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IRENE    PETRIE 


BY   THE  SAME  AUTHOR. 

CLEWS  TO  HOLY  WRIT  ;  cr,  The  Chro- 
nolo2ical  Scripture  Cycle.  Fourteenth 
Thousand.     Crown  Svo,  cloth,  3s.  6cl. 

TOKIWA,  and  other  Foems.  Cro\vn  8vo, 
cloth,  65, 

THORA  J  Memoirs  of  a  Nineteenth-Cen- 
tury Woman.     Crown  Svo,  clolh,  is.  6d. 

London:   HODDER   &  STOUGHTON. 


^YlcLty    l^OU^JSa^   bmo^^ma^  CTk^r/^J 
Cat  COS  -^i-  .  .:.^n. 


RENE  PETRIE 


I 

J[  .MISSION^RT     ro     FiASHMIR 
By  Mrs.  ASHLEY  CARUS-WILSON,  B.A. 


WITH  PORTRAITS,  MAP, 
AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


FIFTH       EDITION 


LONDON      HODDER     AND 
STOUGHTON  JT  27 

PATERNOSTER  ROW  MCMIII 


ws  ^pa.  iirl  tQiv  opioiv, 

ws  7r65ey  evayyeXii^'o/j.^vov  aKOT^v  ilp-qv-qi. 

Isaiah  lii.  7  (LXX.). 


TO    MY    CHILDREN 

MARTIN    MACDOWALL,    LOUIS    CHARLES,    AND 


ELEANORA    MARY 


PREFACE 

SOME  years  ago  the  general  reader  was  captured 
by  the  autobiography  ot  a  Russian  girl,  well 
born,  attractive,  gifted,  ambitious,  and  successful  as  a 
musician  and  artist.  She  confessed  more  frankly  than 
many  confess  it  that  on  setting  out  in  life  her  most 
earnest  prayer  was :  "  O  God,  grant  me  happiness. 
Make  my  life  what  I  should  like  it  to  be."  She  died 
young,  leaving  this  testimony :  "  I  am  so  unhappy. 
All  is  wretchedness  and  misery.  I  don't  know  whether 
I  believe  in  God  or  not "  ;  and  it  is  with  a  feeling  of 
profound  pity  that  one  closes  the  record  of  her  life. 

The  story  of  another  girl,  with  similar  gifts,  who 
was  likewise  ambitious,  and  across  whose  short  life 
more  than  one  deep  shadow  fell,  is  told  here.  Judging 
by  hundreds  of  letters  from  people  differing  widely  in 
character  and  circumstances,  one  impression  left  by  her 
career  upon  all  who  knew  her  was  stronger  than  any 
other.  Many  say  that  she  was  very  clever,  very  winning, 
very  noble  ;  but  far  more  reiterate  that  she  was  before 
all  things  very  happy  ;  ready,  in  fact,  to  exclaim  with 
Browning's  David,  who  stands  as  a  type  of  the  capacity 
for  delight  of  the  richly  endowed  mind  in  the  vigorous, 
youthful  body, — 

How  good  is  man's  life,  the  mere  living  I    How  fit  to  employ 
All  the  heart  and  the  soul  and  the  senses  for  ever  in  joy  I 


viii  PREFACE 

The  following  words  of  two  who  knew  Irene  Fetrie 
well  may  be  taken  as  an  expression  of  what  all  who 
knew  her  well  felt :  "  She  always  gave  me  the  idea 
of  one  satisfied.  Her  joy  was  full.  We  saw  it  in  her 
face  as  a  schoolgirl,  and  in  later  years.  That  happy 
face  will  ever  be  before  us  when  we  think  of  her." 
"  That  almost  joyous  cheerfulness  and  sweetness  of 
spirit  drew  even  strangers  to  her,  and  made  her  loved 
wherever  she  went." 

Her  story  is  worth  telling  if  only  to  unfold  the  secret 
of  an  unfailing  delight  in  life,  which  is  not  always  the 
lot  of  even  the  able  and  the  fortunate,  the  upright  and 
sincerely  religious. 

What  she  did  is  worth  telling  also,  and  is  far  more 
easily  told  than  what  she  was.  Almost  indescribable 
is  the  charm  of  personality  that  made  her  a  strong 
influence  both  at  home  and  abroad,  caused  one  ac- 
quaintance at  least  to  characterise  her  as  "  my  ideal 
woman,"  and  led  the  historian  of  the  Society  with 
which  she  laboured  as  an  honorary  missionary  to 
write :  "  India  lost  a  woman  missionary,  probably  the 
most  brilliant  and  cultured  of  all  the  ladies  on  the 
C.M.S.  roll.  Miss  Irene  Petrie."^ 

Far  different  was  her  own  estimate  of  herself,  when 
in  the  supreme  hour  of  her  life  she  said  that  she  was 
*  only  one  of  the  least."  Such  an  utterance  forbids  the 
language  of  praise,  though  one  must  try  to  convey 
the  impressions  her  life  made  on  other  lives,  using 
words  other  than  one's  own  throughout.  Statements 
that  must  seem  inadequate  to  those  who  knew  her 
may  seem  exaggerated  to  those  who  did  not  know 
her,  so  unready  are  we  to  believe  in  the  potentialities 
of  Divine  grace  working  through  a  fully  yielded  soul. 

'  History  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society ^  vol.  iii.,  p.  784. 


PREFACE  w 

It  has  not  been  easy  for  the  o^e  survivor  of  her 
family  to  speak,  in  the  earlier  chapters  especially,  of 
much  that  lies  now  in  the  sacred  hush  of  death.  But 
because  some  would  disparage  missionaries  as  foolish 
visionaries,  and  others  would  throne  them  as  beings 
apart,  living  without  effort  up  to  a  higher  standard  than 
we  need  even  inquire  after,  her  home  days  cannot  be 
entirely  omitted.  A  well-known  writer  recently  taken 
from  us  counselled,  after  the  experience  of  a  prolonged 
life,  that  as  much  should  be  told  concerning  Irene's 
early  years,  as  many  things  mentioned  that  are  typical 
of  her  condition  and  generation,  rather  than  peculiar 
to  herself,  as  would  serve  to  show  that  she  lived  to  all 
appearance  the  life  that  hundreds  of  other  girls  are 
living  to-day,  amid  the  same  temptations  and  the  same 
opportunities.  Yet  her  going  forth  as  a  missionary  was 
the  outcome  of  no  sudden  impulse,  made  no  violent 
wrench  from  that  early  life,  but  was  rather  the  fruitage 
of  its  blossom,  the  full  application  of  the  principle  on 
which  she  had  always  tried  to  act,  of  giving  not  merely 
her  substance  but  herself  to  others  in  every  possible 
way,  and  wherever  the  need  was  greatest ;  and  thus 
most  truly,  though  most  unostentatiously,  selling  all 
that  she  had  for  Christ's  sake  by  reckoning  it  not 
her  own. 

Of  the  forty-five  months  which  elapsed  between  her 
departure  from  England  in  October  1893  and  her  death, 
five  were  spent  at  home,  and  three  on  the  three  journeys 
to  and  fro ;  three  were  spent  in  travel  during  short 
vacations  in  India.  The  remaining  thirty-four  were 
months  of  incessant  labour,  of  which  four  and  a  half 
were  spent  at  St.  Hilda's,  Lahore  ;  four  on  the  Jhelum 
and  at  Gulmarg,  Kashmir ;  and  twenty-five  and  a  half 
in   Srinagar — viz.   eight   in    "  the    Barracks,"    five    and 

6 


z  .  PREFACE 

a  half  in  the  Zenana  House,  and  twelve  at  Holton 
Cottage. 

In  this  period  of  less  than  three  years  she  mastered 
Urdu  and  Kashmiri,  and  made  some  progress  in  Hindi ; 
and  she  diligently  instructed  in  the  faith  of  the  Gospel 
five  different  classes  of  people :  children  of  Europeans, 
through  Sunday  schools  ;  Eurasians,  especially  women 
and  children  ;  her  own  servants,  mostly  Mohammedans  ; 
Kashmiri  schoolboys,  mostly  Hindus  ;  and  zenana 
women,  Hindu  and  Mohammedan,  of  many  different 
degrees  socially  and  intellectually.  Her  musical  and 
artistic  powers  were  turned  to  account  to  secure  friends 
and  funds  for  the  work  in  a  variety  of  ways ;  her  pen 
spoke  of  it  to  many  at  home  both  in  magazine  articles 
and  in  private  letters.  And  though  she  never  allowed 
herself  to  be  drawn  into  society  to  the  hindrance  of 
her  work,  the  recollection  of  her  intercourse  with 
"  station  people "  made  a  resident  in  India  assert 
that  looking  only  at  her  influence  on  her  compatriots, 
one  could  never  say  that  her  life  had  been  thrown 
away.  Short  as  her  career  was,  it  was  long  enough 
to  lead  a  former  clerical  secretary  of  the  C.M.S.  to 
write  thus  :  "  I  was  fully  expecting  that  through  God's 
grace  working  upon  her  great  natural  abilities,  attain- 
ments, and  physical  health,  she  would  in  a  few  years 
have  become  an  inspiring  missionary  leader  throughout 
North  India." 

But  just  when  "  the  hope  of  unaccomplished  years  " 
seemed  brightest,  the  summons  hence  came,  swiftly, 
silently,  most  unexpectedly,  and  (as  another  writes) 
"the  sudden  and  pathetic  close  to  that  young  and 
beautiful  life  deeply  touched  all  who  heard  of  it." 

"  Our  lost  Irene,  .  .  .  alas  !  that  untimely  death  should 
cut  her  off  in  her  self-devotion  before  the  world  had 


PREFACE  xi 

reaped  the  full  benefit  of  her  powers,"  writes  an  able 
university  woman,  who  had  been  her  teacher  at  school, 
thinking  of  the  fair  head,  the  skilful  hand,  the  active 
brain,  the  warm  heart  laid  low  in  a  desolate  grave  of 
outlandish  Tibet.  Oh,  the  pity  of  it !  the  bitter  dis- 
appointment as  well  as  the  unspeakable  sorrow,  not 
for  interrupted  enjoyment  but  for  baffled  achievement ! 

The  world  which  credits  what  is  done 
Is  cold  to  all  that  might  have  been. 

We  think  of  other  valuable  missionary  lives  cut  off, 
of  George  Pilkington  dying  at  thirty-three,  Harold 
Schofield  at  thirty-two,  Henry  Martyn  [and  Henry 
Watson  Fox  at  thirty-one,  Ion  Keith  Falconer  at  thirty, 
William  Fremantle  and  David  Brainerd  at  twenty-nine, 
Graham  Wilmot  Brooke  at  twenty-seven.  The  question 
of  Iscariot  rises  to  our  lips,  "  To  what  purpose  is  this 
waste  ? "  Then  we  remember  that  the  Lord  Himself 
died  before  He  had  accomplished  the  years  of  one 
generation,  and  yet  He  said,  "  I  cast  out  devils  and 
perform  cures  to-day  and  to-morrow,  and  the  third 
day  I  am  perfected."  It  is  enough  for  the  disciple  that 
he  be  as  his  Teacher.  Irene's  missionary  career  was 
about  as  long  as  the  earthly  ministry  of  her  Divine 
Master,  and  the  recognised  results  of  the  living  and 
dying  of  the  young  missionaries  just  recalled  encourage 
us  to  believe  that  the  oblation  of  her  life  will  likewise 
not  have  been  made  in  vain. 

"  Let  no  one  say  that  Irene  wasted  her  brilliant  gifts 
in  a  remote  heathen  land.  She  offered  her  all  on  the 
altar  of  love  to  Him  for  Whom  she  was  a  messenger," 
says  one  published  obituary.  "  We  looked  forward  to 
the  great  help  in  God's  kingdom  which  would  surely 
come  from  one  so  earnest  and  so  richly  gifted.     And 


xu  PREFACE 

now  she  has  offered  life  itself;  and  for  herself,  what  a 
blessed  end  to  a  lovely  life  ! "  says  a  private  letter  ;  and 
another  correspondent  most  simply  expresses  the  object 
of  this  record,  "  May  what  you  are  writing  of  your 
dear  sister  serve  to  light  many  a  pilgrim  homeward 
and  to  quicken  the  lingering  ! "  "A  soldier's  daughter, 
she  has  died  upon  the  field  of  battle  in  the  holy  war 
against  ignorance  and  superstition,  and  has  received 
the  crown  of  glory  and  honour  and  immortality," 
writes  yet  another,  who  had  been  her  father's  friend. 
Hers  was  one  of  three  lives  of  European  missionaries 
laid  down  for  Kashmir,  all  too  soon,  men  would  say. 
William  Elmslie  sleeps  at  Gujerat,  on  the  battlefield 
where  a  crowning  victory  secured  the  Punjab  for 
Britain  ;  Fanny  Butler  was  the  first  to  be  laid  in  the 
Christian  cemetery  on  the  Sheikh  Bagh  at  Srinagar  ; 
Irene  Petrie  rests  below  the  stony  desert,  outside  the 
weird  Buddhist  city  of  Leh,  at  the  heart  of  the  Hima- 
layas, in  Central  Asia,  than  which  the  whole  world 
hardly  contains  a  more  spiritually  destitute  region. 
So,  in  1844,  did  the  dear  dust  of  the  pioneer  Ludwig 
Krapfs  young  wife  claim  for  Christ  what  was  fifty-six 
years  ago  a  wilderness  of  heathendom  in  Eastern 
Equatorial  Africa,  where  to-day  are  to  be  found 
hundreds  of  churches  and  thousands  of  Christians 
God  grant  that  such  history  may  repeat  itself  ere  long 
on  the  northern  confines  of  the  Indian  Empire  ! 

I  am  indebted  to  the  C.M.S.,  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  and 
many  missionaries  in  Kashmir  for  information,  and  to 
many  friends  for  loan  of  letters,  etc.  I  have  felt  at 
liberty  to  condense  freely  letters  and  journals  quoted, 
without  always  breaking  up  the  text  to  indicate  un- 
important omissions,  only  taking  care  that  the  writer's 


PREFACE  xiii 

statements  are  in  no  way  misrepresented  by  such 
abridgment.  Quotations  of  Holy  Scripture  are,  as  a 
rule,  from  the  Revised  Version.  A  short  Glossary, 
taken  from  Craven's  Urdu  Dictionary,  obviates  perpetual 
explanation  of  terms  familiar  to  those  in  any  degree 
acquainted  with  India. 

I  am  indebted  to  Miss  Alice  Hughes  for  the  frontis- 
piece, and  to  Mr.  Geofifroy  Millais  for  several  photographs 
of  Kashmir. 

Mary  L.  G.  Carus-Wilson. 

Hanover  Lodge,  Kensington  Park,  London,  W. 
May,  1900. 


TO   THE   EVER   DEAR   MEMORY   OF 

IRENE   ELEANORA   VERITA   PETRIE, 

OF  THE  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY, 

YOUNGEST    DAUGHTER    OF    COLONEL    MARTIN    PETRIE, 

■WHO  GAVE   HERSELF   TO  THE   EVANGELISATION 

OF    KASHMIR,     APRIL,     1S94,     AND    RESTED    FROM 

HER     LABOURS     IN     THE     MORNING     OF     HER     LIFE 

AT   LEH,    IN   TIBET,    ON   AUGUST  6tH,    1897. 


How  beautiful  upon  the  mountains  are  the  feet  of  them 
that  preach  the  Gospel  of  Peace. 


^Inscription  on  Tablet  in  St.  Mary  Abbots  Parish  Church,  Kensington.) 


xiv 


IRENE 

The  poet-painter's  heaven-taught  eye  could  see 

An  angel,  then  a  human  face  he  sought 
Through  which  God's  radiant  messenger  might  be 

Shown  to  his  fellows ;  and  the  image  caught 

In  a  child  they  called  "  the  Sunbeam."     So  he  wrought 
Two  poem-pictures  of  the  little  maid, 

One  as  the  blue-eyed  playmate  he  had  taught, 
One  as  his  visioned  angel ;  and  displayed 
On  both  one  word,  her  name,  Peace,  as  in  Greek  'tis  said. 

The  prophet-painter's  heaven-taught  eye  had  seen 

That  child's  high  destiny,  when  her  he  drew 
With  bright  hair  flowing  over  robes  of  sheen 

Gilding  the  distant  landscape's  sombre  hue ; 

And  seven  stars — light's  perfection — in  the  blue 
Of  heaven  above  her  brow  ;  and  in  her  hands 

The  cross-clasped  Book  of  highest  truth  she  knew, 
And  virgin  Lily  that  unconquered  stands 
Till  purity  and  truth  have  cleansed  all  the  lands. 

True  artist,  like  true  poet,  is  a  seer; 

He  sees,  and  makes  us  see,  the  tender  rays 
That  lit  a  vanished  past,  and  he  can  hear, 

As  prophet,  music  of  the  coming  days  ; 

Reading  a  life-work  in  a  child's  rapt  gaze. 
My  eyes  upon  his  painting,  my  heart  goes 

With  that  fair  child,  grown  woman,  as  she  lays 
At  God's  feet  all  she  is  and  has,  for  those 
Hailing  her  their  Peace-Angel  'mid  the  Himalayan  snows. 


CONTENTS 


FREFACE. 


PAGK 

vii 


CHAPTER  I 
CHILDHOOD   AND    SCHOOLDAYS 


Birth— Parentage— Home— Sunshine  and  Shadow— Early  Religious 

Life—School— First-class  Honours— Love  of  Art  and  Music        .       i 


CHAPTER   n 
HOME   LIFE 


Coming  Out— Foreign  Travel— Her  Mother's  Death— Social  Life  and 
Influence— Sunday  School  Teaching— First  in  all  England- 
Temperance  Work— The  Children's  Scripture  Union  and  the 
Factory  Helpers'  Union— Classes  in  the  College  by  Post- 
Versatility  of  Character i8 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  CALL 

An  Unexpected  Announcement — The  Children's  Missionary  Maga- 
zine and  its  Editor—"  Come  with  Me  to  China"— The  St.  Mary 
Abbots  Missionary  Union — Growth  of  Practical  Interest  in  the 
C.M.S.— The  Mite-Givers'  Guild— Missionary  Addresses— Desire 
Ripening  into  Resolve— Her  Father's  Death— The  Way 
Opened 4° 


xviii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER    IV 
GOING    FORTH 

PAGE 

Mitcham — The  Willows — Valedictory  Meeting — Voyage  in  the  Car- 
thage— Bombay — Jeypore — Agra — Delhi — Meerut — Lahore        .     54 

CHAPTER   V 

A    WINTER    IN   LAHORE 

The  Punjab — First  Impressions  of  India — Analysis  of  its  Population 
— The  Eurasians — St.  Hilda's  Diocesan  Home — Sunday  School 
Classes — Women's  Bible  Class — G.F.S.  Class — Band  of  Hope 
— First  Mohammedan  Pupil — Urdu  Study — Social  Distractions 
and  Missionary  Aspirations — A  Retrospect — A  Vision  of  the 
Goal — Four  Visits  to  Amritsar — C.M.S.  Missionary  in  Local 
Connexion — Subsequent  History  of  St.  Hilda's         .         .         .72 

CHAPTER  VI 

KASHMIR 

Its  Natural  Beauty — Its  Ancient  Civilisation — Under  Native  Princes 
— Under  the  Moguls — Under  the  Sikhs — Political  Kashmir — 
Geographical  Kashmir— The  Kashmiris — Srinagar — Religious 
Historj' — Buddhism  —  Hinduism  —  Mohammedanism  —  Rustum 
Gari  and  its  Tradition — A  Generation  of  C.M.S.  Effort — List  of 
Kashmir  Missionaries — The  Medical  Mission — Elmslie  and  His 
Successors — The  C.E.Z.M.S.  in  Kashmir — Dr.  Fanny  Butler  and 
the  John  Bishop  Hospital — First  Efforts  to  Reach  the  Zenanas — 
Hindrances — Encouragements — Needs 106 


CHAPTER   VII 

A   QUIET   SUMMER 

Journey  into  Kashmir — Encampment  on  the  Dal  Lake — Introduction 
to  the  Work  there,  and  Invitation  to  Share  in  It — At  Gunderbal 
and  Gulmarg — Urdu  Study — Renunciation  and  its  Reward — 
Correspondence  with  Home  Friends  and  Influence  on  Them — 
Annual  Letter  to  the  College  by  Post 134 


CONTENTS  xix 

CHAPTER  VIII 
FIRST   WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR 

PAGE 

Welcome — A  Hard  Winter — Urdu  Again— The  Zenana  System— Its 
Origin  and  Results — The  Aims  of  the  Zenana  Missionary — 
Daily  Routine — Sketches  of  Hindu,  Silch,  and  Mohammedan 
Pupils — Srinagar  Policemen — The  C.M.S.  Hospital — Kashmiri 
Christians — English  Sunday  School — The  Leper  Asylum — A 
Christmas  Party — Another  Letter  to  the  College  by  Post        .  i6i 

CHAPTER   IX 

A    SUMMER    AT    HOME 

Adventurous  March  through  the  Mountains — Urdu  Examination — 
A  Trying  Journey — Pleading  the  Cause  of  Kashmir  in  Public 
and  in  Private,  in  London  and  in  the  Country — A  Highland 
Holiday — C.M.S.  Missionary  in  Full  Connexion — Valedictory 
Meeting — Penshurst — A  Last  Glimpse — Rome — A  Prosperous 
Voyage  and  Happy  Return 196 


CHAPTER   X 
SECOND   WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR 

The  Missionary's  Daily  Life — Its  Happiness  and  its  Hardships — 
Holton  Cottage — Alone  among  the  Zenanas — The  new  C.E.Z. 
House — C.E.Z.  Reinforcements — Sheaves  from  the  Hazara — 
Sketches  of  Zenana  Pupils  of  all  Degrees—"  Have  you  many 
True  Conversions  ? "    ,         ,         .         .       .        .  .        .         .  218 


CHAPTER  XI 

WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR 

Educational  Missionary  Work — A  Group  of  Schools — Their  Masters, 
their  Scholars,  their  Aims,  and  their  Results — An  Eastertide 
Outing  on  the  Wular — The  Niki  Mem  and  her  Pundit  Pupils — 
The  Longest  Shikari  on  the  Jhelum 246 


XX  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XII 
THIRD   WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR 

PAGE 

Dedication  of  St.  Luke's  and  of  All  Saints' — Relations  between  the 
Anglo-Indians  and  the  C.M.S.  Missionaries — In  the  Zenanas — 
The  Story  of  Yetchgam  ^  The  Last  Christmas  —  Kashmiri 
Examination — The  Last  Easter — "  When  the  Fruit  is  Ripe  "      '.  266 

CHAPTER   XIII 

THE   LAST  JOURNEY 

Kashmir  as  a  Base  of  Operations — The  Moravian  Mission  at  Leh — 
The  Route  from  Srinagar  to  Leh — Journal  of  the  March — 
Arri%'al  at  Leh — "  Like  a  Tired  Child" — In  the  God's  Acre  .  301 

CHAPTER  XIV 

AN    INSPIRING   MEMORY 

Lamentation  for  her  Death — Inspiration  from  her  Life — The  Inas- 
much Society — The  Irene  Petrie  Memorial  Fund — Canada  and 
Kashmir — Seedtime  Still — A  Prophetic  Coin     .         ,        .        .331 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

IRENE  PETRIE  (OCTOBER,    1 893) Frontispiece 

To  face  page 

IRENE   PETRIE   (.MARCH,    1885) 18 

MAP  OF   KASHMIR I06 

SRINAGAR  :    THE   FOURTH    BRIDGE,    HARI    PARBAT,    AND   IN    THE 

DISTANCE   KOTWAL  AND   HARAMUK Ill 

THE   DAL   LAKE   AT   GAGRIBAL 144 

THE     MAHARAJA      PASSING     THE     C.M.S.     SCHOOL     ON     HIS    STATE 

ENTRY   INTO   SRINAGAR 161 

HOLTON   COTTAGE .           •  224 

PUNDIT  OARSMEN  :     THE   FIRST  SCHOOL  FOUR  AND  THE    "  FANNY  "  259 

ST.  LUKE'S   CHURCH   AND   THE   C.M.S.    HOSPITAL      ....  267 

HIGH  STREET,   LEH 3°^ 


GLOSSARY 


Ayah,  lady's  maid. 

Bngh,  garden,  orchard. 

Bai,  lady. 

Bawarchi,  cook. 

Bazar,  market. 

Bliojaii,  hymn. 

Bhisti,  water-carrier. 

Cliaddar,  veil. 

Chapati,  thin  cake. 

Chappar,  oar,  paddle. 

Chaprasi,  servant,  messenger. 

Charpai,  bedstead. 

Chaukidar,  watchman. 

Chota  hazri,  little  breakfast. 

Choti,  little. 

Coolie,  porter. 

i)rt>&  6?<»^a/ow,  post-house;  set  up 
at  all  posting  stages  by  Govern- 
ment to  accommodate  travellers 
at  fixed  rates. 

Dali,  basket,  gift. 

Darzi,  tailor. 

Dastur,  custom. 

Dhobi,  washerman. 

Dunga,  covered  boat. 

Durbar,  court,  reception. 

Faqir,  religious  mendicant. 

Cart,  carriage. 


Ghat,  landing-place. 

Guru,  spiritual  guide,  teacher. 

Hanji,  boatman. 

Kafir,  infidel. 

Khansaman,  steward, 

Khiduiatgar,  butler. 

Maidvi,  learned  man  (Mohamme' 
dan). 

Mihtar,  sweeper. 

Munshi,  teacher, 

Pakka,  complete,  mature,  first-rate. 

Parwana,  order,  pass,  warrant. 

Puja,  adoration. 

Pundit,  learned  man  (Hindu). 

Pir,  saint  (Mohammedan). 

Purdah,  curtain. 

Rais,  nobleman,  chief. 

Razai,  quilt. 

Rishi,  saint,  hermit  (Hindu). 

Sahib  log,  ruling  people,  British. 

Sari,  woman's  dress. 

Shikari,  light,  open  boat. 

Syce  or  sais,  groom. 

Thanadar,  head  constable. 

Tiffin,  luncheon. 

Tovga,  small,  two-wheeled  car- 
riage. 

Wala^  agent,  fellow. 


xxiii 


CHAPTER   I 

CHILDHOOD  AND  SCHOOLDAYS 

Fair  seedtime  had  my  soul,  and  I  grew  up 
Fostered  alike  by  beauty  and  by  fear. 

Wordsworth,  Prelude. 

A  YOUNG  mother  was  sitting  by  the  fire  in  the  winter 
twilight  with  her  latest  born,  the  Christmas  gift,  on 
whom  she  had  bestowed  the  name  of  Irene,  echoing  the 
angels'  song  of  peace  on  earth.  Suddenly,  sharp  sorrow  came 
to  her  in  news  of  the  death  of  one  to  whose  care  she  had 
been  committed  in  girlhood,  and  from  whom  she  had  received 
her  education.  Then  fond  hopes  for  the  two  months'  babe 
in  her  arms  blended  with  grateful  reminiscence  of  a  gifted 
woman  who  had  found  leisure,  amid  her  professional  work, 
for  pleading,  with  a  facile  and  skilful  pen,  the  cause  of  the 
lapsed  masses  at  home  and  of  the  unevangelised  heathen 
abroad,  irt  days  when  only  a  few  knew  or  cared  about  the 
need  of  either.  And  even  as  the  spirit  of  Mary  Barber 
passed,  a  double  portion  of  it  seemed  to  fall  on  the  uncon- 
scious infant  of  her  favourite  pupil,  when  the  mother's 
aspirations,  memories,  and  regrets  merged  in  fervent  prayer 
for  her  child,  which  found  words  in  a  quaintly  simple 
hymn, — 

May'st  thou  grow  to  know  and  fear  Him, 

Love  and  serve  Him  all  thy  days  ; 
Then  go  dwell  for  ever  near  Him, 

See  His  Face  and  sing  His  praise. 

I 


2  IRENE    PETRIE 

The  babe  thus  secretly  dedicated  to  God  even  before  she 
was  received  into  the  Church  in  baptism,  grew  up  to  fulfil  her 
mother's  highest  hopes  as  the  flower  of  her  flock,  grew  up 
to  devote  herself  with  unflagging  zeal  to  the  needy  at  home 
and  to  the  needier  abroad ;  and  now  (in  the  words  of  a 
living  author,  a  near  neighbour  of  hers)  "she  is  receiving 
the  reward  of  all  her  good  and  faithful  service  in  the  army 
of  the  Lord  from  the  hands  of  the  Master  she  loved  so  dearly, 
and  for  love  of  Whom  she  not  only  gave  up  home  and  ease 
and  comfort  and  the  companionship  of  those  nearest  and 
dearest  to  her  on  earth,  but  even  /ife  itself;  and  such  a  life — 
so  rich  in  gifts  and  accomplishments,  so  full  of  enthusiasm 
and  energy,  so  surrounded  by  friendship  and  affection  I " 

Irene  Eleanora  Verita  Petrie  was  the  youngest  of  the 
three  daughters  of  Colonel  Martin  Petrie,  and  was  born  at 
Hanover  Lodge,  Kensington  Park,  the  only  home  she  ever 
knew.  Thence  her  father  had  taken  as  his  bride  Eleanora 
Grant  Macdowall,  and  thither  they  had  presently  returned  to 
bring  up  their  family  and  end  their  days.  We  must  glance 
at  Irene's  heredity  and  early  environment,  since  it  is  now  a 
truism  that  no  character  or  career  can  be  understood  without 
ascertaining  these  two  things. 

Colonel  Petrie  was  of  Scottish  descent,  son  of  Commissary 
General  William  Petrie,  and  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry 
Mitton,  of  The  Chase,  Enfield,  of  the  same  Norman  stock 
as  the  De  Myttons  of  Shropshire.  General  Petrie  served 
in  Egypt,  Italy,  and  France  during  the  Napoleonic  Wars,  and 
after  his  marriage  settled  at  The  Manor  House,  King's  Langley, 
his  son's  birthplace.  Later  on  he  held  appointments  at 
Lisbon  and  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  lived  during  his 
last  years  mainly  in  Italy  and  Germany.  Irene's  father  there- 
fore spent  most  of  his  youth  abroad,  and  his  first  few  years 
in  the  army  were  passed  in  North  America.  Returning 
thence  in  1855,  under  orders  to  proceed  to  the  Crimea,  he 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  3 

earned  the  title  of  "  The  Hero  of  the  Vesta  "  by  saving  that 
vessel  with  all  on  board,  when,  already  severely  damaged 
by  icefloes,  she  was  caught  in  a  terrific  storm.  The  crew 
became  utterly  demoralised,  and  the  rest  of  the  passengers 
gave  themselves  up  for  lost,  when  the  cool  courage  and 
mechanical  skill  and  inventiveness  of  one  young  officer  came 
to  the  rescue.  He  repaired  the  pumps,  made  the  soldiers 
under  his  command  work  them,  and  calked  the  deck,  the 
furious  sea  washing  over  him  as  he  did  it.  So  lacerated 
were  his  hands,  that  on  reaching  England  he  was  put  on 
the  sick  list,  instead  of  going  to  the  front.  Soon  afterwards 
he  entered  the  Royal  Staff  College,  and  passed  out  as  the 
first  on  the  list.  An  appointment  at  what  was  in  those 
days  called  the  Topographical  Department  of  the  War  Office 
followed,  and  here  he  wrote  a  standard  work  in  three  volumes 
on  TAe  Strength^  Composition,  and  Organisation  of  the  Armies 
of  Europe.,  and  another  work  on  The  Organisation,  Composi- 
tion,  and  Strength  of  the  Army  of  Great  Britain,  which 
reached  a  fifth  edition ;  and  for  the  probably  unique  period 
of  eighteen  years  (1864-82)  he  was  Examiner  in  Military 
Administration  at  the  Royal  Staff  College.  He  exchanged 
to  the  97th  Regiment  when  the  14th  went  abroad ;  and  his 
family  lived  in  London  continuously,  seeing  less  of  the  world 
than  many  officers'  children,  but  enjoying  a  constant  inter- 
course with  both  parents,  which  was  doubtless  the  most 
valuable  part  of  their  education.^ 

Colonel  Petrie  married  the  youngest  child  of  William  Mac- 
dowall,  of  Woolmet  House,  Midlothian,  and  Louisa  Helen, 
daughter  of  Sir  William  Dunbar,  Bart.,  of  Durn,  the  last  of 
an  old  Banffshire  family.  William  Macdowall  was  captain 
in   the   33rd  Regiment  when  the    Duke   of  Wellington  was 

•  These  particulars  of  Colonel  Petrie  are  taken  mainly  from  The 
Dicticniary  of  National  Biography.  A  full  account  of  the  saving  of  the 
Vesia  appeared  in  Good  Words  for  April,   1899. 


4  IRENE    PETRIE 

its  colonel,  and  like  Irene's  other  grandfather,  served  in  the 
Napoleonic  Wars.  He  was  the  only  son  of  John  Macdowall, 
of  Woolmet,  who  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  captain 
in  the  Inniskilling  Dragoons  during  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
and  vv'ho  was  the  younger  son  of  William  Macdowall,  of 
Garthland  and  Castle  Semple,  head  of  the  family  which  now 
represents  the  Mac  Dhu  Alan  (or  "  Sons  of  the  Dark 
Stranger  "),  who  were  once  Kings  of  Galloway.  The  Dunbars 
of  Durn  were  lineal  descendants  of  the  Earls  of  March  and 
Dunbar.  Patrick,  tenth  earl,  had  married  the  redoubtable 
'  Black  Agnes,"  daughter  of  Thomas  Randolph,  Earl  of 
Murray,  the  most  notable  comrade-in-arms  of  Robert  the 
Bruce,  and  their  son  married  Princess  Marjorie,  daughter  of 
Robert  II.,  the  Bruce's  grandson. 

Irene's  mother  was  born  in  Scotland  and  educated  in 
England,  as  her  father  died  when  she  was  a  child,  and 
Mrs.  Macdowall  then  came  to  London,  and  after  her  elder 
children  had  married  and  dispersed,  moved  from  Montagu 
Square  to  Kensington  Park  with  her  youngest  daughter. 
Afterwards  Mrs.  Macdowall,  till  her  death  at  the  age  of 
almost  fourscore  years  and  ten,  lived  with  the  son-in-law, 
who  had  made  Hanover  Lodge  his  home.  Her  memory, 
as  that  of  one  singularly  beautiful  and  beloved,  and  from 
early  years  a  most  faithful  and  humble  Christian,  was  a  potent 
influence  in  the  lives  of  her  descendants.  They  also 
cherished  the  memory  of  Sir  William  Dunbar,  to  whom  she 
had  been  born  when  he  had  passed  the  allotted  span  of  three- 
score years  and  ten,  and  who  had  named  her  after  the  wife 
of  Prince  Charles  Edward,  in  commemoration  of  his  devoted 
allegiance  as  a  young  man  to  the  House  of  Stuart.  They 
liked  to  think  that  their  great  grandfather  had  dared  to  fight 
on  the  unpopular  side  of  the  legitimate  king;  and  among 
familiar  objects  in  their  home  were  pictures  and  furniture 
rescued  from  the  old  house  of  Durn  when  it  was  looted  by 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  5 

the  soldiers  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland.  They  heard  how 
the  loyal  subject  had  been  loyal  Christian  also,  and  had 
left  as  his  last  testimony  the  words,  "I  die  under  the  cross 
of  Christ." 

The  three  little  girls  at  Hanover  Lodge,  who  never  had  a 
brother,  thoroughly  enjoyed  their  childhood.  They  were 
carefully  kept  out  of  the  stress  and  fever  of  metropolitan  life, 
and  in  their  home  there  was  an  almost  old  fashioned  quietude. 
Its  rooms  were  not  littered  with  gossiping  newspapers  and 
sensational  novels  of  the  hour,  but  lined  with  the  sober 
russet  of  massively  bound  classics.  Their  mother  had 
inherited  an  excellent  library  from  her  father,  who,  though 
a  soldier  and  not  a  scribe,  was  a  well-read  and  accom- 
plished man,  a  friend  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  kindred 
intellectual  lights  in  the  Athens  of  the  North ;  while 
many  really  old  books  around  them  testified  to  love  of 
literature  in  yet  more  remote  forebears.  In  the  evenings 
they  sat  by  their  father  while  he  read  Scott  or  other  great 
fiction,  or  selections  from  many  books  that  would  not 
have  been  put  into  their  hands  then.  Both  parents  taught 
them  the  history  of  their  own  days,  as  told  in  The  Times, 
Illustrated  London  News,  etc.  Of  the  history  of  the  past 
they  were  enthusiastic  and  by  no  means  unbiassed  students. 
It  was  no  mere  lesson  to  be  learned  before  they  could  go 
to  play,  but  a  very  real  panorama  of  deed  and  conflict  in 
which  they  took  sides,  and  about  the  issue  of  which  they 
excited  themselves  not  a  little.  They  honoured  Wallace 
and  Bruce  as  heartily  as  they  detested  Edward  I.,  and 
believed  that  Bannockburn  was  the  most  glorious  of  battles, 
for  Scottish  blood  outweighed  residence  in  England.  At 
any  rate,  they  acquired  the  habit  of  looking  beyond  their 
own  small  concerns  and  trivial  incidents  in  the  lives  of 
their  neighbours  for  subjects  of  thought  and  talk. 

Londoner   as   she  was,   Irene  learned  to  love  nature  and 


6  IRENE    PETRIE 

to  delight  in  animals  and  flowers.  Hanover  Lodge  had 
its  own  small  garden,  and  from  the  rugged  elms  beyond 
it,  survivors  of  old  Kensington  Park,  many  thrushes  and 
other  birds  sang.  Part  of  every  year  was  spent  either  at 
the  seaside,  and  especially  at  Sandgate,  when  the  97th 
was  quartered  at  Dover  Castle,  or  at  the  vicarages  of 
maternal  uncles  who  held  country  livings  in  Wiltshire, 
Yorkshire,  and  Nottinghamshire. 

Another  uncle,  Major  Gregory  Lewis  Way,  had  fought 
under  Lord  Gough  in  the  Punjab,  and  his  gallant  conduct 
at  the  Battle  of  Chillianwallah  had  been  specially  mentioned 
in  the  despatches.  He  was  married  for  less  than  four  years 
to  a  beautiful  and  talented  elder  sister  of  Irene's  mother. 
Widower  for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  childless,  he  gave 
himself  to  the  encouragement  of  many  philanthropic  works, 
and  gathered  together  in  his  home,  Wick  Hall,  near 
Brighton,  such  religious  leaders  as  the  Rev.  W.  Hay 
M.  Aitken,  Lord  Radstock,  Miss  Catherine  Marsh, 
Mr.  D.  L.  Moody,  and  the  founders  of  the  Keswick 
Convention.  The  quick  wit  and  keen  insight  into  character 
of  a  former  man  of  action  blended  with  the  devotion  and 
benevolence  of  a  recluse  in  one  who  stood  out  always  as 
a  type  of  the  warrior  saint,  and  he  was  Irene's  only  personal 
link  to  India. 

As  a  child,  fair-haired  Irene  was  called  "the  Sunbeam." 
The  two  words  oftenest  used  to  describe  her  as  a  girl  in 
many  letters  of  reminiscence  are  bright  and  sweet.  "I 
thought  hers  was  the  happiest  face  I  had  ever  seen,"  writes 
one  who  saw  her  once  only,  and  the  face  reflected  an  un- 
usually happy  youth.  But  to  understand  what  she  became, 
one  must  know  that  its  happiness  was  not  unclouded. 

In  its  first  decade  the  black  cloud  of  death  swept  between 
her  and  her  sister,  Evelyn  Martina  de  Mytton  Petrie,  who 
died   at    the  age   of   twelve.     She   was   a    gentle   and   most 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  7 

engaging  child,  whose  promise  of  intellectual  gifts  is  indicated 
by  the  haunting  music  of  some  stanzas  she  penned,  and  whose 
life  was  as  white  and  fragrant  as  the  jasmine  blossom  always 
associated  with  her.  That  was  a  sorrow  too  deep  for  words. 
God  only  knew  how  each  member  of  the  suddenly  bereaved 
family  mourned  in  secret ;  and  the  extreme  youth  of  the 
sensitive  Irene  did  not  save  her  from  the  most  poignant  grief. 
In  1897,  within  eleven  weeks  of  her  own  death,  she  wrote 
concerning  "  our  cherished  sister,"  words  which  may  be  quoted 
as  peculiarly  applicable  to  herself  also :  "  Happiness  and 
brightness  were  characteristic  of  her,  and  there  was  an  absence 
of  conventional  religious  talk  that  made  the  occasional  un- 
veiling of  her  deep  spirituality  the  more  striking,  and  gave  it 
a  wonderfully  attractive  power.  .  .  .  That  perfectly  lovely 
little  life  always  holds  its  central  place  in  memory  whenever 
one  is  reminded  of  the  growing  number  of  friends  departed 
this  life  in  His  faith  and  fear." 

Almost  as  soon  as  Irene  entered  upon  the  second  decade 
of  her  life  clouds  of  quite  a  different  kind  began  to  gather 
on  the  horizon.  The  soldier's  profession  is  notoriously  not 
a  lucrative  one,  but  both  her  grandfathers  were  well  off  by 
inheritance,  both  her  grandmothers  were  heiresses,  and  all 
the  surroundings  of  her  childhood  suggested  easy  circum- 
stances. And  then  came  years  of  heavy  loss  and  of 
growing  apprehension  of  yet  greater  loss.  The  story  of 
a  gentleman  taken  ruthless  advantage  of  because  he  be- 
lieved others  to  be  as  honourable  as  he  was  himself  is  too 
complex  and  too  incredible  in  some  of  its  details,  though 
too  sadly  true,  to  be  told  here ;  and  as  her  father  freely  forgave 
those  who  had  wronged  him  most  deeply,  silence  is  best. 
But  these  adversities  must  be  referred  to,  because,  though 
Irene  was  too  young  to  enter  fully  into  them,  they  left  an 
impress  on  her  whole  after-life,  and  this  period  of  trouble  and 
fear  was  to  her  a  time  of  spiritual  education  in  the  highest 


8  IRENE    PETRIE 

sense.  Sydney  Smith  once  said  that  England  is  the  one 
country  in  the  world  in  which  poverty  is  reckoned  a  crime. 
Irene  in  earliest  girlhood  came  face  to  face  with  the  question, 
"  What  would  life  be  worth  to  me  if  we  were  actually  poor  ?  " 
Once  for  all  she  learned  the  lesson  of  the  uncertainty  of 
earthly  things;  that  riches  take  to  themselves  wings;  that  a 
man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  which 
he  possesseth. 

As  soon  as  she  was  fifteen  she  began  to  keep  a  diary, 
a  habit  maintained  to  the  last  week  of  her  life.  It  is  a 
mere  record  of  what  she  did  from  day  to  day,  with  rare 
adjectives  and  still  rarer  expressions  of  feeling,  but  it  has, 
of  course,  helped  greatly  towards  an  accurate  biography. 
In  all  its  pages  there  are  but  three  references  to  the  shadow 
over  her  home,  but  these  private  memoranda  of  a  healthy, 
high-spirited  young  girl,  whose  gifts  and  capacity  for  enjoyment 
made  the  desire  to  have  "  a  good  time  "  a  peculiarly  strong 
temptation  to  her  at  the  threshold  of  life,  are  significant 
enough  to  be  quoted : — 

*^  January  isf. — The  most  unhappy  New  Year's  Day  I  can 
remember." 

A  few  months  later  :  "  It  is  better  to  walk  in  the  dark  with 
God  than  to  go  alone  in  the  light." 

On  a  never-to-be-forgotten  day  of  averted  calamity  : 
"Psalm  xlvi.  i,  'God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very 
present  help  in  trouble.'" 

She  was  just  grown  up  when  the  cloud  rolled  away,  and 
her  parents  found  themselves,  not  indeed  in  affluence,  but 
in  that  condition  of  having  neither  poverty  nor  riches  which 
the  wise  Agur  took  to  be  the  happiest  condition,  since  those 
who  have  neither  the  anxious  responsibilities  of  wealth  nor  the 
harassing  cares  of  straitened  means  are  of  all  people  most 
free  to  live  their  lives  as  they  will  and  to  turn  all  their  powers 
to  account.     One  fact  illustrates  her  parents'  character  too  well 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  9 

to  be  omitted.  This  sufficiency  of  means  was  in  part  the 
result,  in  a  way  none  could  have  foreseen  or  imagined,  of 
their  disinterested  conduct  many  years  before  in  persistently 
refusing  the  Benjamin's  portion  which  Mrs.  Macdowall  wished 
to  bestow  on  the  daughter  who  had  been  the  comfort  of  her 
old  age. 

The  two  shadows  that  fell  on  Irene's  early  days  left  her 
with  no  tinge  of  sadness,  still  less  of  bitterness,  but  with  a 
deep  sense  of  the  seriousness  of  life,  and  of  our  stewardship 
for  everything  we  own,  since  it  is  "our  Lord's  money";  with 
a  peculiarly  tender  affection  for  both  her  parents,  and  a 
true-hearted  sympathy  for  the  unsuccessful  and  unfortunate; 
above  all,  with  a  childlike  trust  in  God ;  so  that  when  success 
and  popularity  came  to  her  they  did  not  intoxicate  her,  even 
in  the  first  glow  of  abundant  young  life. 

For  "  the  amazing  vitality  of  that  child "  was  what  struck 
people  most;  about  her  there  was  none  of  the  demure, 
self-conscious  meekness  that  to  the  sentimental  suggests 
the  youthful  saint,  to  the  cynical  the  immature  prig. 

But  the  above  quotations  from  her  diary  are  enough  to  show 
how  deep  were  the  early  religious  impressions,  of  which  we 
must  now  speak. 

Using  St.  Paul's  phrase,  she  might  be  described  as  serving 
God  "  from  her  forefathers."  There  is  no  story  of  a  sudden 
conversion,  no  journal  recording  her  walk  with  God  kept  in 
a  secret  place  during  the  writer's  lifetime,  only  to  be  printed 
after  her  death  for  all  who  care  to  read.  Religious  sayings 
never  came  glibly  from  her  lips,  and  one  remembers  her 
childish  recoil  from  some  types  of  blatant  and  dogmatic  piety, 
her  precipitate  flight  from  a  noted  "evangelist"  of  the 
"  Plymouth "  persuasion,  who  waylaid  her  with  searching 
personal  questions  when  he  and  she  were  fellow-guests  in 
her  uncle's  house.  Still  water  running  very  deep  was  the 
current  of  her  inner  life :  she  lived  her  religion,  she  did  not 


lo  IRENE    PETRIE 

talk  about  it ;  her  whole  career  was  her  testimony  to  the 
hope  that  was  in  her,  and  its  best  record  is  the  worn  little 
Bible  in  daily  use  from  childhood,  which  she  was  reading 
through  for  ths  eleventh  time  when  her  summons  hence  came. 
The  neatness  and  care  of  the  numerous  marks  on  its  every 
page  are  as  characteristic  of  the  writer  as  their  intelligence. 

From  infancy  she  responded  to  the  thorough  religious 
instruction  of  her  mother ;  when  still  a  child  she  came 
strongly  under  the  influence  of  Dr.  Maclagan,  Vicar  of 
Kensington,  now  Archbishop  of  York,  and  of  his  successor, 
the  Hon.  and  Rev.  E.  C.  Glyn,  now  Bishop  of  Peterborough, 
who  prepared  her  for  confirmation.  When  her  diary  begins, 
Dr.  Maclagan  had  for  some  time  been  Bishop  of  i Lichfield, 
but  he  frequently  revisited  his  old  parish,  and  all  these  visits 
are  anticipated  and  chronicled  in  the  diary  with  the  ex- 
travagant homage  of  a  romantic  child.  Besides  attending 
St.  Mary  Abbots  on  Sundays  and  week  by  week  recording 
the  gist  of  the  sermons  she  heard  there,  she  went  regularly 
to  Mr.  Glyn's  Friday  afternoon  Bible  class  for  girls,  and  to 
the  Saturday  devotional  meeting,  writing  out  full  notes  and 
answering  all  questions  given.  So  quietly  began  her  pre- 
paration for  taking  hereafter  every  day  several  Bible  classes  in 
different  languages.  Worthy  of  note  is  her  enduring  affection 
for  St.  Mary  Abbots,  from  the  days  she  wrote  in  her  childish 
diary,  "The  sweet  church  looked  so  lovely,"  and  so  forth, 
to  the  day,  little  more  than  a  fortnight  before  her  death, 
when  she  warmly  acknowledged  the  last  gift  she  ever  re- 
ceived, some  photographs  of  it  sent  by  an  old  schoolfellow. 

