The AMERI CAN RAMADAI ASSOCIATION - Yale …images.library.yale.edu/divinitycontent/dayrep/American Ramabai...10,/3 The AMERI CAN RAMADAI ASSOCIATION Report of the Fifteenth Annual

10,/3

The AMERI CAN RAMADAI

ASSOCIATION

Report of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting

March 24, 1913

,.,.f... ,i BRA f{ ~ AMERICAN RAMABAI ASSOCIATION

REPORT OF THE

Fifteenth Annual MeetIng

MARCH 24, 1913

BOSTON

PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS CO.

BOARD OF MANAGERS, 1913.

PresidetU.

REv. HARLAN P. BEACH, D.D., F.R.G.S., New Haven, Conn.

Vice·Presidents.

REv. LYlIAN ABBOTT, D.D., New York. REv. DANIEL DULANEY ADDISON, D.D., Brookline. REv. GEORGE A. GoRDON, D.D., Boston. REv. AI.EXANDER MANN, D.D., Boston. REv. AUGUSTUS H. STRONG, D.D., Rochester, N.Y. MR. EDWARD H. CLEMENT, Boston. Mas. JuuI'm: W. ANDREWS, Boston.

Treasurer. MR. CURTIS CHIPMAN, 222 Boylston Street, Boston.

Co"esponding Secretary.

MISS ELINOR ANDREWS, 5I Vernon Street, Brookline.

Recording Secretary.

MISS ALICE H. BALDWIN, 233 Fisher Avenue, BIookline.

CLARENCE JOHN BLAKE, M.D. MISs CLEm:NTrNA BUTLER. MISs ANNA H. CHACE. Mas. J OSEPlI COOK. REv. EDWARD CUMMINGS. MR. GEORGE H. DAVENPORT.· Mas. E. C. E. DORION.

Managers.

Mas. SUSAN SNOWDEN FESSENDEN. MISS ANTOINETTE P. GRANGER.

MRS. DAVID P. KIMBALL. MISS KATE G. LAMSON. MRS. S. W. LEE-MoRTIMER. MRs. HENRY W. PEABODY. Mas. ARTIIUl!. PERRY. JULIA MORTON PLUlDIER,lM.D. MISs E. HARRIET STANW;OD. ARTHUR K. STONE, M.D. REv. ROBERT A. HUIlE, D.D.

(Ahmednagar, India).

&ecutive Committee.

MISS CLEMENTINA BUTLER, Chairman, Newton Center, Mass. MISS ANNA H. CHACE. MRS. HENRY W. PEABODY. Mas. S. W. LEE-MoRTIMER. Mas. S. B. CAPRON.

MISS ELINOR ANDREWS, Secretary.

Principal oj Sharada Sadan and M ukti.

PANDlTA RAHABAI D. MEDlIAVI, Kedgaon, Poona District, India.

Vice-Principal oj Sharada Sadan.

MANORAllABAI M. MEDlIAVI.

AMERICAN RAMABAI ASSOCIATION.

THn Fifteenth Annual Me<:ting of the American Ramabai Association was held at Trinity Chapel, Boston, on March 24, 1913, at 3 P.M. The Chair was taken by Rev. Harlan P. Beach, President of the Association, who opened the meeting with prayer.

The Recording Secretary, Miss Alice H. Baldwin, read the formal call for the meeting.

The Recording Secretary then read the minutes of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting, which were approved.

The Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. S. B. Capron, presented her report, which was accepted and placed on file.

6 The American Ramabai Association

REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

We have had the pleasure of meeting again Miss A. P. Granger, former Corresponding Secretary of the American Ramabai Association. From the first inception of the work in 1886 Miss Granger was an efficient and valued coworker during eighteen years, until her resignation in 1904. Her visits to Boston always give assurance of her continued interest in the Association.

Our constituency will learn with continued and tender interest that our valued and honored friend, Mrs. J. W. Andrews, is still with us in her active interest in Ramabai and her work. The records of her wisdom and enthusiasm must ever be an inspiration.

We would mention the death of Mrs. C. T. Mills, President of Mills College, California, early in the year. She was an earnest supporter of the Association in its earlier years, when the receipts from California were very large.

We have still circles and individuals who faithfully aid Ramabai and her work. The friends in Honolulu deserve grateful mention.

I regret that impaired eyesight compels me to resign my office.

I congratulate the Association on my successor.

S. B. CAPRON,

Corresponding Secretary.

The Treasurer, Mr. Curtis Chipman, read his report, which was accepted: and placed on file.

TREASURER'S REPORT.


TREASURER'S FOR THE YEAR ENDING

1912. March 1. Balance on hand 1913.

Receipts.

Feb. 28. Subscriptions for support ofSha.rada Sadan, Subscriptions for support of Mukti School, Subscriptions for support of Kripa Sadan, Donations to the General Fund . Rental of Poona property to Government, Interest on current account. . Royalties on sale of "High Caste Hindu

Woman"

CASH

$807.91

2,274.49 169.52 32.00 50.00

1,000.00 13.66

6.30 $4,353.88

AUSTRALIAN FUND FOR LEGAL AND 1912.

March 26. Paid on account of Chandrabai's ex-penses at Medical School $100.00

1913. Feb. 28. Balance 2,587.71

1913. Feb. 28. Balance

1912. May 6. Remitted to India 1913.

Feb. 28. Balance

$2,687.71

J. W. AND BELINDA L.

$656.76

$656.76

MARGARET F.

$100.00

2,045.80 $2,145.80

Report of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting 9

REPORT. FEBRUARY 28, 1913.

ACCOUNT.

1913. Payments.

Feb. 28. Remittances for support of Sh§.rad§. Sadan (including $1,000 rental of Poona property to Government) .... .

Remittances for support of Mukti School, Remittances for support of Kripa Sadan, Postage, stationery, and printing General expenses of the Association,

covering salaries, advertising, clerical assistance, legal services, etc.

Balance March 1, 1913

$3,000.00 169.52 32.00

237.31

584.35 330.70

$4,353.88

MEDICAL AID OF LITTLE WIVES OF INDIA. 1912.

March 1. Balance 1913.

Feb. 28. Interest

RANDALL TRUST. 1912.

March 1. Balance Dec. 31. Interest

WAITE TRUST. 1912.

March 1. Balance 1913.

Feb. 28. Interest

$2,604.54

83.17

$2,687.71

$644.62 12.14

$656.76

$2,075.80

70.00 $2,145.80


CONTRIBUTIONS OF RAMABAI CmcLEs, SOCIETIES, ETC.

CIRCLES.

Baltimore, Md. Brockport, N.Y. Brookline, Mass. Brooklyn, N.Y. Bryn Mawr, Pa. Buffalo, N.Y., Woman's

Society, Delaware Avenue Baptist Church

Canandaigua, N.Y. . Cleveland, Ohio, Perkins

Circle. . Clintonville, Wis., Infant

Sunday-school Class Danville, Va. Dorchester, Mass. Fairoort, N.Y., Women's

Missionary Society, First Baptist Church

Franklin, N.Y. Germantown, Pa. .. . Hartford, Conn., Mothers'

Meeting, First Baptist Church. . .

Honolulu, Hawaii, Wom-an's Board of Missions .

Honolulu, Hawaii, through '", Mrs. C. D. Westervelt London, Onto . Moline, Ill., 1. H. N. Circle,

King's Daughters Montclair, N.J. .. . Mount Vernon, N.J., Mis

sion Study Class New Haven, Conn. . Northampton, Mass.,

Smith College, Class of 1888

Northfield, Mass., through Record oj Christian Work,

Pawtucket, R.I. Philadelphia, Pa. . Philadelphia, Pa., Man-

o;rama Circle .. Philadelphia, Pa., King's

Daughters, St. Andrew's P. E. Church

ShiradA Sadan. Mukt1. Kripa General

Sadan. Fund.

