Chapter XXI. The Diocese of Chota Nagpur, 1890. The Home of the Orauns and Mundas
1. Jabez Cornelius Whitley, consecrated 1890; died 1904.
2. Foss Westcott, consecrated 1905; transferred to Calcutta 1919.
3. Alexander Wood, consecrated 1919.
Books of Reference.--The Story of Fifty Years' Mission Work in Chota-Nagpur, by the Rev. Eyre Chatterton, B.D.
IT is for many reasons unfortunate that a diocese with such a unique history and peculiar charm as that of Chota-Nagpur should have a name which leads to its being frequently identified with the Diocese of Nagpur in the Central Provinces. For the headquarters of the two dioceses are as wide apart as Land's End from John o' Groat's, and while in one respect they resemble each other in that they both possess a large number of the aboriginal races of India, in nearly all other respects they are utterly different. Chota-Nagpur is what is technically known as a division of the Province of Bihar and Orissa, and is sandwiched between those two larger territories. Its population consists largely of various aboriginal races called by the general name of Kol, viz. Mundas, Orauns, Larka Hos and Santhals, but ethnologically quite distinct.
Its missionary work goes back to the year 1844, when a party of four young Lutheran Missionaries were sent to India by the famous Johannes Gossner. The exact sphere of their labour had not been definitely decided upon when they left Europe, and for a time their minds were attracted to Tibet, owing to interest in that country aroused by the recently published writings of the Abbe Hue. While waiting in Calcutta and praying for guidance, they came across some of the aboriginal Kols from Chota-Nagpur, and attracted by their bright and merry faces they determined to go to the fascinating plateau country where these aborigines lived, which was then about fifteen days' journey by road from Calcutta.
For some years the pioneers toiled with but little success. They made their centre at Ranchi, where they built a Church and schools. After years of apparently fruitless labour converts began to come steadily in, and by the year 1856 they had baptised 700 Kols. Then came those terrible Mutiny days in 1857, when their work was broken up, then-converts scattered, and they themselves fugitives in Calcutta. It is interesting to recall that many of their converts were kept in safety by their non-Christian neighbours during those terrible days. In the German Church at Ranchi one or two cannon-balls can still be seen embedded in its tower--a reminder of those tragic days. During the absence of the German missionaries in Calcutta their converts remained staunch, and on their return their numbers increased rapidly, until at the end of 1860 they were hardly less than 10,000.
Then came a period of cruel and unexpected trial for these pioneer German missionaries who had been in the field for twenty-five years. Gossner had always realised that at bis death difficulties might arise, both as to the support and the guidance of his interesting mission. In 1857 he even wrote to the Church Missionary Society in London, asking them to assume charge of it. His letter is so interesting that we quote it in full:--
"Berlin, Dec. 4th 1857.
It is not unknown to you that I have, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, been endeavouring to do something towards the promotion of the Redeemer's Kingdom in India. But entering now on my eighty-fifth year, and feeling that my strength is beginning to fail me, I must, I am aware, sooner or later, cease entirely from all active and efficient superintendence of the Missions which I have been instrumental to establish. Desirous though I am, however, to put the work into other hands, the Lord seems at least not willing to give me a successor here to carry on the work as I should wish. I therefore propose, in the Lord, to transfer the said Missions as they are, and the not inconsiderable funds and means I have, to the care of the Missionary Society of the Church of England. Illness prevents me to correspond myself with you on the subject. I have, in consequence, with the consent of my committee, authorised the Rev. Emil Schatz, who is our senior missionary to the Mission amongst the Cols in Chhota-Nagpur, not merely to lay my wish before your Society and to ascertain your views, but to come to an eventual arrangement, should my offer appear to you to deserve attention, to be acceptable. Committing all in the hands of our gracious Redeemer, and praying that He may guide you to come to a conclusion most conducive to His own glory,'*and the enlightenment of the benighted races of India, I am, with the members of my committee,
Yours in the Lord,
Pastor Gossner's wish, however, was unfortunately not carried out. Not that the Home Committee of the Church Missionary Society were opposed to the idea, for at first they held out distinct hopes of complying with his request. The matter, however, had to be referred to their committee in Calcutta, and when the German missionaries in Ranchi were consulted, they were at that time unfavourable to the scheme. They had not at that time fully realised the troubles which would arise after Gossner's death, and as the mission had been started on Lutheran lines they were not anxious to alienate German sympathy and German support which they felt would be the case if the mission was Anglicised.