As  is  often  the  case,  she  reflected  some  characteristics  of 
her  place  of  worship.  Its  fine  architecture  and  perfect  music 
trained  her  aesthetic  capacities ;  the  largeness  of  view  and  variety 
of  interests  inevitable  in  a  church  which  had  been  a  centre 
of  religious  life  for  eight  hundred  years  encouraged  wide 
sympathies   and   made   her   religion   broadly   intelligent  and 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  ii 

deeply  devotional,  rather  than  partisan  or  controversial.  Re- 
pelled alike  by  the  trivialities  of  the  very  High,  by  the 
crudities  of  the  very  Low,  and  by  the  aridities  of  the  very 
Broad,  she  gladly  sat  at  the  feet  of  all  who  loved  the  Lord 
in  sincerity.  An  attempt  to  name  those  from  v/hom,  in 
pulpit  or  printed  page,  she  learned  most,  and  of  whom  she 
spoke  with  most  esteem,  would  bring  together  men  of  God 
as  diverse  as  Bishop  Westcott,  Canon  Body,  Bishop  Phillips 
Brooks,  Professor  Henry  Drummond,  Professor  H.  C  G. 
Moule,  and  Mr.  D.  L.  Moody. 

The  story  of  Irene's  education  suggests  the  thought  that 
the  temptation  to  live  to  ourselves  which  comes  to  us  all 
comes  very  differently  to  different  people.  From  the  idle 
self-indulgence  of  the  girl  who  said  she  was  so  glad  they  had 
introduced  golf  because  it  gave  one  something  to  do  with 
one's  mornings,  Irene  was  saved  by  an  ability  and  ambition 
that  enabled  her  to  succeed  in  more  pursuits  than  some  even 
attempt,  and  compelled  her  to  strive  always  for  the  first 
place.  Her  special  temptation  was  to  use  life  to  achieve  and 
to  win  applause.  Though  she  lived  among  books,  she  was 
neither  bookworm  nor  omnivorous  reader.  But  she  worked 
steadily  through  a  limited  quantity  of  real  literature,  first  of 
all  as  member  of  a  reading  society,  joined  when  she  was 
about  twelve  years  old.  Little  and  good  was  her  lifelong 
rule  for  reading,  and  she  used  to  say  that  the  reform  she 
would  advocate  would  be  the  destruction  of  all  second-  and 
third-rate  novels  and  magazines.  Certainly  for  her  those 
widely  read  productions  were  printed  in  vain.  This  preference 
for  the  best  intellectual  society  was  at  once  the  effect  and 
cause  of  her  having  (as  one  friend  says)  "  a  beautiful  mind." 
She  showed  a  curious  nimbleness  in  possessing  herself  of 
the  contents  of  the  volumes  that  people  about  her  were  read- 
ing, so  that  her  knowledge  of  books  extended  far  beyond 
those   she   actually   perused;    and   irfiportant   factors   in  her 


12  IRENE    PETRIE 

general  education,  even  before  she  went  to  school,  were  visits 
to  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  to  picture-galleries 
and  concerts,  especially  popular  concerts  at  St.  James's  Hall 
and  oratorios  at  the  Albert  Hall. 

Her  first  taste  of  success  was  through  prizes  won  when  she 
was  fifteen  for  essays  and  illuminations  in  connection  with 
a  magazine  for  young  people.  So  far  she  had  been  taught 
by  governesses  and  masters  at  home,  her  father  also  giving 
her  regular  instruction,  chiefly  in  drawing  and  mathematics, 
and  her  mother  reading  general  literature  with  her.  Her 
sister  had  been  sent  to  a  "  finishing  "  school  at  Brighton  ;  but 
Irene  protested  that  if  she  were  thus  separated  from  her  mother 
she  would  run  away.  She  was,  however,  so  much  attracted 
by  the  air  and  expression  of  some  of  the  girls  attending  the 
Notting  Hill  High  School  that  she  asked  to  become  one 
of  them.  It  is  second  to  none  of  the  Public  Day  Schools 
for  Girls  that  have  wrought  such  a  salutary  revolution  in 
female  education,  and  novel  as  the  idea  was,  her  parents, 
instead  of  repudiating  it,  made  acquaintance  with  the  school 
and  its  head  mistress,  Miss  H.  M.  Jones,  and  the  result  was 
that  Irene  enjoyed  two  most  happy  and  profitable  year&  there. 

Her  six  reports  speak  of  steady  growth  in  power  of  thought 
and  highly  satisfactory  conduct ;  and  in  each  there  is  the 
monotonous  entry:  "absent — never,"  "late — never."  Her 
first  term  was  spent  in  the  "  Fifth  Remove,"  and  at  its  close 
she  was  at  the  head  of  the  class,  being  "  first  with  honours  " 
in  four  out  of  the  five  examinations  she  took.  She  was  at 
once  promoted  to  the  Sixth  Form,  a  picked  class  in  every 
sense,  and  was  for  some  time  its  "baby."  Here  she  took 
altogether  twenty-eight  examinations,  passing  "  in  honours  " 
in  twenty-one,  and  heading  the  list  in  eleven.  She  was 
working  for  the  Cambridge  Higher  Local  Examinations  at 
school,  and  after  leaving,  completed  her  certificate  in  1S84. 
It  tells  that  she  won  first-class  honours  in   two    out  of  her 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  13 

three  groups,  and  gained  "distinctions"  in  seven  out  of 
her  ten  subjects.  She  was  one  of  three  examinees  in  all 
England  in  her  year  who  were  "  distinguished  "  in  each  of  the 
three  branches  of  the  history  group.  Her  examiners  stated 
in  their  report  that  she  promised  to  excel  in  literature. 
But  beyond  contributing  occasional  articles  to  magazines,  she 
attempted  little  with  her  pen  afterwards ;  probably  because 
she  expressed  herself  most  naturally  in  two  other  ways,  as 
will  be  presently  told. 

These  things  are  mentioned  to  show  that  she  took  to 
India,  besides  religious  zeal  and  knowledge  of  religious  truth, 
a  trained  mind  (and  nowhere  is  it  more  needed  than  in  the 
mission  field),  and  that  faithfulness  in  little  things  prepared 
her  for  being  entrusted  with  a  share  in  greater  things. 
One  remembers  her  yearnings  to  excel,  her  unsparing  effort, 
her  reaction  of  despondency  when,  on  the  eve  of  some 
examination,  she  asserted  that  she  had  no  chance,  her 
brilliant  success,  and  delight  in  winning  the  good  opinion 
of  those  she  cared  for,  and  then  her  immediate  eagerness 
after  some  new  endeavour. 

With  several  of  her  schoolfellows  she  formed  warm  and 
lasting  friendships.  And  Miss  Jones,  who  describes  the  an- 
nouncement of  Irene's  death,  seen  casually  in  the  newspaper 
at  a  foreign  hotel,  as  one  of  the  greatest  shocks  she  ever 
had,  writes  of  her  thus :  *'  She  died  fighting  the  battle  with 
heathenism  and  idolatry.  Her  devotion  and  enthusiasm 
carried  her  beyond  her  strength.  Dear  Irene  !  She  was 
so  clever,  so  noble,  and  so  good!  We  feel  that  we  cannot 
spare  such  women." 

Her  class  mistress.  Miss  Lewis,  B.Sc.  Lond.  (now  Mrs. 
G.  T.  Pilcher),  who  kindly  gave  her  special  help  for  her 
examinations  out  of  school  hours,  says :  "  Irene's  loss 
in  the  maturity  of  her  powers  was  a  great  one.  I 
was  much  impressed  with  her  capacity  when  she  was  my 


14  IRENE    PETRIE 

pupil.  .  .  .  Never  have  I  had  a  pupil  who  assimilated  ideas 
more  rapidly;  her  work  was  so, accurate,  so  thorough,  and 
so  voluminous.  .  .  .  The  same  spirit  of  persistent  ardour 
ran  through  everything  she  did;  and  being  joined  to  a 
tenacious  memory,  gave  her  remarkable  powers  of  acquisition." 
Such  was  the  enduring  impression  Irene  made  on  two 
ladies  to  whom  she  was  one  of  several  hundred  keen,  hard- 
working girls  whom  they  had  taught  years  before.  When 
she  took  a  fancy  to  any  branch  of  knowledge  or  of  practical 
skill,  her  alert  intellect  enabled  her  to  absorb  information 
or  to  acquire  facility  in  doing  with  unusual  speed.  But 
she  never  professed  to  be  able  to  "  grind  "  at  an  uncongenial 
subject,  or  to  be  one  of  the  community  of  clever  women. 
That  she  wore  "lightly  like  a  flower"  any  "weight  of  learn- 
ing "  she  had  is  seen,  for  instance,  from  these  words,  written 
by  Mrs.  Thornton,  wife  of  the  Archdeacon  of  Middlesex, 
a  near  neighbour  of  hers  :  "  I  was  one  of  those  who  greatly 
admired  your  dear  sister.  She  was  so  sweet  and  so  very 
unselfish  and  retiring  that  I  don't  think  people  generally 
gave  her  credit  for  all  her  cleverness,  or  for  the  power  that 
was  in  her." 

Though  her  school  life  had  brought  her  into  sympathy  with 
many  modern  ideas  and  movements,  it  had  not  demolished 
the  romantic  traditions  of  her  childhood.  Some  years  later 
we  find  her  attending  the  service  for  King  Charles  the  Martyr 
at  St.  Margaret  Pattens  on  January  30th,  and  gathering  all 
the  Jacobite  friends  and  acquaintances  she  could  discover 
round  some  relics  that  she  had  been  asked  to  lend  to  the 
Stuart  Exhibition. 

"What  is  worth  doing  at  all,  is  worth  doing  well,"  was 
always  her  motto.  There  were,  however,  two  pursuits  to 
which  she  gave  herself  with  such  a  passionate  ardour,  that  had 
either  claimed  successfully  her  whole  life,  she  must,  in  the 
opinion  of  more  than  one  good  judge,  have  made  herself  a 


CHILDHOOD    AND    SCHOOLDAYS  15 

name  through  it.  To  many  they  are  mere  accomplishments 
or  even  pastimes;  to  her  they  were  arts,  through  which  she 
tasted  the  supreme  joy  of  striving  after  the  unattainable  ideal. 

She  was  just  getting  into  her  "  teens "  when  she  met  in 
a  country  house  Mr.  Edward  Henry  Corbould,  and  received 
from  him,  given  more  in  play  than  earnest,  "an  enchanting 
drawing  lesson."  Friendship  quickly  grew  up  between  the 
enthusiastic  child  and  the  grey-headed  artist,  whose  reputation 
dated  from  days  when  the  Empress  Frederick,  in  early  girl- 
hood, was  his  pupil.  For  his  own  pleasure  he  sketched  Irene 
in  her  simple  short  frock,  with  her  fair  hair  on  her  shoulders, 
and  from  this  sketch  developed  an  exquisite  ideal  picture 
of  her  as  the  Angel  of  Peace,  which  he  asked  her  mother 
to  accept.^  He  took  a  lively  interest  in  her  first  efforts  with 
the  brush,  and  lent  her  fascinating  "properties"  from  his 
studio.  Henceforth  she  took  up  drawing  and  painting  with 
indefatigable  zeal.     At  fifteen  and  sixteen  her  diary  abounds 

with  such  entries  as :  "  Painted  a  lovely  rose  which  sweet 

gave  me."    "Box  of  lovely  flowers  from .    Tried  to  paint 

some  of  them."  "  Failed  to  paint  a  rose."  She  studied  art 
diligently  with  Miss  Anna  Jones,  recognising  that  a  good 
artist  must  be  made  as  well  as  born. 

One  remembers  her  delight  in  frequent  gifts  of  country 
flowers,  and  how  she  distributed  them  to  sick  or  solitary 
acquaintances,  and  to  the  laundry-women  whom  she  addressed 
during  their  dinner-hour ;  how  she  decorated  her  home, 
where  no  hand  but  hers  ever  arranged  the  flowers,  and 
reproduced  the  choicest  blooms  in  the  panels  which  she 
designed  there,  and  in  the  houses  of  one  or  two  friends, 
who  highly  appreciated  this  characteristic  gift.  She  accom- 
plished other  good  work  in  oil,  but  was  perhaps  most 
successful  in  water-colour  landscape.  In  addition  to  using 
every  opportunity  brought  by  summer  wanderings,  she  copied 
'  This  picture  is  described  in  the  poem  on  p.  xv. 


i6  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  Turners  in  the  National  Gallery,  preparing  thus  for  that 
most  remunerative  sketching  in  Kashmir  which  was  the 
crown  of  her  artistic  work.  She  was  also  fond  of  painting 
on  china,  illuminating  on  vellum,  and  tracing  out  title-pages, 
etc.,  with  quaint  lettering  and  decorative  borders ;  and 
she  executed  some  of  her  own  floral  designs  in  dainty 
bits  of  embroidery  for  wedding  gifts.  To  her  aesthetic  sense 
of  the  fitness  of  things,  rather  than  to  mere  soft  delight  in 
luxury  or  vain  joy  in  ostentation,  may  be  attributed  her  in- 
sistence on  becoming  attire  and  surroundings  whose  harmony 
of  form  and  colour  should  satisfy  the  eye.  A  dowdy  garment 
or  a  slovenly  and  tasteless  room  was  a  real  trial  to  her,  and 
neither  her  intellectual  ambition  nor  her  manifold  activities 
would  ever  have  turned  her  into  a  strongminded  woman 
of  the  useful  but  unattractive  type  that  enjoys  openly  defying 
the  graceful  frivolities  and  small  elegancies  of  her  sex. 

Pictures  of  hers  were  exhibited  more  than  once  in  London 
and  elsewhere.  But  as  time  went  on,  she  numbered  other 
noted  artists  among  her  friends,  and  the  high  ideal  thus 
fostered  made  her  increasingly  diffident  about  her  own 
powers.  A  life-size  portrait  of  her  in  oil,  by  Miss  Kate 
Morgan,  hung  in  the  principal  room  of  the  Royal  Academy 
Exhibition  of  1890. 

And  pencil  and  brush  were  not  her  first  love.  From  the 
day  that  she  trotted  into  the  schoolroom,  aged  four,  and  most 
unexpectedly  asked  for  a  piano  lesson,  to  the  day,  the  week 
before  she  died,  that  she  led  the  choral  service  in  the  gorge 
at  Kharbu,  she  had  the  very  soul  of  music.  She  was  so 
musical  that  when  tired  physically,  or  depressed  or  over- 
wrought mentally,  she  would  play  the  "Moonlight"  sonata 
through  from  memory  as  a  tonic  and  refreshment  instead 
of  going  to  the  sofa ;  so  musical  that  she  got  famished  when 
there  was  no  good  music  about  her.  Working  with  a  perse- 
vering intensity  that  only  real  capacity  makes  possible,  she 


CHILDHOOD    AND  SCHOOLDAYS  17 

became  a  finished  pianist,  who  could  go  on,  hour  after  hour, 
without  a  note,  through  compositions  she  had  not  recalled 
for  months — fugues  of  Bach,  sonatas  of  Beethoven,  valses 
of  Chopin — as  if  she  could  never  forget  what  she  had  once 
learned.  Her  best  beloved  instrument  was  the  organ  built 
for  her  mother  in  her  girlhood.  On  both  piano  and  organ 
and  in  theory  of  music  Mr.  Henry  Bird  was  her  teacher. 

She  studied  singing  during  seven  years  with  Madame 
Louise  Cellini,  and  so  pure-toned  and  powerful  was  her  voice 
that  her  instructress  assured  her  it  would  have  been  well 
worth  her  while  to  become  a  professional  vocalist.  "We 
cannot  realise  that  we  shall  never  see  her  bright  and  happy 
face,  or  hear  her  sweet  voice  again,"  writes  a  London  friend ; 
and  a  friend  in  Philadelphia  speaks  of  her  singing  thus : 
"  Irene's  singing  always  brought  before  me  Goethe's  '  She 
sings  as  the  bird  sings ' — a  certain  little  toss  of  the  head 
always  brought  to  my  mind  the  airy,  happy  grace  of  deer 
or  bird.  It  was  unlike  anything  in  anyone  else ;  as  she 
was  unlike  anyone  else,  her  own  individual,  high,  pure  self, 
showing  externally  her  glorious  ideal." 


CHAPTER    II 

HOME   LIFE 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  Christian  life  ? 

Is  it  success  or  vulgar  wealth  or  name  ? 
Is  it  a  weary  struggle,  a  mean  strife, 

For  rank,  low  gains,  ambition,  or  for  fame  ? 
What  sow  we  for  ?     The  world  ?     For  fleeting  time  ? 
Or  far-off  harvests,  richer,  more  sublime? 

Lines  transcribed  by  Irene  into  her  copy  of  the 
Life  of  Henry  Martyn. 

THE  year  1885  was  a  particularly  happy  one  for  Irene. 
On  March  i8th  her  mother  presented  her,  and  none 
of  the  debutantes  who  kissed  the  Queen's  hand  that  day 
looked  forward  more  radiantly  than  she  to  the  joys  of  being 
"  out."  She  ingenuously  admits  in  her  diary  that  she  enjoyed 
her  first  parties  "immensely,"  *'  found  them  very  amusing,"  and 
so  forth.  Then  at  an  age  when  the  child's  power  of  over- 
flowing delight  blends  with  the  adult's  power  of  appreciation, 
she  went  abroad  for  the  first  time,  and  travelled  with  parents 
and  sister  in  Belgium,  Germany,  Switzerland,  and  Italy. 
Geography  had  been  from  early  childhood  an  engrossing 
study ;  and  in  her  girlish  "  Confessions  "  book  she  wrote  that 
concerts  and  traveUing  were  her  favourite  recreations,  and  that 
her  chief  ambition  was  to  go  all  over  the  world.  It  would 
be  hard  to  say  whether  art  or  nature,  cathedrals  or  Alps, 
picture-galleries  or  Italian  lakes,  gave  her  intenser  happiness. 
The  album  of  her  first   tour,  strongly  imbued,  hke  all   else 

18 


From  a  photo  by  Byrne  &■  Co.,   Richmond.'] 


iFacins  f-  i8. 


HOME    LIFE  19 

from  her  deft  hand,  with  her  individuality,  adds  to  the  usual 
photographs  and  maps  marking  routes,  delicate  water-colours 
by  her  own  brush  and  dried  ferns  and  flowers  from  many 
places. 

Did  this  enjoyable  year  beguile  her  into  worldliness  ?  The 
conventional  "worldliness"  of  going  to  balls  and  races  and 
theatres  lay  indeed  outside  her  scheme  of  existence,  for  these 
were  questionable  pleasures,  best  avoided  and  not  hankered 
after  in  an  already  full  life ;  but  the  less  easily  defined  and  con- 
demned worldliness  of  suffering  the  unquestioned  recreations 
of  travel,  concerts,  exhibitions,  entertaining  and  being  enter- 
tained, to  become  almost  insensibly  one's  sole  occupation 
might  possibly  have  entangled  her,  had  not  1886  begun  with 
a  sorrow  as  great  as  it  was  sudden.  On  January  31st,  after 
only  a  fortnight's  illness,  and  only  a  few  hours  of  actual  anxiety, 
her  dearly  loved  mother  passed  into  the  silence.  The  organ  of 
the  Christian  Women's  Education  Union,  in  acknowledging 
the  helpfulness  of  her  "  calm  judgment  and  wise  counsel," 
says  :  "  Hers  was  an  eminently  quiet  life,  felt  to  be  a  strong 
influence  in  her  home  for  everything  good."  From  the  care- 
fully kept  record  of  her  last  words,  one  or  two  addressed  to 
her  youngest  child  must  be  quoted  here :  "  Keep  up  your 
music  and  painting,  and  use  them  to  the  glory  of  God.  .  .  . 
I  hope  you  will  be  very  happy,  and  have  many  pleasures, 
and  think  that  I  am  with  you  in  them.  ...  I  hope  you 
may  have  many  Christian  friends,  and  take  up  real  work  for 
God.  .  .  .  Always  try  to  remember  the  one  great  object  of 
life,  and  seek  to  influence  others  for  Jesus.  Count  every 
day  when  you  have  not  done  so  a  lost  day.  .  .  .  May  my 
little  one  be  kept  very  close  to  Jesus,  and  unspotted  from 
the  world." 

Almost  twelve  years  later  an  intimate  friend,  who  knew 
nothing  about  these  last  words,  wrote  thus  concerning  Irene  : 
"  Her  course  on  earth  was   one  that   brought  glory  to   God 


46  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  blessing  to  everyone  with  whom  she  came  in  contact. 
Her  perfect  unselfishness  or  selflessness  seemed  almost  a 
silent  reproach  to  us,  as  well  as  her  unworldliness  of  character. 
She  always  gave  me  the  idea  of  one  satisfied — satisfied  with 
Christ,  satisfied  with  the  will  of  God,  satisfied  with  the  love 
of  God."  The  influence  of  those  quiet  months  of  mourning 
will  be  referred  to  again  later  on. 

But  although  Irene  was  not  "of  the  world"  she  was  "in 
the  world  "  always,  even  as  we  shall  see  in  Kashmir.  She  was 
never  convinced  that  true  Christians  should  hold  entirely 
aloof  from  ordinary  social  intercourse.  Her  father,  who  had 
all  the  qualities  that  could  make  a  guest  welcome  or  a  host 
popular,  greatly  enjoyed  society  in  the  comparative  leisure  of 
his  later  years.  There  are  good  people  whose  time  seems  to 
be  at  the  command  of  everyone  except  their  nearest  relatives ; 
but  the  claim  for  companionship  of  the  bereaved  parent  who 
had  been  such  a  good  father  to  her  settled  for  Irene  the 
question  of  accepting  many  invitations  that  he  cared  about. 
How  much  Irene  herself  was  sought  after  may  be  inferred 
from  sentences  of  reminiscence  written  by  three  different 
friends  who  often  met  her :  "  The  lovely,  sweet  Irene !  I 
can  so  well  think  of  the  beautiful  countenance,  and  what  a 
happy  time  those  days  at  Wick  Hall  were  ! "  "I  always 
think  of  Irene  as  a  sunbeam,  and  that  in  this  world  is  in 
itself  a  great  power  of  blessing."  "  Dear  Irene  was  one  of 
the  rare  characters  who  unite  much  gentleness,  sweetness, 
and  aff"ection  with  brilliant  talents." 

A  magazine  article  by  a  writer  who  has  since  made  her 
mark  in  historical  fiction  contains  a  sketch  of  Irene,  entitled 
"a  few  personal  glimpses  of  one  who  throughout  her  short 
life  was  a  helper  of  women  in  the  truest  sense."  The  first 
of  these  may  be  given  here.  The  occasion  to  which  it 
refers  was  a  picnic  in  Epping  Forest  one  sunny  day  in  leafy 
June,  when  her  voice  rang  out  in  a  spirited  Jacobite  ditty, 


HOME    LIFE  2T 

and  swept   even   the   severest  Whigs  of   the   party   into  the 
chorus  of — 

Speed,  bonny  boat,  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

Onward,  the  sailors  cry  ! 
Carry  the  lad  that  is  born  to  be  king 

Over  the  waves  to  Skye ! 

"  I  wish  I  could  call  up  before  the  minds  of  my  readers  the 
picture  of  Irene  Petrie  as  I  saw  her  first,  four  years  ago,  in 
the  midst  of  a  merry  gathering  of  friends,  of  which  her  youth 
and  vigour  and  joyous,  gifted  nature  made  her  the  life  and 
soul.  The  summer  sunshine  streaming  round  her  seemed  to 
find  its  reflection  in  her  bright  face  and  golden  hair  as  she 
moved  among  us,  equally  ready  to  join  with  her  quick  wit  in 
every  game  proposed,  or  to  sing  at  our  request  to  her  guitar, 
or  to  withdraw  into  the  background  to  talk  to  anyone  who 
might  seem  'out  in  the  cold.'  Well  born,  talented,  and 
highly  cultured,  with  an  unusually  large  circle  of  friends, 
among  whom  her  charm  of  manner  made  her  a  universal 
favourite,  Irene  Petrie  truly  had  great  gifts,  and  she  not  only 
enjoyed  them  gratefully,  as  coming  from  a  loving  Father's 
hand,  but  used  them  every  one  in  His  service." 

Again,  one  remembers  Irene  at  some  large  "  at  home," 
leading  the  animated  talk  of  a  gay  young  group,  or  sing- 
ing such  a  song  as  Gliick's  "Che  faro  senza  Euridice"  or 
some  majestic  strain  of  Handel's  with  organ  accompaniment, 
wholly  unconscious  of  the  admiration  roused  not  by  her 
voice  only ;  one  remembers  the  maidenly  dignity  with  which 
in  her  own  house  she  eluded  compliments  and  adulation, 
and  placing  herself  beside  some  elderly  or  timid  guest, 
brought  all  her  lively  fancy  to  the  entertaining  of  one 
who  might  have  been  passed  by  as  the  most  insignificant 
person  present;  one  remembers  her  the  R/e  of  the  whole 
party  in  a  country  house,  organising  games  on  a  wet  day, 
telling  stories  to  the  children,  willing  not  only  to  play  or  sing 


22  IRENE    PETRIE 

herself  as  happily  to  an  audience  of  one  as  to  a  roomful 
of  connoisseurs,  but  to  show  off  someone  else's  playing  or 
singing  to  the  best  advantage  as  a  thoroughly  skilful  and 
sympathetic  accompanist ;  one  remembers  how  many  tempting 
invitations  she  found  no  time  to  accept,  and  how  invariably 
she  did  find  time  to  visit  and  cheer  the  friend  living  alone 
drearily  on  narrow  means,  the  old  lady  who  was  rather 
deaf  and  therefore  very  dull,  the  invalid  whose  monotonous 
days  were  seldom  enlivened  by  a  bright  young  face.  Her 
calling  list  abounded  with  people  who  had  few  callers;  and 
she  was  always  glad  to  have  those  asked  to  the  house  who 
could  not  ask  again.  "  Being  an  invalid,"  says  one  friend, 
"  my  sister  cared  little  for  going  out ;  but  she  always 
enjoyed  going  to  Hanover  Lodge,  for  dear  Irene  made 
everyone  who  came  into  the  house  so  happy.  She  never 
spoke  about  herself,  she  never  seemed  to  think  of  herself 
at  all.  She  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  one  of  the  holiest 
and  loveliest  characters  possible." 

With  the  tendency  to  hero-worship  latent  in  all  natures 
touched  to  fine  issues,  Irene  delighted  in  the  society  of 
those  to  whom  she  could  look  up;  but  quick  sympathy, 
unfailing  tact,  and  feminine  facility  for  making  her  companion 
feel  cleverer  than  herself  caused  her  to  be  much  liked  by 
many  who  were  frankly  unintellectual.  This  was  partly 
because,  as  one  phrases  it,  "  there  was  no  self-consciousness 
about  her  simple,  sweet  manner,"  and  partly  because,  as 
another  says,  "  she  had  a  sympathetic  manner  which  attracted 
you,  and  made  you  feel  you  could  never  forget  her." 
The  note  of  distinction  in  all  she  did  never  made  her 
formidable  to  the  least  clever;  and  one  does  not  remember 
her  stigmatising  anybody  as  a  "  bore " ;  rather  she  called 
out  of  apparently  commonplace  people  that  which  was  not 
commonplace.  "  Toadies "  and  flatterers  she  abhorred,  and 
those  who  trie4  to  fawn  on  her  had  a  very  short  shrift ;  bu): 


HOME    LIFE  23 

she  owned  many  real  friends  of  quite  humble  station.  She 
could  always  put  a  shy  or  a  dowdy  person  at  their  ease, 
without  appearihg  to  patronise  them ;  but  no  one  could  be 
more  haughtily  unapproachable  to  an  "  uppish "  or  con- 
ceited person.  Even  when  she  was  a  child  the  most 
presumptuous  could  not  dream  of  taking  a  liberty  with  her. 
Lively  and  courageous,  with  a  keen  perception  of  character 
and  an  almost  embarrassing  sense  of  the  ludicrous,  she 
had  little  in  common  with  the  sentimental  and  rather  weak- 
minded  type  after  which  some  foolishly  suppose  enthusiasts 
for  foreign  missions  to  be  moulded. 

This  may  be  read  by  those  to  whom  social  success  for  a 
girl  means  what  the  world  understands  by  a  good  marriage. 
It  may  even  be  read  by  those  coarse-minded  enough  to 
imagine  that  a  girl  generally  devotes  herself  to  charitable  or 
religious  work  because  she  has  had  "a  disappointment,"  or 
because  she  has  not  been  sought.  Those  who  knew  the 
buoyant  and  heartwhole  Irene  could  never  associate  such 
thoughts  with  her.  Others  may  as  well  be  told  directly  that 
she  was  sought  more  than  once.  To  play  the  part  of  Lady 
Clara  Vere  de  Vere  would  have  been  impossible  to  her  fine 
sense  of  honour,  and  the  gossips  were  always  baffled.  She 
was  sought  but  not  won,  for  her  taste  was  fastidious  and 
her  ideal  high;  and  just  turned  twenty  she  wrote  in  her 
"  Confessions  "  book  that  her  "  idea  on  the  subject  of  matri- 
mony "  was  that  "  no  one  should  marry  under  thirty  years 
of  age."  When  she  herself  attained  that  age  she  was  (in 
her  own  phrase)  "  married  to  her  work  as  a  missionary." 
Nobody  took  a  livelier  interest  in  the  love  affairs  of  her 
friends,  or  more  unfeigned  delight  in  their  happy  marriages  ; 
but  few  girls  can  have  given  less  thought  to  marriage  for 
themselves.  In  her  active  life  there  could  be  no  scope 
for  solitary  daydreaming,  and  even  in  the  most  intimate 
home    talk    the    subject   was    never    discussed.      The    only 


24  IRENE    PETRIE 

reference  to  it,  and  that  a  remote  one,  which  can  be  re- 
called is  a  half- playful  allusion  to  plans  the  three  sisters 
had  made  for  their  future,  when,  like  most  children,  they 
settled  in  the  nursery  to  their  own  satisfaction  what  they 
would  do  and  be  hereafter.  Irene  was  to  marry  the  owner 
of  a  castle  in  the  Highlands,  some  fairy  prince  in  their 
own  special  land  of  romance.  She  quoted  this  after  a  long 
round  of  country  visits,  and  only  a  month  or  two  before 
she  declared  her  missionary  purpose.  One  recent  visit  had 
suggested  that  she  might  have  to  withdraw  the  above 
quoted  "  confession " ;  possibly  she  divined  this,  since  she 
said  earnestly,  after  alluding  to  the  nursery  nonsense : 
"There  was  a  time  when  a  life  of  leisure  for  literature 
and  art,  and  ample  means  as  mistress  of  a  spacious 
country  house,  seemed  most  desirable  to  me.  Now  I 
know   that   it   could   never   satisfy  me." 

Irene  sometimes  quoted  this  saying  :  "  The  church  would 
not  hold  my  acquaintance,  but  the  pulpit  would  contain 
my  friends."  The  acquaintance  gradually  promoted  to  her 
"  pulpit "  became  very  numerous ;  she  was  known  to  an 
unusually  large  number  by  her  Christian  name ;  and  those 
whom  she  admitted  to  intimacy  were  not  only  numerous 
but  curiously  diverse,  affection  for  Irene  being  apparently 
almost  the  only  thing  they  had  in  common.  Her  character 
was  many-sided,  and  each  side  seemed  to  draw  a  different 
type  of  friend  to  her.  One  thing  that  not  only  won  but  kept 
her  friends  was  her  generosity  of  disposition.  She  could  and 
did  denounce  things  and  even  people  that  she  disapproved  of 
hotly  enough.  But  in  her  sunny  nature  there  was  not  a  trace 
of  that  chilling  cynicism,  that  trick  of  petty  disparagement, 
developed  in  harsh  and  disappointed  souls,  and  affected  by 
some  shallow  people  who  wish  to  be  reckoned  "  smart," — 

The  long-necked  geese  of  the  world  that  are  ever  hissing  dispraise 
Because  their  natures  are  little. 


HOME    LIFE  25 

Many  very  different  people  have  written  that  to  know 
Irene  was  to  love  her;  here  are  one  or  two  other  typical 
expressions  of  what  her  friendship  meant  to  her  friends : 
"To  have  known  and  loved  Irene  has  been  a  wide 
education."  "It  is  an  honour  to  have  known  and  loved 
dear  Irene."  "We  cannot  be  thankful  enough  for  the 
privilege  of  having  known  such  an  one."  "  Dear,  glorious 
Irene!  I  am  proud  to  have  known  her  as  a  friend."  "I 
thank  God  that  Irene  called  me  her  friend.  I  feel  so 
unworthy  of  her,  but  the  thought  of  her  has  always  been 
an  inspiration  to  what  is  good  and  holy,  and  should  be  so 
more  and  more."  "  She  was  one  of  those  rare,  beautiful  souls 
who  carry  wherever  they  go  an  atmosphere  of  purity  and 
goodness,  and  insensibly  make  all  who  come  in  contact  with 
them  better  for  their  sweet  influence.  I  shall  never  forget  her. 
In  her  I  have  lost  a  good  and  noble-hearted  friend,  and  all 
my  life  long  I  shall  hold  her  in  loving  and  tender  remem- 
brance." She  was  indeed,  as  these  extracts  show,  one  greatly 
beloved  and  one  capable  of  loving  in  no  common  degree.  Her 
power  of  attracting  and  radiating  love  made  her  life  melodious 
and  luminous,  so  that  in  the  memory  of  all  who  knew  her 
she  abides  as  "  sweet  and  bright  Irene." 

"  Remember,"  it  has  been  well  said,  "  that  the  love  for 
yourself,  which  you  inspire  in  others,  is  to  be  used  by  you 
to  lead  them  to  God."  Great  indeed  is  the  privilege  of 
one  who,  being  the  friend  of  many,  finds  a  sacred  though 
never  formally  recognised  ministry  in  all  friendly  intercourse. 
Irene  never  preached  either  at  or  to  people;  nor  was  there 
in  her  manner  any  subtle  suggestion  of  the  thought,  "  You 
are  only  a  worldling ;  I  am  one  of  God's  own."  But  very 
quietly  and  unostentatiously  she  continually  sought  to 
influence  those  least  likely  to  be  influenced  for  God  by 
others.  For  a  frivolous  girl  friend  she  wrote  out  the  Bishop 
of  Lichfield's    "  Plain    Rules  of  Christian    Life,"   which   she 


26  IRENE    PETRIE 

had  made  her  own  from  childhood,  instead  of  merely  giving 
her  a  printed  copy ;  some  friends  she  incited  to  Bible 
reading  by  giving  a  Revised  Version,  when  an  Authorised 
Version  might  have  hinted  in  an  offensive  way  that  she 
doubted  if  they  were  Bible  students  already. 

Both  at  home  and  in  Kashmir,  as  will  be  shown  later 
on,  she  exercised  a  remarkable  influence  on  those  whose 
immediate  surroundings  were  less  religious  than  her  own. 
"  She  did  so  adorn  the  religion  she  professed  ;  and  hers 
was  such  a  happy  nature,"  writes  one ;  while  another, 
whose  own  outlook  was  mainly  upon  the  most  worldly  and 
luxurious  aspect  of  society,  says :  "  I  was  very  fond  of  dear 
little  Irene.  She  was  so  sweet  and  bright,  and  a  real, 
practical  Christian."  "  She  made  goodness  itself  attractive," 
writes  another;  and  the  thought  is  poetically  elaborated  by 
yet  a  fourth  London  friend  thus :  "  Like  the  perfume  of 
an  exquisite  flower  her  memory  will  ever  live  in  the  hearts 
of  all  who  knew  her,  and  who,  like  myself,  were  attracted 
by  the  sunshine  of  her  sweet  face,  and  the  true  consistency 
of  her  life." 

So  modestly  and,  as  it  were,  unofficially  did  her  char- 
acter and  conduct  witness  for  God,  that  her  religious  influence 
may  appear  to  have  been  casual.  That  it  was  by  no 
means  casual  was  shown  by  her  answer  to  the  direct 
question  of  an  intimate  friend :  '*  I  should  as  soon  think  of 
going  out  to  pay  calls  without  putting  on  my  hat  as  with- 
out off"ering  up  a  prayer." 

This  much,  then,  of  what  Irene  was  to  acquaintances  and 
to  friends.  What  she  was  to  her  own  cannot  be  spoken  of 
here.  No  one  ever  loved  home  more  than  she,  who  gave 
as  her  "  definition  of  happiness,"  "  Being  with  those  I  love," 
and  she  has  left  her  home  for  ever  fragrant  with  her  lovely 
memory. 

We  have  dwelt  on  the  fact  that  the  early  life  of  the  future 


HOME   LIFE  27 

missionary  appeared  to  be  similar  to  that  of  hundreds  of 
other  girls.  Reticence  as  to  personal  feelings  and  experiences 
was  the  tradition  of  her  antecedents;  so  we  can  only  infer 
from  her  after-career  that  she  had  fought  the  good  fight 
and  kept  the  faith  throughout  her  youth.  She  must  have 
fought  the  flesh,  or  she  could  not  have  become  so  unselfish  ; 
she  must  have  waged  unceasing  warfare  against  the  spirit 
of  the  world,  or  she  could  not  have  become  so  unworldly ; 
and  it  was  when  she  had  approved  herself  in  both  conflicts 
that  she  was  called  to  the  front  for  that  strife  with  heathenism 
which  is  in  a  special  sense  a  strife  against  the  devil  himself. 

Again,  she  never  claimed  formal  recognition  as  a  Christian 
worker  or  as  a  philanthropist,  but  she  lived  habitually  re- 
membering that  "  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  there  is  no 
room  for  an  idle  person."  These  words  occur  in  notes, 
kept  in  her  diary  for  1890,  of  an  address  given  by  the 
Rev.  Armstrong  Hall,  who  had  been  conducting  a  mission 
at  St.  Mary  Abbots. 

The  duty  towards  their  toiling  brothers  and  sisters  of 
that  large  class  of  women  who  have  health,  leisure,  good 
education,  and  sufficient  means  is  not  discharged  by  occa- 
sional guineas  to  charities  out  of  their  superfluity,  or  legacies 
to  societies  out  of  what  they  can  use  no  longer,  by  occasional 
opening  of  their  houses  for  meetings,  or  by  selling  at 
fashionable  bazaars,  or  by  any  giving  which  involves  no 
giving  up.  It  can  only  be  discharged  by  living  out 
altruism,  not  as  a  nineteenth-century  phrase,  but  as  a  first- 
century  principle.  Of  this  Irene  was  fully  convinced ;  and 
her  answer  to  the  question,  "What  do  you  consider  the 
noblest  aim  in  Hfe  ? "  was  given  in  a  favourite  quotation 
of  hers,  this  strong  sentence  from  Bacon's  Advancement  of 
Learning ;  "  The  glory  of  the  Creator,  and  the  relief  of 
man's  estate." 

Long  before  she  went  to  India  she  had  learned  "to  scorn 


28  IRENE    PETRIE 

delights  and  live  laborious  days,"  asking  not  "  What  bit  of 
work  should  I  most  care  to  do  ? "  but  "  What  is  least  likely 
to  be  done  by  others  if  I  do  not  do  it?"  She  shaped  no 
ambitious  schemes,  but  humbly  carried  out  Kingsley's  familiar 
injunction  : — 

Do  the  work  that's  nearest, 

Though  it's  dull  at  whiles ; 
Helping,  when  we  meet  them. 

Lame  dogs  over  stiles. 

Her  givings  were  not  great,  but  they  were  numerous ;  and 
she  always  gave  herself  with  them,  never  grudging  time,  which 
is  often  less  easily  given  than  money.  Nothing  ordered  from 
a  shop  could,  for  instance,  have  expressed  such  comforting 
sympathy  as  the  wreath  and  cross  she  made  with  her  own 
hands  for  one  of  the  servants  to  place  on  her  grandchild's 
coflSn. 

Sunday  school  work  she  began  earliest,  and  kept  up 
most  continuously.  In  October,  1883,  she  undertook  a 
Sunday  class  and  also  a  Wednesday  evening  Bible  class 
of  poor  boys  in  the  Latymer  Road  Mission.  Of  this  her 
father  was  a  trustee,  having  been  one  of  its  founders  in 
1862.  There  she  taught  regularly  for  more  than  two  years. 
She  was  then  asked  to  take  a  class  in  the  Sunday  school 
for  well-educated  children — almost  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
London — which  Mr.  Glyn  had  formed  in  the  St.  Mary  Abbots 
Vicarage  Parish  Room.  For  nearly  eight  years  (January, 
1886,  to  July,  1893)  Irene's  place  there  was  never  vacant; 
and  some  of  her  thirty-seven  pupils  were  under  her 
instruction  for  four  or  five  years. 

In  May,  1887,  she  went  up  for  the  annual  examination 
in  Holy  Scripture  and  English  Church  History,  etc.,  held  all 
over  the  kingdom  at  different  centres,  for  teachers,  by  the 
Church  of  England  Sunday  School  Institute.     She  came  out 


HOME    LIFE  29 

"first  in  all  England."  In  1891  she  took  the  newly  in- 
augurated special  examination  in  the  art  of  teaching  for 
successful  candidates  in  the  general  examination,  and  came 
out  once  more  at  the  head  of  the  list. 

In  July,  1884,  she  signed  the  pledge,  being  already  a  total 
abstainer  in  practice.  Henceforth  she  took  an  active  share 
in  the  work  of  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society. 
From  January,  1886,  to  July,  1893,  she  was  treasurer  to  the 
Band  of  Hope  of  St.  John's  Church,  and  secretary  to  the 
boys'  division  of  it.  In  1890,  as  a  well-instructed  member 
of  the  National  Health  Society,  she  gave  the  children  a 
course  of  blackboard  instruction  on  "Alcohol  and  Health," 
ending  with  an  examination.  Here  is  a  characteristic  para- 
graph from  an  article  she  was  asked  to  contribute  to 
The  Teinperance  Chronicle  for  October  7th,  1892,  on 
"  Intemperance  among  Women."  After  a  picture  of  the 
child  of  wage-earning  parents,  who,  straight  from  factory 
or  counter,  begins  housekeeping  entirely  ignorant  of  cooking, 
she  continues : 

"  Another  girl  in  a  wealthy  home  '  finishes '  her  educa- 
tion, and  with  no  more  serious  duties  than  note  writing  and 
flower  arranging,  kills  time  for  the  next  few  years  in  adding 
to  and  displaying  her  outward  attractions  on  all  possible 
occasions.  By  the  time  she,  too,  has  to  face  the  real 
difficulties  of  life  in  a  home  of  her  own,  her  health, 
mental  and  physical,  has  suffered  gravely  from  habits  of 
superficial  (as  opposed  to  concentrated)  thought,  excite- 
ment alternating  with  idleness  and  stagnation,  late  hours, 
sudden  changes  of  temperature,  dainty  feeding,  and  slavish 
conformity  to  the  fetich  of  fashion.  How  likely  is  she  to 
succumb  to  the  temptations  of  the  morphia  lozenge  or 
the  oft-repeated  glass  of  champagne ! "  Turning  to  the 
question  of  preventive  measures,  Irene  speaks  of  educating 
the    children    in    habits    of   total    abstinence,    and    putting 


30  IRENE    PETRIE 

good  and  cheap  non-alcoholic  refreshments  within  the 
reach  of  all,  and  then  says:  "But  we  might  use  a  third 
preventive  measure,  if  we  could  bring  together  in  large 
numbers  for  mutual  help  representatives  of  different  planes 
in  society,  such  as  the  two  just  described.  Let  the  rich 
girl,  realising  that  life  was  given  her  for  more  than  mere 
amusement,  and  that  privileges  involve  responsibilities,  use 
her  abundant  means  and  leisure  in  self-culture  and  in 
mastering  some  practical  knowledge  of  healthy  homes  and 
habits,  that  she  may  go  forth  to  her  less  favoured  sister,  to 
share  with  her  spiritual  and  intellectual  privileges  whereby 
both  the  motives  and  the  interests  of  life  may  be  elevated, 
and  to  help  her,  not  only  with  kindly  sympathy,  but  with 
tactful  counsel  and  guidance  as  to  her  home  life.  ...  If 
such  a  vice  as  drunkenness  is  increasing  among  women,  it 
is  time,  surely,  to  lay  to  heart  again  the  ancient  and  fair 
ideal  of  the  life  of  the  true  Homemaker,  dedicated  first  to 
her  God  and  then  to  the  welfare  of  those  around  her." 

The  Children's  Special  Service  Mission  appears  in  the 
biographies  of  many  missionaries  of  the  younger  generation. 
Irene's  love  of  Bible  study  and  love  of  children  inevitably 
made  her  interested  in  its  ally,  the  "Children's,  Young 
People's,  and  Schoolboys'  Scripture  Union."  In  May,  1885, 
she  induced  five  of  her  Latymer  Road  boys  to  join  it,  and 
in  1888  formed  out  of  her  St.  Mary  Abbots  class  the 
nucleus  of  the  "  Kensington  Park  Branch."  In  all,  fifty-seven 
children  joined  this,  of  whom  about  a  dozen  were  cousins 
or  child  friends,  others  pupils  in  the  St.  Mary  Abbots  and 
Latymer  Road  Sunday  schools,  girls  in  her  father's  Sunday 
class,  and  members  of  the  St.  John's  Band  of  Hope.  To 
those  at  a  distance  she  wrote  every  month ;  those  within 
reach  she  invited  about  once  a  month  in  little  groups,  accord- 
ing to  their  different  circumstances,  to  her  own  study.  There 
she   prayed    with    them,   showed    maps    and    pictures   illus- 


HOME    LIFE  31 

trating  their  daily  reading,  and  told  about  other  members 
in  distant  lands. 

In  March,  1886,  she  began  to  give  addresses  during  the 
dinner-hour  in  the  workrooms  of  a  large  shop  in  Kensington. 
This  was  her  first  effort  for  working  girls.  In  1889  she 
undertook,  in  connexion  with  the  Factory  Helpers'  Union, 
to  address  the  women  in  the  West  Kensington  Laundry. 

Of  all  home  missions,  the  one  in  which  she  was  most  deeply 
interested  was  that  originated  in  1866  by  Mrs.  Meredith  and 
her  sister,  Miss  Lloyd — the  Prison  Mission,  whose  headquarters 
are  at  the  Conference  Hall,  Clapham  Road,  and  the  Princess 
Mary  Village  Homes,  Addlestone,  Surrey,  built  on  land  given 
by  Miss  C.  G.  Cavendish,  called  after  the  late  Duchess  of 
Teck,  and  founded  in  187 1.  Here  some  two  hundred  daughters 
of  prisoners  and  others,  all  rescued  from  either  criminal  or 
vicious  surroundings,  are  housed  and  trained,  more  than  ninety- 
six  per  cent,  of  whom  turn  out  well,  and  the  "  family  system," 
tried  for  the  first  time  in  this  institution,  has  been  frequently 
copied  since.  The  three  ladies  just  named  were  dear  friends 
of  Irene's  mother,  and  her  father  was  for  over  twenty  years 
a  trustee  and  active  helper  of  the  Homes.  Though  as  a 
rule  Irene  declined  to  take  part  in  bazaars,  which  she  regarded 
as  very  unsatisfactory  enterprises,  she  was  persuaded  to 
organise  the  music  for  a  large  bazaar  held  in  May,  1890,  in 
the  Kensington  Town  Hall,  on  behalf  of  Mrs.  Meredith's 
work.  With  the  help  of  her  many  musical  friends  she  got 
up  two  good  concerts  and  a  band  of  eighteen  stringed  and 
wind  instruments,  played  by  first-rate  amateurs,  who  met 
regularly  for  practice  at  Hanover  Lodge. 

