he
great city, where for many years afterwards it was my privilege to
labour in the gospel of Christ.

[Sidenote: THE LANGUAGES OF NORTHERN INDIA.]

The work of the missionary in Northern India would be greatly simplified
if he had to learn only one language. He has to learn the two I have
named, the Hindustanee and the Hindee. The Hindustanee arose from
intercourse between the Muhammadan invaders and the people they had
subdued. It is written in the Persian or Arabic character, and draws its
vocabulary mainly from the Persian and Arabic languages. It is the
language of law, of commerce, and of ordinary life to many millions. The
Hindee in its various dialects, some of which almost rise to the dignity
of languages, is the vernacular of the vast Hindu population of
North-Western India. It rests mainly on the Sanscrit, and is written in
the Sanscrit or Deonagree character. In some of the most popular books
the languages are so strangely combined that it is impossible to give
any definite name to the language used. An acquaintance with these
languages is indispensable to missionary efficiency in Northern India,
but it is very difficult to attain marked excellence in both.

CHAPTER VI.

THE FIRST YEAR--SOCIETY AND CLIMATE.

A very brief residence at Benares led me to see the great difference
between the society to which I had come and that which I had left. The
European community formed a mere handful of the population, and was
almost exclusively formed of officials, with all the peculiarities of a
class privileged by office. We had some two hundred European
artillerymen with their officers, of a regiment paid and controlled by
the East India Company; three native regiments officered by Europeans;
three or four members of the Civil Service, charged with the
administration of the city and district; one English merchant, and two
or three English shopkeepers. I now learned for the first time the
difference in rank between Queen's and Company's military officers. The
Queen's officer regarded himself as of a higher grade. Members of the
Civil Service and Company's officers met on terms of social equality;
but the Civilians looked on themselves as of a higher order, as the
aristocracy of the land, and the assumed superiority put a strain to
some degree on social intercourse. The persons sent out from this
country for the administration of India are called Covenanted Civilians,
as they bear a commission from the Quee