hope that you will appreci ate at its true value
this new proj ect and send over money to help us
, .
”

The above article was written by Miss Thoburn

in Calcutta in January 1 88 6 a few days before
, , ,

sailing for America on her second furlough In .

July 1 888 s he again wrote from Chicago an article

, , , ,

from which the following extract is taken

O ver two years ago the F r ie nd publis h ed a call
“

for a woman s college for India Perhaps few who

’
.

paused to read of such an ambitious sc h eme have

thought of the subj ect since ; but suc h a college w a s
begun insignificant in numbers and every kind of
,

strength but a fact nevertheless L ast week s mail

, .
’

brought the news that the first three students sent

up for university examination had passed so cred
it a bl y that they have received government scholar
ships to enable them to continue their studies .

“
But it is not because of great things done that
the subj ect is introduced no w but of great things to
,

do if this work is to develop The question is .

whether we shall lead in higher education for w o

men in India or whether we shall follow the lead of
,

those who will give the education without making it

Christian ; whether we shall go on in a natural
growth from our high schools to a higher grade in
this college or having made so much progress
, , ,

let others take the work out of our hands and put
on the headstone where we h ave laid the foundation .

This will be done u nless we a ct now O ur Soc iety .

 H i gh S c h o o l an d C o ll e g e . 1 89

has m a de a n a nnual appropriation for teachers and

‘

has done all that the work demanded so far ; but we

must have enlargement in the tangible shape of brick
and mortar and in a teaching force that can t a ke
,

successive classes through the entire course of

study .
”

During her e nforced stay in the home land Miss

Thoburn was unremitting in her e fforts to keep the
college enterprise before the public and a mong ,

other expedients a number of leaflets explaining and ,

advocating the cause were published for general

,

distribution From these the following brief ex

.

tracts will be read with interest !

I f India is to be s a ved its wome n must be
“
,

emancip ated from their thralldom of ignorance and

superstition and the hope of this emancipation for
,

all the key to it i s in the hands of th ose who are

already free—the C h ristians Hence their training
, ,

and education is a most important work .

It is important because they are our agents in

,

carrying forward all missionary enterprises As we .

are sent by the home societies so we for these , ,

societies send them again as fellow laborers in

, ,
-

every department Without their aid both our so w

.
,

ing and reaping would be meager indeed If they .

are to be successful in teaching or preaching the

gospel of Christ they must be examples of its graces
,
.

They must have education to enable them to explain

the Bible intelligently a nd wisdom enough to be
,

helpful counselors .
1 9
0 Li fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Those not thus employed should know how to

m a ke homes where pure and constant light shines
out into the homeless darkness .

Then the time has co m e even in India when

“
, , ,

beyond the home walls and the bounds of mission

service a woman s hand is needed To grind or
,
’
.

S pin or to s it in j ewel bedecked idleness has been

,
-
,

suffi cient for woman s ability and duty for long ages ;
’

but now she is a sked to come up a nd out into a busy

world s work The government takes steps a s fast
’
.
,

a s may be to establish girls schools Not many as ’

.
,

yet for with the best e ff orts of bot h government a nd

, ,

missionaries only two women and girls in five hun

,

dred are learning to read What are the needs .

what are not the needs— o f a land where such a ratio

as that indic a tes its progress ! F ew thoug h they be ,

they must be taught and others must be won and , , ,

a s a rule this work must be done by women

, They .

a re needed not only as teachers but as inspectors , ,

examiners and superi ntendents of schools a nd school

,

systems .

We h a ve taught them that though women they

“
, ,

have minds t h at are capable of receiving education

and that require it Shall we now teac h them t h at
.

they require less a nd are less capable t h an their

,

brothers ! For them missionary societies provide

schools of all grades and not only for these Chris ,

tian brothers but for those who are still idolaters

, .

I n all E a stern countries missionary societies s u p ,

pleme nt the work of the governme nts by est ablish

1 9
2 Life of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

help a nd their Christi a n sisters in Christi an l a nds

,

will surely not withhold it .

In America we realize the importan c e of plac

ing people in colleges which are under direct Chris
tian in fluence Much more is it impor tan t in a
.

heathen land where new thought awakened under

, ,

sec u lar inst ruction runs tow a rd infidelity ; w h ere the

,

doubts a nd speculations of all the ages a re aliv e a nd

a t war w ith faith ; where bli nd belief in the false
makes the truth a stumbling block and where w o -

men who are being set free from the restraints of

,

o l d cus toms must be surrounded by restr a in t s of

,

principle or t h eir cause i s lost and with it the hOpe

, ,

of regeneration for t h eir people .

“
The need of India to day is leaders hip from -

a mong her own people leaders h ip not of impulsive ,

enthusiasm or of prej udice but of matured j udg

, ,

m e nt and conscien t ious conviction Part of our .

work a s missionaries is to educate and train t h e c ha r

acter that ca n lead and it is to accomplish this that
,

we formed our first woman s college in the Eastern ’

world .

“
There are over one hundred colleges in India
for young men but only one for young women and
, ,

that not Christian Think what e fforts we would

.

make i f t here were only one college for women in

America and in some me a sure let us recognize
, , ,

the universal sisterhood a nd m a ke like e ffor t s for

,

the women of I ndi a ”

.
 H i gh S c h o o l an d C o ll e g e . 1 9
3

propos a l to establish a college for women

The ,

as a n outgrowth of the high school was now fa irly ,

before the public L ocal sanction to a ppeal to the

.

public had been secured by the action of the Finance

Committee of the North India Conference and the ,

support of the Woman s Mission a ry Society h a d

’

been for some time a ssured A smal l class was .

”
organized early in 1 88 7 in the First Arts course “
,

or in American phrase up to the beginning of the

, ,
“
Junior year Interruptions occurred but the main
”
.
,

purpose remained unchanged and finally in 1 89 5 , , ,

the institution w a s recognized as a college a nd a ,

college c h arter granted by the Governmen t .

At first it was thought best to secure a n endow

ment for the ne w college but this propos a l did not
,

meet with much favor in the United States a nd the ,

appeal for an endowment was made seco n dary to

an immediate strengthening of the teaching sta ff of
the institution and the erection O f a building suc h
,

a s the college imperatively needed Miss T ho bu rn s ’

.

ideal of the kind of building needed was extremely

modest at the outset and it w a s not until s he was
,

fully committed to the enterprise that she discovered

how di ffi cult a task was upon her hands In the .

meantime a serious failure of health obliged her to

leave India earl y in 1 886 a nd she w a s not a b l e to
,

return again for five long ye a rs During her a h .

sence t h e first college class was taught for a time

by M iss M ansell a nd the L al B ag h Mission Home
,
1 9
4 Li fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

was under the able superintendency of Miss DeV ine .

This furlough was destined to be more t han a

temporary change of residence to America It w a s .

really the opening up of a new field of l abor a nd of

a new era in the life work of one who could no t
long reside in any place without finding ab u ndant
calls to active usefulness in her M aster s service ’
.

But this story must be reserved for another ch apter .

1 9
6 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the tourist enters the mou ntai ns The roads a re .

mere bridle paths often c u t along the a lmost p rec ip i

-
,

tous mountain sides and the daily m a rch of from

,

twelve to eigh teen miles t h oug h extremely interest ,

ing is usually found very fatiguing to tourists a c

,

customed to life on the hot plains of Nort h India .

The following brief extract is taken from a

sketch of this j ourney under the heading From , ,
“

the Bright Side a nd dated O n the w a y to Pith

,
”
,
“

o ra g a rh May 1 5
, 1 8 84 ,

A friend wrote me lately of a ple a s ant social

custom she had discovered a mong Hindus and ,

a dded It is not all dark in India ; there are bright

,
‘

spots here and t here It has no t yet gone out of

.
’

fashion to talk of t h e t rials and hardships of mis

s i o na ry l i fe an d at some meetings I h ave attende d
,

they were represented as very many and very great ,

and they may be so represented again when t h ere

is no one to S how the other side of the picture ; a nd
for you my friend who think of o ffering yourself
, ,

for India and look forward to a life of exile and

,
‘

loneliness and dreary di ffi culties I write of a few ,

bright spots that may comfort you in an t icipation .

“
T h e first and among t he best is th at t h e people
, ,

you live and work wi t h are s o good to you Here .

I a m up among the mountains enjoying cool breezes

and tempered suns h ine while the plains below are ,

swept by hot winds and heated like an oven and ,

all because the ki nd friends at L al Bagh and in

Lu cknow from the presidi ng elder to the school
,
 A m o ng t he M o u nt a i ns . 1 9
7

gi rls said I must co m e ; and when I thought it im

,

possible t he girls declared their purpose to be good

,

during my absence and the teachers took my work

,

out of my hands bit by bit until ashamed to stay , ,

t h ere and do nothing I was obliged to yield to the

,

combined entreaties and commands and come away ,

on this delightful j ourney Fourteen of these friends

.

were at the station to see me o ff at nine o clock at ’

night , and yet they sa y we poor missionaries have

no friends !
“
The next cause of thankfulness was that I could ,

—
t ake a seat in a zenana carriage a seat long enough
t o be used as a bed though it must be confessed not
,

q u i t e wide enough — a nd travel two hundred and

fifty miles for three rupees not much more than ,

a dollar I had a plan for widening a nd softe ning

.

the wooden seat having my bedding with me a c

,

cording t o the convenient custom of the country a nd ,

I slept quite as well as I ever did in a Pullm an c a r .

“
I was waked in the night by the opening of the
next door to mine—the doors of the cars here O pe n

a t the sides and there is one for every pair of

,

—
seats and hearing a man s voice giving dire ctions ’

about the things he w a s arr a nging I have put t he .

‘

drinking water here in the corner where it will not

-

upset and the pa n box beside you on the se a t I

, .

will open this bedding for yo u to S it on but you ,

must tie it up again before you come into the

Ch a ndausi station etc Then the door w a s shut
,
’
.
,

and I he a rd the so und of kisses a nd the word ,

1 9
8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

d u l a ri! darling ) repeated over and over I looked .

up at that and saw him not kissing his wife but his
, ,

baby g irl who m the wife held up to the window

, ,

with as genuine love in tone and gesture as your

father ever showed when he kissed you And he was .

not a Christian nor a progressive Hindu but a

,
‘
,
’

devout Br a hman with t he caste marks painted on his

,

forehead His dark faith will compel him to sacri

.

fic e t h is girl to child marriage and perhaps c h ild

-
,

widowhood ; but is it not good to know that the

n atural a ff ection h a s not all gone out of his h eart ,

an d th at it will comfort her in th e troubles that are

to be ! I S it not encouraging to be told t h at the
‘
blossom of Eden family love has not been crushed
,
’

out of the Indian garden and that when it is pruned ,

of its supersti t ion and watered by Chris t ian teach

,

ing it blooms with rare fragrance and beauty

,
!

O n I came up the hills and here I have tr a veled

“
,

for a week through ferny mossy oak woods or ,

-
,

under fragrant pines across valleys where the road

,

was bordered wit h sweet wild roses beside stream ,

s

that gurgled and tinkled and rus h ed among their

rocks the first running water I have seen for th ree
,

years O n t h e way I often met the hill women in

.

their picturesque dress always smilingly glad to ,

return my salaam At one place a group of them had

.

branches thick wi t h purple berries in their hands ,

which they ate as they rested beside a spring and ,

a s I came up they picked o ff the ripest and pressed ,

forw a rd to O ffer me their fruit Again a boy who .

,
 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Miss T ho bu rn s visits to the mountains were not

’

by any means made wholly for rest or rec reation .

In most cases s he managed to combine pleasure wit h

utility by assisting some branch of mission work
,

which chanced to be within her reach In some .

instances however her Visits were w h olly in t h e line

, ,

of service and on one or two occasions she w a s

,

permitted to bear an important part of t h e h eavy

burdens which her fellow workers h ad been obl i ged
-

to assume O ne such a visit was pa i d to Naini Tal

.

in D ecember 1 89 1
,
She h ad j ust arrived from her
.

first furlough in America and was accompanied b y

,

Miss Knowles w h o h ad been sent out b y the VVO

,

man s Foreign Missionary Society to take c h arge of

'

a school for European girls at the well known -

mountain s t ation of Naini Tal During the previous .

ye a r some friends of our work had strongl y advised

t he Society to establish such a school in t hat station ,

and h ad intimated t heir willingness to give liberal

assistance to t h e enterprise Unfortuna t ely a delay.

had occurred from various causes chief of which ,

w a s the fact t h at t h e globe interposed itself b e t ween

the contracting parties and a full year h ad e lapsed
,

before Miss Knowles could reach h er field As s he .

was new to the work and to India itself Miss T ho

, ,

burn o ffered to accompany her to Naini I a l and ’

give her such ass i s t ance as she could in making

arrangements for opening the school .

In due time the t wo l a dies reac h ed wha t is

called the foot of the hills about twelve m iles from
,
 A m o ng t he M o u nt a i ns . 20 1

Naini T a! and having procured the usu al co nvey

, ,

ance started up the hill in good spiri t s hoping to

, ,

fi nd everything ready for a vigoro u s beginning .

When about half way up they met a gentlem an on

whom they were chiefly depending for assistance ,

and were somewhat amazed to be told in a few

words that it would be impossible for them to su e
c e e d in their enterprise If you had come a year “
.

ago he said something might have been done ;

,
”
,
“

but it is too late now We were ready to help you

. ,

a nd the way was well prepared but circumstances ,

”
have changed and we can do nothing now After .

a few more remarks of a general kind the gentleman ,

proceeded on his way probably feeling regret that

,

the two ladies should be s o sorely disappointed but ,

without a thought t h at they would persevere in their

purpose They were no doubt d is a p po int e d e nou g h
'

.
,

but the thought of giving up did not for a second

cross their minds They proceeded on their way
.
,

reached the beautiful little lake around whic h the

houses of the Europe a n residents a re grouped and , ,

having found a resting place proceeded at once with

-
,

their task .

The situation before these two ladies w a s indeed

difficult enough They had nothing w h atever to
.

depend on excepting the commission given them by

,

t h e M issionary Society and their own conviction,

that the work in hand was one w h ich oug h t to be

t aken up with vigor and carried to completion .

M iss Knowles h a d a salary of $6 5 0 a ssure d her but ,

20 2 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

beyond this they h a d no other ca pit al They wen t .

to work sought advice from the few residents who

,

were in the place visited agents examined buildings

, , ,

a nd finally took the responsibility of ren t ing a house

for the occupancy of the sc h ool Ten years later .

Miss Thoburn in a published letter gave t h e follow

, ,

ing remarkable a ccou nt of the success of the enter

prise
“
A house was rented and Miss Knowles sal a ry ’

from America pledged to pay for it An advertise .

ment was writ t en and that was t h e beginning

,
.

Happily Naini Ta l houses are rented with furniture

included a nd no immediate outlay was required in
,

that line There were many struggles and dis

.

c o u ra g e m e nt s the first few years but the enterprise ,

made steady headw a y until it needed to h ave prop

e rt y of its own Then the ever helpful Woman s ’
-
.

Foreign Missionary Society made an a ppropriation

of to w h ich w a s a dded the next ye a r ,

a nd the school assumed the payment of the balance .

The property cost and buildings have been

erected at a cos t of about more T h is has .

all been paid except and t h e end of the

current year will s ee t h at reduced several thousand
dollars Three years more will pay all the debts b e
.
,

sides constant repairs and improvements required

in drains walls and out o ffic e s And t he school not
, ,
-
.

only builds its own houses but pays t h e salaries of ,

i t s teachers and the tr a veling expenses of three of

,

them to E ngl a n d .
20 4 L if e Of Is a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

a sked by L ady Du ff eri n wife of the Viceroy to give

, ,

her lessons in Hindustani and felt it no less a pleas

,

ure than a duty to render this service to one who

w a s doing so much for the women of India and who ,

seemed s o anxious to underst a nd them and their

wants Unfortunately L ord Du ff erin had come to
.
,

India at a time of bitter political agitation and this ,

simple act of Lady D u ff erin was eagerly taken up

by hostile critics as an evidence of an intent i on to
interfere with the religion of t h e people No atten .

t ion w a s paid to the clamor raised by a few Calcutta

papers and very soon the ma t ter passed from public
,

notice L ady Du ff e rin s name became associated

.
’

during t h at year with the well known Du ff erin -

“

Movement the O bj ect of which was to give medi

,
”

cal relief to the women of India and should be ,

held in honor on this a ccount if for nothing else , ,

for cen t uries to come .

While thus trying to get wh a t benefit she could

from her stay in the cool climate of Simla M iss ,

Thoburn received the urgent appeal referred to in

a previous chapter from a young woman connected
wit h t h e Mission at a station on t h e h eated plains ,

to go to her relief at an investigation which w a s soon

to take place and in w h ich this young woman
,

pleaded that s he had much at stake ; and against a d

vice she determined to respond to the call This .

c all was thoughtless i f not insincere but the one

, ,

who su ff ered from it never seemed to regret th a t

she h a d at le a st tried to help o ne who seemed to
 A m o ng t he M o u nt a i n s . 20 5

be in trouble It soon be ca me evident th a t she must

.

seek the shelter of the mountains a gain a nd she ,

accordingly accepted a kind invitation from Dr a nd .

M rs Waugh to spend some time with them in their

.

home a t Dwara H at in t h e heart of the mountains

, ,

some four days j ourney from the plains Here she

’
.

found a congenial resting place and for a few weeks-

,

s he greatly enj oyed the daily rambles which s he was

a ble to take among the mount a ins But it soon b e .

came apparent that she had delayed too long in

seeking a change Serious symptoms O f congestion
.

of the brain appeared and her friends became ,

alarmed for her safety The only doctor within .

re a ch w a s a young n a tive who had once been in

America a nd who had t aken a slight course in
,

medicine a fter his return to India H e was a man of .

ready resource a nd went o ff to a pond w hich he

,

knew of a mong t h e mountains where he collected ,

some leeches which he applied under the eyebrows

,

and on the temples in such a way as to bring relief

from the distressing pain from which she w a s
su ff ering .

An English surgeo n w a s st a tio ned at Almor a ,

a bout twenty fiv e miles distant and Dr Waugh

-
, .

a rranged to remove the su fferer to th at place O n the .

mountains there a re no roads except narrow bridle

paths and the patient had to be carried all the w a y .

A c ot was prepared with a covering of two black

bl a nkets to keep out both the heat a nd light of the
su n a nd a n e a rly st a rt w a s m a de s o a s to c omplete
,
20 6 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn
the j ourney in a si ngle d ay The penetr ati ng power .

of sunlight w a s strikingly illustrated in this case .

The blankets were spread over a framework about

four feet high F o r some distance the road was
.

protected from the s u n but when it emerged into an

,

open sp a ce the su ff erer who was in total darkness

, ,

felt the e ff ect of the outer sunlight in a moment .

Strangely enough it is said that it i s the invisible

,

rays of light which make the Indian su n so danger

ous to foreigners .

A striking illustration of the extraordinary power

of sunlight apart from heat occurred a year later
, , ,

when Miss T hob u rn was in America Early in the .

forenoon s he entered an ordinary railway c a r in

O hio and took a seat
, A friend sit t ing behind her
.

no t iced that a pencil of blue lig h t from a small

v entilating window above fell upon her hat In a .

fe w minutes she began to move uneasily in h er seat ,

and soon after s he turned round and said T h e s u n ,

“

is getting at me from some window a nd I mus t ,

ei th er move or find out where it comes from and

,

have the window closed T h is pencil of blue light

.

w a s so small tha t it did not cover more t h an a square

inch or S O of surface on her h at and yet such was , ,

he r extraordinary sensitiveness to sunlight t hat s he

felt it immediately She recovered from her acute
.

attack of illness in India but never again w a s able ,

to expose her head to the rays of the s u n whe t her ,

direct or indirect with impu nity

, .

After re achi ng Almora Miss Thoburn slowly ,

 CHAPTER XX .

THE SECO N D F UR L O U G H .

IT w a s with very great reluctance that Miss

Thoburn consented to accept t h e o ffer of a second
furlough to America She had been only fi ve years .

in t h e country and during this period she had not

,

been able to remain continuously at her post of

duty Some important plans had not been carried
.

to completion and as always appears to be the

, ,

case in India special reasons for remaining at her

,

post seemed to present themselves j ust at the time

when stern necessity called her away But the call .

was imperative It w a s simply and clearly a case

.

of life or deat h To remain in India would be

.

to accomplish little and risk everyt h ing To accept .

a furlough would probably give a longer lease of

life and in the meantime open a door of usefulness
,

in the home land where th e services of returned lady

missionaries were at t h at time very much needed
, ,
.

Woman s work in the foreign field was compara

’

t iv e l y new and w a s rapidly extending and as might

, , ,

have been expected was not fully unders t ood by the

,

maj ority of its supporters Having been the firs t .

appointee of the Society and having gained a wide ,

personal acquaintance during her former furlough ,

there seemed good re a son to expect that she would

 The S e c o nd F u rl o u gh . 20 9
find abund ant employment a mong the supporters of
the work so far as her impaired health would permit
,

her to accept the calls which would inevitably be

made upon her L ittle i ndeed did she or the most
.

sanguine of her friends anticipate that she was to

be detained in America for fiv e long years a nd that ,

during these years she was not only to do full duty

as a returned missionary but was also incid e nta l l y
, , ,

to hea r an important part in introducing the great

deaconess and hospital work into the Church a serv ,

ic e o i only a few years as to time but worthy of a ,

whole lifetime a s to its immediate to say nothing ,

of it s ultimate results , .

Miss T ho b u rn sailed from Calcutt a for L ondon ,

March 4 1 886 in company with her brother and his

, ,

wife the brother being also an invalid T h e steamer

, .

touched at the ports of M adras in India Colombo ,

in Ceylon Aden on the Arabian coast Port Said

, ,

o n the Suez Canal and Malta in the M editerranean

, .

The passage was very enj oyable until the vessel

emerged from the M editerranean ; but in the Bay of
Biscay a severe storm was encountered and wi th ,

most of the passengers the missionary party were

glad to disembark a t Plymouth and go up to London
by rail Here they remained several weeks enj oy
.
,

ing a quiet rest after a fashion but at the same

, ,

time embracing such opportunities a s could be

found for studying the many ph a ses of Christi a n
work which a re prese nted in the world s gre at ’

metropol is .

14
2 10 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

It s o happened that a family formerly endeared ,

by terms of intimate friendship in L ucknow w a s at ,

the time residing in Brighton and the party a c ,

c e p t e d a kind invitation to go down to that place

and spend a few days with these kind friends .

While there they were providentially brought into

,

contact with a settlement of deaconesses from the

well known deaconess headquarters at Mildmay
-
,

L ondon a nd at a prolonged in t erview with t h e lady

,

in charge of the work the question of opening a

,

somewhat similar work in Calcutt a w a s freely dis

cussed It had already been determined to establish
.

a special wom a n s mission in that city and a t

’
,

Brighton the further thought was suggested th a t

this might be conducted on a deaconess basis At .

that time no thought was entertained of anything

beyond a special missionary enterprise in Calcutta ,

but o n her return to London Miss T hob u rn co n

t inu e d her inquiries with the result that the party
,

became interested in the general subj ect and after ,

re a ching the United States the brother presented

the subj ect in an address during the session of t h e
Central O hio Conference at Bellefontaine O hio in , ,

September 1 886 This was probably the first a d

, .

dress ever delivered o u the subj ect of deaconess

work in the Methodist Episcopal Church M e an .

while God w a s turning the atte ntion of others to the

s a me s u bj ect a nd a wide and e ffectu al door w a s
,

soon to be opened for this form of Christi an l a bor .