$49.50 ... .. . ....... . 10.00... ..... . ....... . 90.00... ......... . ... .

284.00 .................... . .. .. .. .. $30.00 . .. ... $45.00

10.00 27.00

38.50

3.00 10.00 37.00

5.00 ...... . 39.25.... ..

128.00 .......

22.00 ........... .

130.00 ....... .

220.00 ........... . 40.00 .......... .

25.00 ....... . 19.00 ...... .

47.00..... . .......... . 65.00 ......... .

7.75 ....... .

58.46........ . ......... . 30.00........ . ....... . 3.00 .................... .

228.00 ...... .

5.00 .................... .

Totals.

$49.50 10.00 90.00

284.00 75.00

10.00 27.00

38.50

3.00 10.00 37.00

5.00 39.25

128.00

22.00

130.00

220.00 40.00

25.00 19.00

47.00 65.00

7.75

58.46 30.00 3.00

228.00

5.00

Report of the Fifteenth A"nnual Meeting 11

CONTRIBUTIONS OF RAMABAI CIRcLES, SOCIETIES, ETC.

CIBCLlIlB.

Plainville, Conn. Prescott., Ariz., Girls' Club, Providence, R.I. Rochester, N.Y. Roselle, N.J. Stamford, Conn. . . Stockbridge, Mass. Hill-

side Circle King's baugh-ters

Terryville, Conn.. . Washin£on, D.C., through

Frien ' Meeting (Or-thodox) .

West Chesterh

Pa. Wilmington, el.. . Wolcott, N.Y., through

Mrs. M. A. Church . Wollaston, Mass., through

Mrs. Lucy W. Pinkham, Worcester, Mass. * General Circle

Totals

Bh!radA Muktl. Krlpa General Totals. Badan. Badan. Fund.

---$12.00 $20.50 ........ ..... $32.50

5.75 ........... .... .. ..... 5.75 72.00 33.02 $23.00 .... 128.02

114.68 ... 114.68 5.00 7.00 9.00 $5.00 26.00

90.00 ..... .. . . ...... ... .. . 90.00

1.00 .......... .. ...... ... .. . 1.00 15.00 ...... . . . .... ... ... 15.00

...... .. 45.00 ....... ..... 45.00 22.00 .. ..... .. . .. . ..... 22.00 20.00 ........ .... .. .. ..... 20.00

12.00 .. , ..... ... '" ......... 12.00

21.00 ... . , ... ...... ........ 21.00 11.00 ..... 11.00

263.60 12.00 ...... ........ .. 275.60

$2,274.49 $169.52 $32.00 $50.00 $2,526.01

CURTIS CHIPMAN, Treasurer American Ramabai A88ociation.

* Covering contributions from individuals.

BOSTON, March 7, 1913.

I have examined the accounts of the Treasurer of the American Ramabai Association for the year ending February 28, 1913, and find the payments properly vouched for and receipts duly entered and credited, showing balances of Principal and Income as of March 1, 1913, as below:-

General Fund. . . .. ...... . Australian Fund for Legal and Medical Aid of Little

Wives of India . J. W. and Belinda L. Randall Trust. Margaret F. W &ite Trust

$330.70

2,587.71 656.76

2,045.80

(Signed) GEORGE H. DAVENPORT, Auditor.


REPORT OF THE BOARD OF MANAGERS.

Mr. President and Members of the Association,-When we recall the fact that twenty-five years have elapsed since Ramabai first came among us to make her touching plea for the child widows of Inc#a, the steady continuance of interest in her personally and in her marvellous work is most gratifying. If she could visit us occasionally and thus renew the ties of friendship, it would not be so remarkable, but distance and silence have not sufficed to make us forget the touching eloquence with which she made her appeal to our hearts. Feeling that many greatly desired a word from her personally, which does not mean that they do not appreciate very highly the splendid reports which Manorama sends of the work, I begged the Pandita to take a little time from her many pressing duties to send a line herself, and this she has kindly done, so that I shall have the pleasure of reading communications from both mother and daughter to you to-day.

It has been my privilege to send information during the year to many who desired facts about Ramabai for meetings and for publication in different religious periodicals. All over this country as well as abroad the interest is manifested, and there is a call for photographs, of which a new supply is needed for such opportunities. Perhaps Ramabai can have some taken for our use at an early date.

In spite of feebleness and suffering our beloved Mrs. J. W. Andrews still continues her interest, and sends us a


word of greeting and encouragement to this annual meeting, which we hardly feel complete without her gracious presence.

It is with deep regret that we consent to release Mrs. S. B. Capron from her Secretaryship. Only because she :finds it necessary for a time to be relieved from the writing which the office involves, do we accept her resignation, and express our appreciation of her kindness in persuading Miss Elinor Andrews to allow her name to be presented for the Corresponding Secretaryship. It is a matter of gratification that she will remain as a member of the Executive Committee.

While our efforts were at first confined to one branch of work (namely, the education of child widows), it has inevitably happened that other forms of activity have come into the heart and plans of India's great woman leader. As we shall hear, the number of needy cases which turn to her for succor are not only those from sheltered homes, but orphans and neglected ones, for all of whom her sympathy goes out in even wider measure than in her early work. The industrial feature of the Mukti Mission and Ramabai's translations of the Scriptures into the popular tongue, so that even the wayfaring woman with little knowledge may understand the gospel as she could not in the language of the favored scholars of her race, have absorbed a great deal of her time and energy. We are glad to note the completion of part of this tremendous task.

I t is of course quite to be expected that some who come to her care, especially those who have suffered from privation and unkindness, should not be able to take the course in the SharaciA Sadan which would fit them to be teachers or to become self-supporting in any such way. For these her industrial work, the weaving and printing, affords a means of honorable living; and they


are so well conducted that they arouse the admiration of the travellers who go in such numbers to study her enterprises. We are fortunate to-day in having the views of such a traveller, and especially of one who went to India with a wide experience of missionary work in many lands.

For the Board of Managers,

CLEMENTINA BUTLER, Chairman Executive Committee.

The ClI.AmMAN. The report of the Board of Managers is received and placed on file.

RePort of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting 15

REPORT OF PANDITA RAMABAI.

SHARAD.! SADAN, KEDGAON, POONA DIS'l'RICT, INDIA.

February 7, 1913-

Dear Friends,-It is twenty-five years since you began as an organized body to help us to start a work which is intended to help the widows and deserted wives of this dark land. We rejoice to hear and see that much is being done to help the women of this country. Many of them are being taught to read and write, and a few are getting higher education and making much progress; but dense darkness reigns still in nearly the whole country, and little lights that are lighted here and there are few and far between.

There are 302,425 wives and 17,700 widows under six years of age; nearly 2,500,000 wives and 94,000 widows under ten years of age; and many millions of widows who are over ten years. The social conditions and caste rules are very slowly changing, but most of the changes are superficial, being chiefly confined to the intercourse of men of different castes when travelling by railway and when mingling together in commercial life.

Some of the most enlightened people have broken caste, and they are bravely fighting with many social evils; but it is difficult to get at the bottom of things in order to do away with them altogether. What we are doing here is not even a drop in the ocean. Nothing new or very startling happens in our daily life, but our days are full of work and we are happy while we are working.


