He then goes on to prove how unfounded is the assertion that “a missionary is a disgrace to any country.” Speaking not of himself alone but also of his fellow-worker, Mr. Jaenické, he shows how in times of difficulty the Government have been only too thankful to enlist their services. On one occasion one of the richest inhabitants said to him, “Sir, if you send a person to us, send one who has heard all your ten commandments,” and another time a Rajah said to one of the leading men of the British Government: “We all, you and I, have lost our credit, let us try whether the inhabitants will trust Mr. Schwartz.” And they did so. In fact, if the Christians at all risks had not stood loyal at such a crisis the Fort could not have resisted the attack. It was not the poor native Christians who were living profligate lives, but the Gentoo dubashes who were lending money at exorbitant interest and were allowed to collect the same without any supervision.
“When Sir Archibald Campbell was Governor and Mr. M. Campbell his private secretary, the inhabitants of Tanjore were so miserably oppressed by the manager and the Madras dubashes that they quitted the country. Of course, all cultivation ceased. In the month of June it should commence, but nothing was done even at the beginning of September. Every one dreaded the calamity of a famine. I entreated the Rajah to remove that shameful oppression and to recall the inhabitants. He sent them word that justice should be done to them; but they disbelieved his promises. He then desired me to write to them and to assure them that he, at my intercession, would show kindness to them. I did so. All immediately returned, and first of all the Kallar (or as they are commonly called collaries) believed my word, so that seven thousand men came back in one day. The other inhabitants followed their example. When I exhorted them to exert themselves to the utmost because the time for cultivation was almost lost, they replied in the following manner: ‘As you have shown kindness to us, you shall not have reason to repent of it; we intend to work night and day to show our regard for you.’ Sir Archibald Campbell was happy when he heard of it, and we had the satisfaction of having a better crop than the preceding year.”
The closing words written by Schwartz on this defence of Christian missions deserve a permanent record; they are as applicable now as they were then, and sum up the whole case for preaching Christianity to the heathen.
“Now I am well aware,” he goes on to say, “that some will accuse me of having boasted. I confess the charge willingly but lay the blame upon those who have constrained me to commit that folly. I might have enlarged my account, but, fearing that some characters would have suffered by it, I stop here. One thing, however, I affirm before God and man, that if Christianity in its plain and undisguised form were properly promoted, the country would not suffer but be benefited by it.
“If Christians were employed in some important offices, they should, if they misbehaved, be doubly punished, but to reject them entirely is not right and discourageth.
“The glorious God and our blessed Redeemer commanded His Apostles to preach the Gospel to all nations. The knowledge of God, of His divine perfections, and of His mercy to mankind, may be abused; but there is no other method of reclaiming men than by instructing them well. To hope that the heathen will lead a good life without the knowledge of God is a chimera.
“The praise bestowed on the heathens of this country by many of our historians is reflected by a close (I might almost say a superficial) inspection of their lives. Many historical works are more like a romance than history. Many gentlemen here are astonished how some historians have prostituted their talents by writing fables.
“I am now on the brink of eternity; but to this moment I declare that I do not repent of having spent forty-three years here in the service of my Divine Master. Who knows but God may remove some of the great obstacles to the propagation of the Gospel. Should a reformation take place among the Europeans, it would no doubt be the greatest blessing to the country.”
It is only just and right to record that, after perusing this complete and touching disclaimer by Schwartz, the critic of missions tendered an immediate apology to him. But the mischief would not by this be undone. The “Madras Courier” of the 24th May, 1793, made sympathetic comments on the attack. Schwartz in his reply had completely disposed of the charge, yet this journal continued to repeat that all native Christians were of the lowest class, and the European officials and the Brahmins began, with an easily satisfied conviction, to make it hard for the Christian convert to live. In 1802 the Hindu Maravars of Tinnevelly, judging that, after what Mr. Montgomery Campbell had said, the Christians might be molested with impunity, so bitterly persecuted them that the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge had to appeal to the Directors of the East India Company to put a stop to this oppression, which was successful. The incident has the old moral that an unjust charge may be fully disproved but a vindication can never follow or kill the slander.
Throughout the year 1794 many letters full of fatherly advice were written by Schwartz from Tanjore to his young ward Serfogee at Madras. He counsels him to look to nothing less than the Almighty power of God as a sufficient help in the perilous paths of his youth. “Your welfare, believe me,” he writes, “depends entirely upon God who governs all things. If He is your God and Father all will be well. But that He may be your protector and benefactor, you must honour, adore and fear Him. If you refuse to acknowledge Him, it is but just if He forsakes you. You have read the declaration of God concerning Israel, ‘O that they would fear me and keep my commandments, it should be well with them.’ But Israel disobeyed often and they were severely punished. It is therefore left to your choice, whether you will honour the true God or the idols. May God direct us to choose Him for our God and supreme good!”