'

Aft er a ple a s ant st a y in L ond on the p a rty p ro

,
212 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

midst of living men a nd women on shore I nspired .

by the beautiful scene around her a nd a t the s ame ,

time by her vision of the darkened world beyond

her horizon s he wrote for the F rie nd one of the mos t
,

striking papers which ever ca me fro m her pen It .

w a s e ntitled ,

O N S U M M ER S EA S .

There is a blue sky above us a nd a blue se a

below stretching wide from palm fringed African
,
-

shores to palm fringed shores of Indi a The w a ter

-
.

breaks away from t h e ship s sides in rainbow spray

’

s o that from bow to ster n we seem attended by flut

tering butterflies ; and away in all directions to the

horizon s unbroken rim are a thousand rippling
’

waves deepest blue in their depths a nd touched

, ,

here and there with white fo a m on their crests .

Day a ft er day the su n goes down in glory and ,

night after night the moon makes a path of light

across the water a nd alike by day and night there
,

i s a peace a nd rest without a nd within We seem .

in a dream world and i f we could forget what

, ,

we know of t he lands that are was h ed by this se a ,

we might live for a li t tle time a dream life But .

h a ving once known by heart even a part of the woe

of a S in cursed world we c a n never forget again
-
, ,

until its redempt ion is complete in its finished work

ings a s well a s in its Divine plan Ever following
,
.

in the wake of the smooth gliding S hip come -

t horfg ht s th a t ta ke the shape of thi ng s left be hi nd in

 The S e c o nd F u rl o u g h . 213

Indi a familiar faces and scenes definite plans to

, ,

meet definite needs but all representative the few

, ,

standing for the many in th e knowledge one person

may have of great nations There are the multitudes
.

who are poor so poor as to be often hungry ; there

,

are greater multitudes who a re ignorant ; there are

those who wish to learn more and are reaching out ,

for wisdom as a vine puts out tendrils for support ;

,

and t h ere are more tendrils than helps to climb by ,

and the heart aches for those w h o reach in vain ;

there is idolatry a nd superstition and t he sorrows ,

that ever follow sorrows to the old a nd feeble

,
-
,

to women a nd little children homeless blind beggars

, ,

homeless leprous beggars aye and homeless ones , ,

with wealth and rank because the blessedness of

,

home life has never been taught The se a nd so

m a ny many m
.
'

, ore wants has India perh aps the most ,

fa vored of all non Christian lands What then of

-
.
, ,

others !

“
I h a ve been reading some books from the ship s ’

library about Africa ; t h e first Stanley s Through ,

’ ‘

the Dark Continent You have all re a d it no doubt ;

.
’

a nd if so you c a n never forget the picture o r

, ,

rather pictures of life there It is one panorama o f

, .

night scenes from the Z anzibar co a st to t h e mout h

of the Congo with shifting figures of naked sava g es
, ,

tattooed barbarians hordes of slaves to the mos t

,

cruel m a sters gaunt famine and hopeless de ath

, ,
.

The condition of the zenana women of India has

called forth symp a thy from Christi an he a rts all over
2 14 Li f e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

t he world ; but what of the slave women of Afri ca !

They are still so fa r away from our thoug h t and
knowledge that we pass t h em by ; so enveloped in
darkness that we scarcely discern them even when ,

we make an e ff ort to penetra t e the gloom ; but they

are there and they are our sisters left to our care
, ,

and love by O ne who loved t h em and us even unto

death who loves t h em s t ill a nd knows all their
,

anguis h of body and soul F o r ages t h ey have .

lived and su ff ered and died in sin as they live and

, , , ,

su ff er and die to day even w h ile t h e s u n s h ines on

,
-
,

th is calm sea and we sail on in peace and quiet

, ,

t a king no t h oug h t that touc h es us deeper t h an a

passing sigh of regret that it should be s o anyw h ere
on the fair earth .

“
The fifty or more passe ngers on this ste a mer
are called Christians and perhaps represent any ,

other fifty English or American persons taken at ,

r a ndom As they sit dreaming under the S hade of

.

the double awning on deck or are occupied accord ,

ing to the taste or fancy of eac h taking no thought ,

of the s a d lands on which this s ea breaks except ,

for purposes of merchandise or pleasure ; so t h e

multitude in Christian lands seem to si t at peace on
their voya g e over a summer sea of life ; scarcely
hearing or heeding the w a il of lost souls that go
down under the same fair sk y the same bright sun ,

th a t shines upon their prosperous way I will not .

say they but w e are not doing our duty

,
.

“
Another book I have read since I came on
 CHAPTER XXI .

SE RV I CE IN C H I CA GO .

IN the l a tter p a rt of 1 887 Mrs L u cy Rider , .

Meyer of C h icago who had become interested in

, ,

deaconess work and who prac t ically became the

,

recognized leader of the new movement began to ,

take measures to attac h a department of the new

calling to her training school and Miss Thoburn -
, ,

having in a measure regained h er health was in

, ,

v it e d by Mrs M eyer to lend her assistance to this

.

movement and in the me a ntime to assist more or

,

less also in teaching or lecturing in the school .

This invitation was accepted and thus the invalid ,

w a s soon found at work again a nd the nature of the ,

work was such that it became inevit able that it wo u ld

expand and its claims become both imperative and
,

exhaus t ing The work was congenial to her aggress

.

ive spirit and t h e en t erprise was accepted by her

,

wi thout misgiving and wi th out reservation She

, .

remained at t his post a little more t han a year and ,

it proved a happy year to her although the work ,

was hard a nd the responsibility at times very tryi ng .

She was house mother as the Germans would

“
-
,
”

sa y
, rather than superintendent of the Home S h e .

did not regularly engage in de a coness work bu t ,

21 6
M rss T H O B U R N IN DE A C O N E SS C O STU M E .
218 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

as myself that I intended to adopt a permanent style

,

of dress for myself and h oped if I returned that our

, ,

school might have a uniform .

“
I went home t h at year for he a lth and my ,

brother with his wife a nd child was also sent by

, ,

doctor s orders During the few weeks we spent in

’
.

London on our way h ome we sa w what we could

, ,

of work there ; and one day my sister and I went to

Mildmay In India I had always been associ ated
.

with M ildmay workers and I was interested in the ,

place and especially in its missionary training

,
-

school Such a school had been in my mind and

.

heart for some time After seeing t h e large D e a.

c o ne ss Home and hearing part iculars of t h e work

,
-
,

M r s Thob u rn returned to the lodging house in To r

.
-

rington Square while I spent the rest of the day

,

at the training school When I returned I found

-
.
,

my brother and sister talking together by the fire ,

and was told that they were planning a De a coness

Home for Calcutta .

“
We spoke of it occasionally on the Atlantic and ,

on one of our first days in O h io which was spent ,

in a family gathering M rs T h oburn got a su b sc rip

, .

tion book and our brot h er in law Dr Mills of t h e

-
,
- -
, .
,

East O hio Conference wrote out an appeal for her , ,

and drew the lines which she hoped would soon

contain many dollars and cents for the C a lcutta
Deaconess Home .

“
After that day we sep a rated she to meet b e ,

r e a v e m e nt a nd consequent family cares a nd my ,

 S e rv i c e in C hi c a g o . 21 9
brother a nd I to try to regain our he alth by a t
tending missionary meetings .

The next definite word I heard about deacon

“

e sses w a s i n t h e report o f t h e second Com m enceme nt

of the Chicago Training school Meantime how -

.
,

ever correspondence had been going on with India

, ,

with the result t h at the Bengal Conference of Janu

uary 1 8 88 sent a memorial to General Conference
, , ,

asking for a recognized order of deaconesses in the

M ethodis t Episcopal Church .

About my part in t h e work in Chicago I do

“
,

not know how to write and I pr a y you to have me

,

excused I should have said per h aps that one ele

.
, ,

ment of interest in the idea of an order of deacon

esses in India was t h e occasional desire for bap
t ism by women who were not perm i t t ed to go to
public service no r to receive men mission aries in
,

their houses ; but out of deference to the prej udice

such a question would excite in America this part of ,

the India memorial was omitted in presenting it to

the Gen eral Conference .
”

The introduction of deaconess work into the

Church was destined to have wider and more far
reaching effect than any one anticip a t ed at the out
s et
. At that time there was only one hospital under
Methodist management in the United States and ,

only one small orphanage with the exceptio n of the

,

orphanage work belongi ng to the German M eth

odists Homes for the aged had been provided in
.

a very few places but in the main t h e Church h a d

,
2 20 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

not attempted to s h ow her faith by her works No .

organized e ffort had been made to care for the poor ,

or the friendless and the worst feature of the c a se

,

was that no one seemed to notice this omission of

duty But with the appearance of the deaconess in
.

the Church all this was changed W h erever a v ig

, .

o ro u s D eaconess Home was located a hospital was ,

soon seen rising beside it and Met h odist orp h anages

,

began to appear in the United States and were no ,

longer limited to waifs in far o ff mission fiel d s - -

.

Ho mes for the aged came next and with the advent ,

of the deaconess in city and town alike came a min

i st e ring angel to the poor Truly the founding of
.

the first D eaconess Home in Chicago marked the

opening of a new era in the activities of the C h urch .

Miss Thoburn entered upon her new work in a

spirit of quiet earnestness She h a d carefully .

counted the cost a nd she kept back no portion of the

,

price She put on the simple uniform which was

.

decided upon for the new workers and relinquished ,

one half of her slender salary so that she mi gh t lead

-
, ,

rather than direct those who were to be associated

,

with h er in the new and untried calling She went .

out frequently herself to engage in the new work ,

instead of contenting herself by sending others to

represent her She thus won the love and confidence
.

of her associates and se t a precedent which ca n not

,

be too carefully followed by all who occupy similar

positions in comi ng years She was obliged t o move
.

c a utio u sly for it h a d not yet been fully decided

,
2 22 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

depths of genteel poverty H usband a nd wife to .

get h er su ffer all the more keenly bec a use much of ,

their su ffering is mental .

After t h e poor come the vicious a nd they come ,

in multitudes The victims of the s a loon the out

.
,

cast women t h e many who in one form or another

,

get a living out of s in in some of its manifest a tions ,

and the ceaseless procession of the victims of s in in

its thousand forms Among all these the deaconess
.
,

goes forth as an angel in hum a n form to seek and

to save .

Next is the neglected imperiled a nd often s u f , ,

fe ring c h ild h ood of the city

,
The C h urches are do .

ing a little for t h em good people here and there are

,

trying to help them but never yet in the history ,

of Christendom ha s any city ever fairly grappled

with t he problem of city childhood Among t h ese .

little ones the deaconess who is God s messenger

, ,
’

in very deed is sure to find much to do

,
.

Another class which will claim her attention are

the a fflicted Afflictions are manifold in their visita
.

t ions Some su ff er in body others in mind and

.
,

heart Some languis h on couches ; some are su ffer

.

ing from broken h earts ; some are friendless many

are bereaved and very few are absolutely free from
,

trouble in some of its forms .

Lastly t he Churc h es need help The Church at

, .

its best i s or ought to be a body of Chris t ians o r

, ,

g a ni z e d for good works a fter the New Testament

p attern a nd such a n org a niz ation insti nctively rec

,
 S e rv i c e ih C hi c a g o . 2 23

o g n iz e s the deaconess a s an ally and such she will ,

surely prove to be unless the Church commits th e

,

very serious mistake of employing her a s a su b st i

tute instead of a helper .

With these many demands and opportunities b e

fore her Miss Thoburn led her li t tle band of dea
,

c o ne s s candidates out into the streets of Chicago ,

and began her great w o rk She was herself a b e .

g i nner ,at least in this new line of work and went ,

fort h to explore a s well a s to teach No trouble was .

experienced in finding enough to do More open .

doors were found than could be entered Candi .

dates came forward in increasing numbers and b e ,

fore the Gener a l Conference met in May 1 888 , ,

enough had been accomplished to interest the out

side public and a weighty memorial was sent to
,

that body from Ch i c a go asking for a formal recog

,

nit io n of the deaconess work by the supreme legis

l ative body of the Church .

It is easy to state these facts in few words ; but

only those who were actually engaged in the work
c a n ever know how much care a nd anxiety how ,

much thought and prayer how many long weary , ,

walks how many days of toil and nights of watch

,

ing how many grievous disapp o intments and dis

,

c o u ra g e m e nt s had to be accepted as conditions of

,

the success which they hoped to achieve M rs M eyer . .

h a d loc a l k nowledge a nd the chivalrous tempera

,

ment which is a n element in successful leadership ,

b u t her f a mily ca res a nd the cl a ims of her r a pidly

,
2 24 Li fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

growi ng tr aini ng school m a de it impossible for her

-

to lead in the outside work But she w a s a deaconess

.

in spirit and arrayed herself in the new uniform

,
.

S h e had founded the work a nd her prese nce an d ,

counsel were invaluable Miss Thoburn on the

.
,

other hand gave most of her time to deaconess work

, ,

although giving lessons and lectures in the training

school a nd soo n had a round her a band of noble
,

young women some of whom are now wearing the

,

deaconess uniform in far o ff mission fie l d s The- -

.

work grew and prospered and at an early day it ,

began to be seen that the deaconess must be the a d

vance herald of the h ospital th e orphanage the ref , ,

uge the home for the aged and o t her forms of elee
, ,

m o sy na ry enterprise .

It is always an easy and pleasant task to place

on paper the results of good work of whatever kind , ,

but it is not so easy to give a faithful account of

the work itself In this case the work was new and
.
,

in most of its aspects it belonged to the era of the

Chris t ian pioneer It was fortunate however that
.
, ,

in t h is instance the leader had unknown to herself , ,

served an apprenticeship of seventeen years in the

stree t s and lanes of Lucknow V ery much of the .

work she had done in that great city was essentiall y

the same as that which she found awaiting her in
Chicago Humanity in India has many points in
.

common with humanity all over the globe Sin .

,

with al l its bitter and de a thly fruits is the s ame ,

in a l l la nds but—blessed be God s n am e fore v e r l

’
r
,
2 26 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

s he gave expression to a profound truth One of .

the weak spots in Ch ristian society to day is the -

superfluous readiness of men and women to occupy

prominent positions under the mistaken notion that
,

in s o doing they are leading a good or great move

ment Prominence is not leadership Position is
. .

not greatness The need of t h e world is action

.
,

a nd the discipleship of Christ is the embodiment

of person a l service in his na me .
 C H APTER XXII .

TW O Y E AR S IN CIN C I N NA T I .

S OO N after begi nning her second year in Chic a go ,

M iss Thoburn received a kind and somewhat press

ing invi t ation to go to Cincinnati and lay th e foun
dation of a similar work in that city F o r several .

reasons this proposition was favorably received and

carefully considered by her She h ad relatives liv
.

i ng in that city a nd had in her earlier years spent

, , ,

some time there as a student in t h e Academy of

D esign Her better acquaintance with the city and
.

its environment made t he place more attractive than

C h icago h ad been when she first began her work in
t h at city Mere incidental considerations of this
.

kind h owever did not in any measure a ffect her

, ,

final decision to exchange her field of duty in Chi

cago for a new one to be opened up in Cincinnati .

L ike all her decisions when questions of duty pre

,

sented themselves she made the final issue depend

very largely upon what appeared to her p ro v id en
tial indica t ions The work had been fairly started
.

in Chicago and that city was more highly favored

,

already in the matter of woman s work than Cin ’

c inna t i
. She had bee n for some time advocating
the policy of h avin g a genui ne de aconess work e s
2 27
2 28 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

t a b l is he d in a ll the great cities of the country , a nd

hoped for the time in the not distant future when

a similar work might be extended to ne a rly a ll the
smaller towns The invitation to Cincinnati was a c
.

companied by promises of material assistance which ,

s he accepted a s so many providential i ndic a tions

of duty in the case The result w a s that o n the last

.
,

day of the year 1 888 she entered her new home a nd

,

laid the first stone in the foundation of what h a s

since become a flourishing a nd widely extended in -

s t it u t io n .

Onthe memorable day on which this work was

commenced only two deaconesses were present o ne
, ,

being the future superintendent and the other a ,

new volunteer for deaconess service Miss Fannie ,

Scott of Cincinnati Both worked hard all d ay

, .

long putting the house in order and doing the thou

,

sand and one little j obs which such a task makes nec
- -

essary As very often happens in such cases s u p

.
,

plies had not bee n sent in a s plentifully as the o c

casion demanded and some gi fts were in excess
, ,

while others were wanting Night came o n before .

—
the home to b e could be reduced to order and found
-
,

the two workers still busy at t h eir task M ean .

while another volunteer appeared a young lady who ,

came to o ff er her services for permanent work as a

deaconess The untoward circumstances of the day
.

had not repressed Miss Tho bu rn s sense of humor ’

.

When the new candidate appeared she was asked , ,

a mong other q u estions Ca n you e at onio ns

“
The ,
23 0 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u r n .

prayer to God every time she entered a roo m in

which any duty was to be discharged or any re ,

sponsibility encountered So far as is now remem .

bered she never manifested any interest in what

,

are sometimes called consecration meetings but “

,
”

to her the word consecration had a profound depth

“ ”

of meaning which practic ally a ffected the whole

tenor of her life .

The story would be a n interesting one i f it could ,

all be told of how this work in Cincinnat i devel

,

oped It would involve however the repetition of

.
, ,

a great many similar incidents O ne worker j oined .

the sta ff after another ; one door after a not h er of

access to the surrounding people was found ; the
presence of the Deaconess Home became known and ,

before the end of the first year the people of Cin

c inna t i became aware that a new Christian agency

was at work in their midst The number of dea .

c o ne s s e s increased steadily and all things c o ns id , ,

ered almost rapidly The limited pages of this

, .

book will not admit of the narration of special inci

dents but su ffice it to sa y that when the next New
, ,

Year s eve came round another chapter in the his

’

t ory of the deaconess enterprise in the Me t hodist

Episcopal Church had been written in the shape of
accomplished facts A new institution ha d been
.

firmly established a nd a good a nd great work had

,

had been done .

But here as elsewhere the begi nning of o ne good

, ,

work se rved only to open the door to another

 Tw o Y e a rs in Ci nc i nna t i . 23 1

equally good and equally important The hospital .

seems to be a twin sister of the Deaconess Home

-
.

The presence of one of these institutions is almost

sure to invoke the presence of the othe r The de .

mand for a hospital under deaconess control beg a n

to be made before the close of the first year Kind .

friends in the providence of Go d were raised up

, , ,

and not only were promises given but funds were , ,

also provided for starting the enterprise ; but in ,

those days nurse deaconesses were very few T h e

,
-
.

idea had not yet taken much hold upon t h e Prot

e s t a nt community Where were the nurses to be
.

found ! Where in a ll the great Churc h to w h ich

,

Miss Thoburn belonged could a lady be found to ,

fill t h e place of superintendent Hospital work was

!

w h olly new and while perhaps ten t h ousand women

,

with natural ability for such a post had their names

enrolled in the Church hardly one in a thousand
,

among them had received the training needed for

the place O ne lady was indeed secured but only
.
,

temporarily and after a brief term of service was

, ,

obliged to leave .

In this emergency Miss Thoburn a cted a s any

,

one might have predicted who knew her views to ,

s a y nothing of her instincts She determined t o .

accept the post herself and learn how to meet its

,

requirements by personal service ; in short s h e de ,

cided upon a course whic h was thoroughly c h arac

t e ri st ic both of her views a nd of her c h aracter She .

accordi ngly took up the work herself without hesi

23 2 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

and at once entered upon her ne w duties

t a t io n, .

In the absence of a suitable building a number of ,

small houses adj oining one anot h e r were secured ,

beds prepared and ot h er a rrangements made for

,

caring for t h e sick The beds were not lon g wit h

.

out oc cupants Patients of various c lasses were

‘

speedily found and among these su ffering people

,

Miss Thob urn began her daily round of du t y both ,

learning and teaching as s he went shr i nking from ,

no task hesitating at no obstacle and not only train

, ,

ing ot h ers how to work in this noble line of duty but ,

with her own hands minis t ering t o th e wants of

those who were su ff ering a nd perfor m ing all the ,

du t ies of a hospital nurse .

The example thus furnished by one who had now

earned the right to a place of honor and comparative
ease is exceedingly striking from every point of
,

view The thought which occurs to every one who

.

understands the true nature of Christian service is ,

that h ere we have a striking illustration of the

Christlike acceptance of duty without any possible ,

thought of reward or even of place T h e same t h ing .

which had s o dis t inguis h ed her services when in the

mission fie l d in India appears here but in a di fferent
-
,

form According to the standard of this world it

.
,

will be said that she gave up much and chose the ,

lowly position of a servant from a sense of duty ;

but from t h e higher Christian point of view it will
, ,

be said more truly that she embraced the o ppo rt u

nity whi c h God s e t before her of illustrati ng the
23 4 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

flourishing Deaconess Home a nd Training schoo l -

,

and also occupy valuable hospital property near by .

For some years these good people worked in con

ne c t io n with t h eir American bret h ren ; but as the

work enlarged they became emboldened to organize

on a b a sis of their own and thus far they h ave suc
,

c e e d e d nobly in the great task whic h they have u n

d e rt a k e n Cincinnati M et h odism is thus provided

.

with duplicate institutions for these two forms of

practical Christian work and in coming years both
,

will no doubt have a permanent career of steadily

, ,

increasing usefulness .

The solid foundations of a ll this good and grea t

work were laid in two s h ort years At t h e end of .

t h at time Miss Thoburn had s o far recovered in

health and t he work which had been given into her
,

hands in America ha d been so far completed that ,

s he felt and saw clearly that her duty again lay in

the direction of India During her furlough she

.

had really accomplished a wonderful work Perhaps .

no one realized t h is less t h an herself She entered .

into the work not because of any personal considera

,

tions bu t solely for th e reason t h at th e pathway

,

of du t y led h er in that particular direction She .

might have entered upon a course of public lectures

upon the subj ect of hospital and deaconess work ,

and have pursued t h is line of duty for the rest of

h er earthly days wi t hou t h aving accomplis h ed one
,

t it h e of what was realized t hrough h er personal e f

forts a nd the noble spirit with which she inspired
 Tw o Y e a rs in Ci nc i nna t i . 23 5

all who came in con t act with her Without know .

ing it without for a moment t h inking of such a

,

thing s he rendered a service for the C h urc h in

,

which Go d h ad given her a name and a place which

was perh a ps second to that of no other man or
, ,

woman w h ose name was enrolled among its mem ,

b e rs hip T h is may seem to be a rash statement for

.
,

some very great men and some very noble women

were contemporary with her in C h ristian service ;
but nothing can be of greater value to a Christian
C h urc h or a Christian community th an a service done
in the spirit of t h e M aster and having that peculi a r
,

power of proj ecting itself into the future which

makes it a permanent fountain of blessing .