The girls who have become members of our family have gone through many experiences of various kirids. I shall begin by telling you about a small baby. This child was brought here drugged with opium. Her mother is a widow, and the little one, being the offspring of sin, was not wanted. The author of her life wanted to get rid of her for fear of caste. This baby would have been killed long ago if some of the neighbors had not known of her birth. The fear of the law had something to do with the protection of her life, such as it is. We do not yet know how long she will live, or, if she should live, whether she will have any mental power left in her, having suffered so much through the drugging with opium. She will. have to be very carefully nursed, or she will die suddenly. Almost every year we have babies brought to us, and they are cared for to the best of our ability.

About a year ago a Brahman school-teacher from a distant village brought us a little girl of some ten years of age. By her appearance we could see that she was the daughter of a Brahman, but the person who brought her said she was an orphan, belonging to the next caste below the Brahman. He said he had cared for her for some years, and now he was unable to look after her, and ~anted us to take her altogether. Some months afterwards we found out that this girl was his own daughter, but not by his wife. He could make no provision for her either in his caste or in any school, so he had brought her to us. She is a bright little girl and very interesting. We hope, the Lord helping us, to make her happy and give her such education as will enable her to lead a good life.

An ill-treated young wife came here not long ago. She had fled from her co-wife and a cruel husband. Thus, homeless and friendless, she wandered over long distances,


and fell into the hands of evil women. Some kind stranger directed her to come to our rescue home, where she arrived tired and hungry. She is a well-behaved woman, and shows signs of good breeding. The cruelty of her husband and sister-wife had driven her into the outer world. Women are never safe in this country outside their home, and it was not surprising that she fell into evil hands. She is being treated in our hospital, where we hope she will regain her health. She is learning to sew and many other useful things in our rescue home.

A young widow was sent to us a few months ago. Her husband's brother had her in his home to do his cooking and other household work. He led her into sin, and she fled from him and from the society which punishes her and not him for the evil deed, and makes her a homeless wanderer. She is safe in the hospital now, and is caring for a tender life, but we do not know what her next step will be.

Several come to us under such conditions as this~ and we do the best we can for them. But we are happy when we can do something for widows and deserted wives before they fall into evil hands. We have many girls under our care who have been saved and brought here before any evil person could get at them. They are being well trained, and we hope they will lead useful and happy lives. They are being given an all-round education, and many of them are engaged in doing good work here and elsewhere.

It is by no means an easy thing to train these girls. Vast patience and wisdom are required to make them unlearn what they have learned from their childhood. But we are thankful that we know where to go for all that we need. God's resources never fail, and He gives us all that we need daily. We thank Him for His grace and His never-failing mercies.


We thank you most heartily for what you have done for us during all these years. God has put His love in your hearts for us, and He will bless and repay you for all that you have done for us. We could not have done anything without your generous help. May the Lord reward you, and send His richest blessings upon you.

Believe me, very gratefully yours,

RAMABAI.


REPORT OF MANORAMABAI.

SHARADA SADAN, KEDGAON, POONA DISTRICT, INDIA.

February 7, I9 I 3·

Dear Friends,-It seems but a few short months since our last report was written, and yet a whole year has passed away. We have been very busy, and this has made the time pass quickly, yet, as we look back upon the past year, it seems hard to tell just what we have been doing. Then, as we look around upon the field and see the vast amount of work that still remains to be done, the little we are accomplishing seems truly but a drop in the ocean. Yet the little drops of water, the little grains of sand, aye, all the little atoms in the universe, contribute something towards the making of the great whole, and we feel that, as year by year we add just a little to the work of the past, we must in the end accomplish something which will tell for Eternity.

Often as I go about our regular routine of work,-which, if it were not for the fact that we love our girls and our work so mu~h, might sometimes seem monotonous,-I am reminded of a lesson which our heavenly Father once taught me by the way, and the memory of it always brings fresh strength and courage to go on and do the little things.

A friend and I were travelling homeward from a city in Northern India. Breaking our journey at ]., we 'spent about half a day in visiting some of the chief places of interest there. The city of J. is one of those great strongholds of Hinduism, where one seems to be face to face with the forces of evil, and begins to realize how great


they are. Here was a large square tank having, all along its sides, temples dedicated to the worship of various heathen idols. The images looked hideous; and the thought of numbers of men and women giving themselves up to the service of these images was very sad. Then, too, the scene before us recalled other scenes. The remembrance of the great temples in so many different parts of India, where innocent young lives are being dragged down into sin and wickedness, seemed appalling. How great, indeed, are the powers of darkness! How could we meet them? How little one seemed to be doing! Such were the thoughts that were running through our minds as we drove away from the abodes of these idols to spend a few minutes in looking over the weaving factory.

The superintendent was kind enough to ask a man to take us over the establishment and to explain the work that was being done in the different departments. It was very interesting, but the engines were making too much noise to allow of much conversation, so, for the most part, we followed our guide in silence. We looked into the engine-room, the power-house upon which all the work depended. There was nothing much to be seen besides the wheels going round and the arms of the engines moving backwards and forwards. That was all. Just a glance at the straps that connected the different parts of the machinery with the engine wheels, and then we passed on. It was interesting to watch the cotton being cleaned and converted into thread, and that, in turn, being woven into good strong cloth. We saw the cloth being finally tied up in bundles ready for packing or to be placed on the counter for sale. But all the time the' noise of the engines reminded us of those arms in the power-house, which were moving continually backwards and forwards with untiring zeal.


Then the Lord spoke: "How much do those engines know about the work they are accomplishing? What

. results of their labor do they see? Thick walls hide from them the interesting work that you have seen; and, were some beautiful piece of cloth brought into the engineroom, those arms would not recognize their own work. Yet, if one arm got tired and refused to work, something would go wrong somewhere."

One more thought was given as we saw the great boilers. The fire in the middle, the water around it: the latter a type of the Word of God, the former of God himself. Here, then, was the source of power.. The steam that moved those arms was something apart from them. Utterly helpless, except moved by a power beyond themselves, knowing nothing of .what their owner was accomplishing through them, on they worked, never ceasing, never disobeying.

Then once again God spoke: "Will you be like one of those arms? Will you work steadily, faithfully on, moving only as moved by Me, resting contented in any position that I may place you? Will you continue steadfast in prayer, in intercession, regardless of results, trusting Me to reveal to you the beauties of the work, when Jesus comes?"

The lesson taught so lovingly took deep root, and will not be forgotten. It is sweet to remember, as we go-about our daily work, that "the government is upon His shoulders," and that, as we commit each one who comes to our Homes to Him, those same strong shoulders undertake the government of each individual life, and we have His promise that He will never leave them nor forsake them.

We have had some difficulties in our work during the past year, but many encouragements also. Soon after I sent my report to you last year two of our most prom-


ising girls were stricken down with sickness. One had just finished her course of study and was beginning to be a great help in our school work. The other, still a student, had made such good progress in book-keeping that we were beginning to feel that we could safely trust her, with the help of one or two others, to keep most of the books of the Mukti Mission. Suddenly we realized that the latter had become a victim of consumption, and she had to give up all the work she had been doing and go to our consumptive hospital, where she is still being treated by our kind lady doctors. The former, too, has been very ill for fully ten months, but at last we are thankful to say she is regaining strength, and we have every hope of her recovery.

Dr. Rosa Lee Oxer and ~rs. Stephens, M.D., kindly helped us last year by examining every one of the thirteen hundred girls we have in Mukti, for tuberculosis. We were thankful to find that there were very few that actually had the disease, but quite a number were marked as suspicious cases. These girls, while not actually consumptive, 'were said to have a tendency towards that disease, and we were told that it would be best to separate them from the healthy girls, and give them special care and extra food and open-air exercise.

Some of our ShArad~ Sadan girls were among this number, and so we have had to put them into another compound to live for the time being, and their studies have had to be curtailed, so that more time may be allowed for open-air exercise. All these delicate girls are being weighed every ten or twelve days, and some are having their temperature taken twice daily, and we are glad to say that nearly all are improving in health, and many hope soon to be able to take up full work again. Meanwhile they are making good use of the extra time they have by learning gardening and brick-making.


