_January 1905_

To the Memory of My Dear Friend,

ELEANOR CARR,

Whose last message to the Band, before her
translation on June 16, 1901, was:

"YOU WILL BE IN THE THICK OF THE FIGHT
BY THE TIME THIS REACHES YOU,
[Illustration: Tamil text: THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S!]"

Note

WITHIN a few weeks of the publication of _Things as They Are_, letters
were received from missionaries working in different parts of India,
confirming its truth. But some in England doubt it. And so it was
proposed that if a fourth edition were called for, a few confirmatory
notes, written by experienced South Indian missionaries, other than
those of the district described, would be helpful. Several such notes
are appended. The Indian view of one of the chief facts set forth in the
book is expressed in the note written by one who, better than any
missionary, and surely better even than any onlooker at home, has the
right to be heard in this matter--_and the right to be believed_.

And now at His feet, who can use the least, we lay this book again; for
"to the Mighty One," as the Tamil proverb says, "even the blade of grass
is a weapon." May it be used for His Name's sake, to win more prayer for
India--and all dark lands--the prayer that prevails.

AMY WILSON-CARMICHAEL,
Dohnavur, Tinnevelly District,
S. India.

Confirmatory Notes

_From_ Rev. D. DOWNIE, D.D., American Baptist Mission, Nizam's
Dominions, S. India.

I have felt for many years that we missionaries were far too prone to
dwell on what is called the "bright side of mission work." That it has a
bright side no one can question. That it has a "dark" side some do
question; but I for one, after thirty years of experience, know it to be
just as true as the bright side is true. I have heard Miss Carmichael's
book denounced as "pessimistic." Just what is meant by that I am not
quite sure; but if it means that what she has written is untrue, then I
am prepared to say that it is NOT pessimistic, _for there is not a line
of it that cannot be duplicated in this Telugu Mission_. That she has
painted a dark picture of Hindu life cannot be denied, but, _since it is
every word true_, I rejoice that she had the courage to do what was so
much needed, and yet what so many of us shrank from doing, "lest it
should injure the caus