And yet these fo ur years of notable service des ,

tined to become historic were freely rendered by an

,

invalid who had earned a long respite from all

labor and who might have spent these years in
,

quiet repose in the midst of the congenial associa

,

tions found in the home circles of near relatives

-
.
.

The work accomplished was truly great ; but the

worker did not seem to realize its exceptional worth .

To her it probably seemed as little more than an in

c i d e nt a l duty found in her pathway and accepted ,

because it seemed to have been placed there by H im

whom she served and to whom she belonged
,
.

But Cincinnati was not the only place which

would fain have detained this faithful and fruitful
worker for a longer season in her native land For .

some ti me she had been receiving urgent entreaties

23 6 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

to go to Boston a nd lend a ssist an c e in establishing a

De a coness Home in that important city She a p pre .

c ia t e d the importance of the enterprise and would ,

gl a dly have gi ven a ye a r or two to the work h a d it

been possible to do s o ; but the c a ll from the land
of he r adoption had become imperative a nd all she ,

c ould do was to go to Boston and devote two or

three weeks to the initial steps whic h the planting

of such an institution involved H er visit was brief .
,

but her work was appreciated She accepted an in .

v it a t io n to address a public meeting on t h e subj ect ,

a nd gave an address which is still remembered with

w a rm appreciation by many To the last she dis.

played what seemed to be a governing principle of

her life — to illustrate by d oing rather than inter
, ,

e s t by speaking i n a ll c a ses which involved matters

,

of personal duty .

In November 1 89 0 after a respite including time

, , ,

spe nt a t se a of about five ye a rs Miss Thoburn re

, ,

turned to India and at the session of the Annual

,

Conferen c e in January was reappointed to her for

mer post a s pri ncip al of the Wom an s College a t ’

L uck now .
23 8 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

a nd is the more in place here because it serves a s a

key to explain the prevailing tenor of Miss T hob u rn s ’

life especially during her later years Nothing bet

, .

ter could be put into the hands of young persons

j ust crossing the threshold of active life
The L ord and Master had taugh t his little class
faithfully and well and with the weariness of the
,
'

teacher who knows that his best lessons will be only

half understood or wholly misapplied he walked
-
, ,

silently on h is last earthly j ourney thinking per , ,

haps of the great final lesson that would finis h

,
‘ ’

all and flood wi th lig h t the dim meanings of those

,

already given How very dimly his lessons were

.

comprehended t h e disciples walking be h ind him

,

soon proved by their talk in the way F orgetting .

alike the words of t h eir lessons a nd the utter self,

renunciation of the daily life before them thinking ,

only of themselves and their petty ambitions self ,

c o nfid e nt and complacent they disputed about their

,

rank honors and emoluments in t h e new kingdom

, ,

which t h eir mole eyed want of penetrat ion into t h eir

-

M a ster s meanings led th em to t h ink he was abou t

’

to establish L ooking back at them with t h e su

.

perior wisdom of t wo t h ousand years of C h ris t ian

knowledge we call them childish narrow minded ,
-

men but while we condemn them higher int el l i

, ,

g e n c e s may smile and the,same patient Master sig h

to se e the old strife going on among us and to ,

know that though our lips have learned that hu

m il ity is proper a nd respe ctable our huma n hea rts
,
 Law of C h ris t i a n S e rv i c e . 23 9
too often burn with j ealous desire to be the
greatest .

“
In this land where a throne and a scepter a re
,

the right and privilege of all we profess to believe ,

that we do not value social or political distinctions ;

but in truth every citizen king pants for pre emi
, ,
- -

ne nc e Democracy in giving to eac h an o p po rt u

.
,

nit y creates in eac h an ambition that stirs alike the

,

heart of man woman and child An indolent

, ,
.

American rej oicing in the frigidness of O riental

,

social customs said How delightful life is where

,
‘

society is crystallized ! He might h ave exclaimed ’

.

How quiet the stones lie ! How little trouble the

dead give ! L ife means a ction and to those O f the ,

later dispensation it means freedom of action and

hope All American life palpitates with t h e impulse
.

given from the great heart of its fait h that t here is

ideal and ultimate good for all But like everything .
,

earthly this noble inspiration has its foil and some

, ,

of its consequences are very inconvenient The maid .

knows s he may be mis t ress some day and i s im ,

p atient o f her time of servitude ; the pupil expects

to be teacher a nd rebels against authority ; a nd the
,

laborer chafes to command laborers ; the lawmaking

th at ought to be for public and private good is a
ladder for the lawmaker to climb by Personal a m .

bitiou is expected of professional politicians and ,

has come to be almost expected in the most sacred

of all callings But j ust as u nworthy though so
.
,

petty tha t we smile a t it even when it is most a n

 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

n oyi ng is the restless pushing a nd scheming to lead

,

and outshi ne in society To h ave the best fur .

nit u re to s et the best table to dress bett er than

, ,

one s nei ghbors are motives which tempt many a

’

m ind tha t ought to be too strong for attack T0 .

‘

have one s way in directing the busy clamor of the

’

Ways and Means Committees doing what is called

‘
Church work to select a nd decide who shall be the
,
’ ‘

next preacher to be president or at least to have

,
’
,

controlling influence in boards and ass o ciat ions and

societies — these are t h e lit t le ambitions t h at assail
,

the weak side of some genuine Christians who think ,

they have given up the world .

All this self seeking is a weary dreary e ffort

-
, ,

w h ich eit h er res ul ts in loss a n d d i sappointment t h at

makes the heart sick or in success which is the , ,

dreariest thing of all and most to be regretted ,

.

When we seek for dross thinking it gold empty ,

handed failure is better th a n to come into possession

of th a t which is worthless while it wears a form ,

of use and beauty Whatsoever things are tr u e will .

abide forever and the false whether wood or hay or

, , , ,

stubble will be burned in the fi re which in time

,

will surely try every one s work If we could but ’

.

get such a heart of heavenly wisdom t h at loving , ,

truth so dearly we could rej oice in the destruction

,

of the false even though it were our very own even

, ,

though in mist aken e ff ort we ha d built upon it s foun

dations our fairest castles of hope we might wel l ,

thank God from o ur i nmost hea rts .

24 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

is the desire of the soul cre ated immortal a nd life ,

a nd immortality a nd the way of life and the way

, ,

t o life and the secret of both power a nd peace a re

, ,

brought to light by the gospel No human wisdom .

would e ver have j oined power and peace Uneasy .

‘

lies the head that wears a crown we sa y A presi ,

’
.

dent o f a large business association recently said to

me My work is lighter than it was when I had a
,
‘

lower position but the responsibility is killing me

,
.
’

Not because there was j oy in power has it ever been

sought but because self glories in self ex alt ation
,
-
,

even through pain .

The great M aster t aught the philosophy of life

“

that lay beyond human discovery and taught it in ,

strange paradoxes which only his own life could ,

expl a in Whosoever sh a ll save his life shall lose

.
‘

it and whosoever sh all lose his life for my s a ke

,

sh all find it Whosoever shall humble himself as

.
’ ‘

this little child the same is the greatest in the king

,

dom of heaven Whosoever would be great among

.
’ ‘

you let him be your m inister and whosoever would

, ,

be first among you shall be your servant Won ,

.
’

d e r fu l words ; but they would have remained a dead

letter but for the lessons which followed ! Even as ‘

the Son of m a n came not to be ministered unto , ,

but to minister Behold I a m in the midst of you

.
’ ‘
,

a s he th a t serveth If I then your L ord and Mas .

’ ‘
,

ter have w a shed your feet ye also ought to w a sh

, ,

o ne a nother s feet
’ ’
.

“
This str a ng e new te achi ng every p a rt of it , , ,
 La w of C h ris t i a n S e rv i c e . 24 3

h a d bee n tried a nd proved by the Teacher H e had .

been weary among uncongeni a l surro undings he had ,

seen pain a nd distress daily and he ha d served He

, .

continued to serve even unto death and then a ,

divine inspiration was breathed upon the truth and ,

breathed into the he a rts which were willing to a c

cept it until each heart was made all a fl a m e with
,

—
light the divine light of l ove ; and so it went out
among the nations and into history ; and into all the
chaos caused by those who seek their own and for ,

their own sakes strive and cry it is bringing the ,

sweet order of he a ven s law ’

.

“
This supern a tural truth— for the natu ra l does
not comprehend it—explai ns how it is possible for
the li t tle child to teach and lead the sage and for ,

the weak things of this world to confound the thi ngs

that are mighty It throws light upon that intricate
.

problem of later days which has both gained prom

i nenc e and seen disrepute under the name of Wo
man s Rights This is of the later days ; only in the
’
.

new dispensation and slowly even t h en could men

, ,

learn and be brought to a dmit that women might

have rights a nd only of late have women won a stage
,

from w h ich they may speak for themselves O ne of .

the Sanskrit words for woma n is a bl a which means ,

weakness The a ncient tongue expressed the ancient

.

thought and in all the o ff spring of language and

,

nations this thought is found written in some form ,

or in many forms And let us admit that the thought

.

a nd its expressio n h a d foun d a tio n in f a ct If the .

24 4 Li fe of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

we a kness had not been inherent a nd real it would ,

no t have been universally a scribed and admitted , ,

too as it has been If you say that this is because

, .

men are naturally tyrannical this too must be a d , ,

m it t e d ; for all natural strength is naturally tyran

nic a l over weakness It was the supern atural that
.

taught gentleness to power and g a ve power to them ,

who h a d no might .

“
An eminent woma n rej oicing in the life only
,

possible to women in Christendom has said recently ,

that C h risti a ni t y h ad done nothing for women but ,

t hat the place s he is beginning to win and occupy

is not because of Christian teaching and enlighten
me nt but is the result rather of the gradual im
,

provement of the race and especially of woman s ,

’

e fforts in her own behalf Somehow the r ace does .

not gradually improve i f left to itself a nd in non ,

Christian l a nds where the course has ever been

,

downward women never make e ff orts to be any

,

thing more than the creature of man s wish and will ’

.

What Christ did is overlooked to day as in t h e time -

,

of his earthly life on account of his me t hod of

,

doing T h en the Jews refused fealty to a King w ho

.

would not wield a sword or wear the purple except ,

in mockery and still the world fails to se e greatness

,

i n meekness As it had thought it might reprove and

.

accuse its most patient prophet of old so it accused ,

a greater than Moses and so the Christless world

,

a ccuses and derides that which is Christlike to day -

.
2 46 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

a way of peace as well a s a way to power to the

lowly in heart .

“
W h en we only seek eminence a nd position how ,

few avenues are open ! When we seek service how ,

many—all with wide g ates and loud calls a nd , ,

pleading invitations to come where work and room , , ,

and reward a wait all !

“
I k now a woman who has a beautiful house ,

with everything in it that could give her pleasure

yes a nd care ; but s he is not h appy She i s troubled
, .

a bout woman s righ ts and wrongs and vexed about

’

her lot in life Not far from her is an Industrial

.

Home for girls T h ere are hundreds of t h e girls

.
,

sent in by courts and officials from all parts of the

State Among them are scores of children little
.
,

girls from ten to thirteen And what have these .

‘

done I asked Many of them was the reply have

! ’
.
‘
,
’
,
‘

done nothing more th a n children do who are at home

with their parents and who grow up to be good ,

women ; but they have no homes or live in homeless ,

houses under guardians or unnatural parents who

,

want to be rid of them and for some petty m is d e ,

meanor t h ey are handed over to the law and sent

here The troubled woman in her well appointed
.
’
,
-

empty house has a right to fill it and her h ands too

, , , ,

and her heart a lso with children from State reform a

,

tories or better from homeless homes before the

, , , ,

little ones have been stig matized a s c riminals b v

being sent there And a las a lso for the girls who
.
, ,

h ave been sent nowhere but who a re o n their w ay ,

 La w of C h ris t i a n S e rv i c e . 2 47

to ruin because childless women have not learned

the blessedness of service to motherless or homeless
children !
“
I k new a young woman who ha d grown weary
of an aimless society life who complained bitterly
,

against her lot saying t h at a woman had no c h ance

, ,

no expectations or inducements ; that when s he had

lost interest in gayety she p a ssed out of sight and
knowledge and there seemed to be no place for her
, .

Coming and going daily in h er presence was a weak

brother w h o was going steadily downward with no
, ,

hand to help or res t rain Around her were other

.

men yielding to t he same temptation and she grieved ,

over what she sa w but perceived no opportunity to

,

put forth a h and where a helping hand was much

,

needed before her very eyes Thus many very .

,

many are in the way t h at takes hold on dea t h b e

, ,

cause Christian women have not learned the bless

e d ne ss of service to th e sinful .

“
And there a re very many women who are ex
pending time and labor on the cultivation of their
natural talents but with no obj ect beyond They
, .

are occupied and so not un happy ; but they are not

,

satisfied a nd will be disappointed at last Self im

, .
-

provement with no obj ect beyond self is only less

, ,

debasing to the spiritual nature th a n money making -

for money s sake M uch of the culture of w h ich

’
.
‘ ’

we hear so much is of this character It is w o rl d l i .

ness in a new guise Even self—improvement is lost

.

sight of in a mere fashion of cultiv a tion of mi nd or ,

248 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

voice or h a nd a nd the result is a n a ff ect ation of an

, ,

a rt above common uses and so out of the ra nge of

, ,

Christian life A lady who had given to her t al

.

e nt e d daug h ter musical a d vantages was asked to a l

low her to teach a few gi rls who could not leave

home as her daughter had done The reply w a s
, . ,

M y d a ughter is too much of an artist to be a teacher

f ’
.

She w a s a n ignorant wom a n of course not knowi ng , ,

that the art masters were te a chers but that kind of

ignorance often goes with a certain ki nd of tra ining
which is supposed to constitute culture .

There are Christi a n parents who do not send

“

their children to dancing schools nor take them to

-
,

the a ters but who yet train them for the world by
,

tr a ining them for nothing else They consider the .

social position rat her than the C h ristian character

,

of their companionships they send them to colleges

where the mind is developed while the soul i s choked
,

with weeds of pride ; they give them a dvantages of

travel and observation at home and abroad and with ,

all inculcate no idea of the uses of these privileges

either in serving others or in serving Go d But
,
.

they often grieve a t the result of their own work ,

when it is too late and the Church grieves also ; but

,

let no t the Church co operate in the evil work L et

-
.

u s expect our highest and our best to stoop the low

est k nowing that only so c a n any one be ex alted

,

in the kingdom of Jesus Christ .

I t ha s re ce ntly bee n my d u ty to se a rch for a

25 0 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

every art and every science every talent a nd every ,

acquirement is glorified when used in service a nd

, ,

there is and can be no h ig h er use .

“
What abundant opportunities women have to be
great ! They may never it is true be j udges or l a w , , ,

givers directly and not many may be poets or paint

, , ,

ers or singers ; bu t all may be s erv a nts And wh at

, .

opportunities to serve ! There is t h e home ministry ,

the sweetest of all where the servant need not w ait

,

to the last of her e ff ort for reward but in rendering ,

the service is crowned queen And this home j oy .

need not be restricted to wives and mothers It o f .

ten comes about under present social conditions

that many never marry but such may still h ave ,

homes of their own where they c a n entertain the

homeless and make happy lives for themselves and
,

others I know three single women who earn their

.

own living one by stenography another by dress

, ,

making and the third by teaching Instead of tak

, .

ing rooms in desolate boarding houses they rented -

,

a house employed a cook were housekeepers by

, ,

turn s and in addition to their many h ome pleasures

, ,

they were able to enj oy the gracious and womanly

service of hospi t ality There is no better place in.

the world to s h ow friendship to the friendless to lift ,

up the fallen to strengthen the tempted to give hope

, ,

to the desperate to develop higher tastes and de

,

sires in the neglected than in one s own house It ,

’
.

may be a hired house and a very small one but , ,

never so sm a ll that there will be no room in it for

 La w of C h ris t i a n S e rv i c e . 25 1

heaven s light and peace ; ye a a nd for heaven s L ord

’
,
’

himself if genuine Bible h ospitali t y is shown there

,
.

“
Then what opportuni t ies for services outside
,

the home ! To nurse the sick is a woman s right ’

.

I know a lonely woman who tried and failed at

t wenty things and never was ha ppy until she found
,

the place for which nature had fitted her in a nurse s ,

’

vocation A sweet girl who lately lost her only

.

paren t but who had a private income said I h ave

, , ,
‘

not h ing to do ; the only t h ing I h ave talent for is

nursing t h e sick and I will c h oose that way of being
,

useful Al t houg h possessing a private income she

.
’
,

applied for and obtained a place in our training

school for nurses a nd is now on the highway to hap
,

i n
p ess . She will h a ve h ard work a nd in sympathy ,

her tender heart will su ffer wit h t h e su ffering b ut ,

the Christian servant ca n always sa y

Itk a e, 0 C ro s s , t h y sha d ow

F or my a b idi g l
n p a ce ;
I a sk no o th i
e r s u ns h ne ,

Th an th e i
s u ns h ne o f t hy fa ce .

And the poor we have always with us a s o u r Lord ,

said we should have Not many appear now it is .

,

true in this land for which we thank Christian law

, ,

a nd influence but he said they would never quite

,

cease from t h e land a nd we find it so even in this

,

prosperous er a .

“
And the great cause of the day and of the age
—the Tempera nce Reform ; that is woman s work ’

,
 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

for which Go d sent the a nointing of his Holy Spirit

upon her and the tongue of fire given her found
,

utterance not in unknown languages but in prayer ;

, ,

and the great Crusade began w h ich goes on con

quering and to conquer It will be a n easy victory .

when every woman s hand and voice and prayer ’

, ,

have place in the conflict ; and what a crown of j oy

s he will wear when the work is done !
“
And many beyond our shores abroad in a world ,

whose multitudes of people a re our brothers and s is

ters though we oft en forget that fact and them to
,

ge th er To t h ink of them and thei r darkness and

.
, ,

want and sorrow appalls the heart that can love

, ,

and care for any t hing beyond sig h t and touch ; bu t

when t h e cry goes up Who is su ffi cient for these ,
‘

things ! the answer comes back Go ye a nd the

’

,
‘
,
’

promise follows Lo I a m w ith you a l w a ys e ven

,
‘

, ,

u nt o t he e nd of t he w or l d Not twenty years ago .

’

this was scarcely thought to be woman s work The ’

.

New V ersion had not then proclaimed to every

day understanding the prop h ecy The Spirit gave ,
‘

t h e Word and great was t h e company of women that

,

published i t The call had not come loud and r e

.
’

d t o woman Come tha n over and help us But

‘ ’

p ea t e , .

t he call comes to day and would that all who sit a t

-
,

ease and yet long for the heart s rest they have not ;
,
’

all who spend upon themselves their thought and

strength ; all who build like the i nsect their own
houses of clay in which they ca n only perish —would ,

th at all these knew the blessed ness of service to every

 C H APTER XXI V .

CO U N SEL T O M I SS I O N A R Y CA N D I
DA TES .

IN 9
18 Miss
6 ,Thobur n a ddressed a n ope n letter
to a you ng l a dy who h a d presented herself as a can
d id a te for service in the foreign field Nearly all .

returned missionaries soon become familiar with the

experience of meeti ng and talking with young per
sons who have or think they have a call to mis
, ,

s io na ry work Perhaps it would be more correct to

.

omit the word young a nd say wi th persons of a ll

,

ages In one instance a man of sixty fiv e applied

.
,
-

for an appointment in the foreign field and pressed ,

his application for several years before he could be

m ade to understand that he could not under any ,

possible circumstances r eceive an appointment

,
.

O thers again apply while yet in their teens With .

very few exceptions all these applicants a re sincere ;

,

but as might naturally be expected many of them

, ,

are mist aken in their notions a nd disqualified for

forming a trustworthy j udgment in a m a tter of
which they know so little .

The open letter published by Miss Thoburn w a s

intended more especially for young women ; but it
c ont a i ns m a ny u sef u l a nd m u c h neede d hi nts for
-
 M issi o na ry C a ndid a t e s . 25 5

applic a nts of both sexes and of a ll a ges It might .

also be read with profit by the m a ny persons who are

asked for advice upon t his most important subj ect .

Nearly all the suggestions contained in this letter

are exceedingly timely Perhaps at a few points .

there might be a slight di ff erence of opinion a mong

experi enced missionaries ; but taking it altogether , ,

t he letter will be accepted by all missionaries of ex

p e ri e nc e as exceedingly valuable T h e ori ginal .

letter is dated at Lucknow ! une 1 7 1 8 9 6 , ,

‘

D EAR YOU N G F R I EN D —Do not think th a t

MY ,

I u se these words form a lly I n truth my heart goes .

,

out as to a friend to every one who has a c a re for

, ,

those in need a nd a purpose to help You will th a nk

, .

Go d forever for his call to you i f you obey his voice .

You say you are not sure of the c a ll bec a use you
are conscious of being so unworthy If you felt .

yourself worthy I should doubt you Moses was .

conscious of his u nfitne ss ; Peter thought himself

qualified until Satan s si ft ing showed him w h at he
’

was and brought him where the Spirit of God could

,

prepare him The same Spirit is your strengt h a nd

.

your wisdom And yet you may be right A gen

. .

e ro u s nature is apt to hear a c a ll from God in every

neighbor s need I f your ears are not trained to

’
.

hear clearly among the m any voices that cry for

help a sk some Eli ; ask several C h ristian friends
,

who know you well a nd who are too true to fl a tter

,

yo u ; a nd i f in their
,
u nprej udiced j u d g me nt yo u a re ,
256 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

fit for the work you need not be a fr a id to tr u st the

,

call I sa y u nprej u d ic e d j u dg m ent bec a use t h e best

.
,

of Christians sometimes fail to s e e a duty for a n

other They m a y tell you that you are so eminently
.

qualified for the home work t h at you can not pos

s ib l y be called abroad If they s a y this you may
.
,

accept it a s a proof that you a re qualified for the

foreign work .

“
Here is a little l ist of qualifications by which you
may test your own case ! Good hea l t h a fair education , ,

adaptation to circumstances and to people some ex ,

p e r ie nc e in Christian work and a consecr

,
a tion to the
extent of utter self renunciation I have sometimes
-
.

included common sense in this list but common sense ,

is that w h ich enables us to a dapt ourselves to our

environments Anything you can add to these qual
.

ific a tio ns is s o much gai n For instance you will

.
,

be more useful if you c a n sing a nd play I know .

from personal experience what a lack it is to do

neither If you can s ew a nd cut out clothing you
.

will find a place for the knowledge Book keeping .

-

is so important as to be almost worthy of a place

among the necessities ; you can not fail of having
some kind of accounts to keep and they must be ,

put in shape for mission auditors w ho do not like ,

haphaz a rd work such a s some O f u s do who h ave

,

not h a d trainin g .

Yo u will find some expe rience of school work

“

useful M any nowadays choose to be evangelists in

.

stead o f te a chers a nd they are needed ; but I do not

,
25 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Do not be sensitive Perhaps you a re by natu re

.
,

but you c a n get over it with the exercise of c o m

mon sense and the help of God L et things hurt .

until the tender spot gets callous Believe that peo .

ple do no t intend to be unkind ; some are too busy

to think of the feelings of their fellow workers and -
,

others have not the nice discernment that ought to

guide even the busy brain a nd tongue Sensitive .

ness is only another kind of self consciousness a nd -

,

as such we should seek delivera nce from its irri

ta ting power .

