Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/452

442 on the same old ground where we first met, and where God had blessed his soul in the dark days before the mutiny.

And then I found kind General Troup, to whose prudence we owed our lives. He was in command of Havelock's Brigade, and worthy of the position. The excellent Magistrate also received us cordially, and advised an immediate commencement of our work, promising to aid us in every way. Before I was twenty-four hours in Bareilly a subscription was started to help us in organizing our missions. That financial liberality has continued, year by year increasing, to this day; those excellent men, in the civil and military service of England, have since furnished the means required to carry on our system of Christian schools and our Orphanages, averaging over $10,000 gold per annum. We promised, as soon as our Mission in Lucknow was commenced, to begin the work at Bareilly. At the latter we could not yet find shelter, but in Lucknow houses could at once be obtained, by the assistance of Sir Robert Montgomery, the successor of Sir Henry Lawrence in the government of Oude. He was kind enough to write to me and advise our immediate occupancy of that city, and we were now en route to do so.

The Sabbath was a blessed day. The troops (two thousand seven hundred men) then stationed in Bareilly were chiefly Scottish regiments. The Chaplain being sick, the General commanding sent to request that I would undertake the chaplain's duties for the Sabbath. Of course I gladly did so. My opportunity was one I shall never forget. Arriving on the parade-ground, I found the troops drawn up. I took my stand; the men were formed in a “hollow square,” the drum of the regiment was placed before me, and a Bible and Psalm Book lay upon it. The General and his officers stood beside me, and the band behind. I gave out the one hundredth Psalm, and the music and voices rose up on the Sabbath air to heaven. I then prayed with an overflowing heart, and stood up to preach “the glorious liberty of the sons of God.”

My emotions almost overwhelmed me when I looked at my audience. For who were the men that stood around me? These were