Our other girls are making good progress in their school work. We had our annual examinations just before Christmas, and I think the results were very satisfactory. We try each year to raise the standard of passing marks in each subject, so we hope to do better still next year.

Towards the end of last year we were favored by a visit from Lord Sydenham, Governor of Bombay; and Lady Sydenham came with him. The Director of Public Instruction had kindly made us a present of nine hundred Coronation Medals for distribution among our schoolgirls at the time of the Delhi Durbar. These the girls proudly donned on the occasion of the Governor's visit. They also decorated their school-rooms and dormitories to the best of their ability, and our little kindergarten children stood in two lines on either side of their Excellencies' pathway, strewed flowers before them, and garlanded them as they entered our Home. I think our honored guests were pleased with their reception, and about two weeks ago Lady Sydenham kindly favored us again by sending some of her Christmas cards to our little ones.

I am sure you will be glad to know that my mother has 'the joy of having completed her translation of the New Tes:tament into simple Marathi. She has published a tentative edition, and sent it to some whose opinion she values, asking for their criticism. When she receives this, she hopes to revise her translation before publishing another edition. In the mean while she is working at the Old Testament. The British and Foreign Bible Society have very kindly honored my mother by appointing her an Honorary Foreign Member of the Bible Society. They write as follows:-

"Will you do the Bible Society the favor of accepting, at the hands of the Committee, the appointment of Honorary Foreign Member? In thus recognizing your


long interest and work for the Bible Society, the Committee desire to express also their earnest hope that God may continue to bless your many labors on behalf of the women and children of India."

Mr. Adams, the Bombay Secretary of the Bible Society, paid us a visit and gave us a most interesting lantemlecture about Africa. The girls were so interested in his account of the Bible Society's work that they voted that every girl should give each day one-fifteenth part of her grain to the work of the Bible Society. So every day, as the grain is given out, we take up a collection known as "Elijah's Little Cake," and the proceeds are sent to the Bible Society.

The Mukti Gospel Bands are doing good work in the various villages around us. From several directions they have brought requests that village schools for low-caste children should be opened by our Mission. We are not yet able to supply enough teachers to meet the need, as we require the services of most of our Normal School girls to teach in our own schools at present, but we are branching out a little bit in this line, and we hope gradually to enter this open door, for it may mean much for the particular work in which we are interested; namely, the enlightening and uplifting of the women of India.

Death has removed a. familiar figure from our midst. Our old friend and fellow-worker, Mr. Gadre, has passed away. Last year he was with us at our annual picnic on the I rth of March, and none was so enthusiastic as he in the celebration of our twenty-third birthday. He had been with us from the opening of the Sh~ada Sadan, and he is greatly missed by our young people. His daughter is doing very well at college, and will, we hope, receive her F.A. degree before long.

We have quite an addition to our Blind School this year. Miss Bernard, of the Church of Scotland Mission,


Poona, who has worked for many years in India, is retiring, and she is breaking up her Blind School and sending quite a number of her blind girls and teachers to us, at the same time making us a most valuable present of a large number of books in the Marathi Braille characters. I hope soon to be able to give more attention to this department of our work. I have been giving much of my time to the training of our smallest children this year, for I feel that in them we have great promise for the future.

Some kind ladies in England have begun to send us some of their magazines when they have finished with them. We are very grateful for these, for our girls enjoy looking at the pictures and reading as much of the English as they are able.

We have at present I 18 girls in the Shfu-ada Sadan proper, and 134 Mukti girls who have been admitted to the privileges of the Shfu-ada Sadan. During the past year a few have been married, and some have died. There has been much suffering from scarcity of water in the district around us, and this has brought some who were starving to our doors. We are so thankful to be able to help them. We could not do so but for your faithful support and upholding in prayer, and we daily thank God for the American Ramabai Association. Please accept our deep gratitude and love for all you have done for us and for the women of India. Some day you will hear the Master's "Well done!" and you will find that the seed which you are sowing has brought forth an abundant harvest. Believe me,

Yours in His blessed service,

MANORAMABAI.


The CHAIRMAN. My connection with this Association has been very brief, but I am sure that we have never had during this period a better report than the one that has just been read, and we are very glad that Ramabai herself could write to us. That she could thus write will add very materially to our enthusiasm for the work.

Her daughter, too, is another example of what a woman can be in India. To hear that letter of hers, you would think her a graduate of one of our American women's colleges. She did, of course, receive part of her education here. These two letters are suggestive of what is being done by these tw~ remarkable women.

The report of the Nominating Committee was presented by Miss Elinor Andrews and accepted, and, on motion duly seconded, it was voted to suspend the by-law requiring election by ballot, and instruct the Recording Secretary to cast one ballot for the persons named in the report of the Nominating Committee.

The Secretary deposited the ballot as authorized, and the persons nominated by the Committee were declared to be unanimously elected to serve as officers of the Association for the ensuing year.

(The names of the officers elected appear on page 3 of this Report.)

The CHAIRMAN. We are usually fortunate enough to have with us some one who has actually seen the work which we are helping to support. When one goes as a traveller to India, the impressions made are very pronounced. Consequently, when we have such guests as speakers, we expect an impressionistic picture of that Empire. There is an advantage, however, in having speakers who know India thoroughly,-not those who


have seen it for a few days or weeks, but persons who have lived and labored among the people. It is our privilege this afternoon to listen to an address from Miss Elizabeth Nicholls, of Bombay, who has repeatedly visited Mukti and who knows Pandita Ramabai and our work very intimately.


ADDRESS BY MISS ELIZABETH NICHOLLS.

It is a great joy, ladies, to be here to speak to you, because you have had the great honor of helping to plant that wonderful mission in the southern Marathi country, just forty miles out of Poona, in that little town of Kedgaon, -that little colony called Mukti, which means "salvation."

It has been my privilege to be a frequent visitor there. I have been in mission work in Bombay for many years, and therefore have been in close and intimate touch with Pandita Ramabai and her daughter Manoramabai. I was at the opening of the buildings that great day in 1896 when Sharada Sadan was moved down from Poona to Kedgaon. And, although some people may not think Pandita Ramabai is the greatest woman in India, she certainly is the greatest Christian Indian woman. She is the woman, I suppose, to-day most loved and most hated,-most hated by the Hindus, because ever since she returned to India after her visit to England and America-as you know, she came over here as a Hindu, although not an idolater, as she had thrown that over some years before, lost all her faith in idolatry; but when she returned, she returned as a Christian; she had even been baptized, thus throwing off the yoke of Hinduism entirely. She was received by some of the leading Hindus graciously (who perhaps were ignorant of her having received Christianity, and others overlooked it, thinking perhaps that later she would go on in her own way).


Many hated her. They were willing to have her as a reformer, but not as a Christian. They received her, and for a while everything went quietly. When the Shfu-ada Sadan was formed, she had the support of the leading Hindus there and in Bombay,-in Poona, which is the centre of India for the Brahmins. But when it was found that her pupils were beginning to be interested in Christianity, then the trouble began.

She would not compromise. She said she had as much right to follow her faith as they theirs, and she went on with her Bible-reading and had her doors open, and anyone who came along had a right to come in and listen to the reading of the Word. She said she would not compromise on that in any sense.