“
Do no t gossip There are some unfortun ate
.

people so made either by heredity or habit whose

, ,

first impulse when they hear of a n unwise speech

or action in anot h er is to go and tell somebody You
, .

may think it is not gossip if you only tell your c on

fid e ntia l friend but s he h a s another confidenti a l
,

friend no doubt a nd as such stories a re repeated

,

mischief is born a nd grows And if the o ff ense .

is against yourself and your feelings a re hurt ‘

,
’

s till do not tell anybody b ut th e only O ne who c a n

understand the L ord Jesus This is a good rule

, .

a nywhere but it is especially important in a mission

,

ary circle where we are in a way shut up to each

, , ,

other ; a nd it is necessary to peace in a mission fa mily

such a s we mission a ries and teachers of the Woma n s ’

Societies form .

“
Al so a void the spirit of criti cism Your im .

pressions a nd j udgments of those you meet m a y

be wrong ; a nd if they a re not still you a re not c alled
,
 M i s si o na ry C a ndid a t e s . 25 9
to give expressio n to them except in extreme cases
, ,

where the genera l good a nd not person a l t a ste or

prej udice is the motive .

“
Every missionary candidate should le a rn by
he a r t in the deepest sense that golden thirteenth
, ,

chapter of First Corinthians .

There are many other d o s and d o nots but I ’

need not write them all Ye have unction from the

.
‘

H oly O ne and know all things wrote the Apostle

, ,
’

John Have you Seek the fullness of the Holy

.

Spirit and he will sanctify a nd perfect your prep a

,

r ations for this service .

”

Other ph a ses of this question were discussed in

two letters published in the F riend in 1 88 7 ,

dated from t h e Chicago Training school In the -

.

second of these letters she earnestly advocated

the policy of giving missionary candidates a
special training before sending them to for
e ig n fi elds ; but both letters cont a in words of
wisdom which may well be pondered by mission
a ry candidates and hence are inserted here in con
,

ne ct io n with the subj ect of c o u nsel to mission a ry

c andidates

In the September nu mber of the F riend I a m

reported as having said that no lady under thirty ‘

years of age sh ould be sent to a foreign field Per .

’

haps I said that but I meant something like this

,

No l a d y u nder twe nty fiv e ye a rs of a ge shoul d be

-
260 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

se nt out a nd the ne a rer thirty the better ; if past

,

thirty it is no dis a dvant a ge where one h a s edu cation

,

a nd experience .

“
I have in my notebook the a ddresses of six
young ladies in the early twenties with all of whom ,

I have either talked or corresponded on the subj ect

of prepar ation for mission work and among the ,

readers of the F riend there must be others whom I

do not k now These girls with warm hearted ze a l
.
,
-

for the work to which they believe themselves c a lled ,

a re surprised and disappointed when advised to w a it .

If they are called and if t h e need is s o gre at why

, ,

no t go now ! Will they not learn a f oreign language

more quickly and perfectly now than later !
“
The least di fficult thing a foreign missionary h a s
to learn i s the language ; the part of her work which
she has the most reason to dread is its responsibility .

“
No matter how much of education or character , ,

or devotion or common sense a gi rl of twenty one

,
-

may h a ve she must lack a tr a ining that ca n only be

,

given through ye a rs of discipline The number of .

years may vary as the character to be formed and the

kind of discipline varies but tim e is necessary ,
.

Without it the probability is th at the young mis

,

s io na ry will fail in health and strength or the work ,

will fail in her hands and she ca n im a gine no s u f

,

fe ri ng greater than that To live in a heathen land

.

a nd have active p a rt in the life experiences of -

those she tries to u plift a nd le a d forw a rd me ans to

26 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

a ssistant . H er answer w a s a very decidedBut no .

city m i s sw na ry work is not more di fficult requires ,

no greater wisdom or firmness or patience or

, , ,

knowledge of life than missionary work abro a d .

Add a try ing climate loneliness and perhaps home

, ,

sickness a nd will not the eager earnest young can

, ,

did a t e s understand why I urge the m to wait a nd ,

m a ke thorough preparation !
“
Sympat h y for you as well a s interest in the ,

work you undertake leads me to say Wait and

, ,
‘

sympath y for t h e girl missionaries at t h e front fai th

-
,

fully and bravely doing t h eir best thoug h wounded ,

—
to the heart in the struggle some wounds they ,

might h ave been spared if they had had t ime to put

full armor on .

“
But must all the ladies sent out without re ,

gard to age or fitness a ssume these he avy re spon,

i
s bi it e s
l i from the first !
“
Not from t h e first but after the first ye a r has
, ,

been the custom and the rule If the rule were ex .

tended to a number of years then there might be ,

reasons for sending these young m i ssionary c a n

d id a t e s to learn their life work on the ground But .

a training school in India or China for Americans is

-

a much more expensive i nstitution than in C h icago ;

and now that we have one at home let u s indi
, , ,

vidually a nd as a society try our experiments h ere ,

.

I f health or courage or character fails bett er fail

, , ,

at home ; i f these need to be established give th em ,

time a nd pl ace a nd opportunity

, ,
.
 M issi o na ry C a ndid a t e s . 26 3

It is with pleasure that I write a gai n on this

subj ect from the Training school itself where I am
,
-
,

spending a few very enj oyable d a ys I find in the .

O ctober F ri end on the library table M rs M eyer s

’
.
, ,

article About Christian Young Women and a m

,
‘
,
’

glad that s he h a s said some things for me which

I need not repe at ; a nd yet the subj ect is not ex
h ansted .

“
As I see these twoscore young ladies e a rnestly
and diligently preparing themselves for usefulness ,

a t home or abroad ; as I observe the opportunity they

have for thorough preparation and t h e opportunity ,

given their teachers to test them their character a nd , ,

their fitness for this or that kind of work their c a ,

p a c i ty for adapting themselves to circumstances a nd ,

to other people s circumst a nces a nd which is real l y

’

—
more important their health and p ow e rS o f e n
,
'

—
durance I wonder that all candidates do not come
,

here and that some are not sent by the Society when
,

they apply for appointment Every doubtful c a se

.

might be tested here and the applicant is the last

,

one who ought to complain of the test No one is .

more interested th a n the ca ndidate herself in mak

ing sure that she is in the way of duty The Church .

of England Missionary Society se nds its candidates

to the Mildmay Training school a nd a llows them
-
,

three months probation there in which to show

’

ability to study and ability also to work when they

, ,

go out into the city with the de a conesses If they .

a re a pproved a fter th at period they may still be kept

,
26 4 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

in t h e school u ntil thoroughly instructed in t h e sub

j e ct s required before being sent a broad It costs .

the Society somet h ing but many such experime nts ,

cost less than one mistake— i f not in money i n ,

moral influence We should do this as a Society

.
,

for the same re a son that the Government maintains

a military school at West Point for the educ ation ,

of its future army .

“
There is only one di fficulty in the way and th at ,

is s o oft en in the way of Christian work th a t I had ,

almost written always There is not money enough ;

, .

or to put it more correctly the money is not forth

, ,

coming for t h is purpose Perhaps it might be well .

to wit h hold from some other part of our missionary

work and spend on this Surely nothing is more
, .
,

important If the soldier is not tr ained his equip

.
,

ment is of little avail .

“
M ost frequently mission a ries a re c alled from ‘

among the poor ; one scarcely knows why Per .

haps money bought pleasures and money bough t

- -

cares fill the thoughts and choke inquiries about far

,

away duties and so fill the c a rs that they c a n not

,

hear th e Divine call O u r Indian gardeners lay .

bare the roo t s of roses and peac h es for a period of

each year in order to produce t h e finest bloom
,

a nd fruitage Hot house luxury seldom results in

.
-

strong hardy growth Whatever t h e reason m ay

,
.

be it is a fact t h at many who are called o f G o d

,

a re obliged to e a rn the money before they ca n be

edu cated for the work The e ff ort is a good dis .
266 L i fe of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

aries a re p a ssi ng a w a y and t h e call is for m a ny a s

, ,

well a s to many NO fact h a s been more app a rent

.

th a n this during the past six months of talk a nd

travel among the auxiliaries of our Society Every .

where true earnest women are asking what they

, ,

ca n do or how they can do the work which they b e

, ,

lieve waits for their hands They a re generally .

young and often unprepared ; but they are c a ll e d

, .

Sitting with one of our secretaries we compared our ,

notebooks and found that together we had twenty

,

fiv e names of g o o d candidates and we said Here

‘

, ,

are enough for the next two years A few days .

’

a fter she wrote me They want twelve missionaries

, ,
‘

a t once in Japan a nd twenty more to be preparing

,

to come within two years ! More than our twenty’

fiv e all wanted in one country ! The call comes from

abro a d the call comes from all over America ; and the
,

fa ithful servants recognize the voice of their M a s

ter does not the Church he a r the comm and to pre
p a re a nd send them ! ”
 CH AP TE R x xv .

F AM I LY S E PARATI O N S .

A V ERY prac t ical and often painful consider ation

, ,

which enters into missionary service in distant l a nds

is t h at of th e inevitable separations which it involves .

T h is is much less felt now t h an it was two or three

generations ago but it is still a very grave question
,

to most persons First of all the young missionary

.
,

must separate himself from home and its associ a

tions from kindred and from friends T w o or
, , .

three generations ago these separations were usually

for life ; but the revolution in facilities for travelin g
ha s in recent years changed this rule
, ,
In the next .

place in most foreign fields it is found imposs ible to

,

educate children and sooner or later they must be

,

sent away to t h e home land for education Aside

-
.

from this many both old and young find a tropical

, , ,

climate hostile to health and frequently part of a

,

family is found seeking heal t h at home while other ,

members of the household cling to the mission fiel d -

.

The separations caused in this w a y are sometimes

extremely painful and good people are often co n
,

s t rained to raise the question of rig ht in connection

with it . Is it ev er right i s sometimes asked
“
,
”
,
“
for p a rent s deliberately to turn over the oblig ation
‘

to train their children to str a ngers ! ”

Is it j us t to
the children !
26 8 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn
The strange thing about such inquiries is th at ,

the question is only raised in connection with mis

s io na ry service As a mat t er of fact the work of the
.
,

world would come to a sudden stop if a l l were t e

quired to adopt the rule whic h is demanded of mis
s io na r ie s These good men and women have no
.

monopoly of sacrifice V ast numbers of families in .

our world seldom if ever remain unbroken more , ,

than a week or two in the year or perh aps in a ,

dozen years The chief exception in the case of

.

the missionary is that he accepts his lot in Christ s

,
’

name and for Christ s sake It is this w h ich c o n

,
’
.

founds the j udgment of so many persons when per

p l e x i ng a
,
nd often vexing their minds over this ,

question They do not u nderstand the case They

. .

get beyond their moral depth when they try to esti

mate or discuss it But surely Christians men and
.
,

women who believe in Go d and who unders t and

the bearing of immort a l interests ought not to ,

stumble over such a n issue as too m a ny most u n ,

fortunately do .

In a letter to the F ri end published in O ctober , ,

1 886 Mi s s Thoburn expressed her views on th is sub

,

j e ct in the following brief but incisive article

'

, ,

It may seem that the subj ect on which I write is

not within the scope of my j u d gment and yet t he v ,

sometimes s e e more clearly ,

Wh o t d
s an ou s t id e,

Th an th ey w h o i n p ro ce s s i on r id e.
’
270 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the F riend sa y these thi ngs ! Al a s yes ! some of

, ,

them do They a nd others do a nd deter some who

.
,

would go out a nd send others away with heavier

,

hearts inste a d of helping them bear t h eir burdens .

H ave they ever thought how many children must be

left alone or to the less tender care than that of
,

mothers if the world s work is to go on ! It would

,
’

go hard with us if merchants and explorers polit ,

ical a gents sea faring men and soldiers were to think

,
-
,

it wrong either to c ause or bear the heartache that

must follow their going from home T h e captain .

of t he steamer on w h ich I left I ndia a Christian ,

father told us he had only seen his children once in

,

two years and then for a n hour at night when they

,

were in their beds The other officers and all the

.

crew of t hat ship and of all the ships that sail live
, ,

most of their lives away from h omes and friends

that are very dear to them More than half of our .

fellow passengers represen t ed divided families and

-
,

perhaps nine tenths of all the travelers between India

-

and England are of this c h aracter They are in .

every department of the Government service in

India Sometimes t h e mot h er is in England with
.

her children but oft en t h ey are having t h e a d v a n

,

tages of better education in a good climate while

s he shares h er husband s exile and by caring for his
’

comfort helps to preserve the life that is precious

to them all though spent in another hemisp h ere
,
.

These people do not oft en talk of sacrifices self ,

denials a nd privations as missionaries are expected

, ,

to do but simply and bravely live out their liv es

,
 F a m ily S e p a ra t i o ns . 27 1

in the lot assigned them doing what they c a n and , ,

trus t ing Go d for what is beyond their power even ,

the strong power of parental love The result j us .

ti fie s the t rust and s h ows a n o ff spring that c a n

,

‘
endure hardness as good soldiers ru lers of their ,
’

own spirits and so rulers of men

, .

“
It should not be counted a hard thin g or a ,

strange thing to do for Christ s sake what we s ee

,
’
,

and expect to see done every day for personal profit

,

or pleasure .

In the case of children of missionaries who have

been left a t home t he result also j ustifies the trust
, .

C a reful inquiry and observation prove that nearly

all become true m en a nd women nobly faithful to ,

duty living for others a nd often following t h e call

, ,

ing of their parents No doubt t h ey could tell of

.

days of loneliness of sorrows in which no one c ould

,

sympathize ; no doubt they have had losses of which ,

they will be conscious in life and character until they

die ; but children often su ff er so in the homes of
their own parents We have only to look around
.

us to s e e how this or that one might have been

more worthy if this or that home influence had been
,

exerted or withheld ; but a s such di fficulties a rise in

the common way they a re not made much of t he
,
v

are only pointed out when they occur to those w h o

seem to do an unnatural thing in leaving their c h il
dren for Christ s sake and the gospel s Persons
’ ’
.

who bl a me those they c a n not understand do not ,

know how true love for very love s sake ca n deny

,
’
,

itself The sel fi sh a ff ection th a t dem ands sight a nd

.
2 72 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

touch of its obj ect without regard to higher goo d

may be hurtful inste a d of helpful and create s el fish ,

ness in those for whom it i s manifested The zenana .

mothers of Indi a whose fondness for their c h ildren

,

is so often in t h e way of their best interests ask ,

us if English mothers love their children and if they ,

are not very hard h earted because they send them

-

home to be educated Christian mothers whose .

,

Bibles te a ch them the secret of true greatness and

heroism— faith and obedience to Go d— should know
that in this as in all else whosoever will save h is
, ,
‘

life shall lose it ; but whosoever will lose his life

for Christ s sake the same s h all save it
’

,
.
’

“
The sorest sorrows of life are those that come
to us through s in Next to these of the troubles.
,

I have seen t h at one se eni e d to my feeling or i m

, ,

a g ina t io n the very hardest to bear when a widowed

,

mother said good bye to her little sons o n her death

-

bed leaving them j ust when they needed h er most ;

,

a nd yet by faith she was able to go calmly in per

, , ,

fec t peace and with full assurance that it would be

,

well with them in God s keeping When Go d call s ’

.
,

he ca n comfort his believing child whether he call to ,

China or to heaven When he says Go he gives .

,
‘

,
’

suffi cient grace to the one who receives the com

mandment Believe it Christian mothers whose
.
, ,

h a ppy lot is with your beloved at home believe that ,

they are bl ess e d even though they suffer who leave

, ,

children for the ki ngdom of God s s ake and that ’

, ,

a s Go d is true he will keep that which is committed

,
”
to hi m .
2 74 L if e o f I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

way seemed a lw a ys to be laden with the burdens of

others .

At the beginning of this term of service as will ,

be noted in anot h er chapter M iss T hob u rn assumed ,

editorial management of a Hindustani periodical for

women and to the end of her life she maintained
,

a w a rm interest in the publishing work of the

mission She watched with much interest the r apid
.

expansion of the Mission especially when the line ,

of march passed beyond the boundary line of the -

Indian Empire and a lthough at times somewhat

,

moved to express mis g ivings lest we should go too

fast or too far yet upon t h e whole s he recog nized
, , ,

God s hand as the agency which beckoned us for

’

ward But while always ready to recognize fitting

.

tokens she never omitted to enter her protest against

,

an advance which involved the neglect of work a l ~

ready in h a nd .

After becomi ng fa irly settled in her f a miliar

Lucknow work she lost no time in taking up t he
,

great t a sk of developing t h e high school and has ,

tening the full organization of a n institution rec ,

o gniz e d alike by the public and the Government as ,

a bona fid e Christian Woman s College It is a s im ’

.

ple enough matter to record this statement but few ,

readers in America will be able to realize what it

me ans To assist those who may wish to have a
.

clearer view of the task involved it may be well ,

to introduce here a chapter prepared in a nother

co nnec tion .
 T h i rd T e rm of S e rv i c e . 2 75

AN I N SID E V I EW .

The Ameri can visitor to Indi a or to a ny O ri ,

e nta l country is not long in discovering th a t he is not

,

s o much in a new country as in a new world T0 .

s a y that a l a dy managed a school in O hio conveys

a certain meaning ; but to sa y that she conducted

a school of equal gr a de in India conveys a very dif
fe re nt meaning The two situations di ffer a t a l
.

most every point The inner life of the Indian

.

school ha s much more of what might be called de

tail and the individual pupil expects and seems to
, ,

require more personal supervision than is expected

,

or needed in an American school A successful su .

p e rint e n d e nt must know her pupils and know them ,

thoroug h ly She must be able to win and keep t h eir

.

confidence and must know w h at is going on among

,

them This will add much to her labors a nd no

.
,

doubt will sometimes prove very burdensome but ,

it is a condition of success .

A former pupil Miss Shora t Chu ck e rbu tty in a

, ,

lett er written shortly after Miss Tho b u rn s death ’

gi ves in simple language a striking illustr ation of her

t a ct in managing her girls and of her skill in keep
,

ing everything under her own eye Her method .

required steady work but her perfect self control

,
-

made this less fatiguing than it might prove to some

others This young lady wrote
.

“
I fi rst s a w our dear friend in 1 882 when she ,

retu rned from a furlo ugh in Ameri ca a nd took ,

276 L if e of Is a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

ch a rge of her school where I had been placed a s a

bo a rder O ne of the first things she did was to give
.

up her cool a nd quiet room in the teachers kothi ’

! palace ,as it was called ) for the noisy quarters of

the matron in the center of the boarding house -
,

while the matron was allowed to occupy a room a t

one end of the same building and to continue her,

work as usual We can now understand that this

.

was done to check a certain laxity in the manage

ment of the girls without o ff ending any of the p a r
,

ties which i s often the case in other schools w h en

,

a reform is undertaken by a new lady principal .

When M iss T hob u rn rang the rising bell with her -

own hands the girls did not find it hard to rise

,

early ; when she made her own bed and dusted the
things in her room the girls felt tha t their special
,

duty was even to sweep their rooms and keep them

neat a nd tidy ; when s he wrote her business letters ,

it w a s the most natur a l thing for everybody to be

perfectly quiet a nd also during the rest hour and
,
-
,

so o n . The matron too received much help The

, , .

storeroom was kept in good order and t h e meals ,

of the girls were properly attended to because she ,

went into the ki t c h en at least once a day and peeped ,

i nto the storeroom every now and then ; the sweep

ers were well watched because she went around
,

the whole place to s ee if it was clean ; the sick gi rls

were nursed with much care and patience because ,

she had the worst cases in her own room and s a t ,

u p ni g hts with them —a nd so on through the whole

,
2 78 L if e of I s ab e ll a Th o b u rn .

annual meeting of the Teachers Association which ’

further illustrates the extraordinary skill and no ,

less extraordinary devotion with which Miss T ho

burn administered t h e complicated a ff airs over which
s he had co ntrol S h e was principal of the school
.
,

and later of the college and not only mot h er and ,

manager of the large boarding school but also -

,

house mother as the Germans would say of the L al

-
, ,

Bagh M ission an institution in itself In addition

, .

to all this she did outside mission a ry work often ,

taking one or more girls with her Bearing all t h is .

in mind the following extracts will be re a d with

,

much interest

I first met dear Miss Thoburn in 1 8 78 and ,

from that first meeting to the last one w h ich was ,

at my sick bedside at nine P M only two days . .

,

before she was called away fro m our midst her ,

beautiful unselfis h life was always an inspira t ion

,

to me I never came in contact with or talked with

.

her without being better for it Her life and in .

fl u e nc e were simply wonderful .

O ne of the traits in h er ch a racter which always

“

impressed me was her ability to become all th ings

to all men It did not matter who t h e individual
.

w a s whether rich or poor high or low young or

, , ,

old educated or illiterate worldly or spiritually

, ,

minded she u nderstood one a nd all a nd impressed

, ,

o ne and a ll .

“
I shall never forget one obj ect lesson which she
 T h i rd T e rm of S e rv i c e . 27 9
once unconsciously taught me M any years ago I .

had occasion to go out visiting in the city with

her O ne of our obj ects was to search for pupils
.

for a day sc h ool of which I had charge I had been

-
.

on that street and in that neighborhood dozens of

times before without noticing or caring for any one
,

or anyt h ing ; but how di ff erent was her way of walk

ing th ose streets ! As she passed along she noticed
every man woman a nd child whom she met It
, , .

was j ust a word here a cheery remark there a n , ,

inquiry and i f not h ing else a bright smile and

, ,

greeting I am sure a l l w o u l d remember that Miss

.
‘

Sahiba even if s h e never passed that way again

, .

When we had finished our work she sai d to me ! I ,

‘

had a Sunday school pupil ye a rs ago in this neigh

-

b o rho o d If you are not tired I s h ould like to s ee

.
,

her again ; but every t hing looks s o changed I a m ,

not sure th at I can find her house We beg a n to .

’

search and soon c a me upon the house Miss Tho

, .

burn a sked a nd received permission to enter and ,

no sooner were we within the inclosure where Miss

Tho b u rn s voice could be heard than a little sight
’

less old woman it seemed flew towards the spot

, ,

whence the talking proceeded and j oyously clasped ,

M iss T hob u rn s knees exclaiming O Miss Sahiba

’

, ,
‘

, ,

O Miss Sahiba I have met you a nd he a rd your

, ,

dear voice once more ! Y ou see I am poor and ,

blind and a widow now but through all my troubles

, ,

I h ave never forgotten you or the words you t a ught

me I have bee n in this d a rk ness a long time but
.
,
2 80 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

I have prayed every day to your Go d that I m ay o nce

more meet and hear you and he has heard my ,

prayer and you have come to me Now I do not

, .

care how soon I die She went on speaking in this .

’

same j oyous way never for a moment letting go of ,

Miss Thoburn Her a ff ection was not a sham It

. .

was very real and as Miss Thoburn talked a nd

,

stroked her head a wonderful calm with a look , ,

of longing satisfied settled on her poor wizened , ,

little face That wonderful influence after all those

.
,

many years was there a nd is still there I know i f

, , , ,

poor Janki lives .

