"17th November, 1866.–Ever dearest Mother,–I hope long ere this reaches, you may have received some of the letters which I wrote to you from Kashmir. I cannot tell you how grieved I am to learn you have been so long without hearing from me. I wrote to you regularly, but, as many of my other letters have also gone astray, I strongly suspect that the native officials have seized on them to discover what I say of Government matters to my friends. Your having received so few during the past season confirms my suspicions in this matter. You must not be anxious in future. I shall continue to write regularly, and you may be sure if there were anything wrong some of my friends here would let you know. I am brimful of health through the goodness of God. My heart is brimful of joy, my faith in our precious, precious Saviour is getting gradually stronger and stronger, and I delight more and more in His honourable service. I have just reached Amritsar. If you have a map at hand you will readily ascertain the route I took in this journey from Kashmir. In the north-west corner of the map of India you will, by careful inspection, discover the position of the following places: Baramula, Uri, Poonch, Bimbhar, and Amritsar. This was almost all fresh ground to me. We had to cross a mountain pass about nine thousand feet above the level of the sea, twice the height of your famous Lochnagar, and with the exception of my catching a very bad cold, everything went well. We followed the same old plan of holding receptions at each of the villages and towns where we rested on our march, for the purpose of doing some good in a medical point of view, and also, and chiefly, to scatter a few of the precious seeds of the life-giving Gospel by the way, in the sure hope of its springing up at some future time, and bearing fruit to the praise of God. The people everywhere received us gladly, took our medicine and medical advices thankfully, and listened patiently to our news of the Gospel. Those who could read received parts of the New Testament and tracts. Pray, dearest mother, to our heavenly Father for His rich blessing on the labours of your loving son. We are most powerful when most prayerful. I am now drawing up an account of the Kashmir Medical Mission during the past year, and writing a lot of letters in reply to a heap which had accumulated for me during my march.
"Amritsar, 17th November, 1866.–My dear Thomson, ... I heard delightful news the other day–news which will assuredly gladden your heart. Mr. Rudolph, one of the American missionaries stationed at Loodiana, the Punjaub, told me that some months ago two Kashmiris came to him desiring to receive instruction respecting Christianity. They said they were Mussulman priests, that one of them had heard the Gospel for the first time in his life, at the Medical Mission Dispensary, Srinagar (during its first season), that what he had then heard had taken such a hold of him, that he felt an insatiable thirst for more knowledge about this new way of life, that as it was fraught with very considerable danger to be an inquirer after Christianity in Kashmir, he had resolved to find his way to the plains of the Punjaub, where he could with safety satisfy his thirst. Before setting out on his pilgrimage he prevailed on another of the priestly order to accompany him. They both reached Loodiana, were introduced to Mr. Rudolph, and he who had heard of salvation through a crucified Redeemer, at the Medical Mission Dispensary in Srinagar, was baptized after receiving sufficient instruction from Mr. Rudolph. He is now a most zealous and consistent Christian. His companion, too, is making progress in Divine things. Mr. Rudolph expects he will be baptized very soon. Here is some fruit already–never dying fruit. I cannot tell you, my dear friend, how brimful of joy my heart is, and how thankful to God too, for this great blessing. I feel now doubly strong, doubly hopeful, and doubly willing to labour on ministering to these wicked, dirty, and despised, Kashmiris. This is the Lord's doing. Let us wait on Him, let us wait patiently on Him. May not the prayers offered up by the friends of medical missions at your last winter's meeting have had something to do with this? We shall know some day when we get to the other side.
"This morning, (the 19th), I received your paper on the Status of native medical mission agents. I do not mean to say anything on the subject just now, but will do so, soon after our conference, which is to be held next week, God willing. Very many thanks for sending it. The subject will be discussed at the conference. I hope to send a full account of our proceedings, so far as medical missions are concerned.
"Amritsar, 3d December, 1866.–Ever dearest Mother,–This very evening I set off for Chamba, my new sphere of labour for the next four months. In a former letter I told you about the Rajah's invitations, and about the mission I am about to inaugurate. It is apparently an interesting field of labour."...