She  was  constantly  serving  others  through  her  music. 
Her  own  performances,  vocal  and  instrumental,  were  up  to 
the  professional  standard;  as  was  seen  by  her  taking  part 
twice  in  Madame  Cellini's  annual  concert  in  St.  James's  Hall, 
singing  once,    and  once  accompanying   the   whole  choir  on 


32  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  piano — no  easy  task,  as  she  had  to  transpose  some  difificult 
music,  and  play  with  a  well-known  professional  at  the  organ. 

Not  only  at  social  gatherings,  but  at  charity  concerts  in- 
numerable, was  her  music  in  demand.  But  what  pleased  her 
more  than  any  drawing-room  or  concert-hall  plaudits  was 
singing  or  playing  to  an  audience  of  factory  girls,  or  blind  folks, 
or  women  whom  Mrs.  Meredith's  Prison  Mission  was  helping 
to  a  new  life,  or  sick  paupers  at  the  Kensington  Infirmary 
on  Christmas  Day,  or  toiling  poor  people  at  a  temperance 
entertainment  or  in  a  mission  hall,  where  through  such  a 
hymn  as  "I  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  say"  she  could  sing 
the  Gospel  to  them. 

On  a  good  many  occasions  she  played  for  the  8  a.m.  daily 
service  in  St.  Mary  Abbots.  In  1889  the  iron  church  of 
St.  Paul's,  erected  for  the  overflowing  congregation  of  the 
parish  church,  was  replaced  by  a  permanent  building.  After 
its  consecration,  on  the  evening  of  St.  Paul's  Day,  a  service 
was  held  at  which  Mendelssohn's  St  Paul  was  sung.  Pre- 
paring to  take  part  in  this  had  been  a  great  joy  to  Irene, 
especially  when  she  invited  the  choir  to  Hanover  Lodge  for 
a  final  rehearsal  at  her  organ  on  January  23rd.  The  exquisite 
chorus  "  How  lovely  are  the  messengers "  is  for  many 
inseparably  associated  with  the  thrilling  tones  of  her  voice,  for 
it  became  her  favourite  musical  contribution  to  the  missionary 
meetings  for  which  she  organised  choirs. 

While  Irene  was  at  school,  a  request  made  to  her  sister 
as  a  student  at  college  to  help  another  young  student  in 
the  country  led  to  the  formation  of  some  correspondence 
classes,  which  gradually  developed  into  the  College  by  Post. 
Its  aim  is  to  encourage  cultivation  of  the  mind  for  its  own 
sake  among  girls  no  longer  receiving  regular  instruction  at 
home  or  at  school  who  have  little  opportunity  of  obtaining 
professional  tuition,  and  also  to  promote,  not  among  girls 
only,  Bible  study  on  a  definite  system.     Some  five  thousand 


HOME    LIFE  33 

students  have  now  been  enrolled,  who  have  been  taught 
entirely  through  correspondence  by  over  four  hundred  well- 
qualified  honorary  teachers.  Miss  G.  E.  Robinson,  B.A,,  is 
its  present  Head. 

Irene's  connexion  with  the  College  by  Post  was  very  close, 
from  the  days  she  as  a  schoolgirl  helped  to  copy  its  original 
MS.  papers,  and  later  on  taught  some  of  its  leading  classes,  to 
those  in  which  she  stirred  up  missionary  zeal  among  all  its 
students  by  her  annual  letter  from  the  field.  She  gave  much 
aid  from  time  to  time  in  the  routine  work,  and  on  two  or 
three  occasions  superintended  the  whole  for  a  few  weeks  during 
her  sister's  absence.  Her  own  most  important  class  was  one 
of  the  eight  original  classes  formed  in  February,  1888,  for  the 
Chronological  Scripture  Cycle.  Hers  was  the  class  through 
which  that  scheme  (now  embodied  in  Clews  to  Holy  Writ)  was 
tested  in  detail  term  by  term,  and  her  advice  and  suggestions, 
based  on  the  answers  written  by  some  of  the  foremost 
students,  were  of  the  greatest  value  in  revising  the  first 
editions  of  the  Chronological  Scripture  Cycle  papers.  Fifty- 
two  students  passed  through  the  class  during  the  five  and  a 
half  years  she  conducted  it,  and  her  zeal  and  thoroughness 
as  a  teacher  produced  a  high  standard  of  work. 

This  chapter  of  the  home  life,  which  was  both  a  prepara- 
tion for  and  an  earnest  of  future  effort  abroad,  is  illustrated 
by  a  series  of  thirty  letters,  ranging  from  January,  1888,  to 
September,  1893,  addressed  to  a  student  who  was  afterwards 
on  the  staff  of  the  College  by  Post.  The  first  welcomes 
her  into  the  class,  announces  its  plans,  and  continues  :  "  I 
shall  be  most  glad  if  our  work  together  proves  interesting 
and  profitable,  and  much  will  be  gained  if  we  learn  to 
love  and  value  the  Holy  Bible  more  than  we  have  done 
before,  and  if  we  find  in  it  hitherto  undiscovered  treasures 
of  knowledge  and  guidance  in  the  Christian  life.  I  hope 
we  shall  always  remember  the  Sunday  morning  united  prayer 

3 


34  IRENE    PETRIE 

for  a  blessing  on  our  work,  which  draws  teacher  and  students, 
though  far  apart,  together  more  than  anything  else  could." 
The  second  letter  suggests  the  daily  committing  of  one 
verse  of  Scripture  to  memory.  In  a  third  letter,  mentioning 
some  helpful  commentaries,  she  adds :  "  But  after  all,  we 
may  gain  far  more  from  prayerful  and  diligent  study  of  the 
Word  of  God  itself  than  from  any  books."  Succeeding 
letters  deal  with  questions  as  to  difficulties  in  a  way  that 
indicates  much  research  on  the  teacher's  part  for  the  express 
purpose  of  informing  her  correspondent.  In  one  she  suggests 
special  subjects  for  prayer  arising  out  of  the  reading.  When 
the  class  passed  in  1890,  from  the  Old  Testament  to  the 
New,  she  writes :  "  Delightful  as  the  Old  Testament  has 
been,  I  suppose  we  are  all  glad  to  begin  reading  afresh  the 
wonderful  life  of  Him  Who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for 
us.  One  longs  that  everyone  who  is  influenced  by  the 
Chronological  Scripture  Cycle  may  know  Him  more  perfectly 
than  ever  before."  She  sends  each  of  the  thirty  members 
of  the  class  a  motto  for  1891,  illuminating  it  on  vellum  as 
a  Bible  marker  for  the  foremost  students,  and  writing  it  on 
card  in  a  species  of  caligraphy  at  which  she  was  skilful  for 
the  rest.  A  question  as  to  the  rejection  of  Christ  by  the 
Jews  leads  to  a  warm  word  of  sympathy  for  Jewish  missions, 
and  in  a  letter  dated  November,  1892,  she  says  of  the  mission 
field  abroad  :  "  The  needs  out  there  are  indeed  awful." 

In  December,  1891,  through  an  examination  in  Hygiene, 
Nursing,  and  First  Aid  to  the  Injured,  subjects  on  which  she 
had  been  for  two  years  attending  lectures,  Irene  won  the  silver 
medal  of  the  National  Health  Society.  In  February,  1892, 
she  undertook  the  Hygiene  class  in  the  College  by  Post, 
which  she  had  till  September,  .1893. 

One  of  her  students,  who  did  not  know  her  personally, 
says :  "  Her  bright  letters  were  always  a  help.  We  can 
feel  so  that  her  life,  early  brought  to  a  close,  is  not  wasted, 


I 


HOME    LIFE  35 

b'ut  only  poured  out  for  the  Master,"  A  student,  not  in 
her  classes,  who  saw  her  just  once,  writes:  "The  day  I 
called  ...  is  amongst  the  happiest  recollections  of  my  life. 
I  felt  so  drawn  towards  your  sister.  ...  My  prayers  have 
often  been  specially  with  her."  Other  students  who  had  not 
seen  or  corresponded  with  her  were  strongly  influenced  by 
her.  Miss  Elsie  Waller,  Head  of  the  College  from  1894  to 
1898,  writes :  *'  Many  of  the  teachers  and  students  loved 
to  read  her  letters,  and  liked  them  the  best  of  all."  "No 
letter  from  Miss  Petrie,"  was  the  regretful  exclamation  of 
many  on  opening  the  Annual  Letter  for  Christmas,  1897  ; 
and  *'  when  we  read  its  news,"  says  one  student,  "  we  all 
felt  as  if  we  had  lost  a  personal  friend."  "We  followed 
her  missionary  career  with  special  interest,"  says  another, 
"and  welcomed  the  stirring  letters  she  wrote  from  Kashmir." 
Yet  one  more,  never  in  direct  personal  contact  with  her, 
writes  :  "  For  her,  life  was  indeed  worth  living.  If  all  of 
us  who  knew  of  her  strive  to  follow  her  as  she  followed 
Christ,  life  will  be  beautiful  for  us  too." 

Such  were  some  of  the  enterprises  that  kept  Irene  inces- 
santly busy  during  seven  days  of  the  week.  For  her  Sunday 
included,  besides  two  services  and  the  Sunday  school,  instruc- 
tion of  a  younger  servant,  hymn-singing  to  the  venerable 
housekeeper,  who  could  not  get  to  church,  and  a  long  evening 
of  strenuous  Bible  study.  She  never  owned  to  fatigue,  never 
wasted  an  hour,  and  never  shrank  from  any  task  because  it 
involved  continuous  trouble,  but  endeavoured  to  complete 
everything  she  undertook  to  the  minutest  detail.  She  always 
worked  at  full  speed,  with  a  vehement  diligence  that  enabled 
her  to  achieve  before  others  had  finished  planning.  She 
turned  rapidly  from  one  thing  to  another,  and  gave  to  the 
matter  in  hand  an  attention  as  concentrated  as  if  it  were  the 
only  thing  she  ever  attempted.  Again  and  again,  while 
others  were  gathering   up   their  effects  to  retire  to  rest,  she 


36  IRENE    PETRIE 

would  seize  a  pen,  and  dash  off  at  breathless  pace  a 
shower  of  little  notes  as  unreckoned  addenda  to  the  evening's 
doings. 

The  I  *'  amazing  vitality "  which  had  been  remarked  upon 
in  her  childhood  resulted  from  health  so  good  that,  until 
she  went  to  India,  she  was  never  off  duty  for  a  whole  day 
through  illness-  This  was  partly,  no  doubt,  because  she 
was  too  busy  to  be  ill ;  instead  of  permitting  trifling  in- 
dispositions to  hinder  her,  she  often  threw  them  off  by  sheer 
force  of  disregarding  them.  Probably,  however,  she  was  not 
as  robust  as  she  believed  herself  to  be.  "  She  had,"  writes 
a  College  by  Post  colleague,  "  such  a  sweet,  bright,  eager  spirit. 
Perhaps  it  worked  a  frail  body  too  hard.  But  it  does  seem 
beautiful  for  her  to  have  passed  away  in  the  work  of  bringing 
others  to  Christ." 

Hard  work  at  home  alternated  with  holiday  travel,  which 
she  keenly  enjoyed.  The  favourite  summer  outing  was  a 
series  of  visits  to  English  and  Scottish  friends  and  kinsfolk, 
varied  with  an  entirely  primitive  life  in  the  remote  High- 
lands ;  when  with  a  good  map,  sketching  materials,  and  a 
satchel  of  oat-cakes,  she  would  start  betimes  and  tramp  over 
moor  and  mountain,  ideally  happy,  till  nightfall.  There  were 
also  tours  in  the  Lake  District,  in  Devonshire,  Cornwall, 
and  the  Scilly  Isles,  a  voyage  off  the  west  coast  of  Scotland 
in  the  brilliant  Jubilee  summer  of  1887,  and  Continental 
travel,  seeking  nature  at  her  loveliest  and  art  in  its  highest 
expressions  of  painting,  sculpture,  and  architecture.  She 
walked  across  the  Alps  four  times,  said  she  loved  the  very 
smell  of  a  railway  train,  and  that  next  to  the  Bible,  Bradshaw 
and  Baedeker  were  her  favourite  books.  Planning  out  our 
tour  so  as  to  diversify  historic  cities  with  wilds  of  the  Alps 
and  Apennines,  and  to  get  off  the  tourist  track  altogether 
sometimes,  was  a  recreation  for  months  beforehand,  and 
she  also  delighted  in  devising  tours   for  friends.     One  re- 


HOME    LIFE  37 

calls  her  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  lodging  at  Keswick, 
while  the  table  was  being  laid  for  a  meal,  dropping  on  one 
knee  at  the  sideboard  and  writing  out  a  complicated 
programme  for  a  Scottish  trip — a  morning's  work  for  most 
people.  A  friend  had  just  come  in,  announcing  that  she 
was  going  North  immediately;  and  while  another  would 
have  been  saying,  "  I  would  have  done  it  had  you  given 
me  time,"  Irene  did  it. 

Widely  differing  conceptions  of  Irene's  many-sided  in- 
dividuality must  have  been  formed  by  those  about  her. 
To  some  she  seemed  a  highly  cultured  woman,  never  at  a 
loss  if  the  talk  turned  on  books;  to  others  she  seemed 
to  belong  entirely  to  the  world  of  sweet  sound,  most 
truly  herself  when  contributing  to  a  concert,  or  practising 
Vart  de  tenir  salon  at  a  musical  at  home ;  to  others  she 
was  first  of  all  an  artist,  keenest  about  pictures,  and  looking 
out  on  all  sides  for  possible  sketches ;  others  saw  in  her 
a  church  worker  on  the  platform,  giving  a  telling  temper- 
ance address  to  Band  of  Hope  children  or  working 
men  and  women  in  the  East  End,  or  a  missionary 
address  not  only  overflowing  with  enthusiasm  but  well 
reasoned  and  well  informed,  or  a  Bible  lecture  or 
model  lesson  to  Sunday  school  teachers  that  showed 
her  aptitude  for  teaching.  But  to  most  people,  after  all, 
she  was  a  popular  girl  in  society,  receiving  friends  with 
an  enjoyment  that  made  them  enjoy,  invariably  saying  the 
right  thing,  remembering  the  relatives  and  circumstances 
of  even  slight  acquaintances,  so  that  she  could  without  fail 
make  the  sympathetic  inquiry  and  give  the  appropriate 
introduction;  never  forgetting  a  kindness  or  leaving  a  token 
of  goodwill  unacknowledged,  always  finding  time  for  the 
courteous  note  of  thanks  or  of  explanation  that  oils  the 
wheels  of  intercourse;  and  attending  to  all  the  other  social 
amenities  as  if  she  had  nothing  else  to  think  of. 


38  IRENE  PETRIE 

Her  minute  exactitude  in  all  money  matters,  and  her 
plodding  accuracy  and  sustained  effort  in  all  she  undertook, 
are  qualities  not  always  found  in  the  brilliant  and  versatile. 
Highly  emotional  and  ardently  enthusiastic  by  nature,  she 
became  by  habit  a  woman  of  business  capacity  and  stead- 
fast purpose.  She  not  only  had  a  remarkable  power  of 
carrying  out  what  she  willed  to  do,  thrusting  aside  all 
intervening  obstacles,  but  also  a  power  of  attaching  people 
to  her  in  a  way  that  made  them  eager  to  fall  in  with  her 
wishes.  She  always  knew  her  own  mind,  and  liked  to  order 
the  lives  of  others.  In  a  hundred  small  matters  there  was 
no  appeal  from  her  decision,  yet  those  about  her  bent  to 
her  will  quite  unconscious  how  absolutely  she  ruled  them. 

This  attempt  towards  a  faithful  portrait  has  shown  that  we 
tell  not  of  a  faultless  heroine,  but  of  one  whose  character 
was  to  be  slowly  perfected  by  Divine  grace.  Sprung  from 
warlike  and  enterprising  forebears,  leaders  of  men,  and 
mistress  to  a  large  extent  of  her  own  actions  from  the  time 
she  lost  her  mother,  Irene  grew  up  keen  to  enjoy  and  to 
achieve,  quick-tempered,  strong-willed,  imperious,  full  of 
restless  energy,  though  never  aught  but  lovable. 

As  time  went  on  there  was  a  softening,  though  not  a 
weakening,  of  this  vigorous  nature,  as  the  words  of  three 
friends  who  knew  her  in  the  later  years  at  home  indicate: 
"  What  a  beautiful  life  hers  was  !  It  is  well  that  those  who 
had  not  the  privilege  of  meeting  her  should  hear  of  her 
sweet  unassumingness  and  wonderful  ability  and  devotion." 
"She  was  so  quiet  and  gentle,  her  presence  seemed  to 
calm  one."  "  Her  sweet  and  victorious  gentleness  abides 
with  me  when  I  think  of  every  time  I  saw  her,  and  she 
takes  her  place  among  them  so  naturally  when  one  thinks 
of  the  holy  ones  in  Paradise." 

And  those  who  knew  her  in  Kashmir  were,  as  we  shall 
see,   struck  first  of  all  by  her  patience,  her  humility,  her 


HOME    LIFE  39 

unselfishness,  her  habitual  willingness  to  take  the  lowest  place. 
Modified  by  the  discipline  of  life,  the  very  characteristics  that 
might  have  been  regarded  as  unworthy  of  a  Christian  were 
among  the  things  that  justified  the  strongly  expressed  antici- 
pation that  she  would  become  "an  inspiring  missionary 
leader." 

That  she  accomplished  so  much  in  her  short  life  was  mainly 
due  to  the  fact  that  hers  was  "  a  heart  at  leisure  from  itself"  j 
that  she  had  neither  thoughts  nor  words  for  her  own  particular 
fads  or  fancies  or  grievances ;  but  needed  the  whole  of  her 
time  and  her  energy  for  others.  To  have  exchanged  such 
untiring  activities  for  the  uneventful,  effortless  ease  which  is 
some  people's  idea  of  the  life  beyond  would  not  have  been 
happiness  to  such  an  one  as  she.  Kingsley  surely  is  right 
when  he  says  :  "The  everlasting  life  cannot  be  a  selfish,  idle 
Hfe,  spent  only  in  individual  happiness."  That  could  not 
be  the  meaning  of  the  statement  that  hereafter  "  His  servants 
shall  serve  Him." 


CHAPTER   III 

THE   CALL 

Therefore,  though  all  men  smiled  on  him,  though  smooth 
Life's  path  lay  stretched  before,  .  .  . 

...  he  turned  from  all 
To  that  untried,  laborious  way  which  lay 
Across  wide  seas,  to  spend  a  lonely  life 
Spreading  the  light  he  loved.  .  .  . 
The  Brahmins'  fables,  the  relentless  lie 
Of  Islam,  these  he  chose  to  bear,  who  knew 
How  swift  the  night  should  fall  on  him,  and  burned 
To  save  one  soul  alive  while  yet  'twas  day. 

Lewis  Morris,    Vision  of  Saints. 

THE  Story  of  how  our  Master  calls  His  own  by  name 
and  leads  them  out  is  always  instructive,  especially 
when  it  contains  nothing  extraordinary,  when  the  desire  is 
uttered  to  God  secretly  in  response  to  the  call,  and  the 
servant  rises  up  as  a  matter  of  course  to  obey  it  on  being 
promoted  from  "tarrying  by  the  stuff"  to  "going  down  to 
the  battle"  with  the  vanguard  of  the  army. 

Most  of  Irene's  kith  and  kin  were  greatly  startled,  some  were 
grieved,  even  shocked,  at  the  announcement  of  her  missionary 
purpose.  They  felt,  as  a  friend  often  at  Hanover  Lodge 
says,  that  she  was  one  of  the  happiest  and  most  charming 
of  those  they  knew;  and  some  are  still  asking  in  perplexity 
why  she  left  the  home  which  she  loved  so  well.  "  I  thought 
Irene  more  than  charming,"  writes  a  Worcestershire  friend 
"  and  that  there  was  no  position  she  would  not  grace.     It 

40 


THE    CALL  41 

seemed  in  one  way  a  waste  of  her  beauty  and  talent  going 
to  those  far-off  lands.  But  God  knew  better."  Others  were 
not  altogether  surprised.  "  When  I  was  told  of  her  departure 
for  India,"  says  a  friend  at  Tunbridge  Wells,  "the  vision 
recurred  in  a  flash  of  Irene  calling  on  me  several  years 
before,  looking  so  pretty  in  her  youthful  freshness  and 
dainty  attire,  and  talking  of  a  girl  friend  with  whose  parents 
she  had  recently  stayed.  I  could  see  how  she  was  yearning 
for  her  soul,  and  I  realise  now  that  even  then  she  was 
thoroughly  imbued  with  the  missionary  spirit."  We  must  go 
back  to  her  earliest  days  to  understand  how  this  came  to  pass. 
Ten  diminutive  books,  whose  woodcuts  were  antiquated 
enough  to  be  fascinating,  made  her  childish  eyes  familiar 
with  the  modest  mission  station,  the  hideous  idol,  the 
graceful  Oriental  listening  to  the  preacher  in  the  Indian 
bazar,  the  benchful  of  sable  scholars  in  the  African  school. 
They  were  old  volumes  of  the  Children's  Missionary 
Magazine,  founded  in  1838,  and  therefore  four  years  older 
than  the  C.M.S.  Juvenile  Instructor,  now  the  Children's 
World.  In  1848  Miss  Barber  became  its  editor  for  a  long 
term  of  years,  and  formed  in  connection  with  it  the  still 
existing  "Coral  Fund,"  which  produced  at  her  death  over 
;;^i,ooo  a  year.  The  many  attractive  missionary  books  she 
wrote  have  doubtless  had  a  share  in  bringing  about  the 
present  widening  recognition  of  our  duty  to  the  heathen ; 
but  her  school,  already  referred  to  on  p.  i,  was  pre-eminently 
her  "own  mission  station."  The  contributions  to  her  maga- 
zine of  one  old  pupil,  signed  "  E.G.M.,"  show  how  Irene's 
mother  delighted  in  "  the  encouraging  records  of  the  spread 
of  the  everlasting  Gospel."  Later  on  she  took  her  own 
little  girls  to  see  another  old  pupil  of  Miss  Barber's,  who 
had  become  "residuary  legatee"  of  her  missionary  zeal,  and 
the  lively  Irene  solemnly  pronounced  that  this  lady's  house 
had  "  a  missionary  smell." 


42  IRENE    PETRIE 

From  her  Irene  received  Little  Tija,  the  story  of  a  convert 
in  India,  by  Mrs.  Batty,  a  book  that  was  read  to  her  again 
and  again  by  a  nurse  to  whom  she  was  greatly  attached, 
the  only  child  of  the  housekeeper  already  mentioned,  who 
had  been  a  much  valued  servant  of  her  grandmother's,  and 
who  has  now  lived  to  see  a  fourth  generation  at  Hanover 
Lodge.  Her  daughter,  as  a  very  young  girl,  entered  its 
nursery  when  Irene  was  still  in  arms,  and  grew  up  into  her 
devoted  attendant  and  confidential  maid,  hardly  separated 
from  Irene  for  a  day  till  filial  duty  detained  her  from  accom- 
panying her  young  lady  to  India.  Even  when  Irene  could 
read  she  preferred  to  be  read  to;  and  Elliott  read  to  her 
by  the  hour  while  she  worked  with  needle  or  brush.  On 
her  thirteenth  birthday  a  book  called  Childhood  in  India 
was  presented  to  her,  whose  inscription — "May  this  volume 
still  further  increase  her  interest  in  the  country  she  has  so 
diligently  sought  acquaintance  with" — shows  that  her  future 
mission-field  was  already  much  in  her  thoughts.  She  was 
thirteen  also  when  her  godfather,  Mr.  Bosanquet,  of  Rock 
Hall,  Alnwick  (who  has  now  given  a  daughter  to  the  C.M.S. 
for  Japan),  sent  her  Mr.  Eugene  Stock's  History  of  the 
Fuh-kien  Mission.  Elliott  had  finished  reading  this,  and 
they  were  out  walking  together,  when  Irene  said  suddenly, 
"  Promise  me  that  you  will  come  out  with  me  to  China  as 
a  missionary  when  I  am  grown  up." 

She  must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the 
St.  Mary  Abbots  Missionary  Union,  for  her  card  of  mem- 
bership bears  date,  March  20th,  1879.  It  had  been  formed 
to  encourage  in  the  parish  observance  of  the  two  annual 
Days  of  Intercession  for  Missions  which  were  appointed  in 
1872  by  the  Archbishops  at  the  instance  of  the  S.P.G. ; 
with  results  manifestly  great  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
Irene  attended  the  quarterly  meetings  of  the  Union  regu- 
larly; and   later   on,    after  her   Confirmation,  we   find   such 


THE    CALL  43 

entries  in  her  diary  as  :  "  Went  to  a  delightful  missionary 
meeting."  "To  the  zenana  meeting.  Enjoyed  it  very 
much." 

Many  a  child  in  a  religious  home  hears  enough  about 
missions  to  rouse  a  romantic  aspiration  to  be  a  missionary, 
which,  however,  fades  into  one  of  the  childish  things  put 
away  before  the  absorbing  occupations  of  school,  college, 
professional  work,  or  society.  In  Irene's  busiest  schooldays 
there  are  no  allusions  to  such  meetings;  but  a  fortnight 
after  the  entry,  "  Last  day  at  the  dear  High  School.  Good- 
bye to  all  the  dear  people,"  we  read  :  "  Cambridge  results. 
What  is  the  use  of  it  all  ?  Why  should  I  be  glad  of  the 
honours  ? "  Then  a  few  weeks  later  still :  "  Valedictory 
zenana  meeting.  Very  interesting."  Then  not  another  word 
on  the  subject  till  after  the  death  of  the  mother  who  had 
almost  idolised  her,  and  who  was  dearer  to  her  than  any- 
thing else  on  earth,  for  Irene  one  of  those  uprooting  sorrows 
that  reveal  us  to  our  own  souls,  and  remove  us  from  all  life's 
distractions  to  consider  life  itself.  She  notes  attending  early 
Communion  with  her  father  and  sister  on  the  following  Sunday, 
February  7th,  1886,  and  adds  a  reference  from  the  Prayer 
Book  version  of  Psalm  xxxii.  to  the  cry  of  the  distrest, 
"Thou  art  a  place  to  hide  me  in,"  and  the  Divine  promise, 
"  I  will  teach  thee  in  the  way  wherein  thou  shalt  go."  This 
is  a  significant  entry,  for  the  desire  to  give  herself  to  mis- 
sionary effort  was  reawakened  with  power  in  her  first  sense 
of  orphaned  desolation,  and  coincided  with  new  opportunities 
of  knowledge  and  fresh  stimulus  to  interest. 

That  spring  and  summer  she  hstened,  note-book  in  hand, 
to  two  courses  of  lectures  on  India  given  by  Mr.  Stock  to  the 
members  of  the  C.M.S.  Ladies'  Union;  in  May  she  was  at 
the  C.M.S.  annual  meeting  for  the  first  time;  on  November 
30th  at  the  C.M.S.  meeting  in  the  Kensington  Town  Hall. 
Her  father  had  just  joined  the  Kensington  C.M.S.  Committee 


44  IRENE    PETRIE 

Writing  some  ninety  letters  to  friends  about  a  course  of 
historical  lectures  on  missions  that  was  given  in  Kensington 
in  January,  1887,  was  her  own  first  bit  of  work  for  the  C.M.S. 

Her  careful  study  of  English  Church  History  and  of  modern 
missions  during  that  spring  appears  in  an  article  called 
"  Lightbearers  and  Lightsharers,"  with  "The  mighty  hopes 
that  make  us  men  "  for  its  motto,  which  she  wrote  for  the 
High  School  magazine  of  June,  1887,  as  her  first  attempt  to 
bring  the  subject  before  intelligent  young  people.  Here  is 
one  paragraph :  "  As  the  reign  of  Edwin,  who  hearkened 
to  Christian  teaching,  was  followed  by  a  time  of  trouble 
and  relapse,  so  in  Madagascar  the  death  of  a  first  Radama 
was  followed  by  confusion  and  persecution,  till  a  second 
Radama,  like  another  Oswald,  once  more  invited  missionaries 
to  a  settlement  in  his  capital,  whence,  as  from  Lindisfarne, 
other  workers  may  go  forth.  Again,  we  read  of  houses  of 
prayer  raised  by  Ethelbert,  Edwin,  and  Offa.  Less  than 
twenty  years  ago  their  action  was  reflected  in  the  offering 
of  a  church  by  the  King  of  Mandalay.  Crowther  the  native, 
presiding  as  bishop  over  the  Church  of  West  Africa,  reminds 
us  of  Deusdedit,  the  first  English  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 
In  Aidan,  the  itinerating  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  we  have 
the  forerunner  of  Heber,  also  travelling  between  the  stations 
of  a  great  Church  still  in  its  infancy.  .  .  .  Again,  we  hear 
of  ta  small  island,  where,  under  Columba,  young  missionaries 
were  trained.  In  Norfolk  Island,  washed  by  Pacific  waves, 
we  may  now  look  at  a  similar  work  among  lads,  who  will 
disperse  to  light  torches  of  truth  in  many  Melanesian  homes. 
And  do  not  these  very  islands  remind  us  of  that  noble 
army  of  martyrs,  which  numbers  not  only  Aidan,  Edmund, 
Alphege,  but  Williams,  Patteson,  Hannington,  and  those 
who  during  the  past  year  have  in  China  sealed  their  faith 
with  blood?" 

Her   father  and  she  took  a  large  share  in  organising  the 


THE    CALL  45 

very  successful  C.M.S.  Exhibition  in  Kensington  in  April, 
1889,  and  also  helped  in  a  similar  exhibition  at  Bromley, 
Kent,  in  April,  1891.  Her  bright  face  became  familiar  to 
the  frequenters  of  the  Church  Missionary  House,  and  she 
grew  more  and  more  active  as  a  member  both  of  the 
Ladies'  Union  and  of  the  Gleaners'  Union. 

Effort  for  missions  was  no  isolated  thing ;  it  entered  into 
all  the  interests  of  her  life.  Her  influence  as  a  Sunday 
school  teacher  led  to  the  formation  for  the  Vicarage  Room 
School  of  a  working  party,  which  now  supports  a  cot 
in  the  Cairo  Hospital.  On  three  successive  Good  Fridays 
she  invited  the  "  Sowers'  Band "  of  the  Latymer  Road 
Mission  to  spend  a  missionary  evening  with  her  for  hymns 
at  the  organ  and  bright  talk,  illustrated  by  maps,  pictures, 
and  curiosities;  at  her  request  Miss  Laurence  (formerly 
of  Ningpo,  now  of  Hakodate)  came  to  address  the  whole 
Mission  school  in  January,  1892,  and  great  was  Irene's 
delight  at  having  "a  real  C.M.S.  missionary"  under  her 
roof  for  two  nights.  Her  musical  gifts  she  turned  to 
account  in  many  ways.  She  was  a  useful  member  of  the 
C.M.S.  ladies'  choir  at  Exeter  Hall  herself,  and  enlisted  other 
friends  with  good  voices,  asking  those  who  would  probably 
not  have  gone  to  the  annual  meetings  at  all,  unless  she 
had  proposed  to  them  to  help.  On  three  occasions  she 
organised  a  choir  for  the  Kensington  annual  C.M.S.  meeting. 

She  had  the  pleasure  of  introducing  to  each  other,  when 
they  were  both  about  to  offer  to  the  C.M.S.,  her  first  in- 
timate friends  in  the  tield — Miss  Katharine  Tristram,  B.A., 
now  Principal  of  the  Girls'  School  at  Osaka,  Japan,  and 
Miss  Minna  Tapson,  now  at  Hakodate.  They  went  out 
together  in  October,  1888;  and  one  result  was  that  Irene's 
own  thoughts  turned  to  the  Land  of  the  Rising  Sun,  her 
interest  being  further  quickened  by  intercourse  with  Miss 
Margaret   McLean,    nine   years   a   missionary  there,    and  by 


46  IRENE    PETRIE 

acquaintance  with  several  of  the  agreeable  and  highly  educated 
members  of  the  Japanese  Embassy  in  London,  who  were 
often  at  Hanover  Lodge. 

Another  result  was  a  rapid  development  of  missionary 
interest  in  the  College  by  Post.  Miss  Tristram  and  Miss 
Tapson  had  both  been  on  its  staff,  and  so  had  Miss 
Constance  Tuting,  who  went  out  in  1890  as  a  Zenana 
missionary,  whom  we  shall  meet  again  at  Amritsar,  and 
Miss  Kate  Batten,  who  went  to  Meerut  in  1892  with 
the  C.M.S. 

In  1892  Miss  Agnes  Andrews  started  in  her  Scripture  class 
a  "  Mite  Givers'  Guild."  It  was  at  once  taken  up  by  Irene, 
and  twenty-eight  members  of  her  class  very  soon  joined  it. 
Its  object  was  to  stimulate  interest  in  and  prayer  and  work 
for  foreign  missions,  and  its  rules  were  as  follows  : — 

1.  Each  member  shall  pray  regularly  for  foreign  missions, 
either  generally,  or  for  some  particular  branch. 

2.  Each  member  shall  give  regularly,  at  least  once  a  year, 
some  offering  of  work  or  money  to  a  missionary  society, 
taking  care  that  she  does  not  offer  to  God  that  which  costs 
her  nothing  in  the  way  of  time,  effort,  or  self-denial. 

3.  Each  member  shall  take  in,  or  borrow,  and  read  regularly 
some  missionary  periodical. 

4.  Each  member  shall  contribute,  if  possible,  to  the  Mite 
Givers'  Guild  packet. 

This  packet  went  round  to  the  members  thrice  a  year, 
and  contained  contributions  of  missionary  texts,  arranged 
under  suggestive  headings;  letters  from  the  field;  lists  of 
books  and  periodicals  recommended ;  subjects  for  prayer ; 
answers  to  stock  criticisms  of  missions,  etc.,  etc.,  sowing 
in  this  way  seeds  of  information  and  inspiration  in  the 
good  soil  of  minds  already  concentrated  on  earnest,  in- 
telligent Bible  study.  Irene  copied  out  for  one  number 
Tennyson's  "  Kapiolani "  as  a  striking  missionary  tale.     One 


THE    CALL  47 

remembers  her  characteristic  satisfaction  in  putting  up  together 
a  letter  from  a  Free  Kirk  missionary  in  Poona,  sent  by  one 
student,  and  a  letter  from  a  former  member  of  the  class, 
now  working  at  Poona  with  the  Cowley  Fathers.  She  felt 
strongly  that  missions  should  be  a  bond  of  union  between 
all  Christians. 

The  one  member  of  Irene's  Scripture  class  who  ever  won 
maximum  marks  was  Etheline  Clifford  Hooper.  Her  frail 
health  obliged  her  to  live  at  Davos  for  the  last  eight  years  of 
her  short  life,  and  there  among  her  fellow-invalids  she  formed 
an  earnest  branch  of  the  Gleaners'  Union.  "We  in  Davos 
need  to  use  intercessory  prayer  much,  as  we  are  cut  off 
from  much  active  service,"  was  a  sentence  in  a  letter  from 
her,  which,  when  she  passed  away,  on  October  aSth,  1892, 
Irene  repeated  to  the  whole  class,  adding,  "We  who  have 
come  slightly  into  touch  with  this  sweet  life  would  like  to 
catch  some  of  its  patience  and  whole-hearted  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  Christ." 

Results  of  such  effort  are  not  to  be  given  in  figures.  Only 
we  know  that  Irene  was  one  of  several  truly  missionary- 
hearted  teachers  in  the  College  by  Post,  and  that  a  very 
large  number  of  its  former  students  are  now  in  the  mission 
field. 

Irene  seems  to  have  given  her  first  missionary  address 
in  1888,  when  on  one  of  many  visits  to  the  widow  of 
Captain  Polhill-Turner,  M.P.,  of  Howbury  Hall,  Beds. 
Her  two  younger  sons  were  among  the  famous  "  Cambridge 
Seven"  who  went  out  to  China  in  February,  1885,  and  her 
eldest  daughter,  now  Mrs.  James  Challis,  wife  of  the  acting 
Principal  of  St.  John's  College,  Agra,  was  one  of  Irene's 
intimate  friends.     Irene's  diary  says  : — 

"  April  gth. — Bazaar.     Sold  and  sang. 

"April  xoth. — Gave  missionary  addresses  to  gentry,  after 
noon ;  to  people  of  Renhold  village,  evening." 


48  IRENE    PETRIE 

Addresses  at  Gleaners'  Unions,  Sunday  schools,  branches 
of  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society,  juvenile  drawing-room  meetings, 
the  "missionary  week"  at  Marylebone,  and  the  children's 
meeting  at  Islington  College  followed,  and  she  lost  no 
opportunity  of  teaching  herself  by  reading  and  by  hearing 
those  who  had  been  in  the  field.  One  observes  Kashmir 
as  the  subject  of  a  meeting  she  was  at  in  May,  1891, 
and  Elmslie's  Life  among  the  books  she  specially  recom- 
mended to  her  students.  Qualification  for  the  field  was 
her  object  in  working  for  the  National  Health  Society  medal, 
though  she  did  not  say  so.  Not  dreaming  idly  of  what  she 
would  do  out  there,  she  did  "the  next  thing"  here  quietly 
and  faithfully,  till  her  way  opened,  being,  as  Browning 
grandly  puts  it — 

Sure  that  God 
Ne'er  dooms  to  waste  the  strength  He  deigns  impart, 

The  months  flowed  on,  happy  in  their  manifold  activities, 
which  turned  more  and  more  into  one  channel,  and  deep 
in  her  heart,  too  sacred  for  utterance  yet,  lay  her  strengthening 
purpose.  Her  "  sunbeam  "  buoyancy  of  disposition  alternated 
with  occasional  fits  of  depression,  not  unknown  to  other  high- 
strung  and  ardent  natures  whose  powers  are  always  in  a  state  of 
tension.  In  such  moments  she  would  give  strong  expression 
to  the  fear  that  she  was  of  little  use,  was  doing  nothing  that 
would  not  be  done  as  well  if  she  were  not  in  existence. 

Ah  !  but  a  man's  reach  should  exceed  his  grasp, 
Or  what's  a  heaven  for? 

says  Browning  through  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  this  restlessness 
under  present  circumstances  was  the  symptom  that  more  and 
more  to  her  the  winning  of  souls  for  Christ  stood  out  as 
the  one  object  for  which  the  life  of  a  Christian  is  worth  living. 
The  final  resolve  was  arrived  at  in  October,  189T,  during 
the  last  of  a  particularly  delightful  round  of  northern  visits, 


THE    CALL  49 

on  which  Irene  and  her  guitar  had  been  more  than  ever  in 
request.  At  Rickerby,  in  Cumberland  (a  house  which  has 
just  given  a  son  to  the  C.M.S.),  she  met  Mr.  Robert  Wilder, 
the  founder  of  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  at  the 
Universities.  There  the  clear  call  to  leave  the  home  life 
was  heard  and  answered ;  but  she  did  not  speak  yet,  not  till 
February  14th,  1892,  for  which  the  entry  in  her  diary  is  just 
this  :  "  Told  May."  I  had  been  describing  some  February 
Simultaneous  Meetings  in  the  provinces,  and  telling  of  one 
zealous  young  candidate  for  service,  met  under  peculiarly 
interesting  circumstances,  who  now  sleeps  in  an  Indian  grave 
after  a  few  months  only  of  labour.  She  was  sitting  in  the 
firelight  that  Sunday  evening,  just  where  her  mother  sat 
when  she  dedicated  her  in  infancy  to  God,  as  she  told  that 
it  was  her  heart's  desire  to  be  an  honorary  missionary  of  the 
C.M.S.,  saying:  "I  am  willing  to  go  anywhere,  but  the  more 
I  read  the  more  I  see  that  India  generally,  and  the  Punjab 
specially,  is  the  place  where  the  fight  is  hottest  and  the  need 
of  reinforcements  greatest."  After  further  talk,  she  drafted 
a  letter  offering  to  the  C.M.S.  But  when  a  week  or  so  later 
she  told  her  father,  his  consternation  and  distress  were  such 
that  she  put  the  unsent  letter  aside  for  a  time.  To  her  he 
uttered  no  strong  disapproval,  still  less  forbade  her  to  go,  for 
he  warmly  sympathised  with  missionary  enterprise.  To  a 
neighbour  and  very  dear  friend,  however,  he  freely  expressed 
no  mere  selfish  reluctance  to  lose  the  light  of  his  eyes,  but 
a  fear,  justified  by  the  event,  that  one  who  had  been  so 
cherished  and  guarded,  who  had  never  known  hardship, 
whose  energy  was  always  greater  than  her  strength,  might 
soon  fall  a  victim  to  trying  climate  and  unremitting  toil ;  that 
a  most  valuable  life,  likely  to  be  prolonged  at  home,  would 
be  prematurely  cut  short  abroad.  A  sagacious  doctor  also 
said  plainly  that  no  one  with  Irene's  delicate  pink  ana  white 
complexion  ought  to  go  to  India. 

4 


50  IRENE    PETRIE 

Irene  can  never  have  regretted  the  postponement  of  her 
purpose  in  deference  to  her  father's  views.  For  just  three 
weeks  after  that  memorable  Sunday  evening  the  first  slight 
symptoms  of  what  was  to  prove  his  last  illness  appeared. 
Eight  months  followed,  during  which  we  passed  through  all 
the  stages  of  hoping  for  speedy  recovery  from  a  trifling 
ailment ;  fearing  the  illness  might  be  tedious ;  apprehending 
that  he  would  never  again  be  his  former  vigorous  self; 
that  his  days  would  be  numbered  ere  he  lived  out  the 
threescore  and  ten  years;  that  his  remaining  time  would  be 
short  and  suffering. 

This  deepening  shadow  lay  over  all  the  undiminished 
activities  of  that  summer,  and  over  our  last  family  travel 
to  Lakeland  and  the  Isle  of  Man.  We  were  at  Keswick  for 
the  Convention  in  July ;  and  Irene  sang  in  the  choir,  entered 
most  heartily  into  the  spirit  of  that  wonderful  gathering, 
attended  over  fifty  meetings,  enjoying  that  for  "  candidates " 
most  of  all,  and  greatly  delighted  in  a  renewal  of  intercourse 
with  Miss  Marsh.  The  ten  days  of  prayer  and  praise  and 
preaching  ended,  we  spent  a  further  quiet  week  in  our  cosy, 
white-washed,  rose-clad  cottage,  recalling  and  laying  up  in 
store  all  that  had  been  learned  and  heard  as  we  wandered 
over  the  Cumberland   fells. 

Irene  hardly  left  her  father  during  his  last  months  of 
declining  strength,  and  her  music  seemed  to  soothe  and 
relieve  him  more  than  aught  else.  He  fell  asleep  on 
November  19th,  1892.  It  was  midnight  on  November  23rd. 
The  drawing-room,  which  had  so  often  resounded  with  music 
and  laughter  when  he  was  the  most  genial  of  hosts,  was 
dim  and  still,  its  air  heavy  with  the  perfume  of  masses  of 
flowers  beneath  which  he  slept.  The  two  sisters,  each  all 
the  world  to  the  other  more  than  ever  now,  since  they  had 
no  remaining  near  relative,  clung  to  each  other,  thinking  that 
early  to-morrow  the  place  which  had  known  him  would  know 


THE    CALL  51 

him  no  more ;  and  one  of  them  silently  realised  that  the  going 
forth  of  the  other  would  not  be  much  longer  delayed. 

To  other  people  the  home  life  promised  to  flow  on  as 
of  old  for  the  orphans,  though  more  sadly  and  quietly. 
In  the  first  five  months  of  1893  Irene  spoke  twenty  times; 
for  the  Church  of  England  Temperance  Society,  for  the 
Scripture  Union,  and  for  the  C.M.S.,  counting  a  course  of 
seven  lectures  on  Hygiene  given  to  the  students  at  the 
Missionary  Training  Home,  Chelsea.  She  also  helped  in 
the  choir  for  the  February  Simultaneous  Meetings,  and  was 
one  of  three  bracketed  first  in  The  Gleaner  for  "  the  best  set 
of  three  Sunday  school  lessons  with  a  distinct  missionary 
bearing,"  which  were  published  in  the  number  for  April, 
1893.  The  Gleaner  for  March  announced  a  competitive 
examination  on  the  1892  volume,  for  which  Irene  had  set 
the  paper.  It  became  the  model  for  subsequent  ones, 
and  of  her  questions  Mr.  Stock  said  :  "They  are  really 
splendid;  like  all  good  questions,  suggestive  and  instructive 
before  one  finds  the  answers." 

"Content  to  stay  at  home  as  long  as  her  Father  willed, 
but  ready  to  go  forth  immediately  He  made  clear  the  way," 
is  the  true  description  given  of  her  at  this  time  by  one 
friend.  Another  friend,  to  whom  she  confided  her  per- 
plexity about  leaving  her  sister  quite  alone,  counselled  her 
to  wait  for  yet  plainer  guidance.  How  it  came,  she  herself 
tells  thus  in  a  letter  written  that  summer  to  a  third  in- 
timate :  "  Last  month  May  and  I  went  for  two  days  to  visit 
Mrs.  Carus-Wilson  at  her  beautiful  house  at  Hampstead. 
The  two  days  became  a  week,  and  then  a  second  short  visit 
was  planned,  resulting  in  May's  most  happy  engagement 
to  her  youngest  son.  .  .  .  The  wedding  will  (D.V.)  be  at 
the  end  of  August.  Directly  afterwards  they  sail  for  Montreal, 
where  he  is  Professor  of  Electrical  Engineering  at  McGill 
University.  .  .  .  May  and  I   propose   to   let  our  houi?   for 


52  IRENE    PETRIE 

a  year  or  two,  though  I  hope  they  will  return  and  make 
this  their  home  later  on.  ...  I  hope,  if  it  can  be  arranged, 
to  sail  for  India  about  October ;  for  this  change  in  May's 
life  seems  to  open  the  way  wonderfully  to  the  mission  field, 
where  my  heart  has  been  for  years." 

We  met  Professor  Carus-Wilson  for  the  first  time  on 
May  31st.  That  day  three  months  I  became  his  wife ;  that 
day  five  months  Irene  was  at  Gibraltar.  A  cousin,  and 
two  friends  for  whom  she  had  a  strong  affection,  said  to 
her  as  soon  as  the  engagement  was  announced,  "Let  my 
home  be  yours  now,  dear  Irene."  Or  she  could  have  lived 
on  in  the  old  home,  with  the  devoted  household  and  the 
encircling  friends,  dwelling,  like  the  lady  of  Shunem,  among 
her  own  people.  But  before  the  end  of  June  she  had 
taken  steps  towards  leaving  that  home  for  ever. 

She  went  out  with  joy,  her  heart's  desire  granted.  "  I 
shall  always  remember,"  writes  one,  '*  how  bright  and 
happy  she  looked  when  I  called  on  you  just  before  you 
married,  and  she  had  decided  to  go  to  India."  "  How 
beautiful  she  looked  upon  your  wedding-day,"  writes  a 
College  by  Post  colleague,  who  was  at  St.  Mary  Abbots  then ; 
and  the  radiance  of  unselfish  joy  on  the  face  of  the  first 
bridesmaid  struck  others  also.  "  I  only  knew  her  through 
her  letters,"  writes  another,  "and  one  little  glimpse  I  had 
of  her  at  Mrs.  Carus-Wilson's  wedding;  but  I  have  never 
forgotten  that  beautifully  bright  face — the  out-of-the-way 
brightness  of  it  once  seen,  I  should  think,  could  never 
be  forgotten." 

