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ness of their head men, that they all begged him to be seated with all speed, assuring him that they had heard quite enough to prevent any possibility of mistake as to his meaning. He was in no hurry to comply with the request, and they on the other hand, when he did so, resolved that it was needless to call on any others for an expression of opinion which had now declared itself at least sufficiently. And so at 7.30 a.m. the meeting broke up, and we adjourned, with all the Christians present, to our little chapel near by for a short service, to which the events of the preceding night lent, as you will readily believe, a very special solemnity and meaning.
And now just to sum up very shortly the position in which this night's work left us and our congregation. Five men had, under strong trial it is true, but still openly and wilfully denied their Lord; occasion sufficient surely for deep sorrow and humility and searchings of heart. On the other hand eight families had definitely stood out and broken that bond which had weighted so heavily all their previous attempts at a Christian life and stood forward, nominally at any rate, Christians and Christians only. And besides these there was another body, numbering some eight or nine heads of families, in a more or less intermediate position, not at present breaking loose from their old caste, but on the other hand pledged to do so rather than abandon their newer faith; and in point of fact the moral influence of the latter party, though their line of conduct had been distinctly less high, was I believe of considerably the greater weight amongst their fellows. This was so because the members of the Christian Basti living on Mission property had already put themselves more or less into the position of connection and partial dependence on the Mission to which I have referred in an earlier part of my letter, and in which the more entirely single motives in an open confession of faith are at any rate backed up and strengthened by others of a more worldly nature. These men on the other hand, standing as they did in a position of entire independence, so far as any material gains are concerned, towards the Mission, had much to lose while they had nothing, so far as I know, to win by their boldness. Add to this that the conduct of the 'segregated' was, previous to the meeting, as entirely expected and assumed as the conduct of the others was the reverse, and you will be able to understand that what is in itself the lower position may well have carried, to outsiders at any rate, the greater moral weight.
And then as to later events. The very moderation of the