Mter that there was trouble, and from that time to this it has been "war to the knife" between Pandita Ramabai's school and the Hindus. Mter she removed to Poona, she stayed there about six years. The Sharada Sadan was a school carried on in a perfect way under the care of an Indian woman. As has always been the rule with the Pandita, simplicity seems to be her motto in her work. She says Christianity founded in Asia by Christ ought to be conformable to Asiatic custom. So Christianity, as she believes in it, is carried on there to-day in the most simple way. They have adhered to the Indian customs in the way of eating, drinking, and clothing. I do not know whether you have any of you seen her, but she wears the long garb,-a long white sheet, a very simple sari.

To-day, as you have just heard from the report read by Miss Butler, they have there in that colony fifteen hundred to two thousand women that are cared for regularly, with but one overseer, Pandita Ramabai. It is a wonderful place. I do not think anyone can understand just what Mukti is until they have visited it them-


selves, and then you are continually let into its marvellous mysteries. Everybody is busy. I do not think there is one idle person in the whole of Mukti, from the little tiny tot who tends the kindergarten of about three hundred children up to the more important things. Nearly everything for the kindergarten is brought from the Bazaar and planned and attended to by Pandita Ramabai herself.

Then you come to that wonderful school of seven hundred girls. They are there from about eight or ten until they matriculate. Each is trained for what. she is most fitted to do. Some of them cannot acquire an education. They have been brought from homes where they have been ill-treated and abused. I suppose most of them have come from homes where they had received ill-usage. Some have been little child wives; others are widows; and many of them were brought in at the time of the famine. So most of them haven't a very good heritage and cannot acquire an education, as far as book knowledge is concerned; but they are educated in some way or other, and one form which seems to fit the Indian girl is that of industry, and I think Miss Butler has just read you about the industries there. They have a weaving establishment where I have seen at times seventy-five girls working. The girls learn to weave their own saris. There are sixty hand-looms there. Then there is the embroidery and the drawn-work: many of them are educated in that. Then there is the dairy work: there is so much of that in connection with Mukti that it keeps a good many of them busy because there is a large farm there. Then also there is the bakery; and in the hospital, as you have heard from the report, some are employed taking care of those who have consumption or a tendency to it. In the hospital you will see rows of little cots, very plain. but clean; and this


hospital is under the care of an American trained nurse, and there are perhaps one hundred to one hundred and fifty girls or young women in the hospital being cared for daily. Some of the girls at the school are being trained to be nurses.

Many of these girls are being trained to be teachet;s, and are now ready to go on teaching what they themselves have learned. Some are being trained to be Bible women. Pandita Ramabai has a splendid Bible school there. I think there were about two hundred in it when I left India. There are many applications from the missions about to Pandita Ramabai, asking for good teachers. It has not been my experience to be able to get many. Of course, the Pandita cannot possibly get enough trained for herself. For some years past now she has been trying to train enough Bible women to carry the gospel into the regions round about her. They now have bands of about a hundred going out around there.

As you know, Pandita Ramabai has nineteen or twenty American or European helpers in the shape of missionaries, and one of these is sent out with each of these bands. They go to a settlement and plant a tent, and carry the gospel into this settlement and into the surrounding villages.

You have heard of the hostility of the Brahmins through all the surrounding countries. They do not want any of her work to prosper. But, somehow, it does prosper; and~ somehow, the girls who have been trained in Mukti become splendid Christians. I have had some of them down in Bombay to help at times, and I know what sort of Christians they are. They are Christians that can stand the test.

Then some of these are going out to the northern part of India and other missions wher~ they have been sent for, and some have finished their education in Lucknow Col-

32 The American Ramahai Association

lege. One or two are going through a medical course. So you can see how far-reaching her work is.

Some of the women marry. . As you know, all women in India are expected to marry: it is the proper thing to do. So that usually, ·when a girl gets to be fifteen or sixteen or seventeen years of age, she marries, unless some other vocation is deemed best for her for the time being. And one of the latest developments is that wonderful little Christian settlement around Mukti. This is a settlement of young married people: most of them are Pandita's own girls who have been married to young Christian men; and, as the children are coming and growing up, they are going to the school there. Very soon, as you can see, that will be a large Christian settlement, and we hope it will mean much to all the surrounding country.

I wish you could picture the kind of women that are brought to Mukti and the marked change in them when they leave. I do not think anyone can realize what Christianity means until they see a girl as she goes into a mission-whether it be at Mukti or any other missionand as she is a few years afterwards when she leaves or gets married.

Some years ago Pandita Ramabai heard of a little widow of eight or ten years. Her husband had died when she was three years of age, and so her life before her was anything but a happy one. This little girl was left with a father- and mother-in-law and a brother, all of whom seemed to make up their minds to give this child a life of misery. She was beaten every day. She was treated in the worst possible manner. She had to do all the drudgery of the house. She was sent to the well every day to carry water,-about a quarter of a mile, this little tiny girl. In some way Rama~ai heard of this girl, and made a plan to try to get hold of her. She sent one of her workers,

who knew how to win children, aroun~ she knew the little girl would be there. She succeeded in winning her over, and the little one opened her heart to her. She said, "There isn't a day that I am not beaten, and sometimes they tie my wrists and tie me up, and put thistles underneath to prevent my falling down." The worker said, II Would you like to come with me?" and the little one looked up and said, "Oh, yes; I would." Her little head was shaven. They say they do not shave them now; but I know they do. I know their conditions are the same as they always have been except in a few instances. The reform is in great measure a surface affair. It is when we get right inside that we know the difficulties and the hardships of the little Indian women.

Well, in this case the worker got her confidence and got her to the station, and took her down to Mukti. She stayed there for years, and the day I went down to see the opening of the Mukti Home in 1896 this little girl, now a beautiful young woman,-althougp. traces of her suffering were still visible in her face, -was married to a very nice Indian Christian man, and since then has been a beautiful Christian wife and mother,-the mother of a beautiful little family. They live in Bombay, and he is a Christian worker.

That is one case. Then there is another little girl I would like to speak of,-such a lovely girl! You know these Indian women are beautiful. Many of you perhaps have been in India,-I have entertained many people from America. But you don't know really what the Indian women are like until you get inside the home. Well, this girl began to be interested in Christianity. Of course, she had to keep very still about it; but by and by she made it known, and, when the SharadA Sadan came to Bombay, she wanted to attend, which she did until it


became known that she was fast becoming a Christian. Then there was trouble, and it was thought no longer proper for her to attend. But the girl had already had too much of Christianity inculcated within her, and she began to realize that she also loved the Lord Jesus Christ. She had lost faith in idolatry, and she wanted to embract:: Christianity. When she was baptized, she was of course turned off and ostracized by her family. She remained with Pandita Ramabai a number of years, and to-day is the wife of an honorable minister of the gospel in the American Board, and has a lovely family, seven or eight children, beautiful grown-up boys. I went to her house to dinner one day, and they were all having their meal together. It was really almost too much to grasp to see what it meant to have Christian families formed in India, -how much it means to the outside world.

This is just what Pandita Ramabai is doing. She is turning out fine specimens of womanhood, women who seem to have a great deal of strength of character.

Pandita's daughter, Manoramabai, is a strong Christian girl, as you know. She comes down sometimes to visit me. And one girl who came with her was a very fine girl. She was a little widow found by one of the workers, and is now about as intelligent a young woman as I know,- a well-educated, cultured young lady; and I suppose she stands on the right hand of Manoramabai, and, when Manoramabai has to be away, she is able to see to everything as Manoramabai does herself.

Then in this work of the translation of the Bible it is wonderful to see these Indian girls doing this, twenty or thirty or forty of them, under Ramabai's direction.

And so Mukti still goes on; and when I see the homes, as I visit them year in and year out in Bombay, and go into the homes of the little child wives, and when I see what Pandita Ramabai does there, and the possibilities


of the Indian woman, when I am sitting down and teaching them from the Bible in the simple way we do, I cannot help wondering, Well, who knows the possibilities of this woman?