On the failure of these negotiations a Mission Society was started in Berlin, called the Evangelical Mission Society of Berlin, which was henceforth to support and manage the mission in Chota-Nagpur. When this Society with its committee which was called the Curatorium was started, it soon adopted a widely different policy to that adopted by the late Pastor Gossner. The personal touch was no longer there, and everything was run on strictly business principles. The rapid increase of converts had made the work of organisation imperative, and a body of younger missionaries were despatched to the Field. These younger men showed a singular disregard for the feelings of the pioneers, who had borne the burden and heat of the day. They adopted an attitude of mistrust and suspicion towards them, and went so far as to accuse them of neglecting mission duties and misappropriating mission funds. So serious were these charges that the Curatorium felt they must be investigated. Their choice of an investigator was, however, singularly unfortunate. They selected a Mr. Ansorge, who had been a lay missionary in the mission twenty years previously, and who had withdrawn because of certain differences with the missionaries in charge. That he knew India was a point in his favour; that he had not one particle of sympathy for the older men made him incapable of approaching a problem which needed the finest and most delicate handling.
A conference was held at Ranchi in November, 1868, at which two leading Calcutta merchants, one an Englishman the other a German, both firm friends of the mission, were present. The conference decided that the charges were unfounded and frivolous. "It was apparent," so they said, "that the younger missionaries and Mr. Ansorge, in strange contrast with their professions of peace and love, were only intent upon humbling the elder missionaries." Of the elder pastors they stated, "We feel bound to say that the respect and esteem which we entertain for them have been greatly heightened by the simplicity, the gentleness, and the anxiety to throw light upon all subjects, which they displayed throughout the conference, despite the humiliations they were subjected to; contrasting as it did strongly with the bitterness displayed by Mr. Ansorge, and with his determination to find them wrong."
It is not our purpose to reopen wounds which have now, thank God, been largely healed. It is, however, necessary to state this matter fully and clearly, so as to make it quite evident that when Bishop Milman, under the advice of the leading English officials in Chota-Nagpur, decided to receive over a large number of these converts into the English Church and to ordain three of the original pioneers, he was not acting under any motive save that of solving an otherwise impossible problem.
In spite of the fact that the two assessors had pronounced the charges against the senior missionaries as unfounded and frivolous, and had acquitted the elder missionaries of even a suspicion of unworthy conduct, Mr. Ansorge adopted a course which humanly speaking could but have one result. Without a word of censure on the younger men for their false, accusations, he imposed a new organisation on the mission which deprived the senior missionaries of the position they had held, and placed them as a minority in the hands of men who had just made most serious charges against them. Into this new constitution the missionaries were bidden to enter; if they failed to do so, they were to consider themselves as no longer connected with the mission. The pioneers at once withdrew, and sent a vigorous protest to the committee in Berlin. The committee replied by upholding Mr. Ansorge's decision, dismissing the missionaries, and denouncing them as traitors and seceders.
Bishop Milman had already heard from the English officials in Chota-Nagpur of the unhappy state of things in the mission, but not until the final reply from the Curatorium in Berlin had arrived, did Bishop Milman take any action. The elder missionaries had implored him to receive them and a number of their converts into the English Church, but before even considering their request he did all in his power to reconcile the two parties. That it was evident that Mr. Ansorge was opposed to any sort of reconciliation can be seen from the fact that he refused to meet the Bishop when he arrived in Ranchi, and only when the Bishop had actually begun his work of receiving the Kol Christians into the English Church did a protest come from him, which was as weak as it was tardy. To it the Bishop replied courteously but very decidedly. "Believe me," he wrote, "that I have sought for God's guidance in this matter, and I cannot say that I doubt the correctness of my judgment in it, especially as I have the universal concurrence of the supporters of the Mission in India itself."
