Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/344

300 But when a Hindu becomes a Christian, and, as a mark of Christian fellowship and brotherhood, eats or drinks with his spiritual guide, caste becomes an instrument to snatch from him his wife and children, to cut him off from every tender tie, and to make him (as far as civil law permits) an outcast and a homeless wanderer in the land of his fathers. It is a cause of devout thankfulness that even this strong chain with which Satan has bound the idolaters of Hindustan has been broken by the power of the Spirit of God, and that converted Hindus have had grace to brave the scorn and persecuting rage of their countrymen—that they have forsaken all to follow Christ. In the American mission at Madras, all the members of the churches, male and female, assemble yearly around one table, and partake, together with their teachers, of a cheerful repast. This is their “love-feast.” Soon may these unchristian barriers between man and man be broken down, and love unite in the bonds of Christian affection the millions of redeemed Hindustan!