The Hindu Pastor.
As a converted Hindu passed a group of European officers, they called him to them, and in a derisive manner asked, “How is Jesus Christ to-day?” Shocked and grieved at the profanity of professed Christians from a Christian land, this poor son of heathen parents did not keep silence. “Jesus Christ,” he replied, “is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; the one living and true God; the only Saviour. He has a name which is above every name, at which every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, or of things under the earth; and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Such was his love for sinners, that he laid aside his glory, partook of our nature, sojourned on earth, and freely gave himself a sacrifice for our transgressions. Shall we then treat him with irreverence, who so justly deserves our love and gratitude? Ought not our hearts rather to be melted within us, when we reflect upon the manifestations of his love towards us?”
At this earnest appeal, delivered with the meekness of love and the boldness of conscious right, the countenances of the group changed from laughter to earnest seriousness. When he bade them beware of forgetting that they were sinners before God, and that, notwithstanding their high station, they would perish unless they forsook their evil ways, and turned to Christ, they listened in silence; and, as he left them, respectfully bade him good-evening. One, at least, of these officers is believed to have been converted by this faithful rebuke from the lips of the Hindu pastor. It was Shunkurulingam, or, as he was called after his baptism, Samuel Flavel, pastor of native churches successively at Bangalore and Bellary, who thus nobly confessed Christ before scoffers in high places. Often had he thus confessed the name of his Lord before his heathen countrymen; and now he has gone to receive a crown of glory from that Master whom he nobly served on earth.
His history is worthy of note. It well shows that God can raise up able ministers of his word, even from the humblest ranks of the Hindus; and can send them forth as evangelists to preach the gospel to their idolatrous countrymen. As an actual, and hence lively illustration of this truth, so important in its bearing on the question of the conversion of the millions of India to Christianity, a sketch of the history of this worthy man will not be either useless or out of place.
Shunkuru-lingam was born at Quilon, in the year 1792. His parents were worshippers of Siva, and named their son in honour of this god. They were poor, and belonged to the caste of cultivators of the soil. While at Tanjore, a famous city of Southern India, whither they had gone to escape the evils of famine, he attended a native school; and, on his return to Quilon, he continued to receive instruction in the sacred books of the Hindus, and became a devoted heathen. At the age of seventeen he left home to seek employment, and entered the service of a British officer, with whom he visited many parts of India, and also the Isle of France. Returning to India, he went to Ceylon, where he became the butler of a civilian high in rank. It was at this time that God first revealed himself to Shunkuru. Under a tree he found a copy of the Gospels in Tamil, probably left there by some Christian Hindu in the army. He read it, and believed. But we will suffer him to tell his own story. Writing at a subsequent date, he says—
“Hear me without astonishment, and I will tell you my history. Formerly, I and my parents were heathen. I left my parents young, and went to Ceylon. The Lord called me when travelling there among the jungles with my master. Under the bush, through the great gift of wisdom, even the Gospel, the Lord called me. On the road from Colombo to Kaderakamam, at the foot of a hill, in a wonderful way, the book was given to me. I read it, believed what I read, and was convinced that all my religion was great folly. The Lord gave the Spirit to teach me to know the Saviour before I got to the end of the ninth chapter of Matthew. I soon learned to cry to God in prayer; but all my thoughts and ways of serving him were very childish. I greatly wanted some person to teach me to understand this book; but, after many inquiries, could meet with no one able to explain it to me in my own language.
“I became very anxious to see the ministers of God's word, but I knew not where to find any missionary or native Christians. After a time, however, I discovered that the Gospels had been printed at Tranquebar. This rejoiced my heart, and I resolved to go thither, believing that I should find some one who would explain to me the blessed treasure now in my possession. I had great difficulties to surmount, for I was in a comfortable situation, in the receipt of good pay, and carrying on a profitable trade; all of which I must forego if I went away. Week after week, however, my anxiety increased so much, that I at last determined to give up every comfort and prospect, and go to Tranquebar. My master urged me to remain with him, assuring me that missionaries would be passing that way, and that he would request them to give me instruction. This, however, was not altogether to my liking; so I followed out my purpose, and left him.