April 1869 was a memorable month in the history of Chota-Nagpur, for on the 17th and 18th, hundreds of Kol converts were confirmed by Bishop Milman, and on the 19th, four of its Pastors, F. Batsch, H. Batsch, F. Bohn, and Catechist Wilhelm Luther Daud Singh (a Rajput by caste), were ordained. The Ordination was a peculiarly impressive ceremony. The Bishop himself preached, and after his sermon there was a celebration of the Holy Communion at which six hundred and fifty persons communicated. At two o'clock in the afternoon there was a service in Hindi, at which the two brothers Batsch officiated for the first time as Priests of the English Church. "In the sermon which the Rev. F. Batsch preached he stated that probably but for his deprecating it at the time, the step they had now taken would have been made years before. He rejoiced now to help on what he had then discouraged."
As it was apparent that the staff of four ordained clergy and three lay missionaries were quite unequal to the demands of a growing Church of many thousand converts, and as it was also clear that if the mission was to be an English Church Mission, though retaining as much as possible its old character, it must have one or two really able English missionaries to superintend its work, the S.P.G., who had now taken over the work, sent one of their most experienced missionaries, the Rev. J. C. Whitley, to act as Superintendent.
Seven years before this Mr. Whitley had left England for India to fulfil the desire of his life and preach Christ to the Gentiles. He had been stationed at Delhi shortly after the Mutiny, and had then laboured at Karnal amongst its Jat population. Of the wisdom of the choice of the Society thirty years of splendid work is the best answer. Mr. Whitley possessed considerable qualifications as a Hindi scholar, but what was of even more importance he possessed a spirit firm, faithful, loving, and conciliatory.
There was, of course, much to be done at the start in the way of organisation. The missionary area with its more than three hundred Christian villages was divided into circles, leaving as many as ten or fifteen villages in one circle. The old system of village elders, who received no salary and on whom devolved the duty of seeing after the spiritual state of their village, was continued. In addition to these elders a number of Catechists or Readers were appointed who received a small salary. Their duties were to visit the Christians in their circle, to hold services on Sundays in the central village chapel of their village, and in the absence of a missionary to instruct the young in the Bible and Catechism.
Those early days were days of great earnestness in this Christian community. Owing to the smallness of then-staff, the missionaries from Ranchi were unable to visit their circles more than once a month or even two months, when the Holy Communion was administered. In some cases the converts travelled distances of forty and fifty miles to attend their monthly communions. There was also a great lack of chapels and schools, and much time and energy were spent in meeting this need. So earnestly, however, did the sympathisers with the Mission, especially the English ladies in Ranchi, labour on its behalf, that within twelve months enough money had been collected to raise small chapels in nearly all the thirty-five central villages where the Readers were placedj
Writing at the end of his first year in Ranchi, Mr. Whitley says, "Christianity now spreads spontaneously, as it were, among the Kols. Within the last ten months there have been over six hundred baptisms, including the children of Christian parents, and there is every reason to hope that the whole people will become Christians."
In March 1870 a Theological Class was formed for the purpose of training Readers and Catechists for the Diaconate and Priesthood. A three years' course was mapped out, which included a general knowledge of Holy Scripture with special books on both Old and New Testaments, the Church History of the first three centuries, Evidences of Christianity by Archbishop Whately, and the Prayer-Book and Articles.
At first it was thought it might be well to send these theological students to Bishop's College, Calcutta, but the idea was fortunately abandoned. Three years' residence in Calcutta might easily have spoilt these simple Kol Readers and have unfitted them for their rough-and-tumble life in the jungles. It is interesting to note that the Theological Class which was started in 1870, still flourishes and has trained a large number of excellent Indian aboriginal clergymen for the ministry of the Church in the diocese and elsewhere.