During  the  following  week,  quite  unknown  to  me,  she 
placed  in  the  packing-cases  which  were  going  from  the  old 
home  to  the  new  home  in  Canada  not  only  many  common 
possessions  which  we  esteemed  as  heirlooms,  but  many  of 
her  own  special  treasures.  One  little  thought  that  this 
deliberate  and'  unostentatious  act  was  her  forsaking  of  all 


THE    CALL  53 

that  she  had;  that  though  she  would  be  warmly  welcomed 
in  more  than  one  far-off  dwelling,  and  form  more  than 
one  congenial  friendship  beyond  the  seas,  she  would  never 
again  have  a  home  of  her  own,  or  more  than  passing  inter- 
course with  any  who  had  hitherto  made  her  life.  "  But 
we  know,"  she  wrote  to  her  sister  on  the  day  they  parted, 
"that  we  shall  meet  again  one  day  in  the  best  Home  of  all." 


CHAPTER    IV 

GOING   FORTH 

Measure  thy  life  by  loss  instead  of  gain  : 

Not  by  the  wine  drunk,  but  the  wine  poured  forth  ; 

For  love's  strength  standeth  in  love's  sacrifice. 

H.  E.  Hamilton  King,  The  Disciples. 

TWO  sisters  who  had  always  shared  each  others'  lives 
from  day  to  day  hitherto,  continued  to  share  them 
through  the  pen  when  half  the  circumference  of  the  globe 
divided  them.  Their  separation  of  exactly  three  and  a  half 
years  is  represented  by  almost  two  hundred  long  letters  from 
Irene.  Her  journals  and  letters  about  her  and  to  her  supple- 
ment these,  so  the  task  has  been  to  select  from  this  unusually 
complete  record  of  a  missionary's  labours  day  by  day.  As 
her  letters  travelled  in  at  least  eight  trains  and  steamers, 
visiting  ten  countries  and  four  continents  en  route,  the  fact 
that  not  one  failed  to  reach  Montreal  may  be  worth  noting. 
We  had  left  for  Canada  on  September  13th,  1893;  Irene 
sailed  for  India  on  October  27th.  The  intervening  six  weeks 
were  crowded  with  a  bewildering  number  of  claims  on  her  time, 
in  addition  to  all  the  ordinary  preparations  of  an  outgoing 
missionary.  For  each  bit  of  work  that  she  was  doing  at 
home  a  successor  had  to  be  found,  much  legal  and  other 
business  had  to  be  transacted,  and  friends  were  importunate 
in  their  desire  to  secure  a  last  interview.  Letters  and  gifts 
poured  in,  and  all  were  acknowledged,  though  she  was  driven 
to  say  at  last,  "  I  write  to  nearly  everyone  on  postcards  now." 

54 


GOING    FORTH  55 

Mrs.  Cams-Wilson  wished  to  have  her  at  Hampstead 
the  whole  time,  lest  she  should  feel  solitary  in  the  deserted 
home ;  and  as  far  as  it  was  possible  to  do  so  she  availed  herself 
of  this  kind  plan.  Though  she  actually  offered  to  travel  to 
Wales  to  comfort  a  sick  and  lonely  relative,  she  accepted  of 
one-and- twenty  urgent  invitations  to  friends  in  the  country  one 
only,  because  it  involved  a  task  as  well  as  a  farewell. 

So  one  night  was  spent  at  Ravensbury  Park,  in  order  to 
address  the  people  of  Mitcham.  The  writer  of  the  personal 
glimpses  quoted  from  on  p.  20  was  present,  and  introduces 
the  second  of  these  "glimpses"  by  speaking  of  her  call 
and  preparation  to  go  forth,  continuing  thus:  "Still  the 
preparation  foremost  in  Irene's  mind  was  that  of  gaining 
ever  fresh  fellow-labourers  for  her  Master's  harvest  field; 
nor  did  she  ever  count  any  too  feeble  or  too  young  to  be 
worth  the  trouble  to  win.  Another  picture  rises  before 
me  in  which  I  see  her,  only  a  month  before  her  departure, 
speaking  to  a  very  humble  gathering  of  village  school-children 
she  had  never  seen  before  about  the  joy  of  the  Master's  ser- 
vice, and  the  honour  of  sharing  in  it,  no  matter  how  humbly, 
or  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  So  earnestly  she  spoke  of 
the  importance  of  their  share  in  the  work,  and  so  simply 
of  her  own,  that  the  childish  hearts  were  kindled  with  the 
sense  of  fellowship,  and  roused  not  only  to  interest  in  God's 
work  in  heathen  lands,  but  also  to  humble  efforts  of  work 
and  prayer  for  it,  which  have  never  since  been  given  up." 

Miss  Mary  Bidder,  writing  to  Irene  from  Ravensbury  Park 
on  October  ist,  four  days  after  this  meeting,  says:  "I 
cannot  but  trust  that  God  will  bring  forth  much  fruit  from 
your  coming  here.  I  can't  tell  you  how  cheered  and  thankful 
I  feel  about  the  work  already."  She  goes  on  to  tell  how 
one  girl,  "immensely  keen  on  helping  in  some  way,"  ex- 
claimed, "  I  do  wish  I  was  going  out,  too ! '"  and  how  there 
was  a  general  desire   for   the   formation  of  a  working  party. 


56  IRENE    PETRIE 

(Of  that  visible  result  of  her  visit  we  shall  hear  again.) 
Miss  Bidder  is  representative  of  not  a  few  of  Irene's  friends 
when  she  adds :  "  Our  very  short  time  together  is  a  memory 
I  shall  always  love  to  look  back  upon.  It  has  given  me 
quite  a  new  and  very  delightful  feeling  of  personal  connection 
with  the  work  abroad."  Almost  a  year  and  a  half  later 
a  friend,  who  had  just  been  at  Ravensbury  Park,  wrote  thus 
to  Irene :  *'  What  a  blessing  was  your  visit  to  Mitcham  ! 
The  interest  you  have  excited,  which  is  well  kept  up  in 
the  hearts  of  those  girls,  is  wonderful." 

Three  days  after  her  visit  to  Mitcham,  Irene  fulfilled  a 
long-standing  engagement  in  London  by  giving  a  prkis 
of  Three  Martyrs  of  the  Nineteenth  Cefitury — Livingstone, 
Gordon,  and  Patteson,  by  Mrs.  Rundle  Charles,  to  a  literary 
club  of  which  she  was  a  member.  "  I  got  it  all  up  in  trains, 
so  it  has  not  really  cost  time,"  she  says  half  apologetically. 
This  was,  in  striking  contrast  to  the  Mitcham  address,  one 
more  effort  to  bring  the  missionary  subject  before  intelligent 
people  quite  outside  missionary  circles.  It  is  not  hard  to 
stir  up  unsophisticated,  religiously  disposed  people  for  the 
first  time ;  it  is  easy  to  throw  fresh  fuel  on  an  already 
kindled  enthusiasm.  But  she  never  shrank  from  the  task  of 
confronting  cold  criticism  and  generalities  of  condemnation, 
uttered  as  if  there  were  nothing  more  to  be  said,  by  those 
who  do  not  admit  their  real  ignorance  of  missionary  enter- 
prise. That  task  is  not  only  hard  but  apparently  thankless ; 
yet  as  we  note  that  the  work  of  Christ  abroad  rests  upon 
an  ever-broadening  basis  of  thoughtful  and  prayerful  support 
at  home,  we  cannot  doubt  that  words  spoken,  not  on  set 
occasions  only,  but  in  many  quiet  talks  by  such  as  Irene,  bear 
fruit,    especially  when  they   are  emphasised   by  the  life,  still 

more  by  the  death,  of  the  speaker.     "  Miss ,"  says  Irene 

of  the  leader  of  this  club,   "  was  very  kind,  but  rather  puzzled 
and  disappointed  in  me,  I  think,  and  actually  wanted  a  yes 


GOING    FORTH  57 

or  no  answer  to  the  question  whether  one  would  go  to  death 
(as  I  suppose  Perpetua  did)  if  offered  the  choice,  I  could 
only  think  of  the  man  who  asked  Moody  if  he  had  grace 
to  be  burned/  and  I  begged  her  to  remember  that  though 
many  of  the  greatest  saints  have  been  missionaries,  still  there 
may  be  missionaries  who  are  very  average  people,  and  should 
not  in  fairness  be  judged  by  a  superhuman  standard." 

While  some  friends  were  puzzled  and  even  regretful,  the 
discerning  sympathy  of  others  is  well  expressed  by  this  letter 
from  a  well-known  author  :  "  I  was  writing  to-day  to  con- 
gratulate your  sister,  and  I  felt  I  should  so  much  like  to 
congratulate  you,  too,  on  the  courage  you  have  had  to  do 
the  thing  you  felt  called  to  do.  I  trust  you  will  find  even 
earthly  happiness  in  the  new  life  you  are  going  to,  but 
whether  you  do  or  not  you  are  still  to  be  much  con- 
gratulated.    How  happy  they  that  are  called  and  obey ! " 

Fifty-two  College  by  Post  students  sent  her  a  cheque 
to  be  expended  in  a  medicine-chest  and  Urdu  books,  as 
a  little  tangible  proof  of  their  gratitude,  laden  with  loving 
wishes  for  her  success,  and  assuring  her  that  the  existing 
bond  of  prayerful  interest  and  sympathy  would  not  be  broken ; 
and  other  tokens  of  affection  from  those  she  had  taught  and 
helped  encouraged  her. 

From  October  9th  to  23rd,  she  secured  a  fortnight's  training 
at  The  Willows,  whence  so  many  women  missionaries  have 
gone  forth.  There  she  began  Urdu,  attended  the  Bethnal 
Green  Medical  Mission,  bandaging  the  sufferers  "  so  patient 
and  grateful  and  plucky  ";  enjoyed  "  the  perfectly  lovely  Bible 
readings  of  dear  Miss  Elliott" j^  and  received  much  kind 
and  wise    advice  from    Miss   Schroder,    "who  plans   every 

'  To  which  the  downright  evangelist  replied,  "No;  but  I  believe  it 
would  be  given  me  if  I  needed  it"  (a  favourite  anecdote  of  Irene's). 

*  Emily  Steele  Elliott,  author  of  several  well-known  books  and  of  some 
of  our  best  missionary  hymns.  She  died  August  3rd,  1897,  just  three 
days  before  Irene. 


58  IRENE    PETRIE 

day  splendidly  for  each  one  here."  Among  friends  made 
there  were  Miss  Coverdale,  whom  we  shall  meet  again, 
and  Miss  Hester  Newcombe,  "  a  saintly  member  of  a  family 
of  four  sisters,  all  missionaries  in  China,"  who  perished  in 
the  Kucheng  massacre,  August  ist,  1895.  Irene  threw 
herself  into  the  Willows  hfe  as  if  she  had  nothing  else 
to  think  of,  yet  even  from  that  fortnight  one  whole  day 
had  to  be  snatched  for  her  farewell  to  Kensington. 

Though  her  original  purpose  of  offering  to  the  C.M.S. 
eventually  remained  unchanged,  she  did  not  go  out  with 
that  Society.  In  1892  the  eldest  daughter  of  General 
Beynon  had  asked  us  if  we  could  find  among  our  friends 
one  or  two  ladies  willing  to  undertake  "for  one  winter,"  at 
their  own  charges,  work  which  resembled  parish  work  at  home 
among  poor  English-speaking  people  in  Lahore.  Miss  Beynon 
had  begun  to  organise  this  under  the  direction  of  the  Bishop 
of  Lahore ;  and  Irene  interested  in  the  scheme  a  fellow-teacher 
in  the  St.  Mary  Abbots  Sunday  School,  who,  being  a  widow 
and  childless,  was  looking  out  for  some  useful  occupation, 
and  quickly  arranged  to  go  to  Lahore.  To  Irene's  relatives 
it  seemed  a  good  plan  that  she  herself  should  go  with  Mrs. 
Engelbach  for  the  winter  to  the  friend  whose  enterprise  sorely 
needed  her  aid,  and  use  this  opportunity  of  making  some 
acquaintance  with  India  before  she  offered  to  the  C.M.S. 
for  work  that  she  would  wish  to  undertake  permanently  if 
she  undertook  it  at  all. 

General  and  Mrs.  Beynon  took  up  the  idea  of  her  join- 
ing their  daughter  eagerly,  and  she  received  the  following 
letters  :— 

From  Miss  Beynon :  "  Your  offer  to  join  me  at  Lahore 
for  the  winter  has  been  a  great  joy.  .  .  .  You  will 
bring  in  the  thorough,  practical  side,  which  I  know  would 
otherwise  have  been  so  sadly  lacking.      Good  sound  teaching 


->'     GOING    FORTH  59 

is  just  what  we  want  for  Lahore.  ...  It  seems  ahiiost  too 
good  to  be  true,  the  thought  of  having  you  for  a  co-worker. 
.  .  .  We  shall  never  be  able  to  spare  you  for  the  C.M.S. 
Not  that  I  grudge  anyone  for  missionary  work  amongst  the 
heathen  and  Mohammedans,  but  I  think  you  will  see,  as  I 
do,  before  you  have  been  long  in  this  country,  how  very 
important  the  work  of  building  up  the  Church  is  at  this 
present  time." 

From  the  Bishop  of  Lahore : 

"  Dear  Miss  Petrie, — 

"  I  must  write  a  few  lines  to  tell  you  how  thankful 
I  have  been  to  learn  from  Miss  Beynon  that  you  are  to 
be  associated  with  her  in  the  winter.  .  .  .  You  may  be  assured 
of  a  very  hearty  welcome  from  me.  I  feel  sure  that  nothing 
will  help  to  raise  the  tone  of  our  Anglo-Indian  society  more 
than  the  presence  of  ladies  who  have  come  out  from  England 
to  help  our  poorer  people.  Many  who  have  hitherto  not 
seen  their  way  to  do  anything  for  the  good  of  their  neigh- 
bours will  have  the  way  opened  to  them.  .  .  .  Hoping  and 
believing  that  you  will  come  to  this  work  in  the  fulness 
of  the  blessing  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ, 

"  I   remain,   yours  sincerely, 

"  Henry  J.  Lahore." 

The  Kensington  Deanery  Branch  of  the  Gleaners'  Union 
invited  *'  all  interested  in  missionary  work "  to  the  Vicarage 
Parish  Room  on  October  i8th,  1893,  "to  bid  Godspeed  to 
Mrs.  Engelbach  and  Miss  Irene  Petrie."  "It  was  Irene's 
wish  that  I  should  share  her  farewell  meeting,"  says  Mrs. 
Engelbach,  "  though  I  was  only  going  to  fill  a  gap  for  a 
few  months,  and  she  was  going  as  an  actual  missionary."  The 
room  was  so  full  that  many  stood  throughout.  After  Miss 
Bland,  a  missionary  for  twenty  years  at  Agra,  had  described 
India's  needs,  and  Mrs.  Engelbach   had  said  a  few  words. 


6o  IRENE    PETRIE 

Irene,  speaking  as  a  member  from  childhood  of  the  parochial 
Missionary  Union,  told  where  they  were  going,  quoted  and 
met  the  various  objections  to  her  enterprise  which  friends 
had  raised,  and  urged  the  privilege  of  the  work  and  our 
responsibility  for  it.  Her  audience  (says  the  friend  who 
wrote  down  these  particulars)  were  not  only  impressed  with 
her  earnestness,  but  charmed  with  her  sweet  manner  and 
voice,  as  well  as  with  the  excellence  of  her  matter.  "  I  had 
never  heard  her  speak  in  public,"  says  another  who  was 
present,  "and  she  astonished  me.  It  was  beautiful."  Then 
the  Vicar,  closely  scanning  the  gathering,  which  included 
many  who  had  come  there  solely  from  personal  friendship, 
said  playfully,  "We  don't  often  get  the  likes  of  some  of 
you  at  a  missionary  meeting,  and  we  will  let  you  have  it 
now  we  have  got  you";  and  so  proceeded  to  press  home 
the  duty  of  all  Christians  to  aid  in  the  evangelisation  of  the 
world,  and  concluded  by  solemnly  commending  them  both  in 
prayer  with  the  Aaronic  benediction.  Then  Sunday  school 
pupils,  girl  friends,  and  many  who  had  known  her  from 
childhood,  thronged  her  for  good-byes,  which,  she  says,  "  were 
overwhelming,"  till  Lady  Mary  Glyn  carried  her  off  to  the 
Vicarage  for  tea.  Other  friends  claimed  her  for  dinner,  and 
so  ended  her  present  intercourse  with  kith  and  kin ;  but 
the  results  of  that  farewell  are  far  from  being  ended. 

She  left  the  Willows  on  October  23rd— "such  a  day  of 
kisses  and  birthday  books  "—and  three  breathless  days  suc- 
ceeded. "  It  was  easy  enough  to  see  what  a  wrench  it  was 
to  her  to  leave  the  old  home,  though  she  did  not  break 
down,"  writes  one  with  her  at  the  end;  and  the  unforced 
liveUness  of  her  letters  during  those  last  weeks  in  England 
shows  how  wonderfully  she  realised  that  "the  Lord  daily 
beareth  our  burden."  She  quotes  in  one  of  them  the  above 
revised  rendering  of  Psalm  Ixviii.  19,  as  a  sustaining  as- 
surance;   and    her     thought     on     starting    is    this:    "God 


GOING    FORTH  6i 

grant   that   I   may  not  hinder  His  use   of  His  little,  feeble 
'■'^strument  in  whatever  way  He  sees  best." 

Amid  the  Godspeed  of  neighbours,  who  describe  her  as 
"wonderfully  bright,"  though  she  had  had  but  two  hours  in 
bed  the  night  before,  she  quitted  Hanover  Lodge  early  on 
October  27th.  Many  friends  had  collected  at  Liverpool  Street 
station,  whence  she  started  for  Tilbury,  to  see  her  off;  and 
the  mother  and  sister  of  her  new  brother,  with  one  girl 
friend  and  Elliott,  did  not  part  from  her  till  she  was  in  her 
cabin,  and  waved  their  last  farewells  as  the  Carthage  swept 
slowly  down  the  river.  Her  "supreme  comfort,"  when  the 
homeland  and  all  its  familiar  faces  vanished,  was  the  Lord's 
promise  to  His  first  missionaries,  *'  Lo,  I  am  with  you 
alway." 

As  she  settled  into  the  floating  abode  of  the  next  twenty- 
five  days,  she  wrote :  "  Psalm  ciii.  i,  2  is  the  main  burden 
of  my  thoughts  at  this  moment,  even  after  the  parting  from 
beloved  ones  and  the  dear  old  home.  The  wonderful  thought 
of  hundreds  of  praying  friends  to- day,  and  the  strong  realisa- 
tion that  their  prayers  are  being  definitely  answered,  is  almost 
overwhelming.  I  could  never  have  believed  that  everything 
would  have  gone  so  easily  and  beautifully  down  to  the  tiniest 
details  as  it  has  done ;  and  the  great  peace  He  gives  us,  and 
the  sunshine  of  wondrous  lovingkindness  with  which  I  have 
been  encompassed,  teaches  more  plainly  than  ever  that  we 
should  trust  and  not  be  afraid."  She  passes  lightly  over 
thirty-six  hours  of  helpless  misery  in  the  Bay  of  Biscay, 
with :  "  So  much  for  the  '  cons.'  Now  for  the  '  pros,'  which 
far  outweighed  them.  First,  that  I  am  here  on  board  at 
all ;  the  unwonted  leisure  makes  it  possible  to  realise  more 
than  ever  what  a  wonderful  privilege  this  calling  is,  and  how 
graciously  my  way  has  been  smoothed  and  made  plain.  Then, 
the  sweet  recollections  of  perfect  home  happiness,  which,  if 
it  must  now  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  is  a  possession  nothing 


62  IRENE    PETRIE 

can  deprive  me  of.  Thirdly,  the  extraordinary  kindness  of 
my  companions  in  every  possible  way." 

The  two  hundred  and  fifty  passengers  included  over  thirty 
missionaries,  British,  American,  and  Canadian,  and  with  these 
there  was  delightful  intercourse.  One  Sunday  evening  the 
service  was  read  by  a  C.M.S.  clergyman,  and  the  sermon  was 
preached  by  the  veteran  Presbyterian  Dr.  Valentine,  for  thirty- 
two  years  connected  with  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Mission.  "  It 
was,"  she  says,  "  like  being  suddenly  transported  to  a  Scottish 
kirk  to  sit  under  the  dear  old  man,  and  to  me  this  union  of 
Christendom  seemed  an  ideal  arrangement."  Miss  Jenkins, 
M.D.,  of  Lucknow,  and  Miss  Bowesman,  going  to  Lucknow 
after  some  years  in  the  mission  hospital  at  Madagascar,  with 
Miss  Thom,  an  honorary  missionary  in  Bangalore  since  1875, 
shared  her  cabin.  At  Irene's  suggestion  a  forenoon  Bible 
class  was  started,  taken  by  the  missionaries  in  turn,  and 
attended  by  between  twenty  and  thirty  passengers.  Her 
own  subject  was  St.  Paul's  work  and  teaching  at  Philippi, 
as  illustrating  modern  missionary  difificulties  and  encourage- 
ments ;  for  she  was  taking  the  Acts  and  Epistles  "  as  an  extra 
Bible  study  to  refresh  one's  memory  as  to  Biblical  methods 
of  missionary  work."  Of  course  she  contributed  to  the 
concert,  helped  in  painting  the  programmes  sold  for  the 
Sailors'  Orphanage,  and  made  many  sketches;  and  of  course 
not  a  few  of  the  children  on  board  were  to  be  found  buzzing 
round  her  paint-box  and  listening  eagerly  to  Bible  stories 
connected  with  the  lands  they  passed.  So  the  days  went  by, 
"painting,  reading,  writing,  walking,  talking,  and  wondering 
how  some  folks  can  have  time  for  cards  and  yellow-backs." 

Her  intense  delight  in  the  "wonderful  sights"  of  the 
voyage,  "  far  more  interesting  and  beautiful  than  even  I 
expected,"  finds  expression  at  every  turn :  Gibraltar,  "  rising 
up  like  Arthur's  Seat  doubled";  Marseilles,  "like  Florence 
from   San   Miniato,  but   with   even  more   striking   hills    sur- 


GOING    FORTH  63 

rounding  it,"  where  she  had  to  do  most  of  the  talking,  and 
quoted  John  iii.  16  to  the  woman  that  showed  them  the 
new  cathedra],  who  did  not  consider  the  text  quite  complete 
w'ithout  adding  "  <?/  sa  bonne.  Mere"  after  "son  Fih  unique." 
November  6th  was  "  a  red-letter  day  of  sights,"  culminating 
in  Etna,  "  which  stood  out  long  against  the  golden  afterglow, 
with  the  evening  star  set  in  its  midst  as  a  diamond  in  a 
diadem."  Then,  at  Port  Said,  she  got  her  "first  glimpse  of 
the  East,  with  its  utter  squalor  and  gorgeous  colouring,  every 
figure  a  picture,"  and  sunset  was  followed  by  an  hour  of 
crimson  and  golden  afterglow  on  the  Suez  Canal.  "  I  never 
knew  what  starlight  was  till  now ;  the  sky  is  literally  powdered 
with  light."  When  they  reached  Aden,  she  spent  three  nights 
on  deck,  eagerly  hoping  to  see  the  Southern  Cross.  "  I  fell 
asleep  with  Psalm  viii.,  and  woke  to  the  golden  splendour 
of  an  Oriental  dawn  with  Psalm  xix.,  to  realise  as  never 
before  what  a  giant  among  poets  King  David  was." 

But  all  through  the  missionary  predominates  over  the 
traveller.  "We  are  in  lat.  12°  N.  now,  and  it  is  sadly  thrilling 
to  think  of  the  lands  on  each  side  where  Christ  is  not  loved." 
And  bravely  as  she  enjoyed  and  helped  others  to  enjoy 
the  voyage,  pangs  of  loneliness  were  inevitable.  After  the 
concert  she  writes :  "  It  is  just  a  year  since  I  sang  at  a 
concert.  How  strange  it  was  to  sit  in  the  balmy  air  among 
all  the  new  faces  on  shipboard,  and  look  back  over  the 
great  events  of  1893  to  that  charity  concert  in  Marylebone ! 
What  an  effort  it  was  to  keep  the  promise  to  sing  then,  with 
the  presentiment  of  sorrow,  realised  only  too  soon  after! 
That  very  night,  as  I  watched  by  the  dear  father  through 
the  silent  hours,  a  change  for  the  worse  set  in.  And  now 
he  has  been  resting  '  at  home  with  the  Lord '  all  these 
months,  and  we,  who  comforted  each  other  then,  are  being 
separated  farther  every  day,  though  each  comforted  by  Him 
Who  said,  '  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans,  I  come  unto  you.' " 


64  IRENE    PETRIE 

The  Carthage  reached  Bombay  at  lo  a.m.  on  November 
2oth,  and  Irene  set  foot  on  Indian  soil  "  in  the  midst,"  she  says, 
"  of  a  strange,  dark  throng,  with  red  turbans  and  white  robes, 
shouting  in  many  tongues.  It  was  wonderfully  picturesque 
and  tremendously  exciting ;  but  the  first  thing  I  noticed  was 
saddening — the  heathen  marks  on  the  handsome,  intelligent 
faces.  Oh,  when  will  our  King  reign  '  from  India  even  unto 
Ethiopia?'"  At  Bombay  she  stayed  with  Dr.  Arnott,  Head 
of  the  Government  Hospital,  which  is  reckoned  one  of  the 
finest  in  India.  "A  drive  of  several  miles  brought  us  to 
Malabar  Hill,  first  through  the  busy  streets  of  the  second 
city  in  our  Empire,  with  all  their  strange  new  sights  and 
brilliant  colouring,  and  street  names  in  English,  Urdu,  Hindi, 
and  Mahratti ;  then  up  the  hill,  past  '  the  towers  of  silence ' 
hidden  behind  splendid  trees  and  foliage,  among  the  branches 
of  which  the  ghastly  vultures  were  wheeling.  Then  we  looked 
down  upon  the  harbour,  over  a  grand  forest  of  palm-trees, 
and  out  to  the  mountains  beyond.  .  .  .  We  turned  into  a 
lovely  garden,  and  stopped  under  a  lofty  portico,  supported  by 
white  pillars,  rising  from  among  masses  of  maidenhair  fern, 
eucharis,  lilies,  tea-roses,  and  stephanotis.  A  row  of  stately, 
turbaned  figures  appeared  salaaming,  among  them  an  ayah 
with  a  lovely,  fair  babe  of  eleven  months,  all  saying  polite 
things  which  I  could  neither  understand  nor  answer. 
They  ushered  me  through  a  lofty  hall,  lifted  a  white  purdah, 
and  displayed  a  bedroom  fifty  by  thirty  feet  in  size,  with 
eleven  doors  in  all.  The  stateliest  of  the  men  began  by 
pouring  water  into  the  basins  and  hanging  my  things  in  the 
wardrobe.  My  bewildered  feelings  were  relieved  by  the 
appearance  of  a  graceful  Goa  Christian  ayah,  who  explained 
in  good  English  that  her  mistress,  having  waited  since  day- 
light for  the  belated  Carthage  passenger,  had  been  obliged 
to  go  out,  and  would  be  back  to  tiffin  at  two.  Would  I 
like  a  bath,  breakfast,  dinner,  or  what  ?     Finally  she  brought 


GOING    FORTH  65 

a  frosted  silver  set,  with  the  very  nicest  tea  I  ever  tasted, 
and  oh,  joy !  real  cow's  milk.  During  the  next  hour  I 
thought  it  must  all  be  a  wonderful  fairy-tale — the  fragrant 
smell  of  the  East,  the  space,  peace,  quiet,  rest,  the  song 
of  birds,  the  voices  of  native  servants  in  distant  corridors, 
and,  more  than  all,  the  sight  when  I  stepped  out  on  the 
broad  verandah  and  looked  across  the  gardens,  away  over 
the  palm-trees,  to  the  expanse  of  sea.  Imagining  the  heat 
and  foliage  of  July,  the  green  and  blossom  of  Mayday, 
and  the  freshness  of  Easter,  would  give  but  a  faint  idea  of 
what  I  saw.  Was  I  dreaming,  and  could  it  be  true  that  the 
dear  folks  in  London  were  shivering  in  fog  at  that  moment  ? 
The  reverie  was  broken  by  a  sweet  voice,  unmistakably 
Scottish,  and  my  kind  hostess  appeared,  giving  the  most 
charming  of  welcomes." 

As  Irene  had  personal  friends,  or  introductions  to  friends 
of  friends,  at  many  places  on  the  way  to  Lahore,  several 
weeks  might  have  been  pleasantly  spent  in  sight-seeing,  but 
for  desire  to  get  to  work  as  quickly  as  possible.  She  left 
Bombay  on  November  21st,  with  Mrs.  Engelbach  and  the 
young  widow  of  the  Hon.  Ion  Keith-Falconer,  that  brave 
and  able  son  of  the  late  Earl  of  Kintore,  who  gave  up  the 
Professorship  of  Arabic  at  the  University  of  Cambridge  to 
lead  a  forlorn  hope  as  a  pioneer  missionary  in  Arabia,  and 
died  at  Aden  on  May  nth,  1887.  Mrs.  Keith-Falconer, 
whom  Irene  had  known  in  London,  was  travelling  with  hei 
brother  for  health,  and  had  come  on  board  the  Carthage  at 
Ismailia.  She  journeyed  with  them  to  Lahore,  and  some  ten 
weeks  later  joined  Miss  Beynon  there  for  two  months. 

They  were  ten  days  on  the  road  to  Lahore,  seventy  hours, 
or  three  days  and  nights,  of  which  were  passed  in  the  train. 
Their  halts  were  at  Jeypore,  capital  of  Rajputana,  where  they 
were  guests  of  Colonel  Jacob  ;  Agra,  where  Friday  to  Monday 
was    spant  with   Miss   Brownell,   of  the   Female   Education 

5 


66  IRENE    PETRIE 

Society ;  Delhi,  where  they  saw  something  of  the  mission 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  were 
warmly  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Winkworth  Scott  when  her  fear, 
founded  on  a  not  very  explicit  letter  of  introduction,  that 
they  were  "  only  globe-trotters  "  was  dispelled ;  and  Meerut, 
where  they  stayed  with  the  Rev.  J.  P.  Elhvood,  of  the  C.M.S. 
As  the  train  whirled  them  through  the  great  plains,  with  their 
hedges  of  cactus,  the  maize  fields  fresh  and  green  after  the 
rains,  the  stony  rivers,  the  great  cities  and  teeming  villages^ 
Irene  noted,  first  of  all,  the  absence  of  the  church  spires  so 
conspicuous  in  Britain. 

Jeypore  was  reached  at  5  a.m.  on  the  23rd,  and  while 
the  others  rested,  Irene,  escorted  by  a  Christian  lad  educated 
in  Dr.  Duffs  school,  set  off,  as  she  says,  "for  the  funniest 
walk  I  ever  had;  along  a  good  road,  with  gas  lamp-posts, 
strange  trees  and  birds  on  each  side,  and  many  kinds 
of  animals  driven  by  swarthy  Rajputs,  whose  most  im- 
portant garment  was  a  large  towel  round  the  head.  They 
evidently  considered  a  white  lady  out  of  a  gari  an  extra- 
ordinary sight."  She  met  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Jacob  in 
the  gardens  at  8  a.m.,  and  a  long  day  was  spent  exploring 
a  town  rather  off  the  tourist  track,  with  only  thirteen 
Europeans  to  its  one  hundred  and  forty-three  thousand  in- 
habitants. "This  is  such  an  interesting  place,"  she  says. 
"  Fancy  meeting  parrots,  camels,  squirrels,  monkeys,  and 
elephants  in  the  streets.  The  late  Maharajah  was  a  very 
advanced  man,  who  aimed  at  giving  a  European  education  to 
his  people,  and  founded  a  school  of  native  art  and  a  grand 
museum.  Here  are  gathered  together  curios  from  all  parts 
of  India  and  of  the  world,  which  are  shown  by  an  English 
speaking  guide,  who,  in  pointing  out  Hindu  deities,  re- 
marked, *  They  are  still  believed  in  by  some  of  the  people.' " 

At  Agra  they  saw  the  renowned  Taj  Mahal  in  the  light 
of  the  full  moon.      "  How   can   I   attempt    to   describe   its 


GOING    FORTH  67 

overwhelming  grandeur  and   loveliness?  .  .  .  Realisation  far 
exceeded  expectation,    great   as   that  had  been,"      After  an 
account  of  the  matchless  monument  which  the  Mogul  Emperor 
raised  to  the  lovely  Nur  Jehan,   she  continues :     "  We  had 
all   been   sentimentalising   about   the    beautiful    devotion    of 
Shah   Jehan   as  a  husband,  but  took  rather  a  different  view 
on   realising   that   the   Taj  was   built   by  forced  labour,    the 
families   of   unpaid   workpeople    being    left    to    starve,    and 
on   hearing   of  chambers   of  horror   in  the  fort  where  Shah 
Jehan  would   amuse  himself  by  watching   the  less   favoured 
wives   being   put   to   death  when   he   tired   of  them."      She 
also   tells   how   the  intelligent   Tommy   Atkins   who   was   in 
charge   of    the   visitors'   book   at   the   fort   valued   efforts   to 
promote    temperance    among    the    troops,    and   spoke    with 
much  appreciation  of  the  work  of  ladies,  saying  the  soldiers 
would  do  anything  for  a  lady  who  would  work  among  them. 
She   met    at   Agra   Mrs.    Challis,  whom   she   had   known   as 
Miss  Polhill-Turner,  and  on  Sunday  worshipped  for  the  first 
time    with    Hindu   Christians.      "A   congregation    of    some 
three    hundred   assembled,    men    on    one    side,    women    on 
the   other.      The    service    in   Urdu   was   conducted    by   the 
Rev.  W.  McLean,  of  the  C.M.S.,  and  the  native  clergyman, 
the  Rev.  William   Seetal.^      'Jesu,   Lover   of  my   soul,'  'O 
worship  the  King,'  and  other  hymns,  were  sung  with  great 
fervour,   and    familiar    chants    were    used.      I    noticed    the 
prayer  for    the    'Qaisar-i-Hind'   and   for    the    ruler   of    this 
land.     Mr.  McLean  said  that  nearly  everyone  present  at  the 
service   was   far    more   than   a    Christian    merely  in    name ; 
and    told    of    another    service    in    the    evening    conducted 
entirely    by   native    pastors,   where    the    congregation    squat 
on    the   floor,    and    sing    bhajans.      He    looks    forward    to 
baptising  a  leading   Hindu   pundit   on   Christmas  Day.  .  .  . 

'  He  was  ordained   in    1881,  and   was  one  of  the  Indian  clergy  who 
came  to  London  for  the  Centenary  of  the  C.M.S.,  April,  1899, 


68  IRENE    PETRIE 

I  would  like  to  show  that  native  congregation  at  Agra  to 
people  who  say  missionary  work  is  hopeless  and  a  failure." 
Indefatigable  pedestrian  as  she  was,  Irene  no  longer  walked, 
as  she  had  done  at  Jeypore.  "It  is  strange,"  she  writes 
from  Agra,  "  to  have  suddenly  become  carriage  folk ;  but 
in  India  I  find  there  is  no  choice.  Between  the  difficulties 
of  sun  and  escort,  walking,  to  my  great  grief,  is  well-nigh 
impracticable ;  and  carriages,  like  fruit  and  servants,  are  in- 
expensive luxuries  out  here.  Ladies  could  hardly  walk 
through  the  crowded  city  bazars,  which  are  most  interesting, 
though  in  many  ways  saddening  sights.  People  who  talk 
of  East  London  squalor,  poverty,  degradation,  and  need  of 
sanitation,  should  come  and  look  here ;  as  for  me,  sitting 
in  luxury  in  the  midst  of  the  street,  I  felt  ashamed  to  think 
how  httle  impression  for  good  my  sheltered  life  with  all  its 
surroundings  had  made.  And  turning  from  material  to 
spiritual  things,  how  much  more  dreadful  and  searching 
are  these  comparisons  ! " 

At  Delhi  they  were  met  by  the  Bishop  of  Lahore  and 
the  Rev.  G.  A.  Lefroy,  of  the  Cambridge  Delhi  Mission, 
who  became  Dr.  Matthew's  successor  as  Bishop  of  Lahore 
in  1899.  "So  far  from  scolding  us  for  lingering  on  our 
way,  the  Bishop  told  us  that  he  had  himself  been  planning 
a  picnic  from  Delhi  to  the  Kutab,  that  we  might  use  his 
one  free  day  in  becoming  acquainted."  No  one  who  cares 
for  either  history  or  architecture  could  fail  to  be  excited  by 
a  visit  to  the  ancient  capital  of  the  Great  Mogul.  In  a  day 
and  a  half  Irene  saw  much,  but  passing  over  enthusiastic 
descriptions  of  mosques  and  mausoleums,  temples,  gardens, 
and  palaces,  one  extract  only  from  her  journal  shall  be  given  : 
"  In  Delhi  the  impression  of  heathenism  seemed  more  pain- 
ful than  in  any  other  city  I  have  seen.  These  swarming 
multitudes  without  God  and  without  hope  are  an  awful  sight, 
and  the  impress  of  heathenism  seems  to  be  on  their  faces. 


GOING    FORTH  69 

Longing  to  like  them  all,  we  almost  shudder  sometimes 
at  the  expressions  of  people  who  have  grown  up  without 
Christianity.  .  .  .  The  guide  called  our  attention  to  a  com- 
motion in  a  narrow  side  street,  and  a  Hindu  funeral  procession 
emerged  from  it — a  crowd  of  gaudily  dressed  figures,  some 
carrying  great  bunches  of  feathers,  some  with  instruments, 
singing  and  producing  discordant  noises,  all  dancing  and 
jerking,  even  those  who  carried  the  string  bedstead  on  which 
was  the  poor  body  tightly  swathed  in  gay-coloured  cloth. 
That  was  the  most  terribly  sad  sight  we  saw  at  all.  What 
about  the  dead  man,  and  the  people  who  have  cared  for 
him,  knowing  nothing  of  our  blessed  Hope?  How  many 
more  of  such  scenes  must  there  be  before  they  hear  of  it  ? 
How  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher?  Would  that  people 
at  home  who  talk  of  the  mistake  of  disturbing  the  heaihen 
in  their  nice,  simple  faiths  could  see  what  we  have  seen  in 
one  week  here !  " 

In  Meerut  they  were  entertained  at  the  C.M.S.  station, 
once  the  Commissioner's  house  in  which  the  Indian  Mutiny 
broke  out.  The  hut  where  the  ladies  of  the  family  were 
hidden  on  that  dreadful  May  loth,  1857,  is  still  shown. 
"  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ellwood  have  been  out  twenty-two  years," 
says  Irene,  "  and  their  daughter  announced  her  wish  to  be  a 
C.M.S.  missionary  at  last  year's  Keswick  Convention,  where 
I  remember  being  greatly  stirred  by  Mr.  Ellwood's  words.  .  .  . 
Their  home  was  an  ideal  resting-place  :  all  simple,  dainty, 
and  refined,  and  the  inmates  so  cultured  and  interesting ;  it 
was  a  privilege  to  be  with  them." 

^^  November  30M  (St.  Andniv's  Day). — Last  year  we 
were  joining  in  the  home  intercessions  for  the  work; 
to-day  we  are  in  the  midst  of  the  work.  .  .  .  After  break- 
fast we  started  with  Miss  Stroelin,  of  the  Church  of 
England  Zenana  Missionary  Society,  who  has  been  in  India 
twelve    years,   and    actually    lives    all    alone,    and    tries    to 


7©  IRENE    PETRIE 

cope  singlehanded  with  work  that  could  easily  occupy  two 
or  three  of  the  good  people  at  home  who  are  so  much 
wanted  out  here.  First  we  visited  the  Christian  Girls' 
School,  where  rows  of  tiny  children  of  heathen  parents 
sing  bhajans,  play  kindergarten  games,  and  learn  to  read 
and  write.  Two  little  brides  of  about  ten  were  among 
them.  Miss  Strcelin  interpreted  while  we  talked  to  them 
and  told  them  about  our  Kensington  children.  Then 
we  went  to  a  rich  Hindu  zenana,  up  steep  stairs  into 
a  messy  room,  where  some  untidy  children  were  playing 
with  a  lovely  little  bride  of  fifteen.  She  is  Miss  Ellwood's 
pupil,  and  has  one  of  the  sweetest  and  most  pathetic  faces 
we  ever  saw.  Her  mother-in-law,  a  huge  and  ignorant  but 
kindly  woman,  took  her  rich  trousseau  out  of  a  chest — 
skirts  and  saris  heavy  with  gold  and  silver  embroidery,  and 
glittering  silks.^  Then  we  went  through  a  small,  squalid 
court  to  a  poor  zenana ;  then  to  a  grand  bungalow  in  Euro- 
pean style,  and  were  ushered  by  female  servants  in  close- 
fitting  pyjamas  into  a  large  sitting-room,  where  one  would 
hke  to  set  a  good  English  housemaid  to  work.  Here  three 
Begums  (princesses  in  a  small  way),  likewise  in  pyjamas,  were 
gathered  with  books  and  crochet  work  at  a  table.  They 
are  daughters  of  an  *  advanced '  Mohammedan,  and  though 
the  eldest  is  nearly  twenty,  they  are  not  married,  which  is 
very  unusual.  Their  stepmother  joined  us,  and  was  very 
polite.  She  produced  the  photo  of  the  Qaisar-i-Hind,  and 
liked  to  hear  that  I  had  kissed  her  hand.  '  Had  it  been 
at  a  big  durbar  that  I  had  seen  Her  Majesty  ? '  Tea  was 
served  for  us  in  the  hall,  quite  in  the  European  style,  our 
hostess's  brother  presiding.  It  was  indeed  a  morning  never 
to  be  forgotten." 

'  Two  months  later  Irene  wrote  :  "I  have  such  a  nice  letter  from 
MisL  Ellwood,  telling  how  near  that  sweet  little  Hindu  bride  seems  to 
Christianity.     I  fear  persecution  may  be  in  store  for  her." 


GOING    FORTH  71 

On  December  ist,  at  7  p.m.,  a  warm  welcome  from  Miss 
Beynon  to  St.  Hilda's  Diocesan  Home  ended  the  journey 
of  exactly  five  weeks  from  London  to  Lahore.  "  How  grate- 
ful we  are,"  writes  Irene,  "  for  all  the  thoughts  and  prayers 
which  have  been  so  wonderfully  answered  in  our  safety  and 
health  all  through,  and  in  the  many  pleasures  we  have  had. 
...  Oh  that  we  may  be  used  in  some  little  degree  to  do  the 
will  of  God  for  this  great  Empire  ! " 


CHAPTER    V 

A  WINTER   IN   LAHORE 

(December  ist,  1893,  to  April  19TH,  1894) 

Let  thine  eyes  look  right  on.— The  Proverbs  of  Solomon. 

INDIA  must  be  recognised  as  being  a  continent  rather 
than  a  country.  Within  its  borders  over  a  hundred 
different  languages  are  spoken  by  races  differing  as  widely 
in  their  character  and  history  as  they  do  in  their  colour ;  and 
Britain,  France,  Spain,  Scandinavia,  Germany,  Austria,  Italy, 
Turkey,  and  Greece  all  together  are  of  smaller  extent  than 
"  British  India,"  which  contains  provinces  and  peoples  as 
various  as  those  of  all  Europe.  Rather  more  than  half  of 
this  territory  is  under  direct  British  rule ;  the  rest  consists 
of  states  under  native  administration,  in  political  subordination 
to  the  British  Government. 

Historically  and  ethnographically  the  most  interesting 
country  in  this  continent  is  a  region  about  the  size  of  Italy, 
with  a  population  exceeding  that  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
together,  which  is  watered  by  five  great  tributaries  of  the. 
Indus,  and  called,  therefore,  the  Land  of  the  Punjab — that 
is,  of  the  Five  Rivers.  This  was  the  "  India  "  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  and  the  limit  of  his  victorious  march  eastward  is 
now  the  limit  of  British  conquest  westward.  Again  and  again 
the  power  holding  the  Punjab  has  become  the  dominant 
power  throughout  Hindustan.      Peopled,  as  Lord  Lawrence 

19 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  73 

said,  by  the  bravest,  most  determined,  and  most  formidable 
races  British  arms  in  India  have  ever  met,  it  is  still  the  great 
recruiting  ground  for  the  Indian  army.  It  became  part  of 
British  India  in  1849,  and  eight  years  later  its.  loyalty  saved 
the  British  Raj  in  the  terrible  days  of  the  Mutiny.  To  its 
ruler,  Sir  John  Lawrence,  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes  wrote : 
"  Delhi  has  been  recovered  by  you  and  your  resources " ; 
and  Lord  Canning,  Viceroy  of  India,  wrote  :  "  Through  Sir 
John  Lawrence  Delhi  fell,  and  the  Punjab,  no  longer  a 
weakness,  became  a  source  of  strength." 

On  another  occasion  Sir  H.  Edwardes  (whom  Lord  Roberts 
calls  one  of  the  greatest  of  Indian  soldiers)  said  that  the 
Punjab  was  conspicuous  for  two  things  :  the  most  successful 
government,  and  the  most  open  acknowledgment  of  Christian 
duty  on  the  part  of  its  governors.  About  nine  years  before 
it  was  conquered  for  Britain,  plans  to  conquer  it  for  Christ 
were  made,  not  by  religious  enthusiasts  at  home,  but  by 
Anglo-  Indian  officials  of  the  highest  rank,  military  and  civilian, 
acting,  of  course,  as  individuals  ind  not  officially ;  and  in 
response  to  their  appeal  the  C.M.S.  inaugurated  a  mission 
there  some  years  later.  The  Mutiny  was  quelled  by  the 
swords  of  men  who  were  not  ashamed  of  their  faith  in  Christ 
and  their  desire  to  propagate  His  Gospel  among  those  they 
ruled ;  and  history  contains  no  more  notable  illustration  of 
the  Divine  assertion,  "Them  that  honour  Me  I  will  honour," 
than  the  loyalty  of  those  parts  of  India  where  missions  have 
been  most  successful,  and  of  those  native  forces  which  con- 
tained Christian  soldiers.  The  peitinence  of  these  facts  to 
our  story  will  presently  be  seen. 

Notes  on  Indian  Life,  with  Reference  to  the  La?id  of  the 
Five  Rivers,  and  specially  the  Ancient  City  of  Lahore,  and  the 
House  therein  Known  as  St.  Hilda's,  is  the  heading  of  a  MS. 
of  eighty  pages  written  by  Irene's  flowing  quill  in  December, 
1893,  for  those   to  whom   every  detail   of  her  new  life  was 


74  IRENE    PETRIE 

of  interest.  What  is  peculiar  to  a  foreign  land  strikes  the 
newcomer's  eye,  while  the  resident  is  apt  to  forget  that  the 
untravelled  Briton  has  never  heard  of  it ;  and  as  knowledge 
of  the  mere  externals  of  life  in  India  demolishes  some  current 
criticisms  of  missions  at  once,  the  C.M.S.  often  publish  the 
letters  of  missionaries  who  have  only  just  arrived.  Irene 
begged  us  to  discriminate  first  impressions  from  deliberate 
conclusions;  but  she  was  a  keenly  observant  traveller,  quick 
in  gleaning  information  from  well-informed  residents,  and 
the  following  notes  have  the  crisp  suggestiveness  of  a  frotti, 
if  not  the  detailed  accuracy  of  a  finished  picture : — 

"  Speaking  generally,  one  may  say  that  the  country  is  very 
big,  the  people  innumerable,  the  plains  very  flat,  the  rivers 
very  sandy,  the  voices  very  shrill,  the  crows  very  comical, 
the  cooks  very  clever,  the  mosquitoes  and  vendors  very  per- 
tinacious, and  the  snake  stories  told  to  newcomers  very 
blood-curdling.  It  is  just  as  unfair  to  call  the  brown  natives 
black  as  to  call  the  climate  unconditionally  a  *  beastly  '  one.  .  .  . 

