The Maramana Convention of 1905, as a Home Letter Shows It
shows it
SUCH work as this over, home reached, things unpacked, and arrears dealt with, the next thing, if it could be crushed into the day, would be a couple of hours of hard typewriting, subject to interruptions. For often the cough announcing an approach would sound first faintly, then a little louder, and the typewriting would stop. “What is it?” “Salaam lya!” “Salaam!” A pause, but it invariably ended in an invitation to come in; and the reed curtain hanging before the open door would be pushed aside, and the visitor would sit down and converse. Under some such circumstances this letter was written, only perhaps the interruptions were more frequent even than usual; for the marriage of a convert girl was the event of the week, and much time had to be devoted to the joys of conversation. We copy from the place where the account of the meetings of 1905 begins:
“Sunday, Februdry 19. — Early in the afternoon people began to gather for the meeting, and one could see the crowds pouring in, all dressed in white. When I proceeded to the pandal, about 3 o’clock, there was a large congregation already assembled. We commenced with a time of prayer, and then I spoke, taking as opening subject the foundation truth of all, ‘Ye must be born again.’ My old friend, the Rev. C. P. Philipose, interpreted, and did it admirably. The rest of the day, from 6 p.m., was quiet, and so I got a little breathing time again before entering on the full swing of the work.
“Monday, February 20. — The morning meeting had been announced for 9 o’clock, but it was quite 10 o’clock before we could make a start. Every time I go to Travancore, the
Syrian brethren say they are really going to have their meetings at an earlier hour in the morning; but it always means 10 o’clock, and, as the week wears on, degenerates into eleven. With a scorching sun, on the sands of a dry river, only a strip of cocoanut matting screening you from the sun, the atmosphere of the pandal being vitiated by thousands of people breathing out carbonic acid gas, it is decidedly hot and uncomfortable. However, your object being the spiritual good of the people, you must accept the conditions and endure the heat and vitiated atmosphere, and certainly the sight of such a sea of upturned faces is inspiring, and helps you to forget the physical drawbacks. My subject for the morning was Spiritual Revival, and the conditions essential to it. Now that Wales is ablaze, and there are expectations of similar blessing all over the world, it was a theme that proved of pressing interest to everyone, and the audience was most responsive. In the afternoon I conducted a Bible-reading on the downstairs verandah of the house in which I was staying. It was intended specially for workers and evangelists, and there were rows of them sitting in the shadow of the house or wherever they could find a spare yard of room. Our study was in the Book of the Prophet Malachi, and bore specially on the life and work of God’s messengers.
“In the evening, at 7 o’clock, we had a very large congregation in the pandal, and I tried to press home on them Christ’s uncompromising statement, ‘No man can serve two masters.’ When we arrived at His explanation of the truth, ‘He will love the one and hate the other,’ and I showed that to love the world or sin means, ipso facto, to hate Christ, the solemnity of that fact seemed to grip the meeting. How could we treat with hate and opposition, or with that indifference and unbelief which are tantamount to such, the dear Lord Who bled and died for us? The message was solemn enough. When I called on all those who wished to serve one Master, Christ, to rise, there was a general response. I found the three meetings very tiring; you cannot pour out yourself in desire for souls without feeling a certain amount of exhaustion afterwards. Besides, one got many visitors between the meetings, some to showfriendship, and others for spiritual talks. The nights, too, were not over quiet, as people in the house would talk till a late hour; and there was a well just outside with a very noisy, creaky sort of capstan apparatus for the drawing of water. Still, comforts were many, and bed was welcome after a heavy day’s work.
“Tuesday, February 21. — The congregations kept growing, and the oppressiveness of the weatherseemed to be on the increase too. At the 10 a.m. general meeting, I continued, in measure, the subject of Monday morning, speaking from Hos. vi. 1-3; and trying to show how God is willing and ready to come forth ’ as the morning,’ with the sunshine of His grace and the latter rain of the Holy Spirit’s power, for the healing and revival and empowering of His people, if only they will honestly and sincerely return to Him. When I had fairly launched out on my subject, I was hindered by the distracted attention of the people. Numbers of them were gazing out of the pandal instead of listening to me. I stopped to reprove them when I suddenly discovered the reason of it all. The old Metran and his Suffragan Bishop had suddenly arrived in state, and were stepping on to the platform in their gorgeous robes, the latter arrayed in crimson silk. No wonder that the audience were temporarily inattentive. However, the Bishops never came late again!
