ed to be corrected. He was loud in praise of my progress, declaring
that I would soon surpass all my predecessors. In my intercourse with
him I had illustrations of the patience, the courtesy, and also the
flattering, cozening character of the people, when dealing with those
by whom they think they can be benefited. The impressions of native
character thus obtained were amply affirmed by the experience of after
years.

This munshee was well acquainted with our Scriptures. He belonged to the
Writer caste, and had from his early years been in contact with
Europeans. He was ready for conversation on religious subjects, and had
much to say in favour of the philosophical notions which underlie
Hinduism. Three or four years afterwards he seemed to awake all at once
to the claims of Christ as the Saviour of the world, and under this
impulse he openly appeared in a native newspaper as the assailant of
Hinduism and the advocate of Christianity, which led to the hope that he
was to avow himself, by baptism, a follower of the Lord. But he became
alarmed at what he had done; he could not bear the reproaches of his
friends, and he fell back into the ranks of his people. Though he had
ceased to be my teacher I had opportunities of seeing him, and I tried
to speak to his conscience, to his conviction of the Divine origin of
the gospel. The last time I spoke to him he said, with marked emphasis,
"There is no use in speaking to me. Let Hinduism be false or true, I am
determined to live and die in it as my fathers have done!" His case was
that of many with whom every Indian missionary is brought into contact.

During this year I was introduced into the methods in which evangelistic
work was conducted. In addition to attending the services of the Lord's
Day, I went now and then with my brethren to the city. We had at that
time two little chapels in good positions, at the doors of which the
people were first addressed, and were then invited to enter that they
might hear the new teaching more fully expounded. There was, of course,
nothing of the staidness or quietness of a Christian congregation. The
speaker was often interrupted; questions, sometimes very irrelevant
questions, were asked; and the people came and went, so that those who
were present at the commencement were seldom present at the close.
During the year I saw the principal places in Benares--its main streets
and markets, its temples and mosques; and thus formed some idea of t