Again we find him urging this young Oriental, who may have had some natural inclination to take things easy, to study more persistently. Some of his considerations are by no means strange or unnecessary even to readers who have long since passed the primrose age of youth.
“A language cannot,” he assures Serfogee, “be learned but by assiduous application. As the Malabar boy is now with you, let him not be idle, as he is inclined to be. He used to make excuses but do not allow him to stay away; when the new Governor comes he will wonder that you have made no greater progress in the English language. I wish you had somebody near you with whom you could talk. By conversation we improve. When you send me a letter I wish to see your composition without being corrected, when I shall be fully convinced of your progress....
“As Colonel Craithwaite has given you a globe you ought to learn something of geography, as you live in the world which God has created, that you may get some idea of the great God, the Creator of heaven and earth. It is ignorance of the works of God that inclines us to value the creatures more than God. A good prince is obliged to imitate God. And how can he imitate Him if he does not know of His goodness, wisdom, power, and justice?
“I am very glad that you improve in knowledge, wishing that all useful knowledge may have a proper effect on your heart. Our knowledge is like a light, in which we are to walk, so that we are led and influenced by the knowledge of what is good and just. I have just examined the children who are in the Tamil School, fifty in number. All received a new cloth which they put on with joy. When I am dead, you will I hope clothe them. But when we look upon the Author of all blessings, we must humbly acknowledge that it is God who feedeth and clothes us all....
“Our pride is at the foundation of all our sins. True humility is the root from which grows every virtue. There is not an unhappy man on earth but he owes his misery to his pride. Pride hinders us from hearkening to the good advice which our friends offer us. Pride makes us deaf, but true humility enables us to make the best use of friendly instructions. Our pride makes us indolent so that we are loth to exert ourselves. We grow angry with those who intend to stir us up, as a sleeper becomes angry with the man who awakes him.”
It was always in the mind of Schwartz that this young man would one day sit on the throne of Tanjore and that in that position he must exercise the gifts of a ruler and show discretion and courage in dealing with others. Serfogee had no doubt some excellent qualities and his training while at Madras in the care of Mr. Jaenické was a good preparation for his future responsibilities.
Here is a needful hint from his venerable guardian on the subject of keeping his own counsel.
“Here in Tanjore,” writes Schwartz, “everything that is said or written in the palace is known in a short time throughout the city. Learn from your youth to keep your secrets within your own breast. It is related by Alexander that he told a secret to his friend, enjoining him to secrecy. This friend, unable to keep this secret, divulged it. Alexander hearing of it was very wroth, called for his teacher, and asked what punishment he ought to inflict on the man who had revealed his secret. The teacher said: ‘Do not punish him; rather punish yourself, for if you could not keep your own secret, much less will others keep it.’”
All these counsels disclose a fatherly spirit and yet Schwartz was never married. With his affectionate disposition and his love of children, no man seemed better qualified for the quiet joys of family and domestic life. And his letters to his married friends, sometimes pointing out a mother’s duties to her children and also the love of a husband and father, disclose, if only between the lines, a wistful and lingering appreciation for the sacred blessings of the home circle. But his chief objection was to young inexperienced missionaries coming out with their wives, and thereby hindering, in his opinion, their proper preparation for the work, especially when everything has to be learnt. His views may seem narrow and old fashioned and at variance with the experience of modern methods, but his ideas on the subject are worth quoting. On receipt of an intimation from the Secretary of the Society that one of the missionaries on their way would be accompanied by his wife, this was the reply of Schwartz:
“I confess, dear sir, I was grieved at it. I assure you that I honour the state of matrimony as a divinely instituted state, but if a new missionary comes out he ought to be unembarrassed. His first work, besides his attention to his personal religion, is the learning some languages, which require great attention and unwearied application. I will not say that a married man is unable to learn languages, but this I know from experience in others, that the work goes on slowly. Besides, a new missionary who comes out in the married state wants many things to maintain his family decently which may distract him. If one should enter into that state after he had become qualified for his office the difficulty would be less; but even then, he ought to be well assured of the real piety of his wife, otherwise she will be a sore impediment to him in the discharge of his duty.”