In one of those homes one day I saw a dear young girl with such a sad face, and on her lap a little baby. I said to her: "What is the matter? You ought to be the happiest little woman in the world with such a dear baby. " I didn't dare say a beautiful baby. It is not thought proper. They think we are casting an evil eye on the child, and, if anything should happen to the child within a few days, it would be a serious matter. I know a young lady missionary who spoke in such a way, and said, "What a beautiful baby!" and the woman looked at her and ran out of the room, and the next week, when she went there, she wouldn't let her in, and the week after, when she went there again, she wouldn't let her in for the baby had died. And from that day to this we haven't been let in there because it was said we cast an evil eye on the child by our complimentary remarks.

It is thought by some that we should know the language when we first go out there, but I think it is better to learn the customs of the people as we are learning the language.

Well, about this other little woman. I said to her, "You ought to be a happy little woman, you have such a dear little baby here." And she said, "Oh, it is only a little girl." I tried to explain to her that we thought as much of little girls as of little boys. She was satisfied. She had a mother's heart. But those inside the house were not satisfied. The mother-in-law was not satisfied. And that is how it goes. These child wives have a very hard time.

In one home there are five widows ranging from forty down to five years of age, and they all wear this white sheet, which looks almost gray from constant washing.


These poor widows are usually very ill-used. One of them, an old woman, said to me that she was ready to die because she had twelve sons and was going to get into heaven.

India is much the same as it has been, and the people who know it are those who go inside the homes. If you go through the city of Bombay, you will say what a magnificent city it is. It is a magnificent city, but you want to go inside the homes to know what it really is, the Mohammedan as well as the Hindu. Then you will find out what the life of the Indian woman really is.

The CHAIRMAN. I knew that we should get an intimate view of the situation from Miss Nicholls, and we are all very grateful to her for coming here to explain it to us so clearly. She has given us great pleasure, and we are correspondingly thankful to her for her inspiring words.

There are three varieties of people who go to foreign countries. One class is vulgarly known as "globe-trotters." Another is made up of residents in those countries home on furlough, and these persons know the situation as Miss Nicholls knows it. A third class consists of experts in missions. These experts visit a country like India or Japan or China, and, when they return, they are able to give us comparative views of mission work as they have seen it in its variety.

I do not suppose that Miss Lamson intends to deluge us with comp'arisons this afternoon, but she is a woman who carries her eyes with her on her journeyings, and I am going to ask her to lend us her eyes and tongue for a little while. Miss Lamson is one of the Secretaries of the Woman's Board of the Congregational body, and has been making a tour of mission lands. She will tell us something of what she saw in a recent visit to Mukti.


ADDRESS BY

MISS KATE G. LAMSON.

For a moment or two I thought Dr. Beach was going to leave me among the globe-trotters, but I was rescued from that fate.

I have wondered, as I listened to Miss Nicholls's very comprehensive account of Pandita Ramabai and her work in all its ramifications, what need there was of any word of mine. Certainly, no such word should be lengthy this afternoon; but with all my heart I am glad to be able in this presence to recall the afternoon spent at Kedgaon a little over a year ago. Every facility was offered us for inspection of the institution, and I should like to be able to present to you, if possible, the picture of those buildings, of that work, and especially of the Pandita and her daughter, as it rises to my mind now. I realize that this can hardly be done, but let me try to do it very briefly.

An afternoon under a brilliant Indian sky; met at the little railroad station by one of the Pandita's helpers, Miss Crouch, and taken in her bullock-cart to the institution.

I think more than a passing mention is due those bullocks. Certainly, it was a matter of great interest to my friend and myself to travel slowly behind them over that road that led us to the Pandita's headquarters; and then, re-embarking in the bullock-cart for shorter distances as we were piloted from one part. of the premises to another, to make their further acquaintance and


be finally taken back to the station by them. But we have not very much time to spend on them further than to say that the bullocks are so well trained to their work that they told us, if the man who guides them, sitting on the pole behind them, twitching their tails and poking them, is not there when the distant whistle of the train approaching the station is heard, they will start themselves without any driver. They realize their important part in the work.

We were very cordially and hospitably received by Manoramabai,-not at once by the Pandita; but Manoramabai gave her afternoon almost exclusively to us, and guided us about from one department to another. Miss Nicholls has reviewed the situation there to you, so that it is in your minds. But there are one or two things I wish to speak of.

For instance, the weaving-rooms. Many of these girls in the different rooms where the weaving is done are at work on the cloth which is used by them for their garments, turning out hundreds and hundreds of yards of this cloth; and yet with it all they cannot begin to supply the demand for this vast community who are dependent upon either the output of the institution itself or outside resources, and of course it is the Pandita's wish to have the institution supply as far as possible its own needs.

Then the printing establishment, "manned" so largely by women, was of great interest to us. The presses were then busy on the Pandita's translation of the Bible into the Marathi. We were told that the New Testament was just completed, and she was about to begin on her translation of the Old Testament. We were also shown the many leaflets of various kinds printed on those presses and sown br:oadcast through India, supplied to many places of philanthropic and missionary work free of charge.

RepDt't of the Fifteenth Annual Meeting 39

Manoramabai told us of a time when there was a strike in the printing department, the men objecting to the cleaning of the printing-presses, which at that time was thought to be too hard work for the women to engage in. When the men dropped out from the work, it was taken up by the women, and done so well that, as the men came back, they were told they were not needed, and, if they were received at all, it would be as a great favor to them.

We found one department at work upon the "G. I. P." labels, those worn by the employees of the Great Indian Peninsula Railroad. These are made entirely there at Pandita Ramabai's, and they have orders for many thousands of them.

I think all present will be interested in this specimen of drawn-work which was done in one department of the institution. This is a product manufactured at the time of the Durbar. Ramabai received requests to have patterns of their work sent to certain ladies who were preparing to make a present to Queen Mary. This is the pattern of drawn -work chosen, and six dozen of these handkerchiefs were ordered to be made, and later were given as a present to Queen Mary. They bore the crown and royal insignia upon them, but of course none so marked could be retained except one imperfect sample.

In the new tuberculosis hospital we found -nine patients. Some were isolated to prevent the disease spreading to others, and there were a few epileptic patients segregated there.

We went back from these expeditions to be told by Manoramahai, "My mother would like to see you now." And then we saw, sitting outside the door in a chair, not far removed from the road that runs through the buildings, the Pandita Ramabai. She is very deaf, as you know; but her mind is not deaf, and her interests are just


as keen as they ever were, and her love for her friends in this country and her desire to know about them.

She asked us questions, particularly about this organization and about Mrs. Andrews, and she sent special messages of love to Mrs. Andrews. I tried tactfully to instill the idea that we would like to have a few more letters from her than we had received, and she said, "Will you give them my love, and tell them I do not forget them, although it is hard for me to write?"

She is engaged upon her work of translation most of the time, leaving the active administration of affairs to Manoramabai. She was dressed in the white robes that have been described to you, and had the mark of the Brahmin woman on her forehead. At the time we approached her she was reading something. I asked her what it was, and she said it was the report of the Bible Society.

I said to her, "What can you tell us of the progress of the work for the Indian woman as you have seen it?" and her reply was: "I have seen the greatest changes in my life and work here. My women and my girls, when I used to send them out in the villages, received all manner of persecution and harsh treatment. In fact, in those earlier days it was impossible to send them out as they go now. They go in companies of a hundred at a time. They are gone for weeks, and come back to report what they have done and to receive instructions for more work. They are received as a rule kindly and with favor." She says they are welcome now in practically every place. Formerly they could go almost nowhere with impunity.