The next great event in the history of this mission took place in the cold weather of 1872-73, when a handsome brick Church, capable of holding fully twelve hundred people, waa consecrated by Bishop Milman. On the same occasion the Bishop ordained five Indian candidates to the diaconate. These candidates were presented to the Bishop by the Rev. W. Luther Daud Singh, who had himself been ordained Priest by Bishop Milman the previous year. The account of this service, which has come down to us, indicates that it must have been deeply impressive. The new deacons were at once posted to five important stations in the district: Itki, Maranghada, Murhu, Tapkara, and Ramtolia. They received Rs. 15 a month as deacons, and Rs. 20 as priests. Part of their income was paid by the native congregation, and an equal sum was granted by the Calcutta Native Pastorate Fund.
Some mention must here be made of the Rev. F. R. Vallings^^, devoted missionary, who had been for several years Secretary for the S.P.G. in Calcutta. Fascinated by what he saw of Chota-Nagpur during a visit with Bishop Milman, he offered for work there in 1872. There he laboured for nearly five years, until his health failed him, partly as the result of over-work and partly through neglect of good food while travelling in this large district. He was buried in the Red Sea on his homeward journey.
In the year 1874 the Earl of Northbrooke, then Viceroy of India, visited Chota-Nagpur, and later on while in England spoke most enthusiastically of the work which was being done amongst its aboriginal population by the mission.
Again in 1875 Bishop Milman visited Ranchi for the last time, and spent twenty busy days in moving all over the district, confirming hundreds of candidates, and on February 17 ordaining ten candidates, of whom all save two were Kols.
The years which lay between 1870 and 1880 were most fruitful ones in missionary effort in Chota-Nagpur. The Anglican Communion had grown from 5700 in 1870 to 10,600 in 1880. In 1870 there was one native clergyman, in 1880 there were no less than eleven. In 1870 there were 900 communicants, in 1880 there were 4670.
Nor was this all. Village Churches had sprung up all over the district, school buildings and a handsome school-house in Ranchi had been erected; a noble Church, now the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chota-Nagpur, had been built. Great things had by God's help been accomplished.
Time does not permit us to speak at length of all that has taken place in Chota-Nagpur since those days. First of all came the withdrawal of the old German missionaries, owing to age and ill health. Synchronising with this was the arrival of new missionaries from England, most of whom came out as laymen and were ordained by Bishop Johnson during the next few years. Of these two were of very exceptional merit, the Rev. A. Logsdail and the Rev. D. G. Flynn, both of whom came from St. Augustine's Missionary College at Canterbury.
Early in 1880 the mission was called upon to face a new and very difficult problem. The Roman Catholic Church, hearing of the growing success of missionary effort in Chota-Nagpur, determined to reap what profit they could from the labours of others, a method in which they have always proved themselves, most successful. Chota-Nagpur was suffering from a land agitation. Its aboriginal population had been in many cases dispossessed by Hindu landlords, and they naturally felt they had a grievance. The Jesuit missionaries determined to turn this to account. They came forward as the people's champions. They established their mission stations as near as they could to various important police thanas or stations. They espoused the cause of the Kol, arid told him that if he would hand himself over to their care they could get them back his land. The natural result of this was that within quite a short period a large number of the least satisfactory Lutheran converts and not a few Anglicans went over to the Jesuit Mission. One Jesuit Father Levins, who was known in the Vatican as the Apostle of Chota-Nagpur, is credited with having himself baptised 14,000 Kols. Many of these converts, however, at the time of their baptism hardly knew the name of the Blessed Trinity. And yet in spite of all hindrances and difficulties the work went forward so vigorously in the Anglican Mission that in the year 1885 a petition was sent to Bishop Johnson the Metropolitan, signed by all the priests and deacons of our Church in that area, praying him to help forward as much as he could the appointment of a Bishop for Chota-Nagpur. The petitioners stated their reasons, which were as follows:--
(1) They were a flock of over thirteen thousand people.
(2) They had twenty-two priests and deacons.
(3) They were separated from the rest of the vast Calcutta Diocese by race, language, and territory.
(4) Their diocesan was only able as a rule to visit them once in three years.
(5) There was a powerful Lutheran Mission and an aggressive Roman one in their midst, which made a much closer Episcopal supervision imperative, if the Church was to be kept strong and pure.
