FAREWELL!
Brothers and Sisters in the Faith:—
The time has come for me to bid you farewell. The circumstances under which I came here just two years ago, and the circumstances under which I return to India, are quite different from each other. I came with fear, weakness, and low spirits. I go with courage, strength, and hope. I came here a runaway from the Hindoos, without scrip, or a second suit of clothes, but go with all the necessary help with which you have provided me.[35] I came to a strange land, with little hope of finding friends, and I go now with the pleasant memories of many friends, whose hearts, prayers, and sympathies will accompany me in my labor in the harvest of the great King.
I have availed myself of every opportunity to improve, to store my mind with useful information. But I have studied or read very few books during my stay among you. The main subject of my study has been Human Nature in its different editions and volumes. The only possible way of knowing God and his righteousness is through human nature. The image beareth the likeness of the original,—the son inherits his father’s nature in a degree; so our common Father manifests himself in his child, man. Corrupted, mistaken, sinful as he is, you will find a great deal in him to remind you of his Father. In us there are only extracts from the sacred subject, God; but in our Elder Brother it is complete. Whatever we are permitted to know of God, and as much as is necessary for our life, comfort, and salvation, we may learn in the great volume of humanity to which Christ gave “the finishing stroke.”
My friends had very many fears about my coming. First, I should return to India with the vices and dirty habits of this country, such as drinking wine and spirits, smoking cigars, etc. Second, I should not be able to stand the severe winter of this country. Third, being among the clergymen, who are said to be more sectarian than their people, I should go home a narrow-minded Christian. But I am happy to say, as far as my near-sighted eyes can see, that I stand above these fears. I never was in the habit of drinking wine or using tobacco in any form, and in this country I have carefully avoided these dirty things. Eating much or little meat is another ugly habit in the opinion of the Hindoos, and the native converts are often charged with becoming Christians simply for the purpose of eating “cow and hog.” Although I have no prejudice against meat, yet I presume that owing to my peculiar taste, I have not eaten as much meat in two years, as a boy or girl of ten in New England would eat in six weeks, especially if “Thanksgiving” day should fall within them.
Having had no idea what an American winter was, I came unprepared; yet I have not suffered in the least in these two years. The very coldest days you had in the winter before the last, I rode in an open sleigh over the hills of Lunenburg, without anything to cover my ears. In the last winter, on the second of January, I rode in a similar conveyance from Medfield to Boston with no protection for my ears. Thus, I have passed unharmed through real winter days. Again, the good husbandman who brought me a tropical plant from his garden into this part of the world, put me in the green-house of your hearts, whose warmth, I perceive, is as genial as that of the glorious luminary that shines over the land of my fathers. Brothers and sisters, your hearts never stood below zero in my case, never reached the freezing-point, but always were warm, affectionate, kind.
In regard to the narrow, sectarian feelings of a bigot’s heart, I think I have very little to fear. I do not condemn nor hate any body for his creed; yet, as a firm believer in the undivided Unity of our God, I differ very much from some others. But I pray to God that I may daily learn to love all his children. I like the creed-makers but not their creeds, if they contain anything that is absurd and untrue. I trust I have within this slender frame a heart whose commodious hall can accommodate Unitarians, Trinitarians, Mohammedans, and Hindoos; for He who has given it to me has given it on purpose that it might hold all His children.
My visit, on the whole, has been a satisfactory one. Nothing seriously disagreeable has happened to injure my health, heart, or usefulness. No country has a canopy of clear sky over it always, no heart is beyond the reach of sorrows. The dark clouds have hung over my head, and thunders have rolled noisily, yet my earnest eyes have seen a clear firmament beyond, and I can say with fulness of heart,—
“In trouble and in grief, O God,
Thy smile hath cheered my way,
And joy has budded from each thorn
That round my footsteps lay.”