“After leaving my master, I came to Colombo, (a seaport of Ceylon;) but here I met with disappointment, not finding a ship sailing to Tranquebar. My distress of mind was great; but after a short time I met with a gentleman, with whom I was previously acquainted, about to proceed to Bangalore, by way of Tranquebar and Madras. I embarked with him, but the sea getting high, and the wind being unfavourable, we were obliged to land at Thooloo-koodee. I here found some worldly friends, and by dwelling with them a few weeks I lost my desire for teachers, and did not find so much pleasure as at first in reading the word of God. Instead of keeping the book, I now began to lend it, and was very anxious to have a name among my countrymen, by letting them know that I had a printed book. The persons to whom I lent it often came to me for explanation. This I could not give, and as I was ashamed to tell them so, would leave them, saying, 'I have no time to explain to you.' Whenever the book was returned to me, I endeavoured again to read it. But why read this,' I would say, when I do not understand it?' I was much troubled when I turned to some places which spoke of David, of Solomon, of Isaiah, and others. [He only had the Gospels.] Where, I thought, does Isaiah say this? Who are these? Who is David? and who is Solomon? When I read a little and found such names, I would shut the book, exclaiming, "It is of no use my reading this book!' Still, the merciful God did not leave me. I continued to pray every day.
“My friends became troublesome in asking me questions about the book which I could not answer; and, not wishing to betray my ignorance, I kept the word of God from them. They wondered much, and wished to know of what religion I was. I told them ‘I was of the religion of the gospel.' This word I learned out of the Scriptures, but what it meant I could not have told them.”
A former friend of Shunkuru, when on his way to the city of Seringapatam, having met Shunkuru, now at Bangalore, called on him. Hearing from him of the Gospels in his possession, the friend borrowed them, but left Bangalore without returning them to the owner. Great was his distress. “I was so grieved at the loss of my book," says Shunkuru, “that, with tears in my eyes, I said in my prayers to God, 'All the people are become my enemies; and thou, O Lord, art become my enemy also; for I have lost my book. What shall I do? This is my fault; I did not read thy book, but neglected it; now thou hast taken it away and given it to those that will read it.'"
Having been deprived of this highly-prized treasure, he could not rest. Leaving his employment, he proceeded to Seringapatam, eighty miles distant, in search of it. After having spent some weeks to no purpose, he went one evening as a spectator to a heathen feast. As he was passing a small house, he saw an old man reading in one corner, by the light of a lamp. He paused to listen, and found, to his joy, that the language was that of his beloved book. He immediately left his companions, and, seating himself beside the old man, listened with great attention. After awhile he humbly begged permission to look at the book, and having read some portions of it, asked for an explanation of its meaning. This the old man could not give, for he was himself a heathen. Shunkuru invited him to meet him at breakfast the next morning, and to bring his book with him.
We cannot but turn aside here for a moment from our narrative, to notice the wonderful ways of God. A portion of the Bible is left under a tree in Ceylon; but it is not lost. It is found by a poor idolater; his eyes are opened; he believes it to be the word of God. This man, having lost his book, far away from Ceylon, in the centre of Southern India, on his way to look on at a heathen festival, hears the sound of reading from a little hovel. He recognises the familiar sound. He enters, and there, by the dim light of a Hindu lamp, he sits down beside an aged man, also a heathen, to study the word of God! How strange the sight! but it is unseen of all, save God. The missionary who gave that book, at some idolatrous gathering, it may be, is mourning that he has laboured in vain, and spent his strength for nought. But God is faithful; his blessing has not been withheld; and, at the last day, the faithful labourer will receive a joyful and surprising award of praise from him whom he had served often in sorrow below. And who can tell how many such instances, known only to God, will at the last day appear as the blessed fruit of the seed now sown by the servants of the Lord in India and other lands? Be not thou weary in well-doing, O Christian, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not!
The old man came, according to his promise, but told Shunkuru, to his grief, that he was going to a distant part of the country. Distressed at the thought of again being deprived of the word of God, he offered the old man eight rupees for it; his offer (as great proportionally as if an American labourer should offer twenty dollars for a six-cent Testament) was accepted; but, fearful lest the man should return for his book, Shunkuru for some time kept it hid in a secret place. He read it with great joy, and with a better understanding than before; he would not now lend it, but bid those who wished to see it come to his house, where he explained it to them as far as he was able. “I now," said he, “began to feel a very great dislike to all idols, both in the heathen and Roman Catholic temples. I began also to have a great fear of God, and a dread of sin. I was particularly afraid lest God should again take his book from me. My grief and anxiety, however, daily increased, as I had no person to instruct me regarding its contents, and I longed for some one to unfold more clearly to me its precious truths.”
