Brief Memorials of the REV. Alphonse Franclis LaCroix; Missionary of the London Missionary Society in Calcutta (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. $arl2 fabours. ' Be strong, and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."?Joshua i. 9. " We have not wings, we cannot soar; But we have feet to scale and climb By slow degrees, by more and more, The cloudy summits of our time. " The heights by great men reach'd and kept, Were not attaiu'd by sudden flight; But they, while their companions slept, Were toiling upward in the night." The period at which Mr Lacroix arrived in India was one of peculiar interest. The old system of exclusiveness, under which trade was limited, interlopers were punished, missionaries were rigorously excluded, vice and irreligion flourished, and the native religions were encouraged, had been fairly broken through, and a transition to a much better state of things was in progress. The influence of Englishmen was recognised; private trade was open; individuals had access to the country; and capital was beginning to pour in. Government still held a tight rein over the little community: the press was fettered, and could not object to a clergyman holding the appointment of comptroller of stationery, wax, red tape, and wafers, without being severely punished. But light had broken in; liberal views were beginning to prevail, sustained by Acts of Parliament, and the voice of the English people, which has ever been most potent in the management of Indian affairs. English society was already much improved in its moral and religious character; though there was still abundant room for carrying the improvement to a higher degree. Since that time these changes have been so great, and have advanced so rapidly, that we can scarcely realise in an adequate measure the position held by our fathers only for...