460
NOTES AND QUERIES- [ii s. vi. DEC. 7, 1912.
The Church in Madras, being the History of the
Ecclesiastical and Missionary Action of the
East India Company in the Presidency of Madras
irom 1805 to 1835. By the Rev. Frank Penny.
Vol. II. (Smith, Elder & Co.)
THIS part of Mr. Penny's careful, impartial, and
kindly record, of which we reviewed the first
part at 10 S. iv. 239, is concerned with years of
a somewhat monotonous development. Few are
the personalities for whom at this distance of
time, and after the changes in thought of nearly
a century, it is possible to feel any specially
ardent regard, and doubtful now appear some of
the principles upon which they unhesitatingly
acted. Yet an immense amount of work stands
to the credit of the men of those days. Not
only did they attack honestly, and on the whole
competently, the complicated business, requiring
endless rectification and adjustment, of the
relations between the East India Company, the
Oovernment, the missionaries sent out by dif-
ferent societies and of different nationalities,
and the Church herself, but they also showed
themselves in creative effort somewhat more
effective than their successors have always
recognized.
In one of his most interesting chapters, ' Men and Manners,' Mr. Penny traces up to slender and untrustworthy sources much of the depreciatory criticism which has been poured out upon the English in India at that time. He is, perhaps, more successful in demolishing the supposed justification for blame than in supplying evidence to justify praise ; thus we do not think that the custom of burying their dead in consecrated rground, or the tenor of epitaphs, goes far towards demonstrating in Anglo-Indians of that time a serious interest in Christianity.
The details concerning the fabrics of the churches, the history of those who ministered in them, the arrangements for discipline, and the different decisions of the Directors and the Government in regard to ecclesiastical matters have been most laboriously collected, and are set forth concisely and clearly. Mr. Penny's sympathy follows the Company in most of its .doings, yet we should hardly gather from his pages how gigantic was the task with which it was attempting to grapple. Indeed, the principal lack in the book is that of a horizon ; in so great a mass of information something in the way of generalization and external reference would have been welcome. In this respect the earlier chapters are the more interesting.
Mr. Penny passes rather cursorily over one question which involves matters of more wide- reaching and permanent interest than does any other which comes within his scope the question of the attitude of the authorities of the Church of England at that time towards men who had been ordained by Danish bishops, or were ministering without episcopal ordination. No doubt his plan of relating his story from the point of view of the East India Company made a discussion of this point not strictly necessary, yet a book purporting to be an account of the Church in Madras should, we think, have included a some- what more thorough treatment of it than he has given us. Another thing we desired was a map. Yet we must not close on a note of depreciation : this volume is a worthy sequel to its predecessor ; a valuable contribution towards clearing up a
tangled bit of history, through which prejudice
has led many people astray ; a renewed witness
to its author's knowledge, care in research, and
fairness of judgment.
The Cornhill Magazine for December has a study of historical method, or want of method, by Sir Harry Johnston, which is hung upon the peg of 'Drake'; and a tolerably amusing paper, 'A Vanished Humorist,' by Mr. Pett Ridge, the humorist in question being the horse- 'bus driver. Sir James Yoxall's 'Felony to Drink Small Beer' is whimsically and pleasantly written. On the subjects of the hour there are ' The Manoeuvres from the Wayside,' and Mr. H. C. Thomson's ' The Cry of Macedonia.' Sir Hugh Clifford contributes an account of Sir William Butler, which, though rather heavy, it is bub an act of justice to read. There are some verses by Mr. W. Letts in the Irish mode, slight but graceful ; and by a discreetly un- named author there is a paper which will probably, and justly, command more interest than all the rest, an account of a visit to the Tsar and Tsaritsa at Tsarskoe Selo.
The Fortnightly Review closes the year with a good number. Of the eighteen articles, live are devoted to the affairs of the Near East, the one of most permanent interest being Miss Edith Sellers's sketch of King Carol of Roumania. There is an article on General Booth, written during his life- time, by the late W. T. Stead, which expresses the one man in the terms of the other in a manner to which fate has lent a peculiar interest. We think that in his illuminating paper on Father George Tyrrell, Mr. Arthur F. Bell somewhat overrates the heedlessness of the public as to Tyrrell's memory. Lady Gregory's ' -The Bogie Men,' too Ion};, especially in the drawing out of the bewilderment, has yet all her wonted charm of wit and humanity. Mr. Francis Toye on ' The Shakespeare of the Dance,' i.e. No% r erre. not only gives us a' record worth having, but proves also suggestive. ' The Great Delusion,' by Mr. Archibald Hurd, is an able indictment of the modern pacificist. Two other papers of literary interest may be mentioned : Mr. Francis Gribble's ' The Real Adrienne Lecouvreur,' and the well-conceived and sympathetic study of Aloysius Bertrand by Mr. Arthur Ransome.
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