"  I  wish  you  could  see  the  hoopoos  I  meet  out  walking, 
they  are  the  sweetest  little  things;  or  the  old  camel  taking 
a  midday  snooze  in  the  road  with  crows  sitting  on  his 
hump.  The  crows,  minas,  and  sparrows  are  very  friendly, 
and  hop  all  over  the  verandah  and  into  the  house.  The 
parrots  are  shy,  and  it  is  only  when  I  am  hidden  behind  my 
purdahs  that  I  hear  their  swift  flight  upwards  to  the  crack 
between  the  wall  and  the  rafters  over  my  study  door.  I 
hear  much  going  on,  and  imagine  the  nest  in  progress,  and 
sometimes  when  I  pop  out  quickly  there  is  a  glimpse  of  a  red 
beak,  two  little  yellow  eyes,  and  the  top  of  a  green  head,  then 
a  swift  flash  of  emerald  wings,  and  my  friend  has  gone  for 
refuge  to  the  top  of  the  highest  tree  in  the  compound.  .  .  . 

"  Two  impressions  which  are  received  in  every  part  of  India 
as  yet  seen  are  the  strangeness  of  being  in  the  midst  of  a 
subject  race,  and  the  small  value  set  upon  time  by  the  natives. 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  75 

Fancy  being  greeted  always  with  salaams  and  salutes,  and 
hearing  commands  and  not  requests  made  to  those  who  serve, 
and  that  by  the  kindest  and  best  sahibs.  Fancy  a  post-office 
where  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  was  spent  over  the  handing 
in  of  one  small  parcel.  The  servant  sent  with  it  in  the 
morning  had  been  kept  waiting  two  hours,  and  told  to  return 
it  at  last  because  the  sender's  list  of  contents  and  value  was 
not  written  on  the  right  piece  of  paper !  .  .  . 

"  The  thing  of  all  others  which  has  struck  us  in  our  travels 
is  the  wonderfiil  missionary  work.  The  impression  of 
heathenism  is  far  sadder  than  I  expected ;  degradation  and 
hopelessness  are  written  on  so  many  faces.  But  even  as  a 
new  arrival  one  realises  that  here  is  a  miracle  indeed,  when 
one  contrasts  the  faces  of  the  native  Christians  with  the 
faces  of  heathens  and  Mohammedans.  Our  Lord's  promise 
that  His  disciples  should  do  works  greater  than  His  own 
is  being  fulfilled  here  and  now,  but  Ziegenbalg  and  his 
co-pioneers  who  first  attempted  the  task  were  giants  of  faith. 
To  me  there  has  been  the  interest  of  seeing  what  was  already 
familiar  through  reading;  to  Mrs.  Engelbach  it  has  all  been 
an  introduction.  She  is  specially  struck  with  the  culture  of 
the  missionaries  themselves,  and  wishes  the  home  world  to 
be  told  that  it  is  those  who  could  have  anything  at  their 
taking  at  home  who  come  out  for  this  work." 

The  enterprise  Irene  was  about  to  aid  has  been  little 
mentioned  outside  India,  and  its  character  and  claims  call 
for  some  preliminary  explanation.  Notes  of  an  address  given 
by  her  at  a  conference  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association  in  London  during  the  summer  of  1895  are  of 
much  use  in  enabling  one  to  comprehend  it. 

In  India  the  distinction  between  European  and  native  is 
less  sharply  defined  than  might  at  first  appear.  There  are  many 
strata  in  both  the  imported  and  the  indigenous  population  : 
Kiplinc;'s  "  Pa;j;ett,  M.P.,"  who  spends  a  winter  in  India  and 


76  IRENE    PETRIE 

then  thinks  he  knows  all  about  everything ;  officials  military 
and  civil,  who  are  there  for  a  short  term  of  years  only ; 
other  officials  and  missionaries,  who  give  the  best  years  of  their 
lives  to  India ;  "  country-born  "  folk  who,  though  of  purely 
European  descent,  have  never  been  out  of  Asia  for  one, 
two,  or  even  three  generations  ;  Eurasians,  from  those  with 
only  a  dash  of  Asiatic  blood  to  those  with  only  a  dash 
of  European  blood ;  and  so  on,  at  last,  to  the  "  pakka " 
native.  Among  natives  again  must  be  discriminated  those 
educated  in  Europe;  Christians,  Parsis,  members  of  the 
Brahma  or  Arya  Samaj  and  others  who  are  in  close  touch 
with  Europeans  and  European  thought ;  Mohammedans 
and  Hindus,  with  book  religions  and  traditions  of  culture ; 
and  pure  pagans,  such  as  Santals,  Gonds,  and  Kois,  who 
doubtless  represent  the  aboriginal  peoples  and  cults  of 
Hindustan. 

Almost  insensibly  these  strata  blend  into  each  other ;  and 
short  as  her  whole  time  in  India  was,  its  conditions  made 
Irene  personally  acquainted  with  every  one  of  them,  except 
perhaps  the  last.  Some  may  live  in  India  for  years  and 
know  only  two  or  three  of  them  well.  Her  main  concern 
was,  indeed,  evangelistic  work  among  Hindus  and  Moham- 
medans. But  both  in  Lahore  and  in  Srinagar  her  relation 
to  Anglo-Indians  was,  as  we  shall  see,  a  close  one.  She 
learned  to  appreciate  the  special  difficulties  of  Anglo-Indian 
life — the  almost  inevitable  enervation  of  character  through 
the  ease  and  luxury  which  a  trying  climate  involves,  the 
subtle  danger  that  daily  contact  with  non-Christians  will 
lower  the  standard  of  conduct  and  duty,  and  foster  a 
hardening  sense  of  superiority  in  those  who  look  down  on 
Hindus  and  Mohammedans  oftener  than  they  look  up  to 
Christians  living  lives  higher  than  their  own.  She  was  also 
taught  that  every  European  must  in  one  sense  be  a 
missionary,  must   either  aid  or  hinder  the  progress  of  the 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  77 

Gospel.  And  with  pastoral  work  for  the  strata  between 
Anglo-Indians  and  natives  she  had  much  to  do. 

The  Eurasians,  so  called  because  of  descent  partly  European 
and  partly  Asiatic,  are  now  a  large  class,  which  includes  people 
of  some  wealth  and  influence;  and  missionaries  testify  that 
"  some  of  them  are  doing  magnificent  work  for  Christ."  Their 
importance  is  understood  when  one  realises  that  whether 
British  occupation  of  India  is  or  is  not  permanent,  the 
Eurasians  must  always  be  an  integral  part  of  its  population ; 
but  they  are  a  community  in  special  danger  of  being  over- 
looked. Closely  related  to  both  Anglo-Indian  and  native, 
they  stand  aloof  from  both,  and  the  "mot"  of  the  caustic 
old  Indian  who  said,  "  God  made  the  white  man,  and  God 
made  the  black  man,  but  the  de'il  made  the  brown  man," 
represents  too  common  a  notion  of  them.  Certainly  any 
truth  there  may  be  in  it  is  a  reproach  to  the  white  man 
chiefly.  Alliances  between  the  two  races  are  far  less  common 
than  in  days  when  communication  with  home  was  difficult, 
and  now  the  community  grows  mainly  by  natural  increase 
of  the  Eurasian  population  itself. 

"More  and  more,"  Irene  writes  in  her  Annual  Letter  to 
the  College  by  Post  of  November,  1895,  "is  one  impressed 
with  the  needs  of  those  whom  the  Bishop  of  Durham  has 
called  '  our  own  poor  in  India,'  that  is,  our  fellow-Christians, 
whether  of  British  or  Oriental  race,  many  of  whom  in  spiritual 
privileges  are  poor  indeed  compared  with  Christians  at  home. 
I  have  been  told  in  various  parts  of  India  what  a  glad 
welcome  would  be  given  to  well-qualified  ladies  from  home, 
coming  out  not  as  members  of  missionary  societies,  conversant 
with  Eastern  languages,  but  as  church-workers,  aiding  the 
clergy  in  parochial  visiting  and  honorary  educational  work,  or 
with  such  good  societies  as  the  Girls'  Friendly  Society  or 
the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association." 

Irene  was   never   so  exclusively  associated  with  any  one 


78  IRENE    PETRIE 

form  of  Christian  work  that  she  could  not  regard  others  with 
intelhgence  and  sympathy.  Most  earnestly  she  deprecated 
emphasising  in  such  work  differences  of  race  and  social 
grade,  of  church  and  party.  Let  all  Christians,  she  pleads, 
strive  together  for  their  common  faith,  not  only  teaching  but 
living  Christ  in  the  presence  of  those  who  do  not  acknow- 
ledge Him. 

The  Hon.  Emily  Kinnaird  and  other  friends  had  asked 
her  (and  not  in  vain)  to  interest  herself  in  the  Indian  work 
of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association.  Roughly 
speaking,  it  labours,  untrammelled  by  considerations  of 
Church  order,  for  all  who  come  between  Anglo-Indian 
"  society  "  and  the  non-Christian  Hindu. 

For  these  strata  Si.  Hi/da's  Diocesan  Home,  working  on 
strictly  Anglican  lines,  had  likewise  been  founded.  Its 
name  was  due  to  the  first  Bishop  of  Lahore,  Thomas 
Valpy  French,  who  went  with  C.M.S.  to  Agra  in  185 1,  and 
was  consecrated  in  1877.  He  had  said  that  in  his  opinion 
the  great  Abbess  of  Whitby  was  the  forerunner  of  all  our 
valuable  ladies'  missions  in  Syria,  the  Punjab,  and  Japan,  etc.^ 
Under  his  successor.  Dr.  Matthew,  Miss  Beynon  began  to 
organise  work  among  Eurasians.  In  February,  1893,  she 
wrote  to  Irene's  sister  from  an  hotel  in  Lahore,  saying  :  **  The 
work  is  opening  out  in  every  way.  ...  I  am  longing  to  hear 
of  a  coadjutor,  and  I  am  afraid  my  father  will  not  sanction 
another  winter  alone  in  Lahore.  ...  No  one  has  offered  to 
join  me  yet."  A  month  or  two  later  came  Mrs.  Engel- 
bach's  offer  through  Irene,  and  then  Irene's  own  offer,  and 
in  October  accordingly  St.  Hilda's  Diocesan  Home  was 
opened  at  Lahore  to  be  (so  its  original  prospectus  says)  "a 
place  of  residence  for  honorary  lady  workers,  auxiliaries  to 
the  parochial   clergy,   among   Christians,  whether   European, 

'  See  Life,  vol.  ii.,  p.  322. 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  79 

Eurasian,   or   native,"   the   pioneer,   it  was   hoped,   of  other 
similar  homes  in  India. 

Lahore,  the  poHtical  capital  of  the  Punjab,  is  on  the  Ravi. 
Its  fine  Anglican  cathedral  was  completed  by  Bishop  French 
in  1887,  and  east,  south,  and  south-east  of  it  are  sandy  roads, 
well  planted  with  trees.  Along  these,  each  within  its  own 
:5ates  and  compound,  are  the  European  bungalows  which 
constitute  the  civil  station.  Clustering  round  the  strong  fort 
overlooking  the  river  are  the  crowded  native  quarters,  and 
away  to  the  north  and  east  of  the  cathedral,  which  lies 
south  of  the  native  city,  stretches  the  Naulaka  district, 
inhabited  by  a  large  and  growing  European  and  Eurasian 
community,  mainly  employed  on  the  railway. 

The  St.  Hilda's  work  was  among  this  community,  and 
also  among  the  very  poor  Europeans  and  Eurasians  of 
the  Anacully  district  near  the  fort,  who  live  among  the 
natives  and  speak  a  jargon.  "Many  of  the  railway  folks 
are  well-to-do,"  says  Irene,  "and  the  children  are  very 
nice,  but  almost  too  good.  Some  Latymer  Road  liveliness 
would  be  welcome  among  them.  We  are  warned  that  the 
chief  difficulties  will  be  in  the  limpness  and  touchiness  of 
the  people.  However  dark  they  are,  one  must  never 
appear  to  be  aware  that  they  are  not  of  lily  and  rose 
complexion.  .  .  .  One  girl,  who  might  be  quite  '  twelve 
annas  to  the  rupee,'  and  whose  mother  was  a  pakka  native, 
remarked,  when  the  wonders  of  London  were  described,  *  It 
must  be  so  nice  not  to  see  any  natives  about.'  Fancy  my 
effort  to  keep  a  straight  face  as  I  remarked  that  in  London 
I  had  been  one  of  a  good  many  natives  who  were  about." 
Concerning  their  religious  condition  Miss  Beynon  wrote  thus 
in  her  letter  of  February,  1893;  "There  are  some  eight 
hundred  belonging  to  the  Church  of  England,  and  a  large 
number  of  Roman  Catholics ;  a  very  small  percentage  attend 
any  place  of  worship.     I  have  never  had  the  slightest  rebuff, 


8o  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  they  seem  quite  ready  to  receive  one  as  a  friend ;  and 
gradually,  as  their  confidence  is  gained,  we  hope  to  introduce 
and  carry  on  the  various  organisations  of  a  well-ordered 
parish  at  home,  modified  to  Indian  requirements." 

St.  Hilda's  was  a  pretty  one-storeyed  bungalow  in  the 
European  suburb,  about  a  mile  due  east  of  the  cathedral.  The 
Bishop  provided  the  house  and  some  of  its  furniture  out  of  a 
special  fund ;  the  expenses  of  its  upkeep  were  to  be  divided 
equally  among  its  inmates.  These  were  three  in  number : 
Miss  Sahib  (that  is  Miss  Beynon),  Mem  Sahib  (that  is  Mrs. 
Engelbach),  and  Choti  Miss  Sahib  (that  is  Irene,  also 
playfully  called  the  "Baby").  On  February  nth  they  were 
joined  by  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Ion  Keith-Falconer.  Irene  was 
sacristan  to  the  tiny  chapel,  where  daily  service  was  held 
at  noon,  with  special  requests  for  prayer  and  thanksgiving. 
"  As  to  the  household,"  she  writes,  "  it  seems  a  great  pity 
>hat  Canada  and  India  cannot  make  a  sort  of  sandwich 
or  exchange.  There  the  rule  of  independence,  high  pay, 
and  brisk  work  seems  to  hold ;  here  a  very  little  work  for 
a  very  little  pay  and  many  salaams  to  fill  all  gaps  is  the 
plan.  Both  this  house  and  this  household  are  reckoned 
small,  and  yet  the  house  covers  an  area  of  about  fifty  by 
seventy  feet,  and  there  is  quite  a  village  of  servants  and 
their  families  in  the  compound.  The  khidmatgar  and  his 
son,  a  dark  lad  of  fifteen,  who  waits  as  page,  wear  close- 
fitting  white  trousers,  huge  white  turbans,  and  cloth  tunic 
coats  with  white  folded  girdles.  On  their  fingers  are  large 
silver  rings  set  with  turquoises.  The  bawarchi  serves  many 
small,  dainty  dishes.  Waiting  at  every  m.eal  is  the  in- 
variable rule,  and  for  the  simplest  breakfast  they  spin  out 
four  courses,  changing  the  plates  between  each  with  awful 
solemnity  and  precision.  The  mihtar  squirms  about  the 
floors  with  a  long,  soft  broom  and  no  dustpan;  the  dhobi 
washes  the  clothes  very  well;    the    syce  minds  the  horse, 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  8i 

and  when  we  drive  out  acts  as  a  sort  of  steersman,  shouting 
'  Save  yourself ! '  to  any  obstruction  in  front ;  the  chaukidar 
minds  the  house.  He  appears  on  the  scene  in  the  evening 
with  bare  legs  and  a  long  stick,  patrols  the  verandah  through 
the  night,  choking  and  coughing  professionally  to  let  us  all 
know  he  is  there ;  he  also  sweeps  the  hall  and  milks 
the  cow.  Would  any  of  the  unemployed  in  England  like 
to  come  out  here  and  cough  professionally  for  ten  hours 
out  of  the  twenty-four  for  a  salary  of  from  jQ^  to  ^^5  per 
annum,  inclusive  of  board  wages  ?  The  only  female  servant 
is  the  ayah,  who  makes  our  beds  and  brushes  our  frocks. 
Frequently,  though  not  permanently,  the  darzi,  at  a  wage 
of  half  a  rupee  a  day,  sits  in  the  verandah,  making 
and  mending  our  clothes,  pushing  instead  of  pulling  his 
needle.  What  an  extravagant  household  for  three  ladies ! 
the  reader  may  say.  But  consider  that  the  wages  vary  from 
about  ;£4  to  jQig  a  year,  and  that  this  includes  everything 
they  get.  In  many  cases  they  keep  not  only  themselves 
but  their  whole  families  on  it. 

"  The  day  is  spent  thus  :  At  6.30  the  ayah  is  heard  at 
my  study  door  with  chota  hazri.  INIorning  service  at  the 
cathedral  or  quiet  reading  of  English  and  Urdu  Testa- 
ments precedes  our  9  o'clock  breakfast,  followed  by  a 
morning's  work  indoors  or  out  of  doors,  and  our  noon 
service.  From  12  to  2  are  the  calling  hours.  The 
newcomers  have  to  call  on  the  old  residents,  and  the 
limit  of  time  for  first  calls  prescribed  by  this  sensitive  Indian 
society  is  five  to  ten  minutes.  A  '  country-born '  Anglo- 
Indian  once  consulted  me  on  starting  for  London  as  to 
whether  it  would  be  correct  to  '  call  all  round  the  station ' 
on  arrival.  Fancy  starting  with  a  card-case  at  Hounslow, 
and  going  steadily  on  to  Epping  Forest !  At  2  comes  tiffin, 
then  a  lesson  from  the  munshi ;  at  4.30  tea,  at  which 
there  is  often  a  guest ;  at  6  evensong  in  the  cathedral,  often 

6 


82  IRENE    PETRIE 

followed  by  a  district  visitors'  or  other  meeting.  At  8  we 
dine,  at  lo  we  have  prayers,  and  we  are  soon  lulled  to 
sleep  by  the  chaukidar's  cough  and  stick-tapping." 

Their  work  was  of  a  kind  that  Irene  was  already  familiar 
with.  She  became  superintendent  of  the  railway  Sunday 
school,  which  met  in  the  little  Eurasian  church  under  the 
charge  of  the  Rev.  J.  W.  B.  Haslam,  took  the  senior 
class  herself,  held  a  training  class  for  four  young  teachers, 
and  drew  up  a  complete  scheme  of  lessons  for  the  winter. 
The  Sunday  school  was  small  at  first,  but  they  intended  by 
regular  visiting  to  increase  it.  "We  only  get  at  the  awfully 
respectable  ones  yet,"  she  writes  on  December  21st,  "but 
hope  to  work  outwards  from  them  to  the  non-churchgoing 
class,  who  do  not  even  know  when  Sunday  is.  .  .  .  Looking 
for  someone  else  in  the  district,  I  stumbled  on  such  a  nice 
Christian  couple  from  Madras,  pakka  natives.  They  asked 
me  in;  I  saw  the  C.M.S.  almanac  on  the  wall,  and  found 
they  and  I  had  quite  a  number  of  common  C.M.S,  friends," 
They  also  found  one  old  man  whom  Marshman  had  baptised  ; 
he  remembered  Carey,  the  pioneer  missionary  of  North  India, 
who  died  in  1834.  One  great  ally  was  the  widow  of  an 
Athole  Highlander,  who  spoke  broad  Scotch,  though  almost 
a  pakka  native.  "  Miss  Petrie  gets  on  splendidly  in  the 
railway  Sunday  school,"  Mrs,  Engelbach  wrote  home.  Her 
original  class  of  eighteen  rose  to  "  two  classes  with  about 
thirty  pupils  in  all,  such  nice  young  people." 

On  Mondays  her  ministry  was  to  a  very  different  type 
of  need.  "The  matron  of  the  lunatic  asylum,"  she  says, 
"  begged  me  to  come  and  read  the  Bible  to  the  poor  old 
European  patients  there,  saying  they  were  all  almost  heathen, 
no  means  of  grace  of  any  sort  being  provided,  and  Sundays 
being  made  exactly  like  week-days,  so  that  she  now  felt 
quite  ashamed  in  a  church.  I  had  such  a  touching  little 
gathering,  and  they  were  grateful.     One  poor  old  thing  had 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  83 

been  there  ever  since  the  Mutiny,  having  lost  her  reason 
through  shock  then."  Week  by  week,  henceforth,  "  the  poor, 
grateful  old  lunatics "  had  a  large  share  of  Irene's  tenderest 
sympathy. 

Every  Tuesday  afternoon  she  held  a  "  Ladies'  Bible  Class  " 
for  Eurasian  women,  who  took  it  in  turns  to  have  it  at  their 
houses.  Of  this  she  writes :  "  All  have  been  very  pleasant 
about  the  proposal ;  how  many  will  come  or  continue  is  a 
question,  but  we  do  so  long  to  get  hold  of  these  people  and 
help  them.  Many  hardly  ever  go  to  church,  and  their  lives 
seem  too  often  to  be  aimlessly  drifting.  They  have  not  even 
the  wholesomeness  of  work,  as  all  keep  servants.  . .  .  One  who 
gladly  promised  to  attend  said,  later  on,  she  hoped  I  would 
not  be  vexed  at  her  non-appearance.  But  she  was  a  Roman 
Cathohc,  and  her  priest  refused  absolution  if  she  came  to  the 
Protestant  Bible-reading.  .  .  .  We  are  simply  appalled  with 
the  activity  of  the  Roman  Catholics  out  here.  They  induce 
many  Protestant  parents  to  send  their  children  away  to  their 
hill  schools,  where  they  offer  a  free  education,  and  profess  not 
to  interfere  with  their  religion.  It  is  high  time  we  got  to 
work  ;  hitherto  the  Methodists  have  been  far  more  active  than 
the  Anglicans."  At  the  first  class,  on  January  i6th,  she 
proposed  to  the  three  present  to  pray  for  larger  numbers, 
and  a  fortnight  later  there  were  eleven.  Week  by  week 
she  reports  "  a  very  nice  class."  When  she  bade  them  fare- 
well, three  months  later,  a  dozen  pupils  filled  her  carriage, 
as  she  drove  away,  with  lovely  roses  to  express  their  appre- 
ciation of  her  teaching;  and  looking  back  she  says:  "It 
has  been  one  of  the  most  encouraging  of  my  bits  of  work." 
"  I  have  seen  tears,"  says  Mrs.  Engelbach,  "  in  the  eyes  of 
the  Eurasian  people  when  they  spoke  of  Miss  Petrie's  visits 
to  them,  showing  they  were  really  grateful  and  thankful  for 
what  she  had  done." 

On  Wednesdays  she  had  a  class  for  members  of  the  Girls' 


84  IRENE    PETRIE 

Friendly  Society,  to  whom  she  gave  a  series  of  addresses  on 
the  heroes  of  the  Bible.  Her  practical  interest  in  this  out- 
lasted her  stay  in  Lahore,  for  till  the  end  of  September 
she  sent  them  monthly  notes  on  the  life  of  St.  Paul — no 
mere  pious  generalities,  but  carefully  thought  out  hints  as  to 
the  subject  matter  and  special  teaching  of  their  daily  readings, 
showing  them  what  to  look  for  in  the  Scriptures  and  how 
to  think  and  pray  as  they  read.  Nearly  six  years  afterwards 
a  member  of  the  class,  writing  to  a  clergyman  in  India,  says : 
"  I  knew  Miss  Petrie  personally,  as  she  was  for  a  short 
time  an  associate  of  our  G.F.S.  and  held  Bible  meetings 
for  us,  and  endeared  herself  to  the  girls.  I  feel  sure  her  loss 
is  keenly  felt." 

On  Saturday,  besides  the  teachers'  preparation  class,  she 
held  a  Band  of  Hope  meeting,  which  began  with  twenty-six 
children  and  soon  rose  to  fifty-one.  Mackay  of  Uganda  and 
Dr.  Lansdell's  Central  Asian  travels  were  among  the  subjects 
she  talked  to  them  about,  and  after  the  lesson  she  gave  them 
"  a  much  needed  lesson  in  romping,  poor,  little,  tame,  quiet 
things." 

There  was  actual  missionary  work  to  be  done  without 
crossing  the  threshold.  Two  of  the  servants  came  forward 
as  inquirers,  and  Miss  Beynon  began  a  class  for  them  at  which 
the  khidmatgar,  a  convert  from  Mohammedanism  and  an 
excellent  servant,  showed  the  reality  of  his  own  faith  in 
Christ  by  sitting  side  by  side  with  the  low-caste  mihtar,  and 
explaining  his  difficulties.  This  khidmatgar  had  a  wife,  bap- 
tised rather  prematurely  with  himself  and  quite  uninstructed 
Every  day  Irene  taught  her  and  the  ayah's  daughter,  a  bright 
damsel  of  twelve.  Her  frequent  allusions  to  Umda  and 
Munira,  *'  who  is  a  darling,  with  such  a  sweet  little  face," 
show  the  delight  she  took  in  this  first  seed-sowing.  On 
leaving  Munira  in  Mrs.  Engelbach's  care  after  three 
months   she  writes  :    "  The   child   knows  nearly  thirty   texts, 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  85 

including  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  can  read  a  little.  She  really 
seems  to  understand  what  prayer  is,  and  the  leading  facts 
of  the  Gospel.  But  I  fear  the  next  thing  I  may  hear  will 
be  that  she  is  betrothed  to  some  Mohammedan.  The  ayah 
told  me  she  had  been  weeping  about  parting  with  me." 
Mrs.  Engelbach  supplements  the  story  thus :  "  The  first  she 
tried  to  draw  to  Christ  was  our  ayah's  child,  for  whom  she 
used  to  print  a  text  clearly,  explaining  it  to  her  as  well  as 
she  could  in  her  broken  Urdu.  I  remember  seeing  that  child 
pick  up  the  paper  when  it  had  fallen  on  the  floor  and  kiss 
it  because  it  had  God's  Name  on  it.  We  must  believe  that 
the  seed  thus  sown  will  yet  bring  forth  fruit."  But  declining 
an  offer  from  the  two  "  Mem  Sahibs  "  to  send  her  daughter 
to  school,  the  mother  left  Miss  Beynon's  service  that  summer, 
and  nothing  has  since  been  heard  of  them. 

Bodily  as  well  as  spiritual  needs  appealed  to  Irene :  one 
day  she  is  doctoring  Umda's  baby  for  a  dreadful  boil ;  another 
day  dressing  her  little  boy's  wounded  leg,  Munira  acting  as 
hospital  assistant.  After  giving  instances  of  native  treatment, 
she  adds  :  "  Certainly  one  could  write  some  blood-curdling 
tales  for  the  National  Health  Society  here.  The  most 
wonderful  thing  to  my  mind  is  that  any  of  the  natives  are 
left  alive." 

During  her  twenty  weeks  at  St.  Hilda's  she  paid  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  visits  in  the  district,  and  took  nearly  eighty 
Bible  classes,  and  on  leaving  she  could  say :  "  Though  there 
is  often  much  that  one  is  sorry  for  in  the  lives  and  general 
standards,  spiritual  and  intellectual,  of  the  English-speaking 
poor,  I  have  found  work  among  them  both  encouraging 
and  satisfactory.  Quiet  perseverance  in  quiet  work  would,  I 
believe,  be  a  condition  of  great  success  in  this  as  in  other 
undertakings." 

Here  is  one  typical  day:  ^* January  30M. — Attended 
Miss  Beynon's  men-servants'   class  (as  a  listener  and  learner 


86  IRENE    PETRIE 

at  a  lesson  given  in  Urdu).  Gave  Munira  and  Umda  their 
lesson.  Drove  to  Lunatic  Asylum  for  Bible  reading.  Paid 
another  visit.  Back  for  tififin.  Took  women's  Bible  class  at 
Naulaka;  went  on  to  the  Mission  College,  where,  to  my 
horror,  I  found  forty  ladies,  mostly  clever  people,  gathered 
for  the  Bible  reading  I  had  been  asked  to  give.  Miss 
Beynon  and  Mrs.  Engelbach  had  invited  a  musical  party  for 
the  evening,  and,  as  you  can  fancy,  I  was  glad  when  the  last 
guest  had  gone." 

The  inmates  of  St.  Hilda's  combined  with  their  church 
work  a  good  deal  of  pleasant  intercourse  with  their  fellow 
Anglo-Indians.  For  Miss  Beynon's  relationship  to  not  a  few 
of  those  who  had  made  the  recent  history  of  the  Punjab 
rendered  her  circle  a  large  one,  and  her  colleagues  had  a  warm 
welcome  into  it.  We  catch  glimpses  of  calls  and  invitations 
innumerable  ;  of  a  scarlet-liveried  chaprasi  arriving  on  a  camel 
with  a  summons  to  the  Government  House  ball ;  of  a  young 
officer  in  the  Punjab  Light  Horse  bringing  invitations  to  tennis 
and  his  regimental  ball,  and  claiming  Irene  as  a  kinswoman. 
And  endeavouring  to  exercise  in  Lahore  society  that  inde- 
scribable influence  which  a  good  and  clever  woman,  tactful 
and  agreeable,  can  always  exercise  to  counteract  the  tendency 
to  find  all  life's  interest  in  gay  and  costly  clothing,  gossip, 
and  amusement,  might  have  seemed  no  unworthy  aim  to 
one  accustomed  to  life  in  London,  and  not  formally  pledged 
to  any  society  or  any  kind  of  work. 

The  Commissioner  for  Gurdaspur,  in  a  letter  lamenting 
that  "  her  bright  and  active  life  had  been  taken  so  early 
from  human  view,"  says :  "  I  met  Miss  Petrie  first  at 
Lahore,  and  was  charmed  with  her  musical  talent."  Concerts 
for  an  object  are  always  popular  and  well  patronised 
at  a  great  Indian  station,  so  of  course  Irene's  fresh  and 
perfectly  trained  voice  was  in  request.  She  was  greeted  with 
"  a  burst  of  applause  and  an  encore  "  when  she  sang  at  one 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  87 

arranged  by  Mrs.  Engelbach  for  the  cathedral  organ  fund ; 
and  on  at  least  one  occasion,  when  she  dined  out  and  had  not 
brought  her  guitar,  the  hostess  sent  all  the  way  to  St.  Hilda's 
for  it.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  mention  of  her  singing  again 
in  public,  and  as  a  rule,  in  spite  of  their  remonstrances,  she 
seems  to  have  seen  her  colleagues  off  to  dinner  or  concert, 
and  settled  down  to  a  long  evening  with   her  Urdu  books. 

Four  dated  extracts  from  letters  will  best  express  her  own 
thoughts  on  the  matter.  December  21st:  "Showers  of  cards 
are  left  on  us,  but  I  really  can't  take  in  all  these  new  friends  yet, 
and  I  do  want  to  get  all  the  time  I  can  for  Urdu."  December 
25th :  "  I  do  not  want  to  spend  a  lot  of  time  on  society.  I 
could  do  that  at  home,  without  coming  all  this  way  for  it." 
January  23rd  :  "  I  do  not  want  to  be  drawn  into  very  much 
society,  pleasant  as  it  is."  January  31st :  "My  aim  is  to  get 
entangled  in  society  as  little  as  possible." 

The  sketch  of  her  home  life  shows  that  this  aloofness  sprang 
from  no  mere  disinclination  for  society,  nor  was  it  the  result 
of  indifference  to  the  occupants  or  enterprises  of  St.  Hilda's. 
In  the  same  month  of  January  she  writes  :  "  This  is  such  a 
happy  place  !  "  and  "  To  be  with  two  such  delightful  companions 
is  wonderful,"  One  of  them  told  a  meeting  in  London,  five 
years  later,  that  she  "  had  thrown  herself  into  the  work  with 
splendid  energy " ;  and  wrote  in  a  private  letter :  "  Irene 
simply  surprises  me  by  keeping  so  bravely  bright  and  energetic, 
when  she  must  be  feeling  often  the  great  change  in  her  life 
and  surroundings."  Seldom  as  she  went  out,  she  was  always 
ready  to  entertain  the  guests  at  St.  Hilda's,  though  she  did 
it  sometimes  at  the  cost  of  great  weariness  after  an  arduous 
day  when  they  stayed  so  late  in  the  evening  that  she  says 
at  last,  not  only  of  natives  but  of  "  sahib  16g  "  :  "  In  India 
the  belief  seems  to  be  that  time  is  of  as  little  account  as 
silver  in  the  days  of  Solomon." 

But  her  eyes  were  fixed  on  a  distant  goal ;    the  desire  to 


88  IRENE    PETRIE 

enjoy  herself  or  to  distinguish  herself  was  wholly  merged  now 
in  the  desire  to  devote  herself.  She  never  sat  in  judgment 
on  others,  but  she  continually  sat  in  judgment  on  herself, 
and  the  verdict  was  always  the  same :  "  My  vocation  in 
the  face  of  this  needy  heathenism  is  to  qualify  myself  for 
real  missionary  work  as  quickly  as  possible."  Again  and 
again  in  her  letters  she  seems  to  say  with  the  greatest  of  all 
missionaries,  as  she  looks  on  the  heathen,  "  I  long  after  you 
all,"  and  her  harshest  expressions  are  used  concerning  what 
she  calls  "  the  senseless  and  unworthy  race  prejudice."  She 
grows  indignant  over  Anglo-Indians  who  regarded  the  natives 
with  scorn,  in  the  spirit  of  the  beardless  subaltern,  who,  at  a 
durbar,  followed  into  the  room  a  very  great  raja,  ruler  over 
millions,  grumbling,  "Who  is  this  nigger  going  in  before 
me  ? "  Hers  was  no  romantic  notion  imbibed  at  home  that 
picturesque  heathen  would  be  more  interesting  pupils  than 
humble  compatriots;  she  had  learned  to  know  something 
of  the  natives,  even  of  the  promising  "inquirer"  who  turns 
out  a  thief;  yet  she  describes  them  as  "  people  whom  one 
learns  to  like  greatly  in  many  ways." 

'*  I  do  long,"  she  writes  on  Christmas  Day,  "  to  be  a  real 
messenger  here;  but  as  yet  can  do  so  little  and  have  done 
so  little."  Then,  after  reference  to  Eurasian  work,  she  con- 
tinues :  "  My  own  longing,  which  seems  more  burdensome 
every  day,  is  after  these  poor  brownies,  who  know  nothing, 
and  from  whom  as  yet,  and  for  many  a  long  day  to  come, 
I  am  utterly  cut  off.  Fancy  seeing  the  poor  ayah  really  ill, 
and  not  being  able  to  manage  to  tell  her  I  am  sorry.  And 
worst  of  all,  to  feel  she  has  no  part  in  our  Christmas  joy ; 
and  one  cannot  wish  her  or  any  of  the  other  domestics, 
except  the  khidmatgar,  a  happy  Christmas.  Every  day  is 
so  dreadfully  short ;  and  even  now,  when  outside  work  is  not 
in  full  swing,  I  don't  get  the  real  grind  at  the  Urdu  books 
I  long  for.  ...  I  must  go  on  learning,  and  try  and  get  hold 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  89 

of  the  language,  for  I  do  long  to  be  the  real  missionary  article 
some  day." 

Each  fresh  experience  in  India  strengthened  this  yearning ; 
and  we  can  well  understand  that  the  one  social  incident 
at  St.  Hilda's  over  which  she  was  really  keen  was  an 
"at  home"  with  "a  missionary  exhibition"  for  attraction. 
The  account  of  it  may  be  prefaced  by  extracts  from  three 
letters  written  towards  the  close  of  that  winter.  Dealing 
with  the  general  relation  of  Anglo-Indians  to  missions,  she 
throws  some  light  for  us  at  home  on  the  oflfhand  disparage- 
ment of  them  by  the  "  cousin  who  has  been  in  India," 
and  the  disappointing  indifference  to  them  of  the  returned 
globe-trotter,  who  appears  neither  to  have  found  nor  even 
looked  for  missionary  enterprise  in  India. 

"The  Lahore  atmosphere,  with  few  exceptions,  does  not 
stimulate  missionary  enthusiasm.  Indifference  among  English 
people  out  here  is,  to  my  mind,  far  more  depressing  than 
the  dark  ignorance  of  the  untaught  natives,  and  that  is 
saying  a  good  deal.  That  they  ever  become  Christians  at 
all,  considering  the  difificulties  in  missionary  work,  and  the 
worse  difificulties  which  stumbling-blocks  caused  by  English 
'  Christians '  must  put  in  their  way,  is  the  real  marvel,  and 
shows  that  Christianity  is  no  human  thing.  The  English 
newspapers  here,  which  are  eagerly  read  by  English-speaking 
natives,  of  whom  there  is  a  constantly  increasing  number,  make 
one's  heart  ache,  even  though  they  contain  '  patronising ' 
articles  about  missions  occasionally." 

"  I  think  it  will  have  been  a  great  advantage  to  have  known 
the  social  as  well  as  the  missionary  side  of  life  in  India. 
Certainly  one  sees  how  real  many  difificulties  are.  The  climate 
alone  limits  hfe  in  many  ways.  When  urgent  work  is  waiting, 
an  earnest  missionary  would  not  willingly  give  time  or 
strength  to  society  or  social  paraphernalia ;  and  yet  even  those 
who  are  well-disposed   to   missions   are   bursting  with  sharp 


9©  IRENE    PETRIE 

criticisms  if  there  is  anything  of  the  hermit  or  the  dowdy  about 
the  unfortunate  missionary,  who  has  probably  put  in  so  much 
wearing  work  that  there  has  been  no  strength  or  time  left  for 
pleasant  small  talk  or  Truefitt  hairdressing.  Then  the  well, 
disposed  society  persons  would  like  to  help  missionary  work ; 
but  they  don't  know  much  about  it,  and  they  have  not  the 
energy  to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  it,  and  theie  are 
so  many  dinner  parties,  and  then  they  get  fever,  and  then  it 
is  time  to  move  on,  and  a  new  home  is  started  somewhere  else. 
Add  to  all  this  the  fact  that,  though  India  is  a  very  free  and 
easy  place  in  many  ways,  there  is  a  fearfully  despotic  Mrs. 
Grundy,  whose  mandates  check  many  a  would-be  explorer  in 
unfashionable  regions." 

"The  hmpness  and  indifference  to  what  lies  outside  their 
own  lives  is  the  great  drawback  with  the  English-speaking 
people  of  all  hues,  as  a  rule.  Yet  if  they  could  be  roused  they 
might  make  excellent  missionaries,  knowing  the  language,  and 
being  acclimatised." 

So  we  turn  to  her  record  of  one  unpretentious  effort  to  rouse 
them.  "  February  22nd. — I  went  off  early  to  fetch  some  spoils 
brought  from  Mandalay  by  the  husband  of  one  of  my  women, 
who  was  at  its  capture  in  January,  1886.  .  .  .  We  then  set  to 
work,  getting  our  exhibition  ready,  and  soon  the  drawing-room 
was  transformed  :  on  one  side,  India,  with  Persia,  Afghanistan, 
Burmah,  and  Tibet;  then  Japan,  a  corner  brilliant  with 
draperies  and  curios ;  then  Africa,  China,  and  Palestine ;  a 
stall  of  missionary  literature  for  sale,  from  the  beautiful  Bible 
Society  depot ;  and  a  table  of  C.M.S.  literature  for  giving  away, 
instead  of  a  plate  for  receiving  contributions,  as  we  wished  to 
have  a  human  collection  of  interested  people  rather  than  a 
few  rupees.  At  4  p.m.  our  guests  arrived,  between  fifty  and 
sixty  in  number  ;  and  after  food  for  the  body  in  the  wide  hall, 
got  food  for  the  mind  in  the  exhibition,  and  then  passed  into 
the  dining-room   for   a   meeting.      The   coloured    **  Plea   for 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  91 

Missions "  and  a  set  of  big  maps  were  on  the  walls,  and  I 
had  printed  a  huge  scroll  with  Mark  xvi.  15,  Every  seat  was 
filled — railway  people,  my  Sunday  school  class  and  G.F.S. 
class,  and  our  society  friends  being  all  well  represented. 
Getting  curios  from  the  last  brought  them  to  the  meeting. 
Mr.  Haslam,  who,  like  some  others,  had  been  rather  a 
wet  blanket  when  I  first  mooted  the  idea,  presided,  and 
did  his  part  really  well.  Dr.  Arthur  Lankester  (who  had 
come  over  from  Amritsar,  where  he  is  Dr.  H.  M.  Clark's 
colleague)  gave  a  first-rate  address.  .  .  .  Our  guests  seemed 
greatly  interested,  and  we  were  all  delighted  with  the  way  the 
meeting  went  off.  It  had  been  my  pet  plan,  and  the  other 
ladies  were  so  nice,  congratulating  me  on  its  organisation. 
Now  we  hope  the  whole  thing  will  have  a  practical  outcome." 

A  well-known  member  of  the  C.M.S.  who  met  the  Bishop 
of  Lahore  at  Lambeth  Palace  in  June,  1894,  wrote  down  at 
the  time  notes  of  conversation  with  him  concerning  St.  Hilda's, 
in  which  the  following  sentences  occur  :  "  He  admires  im- 
mensely Irene's  intense  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  and 
energy.  He  entirely  agrees  with  her  in  all  her  views 
as  to  'society.'  The  society  part  and  the  missionary  work 
cannot  go  on  together ;  people  have  neither  time  nor  strength 
for  both." 

Over  against  these  words  and  this  whole  narrative  must  be 
set  the  record  of  her  somewhat  different  but  not  inconsistent 
attitude  to  society  at  Srinagar,  and  its  influence. 

It  was  not  until  she  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  Lahore 
that  Irene  was  able  to  make  an  opportunity  for  seeing  the 
missionary  work  carried  on  in  that  city  by  the  ladies  of  the 
Zenana,  Bible,  and  Medical  Mission.  One  sentence  in  the 
following  account  seems  to  explain  the  ignorance  of  missions 
shown  by  the  average  Anglo-Indian. 

"On  April  i8th  I  accompanied  Miss  Healey  to  the  city 
in   a  jinricksha,   along  a  beautiful  road   bordered   with  rich 


92  IRENE    PETRIE 

plaintain  groves.  What  a  contrast  it  was  to  leave  the  green, 
airy  suburbs  where  all  the  Europeans  live,  and  passing 
through  the  city  gate,  to  walk  up  the  hot,  narrow  pathway 
between  the  tightly  packed  houses  of  mud  and  brick  !  Many 
people  in  the  station  of  Lahore  never  enter  the  city  at  all, 
and  we  did  not  see  another  white  face  till  we  were  outside 
again.  The  houses,  which  have  tiny  rooms  as  a  rule,  are 
two  or  three  stories  high,  the  men's  quarters  being  below, 
the  women's  upstairs — such  poky,  narrow,  steep  stairs !  An 
open  drain  runs  down  the  middle  of  each  road\vay,  but  as 
there  is  plenty  of  flowing  water  in  it,  the  sanitation  of  the  city 
is  considered  fairly  good.  The  ups  and  downs  of  the  streets, 
its  white  houses  against  an  intensely  blue  sky,  and  talkative 
crowds  in  their  picturesque  dresses,  recalled  Lugano  to  me; 
but  here,  instead  of  campanile,  domes  and  minarets  closed 
in  the  view,  with  the  short,  thick,  carved  spires  of  the  Hindu 
temples.  Miss  Healey  and  I  went  into  two  schools,  in  each 
of  which  nearly  a  score  of  small  boys  and  girls,  all  Moham- 
medans, were  learning  writing,  reading,  arithmetic,  and 
Scripture,  under  the  direction  of  a  native  teacher.  Miss 
Healey  had  short  prayers  and  gave  a  Scripture  lesson.  Several 
brought  sums  to  me  to  be  corrected ;  and  in  one  school  I 
examined  them  in  Genesis,  with  whose  stories  they  seemed 
very  familiar.  We  spent  some  time  in  a  poor  zenana,  where 
an  attractive  group  of  red-rtbed  women  gathered  instantly, 
and  listened  attentively  to  the  teaching.  The  work  is  always 
growing,  and  a  great  work  it  is,  though  it  must  be  a  quiet  one 
at  present,  for  the  difficulties  that  lie  between  these  women 
and  open  profession  of  Christianity  are  terrible.  .  ,  . 

"  On  April  19th  I  again  accompanied  Miss  Healey, 
this  time  to  visit  my  munshi's  sweet  little  wife  and 
pretty  daughter.  I  quite  fell  in  love  with  the  former,  who 
has  a  gentle  face  and  manner,  and  a  look  of  suffering, 
for  she  is  lame,   and  must  be  nearly  always  in  pain.     She 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  93 

reads  well,  and  is,  Miss  Healey  thinks,  a  Christian  at  heart, 
in  bigoted  Mohammedan  surroundings.  I  taught  her,  '  The 
beloved  of  the  Lord  shall  dwell  in  safety  by  Him ;  He 
covereth  him  all  the  day  long,  and  he  dwelleth  between 
His  shoulders,'  which  has  been  a  favourite  text  with  my  little 
Munira,  and  read  Psalm  xxiii.  to  her." 

According  to  the  official  regulations  of  the  C.M.S.,  "what- 
ever a  missionary  attempts  for  the  good  of  others  during 
the  first  year  or  two  years  must  be  subordinated  to  his 
main  work  of  acquiring  the  native  language."  Irene  there- 
fore gave  all  available  hours  to  the  study  of  Urdu.  This 
mixed  or  composite  dialect,  literally  "  language  of  the 
camp,"  otherwise  called  Hindustani,  has  resulted  from 
a  fusion  of  Hindi  with  Persian  and  Arabic,  and  is  now 
the  lingua  franca  of  India.  Dr.  Cust  classifies  it  as  one 
of  the  *'  conquering "  languages  of  the  world,  since  it  is 
superseding  many  local  dialects,  though  for  an  increasing 
number  of  the  best  educated  Hindus  it  is  being  super- 
seded itself  by  English.  The  fact  that  it  is  mainly  an  Aryan 
tongue,  written,  as  a  rule,  in  a  Semitic  character,  curiously 
commemorates  the  Mohammedan  conquest  of  India. 

Here  are  some  dated  glimpses  of  Irene  at  work  upon  it. 
December  12th:  "Trying  to  master  Urdu  will  be  a  real 
struggle  up  Hill  Difficulty,  I  foresee ;  and  it  is  melancholy 
to  be  told  that  few  missionaries  can  do  much  teaching  before 
they  have  given  two  years  of  daily  study  to  the  language. 
Most  societies  arrange  that  the  first  year  is  spent  entirely 
on  it,  so  at  any  rate  I  am  very  happy  in  the  opportunity 
of  doing  a  little  work  at  once  among  people  who  do  not 
need  more  than  English.  But  I  am  tempted  to  wish 
that  I  could  beg  or  borrow  from  somewhere  a  love  for 
linguistic  study,  such  as  comes  naturally  in  musical  study. 
However  that  may  be,  there  is  such  an  inducement  to 
grind  at  Urdu  as    one   has   never   had  for  any  study  before 


94  IRENE    PETRIE 

in  the  helpless  and  useless  state  of  being  tongue-tied 
amid  this  spiritual  starvation.  Our  munshi  is  a  bigoted 
Mohammedan,  but  himself  suggested  that  we  should  read 
the  Testament,  so  I  am  working  at  St.  John's  Gospel.  Please, 
readers,  pray  that  light  may  shine  out  of  darkness  for  him." 
On  January  15th  the  stories  told  her  by  an  American 
Presbyterian  of  work  among  villages  intensified  her  longing 
after  "  these  poor  native  women."  The  early  morning  hour 
she  gave  to  reading  the  trying  Persian  character  ;  by  lamplight 
in  the  evenings  she  worked  at  Urdu  in  the  Roman  character, 
which  is,  happily,  being  used  more  and  more  in  India. 
Almost  from  the  first  she  made  undaunted  efforts  to  talk, 
"  which  is  like  getting  one's  mouth  full  of  water  in  the  first 
attempts  to  swim  " ;  and  reports  exultingly  by  February  6th  : 
"  I  am  glad  to  say  I  am  getting  some  liking  for  Urdu."  By 
April  loth  she  was  able  to  join  in  the  prayers  and  follow 
most  of  the  speeches  at  a  C.M.S.  meeting. 