It is true, as has been told you, that these women who have been connected with the Pandita, either as inmates of her home or associated with her work more or less remotely, are found all over India. Hardly any woman is so widely known as she is in India, and her work enlarges to such an extent that she hardly knows how to restrain


it. She must restrain it, or else it will grow entirely beyond all bounds to be managed by one woman.

I said to her: "There are people in our country who speak of your religions in India, and say they are the religions of the Indian people, and that Christianity is the religion of America, and who ask why we should bring Christianity to the people of India. Have you any message for those who raise this question?" She said, "Tell them that Christianity is not the religion of the United States or of America: tell them that Christianity is a world-wide religion. It belongs to the whole world. It is ours as much as theirs."

She can almost never leave Kedgaon now because of her frailty. It is very hard for her to move about, and it is difficult for her to engage in any active life. The daughter told us that she has tried to persuade her mother to go away for a little break or holiday, but she will not go. And so she sits there under that Indian sun, outside her door, where her daughters go and come out in the roadway, and where their eyes always seem to be out for a glance from the Pandita Ramabai; and we were told how the girls sometimes waited for an hour to see the Pandita come out, so that they could go to her and get a kiss from her. This is the love they feel for her.

There is much I should like to say of our duty to the women of India.-their uplifting and the importance of this uplifting; but there is not time for it. How much I sympathize with Pandita Ramabai in her question, Can. we ever do anything to stem this tide? It is the very question my companion put to me many times as we journeyed through India, where we saw so many temples for idolatrous worship. But there, too, we saw homes and village schools where Christianity was being taught, which would make us wonder if, after all, it might not be done. And I can say to you that spending one


afternoon at Mukti helps to answer the .question. It is at least being done there on a scale that makes itself felt all through India. And from very little fires kindled in many places the conflagration will spread, and we shall find that the women of India have been reached and their hearts kindled, and that they have been placedwhere? In the place designed for women by the Maker of women.


ADDRESS BY REV HARLAN P BEACH.

I knew Miss Lamson would give us information that we should have to go far to get for ourselves.

We have had this afternoon two very graphic accounts of this wonderful woman, Pandita Ramabai, and of her daughter and of the work they are attempting to do.

Before saying a few words in closing, I want to allude to one statement of the ~reasurer's report. A number of years ago in a well-known university they were making much use of the calorimeter. They wanted to ascertain how much energy went into real study. One test was to put the student in this box and set him to work studying and cramming for an examination. Then they saw how many pounds were indicated. When that experiment was over, they tried another, to see how little mental energy a man can put forth. They gave the man inside the box a Harvard University Treasurer's report. They thought the man would use as little brain on that as on anything going. Now ours is another kind of Treasurer's report. Mr. Chipman is another kind of treasurer. But what I wanted to say is that there is one item in that report which ought to be made larger, and that is the royalty on "The High-caste Hindu Woman." That is an excellent book. To be sure, conditions are changing, but you have heard what Miss Nicholls has told you. The child widow is still the child widow. She may not now always be shaven, but she is under the same limitations as before. Now that" High-


caste Hindu Woman" is the same as it always was, and we may be sure that in it the Pandita knew of what she was speaking. You do not see any of the Sanskrit text there, but you do see translations, and it gives us our foup.dation arguments, so to speak. We -cannot afford in these days to do unnecessary work. If you have any doubt as to what has been done by this Association in India, just read that book. Pandita Ramabai is always writing. Although she cannot :find time to write to us, she is nevertheless writing, and I have read a number of her translations from the Sanskrit books. She has put these things before the public, and that is one of the obligations that the Christian and the Indian Hindu public is under to her.

One other item just by way. of comment. I want to speak: of that colony that Miss Nicholls mentioned. That property was owned by a liquor-seller who was selling liquor there, and she was determined to get rid of such a menace to society, and the easiest way was to buy him out. N ow we have there that beautiful colony, which is one of the bright spots of Mukti. I 3lIl glad she has it because it rounds out her work. We were originally interested in one objective, the ShA.radA. Sadan. That was for Hindus. Noone was obliged to study Christianity there; no one was obliged to give up caste rules there. But there have grown up there, side by side with this, these many other provisions for reform, these many industries that have been mentioned.

Now a few words in closing. Twenty-five years ago the Pandita was here in Boston. I am not sure now just where that meeting was held. Mrs. Capron could tell you perhaps, or Miss Butler. At any rate, it was a critical period in the history of her work. The early series of circles that had promised support for a certain number of years had come to the end of that period, and the


question was, What is next to be done? She presented the claims of her work. She let people see it from the broader outlook, because God had been teaching her day by day and year by year. She proposed to call it by another name,-as I remember it, The Faith, Hope, and Love Association for the Emancipation of the Child Widows of India,-and she gave her reasons for so .calling it.

Two years ago I said something to the friends who were gathered here on a similar occasion about modem India and one phase of its religious development. We have now a new India, stimulated by Christianity, stimulated by its own efforts to reform itself, and one result is that those books of India, which are never allowed to be translated by the British Government because they are obscene literature, are not so much in evidence now. The new Indian usually speaks of one Book, and that is the great New Testament, so to speak, of modem Hinduism. The higher life, the religious life, of India pins its faith on that book, and its faith is devotion very largely. I speak of t:b.e Bhagavad Gita, which is the text-book of bhakti, or faith.

Now our first circle made for faith, and surely if any organization has needed faith in India, it is this organization, whose difficulties Miss Nicholls has made so clear to us. The whole of Brahmindom pitted against one woman as the representative of a great idea! Everything has been against her except God and Christian friends, and the longing of the Hindu heart after that which is satisfying to the soul. In view of what was said two years ago, I will say nothing more about the emphasis which the institution in whose support we are interested places upon Faith.

But there is a second item,-Hope. You know, she wanted to have it called the Hope Association. We have


in the Epistles this phrase, "without God and without hope in the world." It seems to me one depends upon the other. If you are without God, you are certainly without hope. But, you will say, surely, India is not without God. It has gods many and lords many. Thirty-three millions or more, it has been said, is the number of them. They certainly have gods enough, and idols altogether too many. But God as we know Him is not in their thoughts,-not in the fulness of God do they know Him. When one does not know God and when one lives under the limitations of the Indian, there is very little hope; and am sure that even world tourists will see enough evidence in India of hopelessness to make them feel that mission work is a necessity. However, one needs to know India a great deal more intimately than we do to appreciate that. You remember what the Pandita said years ago, when she took Mrs. Andrews up to the Jasmine Tower. I went to see that wonderful tower, and I never knew what there was beneath it. But, when the Pandita was showing it to Mrs. Andrews, she went down and showed Mrs. Andrews what there was beneath the Jasmine Tower,-that elegantly carved beam on which princesses or queens were suspended until dead. There is a great deal that is hidden, below the surface, and she used that to show how little we really know of real Hindus and Hinduism.

We have the pleasure of having here with us this afternoon a lady from India,-a Parsee. Her husband is lecturing in this city. He is trying to show the other side of what the swamis tell us about. I believe we must be liberal in our views and see all sides of all questions; but I believe, ladies, that, if your friends who have become so devoted to the swamis and their doctrine could see beneath the surface, they would find it· was something like the Jasmine Tower.


Hope, then, is what this institution is bringing to the young women, the most hopeless of India's womanhood, because we know the story of the child widow and the deserted wife and the orphans,-those poor waifs and offscourings of the Hindu society. To the most hopeless class, then, help has been brought through the work of our institution and those other works that the Pandita is carrying on; and it is something that is a very great contribution to the empire.