Not, however, till five years later was the first Bishop appointed. Legal difficulties existed regarding the formation of a diocese within the Statutory Diocese of Calcutta, and time was needed before the necessary endowment could be raised.
When at length all difficulties had been removed, the person whose name was first mentioned for the new diocese was the Rev. G. A. Lefroy, then Head of the Cambridge Mission at Delhi, and afterwards Bishop of Lahore and Bishop of Calcutta. Lefroy felt, however, that his duty lay at Delhi, and declined the offer. Bishop Johnson then approached the Rev. J. C. Whitley, Superintending Missionary, who had been identified with the work for many years. With his natural modesty Mr. Whitley at first declined to allow himself to be nominated. Later on, however, after much pressure he gave his consent and was consecrated on March 23, 1890. An interesting contemporary account of his consecration can be read in The Story of Fifty Years' Mission Work in Chota-Nagpur.
Early in the year 1892 the new diocese was strengthened greatly by the arrival of the Dublin University Mission. This Mission, formed on the same lines as the Cambridge Mission to Delhi, began its work with a staff of five Clergy and one lady worker, a fully trained nurse. They were located at Hazaribagh, the principal town of the northern district of Chota-Nagpur. Unlike the other districts of that area, the bulk of its population consists of very low-caste Hindus with caste prejudice, which have made the work of their evangelisation far more difficult than that amongst the simple aborigines of the other districts. Doubtless this fact has led the Mission to develop its work on lines decidedly different to the work in other parts of Chota-Nagpur. For while in the central and southern parts of that diocese there are to-day several hundreds of Christian villages with their Church, Pastors, Readers and school-masters dotted all over the country; in the northern district there is a strong centre at Hazaribagh, with its High School, its College (St. Columba's, affiliated to Patna University), its important medical work, more especially its Women's Hospital, while the number of Indian Christian settlements in the district is still small. Some day, perhaps, a history of this interesting mission will be written, and when it is, the names of those who have taken a prominent part in the development of its work will be mentioned. One will then read of Dr. K. W. S. Kennedy, the saintly Dr. Hearn, who passed from us all too soon; of Fanny Hassard, our first lady worker; of James Arthur Murray, the founder of St. Columba's College; and of Dr. Miss O'Meara.
Late in the autumn of 1904 Bishop Whitley passed to his well-earned rest, after nearly forty years' work in India. One of the last acts of his life was to assist in the Consecration of the first Head of the Dublin University Mission as first Bishop of the neighbouring Diocese of Nagpur. Bishop Whitley was succeeded by his nephew, the Rev. Poss Westcott, who for fourteen years presided over the diocese, fostering and developing its work, and increasing its resources. During his Episcopate his hands were strengthened by the presence of. Canon W. Cosgrave, an Honorary Canon of Durham, who gave several years of splendid service to the diocese, especially in his school work at Ranchi. All along too he was assisted by that most self-sacrificing of missionaries, the Rev. E. Whitley, son of the first Bishop. On the death of Bishop Lefroy early in 1919, Bishop Westcott, little though he desired it, was called upon to succeed him as Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of India. He had unquestionably brought forward and consolidated the work of the Church in Chota-Nagpur in a remarkable way, and had won golden opinions from every one by the human and broad-minded way in which he had cared for the German Lutheran Mission and its missionaries during the Great War.
Later on in that year Chota-Nagpur received its third Bishop, the Rev. Alexander Wood, who, after eighteen years of important work at Chanda, in the Central Provinces, followed by three years' work as Chaplain to the Indian Cavalry in France and Palestine during the Great War, entered upon his new work in December 1919.
Certainly Chota-Nagpur has a good answer to those who are inclined to doubt the efficacy of our missionary efforts. There, where sixty years ago were a large aboriginal population of pagans, may to-day be seen a body of some 200,000 Christians, of whom 25,000 at least belong to the Anglican Communion. It is indeed but another example of the magical wand of true Christianity when wielded continuously and faithfully over an area of primitive people.