She  never  reconsidered  her  purpose  of  being  a  missionary ; 
the  only  question  was  :  Where,  and  with  whom  ?  and  this 
was  not  settled  at  once.  Going  back  to  her  first  Christmas 
in  India,  we  read  of  the  arrival  of  a  huge  mail.  "Never 
were  letters  and  cards  so  appreciated,"  she  says ;  "  it  seemed 
as  if  one  were  watching  and  praying  and  praising  beside 
the  dear  ones.  I  have  far  more  than  I  ever  expected  to 
make  happy  the  first  Christmas  away  from  all  the  people 
and  places  and  things  best  loved."  On  New  Year's  Eve 
she  wrote  the  one  surviving  fragment  of  private  journal : — 

" '  Surely  goodness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the  days 
of  my  life.'  December  ^isf,  1893. — Less  than  an  hour  left  of 
this  eventful  year.  Among  all  the  things  I  can  and  do  regret, 
as  regards  my  personal  life,  I  can  and  do  give  thanks  for 
the  lesson  of  trust  to  which  all  has  pointed.  He  has  taught 
us  that  we  may  trust  the  dear  ones  who  have  passed  beyond 
the  veil  to  the  loving  keeping  of  His  home.     He  has  shown 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE 


95 


how  sufficient  could  be  the  strength  for  work,  during  the 
first  six  months  of  1893,  with  their  endless  round  of  activities, 
and  during  the  even  greater  pressure  of  the  months  of  stirring 
excitement  and  upheaval  in  our  lives.  He  has  shown  how 
He  could  cheer  days  of  sorrow  and  loneliness  and  perplexity 
with  His  good  gifts  of  friends  to  help  and  sympathise.  .  .  . 
To  me  He  has  shown  in  countless  ways  how  literal  is  the 
promise  to  hear  and  to  answer  prayer ;  how  He  registers 
the  desires,  and  how  He  can  grant  them. 

" Three  years  ago  :  'Lord,  show  me  Thy  will.'  Two  years 
ago :  '  Lord,  help  me  to  love  Thy  will.'  One  year  ago : 
'  Here  am  I,  send  me.'  And  He  said,  *  Go.'  For  it  is 
His  will  that  labourers  should  be  thrust  forth,  and  He  can 
find  a  use  for  even  the  least  of  these. 

"  He  has  shown  how  He  can  guide  through  every  difficulty 
and  danger.  Shall  I  not  carry  the  lesson  of  trust  into  1894 
in  His  presence.  Drudgery,  perplexity,  difficulty,  loneliness, 
are  certainly  ahead,  perhaps  much  else;  but  who  shall 
separate  us  from  the  love  of  Christ  ?  ...  Oh  to  yield  to 
Him  so  that  His  will  may  be  done,  and  that  He  may  be 
magnified  even  through  me  !  '  They  that  know  Thy  name 
will  put  their  trust  in  Thee ;  for  Thou,  Lord,  hast  never  failed 
them  that  seek  Thee.' " 

Thus  did  Irene  keep  her  eyes,  there  as  here,  undazzled  by 
all  the  allurements  of  the  world,  according  to  her  mother's 
dying  prayer ;  and  just  a  fortnight  after  she  wrote  those 
words  she  had,  all  unconscious  of  it,  a  vision  of  her  goal 
in  the  fulfilment  of  a  longing  cherished  from  earliest  years. 
She  had  always  passionately  loved  mountains,  a  fact  possibly 
connected  with  her  parents'  tour  in  Switzerland  shortly  before 
her  birth.  In  her  childhood  the  thought  of  the  loftiest 
summits  in  the  world,  whose  names  she  carefully  learned, 
and  whose  appearance  she  often  asked  her  uncle  Major 
Way  to  describe,   enthralled  her  with  a  strange   fascination. 


96  IRENE    PETRIE 

In  girlhood  her  answer  to  the  question,  "WTiat  place  do 
you  most  want  to  see  ? "  was,  "  Palestine,  and  then  the 
Himalayas." 

On  January  13th,  after  the  8  a.m.  service,  she  went  on 
the  roof  of  Lahore  Cathedral,  and  "  looking  north,  through 
the  clear  morning  air,  saw  the  line  of  the  glorious  snowy 
Himalayas,  with  the  early  pink  light  on  them."  On 
March  8th  she  had  a  yet  finer  view  from  the  roof  of  the 
Zenana  House  at  Amritsar,  of  their  outworks  the  Pir  Punjal 
range,  lying  athwart  the  northern  sky  "over  one  hundred 
miles  off,  yet  far  more  striking  than  the  Alps  from  Berne," 
which  famous  view  she  had  been  fortunate  enough  to  see 
in  perfection.  The  vision  drew  her  on  till  she  found  her 
appointed  task  in  the  great  valley  over  which  the  Himalayas 
mount  guard,  and  in  one  of  their  remote  fastnesses  she  lay 
down  to  rest  when  that  task  was  accomplished. 

Though  she  had  no  desire  for  a  large  circle  of  general 
acquaintance  in  India,  she  cultivated  many  missionary  friend- 
ships, which  became  a  source  of  much  pleasure,  and  four  times 
visited  Amritsar.  This  city,  which  is  thirty-two  miles  from 
Lahore,  and  about  the  same  size,  is  for  the  natives  the  com- 
mercial and  social  capital  of  the  Punjab — its  heart,  while  Lahore 
is  its  head.  As  Benares  is  the  sacred  city  of  the  Hindus, 
Amritsar  is  the  sacred  city  of  the  Sikhs,  of  whom  later  on  Irene 
was  to  have  many  among  her  pupils,  and  the  C.M.S.  naturally 
made  it  their  headquarters  when,  as  we  have  told,  they  were 
asked  to  evangelise  the  Punjab.  A  group  of  C.M.S.  men  there, 
some  closely  associated  with  Kashmir,  must  now  be  intro- 
duced. The  Rev.  Robert  Clark,  M.A.  Cantab.,  Secretary 
to  the  Punjab  and  Sind  Corresponding  Committee  of  the 
C.M.S.,  went  out  in  1851,  and  had  almost  completed  half  a 
century  of  notable  service  when  he  died  in  May,  1900. 
She  had  known  his  wife  in  London,  and  corresponded 
with  his  daughter  as  a  College  by  Post  student.     The  Rev. 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  97 

T.  R.  Wade,  B.D.  Lambeth,  went  out  in  1863.  His  first 
wife  had  been  a  friend  of  Irene's  mother ;  and  she,  just  six 
years  of  age,  had  attended,  as  her  first  missionary  meeting, 
a  Zenana  gathering  in  her  mother's  drawing-room,  at  which 
Mr.  Wade  had  spoken  when  home  on  furlough.  She  met 
him  again  in  London  in  1888.  Dr.  Henry  Martyn  Clark, 
M.D.,  CM.,  Edinb.,  an  Afghan  by  birth  and  adopted  son 
of  Mr.  R.  Clark,  has  been  a  C.M.S.  missionary  since  1881, 
and  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  largest  medical  mission  in 
the  world.  The  Rev.  Imad-ud-din,  D.D.,  a  man  of  good 
family,  whose  ancestors  had  been  for  generations  among  the 
leading  Mohammedans  of  the  Punjab,  became  famous  as 
a  maulvi  and  faqir,  and  in  order  to  win  back  to  Moham- 
medanism a  friend  who  had  been  baptised,  began  to  study 
the  Christian  Scriptures,  with  the  result  that,  after  being  a 
devoted  Mohammedan  for  thirty  years,  he  has  become,  since 
1866,  not  only  a  devoted  Christian,  but  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  influential  champions  of  the  Christian  faith  in  North 
India.  In  1884  Archbishop  Benson  recognised  the  value  of 
his  theological  and  controversial  works  by  conferring  the 
degree  of  D.D.  on  him.  He  was  the  first  Indian  to  receive  it. 
On  December  27th  Irene  found  herself  in  what  she 
describes  as  "the  most  picturesque  city  of  Amritsar.  Its 
busy,  narrow  streets  are  shut  in  by  high  houses,  mostly  white, 
with  beautiful  lattice  work.  The  varying  heights  of  the  build- 
ings and  strong  effect  of  light  and  shade  under  the  deep  blue 
sky  reminded  us  of  Italian  cities,  especially  Venice.  We 
halted  at  the  gateway  leading  to  the  sacred  place  of  the  Sikhs, 
and  were  conducted  first  to  a  shed,  where  brown  laddies 
exchanged  our  leather  boots  for  enormous  cloth  slippers.  We 
were  then  allowed  to  traverse  the  white  marble  causeway 
leading  across  the  celebrated  lake,  the  '  Umrit  Sara  '  (Water  of 
Immortality),  to  which  from  all  parts  pilgrims  seeking  healing 
for  their  bodies  come  to  bathe.     Exactly  in  the  centre  of  the 

7 


98  IRENE    PETRIE 

lake,  on  a  tiny  island,  is  the  exquisite  Golden  Temple,  where 
the  chief  guru  and  his  six  hundred  assistants  read  the  Granth. 
Since  the  guru  Nanak  wrote  it  and  founded  the  temple  in 
protest  against  prevalent  forms  of  Hinduism  three  hundred 
years  ago,  this  book  has  been  the  principal  object  of  reverence, 
if  not  of  worship,  to  the  Sikhs.  A  solemn  porter  with  a 
silver  mace  admitted  us,  showing,  as  he  did  so,  the  ancient 
oak  doors,  inlaid  with  ivory  on  one  side,  and  faced  with 
silver  on  the  other.  Some  of  the  outer  walls  are  of 
white  marble,  inlaid  ;  within,  the  temple  is  a  mass  of  rich 
colouring  and  gold,  panels  of  ornament  alternating  with 
tablets  on  which  extracts  from  the  Granth  are  carved  in 
Punjabi.  At  one  end  of  the  hall  is  a  small  charpai  covered 
with  rich  silken  draperies,  among  which  the  book  is  hidden. 
Offerings  of  flowers  are  laid  on  them.  We  were  not  allowed 
to  step  on  some  of  the  carpets  in  front  of  the  book,  though 
we  might  go  round  behind,  and  be  close  to  the  guru  who 
was  waving  a  soft  brush  of  finest  white  silk  to  keep  the 
flies  off.  We  climbed  by  narrow  steps  to  an  upper  story, 
whence  we  could  look  down  to  the  hall  below  and  listen 
to  the  group  of  musicians  who  were  singing  and  producing 
discordant  sounds  from  quaint-looking  drums  and  fiddles. 
Going  higher  up  still  we  emerged  upon  the  roof,  which  was 
covered  with  gold  plates.  ...  I  was  arrested  by  hearing  the 
sacred  Name  '  Yesu  Masih '  in  one  of  the  golden  galleries ;  it 
was  the  Rev.  Donald  Mackenzie  (C.M.S.)  preaching  a  Christian 
sermon  within  the  very  walls  of  the  temple  to  his  guide — a 
former  mission  school  boy — and  a  respectful  group  of  listeners. 
The  tolerance  and  courtesy  of  these  Sikhs  gave  a  pleasing 
impression ;  but  their  religion  of  a  book  must  indeed  be  a 
cold  and  empty  one.  Mr.  Mackenzie  persuaded  the  old 
guru  to  unwrap  the  sacred  volume  and  read  some  of  it  aloud 
to  us.  All  the  Sikhs  present  stood  round  in  dead  silence, 
as   the   coverings   were   lifted   and   the   intoning    proceeded. 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE 


99 


When  it  ceased  they  made  profound  salaams,  and  then  the 
musicians  again  performed.  We  recrossed  the  marble  cause- 
way to  a  second  temple  on  the  shore  of  the  lake,  to  which 
the  Granth  is  nightly  carried  in  solemn  procession  to  be 
put  to  bed." 

They  then  visited  the  noble  C.M.S.  Hospital  and  the 
Zenana  House,  where  they  met  Miss  Tuting,  a  former  College 
by  Post  colleague,  and  saw  Miss  Jackson's  class  of  eighty 
widows  doing  beautiful  embroideries.  Some  five  hundred 
children  are  in  the  C.E.Z.M.S.  Schools;  and  the  ladies  also 
itinerate  in  the  villages  round,  gathering  about  them  women 
to  whom  the  Gospel  story  is  absolutely  new. 

Irene  paid  a  second  visit  to  Amritsar  on  February  loth  to 
give  an  address  upon  Japan  to  members  of  the  Gleaners' 
Union  in  Mrs.  Wade's  drawing-room.  The  audience  included 
many  native  Christians  wearing  pretty  chaddars.  A  letter  from 
Miss  Tapson  and  a  New  Year's  card  from  a  Japanese  whom 
we  had  known  in  his  Cambridge  days,  who  was  now  a  lord- 
in-waiting  to  the  Crown  Prince,  illustrated  her  address;  and 
she  found  it  "  strange  to  point  to  Lahore  on  the  map  as  just 
midway  between  the  Sunrise  and  Sunset  Isles  of  the  Sea." 

This  time  she  went  to  the  splendid  Alexandra  School,  where 
daughters  of  Christians,  mostly  professional  men,  receive  a 
first-rate  English  education,  up  to  a  High -school  standard ; 
and  St.  Catherine's  Hospital,  which  is  the  centre  of  a  grand 
work  for  the  women  and  children.  "  On  the  way,"  she  says, 
"  I  saw  many  interesting  things  :  a  sacred  bull,  standing 
right  across  the  road,  helping  himself  to  whatever  he  wished 
for  in  the  shopfronts ;  a  big  Hindu  caravanserai,  with  tank 
and  temple  attached ;  and  a  group  of  Central  Asians  in 
furry  coats,  to  whom  Mr.  Wade  talked  in  Persian.  Miss 
Hewlett  herself,  'the  St.  Hilda  of  the  Punjab,'  received 
me,  and  took  me  round  St.  Catherine's.  She  comes  across 
all  that  is  most  sad    in  the  lives  of  the  women  here.  .  .  , 


loo  IRENE    PETRIE 

Modified  purdah  seems  much  the  safest  plan  for  many  of 
these  poor  things.  .  .  .  Then  Miss  Annie  Sharp  took  me  to 
her  BHnd  School,  where  a  touching  group  were  squatting, 
knitting  mats  and  making  baskets.  She  is  gradually  collecting 
a  library  for  them  in  Moon  and  Braille  type.^  The  morning 
ended  with  house  to  house  visiting  and  preaching  in  a 
Sikh  quarter.  Sometimes  in  the  Mohammedan  quarter  they 
get  no  welcome;  but  the  Sikhs  are  more  courteous.  We 
went  into  several  mud  houses,  up  the  narrowest  steps  I  ever 
saw,  to  the  roof,  a  perfect  swarm  of  women  following  and 
appearing  from  all  the  neighbouring  roofs.  Miss  Sharp  let 
me  say  John  iii.  i6  to  them  after  her  address;  and  they  were 
much  like  the  Athenians  in  the  way  they  received  the  message. 
As  we  drove  again  through  the  narrow,  swarming  streets  a 
distribution  of  vernacular  tracts  was  made  to  many  who 
eagerly  asked  for  them.  At  4.30  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade 
fetched  me,  and  we  drove  to  the  house  of  Dr.  Imad-ud-din. 
The  grand  old  ci-devant  maulvi  welcomed  me  with  the 
Padre  and  Mem  Sahib  very  politely,  and  in  the  drawing-room 
we  found  all  the  family  assembled  for  the  betrothal  of 
his  daughter.  Mr.  Wade  read  i  Cor.  xiii.  and  prayed  in 
Urdu,  all  joined  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  then  the  bride- 
groom presented  the  engagement  ring  set  with  rubies  and 
emeralds,  and  was  presented  with  a  diamond  ring  and  silk 
handkerchief.  Mrs.  Imad-ud-din  held  a  very  private  reception, 
and  showed  off  a  small  grandson  to  the  ladies.  She  still 
keeps  purdah.  I  could  not,  to  my  regret,  combine  a  native 
evangelistic  service  with  fulfilling  my  promise  to  Daisy  and 
Lily  Wade  of  a  farewell  game.  I  danced  to  a  whistled 
tune  with  each,  having  already  initiated  them  into  the  '  Chop 
Waltz' and  the  'Three  little  Pigs.'      Dear  httle  bodies,  they 

»  They  Shall  See  His  Face  :  Stories  oj  God's  Grace  in  Work  among  the 
Blind  and  Others  in  India,  by  S.  Hewlett,  fully  describes  this  much 
needed  and  most  satisfactory  work. 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  loi 

whispered  in  such  a  confidential  way,  '  Most  ladies  who  come 
here  don't  do  this  sort  of  thing.' " 

Irene's  third  visit  on  March  8th  was  for  the  distribution  of 
prizes  by  the  two  Mem  Sahibs  of  St.  Hilda's  to  the  Zenana 
Mission  School  girls.  Miss  Tuting  writes  of  her  eagerness 
in  watching  them,  and  in  spelling  out  the  texts  on  the  walls. 

She  saw  yet  another  school  on  her  fourth  visit  on 
March  30th,  the  beautiful  Middle  School,  where  seventy 
Christian  girls  of  humble  parentage  are  trained  as  teachers. 
The  object  of  this  visit  was  to  confer  with  Mr,  Clark  about 
her  own  future  plans. 

On  January  15th,  when  she  had  been  six  weeks  at  St. 
Hilda's,  she  had  written  r  "  The  Bishop  and  Miss  Beynon 
want  me  to  stay  here  out  and  out,  and  are  beginning  to 
wish  to  know  my  intentions,  more  than  I  can  tell  anyone 
at  present,  not  knowing  them  myself."  A  month  later,  fresh 
from  her  second  visit  to  Amritsar,  she  says  :  "  It  was  splendid 
to  get  an  insight  into  real  work,  and  made  me  long  to  work 
among  the  pakka  natives  more  than  ever.  In  my  as  yet 
small  experience,  C.M.S.  is  still  the  ideal  society,  so  far  as 
ideality  can  exist.  I  wonder  if  I  shall  ever  join  it?"  On 
February  17th  she  lunched  with  the  Bishop,  and  though 
one  omits  many  of  her  portraits  of  the  living,  one  may 
insert  her  portrait  of  him.  "The  Bishop  is  delightful. 
He  is  a  little  like  Bishop  Westcott  in  the  face,  and 
spirituality  and  charity  strike  one  as  two  prominent  character- 
istics, as  well  as  plenty  of  kindly  common  sense.  To  him 
I  said :  '  I  wished  for  missionary  work  before  coming  to 
India ;  I  wish  for  it  more  than  ever  now.'  His  advice  was : 
'C.M.S.,  if  you  are  free  to  join  them.'  Both  the  Bishop 
and  Miss  Beynon  are  very  nice,  and  delightfully  kind  about 
it  all,  and  tell  me  not  to  hurry  a  decision,  and  say  how 
sorry  they  will  be  to  lose  me,  but  that  if  my  heart  is  in 
the  native  work,  C.M.S.  is  the  best  outlet." 


102  IRENE    PETRIE 

The  day  she  wrote  this  (February  27th),  Mr.  Wade  was 
writing  to  her  :  "  I  am  sure  the  C.M.S.  would  gladly  welcome 
you  as  an  honorary  worker,  and  would  offer  you  any  kind  of 
work  to  which  you  would  feel  most  drawn.  Speaking  for 
myself,  and  so  far  as  I  know  the  minds  of  others,  we  should 
all  be  delighted  to  have  you.  You  ask  for  my  advice.  Do 
everything  in  concert  with  the  Bishop  and  your  present 
friends;  we  are  all  members  of  one  great  army  out  here. 
Missionary  work  should  be  life  work ;  if  God  calls  us  to  it, 
we  should  wait  till  He  calls  us  from  it  before  we  give  it  up." 

On  March  2nd  she  wrote  to  Mr.  Clark,  formally  offering 
to  the  C.M.S.  He  replied:  "I  have  read  your  letter  with 
joy  and  thankfulness  to  God,  Who  has  put  it  into  your  heart 
to  desire  to  help  forward  His  cause  among  the  heathen.  I 
am  sure  that  the  Committees  both  in  London  and  in  India 
will  gladly  accept  you,  and  will  endeavour  to  find  such  work 
for  you  as  will  best  meet  your  wishes  and  utilise  your  special 
gifts.  .  .  .  But  I  sympathise  with  St.  Hilda's  and  its  workers  in 
Lahore.  God  needs  many  good  workers  among  Europeans 
and  Eurasians  also,  who  will  teach  the  pure,  simple  word 
of  God  without  additions  or  any  alterations." 

She  then  wrote  to  the  C.M.S.  headquarters  in  London,  saying 
at  the  same  time  in  her  weekly  letter :  "  I  shall  be  very  sorry 
to  say  good-bye  to  the  nice  friends  of  the  past  months,  and 
should  not  do  so  if  there  were  not  good  prospect  of  the 
St.  Hilda's  work  being  well  carried  on.  .  .  .  My  own  spirits 
are  certainly  on  the  rhe,  as  C.M.S.  plans  mature."  The 
educational  work  at  Amritsar  attracted  her  strongly;  but 
taking  Mr.  Clark's  advice,  she  came  to  no  hasty  decision. 

Those  to  whom  the  initials  "  C.M.S."  are  entirely  familiar 
must  forgive  a  momentary  pause  upon  their  significance  at 
this  point  for  the  information  of  others.  The  Church 
Missionary  Society  is  the  younger  of  the  two  great  Anglican 
societies,  and    during    its  hundred    years  of   existence  has 


A    ^VINTER    IN    LAHORE  103 

become  the  greatest  missionary  society  in  the  world,  both 
in  the  extent  of  its  operations  and  the  amount  of  its  annual 
income.  Its  full  title,  "  Church  Missionary  Society  for  Africa 
and  the  East,"  reminds  us  that  at  its  foundation  in  1799  no 
Anglican  was  preaching  to  the  heathen  in  either  Asia  or 
Africa.  These  continents  have  ever  been  its  chief  concern, 
but  it  has  some  work  in  Canada  and  New  Zealand,  labouring 
always  among  natives  only,  and  not  among  our  own  country- 
men also.  In  one  hundred  years  it  has  sent  out  just  over 
two  thousand  European  missionaries,  of  whom  exactly  half 
went  during  the  first  eighty-two  years,  and  half  in  the  last 
eighteen  years  of  its  existence.  Between  twelve  hundred 
and  thirteen  hundred  of  these  are  now  labouring,  and  the 
natives  whom  they  have  won  to  the  faith  now  number  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  million.  These  figures  will  not  appear 
large  when  we  compare  them  with  the  accounts  of  men  and 
money  given  to  religious  and  philanthropic  work  at  home, 
or  with  the  number  of  still  unevangelised  heathen  in  the 
world,  or  with  the  fact  that  only  one-seventh  of  our  own 
fellow-subjects  are  even  nominally  Christians.  Of  the  three 
hundred  and  fifty  millions  that  Queen  Victoria  now  rules> 
sixty  millions  are  Mohammedans  and  two  hundred  and  forty 
millions  heathen. 

Lahore  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  hottest  city  in  India, 
and  after  March  a  blaze  of  fierce  sun  and  burning  winds 
from  the  sandy  plains  render  it  unbearable.  So  in  April 
St.  Hilda's  was  broken  up  for  the  summer;  Miss  Beynon  went 
to  England,  the  two  Mem  Sahibs  to  Simla.  In  December 
Mrs.  Keith-Palconer  became  Mrs.  F.  E.  Bradshaw,  Mrs. 
Englebach  working  at  S.  Hilda's  for  a  second  winter.  Irene, 
on  April  25th,  the  very  day  that  the  C.M.S.  Committee  in 
London  were  accepting  her  as  "an  honorary  missionary  in 
local  connexion,"  crossed  the  frontier  into  Kashmir,  little 
realising  that  she  was  entering  a  country  that  would  be  the 


104  IRENE    PETRIE 

scene  of  all  her  future  work.  Before  following  her  thither 
we  must  glance  at  the  subsequent  development  of  St.  Hilda's. 

The  step  which  Bishop  Matthew  took  in  making  that 
institution  an  integral  part  of  his  diocesan  organisation  had 
been  anticipated  by  his  predecessor ;  for  in  1883  Bishop  French 
dedicated  to  her  work  as  a  Zenana  missionary,  by  a  solemn 
prayer  from  the  pulpit,  the  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Norman, 
thus  expressing  his  own  conviction  on  the  subject  of  definitely 
consecrating  to  their  appointed  tasks  whole-hearted  Christian 
women.  During  the  winter  1892-93  Miss  Beynon  reconnoitred 
the  ground ;  during  the  winter  1893-94,  when  Irene  joined 
not  only  as  an  ardent  but  as  a  trained  and  indefatigable 
worker,  the  institution  passed  through  its  experimental  stage. 
Later  on,  under  the  wise  guidance  of  the  Bishop,  who  drew 
out  a  regular  rule  of  life  for  its  inmates,  it  became  firmly 
established  as  St.  Hilda's  Deaconess  House. 

Since  Dean  Howson,  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  urged  upon 
an  unwilling  Church  the  importance  of  organising  women 
workers,  carefully  selected  women  have  been  ordained  as 
"  deaconesses "  by  the  Bishops  of  several  English  dioceses. 
Precedent  for  this  was  found  not  in  the  religious  "orders" 
of  medieval  monasticism,  but  rather  in  the  feminine  diaconate 
of  the  Apostolic  Church,  of  which  we  catch  glimpses  in  the 
New  Testament.  In  India  such  deaconesses  are  needed  even 
more  than  at  home.  Here  the  clergy  may  reckon  on  much 
regular  help  from  residents,  who  become  district  visitors, 
Sunday  school  teachers,  etc.  There,  as  '*  station  folks " 
become  less  and  less  stationary,  their  help  must  be  most 
casual  and  intermittent.  Meanwhile,  the  pastoral  work  of  the 
Church  among  the  poor  English,  the  Eurasians,  and  the  native 
Christians  is  ever  growing.  Hence  the  scheme  of  ordaining 
women,  after  two  or  more  years'  training  and  probation,  for 
three  kinds  of  work — parochial,  educational,  and  missionary 
—•and  the  developing  of  St.  Hilda's  as  "a  residence  for  the 


A    WINTER    IN    LAHORE  105 

deaconesses  and  probationers,   and    a  centre  of   deaconess 
work." 

On  November  17th,  1896,  the  Bishop  of  Lahore  ordained 
its  founder  as  "  Deaconess  Katherine  Beynon."  She  was  the 
first  to  be  so  set  apart  in  India,  and  the  only  other  as  yet 
ordained  is  Deaconess  Ellen  Lakhshmi  Goreh,  author  of  the 
well-known  poem  "  In  the  secret  of  His  presence  how  my 
soul  delights  to  hide,"  and  daughter  of  the  famous  Brahman 
convert  of  Benares,  Padre  Nehemiah  Goreh.  She  is  working 
under  the  Bishop  of  Lucknow  with  a  second  deaconess  from 
England,  and  another  English  deaconess  has  lately  gone  to 
the  diocese  of  Lahore  to  work  in  the  Cambridge  Delhi 
Mission.  It  is  hoped  that  a  permanent  Deaconess  House 
at  Lahore  may  commemorate  Bishop  Matthew.  The  enter- 
prise is  yet  in  its  infancy,  but  gives  every  promise  of  vigorous 
growth,  since  it  is  part  of  that  larger  movement  of  our 
day  which  claims  that  women  seriously  taking  up  any  career, 
after  definite  training,  should  be  recognised  not  as  mere 
amateurs  but  as  professed  and  professional  workers. 


CHAPTER    VI 

KASHMIR 

The  light  shineth  in  the  darkness ;  and  the  darkness  overcame  it  not 
QOHN  i.    5,  R.V.,   margin). 

Thick  darkness  shall  be  driven  away  (IsA.  viii.  22,  R.V.,  margin). 

THE  Stupendous  chain  of  mountains  tnat  forms  the  back 
bone  of  the  Old  World,  dividing  the  windy  plateaux  of 
Central  Asia  from  the  burning  plains  of  India,  is  most  appro- 
priately named  the  Himalayas — that  is,  the  "  Abode  of  Snow." 
About  the  middle  of  it,  fed  by  this   snow,   rise  two  mighty 
rivers — the  Ganges,  to  which  Bengal  owes  its  extraordinary 
fertility,  and  the  Indus,  whence  the  whole  peninsula  takes  its 
designation.     One  of  the  five  great  tributaries  of  the  Indus  is 
the  Jhelum  or  Jehlam,  which,  before  it  pours  into  the  Punjab 
through  a  series  of  gorges,  waters  a  remarkable  alluvial  plam 
lying  to  the  north-east  of  that  land.     This  fair  oasis  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  rugged  Himalayan  system  is  a  unique  feature 
on  the   earth's   surface.      Legend   tells   that  it  was   once   a 
huge  tarn,  where  dwelt  a  man-eating  monster  called  Juldeva. 
Kashaf,  a  holy  rishi,  after  a  thousand  years   of  prayer   pre- 
vailed with  Vishnu  to  drain  the  Lake ;  the  waters  gushed  out 
through  the  Baramula  Pass,  the  monster  perished,  and  the 
newly  reclaimed  Vale,  taking  the  saint's  name,  was   hence- 
forth known  as  Kashmir.^     Three   lovely  lakes  are  found  in 
it  to-day— the  Wular,  forty  miles  in  circumference,  the  Dal 

>  See  Major-General  Newall's  Highlands  of  India. 
iq6 


KASHMIR  107 

(pronounced  "  dull "),  six  by  three  miles,  and  Manasbal,  about 
the  size  of  Grasmere.  Legend  apart,  it  is  highly  probable 
that  they  are  relics  of  one  original  lake,  occupying  an  area 
of  at  least  1,500  miles.  These  mirror-like  lakes  and  the 
Jhelum,  with  its  many  canals,  form  a  sort  of  arterial  system 
to  the  Vale;  and  the  loops  and  windings  of  the  river,  as 
it  placidly  meanders  through  fields  and  hamlets,  are  said  to 
have  suggested  the  pattern  of  the  celebrated  Kashmir  shawls. 
It  is  navigable  from  Islamabad  to  Baramula. 

Kashmir  is  divided  from  the  Punjab  by  the  Pir  Punjal 
range,  which  is  from  9,000  to  15,500  feet  high  ;  and  from 
Tibet  by  the  Western  Himalayas,  averaging  18,000  feet. 
Everest,  the  highest  peak  of  the  Himalayas  (29,000  feet),  lies 
far  away  to  the  south-east ;  but  from  Kashmir  can  be  seen 
Nanga  Parbat  (pronounced  "  Nunga  Perbut  "),  one  of  the  most 
imposing  mountains  in  the  world.  The  area  enclosed  by  these 
two  ranges  is  about  a  hundred  by  fifty  miles  in  size,  and 
lies  5,200  feet  above  the  sea.  About  half  of  it  is  as  flat  as  the 
Norfolk  Broads  ;  while  the  portions  towards  the  mountain 
bases  are  not  unlike  the  hilly  parts  of  Surrey  in  configuration. 
Roughly,  it  is  in  the  same  latitude  as  Jerusalem,  Gibraltar, 
and  California. 

The  marvellous  beauty  and  great  fertility  of  the  land  which 
Orientals  fondly  speak  of  as  "  Kashmir,  equal  to  Paradise," 
made  it  in  olden  times  the  prey  of  ruthless  conquerors, 
and  bring  thither  an  ever-growing  number  of  tourists  and 
holiday-makers  to-day.  The  poet  and  the  historian,  the 
traveller  and  the  sportsman,  have  sung  its  praises  again  and 
again.  All  that  need  be  done  here  is  to  point  out  in  its 
past  what  will  explain  the  character  of  its  people  and  their 
religious  condition  in  the  present. 

Many  mission  fields  are  without  annals  because  they  had 
no  written  language  till  European  missionaries  gave  them 
one.      But   Kashmir   possesses    a    civilisation   more   ancient 


io8  IRENE    PETRIE 

than  eur  own,  and  a  history  five  thousand  years  long,  which 
may  be  divided  into  three  periods.  The  first,  from  3000  B.C. 
to  A.D.  1341,  was  a  romantic  period,  when  it  was  ruled  by 
native  princes.  This  begins  with  a  mythical  golden  age, 
when  Kashaf  peopled  the  Vale  with  a  pure  race,  and  built  the 
original  of  the  magnificent  Temple  of  the  Sun  at  Martand, 
whose  ruins  command  what  is  probably  the  finest  view  in 
the  whole  world.  There  are  chapters  in  this  history  which 
read  like  tales  of  mediaeval  chivalry.  A  line  of  rois  fainiants 
ended  in  a  high-souled  queen,  Kotereen,  whose  first  husband, 
a  Tibetan,  deposed  her  father  and  ruled  in  her  right  till 
his  death.  Her  prime  minister  then  forced  her  to  marry 
him,  whereon  she  stabbed  herself,  leaving  him  to  rule  as 
the  first  Mohammedan  sovereign  of  Kashmir. 

This  opened  a  second  and  very  different  period,  from  1341  to 
1819,  the  Mohammedan  period  of  subjection  to  foreigners  and 
frequent  civil  wars.  From  1587  to  1753  Kashmir  was  a  part  of 
the  Mogul  Empire — the  only  part  which  is  not  now  under  the 
direct  rule  of  the  Empress  of  India.  The  two  most  notable 
Mogul  Emperors  were  both  closely  associated  with  Kashmir : 
Akbar,  whose  reign  (i 555-1 605)  almost  coincides  with  that 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  conquered  it ;  Aurungzebe,  whose  reign 
(1658-1707)  almost  coincides  with  that  of  Louis  XIV., 
was  the  father  of  Lalla  Rookh,  heroine  of  the  poem  by 
Thomas  Moore  which  familiarised  Kashmir  to  the  general 
English  reader  of  a  past  generation.  It  was  Jehanghir, 
Akbar's  successor,  who  made  for  his  bride,  the  renowned 
Nurmahal,  three  lovely  gardens  on  the  Dal  Lake — the 
Shalimar  Bagh,  Nishat  Bagh,  each  enclosing  a  palace,  and 
the  Nasim  Bagh.  They  were  the  Balmoral  of  those  of 
Victoria's  predecessors  whose  capital  was  Delhi.  The  Mogul 
rule  was  followed  by  nearly  seventy  years  of  misery  under 
the  oppressive  deputies  of  Persian  conquerors. 

In   1 8 19    the    third    and    latest    period    was    inaugurated 


KASHMIR  109 

through  the  conquest  of  a  Sikh,  Runjit  Singh,  "  the  lion  of 
the  Punjab."  Sikh  rule,  latterly  under  British  influence,  has 
been  the  lot  of  Kashmir  for  the  last  fourscore  years  • 
for  after  Runjit's  death  in  1839  (when  four  queens  and 
five  Kashmiri  slave  girls  were  burned  alive  on  his  pyre), 
Golab  Singh,  the  descendant  of  an  old  Dogra  family,  won 
confidence  as  mediator  between  contending  parties  in  the 
distracted  land.  He  was  already  Raja  of  Jammu,  and  in 
1847  Loid  Hardinge  made  him  Maharaja  of  Kashmir;  in 
fact,  when  the  Treaty  of  Amritsar  closed  the  first  Punjab  War, 
he  purchased  the  throne  out  of  the  plunder  he  had  carried 
off  to  Jammu  from  Runjit  Singh's  treasure  in  the  fortress 
of  Lahore.  His  dominions  included  the  basin  of  the  Jhelum, 
still  connoted  geographically  by  the  term  Kashmir,  whose 
capital  is  Srinagar ;  Jammu,  the  residence  of  the  Maharaja 
during  most  of  the  year,  which  lies  on  the  south  slope  of  the 
Pir  Punjal  range,  about  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  miles  due 
south  of  Srinagar;  and  a  region  beyond  the  Western  Himalayas 
to  the  north-east  of  the  Vale  of  Kashmir,  the  basin  of  the 
Upper  Indus,  consisting  of  the  three  provinces  of  Gilgit, 
Iskardo,  and  Ladakh.  Into  that  region,  whose  capital  is  Leh, 
Chapter  XIII.  will  take  us.  Politically  the  whole  territory  ruled 
by  the  Maharaja  is  called  Kashmir,  and  forms  a  country 
nearly  equal  in  extent  to  England  and  Scotland  together, 
with  a  population  (1891)  of  about  two  and  a  half  millions. 
Kashmir  is  the  most  northerly  of  the  native  States  which 
acknowledge  the  Qaisar-i-Hind  as  suzerain,  and  commands 
the  great  trade  routes  into  Central  Asia.  Hence  control  of 
it  is  a  matter  of  vital  political  and  strategical  importance 
to  Great  Britain. 

Golab  Singh  died  in  1857,  and  Colonel  Urmston  prevented 
the  immolation  of  his  five  widows  as  suttees.  His  son 
Runbir  Singh  reigned  from  1857  to  1885,  when  the  present 
Maharaja,  Pertab  Singh,  succeeded.     He   had  only  been  on 


no  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  throne  four  years  when  much  of  his  power  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  State  Council,  of  which  he  is  president.  Laws 
made  by  this  Council  have  to  receive  a  final  sanction  from 
the  Government  of  India  through  the  Resident  in  Kashmir, 
a  change  which  is  \n)rking  slowly  but  steadily  towards  the 
wellbeing  of  a  land  that  has  suffered  much  at  the  hands 
of  its  rulers. 

Turning  again  to  geographical  and  historical  Kashmir,  the 
alluring  Vale  which  has  been  coveted  and  conquered  by  all 
its  neighbours  in  turn,  we  find  representatives  of  many  tribes 
and  many  tongues  within  its  borders  to-day.  What  has  been 
the  result  of  its  history  for  the  handsome,  olive-skinned  race 
who  are  its  own  people  ?  They  are  a  cheery,  civil,  plausible 
folk,  witty  in  repartee,  industrious  as  farmers,  and  most  artistic 
and  skilful,  as  their  embroideries  and  handicrafts  in  metal  and 
papier-mache  show.  Unburdened  with  anxiety  for  the  morrow, 
and  free  from  the  crush  of  competition,  they  lead  a  natural 
animal  life,  with  as  few  cares  as  they  have  hopes.  The  well- 
deserved  reputation  of  the  women  for  beauty  has  caused  them 
to  be  kidnapped  for  harems  in  all  parts  of  India  ;  the  children 
are  most  winsome,  and  the  parents  seem  fond  of  them  and 
kind  to  them.  But  to  a  fine  physique  the  Kashmiris  add  few 
manly,  and  to  a  quick  intelligence  few  moral  qualities.  It  is 
characteristic  of  them  that  while  the  women  do  all  the  hard 
work,  the  men  produce  the  fine  embroideries,  and  that  their 
arts  are  of  a  kind  that  call  for  little  muscular  effort.  The 
Persians  have  a  proverb  that  from  a  Kashmiri  you  can  never 
experience  anything  but  sorrow  and  anxiety.  Mrs.  Bishop, 
who  has  kindly  words  for  so  many  of  the  remote  races  she 
has  visited,  describes  the  Kashmiris  as  "  false,  cringing,  and 
suspicious."  Mr.  E.  F.  Knight  says  that  they  are  incorrigible 
cheats  and  liars,  cowardly  to  an  inconceivable  degree,  for  a 
Kashmiri  will  receive  a  blow  from  a  man  smaller  than  himself 
and   not   dare   to   return   it.      Irene    says :    "  They   are   the 


KASHMIR  III 

most  entirely  unpatriotic  people  one  ever  knew.  They 
will  always  have  a  sneer  at  their  own  countrymen.  I  gave 
a  darzi  some  bags  to  make  for  my  pupils'  reading-books 
the  other  day.  These  were  cobbled  in  such  a  style  that  I 
told  him  I  should  be  far  too  ashamed  to  think  of  giving 
such  things  away.  'I  thought  they  were  only  for  Kashmiri 
16g,'  was  his  excuse."  So  little  public  spirit  have  they  that 
they  have  been  seen  quietly  watching  the  ravages  of  a 
fire,  without  making  any  effort  to  prevent  it  spreading.  The 
Zenana  missionary  who  tells  this,  also  tells  that  once  when 
she  was  impelled  to  say,  "  O  dear  Kashmiri  women,  why 
won't  you  wash  ? "  they  looked  at  her  wonderingly,  and 
replied,  "We  have  been  so  oppressed  that  we  don't  care 
to  be  clean."  That  explains  all.  Used  abominably  for 
generations,  they  use  each  other  abominably ;  and  so  where 
Nature  is  fairest  one  sees  sadly  illustrated  the  pregnant  phrase 
of  Wordsworth,  "  What  man  has  made  of  man." 

Only  one-third  of  the  Vale  is  said  to  be  under  tillage. 
Properly  cultivated  it  could  easily  support  four  millions.  Its 
actual  population  is  estimated  (in  the  absence  of  census 
returns)  at  from  one-third  to  one-quarter  of  that  number. 
The  mass  of  the  people  live  in  its  numerous  and  thickly 
clustering  villages.  Islamabad,  over  fifty  miles  up  the  river 
from  Srinagar,  contains  eight  thousand  people,  and  is  the 
only  town  of  any  size  besides  the  capital. 

Srinagar  (pronounced  " Sreenugger "),  "the  City  of  the 
Sun  "  or  "  the  Holy  City,"  stands  in  size  twenty-second  among 
the  cities  of  India.  Its  population  is  variously  estimated  at 
from  120,000  to  140,000 — that  is,  it  contains  from  20,000  to 
30,000  less  than  Lahore  and  Amritsar ;  or  to  compare  more 
familiar  places,  it  is  rather  larger  than  Brighton,  and  less 
than  half  the  size  of  Edinburgh.  Old  maps  sometimes  call 
it  "Cashmere,"  a  name  ambiguous  enough  already.  It  is 
said   to  have   been  foanded   by  Provarsen,   a   half  fabulous 


112  IRENE    PETRIE 

native  prince  who  conquered  all  India.  Poets  sang  its  praises 
as  "  the  City  of  Roses  " ;  and  in  the  distance  it  is  very  striking. 
Seven  quaint  bridges  of  deodar  logs,  on  the  cantilever 
principle,  span  the  sluggish  coils  of  the  Jhelum,  and  the 
approaching  tourist  is  attracted  not  a  little  by  its  four-  or  five- 
storied  houses  with  protruding,  carved  balconies  and  its  lovely 
baghs.  But  the  gaudy  ugliness  of  the  Lai  Mundi  Palace 
and  other  modern  public  buildings,  and  the  crooked  and 
flimsy  structure  of  its  dwellings  generally,  proclaim  a  race 
degenerate  from  the  builders  of  the  imposing  and  symmetrical 
temples  whose  ruins  suggest  that  Kashmiri  architects  were 
once  under  the  influence  of  the  Greek  occupiers  of  the 
Punjab.  Moreover,  the  resident  in  Srinagar  has  to  confess 
that  from  its  picturesque  canals  arises  a  massive  and  un- 
relieved stench,  which  is  never  forgotten  by  those  who  have 
once  inhaled  it. 

Here  is  Irene's  description,  written  in  November,  1895  • 
•'  Let  me  take  you  in  imagination  a  little  voyage  in  our 
shikari  up  the  great  river  Jhelum,  where  it  forms  the  main 
highway  through  this  capital  city  of  Srinagar.  Just  now  it 
is  reflecting  golden  poplars  and  crimson  chenar-trees  on  its 
banks,  with  more  distant  mountain  ranges  on  all  sides  covered 
with  fresh  fallen  snow,  which  look  dazzling  as  the  last  autumn 
sunshine  lights  them  up  against  the  blue  sky.  .  .  .  Srinagar, 
with  its  water-ways,  palaces,  bridges,  and  graceful,  fair- 
skinned  inhabitants,  suggests  Venice,  though  Venice  much 
dilapidated.  But  from  Venice  there  are  no  such  views  as 
one  may  see  here  on  a  clear  autumn  day.  It  is  perhaps 
the  dirtiest  city  in  the  world ;  and  most  of  the  houses  look  as 
if  they  could  not  survive  the  next  flood  or  earthquake.  The 
shining  pinnacles  and  tall  minarets  belong  to  Hindu  temples 
and  Mohammedan  mosques,  and  we  may  search  the  city  in 
vain  for  a  Christian  church." 

Much  has  been  done  in  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  for  the 


KASHMIR  113 

material  progress  of  Kashmir.  Our  soldiers  are  disciplining  the 
hitherto  nondescript  army  of  this  outpost  of  the  Empire  ;  our 
statesmen  are  reforming  abuses,  reorganising  the  Post-office, 
the  Public  Works  and  Forest  departments,  and  the  State 
finances.  The  land  settlement  effected  by  Mr.  Lawrence  and  his 
coadjutors  is  greatly  and  permanently  benefiting  the  oppressed 
peasantry.  Merchants  from  more  than  one  European  country 
are  developing  trade  and  manufactures ;  British  engineers  are 
making  roads  and  bridges,  providing  pure  water,  draining 
land;  not  only  facilitating  commerce,  but  averting  the  awful 
floods  of  the  past,  and  the  still  worse  disasters  of  famine 
and  plague,  which  ought  to  be  unknown  where  the  soil  is 
so  fertile  and  the  climate  so  fine.  But  carriage  of  supplies 
across  the  frontier  was  formerly  so  difficult,  uncertain,  and 
expensive  that  whenever  heavy  rain  and  cold  during  October 
disappointed  them  of  the  rice  harvest  there  was  dearth.  The 
famine  of  1876-78,  in  which  from  one-third  to  two-fifths  of 
the  Kashmiris  were  swept  away,  was  directly  due,  according 
to  Sir  Lepel  Griffin  and  Dr.  Downes,  to  the  maladministra- 
tion of  corrupt  native  officials  ;  and  visitations  of  cholera  have 
been  wholly  the  result  of  outrageously  defying  sanitary  laws. 
Irene  longed  "  for  an  army  of  health  missionaries  to  follow  in 
the  wake  of  the  Gospel  missionaries  and  teach  practically 
that  cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness." 

And  what  of  the  life  which  cannot  be  lived  by  bread  alone  ? 

Two  hills,  rising  sharply  out  of  the  plain  and  visible  far 
across  it,  form  the  landmarks  of  Srinagar,  which  stretches 
towards  them  from  the  river  winding  through  its  heart.  The 
Dal  Gate,  at  the  south-west  extremity  of  the  Dal  Lake,  lies 
between  them.  Hari-Parbat,  the  smaller  one,  three  hundred 
feet  high,  is  crowned  with  a  fort  built  by  Akbar,  and  below  it, 
says  legend,  Juldeva  lies,  like  Enceladus  beneath  Etna. 
The  Takht-i-Suleiman  ("Solomon's  Throne'"),  the  larger  one, 
over  a  thousand  feet  high,  is  a  queer,  isolated,  conical  peak, 


114  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  "  Arthur's  Seat "  of  Srinagar,  steep  but  not  difficult  of 
ascent.  From  its  summit  one  gets  the  best  view  of  the 
city,  rising  from  the  rich  alluvial  plain,  v/ith  its  network  of 
canals,  set  in  fields  of  rice  and  maize,  amid  clear  streams, 
shady  chenar  groves,  and  luxuriant  gardens.  The  girdle  of 
mountains,  whence  flow  a  thousand  fountains  and  brooks, 
rises  beyond;  their  lower  slopes  dark  with  pines,  deodars, 
or  cedars,  their  brows  gleaming  with  perpetual  snow, 
Hararauk  (16,000  feet),  Kotwal  (14,000  feet),  and  Mahadeo 
(13,000  feet)  being  their  most  conspicuous  heights.  Here 
one  realises  why  the  poet  sang  of  the  Vale  as  "an  emerald 
set  in  pearls."  The  Takht  is  crowned  by  the  oldest  re- 
maining temple  in  Kashmir,  a  building  which  epitomises 
the  whole  religious  history  of  the  country. 