For some years, Shunkuru continued the study of his book, and in different places, whither business took him, strove to lead others to believe the truths in which he so much delighted. At some places he erected small buildings as school-rooms, and also as places for reading and prayer. By these means some were led to embrace the truth, and also to preach them to others.
Once, when in Cannanore, on the western coast of India, the sound of reading attracted his attention while passing a house. From the sound he fancied that the book was one with which he was acquainted. Listening, he found that it was one of the Gospels which he possessed. Going in, he saluted the reader, and by him was introduced to a company of Christians, “the congregation of the Gospel,” in Cannanore. Delighted at last to meet with a company of Christians, he saluted them as old and dear friends. “I have long wished to learn something about the gospel," said he to this band of disciples, “and this day the Lord has brought me to you, that I may know more clearly his holy word.”
His stay at Cannanore was too short for him to receive much instruction in the truth, but he obtained the five books of Moses, with Joshua, Judges, and Psalms, with which he returned to Mysore. Still he sighed for some one to declare to him more fully the doctrines of the Scriptures. God, we cannot doubt, was by his Spirit unfolding to him his will, and preparing him for usefulness among his countrymen. He continued to labour with them with so much success, as greatly to stir up the rage of the heathen and Roman Catholics of Mysore, by whom he and his friends were much persecuted. They were reviled, beaten, stoned, and had a part of their house pulled down by the enemies of the gospel. As they sought to have him cast out of the city, on the ground that he was no Christian, having never been baptized, and therefore had no right to trouble them with Christian preaching, he resolved to remove this objection. He accordingly travelled to Tellicherry, a distance of near two hundred miles, to receive baptism at the hands of a chaplain of the East India Company. At his baptism he took the name of Samuel, in token of his respect for an English soldier who had been useful to him in leading him to a knowledge of the truth.
Shunkuru, after his baptism, returned to Mysore, where it was his design to remain and labour for Christ. About this time, however, (in the year 1820,) missionaries of the London Missionary Society had commenced a station at Bangalore. These brethren had seen him, and, having been impressed with his earnest piety, they invited him to join them and take charge of the mission-schools. After some deliberation he did so, and, having been farther instructed, was admitted to the church. Soon after this, he, at the request of the mission, relinquished the charge of the schools, to devote himself to the work of preaching, while he studied theology and the duties of a Christian minister.
The religious opinions of this excellent man now grew daily more clear. He sat at Jesus' feet and learned of him, whom, from the first, he had regarded as God manifest in the flesh. One morning, returning from the bazaar, where he had met a native who advocated the doctrine of Unitarianism, which had been brought from England to India by a Hindu of Madras, he came with much excitement to Mr. Laidler, of the London Mission. Collecting himself, he exclaimed, “Oh, sir, I have been conversing with a native from Madras, and he says that Jesus Christ is not truly God, but only man!" Then, apparently unconscious of his presence, he said, over and over to himself, “Oh, he must be God! He must be God!" This encounter led him to search the Scriptures more deeply, and to establish himself more fully in the faith. It prepared him to stand for the defence of the gospel against this and other errors.
In the year 1822, Shunkuru was set apart, after much prayer and fasting, to the office of pastor of the native church in Bangalore. He was now known by the name of Samuel Flavel, the latter name having been added by Mr. Laidler, who deemed him worthy of it, from his fervent piety, his mildness, his disinterested conduct, and his careful observance of the providence of God.
He now laboured earnestly both among the members of the church, in his pulpit, in the bazaars, and by the wayside. The hostility of heathen, Mohammedans, and Roman Catholics was aroused. The cutwal (mayor of the town) was told that he would find his gods insulted in the cards hung up in front of his preaching places. The cutwal, who was a Brahmin, sent for the cards, but returned them, having found in them no cause for legal punishment. He was then accused of obstructing the streets, and brought before the cutwal, who decided that he might preach where he pleased, if he did not interfere with the regular business of life. Whereupon, seeing the multitude, he said, “Sir, may I address the people from this place?" “If you like," was the reply. Thus he was furnished by his enemies with an opportunity of addressing the people from the very seat of justice. The Roman Catholic priest, who had a house not far off, seeing the concourse, sent his servant to order all the Roman Catholics home. Finding that they did not stir, the messenger was sent a second time with a weighty stick, which he applied to the bare shoulders of the disobedient. This, however, did not restrain the power of the truth to enter and affect the hearts of his flock, many of whom listened earnestly to the words of life.