“At the afternoon Bible-reading we studied the Book of Hosea, taking a bird’s-eye view of its contents and teaching, and then going on to practical teaching. It is essentially a Book for the Reformed Syrians, as there are many backsliders among them. The audience had outgrown our limited accommodation, and it was decided to transfer the Bible-reading to the pandal for the future.
“In the evening we had a very solemn subject, ‘The tears of the Lord Jesus,’ and dealt with the awful sinfulness of sin and the crime of unbelief. I trust that the truth went home to some, and that many of God’s people began to realise that the very thought of sin ought to cost them real pain. It is hatred of sin and practical godliness which we all so sorely need. I had spent a time of quiet meditation on it before going to the pandal, and felt keenly the solemnity of the subject.
“Wednesday, February 22. — I awoke feeling very weary, for the heat was extraordinarily oppressive, and seemed to take all the life out of one. The Syrian brethren made one very good arrangement this year. Each day’s addresses wore printed by night at their printing press at Tiruwella, eight miles away, and were on sale the next day in a booth near the pandal. Thus the printed pages supplemented the speaker’s voice, and carried the message far and wide.
“Our morning subject was Gratitude; and I tried to excite the thankfulness of the people to God for all his mercy to us in Christ, and for the full provision of His grace. The Syrians were exceedingly responsive; and we finished up with the famous Malayalam lyric of praise, which with its rousing tune always seems to inspire the people in Travancore.
“In the afternoon we transferred the Bible-reading to the pandal, and I gave the audience (a very large one) a running summary of the teaching of the Epistle to the Komans, laying special stress on its clear doctrine about holiness and its application of it, in the closing chapters, to the Christian’s everyday life. Meamvhile the heavens had grown black with clouds, and, before I had finished speaking, rain had begun to fall. Very soon heavy showers deluged the earth, and the thunder rolled. I was drenched in getting back to the house; and the thundery atmosphere was so appallingly oppressive, that for a few minutes I felt inwardly glad at the prospect of an enforced rest in the evening. I soon saw, however, that such selfishness was wrong, and set to work to prepare the evening’s address, and could rejoice that the storm had cleared away. With so many souls waiting to be fed, personal weariness was a very secondary consideration. However, after I had prepared, thunder and rain came on again; and the evening meeting had to be abandoned after all, as an open pandal affords no protection in inclement weather. Though the meeting was stopped, people could not be really sorry, since this timely rain saved many crops which were on the point of withering for lack of water. Even the promoters of the meetings, therefore, were thankful for the rain.
“Thursday, February 23. — I had a good many callers in the early morning. About 8.30 a.m. Mr. Dibben, C.M.S. Secretary in Colombo, arrived very opportunely to help me. He had arranged to visit Travancore for other reasons, and, hearing this, I had requisitioned his help. He travelled from the railway by bullock-cart, a shorter route than that by back water. It was nice to have companionship, and it proved to be providential in more ways than one. After breakfast, we sallied forth together to the morning meeting in the pandal, and found a vast audience awaiting us. Many requests for prayer had come in, and it was now quite a feature at the beginning of every meeting to present these. Many were the petitions sent in each day that a revival might spring up in this parish and in that, and numbers of sick persons asked prayer for their recovery. I spoke on sin, and the Christian’s attitude towards it; and the congregation were most attentive. Mr. Dibben had never seen so vast a gathering of people calling themselves Christians in any country, and was greatly struck by it all. A further change was now made in our mode of procedure. It was deemed best, and for the greater convenience of the people, to hold the two general meetings by daylight, and to have the Bible-reading at night. Multitudes walked for miles daily to attend the gatherings, and now that full moon was past, the early part of the night was dark. This readjustment of times allowed the people to get home before it was very dark. Accordingly, we assembled at 3 p.m. for the second general meeting. Unfortunately, as it seemed to us, rain came on beforehand, and it seemed more than doubtful whether we could hold a service at all. However, we agreed to face it, though the audience was thinned by the threatening weather. Mr. Dibben gave the address, on The Conditions for Blessing. Halfway through his address it began to rain again, and the roof of the pandal was decidedly drippy. Many of the audience solved the difficulty by putting up their umbrellas, and it was curious to see a speaker addressing a whole crowd of umbrellas. I discovered after the meeting that my voice was husky and that my throat was getting very raspy. Didn’t I feel thankful that there was now another speaker to fall back on in case of need! Mr. Dibben kindly offered to take the evening Bible-reading, that I might get a rest in view of the next day’s work; as the air was now saturated with moisture and the damp night atmosphere was not likely to improve a bad throat. So he put his shoulder to the wheel and had a very good time.