Since I wrote my Story of Fifty Years' Mission Work in Chota-Nagpur, certain events of great importance, more especially in connection with industrial development in that area, have taken place in this diocese. The present Bishop has very kindly contributed some interesting notes on these subjects, which are too valuable not to be quoted in full.
"The bulk of the Diocese of Chota-Nagpur is on a pleasant plateau, some two to three thousand feet above sea-level. On this plateau dwell the primitive peoples, Mundas and Orauns, from whom the bulk of the Christian converts are drawn, and the eastern jungles and hills form the land of the Hos. In the valley round the foot of the plateau eastward and northward lies perhaps the richest mineral area in India. Here are the coalfields of Giridih, Sijua and Jharia, the 'black country' of India, a long vista of pitheads, linked with a network of railways, with clanging machinery and hooting sirens, and huge brick buildings where 'by-products' are extracted and utilised according to the latest scientific devices.
"Here there is a large European population of mine managers, engineers, and scientific experts, with their assistants. In Jharia they are mainly Scottish and Presbyterian, in Giridih mainly English, and in Sijua perhaps half and half. Keen, hard, practical folk, not greatly interested in religion or Church, but rich in charity and kindliness. In this area we have one Chaplain who has to provide religious ministrations to an area about the size of an English county. For many years the Anglican Missionary was the only Clergyman, but lately the Presbyterian Missionary from Pokhuria has provided fortnightly services in Jharia.
"Again to the south in the Singhbhum area is the enormous enterprise of the Tata Steel and Iron Company at Jamshedpur. The passenger on the night mail for Calcutta, after running for hours through an apparently interminable jungle, suddenly sees the northern horizon lit by a huge arc of electric lights, whose pure white light contrasts, as the train draws nearer, with the murky glare of a host of furnaces that fills the foreground. This is the first impression of Jamshedpur.
"In 1808 this Indian Company began its work in the middle of a sullen jungle. Three factors governed the selection of the site. From there they could develop the rich deposits of iron ore in the Singhbhum hills to the south, draw their coal from the mines of the north, and situated in a bend of the Subernareka River a plentiful supply of water was available.
"Under the energetic direction of the present manager this enterprise rendered distinguished services to the country during the War by supplying munitions, and greatly extended their plant, which is all of the most modern design. The Company employs some 26,000 men in Jamshedpur and about 7000 in its mines and quarries in the hills.
"In addition to the Steel Works some ten industrial companies have secured sites on the lands acquired by the Tata Company, and are building the 'New Town.' They are supplied with electric power for their works and raw materials from the Tata Works."
Some idea of the extent of this growing centre of industry may be obtained from the fact that in addition to the 4,000,000 gallons of water a day required by the Steel Works, a new pump-house has lately been installed with a capacity of 120,000 gallons per minute to supply the new enterprises.
"At present Jamshedpur is a town of some 60,000 inhabitants, Indian and European. The whole town is planned on the most enlightened modern lines and wonderfully well adapted to all the different classes of workmen employed. The Anglican Church was built by the European, American, and Anglo-Indian members of the congregation, at a cost of some Us. 50,000, on a site granted by the Company. The Chaplain is the S.P.G. Missionary, who in addition to his English-speaking congregation also has charge of an Indian congregation of some four hundred members at Mahalbera, all of whom are connected with the Works. These are the main industrial centres, but up the Damuda valley, a deep cleft in the plateau between Ranchi and Hazaribagh, new discoveries of valuable minerals have lately been made, new enterprises are being begun, and new lines of railway are being extended to link up these undertakings with the existing network, and the European and Anglo-Indian population steadily grows.
"One would gather that this diocese ought to be rich, but as a matter of fact it is the wage-earners who live within the diocese. The owners of these rich properties are in Calcutta, and often are non-Christian.
"As a matter of fact, most of our people are poor, and the problem of how the children of this' increasing English-speaking community were to be educated was one the diocese had to face.