“
No one woman perh aps accomplished more , ,

than Miss Thoburn ; and yet meeting her every day ,

you would think she w a s the one woman who had

nothi ng to do She never seemed to be in a hurry
.
,

a nd was always at leisure for those who needed

her It did not m atter who it was or at what time

.
,

of the day or even night one came to her she a l

, , ,

ways had time to se e and listen to e a ch one who

came and if she could not give what was w a nted
, ,

yet no one could leave her presence without feeling

comforted helped and encouraged by her wise a nd
, ,

loving counsel How often have I stood at her door

.
,

hesitating to ask permission to enter knowing that ,

s he was always busy reading writing or doing , ,

something else but t he prompt loving response to

, ,

my call was always Come in j ust as if I was her ,

“
,
”

guest and she a w a iting a nd expecting to re

,
2 82 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

invalid lingered but the welcome extended to her

,

never wore itself out .

Miss Thoburn was fi rst a nd all the time a mis , ,

s io na ry and after that a teacher

, This will account .

for the fact that in the foregoing pages but sligh t

reference has been made to her personal ability and
fidelity as a teacher It must not for a moment be.

assumed t h at she did not do personal work in the

school At the outset s he was t he sole teac h er and
.
,

for several years s he did a full share of t he actual

work of teaching Her ideal of a teac h er s duty was
.
’

a hig h one and from the very first she demonstrated

,

the fact t h at she possessed a peculiar gift for t h e

teacher s calling Her work was all done thor
’
.

oughly and her example did much to inspire o t hers

,

with a like spirit It was no doubt owing to this

.
, ,

high standard of faithful work that the school ,

gained its w el l earned reputation for substantial

-

work and good scholarship The work done was .

solid work Miss Thoburn had little patience with

.

the notion popular with many that the education

, ,

of girls s h ould consist c h iefly of accomplis h ments “

.
”

In most cases these so called accomplishments are -

imperfectly taught and serve no purpose in after

,

life In India of all countries a more pr a ctical

.
, ,

ideal is needed .

Those who understand the work which falls to

a te a cher s lot in a n I ndian school will be ready to
’
 Th i rd T e rm of S e rv i c e .
28
3

admit that it is a hard and exhausting calling In .

fact i f well done it is exhaus t ing in any country

, , ,

but especially so in a region where the climate is

depressing Taugh t by the experience of the past
.
,

missionaries who take up this branch of work should

arrange for at least two months of rest a nd re cre
ation every year .

O f the girls who a ttended this school Miss ,

Thoburn wrote in 1 8 78
“
The Indian boarding school is unlike the Amer
-

ican in that the maj ority of the pupils are girls rather
than young women They are of all ages from s ix
.
,

years old to twenty but the average i s perhaps not

,

above twelve As the school must supply the lack

.

of family instruction and influence t h e girls must be ,

taught to work and s e w and mend and do many , ’

things that are not thought of in our boarding

sch ools in America ; and all through the course of
their education they have Bible lessons and very -

pr a ctical Christian training to prepare them for use

fulness a s Christian workers The older girls go.

out with missionaries and Bible readers and learn -

,

how to talk and to te ach all classes of people .

“
Making allowance for the heredi t ary e ff ects of
early marriage and idleness and ignorance the a v
, , ,

erage Indian woman s intellect is equal to the

’

average American s M any of them are very gifted

’
. .

More and more sensibly they are being stirred by

the a mbitions of new life dawning upon their s o
2 84 L if e of I s a b e l l a Th o b u rn .

long dark land and a mong all races castes a nd

, , ,

classes of people none are s o suscep t ible to these

,

ambitions a s the Christians They are eager to

.

learn wh atever is required for the promotion of

their personal welfare or the good of oth ers We .

h ave inspired them with this eagerness ; we have

pointed them to the privilege and duty before them ,

shall we not further help them a ccording to their

time of need ! ”
2 86 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

better They may be not many mighty not m a ny

.
‘
,

noble they may have neither wealth nor r a nk nor ,

great talent ; but they will have the vantage ground

of freedom giving them a capacity for growth not
,

possessed by those w h o have app a rently more fa v

ored positions because in h erited a nd a re not rep u g
, ,

nant to taste and custom .

“
This vantage ground is occupied by the Chris
ti ans They are numerically s o insignificant th at
.
,

except to the sympathetic observer their hundred ,

thousands are lost sight of among the hundred mil

lions O f Hindus and M ohammedans And the Chris .

tian himself and even the missionary may under

, ,

estimate their importance From childhood u p to .

the lat est missionary meeting all the stories and ,

pictures and appeals have been about Hindus and

Hinduism a nd even here in India they are more
,

romantic obj ects of interest than the convert is at

any time after his first year of Christianity They .

still bow down to wood and stone as when Heber s

‘
,
’ ’

hymn was written stirring our hearts to indignant

,

zeal for the honor of our Master and they are still ,

ignorant of him who is our life No wonder then .

, ,

that th ey occupy missionary atten t ion and demand

e ff ort But t h e ratio of increase of converts to
.

Christianity will not only depend upon the efforts

of missionaries but upon the converts their work
, , ,

their perso nal character and the training they re

c e iv e .

“
This tr aining must be in distinct li nes for m en
 I nd i a n C h ris t i a n W o m e n . 2 87

a nd wome n O ne we a ries listening to the t a lk abou t

.

wom a n s work a nd position and prospects rep re

’

sented by books and associations and laws ; but here

is a place where the sep a ration has been so wide
a nd so co ntinuous that woman in many of her char ,

a c t e ri st ic s appears to belong to a distinct r a ce a nd

,

almost to a dis t inct species .

“
Christian women in India a re much more prom
i nent and relatively more important t h an Christ i a n
, ,

men There are men all over the empire wearing

.
,

more or less European dress and occupying all m a n

ner of public positions who profess any or no r e
,

l ig io n ; but there are few women seen in public places ,

or capable of talking in public who are not Chris ,

tians and their limited number a ttracts attention to

,

them Their prominence is not due to any merit

.

or demerit or choice of their own but to the free ,

dom which the religion of freedom has brought

them the education it has given them and the d u
, ,

ties to which it has called them If they live in a .

village they a re probably the only women in the

,

c ommunity who c a n read and write ; no others go to

a plac e of worship with men sing and pray with ,

them or are addressed by m e n in public assemblies

, .

Their daughters go away to boarding schools a nd

return to become village ora cles consulted at times ,

by their own fathers who have had less o p p o rt u

,

nity of seeing and knowing Christian usages and

duties If their homes are in a city where their

.

cl a ss i s more nu merous they perh aps attr act les s

,
2 88 Li fe of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

attention as a novelty ; but even there they a re ob

served a nd often subj ected to painful criticism and
, ,

what is more trying to doubt They stand as the

, .

representatives of all the women of Indi a a s they ,

will be when they are free .

Whether fitted to their place or whether still

feeling their way to familiarity with their new re
l a t io ns Christian women are prominent and im
,

portant in city and country They are teachers .

,

Bible—women and zenana visitors When students

, .

for t h e Du ff erin M edical Schools are called for the ,

C h ris t ians are prepared to s t and the t es t for the

scholars h ips o ff ered More t h an t hree fourt hs of a ll
.
-

those who h ave applied or passed t h ese test e x a m i -

nations are Christians They are found in both D uf

.

ferin and mission hospitals as doctors compound , ,

ers and nurses ; and they appear for the advanced

,

examinations in the educational department While .

they have bee n passing entrance examinations for

the past twenty years the first M ohammed a n girl
,

has only t h is year matriculated .

“
And so it is that the numerically smallest class
of women in India is the mos t important T 0 her .

that hath s h all be given Because of her o ppo rtu

.

nity her duty her representative character and her

, , ,

influence we owe our best missionary e ffort to t he

,

Christian woman and her daughter and in her case ,

t here is no obstacle in the way no doors to open no , ,

prej udice to overcome .

2 9
0 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

the m e n h a ve heard and received more truth th an

the women When families come toget h er into the
.

Church the women are certain to be more ignorant ,

more superstitious and consequently less teachable ,

than the men ; they are also still timid and doubtful ,

and need women evangelists A woman ca n only .

reach them by going from village to village with t h e

o x cart and little tent
-
sitting down in the humble ,

homes gathering the converts together talking u n

, , ,

folding explaining and leading them to become true

, ,

and steadfast disciples of the great Teac h er It is a .

widening work and one for which we should be ,

prepared O ne lady missionary who spends most

.

of the cold season among the villages speaking of ,

the need of carrying spiritual food to these scattered

little ones of t h e flock says ! There are C h ristians ,
‘

in a thousand villages in these provinces and with ,

all I could do I have visited less t h an one hundred .

’

The laborers are few and not many have time or ,

strength for this kind of work ; but it wai t s to be

done and the tho usand villages soon become ten
,

thousand Converted s a d hu s like Chandni of Mid

.
,

na p u r and Premi of A j u d hia t rained from child

, ,

hood to long and toilsome j ourneys and trained later ,

in Bible lore will do this evangelism effectively

,
.

It should be a recognized dep a rtment in all plans

of work .

When we ca n not go to the village women

“
,

we may bring them to us in the persons of their

daughters Teachers ca n not always or often be
.
, ,
 I ndi a n C h ris t i a n W o m e n . 2 9
1

pl a ced in remote vill a ges ; but the girls c a n be

brought to boarding schools in centr a l stations ; and
-

while they live in a m anner a s nearly like their

home as possible they may be t a ught elementary
,

knowledge of books and practic a l wisdom of t he

,

kind that L emuel s mother commended to her son

’
.

There are girls in the middle classes of such schools ,

in the province of R ohil kha nd who have not o nly ,

cooked but ground the grain that m a de their food

throughout the school course ; there is a school in
Kumaun where bright intelligent gi rls have passed
the examinations that admitted them to the Agra
M edical School who not only ground their own
,

grain but helped to pl a nt a nd reap it in the terraced

,

fields on the hillside These girls a re good Bible

.

students and before they leave school they have

,

opportunity to teach in Sunday schools and vi sit in -

m o hu l l a s near by doing j ust the evangelistic work

,

whic h is needed in their native villages They re .

turn not only as teachers but to build up the Chris

, ,

tian family lives of their homes whether with their ,

parents or husbands a nd to aid in developing the

,

spiritual life a nd work of the village Churches .

“
And so the evangelistic work passes into the
educational We have in m a ny cases been forced
.
, ,

to begin with the latter and having begun we, , ,

have taught too much rather than too little ; we have

let quantity take precedence of quality We have .

sometimes forced growths and sometimes prevented,

development We have not a lw ays remembered th at

.
2 9
2 Li fe of I s a b e l l a Th o b u rn .

educ ation is indigenous Given the right impulse . ,

surrounded by the right influence restra ints and , ,

encouragements character of mind and heart will

,

have a healthy growth and habit and custom will ,

form around character We have tried sometimes .

to train the women and girls committed to our care

to our customs but oftener to our ideas of their
,

customs They may not arrange their houses a c

.

cording to our taste nor dress as we would choose

, ,

but if they have that within them which delig h ts in

‘
whatsoever things are true and whatso
ever things are lovely they will not make serious ,
’

mistakes What mis t akes t h ey do make will be

.

temporary Meanwhile we must be patient and

.
,

remember the embarrassments of their position In .

coming out of the zenana in most cases some , ,

change in dress is required ; but a woman w h ose

ances t ors wore the same fas h ion for a thousand
years and who has had no experience to help h er
, ,

is not to be expected to know where to end the

change she is reluctantly forced to begin L ike .

dress all social manners and customs are in a tran

,

s it io n state w h ic h well might puzzle the wisest ; but

,

the wises t will not try to mold t h em into fixed forms ,

and will not have less fai th in charac t er nor less ,

hope for ul t ima t e success because of some crudities ,

in the earlier stages of development .

I n our school for C h ristian girls the moral

“
-

education should have the first place This is d iffi .

cult under the India n educational system th a t m a kes ,

2 9
4 L if e o f I s a b e l l a Th o b u rn .

Happily there is no genera l prej udice a ga inst

the h igher education of Christian girls and there is ,

everything to encourage them to study as far as

their ability o r circumstances will a llow The last .

decade has seen a marvelous change in this respect .

T h e Du ff eri n work opens a highway both to useful

ness and profit The educational dep a rtment a sks
.

for able teachers and will call more loudly when

,

education in Indi a is not the unbalanced one sided ,

-

work it is to day The late educational reports show

-
.

that t h e girls who are under instruction are Only

four per cent of the number of boys ; i f C h ristian
girls were not included the percentage would be ,

a t least one half lower Girls sc h ools will increase

-
.
’
,

and their future teachers are those who are under

instruction to d ay the gre a t maj ority of whom are
,

Christians With the increase of schools examiners

.
,

and inspectresses will be required In literature .

there is another field The women and girls who .

h a ve not yet learned English have a lmost nothing ,

to read Foreign thought and language c a n never

.

mean to them what their own tongue used by one ,

of themselves may so easily express In every di

,
.

rection there are wide opportunities with corre ,

s p o nding l y great responsibilities and duties .

“
In addition to the moral education which will
manifest itself in home life as well as in public , ,

and the developed intelle ct which we may expect ,

equal to the demands of the time there should b ,

e

a speci a l miss iona ry ed uc ation We shou l d te ach .

 I ndi a n C h ri s t i a n W o m e n . 2 9
5

to te a ch We should l a y the duty of bringing India

.

to C h rist upon every heart that we c a n touch O ne .

lesson will not be su fficient L ike the study of.

English or science or any other subj ect this re

, , ,

quires a daily living contact with missionary work

and interests Its lessons must be well learned in
.

order to pass tests of time and trial a nd discourage

, ,

ment and the learner must be filled with the power

,

that is only given by the Holy Spirit O rganization .

is the present day method and this missionary e ff ort

-
,

should be given the form a nd permanent force of

organiz a tion The Young Women s C h ristian Asso
.
’

c ia t io n the Society of Christian Endeavor or some

, ,

thing similar should find place in all our schools

,
‘

“
And so edu cation comes back to evangelization .

All that is done or planned in any department of the

’

service has but one obj ect to extend the kingdom

,

of Christ a nd to glorify his na me .

”
 CHAPTER XX V III .

L I T E R A TUR E F OR I N D IAN W O M E N .

IN 1 8 70 , when Miss Thoburn a rrived in India ,

t he leading a nd almost the only question to be con

, ,

s id e re d in connection with work among Indian

women was that of teac h ing them to read It was .

di ff erent of course with t hose who had become

, ,

C h ristians ; but t hese were few in number and it was ,

not generally foreseen how important t h eir influence

would become The immediate problem to be solved
.

w a s that of finding a way to remove the prej udices

and to some extent the fears of the people and thus
, , ,

to introduce at least the elements of a very imperfect

education among the women In those early days .

if any one had proposed to establis h a periodical for

Indian women the idea would h ave seemed absurd
,

to the last degree Who would or could read such

.
, ,

a periodical ! Would h usbands admit it to t h e z e

nanas ! Would the u t terly illiterate woman under
stand the obj ect of such a public at ion and would ,

not any experiment of the kind end in immedi ate

and complete failure !
Such no doubt would have been the questions
, ,

a sked if such a proposal had been made in 1 8 70 ,

but early in the next dec a de a periodi ca l for zenana

“

296
2 9
8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

t er up a nd raised twenty thous a nd doll a rs a s an

endowment the income of which was to provide
,

for the publication of periodicals for women in

India We did not attempt a magazine but a little
.
,

family paper going into the homes a nd bringing

, ,

j ust what you would like to put into the homes of

people who had nothing else to read— something for
the mothers and something for the children—Bible
stories and maps a nd family stories We first b e
, , .

gan in L ucknow with two papers one in Urdu and

, , ,

one in Hindi semi monthly It was later found

,
-
.

that t h ere was more money to spare and now we ,

publish five such papers t wo of th em semi monthly ,

-
,

and t h e ot h ers monthly They go chiefly to our own .

people but t h ey are also sent to other places in Nort h

,

India and elsewhere There is nothing p a id for .

them necessarily except postage ; but of course

, , ,

there are women who ca n not get mo ney to buy

anything to read and to such it is sometimes given
,

post free As t h e paper is carried out by the Bible

. ,

women you may fi nd the boys waiting a t the street

,

corners and asking Is the paper out yet ! And ,

‘ ’

it is interesting to know that the boys read it to

their mothers when t h e mothers ca n not read It .

is appreciated very highly We consider that it is a .

good work that has been done and I will mention , ,

in the interest of endowments that I have found , ,

traveling through this country that the women who ,

gave the money many of t h em h ave forgotten that

, ,

they ever gave it a nd th u s while they h a ve been,

 Li t e ra tu re fo r I nd i a n W o m e n . 2 9
9
a sleep or thinking of other things that which they
, ,

did eighteen years ago is doing its work and will go ,

on through the century or the centuries to come

,
.

It is comforting to know that Christian literature

can do permanent good ; that when it once goes out
of our hands it goes on to bless and it may be used
, ,

in this way when w e who have begun t h e work

sh a ll have passed away We have taught the chil
.

dren to read and a fter having done that we must

, , ,

put something into their hands They have nothing .

of their own and no one has ever been interested

,

to give them anyt hing The men of India h a ve

.

said that the reason they have never taught t h e

women is because there was nothing fit for them to
read ; that there were books fit for men but not for ,

women Happily there is now the beginning of a

.
,

Christian literature but it is very limited The

,
.

greatest need has been for the non Christians ; for -

those who have been t aught to read but are not ,

Christians .

The lady referred to in Miss Thob u rn s a ddress ’

was the late M rs Sleeper Davis of Boston The

.
, .

remark made by M iss Thoburn concerning the long

a nd endless line of tourists making their way around

the globe is extremely suggestive Some s e e the .

“

sights occasionally they s e e the people

“
The .
“
y

bring away what they buy and that is the end of it,
.
”

But all are not of this kind As with the endless .

multitudes moving up and dow n all the highw a ys

and byw a ys of e a rth only a very few h a ve a d efi
,
3 00 L if e o f I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

n ite moral purpose in life and very rarely indeed ,

do we find any who realize th a t it is their special

mission on earth to scatter flowers and di ff use sun
shine along every pathway into which their feet are
guided .

At the time above referred to the Rev Thomas , .

Craven w a s in charge of the publishing house at -

L ucknow and he pushed forward t his novel enter

,

prise with much energy The new paper which .

,

was issued fortnig h tly was called t h e R a fiq i ,

N is w a n or The Wom a n s F ri e nd Wit h h er a c ’

.
, ,

curate knowledge o f t h e condition of women for

whom the new periodical was intended Miss Tho ,

burn was well adapted to the editorial management

of the modest little venture and during t h e last ,

ten years of her life she added this to her other

duties a nd displayed no little skill in providing a
,

leading article for each number in the form of a

personal message to her readers After h er death .
,

copies of these fortnig h tly messages extending over ,

a period of ten mont h s were found among h er ,

papers They h ad been written for t h e most part in

.

English and probably made over to some Hindu

,

stani assistant to be translated into idiomatic Hindu

st a ni such as is spoken in the secluded home circle
,

of the better class of Indian families While a cer .

t a i n amou nt of religious teaching is found in these

papers it is for the most part given in an incidental
, , ,

w a y Mothers are taught with much det ail how t o

.

c a re for their children how to teach them in very,

3 0 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

h a d se cured a wide reading constituency of her o w n ,

deliberately sacrificing all other interests and pros

peets for the noble purpose of laying a foundation
for a Christian literature for women in a region ,

where women had been living in blank ignorance for

untold centuries It was a noble venture to make
.
,

and future generations will appreciate the a ct .

It may be proper to remark here that Miss T ho

burn was gifted with a fine literary taste and no ,

doubt would gladly have devoted her life to the

work which she commended but for her supreme ,

conviction th a t the special work for whic h s he had

been s et ap a rt was that of teaching In a c o u nt r v .

like India where nearly every pursuit is in its in

,

fancy it seldom happens that any one however

, ,

gifted can successfully prosecute more t h an one line

,

of work at a time When half a dozen callings are

.

accepted something may be done for eac h but

, ,

marked success will hardly be achieved in any .

As a general rule in life each individual should ,

accept one supreme calling and then carefully decide,

how many du t ies c a n be recognized as subordinate

to the chief calling .

The women of India are by no means lacking in

the peculiar kind of ability which is needed for liter
a ry work As yet attempts in this line have been
.

necess a rily confined to the few who have become

Christians but when due allowance is made for the
small number w ho ca n be expected to engage in such
work the result is th u s fa r very e ncour agi ng U n
, .
 L i t e ra t u re fo r I ndi a n W o m e n .
3 3
0

fortunately there will probably be a temptation for

, ,

some at least to write only in English ; but time

,

will surely correct this mistake In the long run

.
,

writers may be depended on to use the language in

which they c a n find the most readers and as edu
,

cation spreads among the rapidly increasing con

verts the writers of the early future will not fail to
,

find t h e fields which are best prep a red for cultivation ,

and w h ic h give best promise of an early and abun

dant harvest .

Those who are best able to appreciate the value

of Miss Tho b u rn s opinion on a question of this
’
.

kind will not fail to take note of the fact th at it

,

was in the closing years of her life that she gave

expression to her matured convictions on this ques
tion of literature for Christian women in I n dia .

Had she lived longer she would no doubt have con

, ,

tributed more personally to the creation of su ch a

liter at u re a s the pe culi a r situ ation ca lls for .
 CHAPTER XXIX .

P H O EB E ROWE .

W H ILE discussing the subj ect of literature

in India it m a y not be amiss to speak briefly
,

of the only literary work which Miss Thoburn could

ever be persuaded t o under t ake a brief—too brief ,

memoir of Phoebe Rowe a noted and noble Chris

,

tian worker who j oined Miss T hob u rn soon after

the opening of the La l Bagh Home and after many ,

years of devoted service in L ucknow was sent out ,

to occupy more responsible posts at various poin t s

in North India From the very first a very strong
.

a ttachment sprang up between Miss Thoburn and

this young disciple a nd this mutual confidence
,

and love continued to increase until the death of

M iss Rowe at Naini Tal in the summer of 1 89 ,
8 .

During her later years Miss Thoburn frequently

spoke of her loved and fait h ful assistan t as her
“
Indian Sis t er and although she freely consented
,
”

to her leaving L ucknow when duty called her else

where it cost her a sore trial to do so
, .

Miss Rowe s character was simplicity itself As

’
.

ne a rly a s a human bei ng c a n realize the possession

of the title she was a disciple without guile

,
“
She .
”

di sproved however the very co mm on but very mi s

, , ,
3 0 6 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

limited in extent When sixteen her father died

.
,

and soon a fter she w a s admitted to the L al B a gh

H ome .

Soon after coming to L ucknow the writer of

these lines one morni ng said to his sister The poor ,
“

girl thinks she can sing The poor girl was .

” “ ”

seated a t a small wheezing harmonium picking out

, ,

the notes as best s he could and now and t h en trying

,

to sing a strain or two The poor girl nobly .

