EDITOR’S PREFACE.
Having suggested to the writer of the following pages that he should do what some who are more competent, and a great many who are far less competent than himself are doing daily, viz. write a book, I brought upon myself the office of revising his manuscript, and supervising its publication. It was a particular sort of a book which I proposed to him, and as he has come so near to the ideal which I had of what he might write, I have taken care to leave it as he wrote it, with no betterments and no injuries received while the manuscript was in my hands. Something of the interest of Mr. Gangooly’s composition might have been expected to lie in its style and in his peculiar modes of expression. So scrupulous have I been to allow the whole work to stand as his own, that I have seldom ventured to correct even his occasional slips of grammar, and have in no case altered his idiom. The reader will hardly fail to notice how charming and attractive the contents of these pages are made by the natural eloquence, the hearty frankness, and the wonderful power of discernment of this very young and marvellously endowed Hindoo convert to Christ. The perusal of his little book will deepen the impression made upon the minds of a large number of most intelligent persons who had any intercourse with him, that his experience has been profoundly interesting, that he possesses genius and many signal qualities of character, and that he is fitted to accomplish a most serious and useful work in life, if the circumstances hereafter appointed for him shall be propitious, and if he shall remain steadfast in his Christian purposes and zeal.
I have leave to print here the following letter containing information, which I asked for my own personal satisfaction, from a most faithful friend of Mr. Gangooly, to whom, as will appear in the closing pages (as well as from the Preface) of this volume, the latter expresses so much gratitude for kindness in his home, and for service in the training of his mind.
Rev. George E. Ellis, D. D.:—
My dear Sir,—
I cheerfully comply with your request to give you some facts relating to the education of Mr. Gangooly while in this country, and also a brief notice of his opinions, together with a few impressions of his mind and character. I do this the more readily, because Mr. Gangooly was so much engaged with preparations for his return home as to be unable to write as fully, in the “Narrative of his Religious Experience,” of his studies here and his opinions, as he had intended.
Mr. Gangooly came to this country expressly to prepare himself as a Christian missionary. The plan or extent of his future labors were not distinctly apprehended at the time of his arrival, and the few words he uttered in the Bedford Street Church, in which he said he had come to learn more of the Christian religion, so that on his return he might be better enabled to instruct his countrymen, express his general purpose. This has been gaining in strength and breadth, as his mind has enlarged its knowledge, and as his character has unfolded under positive Christian influences. On his arrival, though it was evident that he was a young man of quick powers of perception, and unusual aptness for learning a new language, yet he was, as it were, only a child thrown upon wholly untried experiences. Indeed, after he had been in this country eight months,—which was the time when he became a resident of my family, and was put under my instruction,—he was even then as ignorant of many of our conventional customs as a child. Everything was so new and strange to him. The details of social life, modes of thought, forms of speech,—in fact, the whole structure of society,—and our political and religious institutions were so unlike those of Bengal, that he seemed to live in another world. Notwithstanding this, he conformed to his new social conditions with remarkable adaptation, and fell into the routine of custom with quickness and ease. He rarely made the same mistake a second time.
It was this entire difference between his previous training, his race, mental habitudes, and social surroundings and our own, which made the question of his education a difficult one. What should we do with this young Hindoo? He had not come to be Americanized. He did not propose to occupy our pulpits as a permanent minister, or to address those who had grown up with our habits of thought, traditional convictions, or peculiarities of race and nation. He came to prepare himself to teach and preach Christianity to the people in India, and to translate the fresh and vigorous ideas of a rational Christian faith into his native tongue. As yet he had to learn more fully the English language. A recent convert, he had all the fresh enthusiasm of a neophyte. Thus far he had learned chiefly from Christ, and had caught glimpses of the moral elevation and spiritual beauty of his religion as seen in the Gospels, or idealized by his own vivid Oriental imagination. He had not fully seen the wide gulf which separates the pure religion of Christ and that which is so often taught and lived by imperfect disciples. He was wholly unfitted to enter intelligently, all at once, into those intellectual discussions which arise from the conflict between established belief and prevailing doubt. In the first stages of his Christian experience, it might permanently injure him to be exposed to that destructive and critical tone of thought which is a result of the principles of free inquiry, and which is so rife in our colleges and theological schools. These various considerations made the case of this young man an exceptional one. The Executive Committee of the Unitarian Association, who had the direction of his education, could not be guided by the wisdom of experience. His coming was itself an experiment, and the case had no precedent. What then was to be done? In view of all the facts, it was decided, that the early period of Mr. Gangooly’s studies should be under the direction and care of persons who should act in the twofold capacity of parent and instructor. That he might have the benefit of the rich result of different minds, he recited to various clergymen, and was thus brought under the influence of their scholarship and piety. It also, I believe, formed a part of the original plan of his education that he should finish his preparatory studies at one of our theological schools. But the brief period of his stay in this country, and the absorption of his time in the practical work connected with his mission, prevented the execution of this part of the original design beyond the attendance of a few lectures at the Divinity School in Cambridge. To a great degree he was his own instructor, and he gained more by the independent action of his own mind than by the direct efforts of his teachers.
Throughout the two years of his sojourn he kept constantly in view the great object of his life. To gain efficiency for this, he gave more attention to the working of Christianity among men and in institutions, than to the study of books. His mind has been directed more to religion as expressed in practical life, than as speculative thought embodied in theology. He came to study man under a civilization, institutions, race, literature, and religion, wholly unlike those where he had lived, and the course he pursued was better fitted to make him a missionary than a scholar. The chief of his studies was the New Testament. To the Gospels he gave a more systematic reading than to anything else. But even here he manifested the same intellectual features which universally characterized him. He was more careful to get at the thought of the writer than to dwell on the minute distinctions of textual philology. His Oriental mind aided him in his Scripture studies, and he vividly apprehended the local allusions and the general costume of the thought in the New Testament. To this study of the New Testament he added that of the evidences of Christianity. His time did not permit him to enter upon this subject as fully as was desirable. Beside these he took a rapid survey of portions of ecclesiastical history, enough perhaps to give him an idea of the relation which the history of the Church holds to the vital truths of the Gospel. These, together with writing, were the chief subjects of study. As one of the most important parts of his future labors would be that of a translator, much of his study had reference to this. He never wrote what are called compositions,—never had assigned him set themes. His mind was so enriched with new impressions, and his feelings were so aroused by ever-varying scenes, that he never was at loss for a subject. His mind was full, and in his writing he gave utterance to some existing thought or emotion. To have adopted any other method would have endangered the quaintness, vigor, and natural freshness of his style. When we remember that he has spoken English but a little more than two years, the mastery he has gained over our language, and his power of expressing his thoughts will be evident to every reader of his book.