once
to translate into the language of the people the Word of God. Never
before had the Bible been translated into an Indian tongue. After
thirteen years of service, this great missionary died; but he left to
his successors the heritage of a vernacular Bible, which has wrought
mightily in South India for the redemption of the people. He also set
the pace for subsequent missionaries of his persuasion, who, in these
two centuries, have practically translated God's Word into every
important Indian dialect. The Bible in his own vernacular lies open,
inviting every native of India to-day; and in many vernaculars the
translation has been revised more than once. This stands as a notable
triumph of Protestantism during these two centuries in India.

The writer has a copy of one of the earliest Tamil books prepared by
these pioneers of our faith. These books have already grown into a
large library--the best-developed Christian literature in any
vernacular of the East. All over the land mission presses are annually
pouring forth their many millions of pages both to nourish and cheer
the infant Christian community, and to win to Christ the multiplying
readers among non-Christians. The press has already become, perhaps,
the most important agency in the furtherance of Christian thought and
life in this land.

One is impressed with the manifoldness of the work which began in so
much simplicity two centuries ago. The missionary is no longer the
preacher under some shady tree, addressing a few ignorant, ill-clad
peasants. He is actively engaged in all departments of Christian
effort. A Protestant mission is an elaborately organized activity,
pursuing all lines of work for the elevation of the people. It has not
only churches which engage in varied forms of pastoral effort; it has
also its staff of evangelists and Bible women who carry the message of
life to all the villages. In these missions there are not only 10,000
day schools, with their 375,000 scholars, besides 30,000 youth who are
in the 307 higher institutions. There are also thousands of young men
and women, in many institutions, undergoing careful preparation as
teachers and preachers. There is also the medical host who treated
2,000,000 patients last year; there are industrial institutions under
well-trained men, peasant settlements for the poor oppressed ryots,
and schools for the blind and the deaf-mute. There is hardly an agency
which can bring light, comfort, life, an