“ ”

avenged her reputation In later years her critic

.

was glad to introduce her to vast audiences in

America and watch t h e people as th ey were swayed
,

by the singing of t h is simple girl like forest trees

bending before a mighty wind Her singing was .

simple Her favorite h ymns were all simple but

.
,

at the same time deeply spiritual No trace of .

a ffectation could ever be detected in her voice and ,

nothing artificial ever appeared in her manner .

Miss Rowe had a marvelous use of the Hindu

stani language in b oth its chief dialects and was
, ,

also familiar with many simple but very sweet ,

native tunes and she could adapt herself readily

,

to any class or any caste among whom s h e c h anced

to go S h e was also very useful in European c i rcles
.
,

and did much good wherever she went But she did .

not take su ffi cient rest and not being robus t in

,

health she was not able to resist the attack of d ip h

,

t heria to which she succumbed while still compara ,

tively young and well fitted for the highest order

of se rvi ce .
 Ph o e b e Row e .
3 7
0

Miss Thoburn wrote t h e biograp h y of this noble

disciple in 1 89 9 partly
,
in India and partly
,
in the
early part of her third furlough It is a modest .

story but in excellent keeping alike with the

,

character of the subj ect and of the biographer The .

Church of the present day needs j ust such little ones “

of the kingdom a s was illustrated in the life a nd

”

labors of Phoebe Rowe The greatest forces of

.

nature often move in absolute quietness and sim

p l i c i,t y and yet with a power which suggests the
thoug h t of veiled omnipotence The men and .

women of greatest spiritual might are almost inv a ri

ably persons who a re not numbered a mong the
mighty of this world
“
We would all do well to
.

remember anew that the Creator of the universe

when incarnate among men was likened to a tender “

plant with no beauty which would be appreciated

,
”

a s such according to the st a ndard of this world .

The infant Church of Indi a needed such a ch a racter

and such a life as were seen in the presence of
Phoe be Rowe and the hallowed influence of her
,

life and labors will be felt fa r a nd wide for long

years to come .
 C H APTER XXX .

T HE T HIRD F UR L O U G H .

TH E ste a dy exp a nsion of both the school and

c ollege m a de it appear absolutely necessary in the

course of the year 1 8 9 4 to begin the long contem

plated enterprise of erecting a new college building .

Addi t ional rooms were needed for boarders and

recitations a college hall w a s much desired a larger
, ,

dining room was a n absolute necessity and it seemed

-
,

that a beginning could not be much longer delayed .

The Wom a n s Foreign Missionary Society with an

’

enlightened appreciation of the situation had gen ,

e ro u sl y appropriated sixty t housand rupees to aid

in the undertaking and it seemed as if t h e set time

,

to begin the work had surely come But M iss .

Thoburn s t ill hesi t ated Throug h out her whole mis

.

s io na r v career she h ad resolutely set her face agains t

t h e too prevalent h abi t in mission fields of running

-
“

into debt and h er caution in th is particular had

,
”
,

upon the whole seemed well grounded Wit h some

,
.

people the disposition to borrow quickly becomes a

habit and in mission fields where all payments from
, ,

the home land are deferred from three mont h s to

a year it i s very easy for the habit to be formed
,

before it is s u spe cted Exceptio na l c a ses no doubt

.

3 08
3 10 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

and a ll felt that a historic milestone had been passed

in the progress of the institution ; but while all
others rej oiced one mind was burdened and one
,

h eart saddened by the recollection of the somewh a t

large and now slowly increasing debt .

In partial explanation of the manner in which

this debt gradually grew into formidable propor
tions t h e following extract from a letter publis h ed
,

by M iss Thoburn in 1 89 9 may fit l y be inserted here !

“
In 1 889twenty years after the organiza t ion of
,

t h e Woman s F oreign Missionary Society a t h ank

’

o ff ering was made and the money received was given

to the F oochow Girls School and th e L ucknow ’

Woman s College The latter received t h irteen

’
.

thousand dollars I took t h is sum back to India

.
,

feeling very rich in having s o muc h But I found .

the school building from which the college ha d

sprung and to which it must still look for many
,

of its s t udents required repairs and improvements

,
.

The cheap work done twenty years before had to

be done over again ; and t h is time we had learn ed
that permanent work is t he cheapest t h ough ex ,

pensive For these purposes more t h an half th e

.

precious college money h ad to be used .

“
Five years later at the silver anniversary of the
,

Society s organization anot h er appeal was made

’

, ,

a nd as a memorial to t he lamented Mrs Warren

, .
,

ten thousand dollars was given to the college Again .

,

in my ignorance of the actual necessities of such a n

undertaki ng I thought we were rich enough to p ut up
,
 The T h i rd F u rl o u gh .
3 1 1

a suit able college building While plans were being

.

m a de an unusually heavy monsoon revealed t h e fact

that our Home the capacious old house buil t long
,

ago in the days of t h e O udh Nawabs and which ,

some of our guests had called The House Beautiful

‘
,
’

not only needed extensive repairs but t h at a part ,

must come down White ants and decay had eaten

.

the ends of heavy beams in roof and flooring which ,

had to be replaced with iron Th en the new building

.

required expenditure which could not have bee n

foreseen Like all old cities L ucknow stands on
.
,

the debris of ages past T h e only part of the ground

.

on which the building could be conveniently located

required deep digging before a solid basis was
reached with founda t ions equal to another story .

Thus in many ways the precious money was spent

, ,

before the h ouse w a s finished but there were the ,

students and t eachers to whom room had been prom

ised and we had either to go in debt or give our
,

O pportunity into other hands whose methods a nd

obj ects were not the best for our work .

”

The reader may wonder that one with so long

a nd s o varied an experience should take so much
to heart a matter of such secondary importance a s
an honest debt but with Miss T hob u rn a question
of conscience was involved She had been person
.

a lly responsible for the decision which led to the

incurring of the debt and for her th ere could be no
,

rest and no peace of mind or heart until t he obli

, ,

g a t i o n was met or a cle a r assurance given th at

,
3 12 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

deliverance would come The a ssurance was given .

,

and deliverance did come but not in a w a y which ,

could have been anticipated at the time .

The payment of t h is debt became a subj ect of

much solicitude during the following year and ,

during th e vacation in 1 896 a Sunday was set apar t ,

for special prayer on the part of teachers and stu

dents that God would raise up friends to help or in ,

some way provide for the payment of the debt The .

weekly mail from Europe was eagerly awaited in the

hope that news of relief would come from some
quarter ; but in time discouragement began to take
the place of hope and the outlook bec a me gloomy
,

enough .

In the midst of those discouraging times Miss

T ho b u rn one day quietly remarked to Miss Singh ,
“
I do not worry any more about that debt and
when asked t h e reason why s he proceeded to gi ve a ,

very remarkable account of what she called a

“
vision w h ich had come to her a few days previ
”

o u sl y . She was always reticent in respect to he r

personal feelings and hence the narration which
,

follows made the deeper impression ! I t was in the

early morning of a sleepless night She had been .

“
worrying thinking planning h ow the money was
, , ,

to come with a h alf conscious feeling all the time

,
”
-

that it was not ri ght to worry in that way wh en ,

“

toward morning to quote h er words it seemed

,
”
,
“

that some one stood near me and uttered the words ,

‘
Who a rt thou O gre at mount a in Before Z e ru b
,
!
3 14 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u r n .

for India in 1 89 1 and had s t eadfastly maintai ned

,

h er resolu t ion not to return to h er native land

again But t he case assumed a very di ff e rent
.

phase when it was proposed to send her to America

on an important errand The call of duty w a s ever .

louder to h er than t h e call of pleasure S h e accepted .

t he call as dis t inctly providential and h aving h as t ily , ,

made her arrangements sailed from Bombay on t h e ,

eleventh of M arch and after a prosperous voyage

, , ,

arrived in New York and at o nce entered upon her ,

allotted task .

O n this voyage M iss Thoburn was accompanied

by her sister ih law M rs Anna J Thoburn who
- -
, . .
,

was leaving India under imperative medical orders

in t h e hope of regaining h er healt h w h ich had b e
come seriously impaired The two sisters were de .

vo t e dl y attached as might have been expected in

,

any case but it was not known to any one at the

,

time that the elder of the two had for some time
been cherishing a hope that w h en her release from
work s h ould come her sister in law who was fifteen
,
- -
,

years her j unior would in t h e order of providence

,

prove to be the one to succeed her as principal of

the college at Lucknow F o r such a post M rs . .

Thoburn did certainly seem to be admirably fit t ed .

Her education both li t erary and professional had

, ,

been of a high order ; her personal c h arac t er had

been recognized throughout India a s one of rare
excellence and her well balanced j udgment would
,
-

h ave had ample pl ay in the management of such an

 T he T h i rd F u rl o u gh .
3 5
1

institution But God s ways are not as our ways

.
’
.

He h ad service for both sisters in the upper vine

yard A fter seventeen years service i h t h e missio n
.
’

field and nearly four years of heroic battling with

,

disease in the home land Mrs Thoburn j oined her ,

.

sis t er w h o h ad gone on before during the previous

“

year on September 1 6 1 9
, 02 and they now walk
, ,
“

in w h ite together in the city of everlasting life

and light .

Wonder is often expressed that it should so oft en

i f not indeed s o uniformly be foun d di fficul t to ,

collect money for obj ects w h ic h are distinc t ly good

and noble and upon whic h Go d has distinctly pu t
,

the seal of his approval Many good people dream.

of gold mines w h ic h are t o be discovered and placed

-

at the disposal of persons engaged in disin terested

Christian work and such persons oft en wonder why
,

it is tha t godless men so oft en become the owners of

such mines and waste the precious treasure In
, .

this very c a se a lesson h ad been taught which s t ill

proves a puzzle to some good people After the .

Indian Mutiny a rumor gained currency in L ucknow

that an immense amount of treasure had been buried
under the Lal Bagh house and it was t he most ,

natural thing in the world for t h e good ladies who

lived in the house to think that t h is mig h t be the
treasure needed to put up t h eir buildings and equip
their college for a great career A searc h was a c .

t u a l l y made and no little expense incurred but no

, ,

treasure was brought to light This w as not God s .

’
3 16 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

w ay . It remained for the Father of all who is ‘

pledged to care for all his own to show to his hand ,

maidens a more excellent way .

M oney given in Christ s name is worth as much ’

to the giver a s to the receiver M iss T hob u rn did .

no t need money for her college enterprise any more

than certain parties on the other side of the glob e

needed t h e opportunity to give t h e money The .

world is to be saved t hrough t h e agency of Christian

disciples and the missionary is a link between the
,

believer in America and t h e non believer in India -

,

China or Africa The Savior s great commission

, .
’

to disciple all nations belongs to t h e universal ,

Churc h and the duty of going abroad in fulfillment

,

of t h is commission is no more imperative than that

of sending the messengers who are to go as r epre
s e nt a t i v e s of the Church But at both ends of the
.

line information is needed The people in non .

Christian lands must be told of t h eir privileges a nd ,

those in C h ristian lands must be reminded of their

duty For bot h of these tasks the missionary is
.

naturally the best equipped age n t and experience ,

has abundantly demonstrated t h e fact t hat t h e same

blessin g w h ich attends the representative of the
Churc h in distant lands follows in his footsteps ,

when h e goes a mo ng the Churches of his own

people .

Miss Thoburn was not long in perceivi ng that

her visit w a s timely and that t h e Church stood in
,

great need of the message with whi ch Go d h a d

 T he T h i r d F u rl o u g h .
3 17

intrusted her As happens in all great movements

.
,

t he interest of the Church in the missionary enter

pri se is subj ect to singular ebbs and flows and in ,

t he year 1 89 0 the tide had receded to a very low

point indeed To the credit of t he Woman s Foreign

.
’

Missionary Society it should be said that its sup

porters had held up bravely against all discourage
ments and had never reported a decrease in receipts
, ,

but the burden was growing heavier the di fficulties ,

were steadily increasing and th e need of a special

,

stimulus of some kind was beginning to be felt The .

arrival of the veteran missionary of t h e Society the ,

fi rst appointee coming directly from the front and

, ,

be a ring in her person t h e record of t h irty years of

noble service supplied the very stimulus w h ich was
,

needed and at once C h urches and homes a nd hearts

,

were opened to her everywhere and for a full year ,

s he was kept in constant motion and everywhere ,

was greeted by appreciative and ent h usiast i c audi ‘

e nc e s
. Her special plea was for t h e college ; but
it was impossible for her to limit h er addresses to
the one topic and the great theme the greatest of
, ,

all possible themes the commission giv en to the

,

Church to make C h rist known to t h e nations was ,

presen t ed to tens of thousands in words of quie t

earnestness which were not to be forgot t en .

It would have been very distasteful to M iss

Thoburn to h ear herself referred t o as a publ ic
speaker and any discussion of h er style ability or
, , ,

other q u alities wo uld have been little short of of

,
3 8
1 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

fensive to her ; but in passing it may be remarked, ,

that the absence of oratorical mannerisms and rhe

t o rica l flourishes made her speaking peculiarly a c
c e p t a b l e not only to persons of good tas t e but to the
, ,

public generally S h e wasted no words she dis

.
,

played no artificial energy s he never forgot her ,

theme she was sparing in her use of illustrations

, ,

and s he woul d no more have courted applause than

s he would have indulged in profanity N 0 one bet .

ter understood that w h ile oratory is in popular de

,

mand it is sometimes very c h eap S h e always had

, .

somet h ing to sa y and her main obj ect always,

seemed to be to sa y it in suc h a way as to be clearly

understood .

Before leaving India Miss Thoburn had very ,

much desired to take M iss Lil a v a t i Singh wi th her ,

believing that t h e presence of a cultured graduate

of the College would materially aid h er in present
ing the claims of the ins t itu t ion and also hoping that ,

Miss Singh might be able to give assistance to some

extent on the platform She accordingly wrote to .

the au t hori t ies in America for permission to take her ;

but failing to receive an answer in time s he was
, ,

obliged to leave her at h er pos t in the College After .

reaching America h owever t h e reques t was renewed

, , ,

and consen t having been obtained a cable message

, ,

was sent for her to proceed to America without de

lay She a ccordingly left India o n th e seven th of
.

June and going by the Pacific route was able to

, ,

m a ke brief but interesting ca lls at Pe nang Singa pore , ,

3 2 0 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

tention She w a s a product of the system of edu

.

c ation which S he advocated and nobly and success ,

fully did she represent her cause Before leaving .

India she had never addressed a large audience and ,

had seldom spoken in public at all Her first public .

a ddress before a mixed audience w a s delivered in

the city of D etroit Before her sa t nearly three

.

hundred ministers with perhaps a t h ousand other in

,

t e l l ig e nt hearers M iss Singh appeared in her grace

.

ful and very becoming Indian cos t ume and when ,

introduced at once began in a distinct voice but a ,

quiet manner to make her plea for a h igh er educa

,

tion for the women of India The audience listened . ,

at first with interest but soon with undisguised ,

amazement The quiet speaker before t h em spoke

.

of English literature with an intelligent familiarity

which surprised them beyond measure T h e a d .

dress was dignified but simple ; for cible but modest ;

, ,

and exceedingly strong without being in the slight ,

e st degree preten t ious In short it was a model .

,

a ddress adapted to the occasion and in perfect keep

, ,

ing with the position of the speaker a nd the nature

of her mission .

A missionary who chanced to be present o n t his

occasion wrote to a friend who had advised against
,

putting Miss Singh on the platform before the g en

er al public a s follows !
,

Your a dvice concerning Miss Singh comes too

l ate She has bee n on the public platform and has
.
,

m a de a great success I heard her spea k before the

.
 The T hi rd F u rl o u g h .
3 2 1

Detroit Confere nc e with , a gre a t crow d of int el l i

gent people present and they liste ned to her with
,

undisguised pleasure a nd a mazement The only .

criticism I could make upon her e ffort would be that ,

s he is apt to get beyond the depth of the a ver a ge

Methodist preacher ”
.

It would make interesting re a di ng if a full

sketch of this rem a rkable campaign could be pub
l i s he d ; but only a slight record w a s kept and it ,

would be di ffi cult now to write the story in full .

Su ffice it to sa y that the campaign proved success

ful not only financially but in a broader sense a s
, , , ,

a campaign of mission a ry education It so hap .

pened that the two representative messengers from

India were able to be present at the great Ecu menical
Missionary Conference in New York in April 1 9 00 , , ,

and both had been invited to speak or read papers , ,

on that memorable occasion By an extraordinary .

mistake however the subj ects assigned to them h a d

, ,

previously been given to other parties and it was ,

not until they arrived in New York on the very eve

of the Conference that they discovered that the pa

,

pers which they had carefully prepared could not be

re a d and th a t they would h a ve hastily to prepare
,

ne w papers upon subj ects to which they h a d given

no thought . The situation was extremely embar

r a ssing but they met the emergency calmly and
,

c o u i a g eo u sl y a nd a cquitted thems e lv e s well It

, .

was a fter listening to Miss Singh s paper that ex ’

President Ha rrison m a de his m u ch quote d rem a rk -

,

21
3 2 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

If I had gi ven a million dollars to foreign missions ,

a nd w a s assured th at no result h a d come from it all

except the evolu t ion of one such woman as th at I ,

S hould feel amply repaid for my expenditure .

Unfortunately Miss Singh with a modesty

, ,

which w a s characteristic but in this case very vexa

,

tious tore up her paper after its reading to prevent

,

the newspaper people from publishing it Miss Tho .

burn s papers appear elsewhere in this book

’
.

The good accomplished by this too brief furlough -

w a s manifold Indeed so varied was the work a c

.

complished t h at the main obj ect of the visit was

,

m a de to appear a mere incident in a general ca m

p g
a i n A call to missionary service was heard a nd
.

heeded by many young women some of w h om are ,

already in the field while others are preparing for

,

future service A higher ideal of personal c onse

.

cration w a s impressed upon many of Christ s dis ’

c ip l e s and a more practical ideal of duty to support

,

the missionary enterprise was placed clearly before

tens of thousands of those who bear the Christian
name The prese nce of Miss Singh did much to
.

enlarge the conceptions of average Christians co n

cerning the meaning of missionary work among
those whom we a re accustomed too complacently to
c a ll the heathen
“
Nowhere w a s this result a c
.
”

complished more strikingly and more e ffectually

than at the gre a t Missionary Conference in New
Y ork It was impressed upon many thousands of
.

thoughtful minds th a t the co nversion of a nation

 CHAPTER XXXI .

AT T H E E CU M E N I C A L CO N F E RE N CE .

TH E Ecumenical Mission a ry Conference which

met in New York in April 1 9 0 0 was undoubtedly
, ,

the most noted a ssembly ever convened in t he ih

t e re st of missionary enterprise M en and women .

were there from all the ends of the earth T h e .

President of the United States welcomed t h e v is

it o rs and an ex President presided over the d e l ib
,
-

e ra t io ns . N o single audience room could aecom -

m o d a t e t h e vast multitudes who had come together .

It happened fortunately that Miss Thoburn was in

, ,

the United States at the time a nd was able to a t ,

tend t h is great Conference She was accompanied

.

by Miss Lil a v a ti Singh who attracted much atten

,

tion and whose addresses made a profound impres

,

sion upon all who heard them All the pa p ers read .

a t this Conference were necessarily abbreviated in

the publish ed M inu t es but import ant portions of
,

three a ddresses by Miss T hob u rn were published .

An extract from remarks on literature in M ission

fields has been inserted in chapter xxiii of this
memoir Two others are given here and fortunately
.
,

the full copy of o ne has been re covered a nd is given ,

herewith Its subj e ct was

.

3 24
 E c u m e ni c a l C o nf e re nc e .
3 5
2

TH E H I GH ER ED U CATI O N OF WO M E N .

There has n ever been any questio n on t h e mis

sion field or elsewhere about the propriety or ne
, ,

c e ssit y of higher education for m e n The manner .

or the quality of it may be discussed but the fact is ,

taken for granted From the beginning collegiate

.

courses of study attracted students and kept them

a s long as possible under missionary influence while ,

gi ving them the wide a nd full enlightenment that

enabled them to compare and c h oose religions The .

ca se was necessarily o t herwise with women at the

fi rst and some forgot that it could not remain so to
,

the last Dr Duff one of the great educators s aid

. .
, , ,

‘
You mig h t as well try to scale a wall fifty feet high
as to educate the women of Indi a The wall has .
’

not only been scaled but thrown down The women

, .

have been reached a nd taught and now they wait ,

for the advant a ges and oppor t unities their brothers

have received without asking Those who wait a re .

no t many ; but they are a representative few and ,

the many will follow There a re now three colleges

.

for women in India and collegiate courses in several

,

high schools There are thirty fiv e women in men s

.
-
’

colleges showing progress both in the colleges a nd

,

the women There are a large number of non

.

C h ristians in all sc h ools and colleges Advanced .

schools for women are generally Christian The .

exceptions are the Government high sc h ools in

Jap a n a nd the Bethune College in Calcutt a The .
3 2 6 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

latter is largely under the control and patronage of

the Brahmo Somaj and of Hindus who have adopted
Christian ideas in reg a rd to the c a pacity and privi
leges of women .

“
The advance has not been made bec a use any one
planned it so It was the natural outcome of that
.

which must needs grow because it had life in itself .

T h e beginnings were so insignificant and yet so ,

significant a s compared with t he absolute i gn orance

preceding the attempt t h at the pioneers did not
,

think of a greater fu t ure t h an the happy time when

wome n would read and understand t h e gospel But .

any education at all presupposes high er education .

The infant school requires teachers who have passed

in the primary standards ; these teachers must h ave
studied at least in t h e middle or gramm a r schools
the grammar school teachers should be high school
- -

graduates and the high school te ac h er requires a

,
-

college educat ion Step by step led by the necessity

.
,

of the S ituation the advance ha s been made from the

,

lowest to the highest standards Then added to .

,

the demand for teachers comes the call for medical ,

students T h ere is nothing t o compare wit h this

.

opening for educated woman h ood ou t side of t he

Asiatic continent O nly where women are shut
.

away even from the hand of mercy and help c a n

, ,

the healing touch of such a hand be appreciated .

T h e West ca n not supply t his help to the East ; th ere

are not h ands enough In order to supply i t there
.
,

all the opportunities for prep a rat ion th at are gi ven

3 28 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

h ave wider fame for they are still young M rs

, . .

S a t hia na d a n M iss Bose M iss So ra b j i M rs Chuck

, , , .

e rb u tt y
,
in India ; Miss H u and Miss Kahn in ,

China ; Miss Tsuda M iss O mura and M rs I w a oto

, ,
.
,

in Japan a re representatives If the number is

,
.

limited it is because the O pportunity has been limited .

L ike the possible great men th at Gray imagined

to be lying buried in the country churchyard th ere ,

are possible great women buried in zenanas and ha

rems whom those we reach will in turn lead out to
usefulness i f not to fame .

“
This h igh er educat i on c a n not be indiscriminat e .

It is too expensive t o be wasted ; t he mul t i t ude is not

prepared to receive it Generally the girls who enter
.

the high schools will come from Christian families ,

with parents able t o pay in whole or in part for the

, ,

education of their daugh ters I f unable to pay a .

