l dedicate one of their children to the Temple if they
are blessed with a family. Temple women often adopt orphans, to whom
they bequeath their possessions. In most cases the orphans are bought."

The position of the Temple woman has been a perplexity to many. The
Census Report touches the question: "It is one of the many
inconsistencies of the Hindu religion, that though their profession is
repeatedly vehemently condemned in the Shastras (sacred books), it has
always received the countenance of the Church." Their duties are all
religious. A well-informed Hindu correspondent thus enumerates them:
"First they are to be one of the twenty-one persons who are in charge of
the key of the outer door of the Temple; second, to open the outer door
daily; third, to burn camphor, and go round the idol when worship is
being performed; fourth, to honour public meetings with their presence;
fifth, to mount the car and stand near the god during car-festivals."
The orthodox Hindu quoted before remarks on the "high honour," as the
Temple child is taught to consider it, the marriage to the god confers
upon her.

We have purposely confined ourselves almost entirely to official and
Hindu evidence so far, but cannot forbear to add to this last word the
confirmatory experience of our own Temple children worker: "When I try
to persuade the Hindus to let us have their little ones instead of
giving them to the Temples they say: 'But to give them to Temples is
honour and glory and merit to us for ever; to give them to you is
dishonour and shame and demerit. So why should we give them to you?'"

We have said that convictions are rare. This is because of the great
difficulty in obtaining such evidence as is required by the law as it
stands at present. One case may be quoted as typical. A few years ago,
in one of our country towns, a father gave his child in marriage to the
idol "with some pomp," as the report before us says. He was prosecuted,
but the prosecution failed, for the priest and the parents united in
denying the fact of the marriage; and the evidence for the defence was
so skilfully cooked that it was found impossible to prove an offence
against the Penal Code.

Once, deeply stirred over the case of a little girl of six who was about
to be married to a god as her elder sisters had been a few months
previously, we wrote to a magistrate of wide experience and proved
sympathy with the work. His letter speaks for itself:--

"I have bee