“Friday, February 24. — As there had been two wet afternoons, and there seemed every probability of a daily recurrence of rain about the same time, it was decided to prolong the morning meeting to twice the usual length and to have two addresses instead of one. Mr. Dibben spoke first; then, after a hymn and collection, I followed, on God’s call to backsliders. My throat was very bad and my voice very husky; but God’s strength was made perfect in weakness, for special blessing attended that address. I asked all backsliders present to hold up their hands. At first they rather fought shy; but I knew there were many present, from my personal intercourse with them, and so I earnestly adjured them to be honest with God and make a public confession of their fall. This was effectual, and a large number put up their hands as a confession of their state of backsliding. One felt very tender as one spoke to them; and when the address was finished, I pleaded with them to return to a waiting Father then and there. A large number responded, and I believe many of them were in real earnest; for many individuals among them came to see me privately afterwards, full of joy in new found forgiveness.
“As rain kept off in the afternoon, we had a special gathering, very largely attended, to give information about Prayer Circles, and to take steps for forming them. Mr. Dibben gave them an address on Prayer, and then brother Philipose explained the Malayalam printed circular about the Prayer Circles, and invited members. I trust that this may lead to real good and help on the coming revival in South India.
“I took the Bible-reading at night, but with a very thin and husky voice, for my throat had been getting worse all the time. The subject dealt with was ‘Incentives to Evangelistic Work.’
“Saturday, February 25. — One of the points I had dealt with was that of becoming a corn of wheat, to fall out of sight and die, in order that Christ may be glorified, and that so we may bring forth much fruit. It was scarcely fitting that just at this juncture some of the Syrian brethren should come and ask me to sit for my photograph! I pointed out the incongruity of the request, and begged, as kindly as possible, to be excused. How fond we all are nowadays of publicity and autobiographies and photographs! One thinks of humble men of God in days gone by —
“‘The bravely dumb that did their deed,
And scorned to blot it with a name;
Men of the plain, heroic breed,
That loved Heaven’s silence more than fame,’
and prays for grace to follow their good example.
“Be that as it may, this was a day of special humiliation for me, as I could hardly speak above a whisper. I prayed a good deal about it, and felt like a caged-up creature. It was clearly God’s will that I should stand aside, and I felt that all would be well so long as His Name were glorified. Mr. Dibben kindly undertook the two general meetings, and they determined to turn the evening Bible-reading into a prayer-meeting. It set many of the Christians praying, and that was quite a result in
1 He disliked the modern habit of perpetual photograph-taking, and thought it bad manners to “snap” people against their will. Especially he objected to anything of the sort in connection with a religious meeting. To intrude the camera into such a gathering, or to lie in wait at the door as the crowd streamed out, was to his mind nothing short of irreverence.
itself. They all seemed to feel that if I had to sit silent for the rest of the convention, it was something like a defeat for God’s people, and so they gave themselves to earnest intercessions. I still had a good many visitors between the meetings; and, though conversation tried my voice, God gave many loving tokens that His work had been going on in the hearts of men.