Then there is one more important word, -it is the most important of the three,-love. I think we can all have hope, and yet we need something more than that. Love is God, because Saint John so defines Him. "God is love." I have been in Calcutta to the temple of Kali. It is the most gruesome of all the temples I have seen in that empire,-the blood-thirsty Kali. There is no love in that temple, the most frequented in the empire. Go to any of those temples, and where do you see love? There are '{loves" enough: nobody knows how many wives Krishna had-one of the gods of the Hindus-or how many sons. But love is very different from "loves," and we have exemplified there in Mukti love for the lowest, love which never holds back anything, but gives the very best it has. If we never contributed anything else to India but this one thing, it would be a wonderful blessing,.:..-this exercising of the power of Christian love upon those fourteen hundred girls and young women. We should have done a great work, one of the greatest we can do for India or any other land.

But Ramabai had still another word. Faith, hope, and love were to be there; but to what end? Emancipation. That is what Mukti stands for,-salvation, emancipation. That is the emancipation which her women and her students and her helpers stand for,-the emancipation from sin, which is the root of all evil; the emancipation


from selfishness, which one of the great theologians of this State once defined as sin. These are the things they are trying to free the men and women, especially the women, from, and I think we will all agree they are succeeding to a marvellous extent.

One other phrase there, -" the child widows of India." To be sure, since that time she has taken in two other classes besides the widows. She has taken in the deserted wives-and the story behind that phrase is a terrible one -and the castaways. She is emancipating that which no one else cared to emancipate. That is, this institution of which she is the head is representing to India precisely what Jesus Christ represented when He came to earth. He stated that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repent'-those who were lost; and these are the three lowest classes of India that she is striving for,the widows, the deserted wives, and the orphans. Isn't that Christ-like,-the going to those who are most in need? Not going to the educated classes and trying to win them, not going to the wealthy,-because there are a great many wealthy people in India of the lower castes,-but going to the outcast, so to speak, the special classes nobody else cares for. We admire the Moravians because one of their ideas is to go to those people that nobody else cares for. They went to Greenland and the Mosquito Coast and out-of-the-way places where no one else will go. And this is the thing Pandita Ramabai does,she cares for those whom no one else will care for.

I have a number of periodicals coming to me every week or month from India,-not only missionary periodicals, but other periodicals published by the Hindus. At least once or twice a month I find in 'that list of periodicals references to this work which we are doing there. That is the object-lesson which we are furnishing to India 'through this woman and her fellow-laborers. They do


not acknowledge it very often, but it is nevertheless true. This one woman-herself a Brahmin, herself so learned that she is called the Pandita-is not turning India upside down, but she is doing something that will make others tum India upside down; and that is what Christ would do,-turn the world upside down, lift up the fallen, take hold of the hand of the dead child,-dead to society, dead to hope,-and say, "Damsel, arise." That is what we are privileged to do.

Friends, we have had a good afternoon. It has followed a wonderful week, and I am glad that it comes on Easter Monday. I am glad we are thinking how Christ can make the dead live, and how the touch of human kindness, how faith, hope, and love, can bless such a place as India.

I want for the Association to thank those who have in any way contributed this afternoon to making this a profitable hour.

Miss BUTLER. I would like to move that we pass a vote of greeting to Mrs. Judith W. Andrews, whose faith, hope, and love have helped along this work so much.

Dr. BEACH. Shall we express our sentiments if we make this a rising vote?

On motion, duly seconded, the meeting then adjourned.


FORM OF BEQUEST

I give, devise and bequeath to the American Ramabai Association, a corporation duly established under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the sum of Dollars, to be expended for the purposes of the corporation under the direction of its Board of Managers.


BY-LAWS.

ARTICLe I. The members of the Association shall be such persons as are mentioned in the certificate of incorporation, such persons as shall from time to time be elected by the Association or by the Board of Managers, and such persons as shall be selected for membership by the Ramabai Circles now or hereafter existing, provided that no more than one person shall be so selected by each circle in anyone year, and that no person so selected shall become a member of the Association till notice of the selection has been received by the Recording Secretary of the Association.

ART. II. The officers of the Association shall consist of a President, not less than five Vice-Presidents, a Recording Secretary, a Corresponding S~cretary, a Treasurer, and Twenty Managers, all of which officers together shall constitute a Board of Managers. All said officers shall be elected at the Annual Meeting, and shall hold their office one year, and until others are elected and qualified in their stead. Any vacancy occu±ring in any of the offices may be filled by the Board of Managers. The election of officers shall be by ballot, and all or any of them may be voted for on the same ballot.

ART. III. The Board of Managers shall manage and control all the property, business, and affairs of the Association. The President of the Association shall be Chairman of the Board. The Board shall meet at such times and places as the President shall appoint. The Board shall make an annual report to the Association.

ART. IV. The Annual Meeting of the Association for the election of officers and the transaction of any business shall be held in March of each year at such time and place in Boston as the President shall appoint. Special meetings of the Association may be called by the President or by the Board of Managers, notice of the purpose of the meeting being included in the notice of the meeting. Notice of the time and place of the Annual Meeting or of any special meeting shall be given by pUblication in two Boston newspapers at least a week before the meeting.

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ART. V. Seven members shall constitute a quorum of the Board of Managers.

ART. VI. Voting by proxy shall be allowed at meetings of the Association.

ART. VII. The Ramabai Circles shall be such voluntary and unincorporated Associations as now do or hereafter may exist in different localities for the purpose of maintaining interest in, and providing funds for, the work of this Association.

ART. VIII. The By-laws may be amended by vote of two-thirds of the members present and voting, provided that notice of the proposed amendment shall be included in the notice of the meeting.

ART. IX. There shall be on the Board of Managers representatives, not exceeding six, from societies contributing to the funds of the Association.

ART. X. There shall be an Executive Committee of the Association, consisting of not less than five members of the Board of Managers.

No. 7956.

(tommonweaItb of massacbnsetts.

Ba IT KNOWN, That whereas E. Winchester Donald, E. Hayward Ferry, Pauline Agassiz Shaw, Judith W. Andrews, Antoinette P. Granger, Clementina Butler, Catherine E. Russell, Abbie B. Child, William V. Kellen, Martha Silsbee, Cornelia C. Donald, Meta Neilson, Mary Rogers Bangs, Clarence John Blake, Josephine Dexter, and others, have associated themselves with the intention of fonning a corporation under the name of THn A.J.mRICAN RAM

ABAI ASSOCIATION for the purpose of promoting and assisting in the education, and to ameliorate the condition of widows, deserted wives, and unmarried women and girls, all of the higher castes, in India, and have complied with the provisions of the statutes of this Commonwealth in such case made and provided, as appears from the certificate of the proper officers of said corporation, duly approved by the Commissioner of Corporations, and recorded in this office:-

Now, THaRnF'ORE, I, William M. Olin, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, do hereby certify that said E. Winchester Donald, E. Hayward Ferry, Pauline Agasc:;iz Shaw, Judith W. Andrews, Antoinette P.Granger, Clementina Butler, Catherine E. Russell. Abbie B. Child, William V. Kellen, Martha Silsbee, Cornelia C. Donald, Meta Neilson, Mary Rogers Bangs, Clarence John Blake, Josephine Dexter, and others, their associates and successors, are legally organized and established as and· are hereby made an existing corporation under the name of TH:e AMERICAN RAMA

BAl ASSOCIATION, with the powers, rights, and privileges, and subject to the limitations, duties. and restrictions which by law appertain thereto.

WITNESS my official signature hereto subscribed and the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts hereunto affixed this twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nillety-nine.

WILLIAM M. OLIN, Secretary of the Commonwealth.

Documents

The AMERI CAN RAMADAI ASSOCIATION - Yale …images.library.yale.edu/divinitycontent/dayrep/American Ramabai...10,/3 The AMERI CAN RAMADAI ASSOCIATION Report of the Fifteenth Annual