I. "Ha! you are very sly. No; but our religion is good for us now. By and bye Vishnoo will come again, and then he will perhaps give us a Bible."
C. "Why not take the Christian Bible and Christian Brummah now?"
I. "Then I should lose my caste, my wife will leave me, my children will go away, my brother will not smoke with me, my hut will be empty, and the Brahmins will curse me."
C. "If the Brahmins curse you, God is stronger than they are, and he will bless you; if your wife and children run away, Jesus will make you happy in heaven; if your brother will not smoke with you, the great God will give you his peace."
I. "Well, I will see. Lend me the book; I will read it and show it to the Brahmins. How soon shall you be here again, sahib?"
Mr. L. "In about ten days."
I. "Good: I will see you again."
This is a mere epitome of the conversation, but may furnish some idea of the mode of argument pursued. Whenever the convert brought forward a good argument, or came to a convincing point, it was curious to see the countenance of the Christians. They had been watching their champion with the greatest interest, looking more like dark statues than human beings, so perfectly still did they sit, except when a mother pressed her infant to her bosom to keep it quiet. Suddenly, as they saw the drift of what was said more clearly, their white eyes would dance amid their dark skins, and one or two of them would smile and utter gently the emphatic word "Ha!" (yes).
A nice-looking young woman brought her baby to show it. It was only two months old, and had not yet been baptized. Poor woman! I won her heart completely by taking it from her and kissing it. Mr. L. seemed a little surprised at my doing so, but both the mother and her husband were delighted. She asked me to name her child. Mr. L. wished it to be a scriptural name. I accordingly gave it the first that came into my head, which was "Benjamin." It was interesting to watch the mother's face as I named the child, she had apparently never heard the name before, and there was much amusement amongst them, all trying to pronounce it; they could not quite manage it, but, as the mother carried the little one out, several of the men patted its cheek and smiled, and said very slowly Bend-za-min. There were to have been four adults baptized on this day, but one of them came in the morning and said that his wife declared she would not live with a Christian, that she had taken her children and all his fortune, consisting of one rupee and two pice, and had gone away to her brother's house. Mr. L. advised the man to go and reason with her, which he did, and we afterwards heard that she had returned with him on condition that he would not become a Christian.
The people have literally given up father, mother, wife, children, friends, and home as soon as they become followers of Jesus. They are looked upon as utterly degraded; and the tribe to which they belong has to pay a sum of money to the Brahmins before they can be freed from the stain which attaches to them in consequence of the pollution.