About  250  B.C.,  when  Rome  and  Carthage  were  beginning 
to  grapple  together  in  the  Punic  Wars,  Asoka  introduced 
Buddhism  into  Kashmir,  supplanting  a  primitive  serpent 
and  nature  worship.  His  son  Jaloka  built  the  original 
temple  here,  and  gathered  Buddhist  priests  to  it  in  con- 
vocation about  200  B.C.  About  250  a.d.,  when  Cyprian 
and  Origen  were  moulding  the  theology  of  a  Christian 
Church  still  in  the  fires  of  Imperial  persecution,  the  temple 
was  rebuilt  and  dedicated  to  Mahadeva,  that  is,  Siva;  for 
about  the  time  of  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem  Hinduism  had  been 
introduced  into  Kashmir,  where  it  flourished  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years.  Pupils  flocked  to  its  most  famous  schools 
and  professors  there,  and  pilgrims  visited  the  scenes  of  many 
of  the  favourite  tales  of  Hindu  heroes  and  gods.  Before 
Hinduism,  Buddhism  vanished  away,  slowly  but  utterly,  un- 
less the  rishis  of  Kashmir  may  be  regarded  as  survivals  of  it. 
Irene  met  one  of  these  whose  only  occupation  was  enlarging  a 
tomb  which  his  father  had  spent  fifteen  years  of  his  life  in 
digging  out  of  a  deep  mountain  cavern  in  expiation  of  the 
crime  of  murdering  his  wife.      She  heard  of  another  given 


KASHMIR  115 

wholly  to  prayer  and  fasting,  who  was  visited  by  the 
Maharaja  and  others  on  the  Moslem  holy  day.  These 
anchorites  recall  the  hermits  of  the  Thebaid. 

About  the  time  that  Wycliffe  was  inaugurating  the  Lollard 
movement  in  England,  Mohammedanism  was  being  estab- 
lished in  Kashmir,  and  the  fanatical  zeal  of  Sikandar 
Butshikan  (Alexander  the  Iconoclast)  was  demolishing  not 
only  the  idols  but  many  of  the  most  massive  temples  of 
Hinduism.  Islam  claimed  the  Takht  as  a  sacred  place, 
since  it  owed  its  name  to  the  tradition  that  "  the  flying 
throne  of  star-taught  Solomon"  was  set  on  it  once,  Adam, 
Noah,  and  Mohammed  all  figuring  in  the  complicated  legend 
of  an  umbrella  which  there  sheltered  the  Wise  King. 
Nothing  remains  of  the  Buddhist  temple,  only  fragments  of 
the  old  Hindu  temple  ;  and  when  the  Sikh  rulers  of  Kashmir 
in  our  own  century  wrested  the  Takht  from  the  Moslem, 
it  was  a  mosque  which  they  restored  with  plaster  and  white- 
wash, and  re-dedicated  to  Siva,  still  the  favourite  Hindu 
god  in  Kashmir.  Every  day  now  a  priest  appointed  by  the 
Maharaja,  who  is  a  devout  Hindu,  climbs  the  Takht  with 
an  ofi"ering  of  milk  and  rice  and  flowers,  and  mutters  a  prayer 
round  the  shrine  of  the  idol  within. 

In  India  as  a  whole,  according  to  the  1891  census,  there 
were  almost  189,000,000  Hindus  and  almost  54,000,000 
Mohammedans.  Five  centuries  of  Islam  triumphant  in 
Kashmir  have  reversed  this  proportion  there,  and  it  now  claims 
at  least  three-quarters.  Dr.  Neve  thinks  fourteen-fifteenths,  of 
the  population,  the  "  masses  "  of  Kashmir.  The  minority  of 
Hindus  form  its  "classes,"  being  nearly  all  of  the  Brahman 
caste.  The  inferior  castes  were  either  driven  out  of  the 
country  or  forced  to  accept  Islam.  Its  conquest  has  been 
(so  to  say)  avenged  in  this  century  on  the  Mohammedan 
many  by  the  Hindu  few,  for  they  form  the  official  class,  a 
large  number  of  them  being  employed  in   the  State  service. 


ii6  IRENE    PETRIE 

They  are  all  called  pundits,  a  word  whose  significance 
may  be  likened  to  that  of  "  clerk  "  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In 
the  abstract,  though  not  where  breaking  of  caste  is  concerned, 
Hinduism  is  more  tolerant  than  Mohammedanism ;  but  in 
Kashmir,  where  they  have  neither  Government  nor  officials 
to  back  them,  Mohammed's  followers  dare  not  display  their 
wonted  intolerance.  Moreover,  the  ordinary  Kashmiri  is  more 
of  a  saint-worshipper  than  a  true  Moslem ;  he  can  repeat 
the  KaUma,  and  knows  the  names  of  the  six  great  prophets ; 
but  in  calamity  he  turns  to  his  pir  to  help  him.  His  shrines 
are  often  on  former  Hindu  sites,  and  the  Hinduism  of  his 
ancestors  appears  beneath  the  veneer  of  Mohammedanism. 
Below  both  is  the  aboriginal  nature-worship,  dying  hard 
before  more  formulated  creeds. 

There  is  yet  another  chapter  of  the  religious  story  of  the 
Takht.  Conspicuous  on  an  outlying  spur  of  it,  known  as 
the  Rustum  Gari,  beneath  which  nestles  the  village  of 
Drogjun,  rises  now  a  cruciform  building  whose  tale  will  be 
told  presently,  where  the  worshippers  of  Christ  gather  daily. 
Its  spire  points  to  heaven  at  a  lower  elevation  than  the  top 
of  the  domed  Hindu  temple,  and  it  does  not  actually  crown 
the  Rustum  Gari.  Round  the  summit  of  that  secondary 
height  runs  a  fence,  above  which  no  one  may  build,  for 
the  Kashmiris  believe  that  he  who  lives  on  Rustum  Gari 
will  rule  Kashmir.  Nearer  than  aught  else  to  this  fateful 
summit  stands  the  group  of  mission  buildings,  consummated 
by  the  church,  predicting  that  even  as  the  idolatries  of  the 
ancient  world  dropped  into  the  darkness  of  oblivion  before 
the  uplifted  Cross  of  Christ,  so  must  the  gloomy  creed  of 
Islam  and  the  blind  and  often  revolting  rites  of  Hinduism 
fall  when  the  Kingdom  of  God  comes  with  power  in  Kashmir. 

No  poHtical  excitements,  no  startling  tragedies,  no  extra- 
ordinary results  have   called   public   attention   to   missionary 


KASHMIR  117 

work  in  Kashmir.  Taking  it  as  a  typical  C.M.S.  station, 
we  shall  find,  ere  we  have  proceeded  far,  that  its  short  history 
is  an  instructive  commentary  upon  the  popular  notion  that 
ardent  pietists  at  home,  knowing  nothing  of  far-off  lands, 
raise  large  funds  which  societies  spend  in  providing  snug 
berths  for  mediocre  people  who  would  have  little  chance 
in  their  own  country,  and  whose  well-meaning  efforts  for  the 
heathen  are  mostly  misdirected  and  futile. 

Both  the  brevity  and  the  precision  of  our  story  will  be 
aided  by  beginning,  for  convenience  of  reference,  with  a 
complete  list  of  all  the  missionaries  who  have  laboured  there. 
Those  of  the  C.M.S.  are  in  ordinary  type,  those  of  the 
C.E.Z.M.S.  in  italics,  those  who  have  died  in  capitals, 
those  no  longer  there  in  (  ),  and  those  in  local  connexion 
are  marked  *. 

Missionaries  to  Kashmir. 
1865-72.  William  Jackson  Elmslie,  M.D.  Edin.  (C.M.S.). 
1874-75.  (Dr.  Theodore  Maxwell,  B.A.,  B.Sc,  M.U.,  Lond.) 
1877-82.  (Dr.  Edmund  Dowries,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S.,  Edin.) 

1882-  Dr.  Arthur  Neve,  L.R.C.P.,  F.R.C.S.,  Edin. 

1883-  Rev.  James  Hinton  Knowlcs  ai.d  Mrs.  Knowles. 
1886-        Dr.  Ernest  F.  Neve,  M.D.,  F.R.C.S.,  Edin. 
1888-       Miss  Elizabeth  Gordon  Hull. 

1888-89.  Fanny  Jane  Butler,  L.K.Q.P.S.  (C.E.Z.M.S.). 

1888-91.  {Miss  Rainsfonl) 

1888-93.  {Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Newman.) 

1890-  Rev.  Cecil  Earle  Tyndale-Biscoe,  M.A.  Cantab. 

1891-  Mrs.  C.  E.  Tyndale-Biscoe  (m.  Nov.,  1891). 

1891-  *Miss  Amy  Judd  (Mrs.  R.  V.  Greene,  m.  July,  1896). 
1891-92.  {Miss  Huntley,  M.D.) 

1891-92.  {Miss  M.  K.  Webster.) 

1892-  Mr.  Robert  Venables  Greene. 

1893-  Miss  Annie  Coverdale  (in  local  connexion,  1890-91), 
1893-       Miss  Catharine New7iham  (transferred  to  C.M.S.,  1900) 
1894-97.  Irene  Eleanora  Verita  Petrie  (C.M.S.). 

1895-96,  {Miss  May  Pry ce- Browne.) 
1896-98.  {*Miss  Kathleen  Howatson.) 
1897-99.  {*Miss  Rudra  [Mrs.  Singh"]). 


ii8  IRENE    PETRIE 

1897-  *Mtss  Foy. 

1897-  Miss  Bessie  Martyn. 

1898-  Miss  Mary  Nora  Neve  (in  local  connexion,  1891-96). 

1899-  Rev.  Cecil  Edward  Barton,  B.A.,  and  Mrs.  Barton. 

1899-  *Miss  Stubbs. 

1900-  Miss  Minnie  Gomery,  M.D. 

Missionaries  Stationed  Elsewhere  and  Others,  Who  Have 
Helped  in  Kashmir  Temporarily. 

1864,  etc.  Rev.  R.  Clark,  M.A.,  &  Mrs.  Clark  (C.M.S.,  Amritsar). 

1865.  Rev.  W.  Smith,  (C.M.S.,  Benares). 
1865.  Rev.  A.  Brinckman  (S.P.G.). 

1S65.  Rev.  W.  G.  Cowie  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Auckland). 

1870.  Rev.  W.  T.  Storrs,  M.D.  (C.I\I  S.,  Santal). 

187 1.  Rev.  T.  V.  French  (afterwards  Bishop  of  Lahore). 
1875-81.  .Rev.  T.  R.  Wade  (C.M.S.,  Amritsar). 

1892.  Rev.  H.  E.  Perkins  (C.M.S.,  Bahrwal). 

1896-  Mr.  G.  W,  Tyndale-Biscoe. 

1899-  Mr.  A.  B.  Tyndale,  M.A.  Oxon. 

1899-  Rev.  C.  I'E.  Burges,  M.A.  Cantab. 

A  preliminary  journey  to  reconnoitre  the  field  was  made 
in  1854  by  the  Rev.  R.  Clark,  a  Cambridge  Wrangler  (see 
p.  96),  and  Colonel  Martin,  of  the  9th  Native  Infantry.  He 
had  lately  given  anonymously  ten  thousand  rupees  to 
found  the  Punjab  Mission,  and  in  1855  became  an  honorary 
C.M.S.  missionary  at  Peshawar.  Golab  Singh  was  quite 
willing  that  they  should  preach  in  hi-s  dominions,  saying 
that  the  Kashmiris  were  so  bad  already  that  the  padres 
could  do  them  no  harm,  and  he  was  curious  to  see  if  they 
could  do  them  any  good. 

About  twenty  years  after  ofificials  of  the  Punjab  had 
given  funds  for  starting  the  mission  there  (see  p.  73),  its 
Lieutenant-Governor,  Sir  Robert  Montgomery,  together  with 
other  distinguished  generals  and  civilians  of  high  rank,  feeling 
that  the  time  had  come  to  evangelise  Kashmir,  collected 
;^i,5oo,  and  appealed  to  the  C.M.S.,  promising  to  provide 
annually  all   the   expenses  beyond  the  missionary's  personal 


KASHxMIR 


119 


allowances,  if  the  C.M.S.  would  establish  a  mission  and  send 
out  a  man.  Mr.  Chuk  paid  two  more  visits  to  Srinagar  in 
1862  and  1863  ;  and  in  1864  his  wife,  a  fully  qualified 
medical  woman,  opened  a  dispensary,  attended  by  as  many 
as  a  hundred  patients  daily,  and  a  mission  school  was  com- 
menced. Baptism  of  a  convert  from  Islam  soon  followed,  and 
at  once  indifference  gave  place  to  hostility;  the  governor 
of  the  city  himself  organised  a  disturbance,  and  all  sorts  of 
opposition  and  outrage  ensued.  An  order  forbidding  foreigners 
to  remain  in  Kashmir  for  more  than  the  six  months  of  summer 
was  strictly  enforced,  and  extended  to  converts,  and  it  became 
evident  that  the  one  possible  door  into  this  closed  country 
was  a  medical  mission — that  is,  teaching  combined  with  healing, 
not  merely  to  attract  hearers,  but  as  a  necessary  embodiment 
of  the  spirit  of  that  religion  whose  Divine  Founder  was,  as 
Livingstone  used  to  say,  "the  first  medical  Missionary." 

Meanwhile,  a  committee  which  the  missionary-hearted 
Punjab  officials  had  formed  were  corresponding  with  the 
Edinburgh  Medical  Mission  about  a  distinguished  young 
graduate,  who,  through  prayerful  consideration  of  the  Saviour's 
twofold  command  to  preach  and  heal,  was  olTcring  to  go  out 
as  a  medical  missionary.  He  was  the  son  of  an  Aberdeen 
"  boot-closer,"  apprenticed  to  his  father  in  childhood,  whose 
ability  and  ardour  for  study  were  such  that,  while  toiling  in 
his  humble  calling  he  rose  at  3  a.m.  to  read,  and  won  both 
the  M.A.  of  Aberdeen  University  and  the  ]\I.D.  of  Edinburgh. 
This  *'  indomitable  Scot,"  who  will  always  be  remembered  as 
one  of  the  most  devoted  and  able  medical  missionaries  who 
ever  lived,  became  a  pioneer  in  three  senses.  He  was  the 
first  missionary  to  Kashmir ;  and  the  first  medical  missionary 
sent  out   by  the  C.M.S.,^  which   now  has   sixty-one  medical 

'  Not  counting  three  or  four  ordained  C.M.S.  men  who  happened  to 
have  and  to  use  medical  knowledge,  and  the  isolated  experiment  of 
sending  out  Dr.   Harrison  to  YoruV)a  in  iS6£  for  a  short  time. 


120  IRENE    PETRIE 

missionaries  on  its  roll,  and  thirty  mission  hospitals ;  thirdly, 
he  was  of  Presbyterian  education.  C.M.S.  agents  must,  of 
course,  be  members  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  here  were 
exceptional  circumstances.  Only  a  doctor  could  hope  to  pro- 
claim the  Gospel  in  the  land  whose  first  missionary  afterwards 
wrote  of  it  as  "  poor,  perishing  Kashmir,  for  whom  I  could  weep 
all  day " ;  no  Anglican  doctor  was  forthcoming ;  friends  of 
the  C.M.S.  on  the  spot  wished  this  man  to  be  their  missionary, 
and  guaranteed  all  the  expenses  of  the  mission;  and  he 
cordially  promised  to  observe  all  the  practices  and  rules  of 
the  Society.  So  he  was  sent.  Under  equally  exceptional 
circumstances  the  C.M.S.  has  since  sent  out  one  other  mis- 
sionary of  Presbyterian  education,  an  engineer  by  profession ; 
and  among  all  its  pioneer  missionaries,  none  are  held  in 
higher  honour  to-day  than  the  two  Scottish  laymen,  William 
Elmslie,  of  Kashmir,  and  Alexander  Mackay,  of  Uganda. 

In  May,  1865,  Elmslie  opened  a  dispensary  in  the  verandah 
of  his  rough  bungalow  at  Srinagar,  and  laboured  for  five 
summers  there.  During  four  winters  he  was  at  Amritsar, 
for  every  October  he  was  turned  out  of  Kashmir  with  his 
converts,  who  had  to  leave  their  wives  behind,  since  no 
women  were  permitted  to  quit  the  country.  The  Maharaja 
offered  him  four  times  the  salary  he  received  as  a  missionary 
if  he  would  become  court  physician  and  cease  to  preach 
Christ,  whereon  he  wrote  home :  "  It  gladdens  my  heart  to 
be  able  to  give  up  some  worldly  advantage  for  Christ's  sake. 
Our  Father's  promise  is  better  than  the  Maharaja's  cash  down." 
Then  the  Maharaja  opened  an  opposition  hospital,  and  sur- 
rounded the  dispensary  with  a  cordon  of  soldiers  to  prevent 
patients  attending  and  to  take  the  names  of  those  who 
insisted  on  doing  so.  But  the  superior  skill  and  kindness 
of  the  missionary  doctor  were  so  obvious  that  it  continued 
to  be  thronged.  Several  were  baptised,  and  more  were  won 
to  a  faith  that    they  dared  not    publicly   confess.      Three 


KASHMIR  121 

clerical  coadjutors  baptised  Elmslie's  converts,  and  became 
the  first  of  many  volunteers  who  have  helped  forward  the 
work  in  Kashmir,  though  never  formally  on  its  roll  of  mis- 
sionaries. They  are  named  on  p.  ii8;  and  we  may  note  here 
that  one  of  the  three  had  been  an  officer  in  the  army,  and 
was  now  an  honorary  missionary  of  the  Society  for  the  Pro- 
pagation of  the  Gospel.  Elmslie  also  found  an  assistant  in 
Qadir  Bakhsh,  whom  we  shall  meet  later  on,  and  gained  the 
confidence  of  the  Kashmiris  generally  by  his  ministrations 
to  the  victims  of  the  terrible  visitation  of  cholera  in  1867. 
In  1870  failure  of  health  compelled  him  to  go  home. 
There  he  prepared  a  Kashmiri-English  Dictionary,  which  has 
been  of  the  greatest  value  to  his  missionary  successors.  He 
had  many  offers  of  lucrative  employment  in  Britain,  but  wrote 
to  Mr.  Wade :  "  I  am  willing  to  return  to  Kashmir.  The 
missionary  life  is  the  only  one  worth  living.  It  is  the  only 
one  that  can  be  called  Christlike." 

During  his  absence  Dr.  Storrs  carried  on  the  work,  and 
in  187 1  Mr.  Clark  revisited  Kashmir  with  the  Rev.  T.  V. 
French  and  a  native  doctor,  John  Williams,  of  Tank.  From 
the  diaries  of  the  shrewd  and  scholarly  French  ^  we  learn  that 
the  two  things  that  struck  him  in  Kashmir  were  the  new 
temples,  showing  how  devoted  a  Hindu  the  Maharaja  was, 
and  the  perfectly  beautiful  features  and  forms  of  both  men  and 
women,  suggesting  Greek  blood  in  the  present  dwellers  by 
the  Jhelum,  on  whose  banks  Alexander  the  Great  fought 
Porus  two  thousand  two  hundred  years  ago.  His  record  is  of 
"heavy  preaching  amidst  much  opposition,"  of  "insults  almost 
insupportable,"  of  "  violent  abuse  and  scurrilous  attacks  of  all 
kinds."  He  wrote  to  the  Resident,  protesting  it  was  hard 
that  in  a  state  existing  by  the  protection  of  a  Christian 
government  every  form  of  religious  teaching  should  be 
"  licita "  except  the  Christian.  He  was  pelted  with  dirt  as 
'  See  Life,  vol.  i.,  ch.  xii. 


132  IRENE    PETRIE 

he  preached,  and  had  to  get  behind  a  pillar  to  escape  stones. 
'  Came  home  sadly  heartbroken ;  the  stone  of  their  heart  is 
worse  than  the  stones  they  threw  at  me,"  is  his  entry. 

In  the  spring  of  1872  Elmslie  returned,  no  longer  alone, 
for  he  had  married  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Wallace  Duncan, 
whose  wife,  Mary  Lundie  Duncan,  has  now  provided  three 
generations  of  children  with  an  evening  prayer  in  her  "  Jesus, 
tender  Shepherd,  hear  me."  In  July  another  awful  outbreak 
of  cholera  crowded  the  hospital  newly  opened  in  a  native 
house.  "  He  has  just  had  his  eleven  hundredth  patient  and 
finished  his  seventieth  operation  in  a  month,"  wrote  Mrs. 
Elmslie ;  and  through  his  devotion  to  the  stricken  people 
opposition  was  being  overcome.  He  begged  hard,  but  without 
success,  for  permission  to  remain  during  the  winter,  in  spite 
of  the  order  about  foreigners.  Then,  utterly  exhausted  by  his 
arduous  toil,  he  started  on  October  21st  upon  the  weary 
journey  over  the  mountain  passes.  He  walked  till  he  could 
walk  no  more ;  then  his  young  wife  put  him  in  her  dhooli, 
and  went  on  foot  across  the  snow  herself.  He  reached 
Gujerat  dangerously  ill,  and  three  days  after,  on  November 
1 8th,  1872,  he  died  there.  There  was  an  unnecessary  but 
characteristic  suggestion  that  he  had  been  poisoned  by  one 
of  the  enemies  made  by  his  outspoken  condemnation  of  the 
prevailing  tyranny.  The  day  after  he  was  buried  a  letter 
arrived  from  the  authorities  rescinding  the  order  which  had 
cost  Kashmir  the  life  of  one  of  its  best  friends.  His  widow 
afterwards  became  the  friend  and  colleague  of  "  A.L.O.E." 
(Charlotte  M.  Tucker)  at  Batala. 

In  1874  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Missionary  Institution 
supplied  a  successor  to  Elmslie  in  Dr.  Maxwell.  The 
Maharaja  permitted  him  to  build  a  small  hospital  on  a  fine 
site  because  he  was  nephew  to  the  renowned  General  John 
Nicholson,  who  was  killed  leading  the  victorious  assault  on 
Delhi.      Assisted   by    Mr.    Clark   and   by  Qadir  Bakhsh,  he 


KASHMIR  123 

worked  for  two  summers  with  much  encouragement;  then 
his  health  failed,  and  he  returned  to  England.  The  Rev. 
T.  R.  Wade  became  both  clerical  and  medical  missionary  till 
the  arrival,  in  May,  1877,  of  Dr.  Downes,  formerly  a  lieutenant 
in  the  Royal  Artillery  and  assistant-engineer  in  the  Staff 
Corps,  who  resigned  his  commission  in  order  to  become  a 
missionary.  He  obtained  final  permission  to  remain  for 
the  winter  by  stirring  public  opinion  on  the  subject  through 
the  newspapers,  and  during  six  years,  without  any  colleague  or 
trained  assistant  or  nurses,  conducted  the  medical  mission, 
seeing  sometimes  as  many  as  three  hundred  patients  in  one 
day.  Mr.  Wade  stayed  on  with  him  for  a  while ;  and  during 
the  famine  of  1878  both  ministered  to  multitudes  of  sufferers 
and  gathered  four  hundred  waifs  into  an  orphanage.  By 
means  of  his  own  liberal  gifts  and  the  gifts  of  his  friends  in 
England  Dr.  Downes  provided  for  the  needs  of  about 
seventy  in-patients ;  and  when  failure  of  health  drove  him 
home,  he  handed  over  a  firmly  established  enterprise  to  Dr. 
Neve,  who  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1882,  followed  in  1883 
by  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Knowles,  transferred  from  Peshawar. 
They  are  now  the  two  senior  missionaries  in  Kashmir. 

The  year  1886,  when  the  C.M.S.  Mission  attained  its 
majority,  was  a  promising  one.  Dr.  E.  Neve,  prizeman  and 
gold  medallist,  arrived;  six  Mohammedans  and  two  Sikhs  were 
baptised  ;  and  a  second  society  came  into  the  field  to  work 
among  the  women.  "The  Church  of  England  Zenana  Mis- 
sionary Society,  in  co-operation  with  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  "  (to  give  it  its  full  name),  is  the  daughter  of  a  society 
founded  in  1852.  Weighted  with  the  name  of  "The  Indian 
Female  Normal  School  and  Instruction  Society,"  this  was 
formally  organised  in  1861,  being  itself  the  younger  sister  of 
yet  another  society,  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Educa- 
tion in  the  East.  Irene  met  missionaries  of  all  three  societies 
at  Agra,  Meerut,  and  Lahore  (see  pp.  65,  69,  91).    The  F.E.S. 


124  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  I.F.N.,  formed  to  send  out  women  missionaries  in  days 
when  the  C.M.S.  undertook  to  send  out  the  wives  of  its 
own  missionaries  only,  v/ere  interdenominational.  The  I.F.N. 
began  regular  zenana  visiting  nearly  forty  years  ago,  and 
in  practice  was  almost  entirely  Anglican.  Desire  on  the 
part  of  some  of  its  Presbyterian  adherents  to  make  it 
actually  interdenominational  led  to  the  secession  of  most  of 
its  Anglican  adherents,  and  they  formed  as  a  new  society  in 
1880  the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society. 
The  I.F.N,  more  than  survived  its  sudden  depletion,  and 
is  vigorous  to-day  under  the  new  name  of  "The  Zenana, 
Bible,  and  Medical  Mission."  The  C.E.Z.M.S.  sends  out 
unmarried  ladies  to  India,  Ceylon,  and  the  province  of 
Fuh-kien  in  China.  It  now  has  over  two  hundred  and 
thirty  missionaries  on  its  roll.  Having  thus  explained,  once 
for  all,  various  recurring  initials,  we  return  to  Kashmir. 

We  date  C.E.Z.M.S.  work  there  from  1886,  when  Mrs. 
Rallia  Ram,  daughter  of  a  well-known  Indian  clergyman, 
obtained  an  entrance  into  several  zenanas  as  an  honorary 
worker  in  local  connexion  with  that  society.  In  1887  two 
English  ladies,  already  experienced  missionaries  on  its  staff, 
were  sent  to  Kashmir — Miss  Hull,  who  fills  an  important 
place  in  our  story,  and  Miss  Butler,  whose  memory  will 
ever  be  held  dear.  Before  passing  to  the  zenana  work, 
we  must  tell  a  strangely  sad  story  of  blighted  hope  and 
thwarted  endeavour. 

From  the  age  of  fifteen  Fanny  Butler  had  wished  to  be 
a  missionary,  fired  by  reading  a  book  called  The  Finished 
Course,  which  told  of  lives  laid  down  for  rather  than  lived 
in  Africa.  She  put  her  whole  soul  into  acquiring  knowledge 
that  would  fit  her  for  such  a  career,  and  sedulously  trained 
herself  in  unselfish  habits.  An  appeal  for  medical  women 
issued  by  Dr.  Elmslie  just  before  his  death  incited  her 
to    be   a   medical   missionary   in    India.     She   was    the   first 


KASHMIR  125 

student  enrolled  at  the  London  School  of  Medicine  for 
Women,  one  of  the  pioneers  who  obtained  admission  into 
a  profession  where,  as  we  now  recognise  without  any 
disparagement  of  medical  men,  women  can  do  work  of 
incalculable  value  among  their  sisters  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  She  was  too  early  in  the  field  to  gain  the  M.D., 
which  she  and  her  contemporaries  won  their  successors  the 
right  to  earnj  but  six  years  of  strenuous  study  made  her  a 
fully  qualified  medical  woman  in  the  highest  sense. 

On  October  24th,  1880,  she  left  England  as  the  first  woman 
medical  missionary  sent  thence  to  India.  This  was  five 
years  before  the  Countess  of  Dufferin,  inspired  by  the  Queen 
herself,  after  an  audience  which  she  granted  to  a  zenana 
missionary,  took  the  first  steps  towards  the  formation  of 
"The  National  Association  for  supplying  Female  Medical 
Aid  to  the  Women  of  India."  For  six  years  Dr.  Butler 
worked  at  Jabalpur,  Calcutta,  and  Bhagalpur.  Then  she 
returned  to  England  to  plead  the  cause  of  India's  women, 
and  after  only  eleven  months  at  home  (part  of  which  was 
spent  in  further  study  at  Vienna)  she  started  for  Kashmir, 
transferred  thither  at  Dr.  Neve's  request.  She  reached 
Srinagar,  where  she  found  Miss  Hull,  in  May,  1888.  Later 
in  the  year  she  was  joined  by  IMiss  Rainsford,  who  had 
taken  a  two  years'  medical  course,  and  Miss  Newman,  a 
trained  nurse.  Missionaries  were  then  obliged  to  live  in 
the  European  quarter,  four  miles  from  the  heart  of  the  city. 
They  rented  a  little  dispensary  in  the  city,  and  on  the  day 
it  was  opened,  August  5th,  1888,  five  patients  came;  by  the 
end  of  the  year  there  had  been  five  thousand  attendances, 
the  number  in  a  single  day  sometimes  reaching  a  hundred 
and  eighty.  The  adjoining  house  was  turned  into  a  hospital, 
where  in  three  months  thirty-five  in-patients  were  treated. 
One  day  a  notable  visitor  arrived,  Mrs.  Bishop  (Isabella 
Bird),  whose  well-known  warm  interest  in  missions  (to  quote 


126  IRENE    PETRIE 

her  own  words)  "  came  about  gradually  purely  through  seeing 
the  deplorable  condition  of  nations  without  Christianity." 
The  distinguished  traveller  was  so  struck  with  the  value 
of  Dr.  Butler's  work  and  its  inadequate  accommodation  that 
she  gave  then  and  there  ;!^5oo  to  build  a  new  hospital 
for  thirty  women  patients  as  a  memorial  to  her  husband. 
Dr.  Butler  was  to  work  it,  the  Maharaja  granted  the  site 
at  the  request  of  the  Commander-in-Chief,  Sir  F.  Roberts 
(now  Lord  Roberts),  and  the  love  and  confidence  of  the 
Kashmiri  women  were  being  rapidly  won.  The  months  in 
Kashmir  were  the  happiest  in  Dr.  Butler's  whole  career.  As 
with  Irene  afterwards,  so  with  her  there  had  been  a  certain 
restlessness  elsewhere,  till  each  was  led  in  ways  beyond  her 
contriving  to  Kashmir.  Once  there,  each  felt  the  happiness 
of  an  assured  conviction  that  the  allotted  sphere  had  been 
found,  and  each  said  strongly,  "  Here  will  I  labour  till 
nightfall."  But  a  day  or  two  after  the  foundation  stone  of 
the  John  Bishop  Memorial  Hospital  had  been  laid  by  the 
Resident's  wife,  Dr.  Butler  was  suddenly  taken  ill,  and 
four  days  later,  on  October  26th,  1889,  fell  asleep,  saying, 
"  I  should  like  to  stay,"  and  yet  again,  "  I  am  ready  to  go, 
and  whether  I  recover  or  not,  God  will  do  what  is  best." 
Just  five  days  before  she  died  she  had  written :  *'  The 
happiest  thing  on  earth  is  to  help  to  take  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature." 

"  Her  work,"  said  Miss  Hull,  ten  years  later,  "  will  never 
die.  Many  zenanas  which  we  still  visit  were  first  opened 
through  her.  Some  whom  she  taught  have  already  met 
her  in  heaven,  notably  the  wife  of  a  Mohammedan  pir,  a 
Christian  at  heart,  though  never  baptised,  whose  life  she 
saved  by  means  of  an  operation."  Many  doctors  and  many 
missionaries  have  left  noble  memories,  but  both  professions 
may  be  proud  to  claim  as  theirs  the  loyal,  stedfast,  and 
self-sacrificing  Fanny  Butler,  who  was  as  unassuming  as  she 


KASHMIR  127 

was  able.  For  ten  long  years  the  Kashmiri  women,  who 
wept  bitterly  for  their  "  doctor  Miss  Sahib,"  waited  for 
such  another  to  minister  to  their  sufferings ;  and  yet  a 
third  precious  life  was  laid  down  for  Kashmir  ere  far-off 
Canada,  as  will  be  told  in  Chapter  XIV.,  supplied  their 
need. 

The  Z.B.M.M.  lent  Dr.  Jane  Haskew,  of  Lucknow,  to 
fill  the  gap  for  a  year;  and  in  June,  1890,  the  John  Bishop 
Memorial  Hospital  was  opened  by  the  Bishop  of  Lahore 
on  the  Mundar  Bagh.  One  year  later  an  overflow  of  the 
Jhelum  caused  terrible  floods,  which  damaged  it  so  much 
that  its  work  had  to  be  transferred  to  tempocary  premises 
near  the  Dal  Gate.  In  1892  a  second  flood  wrecked  it 
altogether;  and  1893  found  Miss  Newman  striving  on  single- 
handed  with  devoted  perseverance  in  a  temporary  dispen- 
sary. Family  claims  summoned  her  to  England  in  1894, 
and  her  hope  of  returning  to  Kashmir  has  not  as  yet  been 
fulfilled. 

The  C.E.Z.M.S.  gave  Kashmir  another  trained  nurse  in 
Miss  Newnham,  daughter  of  Colonel  Newnham,  of  the  6th 
Bengal  Cavalry,  and  niece  of  the  Bishop  of  Moosonee.  Since 
1893  she  has  been  working  in  the  C.M.S.  Hospital,  for  which 
she  volunteered,  and  this  year  was  transferred  to  the  C.M.S. 
Associated  with  her  as  "  nursing  superintendent "  is  Miss 
Neve,  a  niece  of  the  Drs.  Neve,  who,  after  helping  for  a 
while  as  an  honorary  worker  unconnected  with  a  society,  went 
to  London  for  further  training  at  The  Olives  in  1896, 
returning  to  Kashmir  in  the  autumn  of  1898  as  a  C.M.S. 
missionary.  She  was  the  second  lady  sent  by  the  C.M.S.  to 
Kashmir,  and  is  "  appropriated "  by  the  parish  of  St,  Mary 
Abbots,  whence  Irene,  the  first  C.M.S.  lady  in  Kashmir,  had 
gone  out. 

So  much  for  the  personnel  of  the  medical  department  of 
the    Kashmir    mission.      We   must    now   take   up   the  story 


128  IRENE   PETRIE 

of  the  zenana  work,  the  first  department  with  which  Irene 
was  connected,  from  the  arrival  of  Miss  Hull  early  in  1888. 
She  is  of  English  and  Irish  parentage,  and  was  born  in 
Scotland,  where  her  father,  before  he  held  a  Suffolk  living, 
was  chaplain  to  the  last  Duchess  of  Gordon.  She  worked 
with  the  I.F.N.S.  in  Benares  from  1873  to  1879,  and  her 
proficiency  in  several  Oriental  languages  was  such  that  she 
was  asked  when  in  Bengal  if  she  could  speak  English. 
"  One  can  see  that  she  loves  the  natives,"  wrote  Irene. 
But  when  she  first  reached  Kashmir  she  longed  in  vain 
for  one  door  to  open.  "  No  Kashmiri  women  will  ever  let 
you  go  and  teach  them,"  said  the  scholars  in  the  mission 
school.  In  a  few  years,  however,  the  missionaries  were  to 
receive  more  requests  for  visits  than  they  could  keep  pace 
with. 

Miss  Hull  had  two  helpers  in  Miss  Judd,  who  formed  a 
school  for  Kashmiri  girls  (1891-93),  and  Miss  Coverdale,  sister 
of  the  Rev.  T.  E.  Coverdale  (C.M.S.,  Lahore  and  Batala), 
who  worked  with  her  during  the  winter  1890-91,  returned  to 
England  invalided  in  1891,  and  came  out  again,  after  training 
at  The  Willows,  in  November,  1893.  For  nearly  six  years 
the  zenana  work  was,  however,  practically  in  the  hands  of  Miss 
Hull  only.  In  the  autumn  of  1893  she  took  a  six  months' 
furlough,  hoping  to  get  some  lady  in  England  to  come  out 
with  her.  She  returned  disappointed  at  the  end  of  April,  1894, 
to  find  that  Miss  Coverdale  had  again  completely  broken  down 
after  her  winter's  work  single-handed ;  a  summer  at  Gulmarg 
failed  to  restore  her,  and  she  went  for  two  winters  to  Dera 
Ghazi  Khan,  as  a  less  trying  climate.  Meanwhile,  according 
to  the  C.E.Z.M.S.  annual  report,  the  outlook  at  Srinagar  was 
so  discouraging  that  when  Miss  Hull  came  back  it  was  a 
question  whether  she  should  continue  in  "this  much  tried 
mission  "  (as  she  calls  it),  or  take  up  work  in  some  other 
centre.     Then,  just  ten  days  after  her  return,  she  met  Irene, 


KASHMIR  X29 

and  won  her  co-operation  for  an  undertaking  than  which  none 
could  have  needed  it  more. 

Reserving  that  story  for  the  next  chapter,  we  may  here 
account  for  the  fact  that  Irene,  as  a  C.M.S.  missionary,  took 
up  work  hitherto  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S.  by 
referring  to  the  remarkable  development  of  women's  work  for 
the  C.M.S.,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  during  the  last  twelve 
years.  How  it  all  came  about  is  fully  told  in  Mr.  Stock's 
History  of  the  C.M.S. ,  vol.  iii.,  p.  367.  In  1887  there  were 
only  twenty-two  women  (excluding  missionaries'  wives)  on 
the  C.M.S.  roll,  mostly  widows  or  daughters  of  C.M.S.  men, 
placed  there  under  special  circumstances.  From  1887  to  1894 
(when  Irene  joined)  two  hundred  and  fourteen  women  were 
added  to  these,  and  counting  those  going  out  in  the  autumn 
of  1899,  ai^d  a  number  of  F.E.S.  ladies  just  transferred  to  the 
C.M.S.,  over  two  hundred  and  twenty  have  been  added  since. 
There  are  nearly  three  hundred  and  forty  women  missionaries 
(not  wives)  on  the  C.M.S.  roll  to-day,  working  in  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Canada.  Since  1891  the  C.M.S.  Report  has  given  maiden 
names,  enabling  us  to  see  that  nearly  a  hundred  of  the  wives 
now  on  its  roll  were  already  missionaries  when  married.  We 
all  know  what  splendid  work  has  been  done  by  missionaries' 
wives  in  the  past,  before  women  were  definitely  trained  for 
the  work,  as  they  are  to-day;  and  the  above  fact  suggests, 
without  further  comment,  the  potentialities  in  the  near  future 
of  their  co-operation. 

Gathering  up  the  story  of  the  Kashmir  mission,  we  may 
conveniently  recognise  four  departments  of  it,  associating 
each  with  the  name  of  one  missionary :  (i)  Evangelistic 
and  Pastoral,  preaching  in  city  bazars  and  in  villages,  and 
caring  for  the  converts ;  Rev.  J.  H.  Knoivles.  (2)  Medical, 
mainly  among  Mohammedans — i.e.  the  poorer  people;  Dr. 
Neve.  (3)  Educational,  mainly  among  Hindus — i.e.  the  well- 
to-do    people ;    Hev.     C.    E.     Tyndale-Biscoe.      (4)    Zenana 

9 


130  IRENE    PETRIE 

wholly  among  women,  both  Hindus  and  Mohammedans, 
and  especially  among  well-to-do  Hindus ;  Miss  Hull.  Just 
as  the  private  talks  recorded  by  St.  John  of  our  Lord  with 
individuals  probably  did  more  to  build  up  His  earliest 
Church  than  the  preaching  recorded  by  the  Synoptists,  so 
personal  dealing  with  oiie  patient,  one  pupil,  one  woman 
at  home,  seems  the  most  fruitful  though  the  least  striking 
work  in  Kashmir.  All  four  departments  had  Irene's  sympathy 
and  co-operation,  but  she  was  most  closely  associated  with  the 
third  and  fourth ;  and  as  the  Zenana  work  was  the  first 
she  took  up,  we  may  defer  the  later  story  of  the  Hospital 
and  the  whole  story  of  the  School  to  Chapters  VIII.  and  XI., 
merely  noting  here  that  the  desire  for  both  healing  and 
education  was  awakened  by  the  missionaries,  the  State  hospital 
and  State  school  being  subsequent  institutions.  One  or  two 
further  words  must  be  said  of  the  first  department. 

When  Mr.  Clark  revisited  Kashmir  in  1889  he  found 
a  more  encouraging  state  of  things  than  in  any  of  his  eight 
previous  sojourns  there.  During  Mr.  Knowles's  furlough 
in  1892  another  volunteer  came  forward  in  the  Rev.  H.  E. 
Perkins,  son  of  an  S.P.G.  missionary  at  Cawnpore,  and 
himself  for  thirty  years  in  the  Civil  Service,  regarded  as 
king  of  the  whole  district  when  he  was  Commissioner  for 
Amritsar.  He  was  now  an  honorary  C.M.S.  missionary  at 
Bahrwal. 

As  in  most  recently  established  missions,  linguistic  work 
has  claimed  much  time.  William  Carey,  the  Mezzofanti 
of  missionaries,  was  probably  the  first  European  scholar  to 
discover  that  Kashmir  had  a  language  of  its  own.  It  is  an 
Aryan  tongue  of  the  great  Sanskrit  stock,  written  in  the 
same  Semitic  character  as  Urdu,  with  an  additional  thirty- 
seventh  letter ;  for  the  Mohammedan  conqueror  imposed  a  fine 
of  five  rupees  for  writing  it  in  Sanskrit,  and  offered  a  reward 
of  five  rupees  for  writing  it  in  Persian  characters.     According 


KASHMIR  131 

to  Dr.  Cust,  it  is  spoken  by  half  a  million  people ;  but  the 
unpatriotic  Kashmiris  affect  to  despise  their  own  tongue, 
and  like  it  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  they  know  Urdu. 
The  Rev.  T.  R.  Wade  completed  the  Kashmiri  New  Testa- 
ment, after  six  years  of  labour,  in  1883;  it  and  the  Kashmiri 
Prayer  Book  were  published  in  1884.  In  1897  Mr.  Knowles 
completed  the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 

The  title  of  Elmslie's  Life  is  Seedtime  in  Kashmir;  his 
successors  say  that  it  is  ploughing-time  there  still.  Pagan 
savages  are  always  more  easily  won  than  those  with  an  ancient 
civilisation  and  an  historic  religion ;  and  as  Irene  writes  : 
"Missionary  work  must  be  slow  and  uphill  toil.  There 
is  so  much  to  get  the  people  to  unlearn  as  well  as  to  teach 
them."  "  The  progress  of  Christianity  has  as  yet  been  slow," 
she  writes  again ;  "  perhaps,  however,  in  no  way  slower 
than  it  was  in  our  own  Britain,  where  for  centuries  one 
generation  after  another  of  Christian  missionaries  patiently 
confronted  the  hostile  fanaticism  and  repelling  indifference 
of  pagans  there."  "  Christ  crucified,"  says  Dr.  E.  Neve,  "  is 
a  stumbling-block  to  the  monotheist  Mohammedan,  as  to 
the  Jew ;  and  foolishness  to  the  pantheistic  Hindu,  as  to 
the  Greek."  He  thus  sums  up  the  obstacles  to  the  Gospel 
{C.M.S.  Annual  Report,  1890,  p.  136):  "  (i)  Worldliness 
and  actual  sin,  which  have  a  deeper  hold  on  heathen 
and  Mohammedans  than  on  the  careless  in  Christian  lands. 
(2)  Ignorance  ;  for  when  people's  minds  are  untrained  they 
cannot  listen,  their  attention  wanders,  they  are  like  very 
young  children,  who  cannot  grasp  more  than  one  simple 
idea  at  a  time.  (3)  Caste,  which  exists  in  IMohammedanism 
even  more  than  in  Hinduism.  To  eat  with  a  Christian  is 
a  terrible  sin;  to  become  a  Christian  is  to  become  a  hated 
outcast :  even  the  little  children  know  this.  (4)  The  close 
supervision  of  their  religious  teachers." 

Discouragements  have  been  manifold  from  the  days  when 


13a  IRENE    PETRIE 

soldiers  drove  away  Elmslie's  patients  (1865),  and  roughs 
stoned  French  (187 1),  and  the  zenanas  were  all  closed  (1888), 
and  one  who  had  been  a  helper  in  both  medical  and 
evangelistic  work  apostatised  in  1891  (a  tale  to  be  told  here- 
after with  its  sequel),  and  flood  and  earthquake  devastated  the 
women's  hospital  (1892),  and  a  Government  order  threatened 
to  deplete  the  school  (1896).  Moreover,  three  of  the  ablest 
missionaries  have  died  at  their  posts  in  the  earliest  maturity 
of  their  powers. 

That  there  are  more  than  human  foes  to  reckon  with  is 
to  the  labourer  in  heathendom  no  mere  theological  assertion, 
for  the  reality  of  our   conflict  with   the  powers  of  darkness 
comes  home  powerfully  to  him.     Fierce  opposition,  apparent 
failure,  lives  laid   down  too  soon,  as  men  would  say,  these 
have  been  the  early  incidents  in  all  the  missions  now  pointed 
to  as  triumphs  of  the  Gospel.     It  is  when  the  strong  man, 
fully  armed,  sees  the  Stronger  than  he  approaching,  and  knows 
that  his  days  of  undisputed  sway  are  numbered,  that  he  rallies 
all   his  forces.      But  they  will  not  daunt  men  and  women 
sustained  by  the   conviction  that   they  are   on   the   winning 
side.     Sin  cannot   prevail,   neither  can   death.     Lives  which 
seemed  most  necessary  to  the  extension,  even   to  the  con- 
tinued existence,  of  the  Church  are  sacrificed.     The  bravest 
of  the  brave,  who  were  the  terror  of  the  most  mighty  powers 
of  evil,    have   gone   down  to   Hades   with   their  weapons  of 
war,  and  have  laid  their  swords  under  their  heads  (as  Ezekiel 
pictures   in   one   of  his   rare   flights   into   poetry).      Yet  an 
unbroken  succession  of  sixty-three  generations  of  believers  in 
Christ  has  made  good   His  great   promise  that  the  gates  of 
Hades   shall   not  prevail  against   the  Church.      How  many 
human    societies    or    institutions    now   survive   that   existed 
in  the  days    of   the    first    Christian    generation?     But    the 
Church   has   the   assurance   of    continued  life,   because    she 
is  in  living  union  with  Him  Who  is  alive  for  evermore. 


KASHMIR  133 

Meanwhile,  for  Kashmir,  as  Irene  pleaded,  *'  the  pains 
and  the  prayers  and  the  presence  of  many  home  friends  are 
urgently  needed  in  this  day  of  great  opportunity." 

Note. — Further  information  about  the  Kashmir  Mission  may  be 
found  in  the  following  publications  :  Seedtime  in  Kashmir ;  the 
Life  of  Dr.  Elmslie ;  The  Punjab  and  Sind  Missions  of  the 
CMS.  (Rev,  R.  Clark) ;  History  of  the  C.M.S.,  vol.  ii.,  ch.  Ixiii. ; 
vol.  iii.,  chs.  Ixxvii.,  cv.  ;  Yet  not  /,  and  A  letter  frotn  Kashmir 
(both  about  Dr.  Butler),  Itineration  in  the  Villages  of  Kashmir, 
by  Miss  Hull  (three  pamphlets  pubhshed  by  the  C.E.Z.M.S.); 
C.M.S.  Gleaner  for  September,  1891 ;  April,  July,  and  September, 
1892;  February,  1895  ;  January  and  November,  1896;  January  and 
October,  1897;  April,  1898;  January  and  July,  1899. 


CHAPTER    VII 

A   QUIET   SUMMER 

(April  19TH  to  September  7th,  1894) 

The  mountains  seem  to  have  been  built  for  the  human  race,  as  at 
once  their  schools  and  cathedrals  ;  full  of  treasures  of  illuminated  manu- 
script for  the  scholar,  kindly  in  simple  lessons  for  the  worker,  quiet  in 
pale  cloisters  for  the  thinker,  glorious  in  holiness  for  the  worshipper. — 
RusKiN,  Modern  Painters,  vol.  iv. 

THE  busy  winter  at  Lahore,  which  was  the  prologue  to 
Irene's  missionary  career  and  the  final  test  of  her 
missionary  resolution,  had  been  preceded  by  a  year  of  inten.se 
strain  on  both  mind  and  body.  Her  desire  to  endure  hard- 
ness was  to  be  thoroughly  gratified  ere  long  ;  but  first  came 
a  quiet  season  for  renewing  her  strength  and  equipping 
herself  for  the  arduous  toil  of  the  three  years  yet  to  come 
She  writes  from  Kashmir  in  July,  1894:  "Though  I  think 
I  may  honestly  say  there  is  never  room  for  an  idle  half-hour 
from  6  a.m.  till  10  p.m.,  the  past  three  months  have  been 
to  me,  after  the  turmoil  of  past  years,  like  a  realisation  of 
Psalm  xxiii.  2." 