On reaching Chamba, Dr. Elmslie wrote as follows:–
"Chamba, among the Himalayas, 3d July, 1867.–My dear Thomson,–You will see, from the heading of this letter, that I write from Chamba, which God in His providence has opened to Medical Missions. It is situated to the south-east of Kashmir, and to the north of the Punjaub. Chamba forms a country, through the midst of which one of the five rivers of the Punjaub–hence the name Punjaub–flows. The Ràvi is the name of the river. The whole valley is surrounded by lofty mountains–the genuine Himalayas–whose peaks are at present covered with snow. Up to this time, no snow has fallen in the valley. The winter is temperate, and very much what I suppose the best parts of the South of England are. I learn the people of the valley enjoy excellent health as a rule. Aguish fevers prevail to some extent, with spleen complications. Bronchocele (goitre) is exceedingly common among both men and women–as much amongst the former as the latter. On entering the valley, the other day, I was particularly struck with the joyful and happy appearance of the people. As they went along, they kept cheering themselves with songs. This is an agreeable contrast to the inhabitants of Kashmir, who, poor people, have had the song knocked out of them by iron-handed tyranny.
"The population of the valley is 101,664, and that of the city of Chamba, the capital, 6000. The medical missionary, therefore, will not have very heavy work. But now let me tell you how it was that an application was made for a medical missionary for Chamba.
"Last hot season, much to the joy of the Rajah, one of the Ranees, or regal wives, gave birth to a fine boy. Both mother and child went on well for some time, but by-and-bye the little one sickened and died. The grief of the Rajah was unbounded, and he had the idea that if he had possessed European medical skill his infant son would have been spared to him. Shortly after this heavy bereavement, the mother of the deceased child, who was the favourite Ranee, also fell sick and died. The Rajah now besought his Superintendent, who is the British representative at his court, to procure for him a European medical man from the supreme Government, and that he would give £10 a month, house, dispensary, hospital, and all current expenses towards the defrayment of the doctor's salary, &c. The Rajah was told the Government could not supply him with a doctor, as they were greatly in want of doctors themselves. By the advice of the superintendent, who is a Christian man, the Rajah now increased the £10 a month to £20, and urged the Punjaub Medical Mission Society to undertake to supply Chamba with a medical missionary. About this time another son of the Rajah's died, and he became still more importunate. Various communications were sent home to get a man for the station, and so important did the Punjaub Medical Mission Society consider this opening, that they agreed to allow me to spend the cold season in Chamba, instead of Amritsar."
This Chamba arrangement is important, and deserves consideration. The principle that underlies it is familiar to us, cases involving it having frequently passed under our notice. Planters in Northern India, merchants in South America, and others located in out-of-the-way places, who know that no skilful physician, who proposes to make money by his profession, would ever look near them, catch at the idea of a medical missionary, because they think they may get a first-rate doctor at a moderate cost. They obligingly seek to turn our self-sacrifice to their own profit. Dr. Elmslie does not seem, at first, to have realised the bearings of such an arrangement, for he wrote quite jubilantly about it, and with a hopefulness which events did not justify; but soon he grasped the principle in its full significance, and spoke and wrote against it earnestly. In a letter to Mrs. Burns Thomson, he says:–
"Mr. ––, of ––, wishes the medical missionary to be considered as the servant of the Rajah,–a grand mistake, as you can easily see. Such an arrangement would be sure to have a prejudicial influence on the medical missionary's work. I hold, and I hold it firmly, that the earthly master of no medical missionary should be a heathen–a professed heathen–however favourable to Christianity he may appear to be. I must tell you that the native princes of India, from their seeing how pleased the British Government at present is with the establishment of medical dispensaries in native states, are very anxious to gain the favour of Government in this easy and cheap way. It stands to reason, my dear Mrs. B. T., if a medical missionary receive his wages from a heathen prince, that the credit of the missionary's labours goes to heathenism, and not to Christianity. If a heathen prince approves of medical missions for the physical good that they bring to his people, and wishes to have such a mission established in his state, let him contribute to the common funds of some Missionary Society who will be prepared to send a medical missionary to that particular state to labour as their (the Society's) agent. The Punjaub Medical Missionary Society is ever ready to entertain such cases. But an arrangement like this does not suit these praise-seeking natives. They must have agents of their own; heathens must have Christian agents to convert their people!!! No, the native princes know right well that as soon as a Christian man enters their service, his Christian influence is in a great measure nullified. Let me remind you that the history of Christian missions verifies this statement. Our medical missionaries, therefore, must not be the servants of heathens, but must labour independently, or in connection with some missionary society."