"Hill schools in the Himalayas were not only filled, but had long waiting lists, and in many cases fees and railway fares were more than our people could meet. Except in Jamshedpur, where Rs. 75,000 are annually spent on education, there are few good schools on the plains, and in any case the climatic conditions are injurious to growing children. The Provincial Government was also alive to the need and offered a splendid site at Namkum, near Ranchi, and one-half the capital cost up to a limit of Rs. 175,000 if the S.P.G. would undertake to provide a similar sum to provide and manage two good boarding schools, one for girls and one for boys, with dormitory space for 125 pupils in each. This enterprise was undertaken in 1920, and, as a memorial of the great services of the Metropolitan in this diocese, the schools were called the 'Bishop Westcott Schools.'
"The diocese was fortunate in having on its staff the Rev. T. H. Cashmore, who was sufficiently experienced in building to plan and carry out this great work.
"The Girls' School, power-house, etc., has now been built, and two years ago the Community of St. Denys, Warminster, with splendid courage undertook to provide the teaching staff. Accordingly, under the management of Sister Barbara, as Principal of the School, the Bishop Westcott School for Girls was opened in March 1922, and the first part of the programme was finished.
"The buildings of the Boys' School have been begun, but some £3000 required to complete the project has not yet been raised. It is impossible for the diocese to run into debt, so the undertaking must mark time until the money is found."
This chapter should not close without some reference to the way in which this diocese has been organised for self-support. It is the pride of the diocese that not one of its thirty Indian Parish Clergy receives any portion of his salary from S.P.G. The ideal set up by the saintly Bishop Whitley when the diocese was first formed was that should S.P.G. at any time withdraw there would still be the nucleus of an organised Church: the Bishop and the Parish Clergy. To this end he and Bishop Westcott built up the Native Pastorate Fund. The interest on this fund and the annual collections of the parishes provide the salaries of the Indian Clergy.
This year a further step was taken. The Diocesan Council appointed a Pastorate Fund Board of Indian members only, with the Bishop as chairman. This Board was given full financial responsibility, and will in future have the management of this fund. It is true that the salaries of the Clergy are small, averaging less than £2 per mensem. But now that the responsibility rests with an Indian Board, it is hoped that this may be remedied. In a former part of this chapter a clear and accurate statement has been given of the relations between the Lutheran and the Anglican Missions some fifty years ago, and though most of the principal actors in that drama are long dead, perhaps some echoes of the ancient antagonism still linger.
The War of 1914-1918 made it more inevitable that the Anglican Mission should again intervene in the affairs of the Lutheran Mission. For the outbreak of war soon stopped all supplies from Germany to the German missionaries in Chota-Nagpur, and three months after August 4, 1914, they were in serious financial difficulties. Bishop Westcott then issued an appeal to all Missions in India, stating the case and asking for help. His first aim was to keep the German missionaries in their stations, and provide them with a minimum of Rs. 70 per mensem for each missionary. In 1915 Government removed the German missionaries from their stations and interned them. Bishop Westcott then undertook the supervision of the Lutheran Missions. His object was to keep the Lutheran Missions in being and intact, awaiting the return of the Germans. To this end he refused all applications from Lutherans desiring to join the Anglican Church until the end of the War.
For four long years, until October 1919, the Bishop and his Clergy, aided by the emergency staff which the Bishop, even in that difficult time, managed to get together, kept the Lutheran Mission of some 90,000 souls in being as an organised Church.
The S.P.G. gave an emergency grant of £2000 per annum, and this, with such funds as could be raised in India, made it possible in some degree to fill the gaps in men and money made by the War in the economy of the Gossner Mission. At the end of the War the German missionaries did not return. The organisation which the Bishop had introduced was formed into an autonomous Church, to the aid of which American Lutherans came with money. An Advisory Board was appointed by the Behar and Orissa Provincial Council of Missions to guide the Church in its first years, and its property was vested in a Board of Trustees appointed by the Government. To these bodies the Bishop, now Metropolitan of India, handed over his charge.
The Bishop's action during these four years has been misunderstood and misrepresented in many quarters. It has even been described as a scheme to force these Lutherans into the Anglican Church.
But when the mists of prejudice and misrepresentation die down, this great effort of his will emerge as one of the noblest examples of Christian chivalry that the Mission Field can show.