“Sunday, February 26. — I awoke feeling much fresher, and my voice was decidedly better after the rest of the previous day. The Syrians had early service in their own churches, but about 10 a.m. could be seen assembling in crowds towards the pandal. I felt that God would give me a voice, even though it might be weak and husky, and elected to speak at the morning meeting in the heat of the day. Our friends wanted to have two addresses, and then to have a special testimony meeting in the afternoon; so we went to the pandal to do as God might direct. It was certainly an inspiring sight to see a vast audience of some 20,000 upturned faces. The people had been coming in their thousands all the week, 10,000, 12,000, 15,000; but this was the climax day. The heat was terrific, but the opportunity was unique. When I offered the opening prayer, it was evident to all of us that God had heard our petitions. I was astonished myself at the volume of my own voice. It was just as though some great weight had been suddenly lifted; and it was like a new-found liberty to be able to speak again without let or hindrance. I was still thinking of backsliders, especially of those who had now come back to God, and so took as subject ‘Abide in Me.’ A large number of persons pledged themselves in the meeting to give at least half an hour every morning to communion with God. May He enable them faithfully to keep the pledge.
“By the time the address was over, it was clear that it would be unwise to proceed to another subject at that session; so I had the meeting closed, and we arranged that Mr. Dibben’s address to the unconverted should be given at the afternoon session. There was not a very long interval between the two sessions; but it was long enough to freshen up the people, and to give us all needful reprieve from the close pandal which had more than overflowed in the morning. When we repaired again to the pandal for the closing meeting, I found the people singing a new lyric. At one of the previous meetings I had mentioned seeing in Italy a church with the words inscribed on its steeple in large Latin characters, so as to be visible afar, ‘Christ lives; reigns; governs; conquers.’ This had struck some of the Syrian brethren greatly, and one of them had enshrined the device in a lyrical form. It was grand to hear these thousands of voices singing, and with evident feeling,
“Yea, He lives! Glory! Hallelujah!
Yea, He reigns! Glory! Hallelujah!
Verily, He conquers! Glory! Hallelujah!”
Mr. Dibben gave a faithful and very telling Gospel address, putting the way of salvation simply and forcibly before the people. He then asked all present who knew they were saved to hold up their hands. This was done with great enthusiasm; and those dear people with outstretched hands gave hearty thanks to God our Saviour, and prayed for grace to be true and faithful. We next asked all backsliders who had come back to God during the week to stretch forth their hands; and once more there was a full and glad show of hands, with earnest praise for forgiveness received and fervent prayer for keeping power. Then the speaker turned to the unsaved, and asked those who wanted to settle the matter then and there to hold up their hands, in order that God’s people might pray for them and help them. One by one, hands were uplifted all over the pandal. They were next asked to stand up boldly and say: ‘I do believe; I will believe that Jesus died for me; that on the cross He shed His blood from sin to set me free.’ As one after another said it, it was quite cheering to see a sedate C.M.S. Secretary alive with enthusiasm, and to hear him cry out again and again, ‘Hallelujah! ‘Then all the audience sang aloud, ‘I do believe, I will believe,’ and we committed these new converts to God in prayer. The meet ing was by this time in a state of warm enthusiasm, and every petition of my closing prayer was punctuated by the loud assent and response of the entire congregation. We finally closed by all standing and singing together the favourite Malayalam hymn of praise. And didn’t they sing! The waves of that closing hymn of praise must have carried a long distance, and sure I am that it was heard in heaven.
“And now all was over, and we stood and watched the long stream of white-robed figures swarming away in the distance, going back to the stress and strain of everyday life; but, let us trust, in the case of many, to an experience likewise of abiding and victory.”
“So Christiana asked Prudence what it was that made these curious notes? They are, said she, our country birds; they sing these notes but seldom, except it be at the spring, when the flowers appear, and the sun shines warm, and then you may hear them all day long. I often, said she, go out to hear them; we also ofttimes keep them tame in our house. They are very fine company for us when we are melancholy; also they make the woods, and groves, and solitary places, places desirous to be in.”
JOHN BUNYAIT.
1900]