,

pledge should be required t hat the money expended

be return ed either in service or in kind Higher
, .

education or a t least the living expenses of th ose

,

who receive it should not be given away either

,

in the foreign or in t h e home field T h is principle .

will limit t h e number of students ; but it will so

enhance th e value of those w h o meet and overcome
the obs t acle th at the loss will be gain
, .

“
It ha s been obj ec t ed that higher education in
mission fields is in Englis h and that this creates
,

foreign tastes and h abits and opinions in s t udents ,

and separates them from their own people The .

whole question is involved in this because such ,

 E c u m e ni c a l C o nf e re nc e .
3 2 9
ed u c ation ca n not a t prese nt be given in a ny other
l angu a ge The text books do not exist a nd it is
.
-
,

a shorter w a y to learn English a nd use English

books th a n to w ait u ntil missionaries h ave so learned
O rient a l l a ngu a ges a nd s o devoted time to their
,

tra nslation that they c a n put whole college c u rricu

,

lums into these diverse tongues But there is eve n .

a bett er re a son than th a t of economy The books .

we read influence our thought a nd opinion a nd ,

through these ch a nnels influence ch a racter This .

fact h a s been recognized not only by mission a ries ,

but by governments A director of public inst ru c

.

tion who had no interest whatever in Christian

missions said If you want to ch a nge the habits
, ,
‘

and lives of these people teach them the English ,

l a ngu a ge and give them English liter ature The “

.
’

new educational system in Jap a n h a s introduced

English into the lower schools and a s the grades ,

rise more of the text books a re in that tongue until

,
-

the collegi ate course when they are entirely English

, .

In India all subj ects a re taught in English from the ,

middle school upward ; mission schools in Turkey

and Persia teach their adv a nced subj ects in English .

Even China asks to be t a ught this language of

se a ports and commerce as well as of school books ,
-
.

“
The wide use of English and the consequent
dissemination of English literature seems to be ih ~

evitable The question is not left for any one to

.

decide L et us then make it a potent factor provi

.
, , ,

d entia l l y put in our h a nds in reviving dying nations , .

33 0 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

The results of its study a nd use a re not a ccording to

the fe a r of the obj ectors The most wisely patriotic
.

young men and women in India are those who ha ve

completed a college course When they were in t he
.
‘

cruder ye a rs of their education they were apt to be

imitators but when they had come to years of intel
,

lectual womanhood th ey had learned wisdom and ,

were true to themselves a nd their people If they .

did not choose to e a t a nd sit a s their mothers did ,

they were none the less Indi a n in devoted service .

Some considerations in connection with this

subj ect must never be lost sigh t of O ne is the im .

portance of the gymnasium Experience ha s taught .

that a dvanced study requires a stronger physique

than is ordinaril y found in countries where for ye a rs
gi rls became mothers in their e a rly teens and where ,

the whole life is sedent a ry It has been found nec e s

.

sary to provide more nutritious foods th a n is usu a l

in the lower schools and to require open air exercise -
.

With these precautions not only may health be

,

maintained but these schools will provide stronger

, ,

as well as wiser mothers for the rising generation

, ,

mothers who will impart to their children what they

have received in both body and mind .

“
It ought to go without saying that this higher
educ ation as well as th at whic h begins with the
,

kindergarten should be full of Bible teaching All

, .

through the courses of study the supreme obj ect

for which missions are founded should be kept in
view a s thou g h the schools were speci a l tra i ni ng in
,
33 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

not only worthy of but dem a nded the very best

, ,

servi c e which the C h urch of Chris t could o ffer Nor .

was this hig h standard demanded for American

l a dies only She would give the converts if possible
.
, ,

the same training which Americ a n workers need .

In the person of M iss Singh present at the Con ,

ference she had the best proof that t h e convert could

,

rise to the intellectual and moral level of the mis

s io na ry from Europe or America It is much to be .

regretted that the full text of this a ddress h a s not

been preserved .

TH E PO WER OF E D U C ATED WO M A N H OOD .

The power of educated wom a nhood is simply

the power of skilled service We are not in the .

world to be ministered unto but to minister The , .

world is full of need and every opportunity to

,

help is a duty Prepar ation for these du t ies is edu

.

cation whatever form it may take or whatever serv

,

ice may result .

I t was once thought that any one who k new

“

t h e three R s could teach little c h ildren and suc h

’

work was committed to poor women and untrained

girls because they needed the support it brough t
them But we no w know this instruction of little
.

children to be one of the most di fficult things in

the whole school course All t h e way on I will .
,

not sa y all the way up the tra i ned whi ch mea ns

, ,
 E c u m e ni c al C o nf e re nc e .
333

the educated in mind and h a nd w in i nfl u enc e a nd ,

power simply because they know how .

“
Few missionaries have found the expected in
the work awaiting them on the fi eld We went .

to tell women and children of Christ their Savior ,

and Deliverer a nd to teach them to read the story

,

for themselves But instead of waiting and willing

.

pupils we found the indi ff erent or even the hostile

, , ,

to win whom requires every grace and art we know .

We have found sickness and poverty to relieve ,

widows to prot ect advice to be given in every possi

,

ble di ffi culty or emergency teachers and Bible women

,
-

t o be trained houses to be built horses and cattle to

, ,

be boug h t gardens to be planted and accounts of

, ,

all to be kept and rendered We have found use .

for every faculty natural and acquired t hat we

, ,

possess and h ave coveted all that we lack We

, .

h ave found ourselves pioneers to open new paths ,

and reformers to make straight crooked ways We .

have had to make bricks without straw and to evolve ,

plans suitable to the place a nd t ime ; for never will

any plan work the same way in two places It is .

cruel to a work and to a worker to send her to

such labors wi t hout preparation We have learned .

this ; Mission Boards a re beginning to le a rn it and ,

all begin to re a lize the importance of the missionary

training school .

“
But it is not only our power over those whom
we go to s ave th at we must consider When s aved .
,
3 34 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

they must have power over the communities in which

they live We do poor work if it does not inspire
.

others to go and do likewise It is not only the .

mission a ry spirit they will need ; not only the c on

strai ning love which is essential for keeping the
he a rt warm a nd devoted but the same training ,

which we need as well as skill for service The v

, .

need this more than w e do because of their harder

t a sk We are trusted a nd respected F e w doubt

. .

our right to knowledge or our wisdom in its use .

They meet doubt and O pposition They have little .

s y mp athy or support or inspiration from friends

, , ,

and no precedents to follow They live and breathe .

in the atmosp h ere of countries where abuses are

crystallized Moreover they a re t o guard their
.
,

pupils and converts from evils that come to them

from the same lands that send them the gospel .

Y ou have no curse here in America th a t does not

touch some vital p a rt of our work in India I n .

temper a nce divorce degrading amusements inj u ri

, , ,

ous fa lse or impure liter ature are all serious hin

, , ,

drances in the mission field Women must know .

how to meet them I heard M r Moody sa y last

. .

summer t hat the principal heresies of the day a re

led by women It was a startling statement bu t
.
,

s a dly true The lesson for us is to se e that the

.

higher education for which our E a stern sisters are

,

a ski ng be a Christian education O nly yesterday

, .

M iss Si ng h w a s a ske d here in New Y ork if she

 C H APTER XXXII .

H O M E W A RD B O UN D .

W ITH the adj ou rnment of the Ecumenical Con

ference M iss T ho b u rn s last furlough to her native
,
’

land c a me to a close She bade adieu to her friends

.

with apparently a buoyant he a rt and set out for

,

her field of toil with the air of one leaving

a foreign clime for a loved and longed for father -

land Her health seemed perfect her visit to Amer

.
,

ic a had been successful the prospects of her great

,

work seemed more assured than ever before and ,

her many friends bade her an a ff ectionate farewell

in the fond hope that many years of successful labor
in her chosen field were still before her Aecom .

p a ni e d by Miss Singh s he sailed

, from New
Y ork for India on the fifth of M a y 1 9 00 A ,
.

notable farewell meeting was accorded to her ,

and as s he turned her face toward her distant

'

Eastern home s he was made to feel that s he carried

with her the earnest prayers and tender sympathies
of a great multitude of t h e disciples of her blessed
M aster To sa y that she w a s in good spirits would
.

no t express her real feelings ; s he was j oyous and

almost exultant at the prospect of getting b a ck to

,

the i nteresting field in which she had spent thirty

ye a rs of her m at u re life and where she w a s about
,

33 6
 H o m e w a r d B o u nd .
337

to place the crowning stone upon the noble edifice

which had so long been the obj ect of her prayers
and toil In a peculiar sense she felt that she was
.

going home Her heart and her treasure were far

.

away near the golden gates of day and while her

“
,
”

love for h er native land had never waned the new ,

a ff ection which had taken root in her heart for the

land of h er adoption had become stronger than her
attachmen t for the land of her birth .

O n h er way back from America she stopped for

three weeks in England and improved the time by
,

making a h urried tour through England and Sco t

land She assigned as a chief reason for doing this
.

that she wished to give Miss Singh an opportunit y

of seeing a s many places as possible with the names
of which she had become familiar in her re a ding ,

and especially in h er study of English literature .

She herself greatly enj oyed this privilege and a ft e r , ,

her exhausting camp a ign in Americ a a season of ,

recre a tion of this kind was greatly needed NVriting .

of this tour M iss Singh afterward said She

, ,
“

entered in t o the spirit of everything with the e nthu

s ia s m of a school girl But the brief tour was soon
-
”
.

ended and after crossing to Fra nce and spending

,

two days at the Paris Exhibition the t wo proce e ded

,

to Marseilles and took pass a ge o n the m a il ste a mer

,

for Bombay .

From this point a ch ange seemed to come over

Miss Thobu rn s spirits She began to S peak fre
’
.

quently of a n impression that her earthly work w a s

22
33 8 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

approaching its completion a nd although she never ,

attempted to account for t h is feeling it soon became ,

evident that it had taken a permanent place in her

mind But this made no di fference in her plans for
.

future work She accepted her daily duties as t hey

.

arose and meanwhile adhered to he r main c a lling

,

as s he had done from her first arrival in India .

O nce only did she manifest any feeling of sadness ,

and that was s o exceptional as to excite surprise

a n d become a subj ect of rem a rk It was on the .

M editerranean on a moonlight night of exquisite

,

beauty S h e was seated on deck wit h Miss Singh

.
,

and the conversation turned upon the probable

changes which they would find in India M iss .

T ho b u rn spoke of th e faces which would not appe a r

a mo ng those who would come to greet them a nd ,

s a id with deep feeling Phoebe will not be there

“ !
,
.

A little l a ter it w a s noticed th a t tears were on her

cheeks a most unusual occurrence ; for she alw ays
,

h a d perfect comm a nd of her emotions Presently .

she said !
“
Please sing .

What shall I sing ! ”

In thy Cleft O Rock of Ages ,

.

Miss Singh began with the third sta nz a

I n th e l o ne l y nigh t o f s o rro w

H ide Th m ; ou e

Ti l l i n gl y d w n or a s t he m o r ro w ,

H id T h m ; e ou e

‘
R i
e fe r r n g to M i ss R o we .
340 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

time was indeed a pproaching when she should be

permitted to lay her earthly burdens down and enter
upon her eternal rest .

The fine h all of the new college building a ff orded

facilities for several new proj ects which she had
long had in mind Among these was a plan for
.

“
zenana parties or assemblies of Indian ladies
,
”
,

of the higher classes most of whom are still ,

known a s pa rd a
“
that is ladies who do ,

not appear in public and who scrupulously avoid

'

being seen by any men except very near relatives .

A few suc h parties were held and proved to be occ a ,

sions of great interest A change h a d occurred dur

.

ing the th irty ye a rs which had elapsed since Miss

Thoburn first a rrived in Lucknow which amounted ,

a lmost to a revolution but very much rem a ined to ,

be done a nd it was made very apparent that e ff orts

,

of this kind could not fail to do much good The .

popular talk about liberating the women of Indi a

“ ”

is not always founded upon an in t elligent a pp re c i

ation of the actual situation as it exists at the present
day but all j udicious e ff orts in this direction c e r
,

t a inl y merit the approv a l of every friend of soci a l

progress .

The District Co nferen c e of the O udh District ,

which was held near the close of 1 9 00 at Baraba nki , ,

a town about twenty miles from L ucknow w a s an ,

occasion of much interest The a ttend a n ce of w o .

men at these gatherings is usually very large and , ,

among others a goodly nu mber of the l a rg er gi rls

,
 H o m e w a rd B o u nd .
34 1

from the college and high school a re often found

present In India it is the custom to hold duplicate
.
,

or rather parallel conferences on such occasions

, ,

one for men and one for women The larger re .

l ig io u s services are usually held in a common a s

s e m b l y but it is often found better to hold separate
,

meetings in which only the women and girls are

present O n this occasion Miss Thoburn presided
.
,

over the women s conference and by her counsel a s

’

, ,

well as wise administr ation made a profound im ,

pression upon those present O ne address w a s .

especially notable and is vividly remembered by

,

many of those present It was to be her last counsel

.

to m any of those present although this thought did

,

not occur to any She gave an elaborate account

.

of the manner in which money is collected for for

'

e ig n missions related incidents w h ich had come

,

under her observation during her recent visit and ,

pointed out the sacred character of t h is money and ,

the supremely sacred character of the service in

which they were all engaged In Indi a as in all .
,

l a nds it is too easy for even good people to fall

,

into the habit of accepting sacred t h ings as common ,

and regarding h oly duties as perfunctory obliga t ions .

During the autumn of this year Bishop Parker

had arrived from America in a state of serious il l
health and it soon became evident th at h is life was
,

in grave peril He had chosen Lucknow for his

.

permanent residence and having thus become a near

, ,

nei ghbor Miss Thoburn devoted m u ch of her time

,
34 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

to the congenial t a sk of assisting M rs P a rker to .

nurse the su ff ering invalid She had known both

.

husband and wife from her earliest missionary days ,

had received their assistance in securing an appoint

ment as a missionary and appreci a ted fully how
,

much was at stake in the crisis which now con

fronted both them and the entire mission From .

the first she anticipated an unf avorable result and ,

at one critic a l period she actually a ccepted a sug

gestion made by some of the missionaries to go to ,

the cemetery and select a spot for the grave which

was soon to be required In India all interments are
.

made compara t ively soon after death and it was ,

thought prudent to select a spot while there was ye t

time to make a careful examination of t h e situation .

The duty was attended to and on her return Miss

,

T ho b u rn remarked that she had c h osen the very bes t

spot in the whole cemetery By an extr aordinary .

coincidence this spot became the site of her own

grave not many months later .

In the lat ter part of April Bishop Parker who ,

had s o far improved as to be able to bear t h e j our

ney was removed to t h e mountain sanitarium of
,

Naini Tal but t h e improvement did not continue

, ,

and w h en M iss Thoburn went up to the hills some

weeks later she found him much reduced and a p
p a re ntl y nearing his time of final release She was .

oft en at his bedside and once remarked to some

,

friends that s he hoped Go d would spare her t he

experience of a lingerin g death She w a s in ex .
3 44 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

hill and as Miss Thob u rn w a s c a rried in a kind of

,

mount a in chair two young m en standing a bove

, , ,

noticed her peculiar expression as she was gazing

into the blue above her a depth of stainless blue ,

to be seen o nly on purest mountain heights a nd ,

one s a id to the other See Miss Thob u rn s face ; I

,
“ ’

should not wonder if she would be the next one to

le a ve us . This absorbed gaze into the deep blue
”

of heaven h a d been a peculiari t y of her e a rly child

hood ; but o n this occasion it is more than prob able
that she w a s g aini ng a vision of the invisible .

Slowly but steadily s h e w a s nearing the end of life s ’

j ourney a nd the light of heaven was perhaps begi n

,

ning to shine upon her quickened vision She r e .

turned with her wonted cheerfulness to the quiet

cottage in which with half a dozen others she was
, ,

enj oying Miss Sullivan s hospitality a nd although

’

s he retained her accustomed cheerfulness her wish ,

for a release from earth and its possible ills became

s o pronounced as to attract attention although no ,

one for a moment anticipated that such a wish w a s

to have an early fulfillment .

The heat on the plains of Northern India is very

intense during the months of M a y and June The .

r a i ny sea son usually begins late in June ; but in

19 0 1 the rains were la t e and the heat was very ,

trying to those who were obliged to come dow n

from the cool mountains into the furnace like air -

of the submontane pl a ins Miss Thoburn was .

a mo ng those who h a d to lea ve h avi ng a n e ngag e ,

 H o m e w a r d B o u nd .
3 45

me nt to preside at the a nnu a l meeting of the

Te achers Association whi ch met in the station of
’

Dehra Dun where the Americ a n Presbyteri a ns

,

h a ve an excelle nt high school for girls The meet .

ing continued five days and was an occasion of much

interest M iss Thoburn gave two interesting a d
.

dresses o n the oc casion one o n How to Te ach the

,
“

Bible to Children a nd the other o n Why a m I a

,
” “

Teacher !”
Brief notes of the first of these talks
were found a mong her p apers after her death but ,

too disconnected and abbreviated to admit of publi

cation The other address w a s emi nently practic al
.
,

a nd m a de a deep impression upon the minds of some

who were present At the close of the meeting she
.

returned to L ucknow Her public work had been

.

finished and the few remaining weeks of her quiet

,

but eventful life were to be spent in the compar a tive

seclusion of her beloved L ucknow home .

While impressed in a general w a y that her work

on earth would ere very long be finished Miss
, , ,

Thoburn never spoke of any direct impression re

c e iv e d from the Holy Spirit that her end was near .

O n the other hand s he kept her mind ope n for calls

,

of duty a nd when an i nvitation c a me to her in

,

August to go to Siml a and t a ke charge of a series

of special services under the auspices of the Young
,

Women s Chri stian Association she expressed deep

’

regret that she could not accept the invitation .

Although naturally a verse to every engagement

which i nvolved public spe aki ng she would gl a dly
,
346 Li f e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

h ave s a cri fi ced her person a l feeli ngs for a n opport u

mity to spe a k to the young women of India at a
place from which her voice might be he a rd through
out the empire But a moment s thought convinced
.
’

her th a t such an undertaki ng would require longer

time a nd perhaps gre ater strength th a n she could
, ,

a ff ord Miss Nichols who h a d been pri ncip a l dur

.
,

ing her absence in Americ a w a s abse nt in the hills , ,

a nd could not retur n for some time a nd it o nly ,

remained for Miss T hob u rn to decline the invitation .

The latest letters received from Miss Thoburn

by friends in America indicated that she was happy,

in her work full of hope and grateful for tokens

, ,

of God s approval which had recently been given

’

in the shape of material additions to the resources

of the institution with which her life had become
s o closely identified In a letter to her brother
.
,

at that time in America dated only a week before ,

her death s he incidentally mentioned that cholera

,

was prevailing in the neighborhood ; but this

was no t a matter which at any time would h ave
called for a ny special remark from her She closed .

her letter by saying in reference to certain per

,

p l e x in g financial problems which were a t that time

givi ng trouble There is a w a y o ut somehow
,
“
, ,

”
somewher e .
34 8 L if e of I s a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

self from quitting work by s aying she h a d a l a rge

amount of m a nuscript which must be arranged for
printing and to this wearisome work she devoted
,

several hours She had repeatedly spoken during

.

the previous week or two of her impression that

her earthly mission would soon close and yet this ,

c o nviction did not lead her to lessen her tasks in

the slightest degree In the course of the afternoon

.

s he spoke pleasantly to Miss Singh of a possible

de ath from cholera a nd remarked that she would

,

prefer such a death to any other chiefly because ,

it would be quickly over and would not involve ,

a long sea son of suffering with perhaps weeks or ,

months of nursing on the part of kind but burdened

friends Strangely enough she added When I do
.
, ,
“

die remember that you are to have Phoebe s Bible

,
’

,
”

a lluding to a Bible which she had received from the

much loved Phoebe Rowe O bserving t h at she
-
.

looked very tired Miss Singh had ordered a

,

c a rriage and insisted on her going out for a drive

, ,

hoping that the fresh air would revive her She .

reluctantly consented to go but returned in a short ,

time and resumed wh a t w a s to be her one remaining

duty .

Ever mindful of the interests of others she h a d ,

remembered that August 3 l st was the birthday of

M r West one of the L ucknow missionaries and
.
, ,

in honor of the occasion she had invited the few

missionaries who chanced to be in the st a tion to
a n eve ning di nner She presided a t the di nner
.
 H om e at La s t .
9
34

table with her usual grace and thoughtfulness a nd ,

later j oined freely in t h e conversation in the draw

ing room According to custom she asked for one
-
.

or two favorite hymns to be s u ng after which one ,

of the missionaries led in prayer At a q uarter p a st .

ten she accompanied her guests to the door wis h ed ,

M r West many happy returns of the d a y exchanged

. ,

a few pleasant words with each one a nd returning ,

.

to the drawing room said good night to the ladies

-
,
-

present and immediately retired to her room Her

,
.

last earthly du t y had been discharge d and it was ,

most fi t ting that it should have been a simple but

though t ful e ff ort to make others happy .

The room which she occupied was at a distance

from t h e apartments of the other ladies and no one ,

was near enough to be readily called At about .

'

three o clock the next morning the n i gh t watchman

’
-

came to Miss Singh s room a nd told h er that Miss

’

Thoburn wished to s ee her Miss Singh hurried .

to her room and immediately perceived th a t she was

,

seriously ill Her vo ice had changed in a startling

.

m a nner a nd Miss Singh a t once assumed the re

,

sponsibility of sendi ng for the doctor who h a d med

ical char ge of the school Miss Thoburn chided her
.

pl easantly for her alarm a nd assured her th a t it was

,

o nl y a c a s e of indigestion— a mistake which s he would

no t have made had it bee n the c a se of any one else

th a n herself But Miss Sing h knew only too well

.

that it was a case of cholera and that too in a , , ,

severe form Nearly two hours elapsed before the

.
35 0 L if e o f Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

doctor arrived a nd whe n he came he made no

,

change in the treatment which had been adopted .

He immediately sent for the civil surgeon of L uck

now and one and much of the time both of these
, , ,

gentlemen remained in faithful attendance till the

end c a me No change was m a de by either in the
.

—
treatment which h a d been adopted a striking illus
t ra t io n of the fact that in cases of cholera the range
,

of resources at a physician s comm a nd is very nar ’

row indeed .

In a very short time the su fferer became too

weak to speak dis t inctly and the e ff ort to do so ,

evidently added to her pain It seems probable .

that she did not a nticipate a fatal result at least ,

while still able to speak and hence she left no ,

messages for absent friends a nd made no attempt

to give any expression to her hope and con fi dence
in her hour of supreme tri a l A little before noon .
,

when su ff ering acutely she feebly uttered the word , ,

“
Si ng and a few school girls were called in to sing
,
”
-

for her Whe n asked what hymn she wished she

.
,

w a s able to sa y Come thou Fo u nt referri ng to

,
”
“
, ,

the old Methodist classic ,

Co m e , h o u t F oun t of e v ry b l i ng
e ess ,

T u ne m y he a r t o t s i ng thy gr a ce .
”

For many yea rs this hymn had been a special

favorite with her O ther hymns followed but the
.
,

s u ff erer made no further remark Soon after this .

her strength suddenly left her a nd she seemed ,

35 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

head a nd left her there as if at rest till nine o clock

,
’

when loving hands tenderly lift ed the lifeless b o d v

and placed it in the c o fli n which was closed in the ,

bedroom After the lid was on Gangu poor boy

.
— ,

! a f a ithful serv a nt ! — forced it open a nd gave her ,

one long lingering kiss

, .