Through evil report and good report, sometimes persecuted and beaten, he continued to bear witness to Christ among the heathen. Many were converted through his efforts, of whom some were deeply interesting persons. He did not only labour in public; he was much in secret prayer; hence his success.
In the year 1827 he removed from Bangalore to Bellary, a city of 50,000 inhabitants, in the Balaghaut. Here he laboured as at Bangalore, seeking to do good to all; nor did God withhold his blessing. About a year and a half after his arrival, he wrote to a pious officer at Madras: “I am happy that I can inform you that the Lord has blessed my endeavours to preach his gospel at this place. When I first came here, there were only four native Christians, (communicants, but now there are more than twenty in church-fellowship, and the congregation is more than a hundred and forty." During his ministry at Bellary, he continued to have the happiness of seeing souls turning from idols to the living God.
Nor was he useful to Hindus only. It shows the transforming and ennobling power of the grace of God, that by it the naturally timid and servile Hindu was enabled to give words of warning and counsel to Englishmen, the conquering race who rule all India. Shunkuru was the instrument of good both to Europeans and East Indians. At one time, when engaged with his assistants in the mission, he was told that some one wished to see him. He asked to be excused; but finding that it was a person whose regiment was marching, and who had come more than two miles expressly to see him, he went out. The stranger, shaking him heartily by the hand, with tears in his eyes, said, “Do you not know me, sir?" Shunkuru answered, “Friend, I do not remember to have seen you before." "My name is J W. I was a drummer, when you saw me last, but now I am a drum-major," said the visitor; "and," continued he, accepting Shunkuru's invitation to go in and be seated, “thanks be to God that I see you again in the flesh! Although you do not know that God has blessed your labours, I rejoice to tell you that I and my wife have been the fruit of your exertions. My wife longed to see you again, but she died happy in Christ. Through my poor efforts, several East Indians and natives have had their eyes enlightened, and are now living consistently as Christians.” Shunkuru, and the native Christians present, listened with joyful hearts to his narrative; at the close of which they parted from this newly-found brother with tears, commending him to God.
Shunkuru had left his distant home in Quilon an ignorant and depraved idolater; now, after twenty years, he resolves to go thither to see his relatives, not as a heathen man, but as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching to the people from town to town, four months were spent by the way. At last he draws near the home of his youth; but we must let this converted idolater himself tell of his first interview with the friends of his early days: “Before I arrived at my parents' house, I sent a person forward with a Gospel, to tell them to make ready for a prayer-meeting. They all assembled and were waiting for me. Immediately on my arrival, and before we spoke to one another, I opened the Gospel and read out of it. We then knelt down and prayed. After thanking God for his kindness, the crowd fell upon my neck and wept. When the noise was over, we sat down and conversed together until three o'clock in the morning, while I made known to them the way in which the Lord had led me."
We need not wonder that coming thus with apostolic zeal, in the name of the Lord, and invoking his blessing, his visit was made instrumental in the conversion of a number of his friends, among whom was his mother, who was near seventy years of age.
In the year 1847 this good man was called to his rest. Having been attacked with cholera, a disease always more or less prevalent in India, he died, after a few hours of great suffering, saying, “The Saviour is a sweet comforter—a sweet comforter! My body is very weak, but my soul is joyful! I am now like the pilgrim passing over the great river, and soon I shall reach the other side !"
A record of this memorable instance of the grace of God in converting and blessing the labours of a Hindu among his countrymen, has been preserved in a small volume published by the members of the Bellary mission. To this memoir we are indebted for the facts here given, which are full of instruction to the thoughtful reader. Truly, we have reason to bless God that it is in our power, while surveying the degradation and heathenism of India, to present a picture so cheering of the life and death of a Hindu pastor; and to have an illustration of the power of God by the most unthought-of means to raise up those who, on their own soil, in their own language, under their own sun, and among their own countrymen, shall spread the good news of salvation with a facility to which the foreigner must necessarily be a stranger.