The practical confidence in God’s parental care is a source from which I draw consolation, courage, and strength. May we all truly believe that our Father is good, and that his whole counsel aims for the eternal welfare of his children. My second source of joy, courage, and hope is my “confidence in man.” I do not wish to loose my trust in him. If I am deceived by ninety and nine, I would still have confidence in the remaining one. Thus with such views of God as a good, loving parent, and with such feelings toward man as a trustworthy brother, I hope to make my way while a sojourner in this beautiful world of God.
In this connection I would ask pardon if I have in any way pained, offended, or done injustice to any. I know not that I have done so. Yet how many things we do unawares. A kind lady wrote me a letter and gave me some scoldings, saying that I had pained a great many for the seeming coldness of my heart, that when people came to shake hands with me and speak to me, I did not take respectful notice of them. This, however, is a new thing in my nature. Those who know me know well the average temperature of my heart. It might be (as she says) that, in public gatherings, when tender greetings have crowded upon me, from many persons at once, perhaps I have failed to speak to all. But this is excusable, I know. How can one person speak to several at a time? Frequently I have met four, five, or six brethren or sisters round me. I have used both my hands to “shake hands” with them. Besides, in my country, only one person expects to be spoken to in the same moment.
Again, I do not—though I have tried to do so—observe the formalities and use the local phrases as much as they do here. There are some fixed set of words which the people use, such as “How are you?” “Fine day, or weather,” etc. These do not show real warmth of the heart, but come out of the national disease of loquacity, I believe. My training has been quite different, so I am liable to make a great many mistakes. Once more, I would say, Christian friends, if I have done any wrong to any of you, take it as unintentional and overlook it charitably.
Let it be known to you once more, that I go to India, but not to my Home. You have frequently heard me say that on account of my embracing the Christian religion I cannot live with my Hindoo mother and other dear friends,—or rather, they cannot live with me. I am going as a lamb among wolves; and in days of trials, sorrows, and discouragements, I shall look first to my Father in heaven, and then to you as my brothers and sisters. I go to preach and teach the truth to my beloved countrymen, in your name and under your auspices, and I look to you for your help, prayers, and blessing.
The cause of Christ suffers severely from the injudicious preaching of the Missionaries who go out to India from western countries. They think that anything outside the Bible is humbug, untrue, and nonsensical. They tell the Hindoos that their Holy Books contain no truth, and that they themselves are going headlong to everlasting damnation. These errors and follies I will carefully avoid. I would not offend a Hindoo by insulting his gods, or puzzle him with a doctrine of a Triune God and its attendant absurdities. I know the best way for me will be to take a Hindoo saying, and present its truth in a practical way. In order to attract respect, I would rather appeal to the Hindoo Scripture, if it serve my purpose, than to Isaiah, Job, or Solomon. St. Paul, while in Greece, appealed to a poet of the country, and thereby secured the attention of the people. One can preach years from texts taken from Hindoo proverbs, such as, “If you wish to be the greatest, be the humblest,” “Feel for the world as you do for yourself.” Will you say these are humbugs because they belong to the Hindoos? No. Christ uttered these very things. What I most earnestly want to do, is to take Truth wherever I find it, and present it to my brethren in the spirit of Christ, and show its applicability to our lives. If we are faithful and labor patiently and prayerfully, aiming at the glory of God and the good of Man, success will be ours. Our part is to sow and water, and our Father will give the increase.
God bless you, dear, kind Christian friends! God bless you for your kindness toward me! Do not let the interest die out when I go out of your sight. I go to fight against sin, idolatry, and superstition, and you who stay at the camp, or in the magazine rather, send me ammunition and instructions, according to my need. This is the way to carry on work. Trust in God, India’s future religion will be Liberal Christianity.
Farewell to you all for a while. If Providence spares my life, I may again, after four or five years of Christian labors, seek rest in your homes, and personally tell you about the work of God. And if it be his will that I shall depart from the world soon, what shall hinder our meeting in our Father’s mansions? Farewell! “Lo, I will be with you always” in the spirit. Heaven’s smile be upon you all, is the prayer of your friend and brother,
J. C. GANGOOLY.
Cambridge: Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigelow, & Co.