O nly a short service was held at the house .

Miss Newton had been attacked by cholera and we ,

wished to keep her in ignorance of M iss Tho b u rn s ’

death At the cemetery there was an immense

.

—
crowd Hindustani European Eurasian—and all
, ,

were sincere mourners S h e was buried in flowers .

,

not in the earth The grave was almost filled with

.

flowers We laid her body down bu t we knew that

.
,

she herself was gazing face to face upon H im , ,

whom s he h a d served a nd in whom she h a d ,

trusted .
”

Another friend Professor B T B a dley d e sc rib

, . .
,

ing the scene said ,

It was a fter ten whe n the long procession

reached the cemetery I highly valued the privilege
.

of assisting Pastor Ga nga N ath in re a ding the

service while the procession was slowly passing
through the cemetery It was all in Hindustani .
,

which was very appropriat e a s she had been a ,

member of the Hindustani Church Boys from our .

college acted a s pallbearers and whe n the white ,

casket was placed at the edge of the gr a ve among

the green le aves it looked very pretty M r Robin
,
. .

s o n M r Messmore the civil chaplain a nd the Wes

, .
, ,
 Hom e at La s t .
3 53

leyan ch aplain took part in the service There were .

tears and suppressed sobs all the time ; but when

they began to lower the body into the grave it ,

seemed as if the whole multitude broke forth i nto

one loud wail The minister s voice could h a rdly
.
’

be heard and as I listened to the loud cries of the

,

little girls from L al Bagh and the hoarse sobbi ng ,

of the L al B a gh servants I began to re a lize the ,

full measure of the love which the people bore for

her At the close of a ll the colle g e girls s ang very
.
,

sweetly ,

I w ill S i ng y ng f th t b t i f l w ld
o u a so o a eau u or ,

Th f w y h m
e f th
ar a a lo e o e so u .
’

The practice of burying the dead in coffi ns is

little known among O rientals and some mission ,

aries have tried to discourage the introductio n of the

custom among native Christians chiefly on the ,

ground that very few of t h ese people a re able to

incur the expense which the purchase of a coffi n
involves Mohammedans of good soci a l st a ndi ng
.

bury their dead by simply laying the body in the

earth and pl acing a slight protection over the face
, ,

and not only is there nothing revol t ing in this p ra c

tice but many cultivated persons think it in some
, ,

respects more fitting than the more ostent atious

,

usage which prevails in Christian lands In the .

O rient a l usage the words earth to earth ce r “ ”

, ,

ta inl y h a ve an appropriateness which is in some

measure lost when the earthy body is ca refu l l y “

kept from contact wi t h eart h .

3 3
3 54 L if e of Is a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Miss T hob u rn for many years had taken a prae

tical interest in this question not from any senti ,

mental considerations but solely for the sake of ,

protecting the poor Christians from a financial bur

den which most of them were unable to bear ; and ,

in order to gi ve both meaning and force to her

words S he had requested her friends some years
, ,

before her death to have the interment of her body

,

conducted without a coffin ; but when the sad hour

arrived it was found that the cemetery rules c on
,

t a ine d a clause which forbade such a burial But .

for t his her wish would have been respected and ,

s he would thus to t h e very last have been able

, ,

to testify to her undying interest in the people of

her adop t io n .

The death of this faithful disciple of Christ c re

a ted a profound sensation on both sides of the
globe The c able c a rried the sad tidings to her
.

native land a nd the morning after her buri a l in

,

L ucknow the daily paper h aving the largest c ir

,

culation in C h icago appe a red with her portrait a nd

a n appreciative editorial The leading religious .

paper of that city devoted a special number to well

writt en sketches of her life and charac t er while all ,

over the United States not only in missionary ,

periodicals but in the press generally the generous

, ,

notices a nd reviews of her life a nd work which

a ppe a red reve a led to her friends the fact that she
had been a ppreciated to an extent which even those
most partial in their feelings had not suspected .

As for India S he w a s lamented througho ut the

,
35 6 Li f e o f I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

or the m a gnitude of the work which she aecom

p l i s h
.e d To a ppreciate the measure of her success
o ne must k now no t o nly the Indi a of to d a y but -
,

th a t of thirty or forty ye a rs a go A Presbyteri an .

missiona ry when spe aking of her success as a n edu

c a t io na l i st recently said !
, H ere w a s a rich a nd pow
e rfu l g overnme nt a nxio u s to promote the c a use of

fem a le educ ation on the one h a nd a nd a Christi an

, ,

wom an without money prestige or other resources

, , ,

o n the other . Both h a d the same obj ect in view a nd

both were in the same field but the lone mission a ry ,

worker succeeded while the powerful governme nt

,

met with comparative fa ilure The whole case is .

simply a marvel It is a picture worthy of the most

.

serious study .
”

The best legacy which ca n be left to a Church ,

a mission or a community is that of a pure life

, , ,

fi lled up with a full measure of Christlike labor .

This leg a cy is no w the priceless possession of the

Church which sent forth Isabell a Thoburn to the
great mission fi eld of the Eastern world As was .

strikingly said of her a t a memorial meeti ng She ,

realized her ideals H er ideals were lofty but she ,

attained to them To scores and hundreds of those

.

who once sa t at her feet the very mention of her ,

na me is a n i nspiratio n a nd for ages to come her

,

character and work will be revered by generatio ns

yet u nborn w ho will rise up to ca l l her blesse d .
M IS S L I LAV A TI S I NGH ,
M . A .
35 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

We who knew her remember how well she

, ,

loved flowers a nd they seemed to love her in

,

return and almost seemed to a rrange themselves

,

under her artistic fingers For years I had tried to .

get her a spray of ho neysuckle for her birt hday for ,

I h a d he a rd her say that the sight a nd the odor

of it took her back to her C hildhood s home in ’

O hio where there was a honeysuckle climbi ng over

,

the porch This spray a lways had the place of

.

honor and it was m a de to twine a rou nd the picture

,

of either a brother or sister or some favorite niece ,

or nephew .

When s he got through with the college people ,

s he would walk over to the high school and there , ,

too she would be greeted wit h songs and flowers

, .

The chapel built by her over twenty years a go

, ,

would be lovely with creepers and vines and big

bunches of roses a nd lilies ; for school and college
girls vied with each other in their devotion to her .

When greetings were over in this department the ,

kindergarten had a celebration of its own and here ,

the little ones sang and presented her with bouquets .

Then came her mail greetings from former pupils ,

a nd teachers and sweets and o ff erings from her

,

non Christian friends She was so good to us we

-
.

felt we could not do enough to show her that we

were glad she had been born .

In the evenings we generally had all the mis

s io na rie s in to di nner or tea or a picnic Some , , .

times it would be o n the roof u nd er the sta rs a nd ,

 M iss S i ng h s R e c o ll e c t i o ns ’
.
35 9
we would s it together after the coffee and ice cream -

! a luxury indulged in on this special occasion ) had

been served and sing solos and duets and some
, ,

times she would recite to us and s o the day the , ,

glad beautiful blessed day came to its close

, , ,
.

I remember the first time I saw M iss Thobur n .

It was the sixth of March 1 8 79 My aunt brought , .

me to sc h ool and I was t aken to the o ffice She

,
.

greeted me cordially but I thought her very t e ,

served I did not s e e her much that year for I

.
,

was a little girl and she taught the higher classes

, ,

and at the end of t h at year or the beginning of ,

1 8 80 s he went on furlough
, All I remember is . ,

that when she was leaving every one from the

, ,

lowest servant o n the premises to the highest

teacher on the sta ff seemed to cry as though their ,

hearts were breaking M any feared she might .

never come back .

The next time I sa w her w a s in 1 882 It w a s .

a fter the Annual Conference and Christm a s vac a ,

tion and as her carriage drove under the portico

,

of t he House Beau t iful we girls only about forty

“
,
”
,

of us then stood on each side of the driveway a nd

, ,

greeted her with songs of welcome It w a s duri ng .

this year that I became acquainted wi t h her Al .

though I w a s only a village girl queerly dressed ,

and unattr a ctive when she went away she had not
, ,

forgotten me When she s a w me she said Well

.
,
“
,

Ethel are you still in scho ol !

,
”
She kn ew e a ch
o ne of u s by na me .
3 6 0 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

Wh a t a be a utiful year that was to me ! She

taught us our literature and I c a n never forget how
,

her enthusiasm for heroes and poets kindled a like

enthusiasm in us To day as I walk through the
.
-
,

beautiful L al Bagh garden that she loved and tended

s o carefully
,
thoughts of her—blessed holy beau , ,

—
tiful thoughts and memories crowd each other .

When I first came to school I did not know the ,

name of a single flower except perhaps the commo n ,

Edward rose and the v a rious kinds of j asmine that

,

we Indians love so much ; and t o day as I walk

through t h e garden I say to myself Here s he ,
“

taug h t me the name of the nasturt ium ; here she

showed me a bird s nest ; there she analyzed a
’

hibiscus for me What a new world was opened

.
”

to me the day she gave us our first baby lesson

in bot any ! I felt my he a rt and mind expanding
a s s he told us that leaves were to the trees what
our lungs are to us and how we could find out
,

the age of trees by the ri ngs under the bark e tc ,

.

These are simple things for educated people ; but O

what a world they opened to us !
She knew so many pretty little rhymes and poems
a bout flowers I remember w h en she first told me
.

the na me of the C hrysanthemum s he repeated

Th e vi l t y B w t ;
o e sa s, e s ee

Th e lily y B p ;
sa s, e u re

Th e h dy b v
ar h y nt h
,
ra e C r sa emum,

p t i nt nd nd r
”
Be a e a e u e .
3 6 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a Th o b u rn .

a mount of money spent by their n ative co nverts o n

j ewelry and in their zeal they try to regulate t h ese
,

things from without Miss T hobu rn never allowed

.

school girls to wear j ewelry but with her teachers

-
,

there w a s no coercion in these matters When I .

came to work with her almost eleven years ago ,

I wore a pair of rather heavy gold bracelets O ne .

day she said to her niece who was t h en in La l

Bagh I wish Ethel would not wear those brace
,
“

lets.
”
This young l a dy said to her in reply Aunt ,
“

Bella why do n t you speak to her !

,
’
She replied ”
,
“
Were she an American missionary would I inter ,

fere in a matter so personal as that ! W h en the ”

young lady told me this although I was very fond ,

of or naments I put my bracelets away I could

, .

multiply inst a nces that would go to show her w o n

d e r fu l tact and delicate consideration in all her
dealings with u s .

A nother thing that Miss Thoburn tra ined us in

particularly was volunt a ry Christian work It w a s .

during this year 1 88 2 that I was invited to go

, ,

with her to a Moh a mmedan Sunday school in the -

city Sunday a fter Sund a y two by two bands of

.
, ,

Christian girls and teachers from L al Bagh still

go out to the native part of the city to teach the
little girls in the zenana of the blessed Savior As .

I said before she selected me to go with her O n

,
.

the w a y—the drive took h alf or three quarters of an -

hour—she would tell me stories of missionary he

roes —L ivingstone Fideli a Fisk Pa ton ! u dson
, , , , ,
 M iss S i ngh s R e c o l l e c t i o ns
’
. 6
3 3

a nd others I remember how her face fairly glowed

.

when she said If you once get the taste for this
,
“

service nothing else will satisfy you

,
.

And so the d a ys a nd the weeks and the months

, ,

flew by a nd we grew under her influence

,
.

Two or three incidents that occurred during the

year 1 88 2 stand out most vividly in my mind a nd ,

I think they will give us a better glimpse i nto

Miss Tho b u rn s ch a racter th an anything else
’
.

O ne of the oldest girls in the school—in fact ,

she w a s a pupil teacher—had been steadily losing

-

ground and at last Miss T h oburn h a d proofs that

,

s he h a d planned to elope with a man who already

h a d a wife While the investigation had been going

.

on Miss Thoburn looked almost haggar d We

, .

thought she would surely be sick before it was all

over My heart j ust a ched a nd ached for her and
.
,

so o ne eve ning I went and bought a large bunch

, ,

of roses and took them to her room The light .

was dim ; I called and there was no a nswer Think .

that she w a s out I went right up to her writing

,

desk when I he a rd her sobbing I was so frigh t

, .

e ned for s he rarely cried ; the flowers dropped out

,

of my h ands a nd I hurried to go She heard me and .

looked up I c a n never forget her face as she

.

s a id O Ethel I would be willing to die if only

, ,

I could s ave her Then like her M a ster her heart

.
, ,

cra ved the comp anionship of eve n a we a k girl like

me a nd she asked me to st a y th a t we might pr a y
,

together S uc h a pra yer I h ave never he a rd It

. .
 6
3 4 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u r n .

beg an to daw n on me wh a t Paul meant when he

s a id we might know the fellowship of Christ s “ ’

suffering .
”

During the s a me ye a r a little African girl from

the West Indies w a s brought to us by her father
who had been a seafaring man but who had finally ,

settled down in L ucknow as a railw a y employee .

H e was anxious for his child to grow up to be a

good woman ; but she had lived a wild roving life , ,

and she could not stand the regularity of a boarding

school Again and again she would climb the gate
.

or scale t h e w a ll and run away When she w a s

, .

c a ught the language she used to her captors w a s

,

something dreadful O ne day when she was

.
,

brought back M iss Thoburn took her into her

,

dressing room to try solitary confinement As the

-
.

two entered the child tried to strike Miss Thoburn

, ,

a nd then began to abuse her Ag a in Miss Thoburn .

c ried . She herself told me this story and said that ,

the awfulness of a little g i rl nine or ten years old

being so bad and using such language filled her ,

heart with such pity for her that she could not
keep back the tears The girl was so surprised that
.

s he, too began to c ry S h e put her arms around

, .

Miss Thoburn and said If you won t c ry I will ,

’

,
”
be j ust as good as you want me to be .

O ne of the thi ngs which ofte n struck me a s

rem a rk able about Miss Thoburn w a s her wonderful
patie nce with all sorts a nd conditions of m e n Do .

y ou r e m e m b e r th a t p oe m o f Dr W e ir M itchell s o n
’
.
3 6 6 L if e of I s ab e ll a T h o b u rn .

to m a ke their clothes so she could te ach them how to

,

dress in t a ste Again and a ga in in these later years I

.

would s a y to her ! Do n t bother with these dresses ;

“ ’

let them get their o w n a s they do in other schools ;

it takes so much of your time and stre ngth She .
”

would smile a t me but went o n with her l abor

,

of love .

Whe n the girls were sick wh a t c a re she took ,

of them ! I h ave seen her nurse c a ses of sm all

pox a nd cholera She would send every one else
.

a way shut herself in with the patient keeping one

, ,

or two native nurses until the p a tient w a s better ,

and the danger was over And when the su ff erer .

died Miss Thoburn herself bathed dressed and laid

, , ,

out the form and a rranged the flowers Whenever

, .

s he went to the cemetery s he took flowers to the ,

graves of her former girls She would have f avorite .

shrubs and creepers planted on their l a st resting

place .

Such she w a s I s it a ny wonder th at we loved

.

her I s it any wonder that one of the former gi rls

!

whom I met a few weeks ago and who is m a rried ,

and has a family said O u r parents our brothers

, , , ,

our husbands our children all all love her

,
!
, ,
”

The L al Bagh girls never forgot her or their

school life O ne of the prettiest customs she started
.

was the keeping up the birthday of the school .

Y ear by year a s the eighteenth of April came

,

a round we h a d a holiday which we celebrated with

,

a su nrise pr a yer meeti ng At this meet in g letters

-
.
 M iss S i ngh s R e c o ll e c t i o ns
’
. 6
3 7

from the old girls— former pupils of the s chool

were re a d to u s telling us of their home or t h eir
, ,

children or their work Among those who wrote

,
.

every year were three of the first six with whom

,

s he opened the school on the eighteenth of April ,

1 8 70
. After these had been re a d she gave one of ,

her wo nderful Bible lessons This w a s followed b v.

prayer a nd praise a nd perhaps a testimony servi ce

, ,

and then c a me the final prayer from her a nd some ,

of these pra yers I c a n never forget She seemed .

to be lifted up above the world a nd to lift us all ,

those present and those who had been wit h her in

the past to the very throne of Go d pleading that
, ,

“
not one of those who h a d come to the school
might be absent when the Lord should gather home
his own .

O n the evening of the eightee nth we always had

a lawn party and I can do no better th a n to quote
,

her descrip t ion of it ! In the coolness of the late

“

afternoon we have a garden party on our pretty

oval l a wn between the amaltas trees I wish you .

could se e the picture The amaltas is the Indian

.

laburnum which i s s ix times larger in branch and

,

flower than t he English variety Its blossoms of .

‘
drooping gold hang overhead or lie in scattered
’

pe t als on t h e grass where happy feet chase each

,

ot her in play The parents and friends of the girls

.

are invited a nd also the friends of the school

,
.

They sit here a nd there on the benches that h ave

been bro ught from the s chool for the o cca sion or ,
3 6 8 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

stroll a bout the garden until the refreshments are

served from the tables th at are set a t one side ,

with the water pots of sherbet beneath them The

‘
-
’
.

organ has been brought out— that fai t hful organ ,

sent sixteen ye a rs ago by the Cincinnati Wesleyan

College The girls sing in duet and quartet and
.
, ,

choru s and then a prayer of praise with petitions

, ,

for further blessing a nd guidance ; and when the

short twilight passes into night our birthd ay cele ,

bration is over ”
.

And s o she lived with u s a nd for us I remem .

ber puzzling over her perfect character It was .

such a revelation to me I had never seen anything .

like it And when we would hear her talk of home

.

and her brothers and sisters we knew how much ,

it had cost her to give it all up and come to us .

I remember one night aw a y back in 1 884 when , , ,

after a very busy day she took us out for a walk ,

to the park It w a s a perfect moonlight nig h t in

.

the month of O ctober The lawn grass had j ust .

been c u t A s I stood beside her for a few minutes

.

alone ,
s h e said ! O the smell of this new mown— “

grass m a kes me j ust a little homesick ! I s h ould

like to see M rs Cratty and my ot h er sisters a nd .
,

t h eir children After a few minutes I said M iss

.
”
,
“

Thoburn what made you leave them all and come

,

out to us ! Her reply was so simple ! It was my

”

mother She made us feel that we must help those

.

who needed u s most ”

I did not tell her then and .
,

I never tol d her a fterw a rd ; b ut the thou ght th a t

370 L if e of Is a b e l l a T h o b u rn .

After we h a d p a ssed our e ntr a n ce ex a mi nation ,

M rs Chu ck e rb u tty we nt to Miss Thoburn a nd

.

a sked for a college education for u s a nd a lthou g h , ,

S he w a s not a we a lthy wom a n s he told M iss Tho ,

burn she would give five hundred rupees toward

the expenses i f she would only ope n these cl a sses
,
.

She did th a t because she w a s a nxious to h a ve her

d a ughter h ave a college tra i ning together with
Christian i nfluenc e a nd te achi ng a nd if Miss Tho ,

bur n refused her she would be obliged to send her

to the Bethu ne College where the non Christi an
,
-

influence was strong .

Miss Thoburn gave Mrs Chuck erb u tty no reply

. .

She knew wh a t a big undert aking this was a nd ,

s he knew th a t there would be a gre a t deal of oppo

s it io n from even the missionaries themselves To .

many it would seem a waste of time and talent and

money to have two or three mission a ries spend their
,

entire time on two or three girls when e ach of these ,

might be in charge of some orphan age or zenana ,

work or hospital But M rs Chu ck e rb u tty and her

, . .

daughter and I were like the importunate widow .

Miss T hob u rn told us afterward that she tried to

get rid of us She wrote to M rs M acdonald of
. .
,

the Free Church of Scotland Mission in Calcutta ,

a ski ng her if she would not open a college class

for girls a nd saying th at she had two to send
,

her M rs M a cdonald w a s a gre a t educationalist

. .
‘

a nd she had a flourishi ng high school in Calcutta .

She wrote b ack th at she h a d trie d aga i n a nd aga i n

 M i ss S i ng h s R e c o ll e c t i o ns
’
.
37 1

to get permission from her Bo a rd to open a college ,

but th a t it had been refused So th a t door w a s .

shut a nd fi na lly Miss T hob u rn decided to g r a nt

,

our request .

Years afterw a rds whe n we were almost over ,

whelmed with diffi culties when there w a s a l a rge , .

debt and the Government a id h a d bee n refused

,

aga i n a nd again I one day said to her ! Miss Tho

,
“

burn do n t you thi nk y ou made a mista ke in ope n

,
’

ing the college ! Do n t you thi nk it w a s prem a ’

ture I sh all never forget her reply She s a id .

“
I a m j ust a s sure that I was obeying God in open
ing this college a s I w a s when I obeyed the call to
be a missionary ; for when you girls a sked for a ,

college education and I tried to get rid of you a nd

, ,

did not succeed I shut myself up to k now Go d s wil l

,
’

about this m a tter a nd I have never doubted my

,

commission in spite of a ll the difli cu l tie s .

The college classes were opened at the request

of the girls themselves as I have heard her sa y ,

again a nd again And not only did she do this

.
,

but S he introduced the American plan of working

one s way through college a nd several of the L al
’

Bagh girls have t a ught a nd studied a t the same

time Some have take n schol a rships but in the
.
,

majority of cases these h a ve been returned .

Just when she opened these cl a sses for us her ,

health which had been failing for some time com

, ,

p e l l e d her to take a furlough We went up for our .

F A examina tion and p a sse d ; b ut the l a dy who

. .
,
37 2 L if e of I s a b e ll a T h o b u rn .

was in charge of the L al Bagh school in Miss

Thob u rn s a bsence felt she could not open a B A
’
. .

class j ust for two of us ; a nd so after all we were , ,

compelled to go to the Bethune College at Calcut ta .

After we had both taken our degree Miss Chucker ,

butty took up work with the Church Missionary

Society a t Amritsar a nd I a government position
,

at Dacca I there became very cold and indi fferent

.

to my religious life and my ambitions were all for

,

the world ; but the memory of her life still seemed

to h ave a restraining influence on me I remember .

one night particularly Some of my f riends had

.

persuaded me to promise to go wit h them to a

theater They were coming to call for me at eight
.

o clock that night but when they came I could not

’

go Although I was in India and Miss Thoburn

.
,

thousands of miles away in America yet I imagined ,

I could see her eyes looking sad and disappointed

at me for forgetting the teaching I had from her .

T h at night I began to think more about her life

a nd the te a ching I had received from her and ,

finally I wrote and tol d her I was not satisfied

with secular work but wanted to take up some form
,

of Christian service T h is was h er reply !

.

L ast Sunday I heard an inspiring sermon on

“

the life of St P a ul and I sa w s o vividly the power

.
,

of a life that counts all things loss for the sake

of Christ and his blessed gospel It is the life I .

c a n not but c hoose for myself ; but with thoughts

of bein g soon in I ndi a ag ai n my hea rt w a s moved

,