Having  in  the  last  chapter  told  enough  concerning  Kashmir 
to  obviate  future  interruption  of  the  narrative  by  explanations 
of  places,  persons,  and  things  there,  we  must  go  on  to  tell 
how  Irene  was  led  to  find  "green  pastures"  and  "still 
waters  "  in  that  land. 

On  January  23rd,  1894,  a  few  days  after  her  memorable  first 
sight  of  the  Himalayas  (p.  96),  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade  dined  at  St. 

134 


A    QUIET    SljMiMER  135 

Hilda's,  and  with  them  she  had  "  much  interesting  talk  about 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Elmslie."  At  Amritsar,  a  fortnight  later,  she  met 
Mr.  Perkins,  whom  she  had  already  seen  in  London  in  1889, 
and  he  told  her  how  Dr.  Elmslie  had  died  in  his  arms. 

On  March  20th,  she  writes  jubilantly  :  "The  possibility  of  a 
wonderful  summer  prospect  has  just  opened  up,  which  dear 
Miss  Beynon  has  been  working  towards  on  my  behalf — nothing 
less  than  Kashmir  itself,  ...  a  walking  tour  among  giants 
five  to  ten  thousand  feet  higher  than  Mont  Blanc.  But 
it  is  only  a  possibility,  and  may  be  perfectly  impracticable. 
How  I  wonder  if  and  how  I  shall  have  some  real  work 
for  C.M.S.  after  the  hot  season!"  A  week  later  she  says: 
"As  far  as  things  can  be  settled  out  here,  I  start  for  Kashmir 
about  April  23rd.  Both  my  present  counsellors.  Miss  Beynon 
and  Mr.  Clark,  recommend  it,  and  it  falls  in  so  exactly  with 
my  own  inclinations,  and  with  travelling  ambitions  of  long 
standing,  that  I  am  greatly  looking  forward  to  the  expedition." 

Her  last  two  days  at  Lahore  were  spent,  as  we  have  already 
seen,  with  the  ladies  at  the  Z.B.M.M.  House.  On  the 
evening  of  April  19th  she  took  the  train  for  Rawal  Pindi, 
and  saw  in  the  light  of  the  full  moon  three  of  the  "Five 
Rivers,"  the  distant  snowy  ranges,  and  the  battlefields  where 
the  Punjab  had  been  won.  So  wide  was  the  Jhelum  that 
she  fell  asleep  and  woke  twice  in  the  course  of  crossing  the 
great  bridge  over  it.  Then  she  passed  through  a  wild,  rocky 
wilderness,  climbing  one  of  the  spurs  of  the  Salt  Range,  a 
region  which  suggested  some  of  the  weirdest  scenes  drawn 
by  Dore.  At  Rawal  Pindi  she  bade  farewell  to  the  railway 
for  almost  twelve  months,  and  met  at  breakfast  the  throe 
ladies  who  had  invited  her  to  travel  with  them. 

Miss  Helen  Perry,  a  fellow-worker  of  Miss  Beynon's, 
introduced  to  Irene  by  other  friends  in  London,  was  an 
experienced  traveller  who  knew  Kashmir  well.  She  had 
undertaken   tliis    iourney   to   aid    the    restoration   to   health 


136  IRENE    PETRIE 

after  serious  illness  of  Miss  Grace  Paton,  with  whom  was 
her  sister,  Miss  Minna  Paton.  They  were  daughters  of  the 
late  General  John  Stafford  Paton,  C.B. ;  and  in  October,  1892, 
Miss  G.  Paton  had  become  an  honorary  missionary  of  the 
C.E.Z.M.S.,  working  at  Ajnala  and  in  the  Saurian  village 
mission. 

Four  F^s  on  the  Road  to  Kashmir  is  the  title  of 
Irene's  diary  of  their  journey  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
eight  miles  from  Rawal  Pindi  to  Srinagar.  Their  method 
of  reaching  Kashmir  was  somewhat  adventurous,  and,  now 
that  a  scheme  is  in  contemplation  for  an  electrical  railway 
from  Jammu  to  Srinagar,  over  the  Banihal  Pass,  is  likely 
to  become  as  obsolete  as  the  caravan  march  to  Uganda 
will  be  when  the  railway  to  Victoria  Nyanza  is  completed. 
They  travelled  in  search  of  spring  from  the  insupportable 
heat  of  late  summer ;  for  as  early  as  March  6th  the  gardens 
at  Lahore  had  been  filled  with  roses,  pansies,  heliotrope, 
nasturtium,  sweet-peas,  and  trees  clad  with  rich,  fresh  green. 
There  the  exquisite  and  abundant  fruit  blossom  had  fallen 
two  months  ago,  and  the  corn  was  now  fully  ripe. 

Irene  writes :  "  Soon  after  10  a.m.  on  April  20th  we  set 
off  for  the  thirty-eight  mile  ascent  to  Murree  in  two  tongds. 
Each  was  drawn  by  two  stout  horses,  changed  ten  or  twelve 
times  in  the  course  of  the  journey,  and  driven  by  a  stalwart 
Punjabi.  A  tonga  resembles  a  squat  dogcart,  with  a  hood 
For  several  miles  out  of  Pindi  we  were  crossing  a  level  plain, 
beyond  which  the  nearer  heights  round  Murree  and  the  far 
snowy  ranges  could  be  seen.  Here  the  corn  is  still  green, 
while  at  Murree  the  ear  is  only  just  forming,  and  the  hills  are 
covered  with  white  medlar  blossoms.  For  six  hours  we  were 
mounting,  mounting,  mounting  the  grand  hillsides,  enjoying 
every  fresh  breeze  and  lovely  view  to  our  heart's  content. 
White  clematis  and  many  other  flowers  were  opening  in  the 
brilliant  sunshine,  and  as  we  approached  Murree  we  sniffed 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  137 

with  delight  the  odour  of  real  Scotch  pines.  At  one  place  we 
passed  a  long  caravan  of  Afghans  from  Kabul,  with  their 
camels  and  all  other  possessions,  the  men  in  wide  white 
trousers,  the  women  in  curious  patch-work  overcoats,  with 
tiny  children  perched  on  the  top  of  the  camel  packs.  We 
made  friends  with  some  of  the  handsome  women,  who 
were  greatly  interested  in  the  working  of  my  umbrella. 
They  had  had  a  quarrel  with  the  Ameer,  who  had  turned 
them  out  of  their  villages  neck  and  crop,  and  were  travelling 
towards  the  Vale  of  Kashmir.  The  whole  thing  made  one 
realise  the  wanderings  of  Abraham  and  Jacob  vividly.  .  .  . 
Murree  is  like  a  magnified  edition  of  Pitlochrie,  and  com- 
mands a  view  resembling  that  from  the  top  of  Wansfell 
Pike.     We  are  7,330  feet  above  the  sea,  and  glad  of  a  fire. 

"April  2ist  was  given  chiefly  to  rearranging  luggage.  On 
Sunday  we  had  three  very  nice  services  in  the  pretty  Murree 
church,  and  I  was  writing  out  texts  in  Urdu  for  Munira. 

"  At  break  of  day  on  Monday,  April  23rd,  our  servants  and 
thirty  donkeys  loaded  with  baggage  started  for  Dewal.  We 
left  at  2  p.m.  with  three  dandies  (one  for  the  ayah),  sixteen 
bearers,  and  two  horses  with  their  grooms.  We  had  a  lovely 
ten  miles'  tramp  to  Dewal,  the  path  winding  through  a  wood 
of  cedars,  firs,  and  spring-clad  trees,  where  the  blackbird  and 
cuckoo  were  singing,  then  round  the  bare  sides  of  great  hills, 
looking  down  into  a  deep  valley,  beyond  which  were  snow- 
tipped  hills. 

"  We  were  again  on  the  road  by  6  a.m.  on  April  24th  for 
an  exquisite  march  with  glorious  views  of  distant  snows,  and 
reached  Kohala  at  9.30.  Listening  to  the  rushing  Jheluin 
and  looking  across  at  a  wooded  height,  I  was  reminded  of 
Serravezza.  The  foreground  scene,  however,  differed.  A  few 
yards  off  Guffoor  was  squatting  in  front  of  two  fires  of  sticks, 
manipulating  his  pots,  pans,  and  plates  near  a  tree,  which  he 
used  as  a  larder,  having  hung  our  half-sheep  in  a  muslin  bag 


138  IRENE    PETRIE 

to  one  of  the  branches.  The  khidmatgar  served  us  with 
Guffoor's  productions,  the  bhisti  was  in  attendance  with  his 
skin  of  water,  and  a  httle  way  off  sundry  pariah  dogs  were 
waiting  for  darkness  to  steal  any  remains  of  the  meal.  .  .  . 

"The  moon  was  still  shining  when  we  started  soon  after 
5  a.m.  on  April  25th,  and  we  began  by  crossing  the  temporary 
suspension  bridge  from  the  right  to  the  left  bank  of  the 
Jhelum,  which  here  divides  our  Empress's  dominions  from 
those  of  the  Maharaja  of  Kashmir.  The  permanent  bridge 
was  swept  away  in  a  recent  flood.  Nearly  all  our  morning 
march  and  most  of  the  afternoon  march  were  along  a  road  cut 
out  of  the  face  of  the  almost  perpendicular  height  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  river,  as  we  ascended  the  deep  gorge  through 
which  it  flows.  Here  and  there  the  woods  were  white  with 
eglantine,  and  the  air  was  deliciously  scented  with  the  fresh 
blossoms,  often  mingled  with  yellow  acacia  and  jasmine  and 
the  rich  scarlet  of  the  pomegranate's  waxy,  bell-shaped  flowers. 
After  a  twelve-mile  march  we  got  to  Dulai,  where  we  rested 
during  the  heat  of  the  day,  setting  ofl"  again  at  4  p.m.  to  reach 
Domel  at  dusk.  Here  another  great  river,  the  Kishenganga, 
joins  the  Jhelum,  and  the  snow  mountains  beyond  rise  to  the 
height  of  the  Matterhorn. 

"  On  April  26th  we  passed,  as  usual,  various  sleeping  forms 
on  the  charpais  outside  the  village  huts.  '  Going  to  bed '  is 
a  simple  process  with  these  folks ;  it  simply  means  wrapping 
a  razai  round  them  and  lying  down.  The  valley  through 
which  our  fourteen-mile  march  lay  was  more  open,  and  fields 
of  splendid  wheat  and  barley  were  ripening  in  the  hot  sun- 
shine. At  11.30  we  drew  rein  at  Garhi,  under  the  shade  of 
some  trees  covered  with  scented  blossoms  like  lilac,  on  which 
multitudes  of  lovely  peacock  butterflies  were  disporting  them- 
selves. We  took  an  evening  stroll  to  a  bridge  over  the 
Jhelum,  where  a  procession  of  villagers  was  crossing  to  a  tree 
on  a  hillside  decorated  with  flags  and  coloured  rags,  and  used 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  139 

as  a  Hindu  sanctuary.  The  river  here  is  very  wide  and  very 
rapid;  the  bridge  consists  of  a  single  rope  of  buffalo  hide,  with 
two  upper  ropes  as  rails,  and  looks  shaky  enough.  .  .  . 

"On  April  27th  our  march  was  stiil  near  the  great  river, 
flowing  here  in  a  deep  gorge  between  perpendicular  cliffs. 
Huge  wooded  hills  tower  up  on  each  side ;  there  is  a  splendid 
snowy  range  in  the  background ;  we  heard  the  lark  and  thrush 
and  saw  English  buttercups  and  masses  of  maidenhair  fern 
among  the  rocks.  At  Hattian  it  was  extremely  hot,  but 
wonderfully  beautiful.  Two  quotations  from  the  ancient  Book 
of  Poetry  are  often  in  my  mind  now  :  '  Thou,  Lord,  hast 
made  me  glad  through  Thy  work ; '  '  Thou  hast  given  him 
his  heart's  desire.'" 

Miss  Perry  roused  the  camp  very  early  on  April  28th,  to 
avoid  the  heat  after  10  a.m.  An  incident  of  the  morning's 
march  furnished  Irene  with  a  text  for  the  sketch  called 
A  Parable  from  the  Hifualayas,  contributed  to  a  magazine, 
which  preserves  some  of  the  thoughts  of  that  happy  journey. 
It  begins  thus  : — 

"It  was  between  2  and  3  a.m.  when  we  were  summoned 
from  dreams  of  the  homeland  to  the  realities  of  a  tent  and 
camp-fires  one  spring  morning  at  Hattian,  on  the  road  to 
Kashmir.  An  hour  later  the  camp  was  broken  up,  and  the 
fitful  glimmer  of  lanterns  showed  the  dark  forms  of  servants, 
coolies,  and  syces  packing  stores,  loading  donkeys,  and 
saddling  horses. 

"Just  as  the  crescent  of  the  moon  appeared  over  the  crag 
above  the  encampment,  our  procession  started  in  single  file 
up  the  steep  valley.  Not  long  after  we  were  watching  the  first 
flash  of  rosy  dawn  on  a  high  snow-peak,  as  the  stars  dis- 
appeared one  by  one.  The  song  of  the  first  bird  blended 
with  the  roar  of  the  Jhelum,  fretting  its  way  through  the 
narrow  gorge  beneath.  Then  we  could  trace  the  forms  of 
trees,   shrubs,  and  flowers   above   and   below   our  path,  and 


14©  IRENE    PETRIE 

enjoy  the  fragrance  of  the  eglantine  blossoms   strewn  hither 
and  thither  like  patches  of  snow. 

"But  stay;  here  is  surely  death  in  the  midst  of  all  this 
glorious  life — a  mimosa-tree,  whose  leaves,  though  green,  are 
closed  and  drooping  as  if  all  vitality  were  withdrawn.  We 
look  at  the  root — no  disturbance  has  been  there  ;  at  branches, 
leaves,  blossom — all  seem  perfect,  though  paralysed  and 
unconscious  as  if  with  the  blight  of  death. 

"  Death,  or  only  sleep  ?  As  we  watch  and  wonder  the 
slanting  rays  of  yellow  light  from  the  great  sun,  hidden 
hitherto  by  the  mountain  opposite,  creep  towards  us.  They 
touch  our  mimosa-tree,  and  at  the  same  moment  we  hear  the 
rustle  of  the  morning  breeze  among  its  leaves.  Even  as  we 
look  the  delicate  twigs  are  stirred ;  they  fiuttex  in  the  wind ; 
they  lift  themselves  to  the  golden  sun-rays ;  and  ere  we  pass 
on  the  leaves  are  expanded,  the  blossoms  erect,  and  the  tree 
seems  to  rejoice  among  its  fellows  in  its  gracious  fulness  of 
life. 

"We  leave  it  to  go  forward  on  our  day's  march,  enriched 
with  a  fresh  lesson  from  God's  Book  of  Nature.  .  .  . 

"  Just  as  the  glory  of  the  sun's  rays  in  this  Eastern  land 
wakens  the  sensitive  leaves  of  the  tree,  so  Christ,  our  Sun  of 
Righteousness,  comes  to  dispel  darkness  and  give  the  Light 
of  Life  to  those  who  look  to  Him. 

"  The  mimosa-tree  was  perfectly  formed  and  complete  in  all 
its  parts,  but  it  could  not  be  all  that  the  Creator  meant  it  to 
be  till  those  sunny  rays  had  wakened  it  out  of  slumber  to 
fulfil  the  true  hfe  of  which  it  was  capable.  .  .  . 

"  Our  tree  was  reached  not  only  by  the  sun's  rays  but  also 
by  the  stirring  of  the  wind.  .  .  .  '  The  wind  bloweth  where  it 
listeth,  and  thou  hearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth  :  so  is  every  one  that 
is  born  of  the  Spirit.' 

"  Truly,  the  Light  and  Breath  of  Life  are  the  best  gifts  for 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  141 

soul  and  body  which  come  from  the  Triune  God  Himself, 
and  from  Him  alone.     But  good  gifts  must  be  shared.  .  . 

"  In  this  exquisite  land  of  Kashmir,  surrounded  with  a 
dazzling  splendour  of  sunlit,  snowy  ranges,  the  people  are  still 
sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death.  Yet  it  was  to 
shine  upon  such  as  these  that  the  Dayspring  from  on  high 
hath  visited  us.  Are  we  who  have  the  Light  bearers  of  that 
Light?" 

Resuming  the  journal  for  April  28th,  one  reads  of  some 
unnamed  fellow-travellers,  who  were  always  in  trouble  and 
could  hardly  get  food,  being  of  the  servant-beating  sahib  kind 
who  boasted  of  using  their  fists  freely.  Miss  Perry's  staff,  on 
the  contrary,  who  were  firmly  but  always  kindly  and  con- 
siderately treated,  prided  themselves  on  being  the  best  set  of 
servants  on  the  line  of  march,  and  were  always  cheerful  and 
willing.  The  kahars,  who  carried  the  dandies,  came  to  say 
they  would  gladly  remain  with  her  throughout  the  summer 
for  any  wages  she  liked  to  give  them. 

Irene  continues  :  "  We  would  gladly  have  spent  a  quiet  day 
at  Chagoti  for  Sunday,  April  29th ;  but  as  the  dak  bungalow 
rules  forbade  us  to  claim  rooms  for  more  than  twenty-four 
hours,  we  were  obliged  to  go  on.  Perhaps  learning  new  lessons 
in  Nature's  beautiful  book  is  not  an  unsuitable  Sunday  occu- 
pation occasionally.  We  were  off  at  dawn,  and  had  a  fifteen- 
mile  march.  The  scenery  became  wilder  and  wilder,  all 
traces  of  cultivation  had  disappeared,  and  the  gorge  narrowed 
into  a  rocky  ravine,  shut  in  by  sheer  cliffs,  quite  a  hundred 
feet  high,  at  the  bottom  of  which  the  river  raged  and  foamed. 
All  around  rose  the  steep,  bare,  snow-crowned  mountains. 
The  place  would  be  an  awesome  one  in  stormy  weather. 
In  one  place  the  tonga  road  was  demolished  by  recent  snows, 
and  our  whole  caravan  had  to  climb  a  set  of  narrow  zigzag 
tracks,  up  the  mountain-side,  and  go  partly  across  and  partly 
under  the    side   stream   and   waterfall.      At   the   bottom  lay 


143  IRENE    PETRIE 

a  poor  camel,  who  had  fallen  from  a  great  height,  and  still 
panted  in  agony,  as  his  owner's  religion  forbade  him  to  take 
life.  ...  At  Urie  the  bungalow  is  on  a  ridge  above  three 
deep  valleys,  with  great  snow-peaks  closing  in  the  view  all 
round.  The  place  reminded  me  of  Andermatt,  and  here 
we  had  morning  and  evening  service.  Each  day's  march 
has  been  more  beautiful  than  that  of  the  day  before. 

"The  walk  of  thirteen  miles  on  April  30th,  the  whole  of 
which  I  did  on  foot,  led  through  a  forest  sloping  up  the 
mountain-sides.  Masses  of  white  clematis  and  hawthorn 
grew  among  the  huge  deodars,  pines,  and  chenars,  and 
we  watched  the  chameleons  on  the  rocks.  In  two  places 
the  highway  was  represented  by  a  single  plank  over  a 
swift  stream,  and  flat-faced  Tartar  coolies  were  repairing 
the  road.  Flocks  of  lovely  Kashmiri  goats  were  feeding 
on  the  hills.  Near  our  destination  at  Rampur  huge  cliffs, 
crowned  with  Alpine  woods  and  snow,  shut  in  the  valley  as 
at  Lauterbrunnen.  During  our  enchanting  climb  into  the 
forest  in  the  evening  we  agreed,  as  we  had  done  at  Urie, 
how  nice  it  would  be  to  build  a  house  for  tired  missionaries 
there. 

"  Leaving  Rampur  at  4  a.m.  on  May  ist,  we  had  an  exquisite 
walk,  seeing  the  silver  moonlight  on  one  set  of  snow-peaks 
and  the  rosy  dawn  light  on  another.  .  .  .  We  might  have 
been  keeping  May-day  in  England  as  we  ascended  a  rocky 
and  almost  perpendicular  watercourse  up  the  face  of  Baramula 
Hill,  seven  hundred  feet  high,  enjoying  primroses,  forgetme- 
nots,  and  wild  iris,  and  the  song  of  cuckoo,  blackbird,  and 
thrush.  But  before  us  at  the  top  was  such  a  view  as  I 
had  never  before  seen.  Below,  the  flat,  fertile  Vale  of 
Kashmir,  spread  out  like  a  map,  with  the  silver  links  of  the 
Jhelum  winding  through  it,  now  wide,  placid,  and  silent; 
beyond,  to  our  north,  the  endless,  glorious  stretch  of  Hima- 
layas, glistening,  snowy  peaks  and  domes,  the  highest,  Nanga 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  143 

Parbat,  almost  twenty-seven  thousand  feet  high,  near  to  the 
spot  where  meet  '  the  three  greatest  empires  in  the  world.' 

"  On  May  2nd  we  took  possession  of  a  fleet  of  five  boats, 
and  starting  on  a  stage  of  the  journey  even  more  beautiful 
than  all  that  had  gone  before,  floated  up  the  river.  Its 
silence  contrasted  strangely  with  the  roar  and  din  of  waters 
during  the  past  week,  the  towing-path  was  carpeted  with  wild 
flowers,  the  mighty  amphitheatre  of  mountains  all  around 
shone  one  dazzling  mass  of  white,  save  where  they  fell  away  at 
the  point  we  entered  by,  where  the  Jhelum  forces  a  passage 
through  to  water  the  hot  plains  of  the  Punjab,  and  loses  itself 
at  last  in  the  Indus. 

"Ascension  Day,  May  3rd,  was  spent  on  the  Wular  Lake, 
which  reflects  in  its  quiet  waters  the  encircling  snow-mountains, 
and  must  be  in  some  respects  the  most  beautiful  lake  in  the 
world.  Mist  and  rain  drew  a  purple  haze  over  the  near  hills 
at  times,  when  the  views  were  quite  Scottish  and  recalled 
Loch  Duich. 

"  On  the  sunny  morning  of  May  4th,  after  breakfasting  in  a 
meadow  blue  with  iris,  under  the  shade  of  mulberry-trees,  we 
entered  the  Kashmir  capital. 

"So  ends  the  first  stage  of  the  grandest  journey  I  have  ever 
made,  in  the  course  of  which  I  have  walked  a  hundred 
miles.  We  have  had  no  difficulty  or  accident  of  any  kind, 
and  have  enjoyed  perfect  weather  throughout  and  most 
congenial  companionship,  Deo  gratias.  It  is  so  glorious  to 
be  up  among  these  dear  hills,  and  I  am  in  Alpine  condition. 
Oh  that  all  the  dear  home  friends  were  here  with  us  now  to 
see  what  we  see  ! " 

From  May  2nd  to  June  13th  they  lived  in  their  boats, 
going  up  and  down  the  Jhelum  and  Dal  Lake  with  Srinagar 
for  headquarters,  and  then  up  and  down  the  Sind  River  with 
Gunderbal  for  headquarters.  Here  is  a  picture  of  their 
encampment   on   the   Dal :    **  Our  boats  were  moored  under 


144  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  shade  of  blossoming  plum-trees,  and  the  tent  pitched 
close  by  under  poplars  and  pear-trees  draped  with  vines,  and 
haunted  by  kingfishers,  splendid  golden  orioles  with  a  rich, 
liquid  note,  and  nightingales  who  sang  our  lullaby.  I  was  out 
in  a  boat  before  five  one  morning,  among  the  water-lilies, 
watching  the  first  flash  of  rosy  light  as  it  touched  the  snows  of 
the  Pir  Punjal,  which  stretched  for  quite  a  hundred  miles  along 
our  southern  horizon.  By  the  time  the  sunshine  was  making 
the  glaciers  of  Tutakuti  glisten  like  diamonds,  the  line  of  pink 
fire  had  crept  along  the  peaks  to  the  far  north-west,  where  the 
fantastic  crags  of  the  Hindu  Khush  bound  Kafiristan." 

"  Kashmir  is  more  lovely  every  day,"  she  says  again,  when 
they  were  on  the  Sind,  giving  a  yet  more  attractive  picture  of 
the  view  in  front  of  her  as  she  wrote  from  the  poop  of  their 
vessel,  "  looking  up  the  Sind  Valley,  through  which  Tibet  might 
be  reached,  via  Leh,  in  about  twenty-eight  marches.  Here 
the  boats  were  drawn  up  under  the  shade  of  five  magnificent 
chenar-trees.  The  hollow  trunks  of  three  made  comfortable 
rooms  for  the  servants,  and  it  took  eight  tall  men  to  clasp 
hands  round  one  of  them." 

Invitations  to  a  garden  party  at  the  Residency  met  them  on 
arrival  at  Srinagar,  but  they  were  "of  one  mind  in  avoiding 
social  distractions."  Before  she  had  been  there  a  week,  how- 
ever, Irene  had  made  acquaintance  with  all  the  missionaries, 
and  entered  into  every  department  of  their  work. 

On  May  6th  she  attended  the  tiny  English  church,  where 
Mr.  Knowles  officiated  as  honorary  chaplain,  and  where,  a 
fortnight  later,  the  first  missionary  sermon  she  had  heard  in 
India  was  preached  by  the  Rev.  Arthur  Stone,  the  summer 
chaplain,  with  a  collection  for  the  C.M.S.  Hospital.  On 
May  7th  and  8th,  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  Hospital,  then 
the  only  place  of  worship  for  the  native  Christians,  she  was 
at  "delightful  prayer-meetings  in  preparation  for  Whitsun- 
tide, quite  like  a  bit  of  Salisbury  Square,"   as  she  remarks, 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  145 

recalling  the  Thursday  meetings  at  the  C.M.S.  House. 
Coming  out,  she  was  introduced  to  Miss  Hull.  On  May  9th 
Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  and  two  boys  of  the  school  took  her 
for  a  moonlight  row  on  the  Dal  Lake.  On  May  nth 
she  went  with  Miss  Hull  to  her  girls'  school  and  to  a 
zenana.  "  Some  of  the  women  and  girls  are  beautiful,"  she 
writes;  "but  the  dirt  on  their  clothes  is  quite  unspeakable. 
Many  listened  most  attentively  to  the  Bible  lesson.  For  the 
present  there  must  be  even  more  of  uprooting  of  false  ideas 
of  Christianity  than  of  seed  sowing."  On  May  12th  she 
visited  the  Hospital  with  Miss  Neve  and  Miss  Newnham. 
Her  general  impression  of  the  Kashmir  missionaries  was  : 
"All  are  thoroughly  overworked,  yet  quite  unable  to  cope 
with  the  work  waiting  for  them." 

On  May  17th  Miss  Hull  took  her  to  call  on  a  venerable  pir 
and  his  wife.  "They  were  very  kind  and  polite,"  she  says,  "and 
handed  us  sweets,  which  I  fear  we  only  pretended  to  eat,  as 
we  sat  on  the  floor.  Then  the  Bible  lesson  began,  and  oh  ! 
how  they  listened !  The  old  man.  seemed  to  be  drinking  it 
all  in,  as  Miss  Hull  read  from  the  Gospels.  She  thinks  that 
they,  like  so  many  others  here,  might  gladly  become  Christians, 
were  not  prejudices  so  strong,  and  difficulties  and  persecutions 
so  real.  They  heard  that  I  was  a  missionary  whose  location 
had  yet  to  be  fixed;  and  as  the  pir  shook  hands,  in  special 
compliment  to  me  on  leaving,  he  said  :  '  Will  you  not  stay 
and  teach  us?' "  That  evening  Irene  wrote  home :  "  Miss  Hull 
is  singlehanded  as  a  zenana  missionary.  I  feel  inclined  to 
transfer  my  offer  to  the  C.M.S.  from  the  Punjab  to  Kashmir," 
On  May  23rd,  when  Irene  had  moved  to  Gunderbal,  Miss 
Hull,  resuming  work,  as  we  saw  in  Chapter  VI.,  in  great 
discouragement,  wrote  to  her :  "  Meeting  you  has  been 
such  a  pleasure.  I  need  not  say  how  heartily  I  endorse  the 
invitation  of  the  aged  pir  and  pirbai." 

The  attraction  of  the  ardent  newcomer  to  the  experienced 

10 


146  IRENE    PETRIE 

worker,  "  than  whom,"  says  Irene,  "  I  have  never  met  a  more 
earnest  person,"  was  indeed  mutual  and  instantaneous;  and 
three  months  later,  when  acquaintance  had  become  friendship, 
Irene  wrote :  "  If  among  the  missionary  ladies  I  have  seen 
out  here  I  had  been  offered  the  choice  of  companions  to 
live  with,  I  think  Miss  Hull  and  Miss  Coverdale  would  have 
headed  the  list  in  any  case." 

Meanwhile,  Mr.  Stock  wrote  to  her  privately  on  May  7th  : 
"  I  need  not  say  what  a  pleasure  it  is  now  to  hear  of  your 
desire  to  join  the  C.M.S.";  and  on  May  27th  the  decision 
of  the  Parent  Committee  in  London  on  April  25th  came, 
enclosed  in  a  letter  from  Mr.  Clark,  "With  kindest  regards, 
and  very  earnest  hope  that  your  joining  us  in  our  missionary 
work  may  be  for  great  good." 

"So  at  last,"  she  writes  joyfully  on  May  31st,  "I  belong 
to  the  C.M.S.  Where,  however,  I  shall  be  in  six  months'  time 
I  have  no  idea  :  perhaps  in  Amritsar,  perhaps  Miss  Hull's 
renewed  invitation  to  remain  and  work  in  Kashmir  may  be 
accepted.  I  look  for  all  being  arranged  by  a  Wiser  Will 
than  ours.  Meanwhile,  my  acceptance  is  very  delightful, 
and  my  Urdu  study  is  a  definite  enough  work  to  have  in 
hand." 

On  June  9th  she  wrote  to  Mr,  Clark  thus :  "  Since  coming 
to  Kashmir  I  have  seen  something  of  the  work  which  is 
going  on  in  Srinagar,  especially  that  done  by  the  ladies. 
Miss  Hull  has  asked  if  I  could  be  associated  with  this 
department,  as  her  hands  are  overfull,  especially  now  that 
Miss  Coverdale  is  so  seriously  ill.  I  do  not  know  whether 
the  Committee  have  as  yet  suggested  any  destination  for  me 
after  this  summer,  but  if  not,  and  if  there  is  no  good  reason 
against  it,  I  should  be  very  glad  to  fall  in  with  Miss  Hull's 
proposal  next  winter,  if  agreeable  to  the  Committee,  of  course 
as  a  C.M.S.  worker."  To  which  Mr.  Clark  replied  :  "  I  will 
very  gladly  ask  the  Committee  to  appoint  you,  at  any  rate  for 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  147 

the  present,  to  Kashmir.  Help  is  greatly  needed  there,  and 
you  will  find  a  grand  sphere  of  usefulness  extending  itself  far 
and  wide.  May  God  Himself  bless  your  work  abundantly 
wherever  you  may  be  !  " 

It  was  not  till  July  21st  that  a  telegram  from  Mr.  Clark 
told  her  that  the  Committee  had  appointed  her  to  Kashmir. 
On  August  31st  she  wrote:  "I  am  so  glad  in  the  thought 
of  being  in  real  work  soon,  and  there  does  seem  to  be 
about  as  much  need  of  help  here  as  there  could  be  anywhere, 
if  only  I  can  speak  enough  to  be  any  good." 

"  It  was  with  very  great  thankfulness,"  wrote  Miss  Hull  in 
Ifidia's  Women,  "that  we  welcomed  Miss  Petrie  just  before 
Miss  Coverdale  left.  Her  offer  to  stay  and  work  here  was 
a  much  desired  but  unexpected  blessing."  And  to  some 
friends  of  hers  in  England  she  also  wrote :  "  It  is  time 
I  told  you  of  the  goodness  of  our  Father  in  sending  me 
a  fellow-worker  in  Miss  Petrie.  She  came  to  Kashmir 
as  a  visitor,  hoping  for  quiet  time  to  study  the  language 
and  prepare  to  take  up  mission  work,  when  the  C.M.S. 
should  appoint  her  to  a  station.  At  one  house  she 
visited  with  me  an  old  pir's  wife  said  to  me,  'Tell  her 
she  cannot  do  better  than  stay  and  help  you.'  I  told  her, 
scarcely  daring  to  hope  she  would,  only  adding  that  I  was 
quite  sure  there  was  no  place  where  she  could  be  more 
wanted ;  and  she  stayed.  It  is  indeed  a  great  blessing  to 
have  so  efficient,  kind,  and  good  a  fellow-worker." 

On  June  14th  "  the  four  P's  "  started  on  a  two  days' 
march  of  thirty-five  miles  from  Gunderbal  to  Gulmarg,  due 
west  of  Srinagar.  Here  for  nearly  three  months  they  lived 
in  a  four-roomed  hut  of  pine-logs,  playfully  called  "Perrydise," 
at  the  heart  of  a  great  forest  of  the  Pir  Punjal  range,  under 
the  shadow  of  lofty  Apharwat,  ovtrlooking  the  whole  Vale 
of  Kashmir  from  a  height  of  8,500  feet  above  the  sea. 
Around   them    was   a  mountain   panorama   unrivalled  in  the 


148  IRENE    PETRIE 

world — 250  miles  of  snow-peaks  ;  where,  above  all  the  others, 
towered  in  dazzling  whiteness  the  lion-like  form  of  Nanga 
Parbat,  its  rugged  edge  seeming  to  pierce  the  horizon.  It 
is  11,000  feet  higher  than  Mont  Blanc.  Coming  from  the 
plains,  where  the  corn  was  in  the  ear  by  the  middle  of 
February,  to  the  mountains,  where  the  anemones  were  blooming 
late  in  June,  they  felt  as  if  they  were  enjoying  a  fifth  month 
of  spring. 

The  approach  to  Gulmarg  on  June  15  th  is  thus  described  : 
"  We  were  off  at  early  dawn,  and  had  splendid  views,  as  the 
ground  began  to  rise,  of  snow-ranges  both  north  and  south. 
We  went  up  lovely  paths  by  streams  in  which  masses  of  snowy 
eglantine  were  dipping.  The  real  climb  of  three  thousand 
feet  was  nearly  all  through  a  pine  forest,  amid  wild,  scented 
jasmine,  thyme,  and  pink  eglantine.  About  midday  we 
emerged  on  Gulmarg  ('meadow  of  flowers'),  a  broad  grass 
plateau,  green  only  in  parts,  elsewhere  white  with  anemones 
and  yellow  with  kingcups.  On  its  farther  side  the  forest 
again  slopes  steeply  upwards  to  the  crags  and  snowfields 
of  Killanmarg,  Apharwat  (14,500  feet),  and  Tatakuti 
(15,500  feet).  We  crossed  the  marg,  and  climbed  up  a  wood- 
land path  till  on  the  crest  of  a  ridge  in  the  depths  of  the 
forest  we  found  our  home.  ...  All  around  are  the  grand 
pines  with  their  delicious  scent;  underneath  grow  masses 
of  wild  strawberries,  forgetmenots,  and  ferns.  It  is  a  most 
lovely  spot,  reminding  me  of  both  Wengen  and  Chamonix. 
.  .  .  Concerning  zoology,  besides  the  objectionable  winged 
beetles  and  mosquitoes  who  invade  us  in  the  evening,  we 
have  visits  from  many  exquisite  moths;  fancy  one  peacock- 
blue,  with  yellow  spots  and  a  scarlet  body.  A  fine  leopard 
was  prowUng  round  in  hopes  of  getting  a  neighbour's  big 
dog  under  cover  of  night.  Reports  of  a  bear  come  from 
the  other  side  of  the  marg ;  and  Miss  Perry  has  forbidden  us 
to  wander  alone  in  the  woods  above  this,  as  some  gigantic 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  149 

buffaloes  made  for  her  pedestrian  party  yesterday.  .  .  .  One 
night  the  cows  came  to  feed  on  the  matting  of  our  verandah  ; 
another  night  pariah  dogs  broke  into  ihe  dairy  and  drank  our 
milk."  More  serious  drawbacks  to  their  primitive  life  were 
the  windstorms,  which  sent  them  racing  after  their  movables, 
and  pitiless  and  persistent  downpour  of  rain  on  many  days. 

They  made  some  interesting  expeditions :  one  to  a  glacier, 
where  they  sat  in  an  icehouse,  and  found  masses  of  edelweiss  ; 
one  to  a  village,  where  they  put  off  their  shoes  to  inspect  a 
sacred  tank,  and  forty  people  assembled  to  see  how  they 
fastened  them  on  again. 

Irene  had  Ruskin's  Modern  Painters  with  her,  and  was 
feasting  on  "  The  Mountain  Glory  "  in  Vol.  IV.  (which  also 
went  with  her  to  Leh  in  1897).  She  was  reading  Kingsley's 
Saints  Tragedy  too,  for  enjoyment  of  literature  had  always 
been  a  part  of  her  annual  holiday.  As  she  wrote  later : 
"  When  one  has  so  little  time  even  to  open  an  English  book, 
good  poetry  supplies  one's  mental  appetite  with  a  first-rate 
condensed  essence."  Or  as  she  wrote  from  Gulmarg  :  "A 
little  good  poetry  is  a  great  treat  in  the  intervals  of  Urdu, 
though  I  regard  reading  as  rather  a  stolen  pleasure  nowadays, 
when  there  are  so  many  other  pleasures,  of  glorious  scenery, 
and  so  forth." 

She  had  indeed  deliberately  preferred  Gulmarg  to  Simla 
because  it  promised  more  leisure  for  Urdu,  and  opportunity 
of  teaching  from  a  good  munshi,  with  whom  she  continued 
work  at  Srinagar,  for  she  was  hoping  to  go  up  in  the  spring  of 
1895  for  the  first  examination  which  CM.S.  missionaries  are 
required  to  pass.  Throughout  the  summer  she  studied  at 
least  six  hours  daily,  and  even  on  Sunday  read  the  Urdu 
Bible  and  Prayer  Book.  "  Urdu,"  she  writes  on  June  30th, 
"  occupies  all  possible  hours.  I  was  going  to  say  quiet  hours, 
but  such  do  not  exist  in  India.  I  always  feel  glad  that  home 
habits  of  working  in  a  room  with  the  door  open  prepared  me 


ISO 


IRENE    PETRIE 


for  working  in  a  verandah,  with  conversations  in  English  and 
Urdu  going  on  in  each  ear,  and  a  happy  chorus  of  cocks 
and  hens."  On  July  24th  she  says  :  "  I  make  alarmingly 
slow  progress  with  Easum-i-Hind,  the  Urdu  account  of 
Mohammedanism,  which  is  the  most  important  subject 
prescribed.  The  language  and  printing  are  as  difificult  as 
the  matter  is  repulsive.  The  part  I  am  now  doing  is  a 
travesty  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  which  says  that  Enoch, 
Abraham,  and  other  patriarchs  spent  their  lives  promoting 
Islamism,  that  Ishmael,  not  Isaac,  was  offered  in  sacrifice, 
and  that  the  incidents  of  Joseph's  life  turned  upon  a  series 
of  puerile  miracles.  Of  course,  knowledge  of  this  book  will 
be  most  useful  in  future  work.  ...  I  feel  as  ever  that  only 
one  ultimate  object  could  induce  me  to  study  Oriental  tongues." 
She  plodded  on,  however,  undeterred  by  the  remonstrances 
of  her  companions,  till  on  July  31st  Miss  Hull  arrived  at 
Gulmarg,  and  only  one  month  of  the  holiday  season  remained. 
When  she  also,  with  her  long  experience  and  high  standard 
of  hard  work,  lectured  Irene,  the  latter  "  thought  of  slackening 
off  a  little,"  and,  thanks  partly  to  instruction  given  by  Miss 
Hull  herself,  began  to  feel  rather  happier  about  the  lesson 
books  by  the  middle  of  August.  "On  September  6th," 
she  says,  "  I  finished  Job,  which  is  really  very  difficult, 
with  all  the  poetical  expressions  and  queer  words.  I 
only  hope  my  mouth  and  ears  will  open  when  I  get  to 
work." 

This  tale  of  labour  at  a  foreign  tongue  may  seem  tame  to 
those  who  regard  missions  as  a  romantic  enterprise,  or  un 
satisfactory  to  those  familiar  with  the  lives  of  missionaries 
like  T.  V.  French  or  G.  L.  Pilkington,  who  devoted  to  God's 
service  a  remarkable  talent  for  linguistic  study,  and  loved  it  for 
its  own  sake.  For  Irene,  as  for  many,  this  study  was  one  of  the 
earliest,  severest,  and  most  prolonged  tests  of  power  to  deny 
herself;  and  merely  to  mention  that  eventually  she  was  un- 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  151 

usually  successful  in  mastering  two  very  difficult  languages 
would  be  to  omit  one  of  the  most  instructive  points  in 
our  story.  Her  success  was  no  chance  outcome  of  general 
ability,  but  the  reward  of  patient  painstaking.  Moreover, 
while  the  opportunity  for  rising,  in  a  moment  of  high- 
wrought  enthusiasm,  to  some  great  self-sacrifice  comes  but 
once  in  a  lifetime  to  the  few,  the  truly  unselfish  life  is  made 
up,  for  the  missionary  as  for  most  of  us,  of  a  succession  of 
small,  unnoticed  self-sacrifices  in  "  the  trivial  round,  the 
common  task."  Probably  Irene,  determined  to  conquer 
Urdu,  found  it  easier  to  decline,  one  by  one,  pleasant 
invitations,  and  to  refrain  from  using  her  gift  of  song  at 
Lahore,  than  to  renounce,  day  by  day,  the  delights  of 
climbing  and  sketching  amid  what  she  calls  "  the  most 
superb  views  I  have  ever  seen."  We  have  told  how  the 
artist  predominated  in  her  throughout  her  life ;  and  not  only 
the  friends  who  did  not  believe  in  missions,  but  one  at  least 
of  those  who  did,  and  who,  being  an  excellent  artist  herself, 
was  able  to  gauge  Irene's  artistic  powers,  declared  that  a  girl 
who  could  have  become  so  notable  as  either  musician  or 
painter  should  never  have  gone  out  as  a  missionary.  That 
her  love  of  art  remained  unabated  to  the  end  is  seen  from 
a  letter  to  an  intimate  friend,  written  within  a  year  of 
her  death,  in  which  she  alludes  to  chrysanthemums  "  so 
lovely  that  they  make  one  long  for  another  life  to  give  to 
painting  " ;  and  says  of  some  recent  sketches :  "  They  are 
mere  poor  caricatures,  but  I  think  one's  little  attempts  have 
a  Biblical  sanction  in  that  beautiful  verse,  'The  works  of 
the  Lord  are  great,  sought  out  of  all  them  that  have  pleasure 
therein.'"  Yet  in  the  holiday  resort  of  Gulmarg  her  guitar 
lay  unstrung,  her  easel  could  seldom  lure  her  from  the  table 
where  repugnant  Rasum-i-Hind  was  flanked  by  grammar  and 
dictionary,  though  she  found  forty-three  varieties  of  exquisite 
wild  flowers  growing  within  five  minutes'  radius  of  their  hut, 


152  IRENE    PETRIE 

and   the   transcendent   proportions  of  Nanga   Parbat,   in   all 
his  mysterious  glory,  closed  in  the  landscape. 

But  she  was  to  learn  that  lawful  pleasures  laid  at  God's 
feet  are  sometimes  restored,  as  Isaac  was  restored,  with  a 
newly  won  blessing.  "  Now  in  this  time,"  said  our  Lord 
of  the  disciple  who  gives  up  house  or  brethren  or  sisters  for 
His  sake  and  the  Gospel's,  "he  shall  receive  a  hundredfold" 
(Mark  x.  29,  30).  The  mission  in  Kashmir  soon  claimed 
Irene's  music ;  and  her  sketches  not  only  won  much  interest 
in  that  land  from  many  quarters,  but  raised  considerable  funds 
for  it,  and  thus  became  part  of  her  work.  At  Gulmarg  the 
wife  of  the  Director  of  Public  Works,  herself  a  good  flower- 
painter,  saw  a  few  sketches  Irene  had  made  there,  and 
asked  if  she  might  purchase  replicas.  A  substantial  gift  to 
the  collection  in  Gulmarg  church  on  behalf  of  the  C.M.S. 
Hospital,  after  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Neve,  was  only  the  im- 
mediate result  of  Irene's  acceptance  of  the  little  commission. 
The  pictures  bought  were  shown  in  the  exhibition  of  Drawing 
Club  sketches  in  the  Public  Library,  other  orders  followed, 
and  as  early  as  August  Irene  destined  their  proceeds  for 
the  building  fund  of  St.  Luke's  Church,  of  which  more  anon. 
She  left  Gulmarg  (where  we  can  well  believe  that  the  days 
had  proved  all  too  short)  "  with  numerous  orders  to  execute 
in  any  painting-time  that  comes  in  the  near  future,"  and 
people  at  Srinagar  and  elsewhere  proved  at  least  as  willing 
to  buy  as  the  small  European  community  there. 

As  she  made  a  good  deal  of  time  for  correspondence  in 
the  course  of  that  quiet  summer,  we  may  speak  once  for  all 
here  of  her  intercourse  with  home  during  her  missionary 
career,  ere  we  follow  her  to  the  capital. 

"  Be  concentrated  in  the  energy  of  personal  effort ;  be 
diffusive  in  the  unity  of  spiritual  sympathy,"  is  a  counsel  of 
Bishop  Westcott's  that  Irene  tried  to  act  on  throughout  her 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  153 

brief  but  intense  life.  Distance  from  the  interests  and 
affections  of  former  days  seemed  only  to  strengthen  her  attach- 
ment to  them.  When  at  Gulmarg  she  heard  by  telegram  of 
the  birth  in  Montreal  of  a  nephew,  an  event  which  doubled 
the  number  of  her  near  relatives,  her  rapture — so  Miss  Hull 
reports — was  almost  more  than  she  could  bear  physically,  and 
the  lively  sympathy  expressed  in  her  news  finally  knitted  up 
her  new  friendships.  When,  a  few  months  later,  snow-blocked 
passes  delayed  the  mails,  which  she  characterised  as  "my 
weekly  joy  and  treat,"  and  home  letters  posted  in  three 
successive  weeks  reached  her  simultaneously,  she  is  described 
as  "  literally  shouting  for  joy  "  after  the  long  silence. 

Not  only  all  concerning  her  relatives  but  all  concerning 
her  friends  remained  as  interesting  as  ever,  though  she  grew 
more  and  more  absorbed  in  her  work.  "  I  think  it  is  wonder- 
ful," wTites  one  girl  comrade  of  past  days,  "  how  you  can  keep 
in  touch  with  old  friends  so  well,  in  the  midst  of  your  missionary 
labours."  "  I  had  a  card  of  flowers  and  a  letter  for  Christmas 
from  Irene,"  writes  a  very  busy  friend,  "which  made  me  feel 
rather  base,  as  I  had  not  written  to  her."  "  I  can  hardly  realise 
even  yet,"  writes  another  girl  comrade  in  December,  1897,  "that 
this  Christmas  I  shall  have  no  greeting  from  Irene.  It  is  the 
first  since  I  have  known  her  that  this  has  been  so.  She  never 
seemed  to  forget  anyone."  A  missionary  whom  Irene  met 
several  times  at  Amritsar  had  a  sister  in  England  with  whom 
she  was  slightly  acquainted  before  she  went  out.  This  lady 
tells  that  whenever  Irene  saw  her  relative  she  wrote  sending 
ner  the  most  recent  news  of  her  health  and  welfare.  The 
incident  is  given  as  a  typical  one.  We  hear  of  her  despatching 
between  twenty  and  thirty  Christmas  gifts  to  friends  in  Europe 
one  year ;  of  her  preparing  twenty-four  Christmas  cards  of  dried 
Himalayan  flowers  for  them  another  year.  She  had  always 
taken  special  delight  in  giving  presents  at  that  season,  and 
she  not  only  continued  to  do  so,  but  to  choose  them  with  as 


154  IRENE    PETRIE 

much  thought  as  ever  or  the  idiosyncrasies  of  their  recipients. 
And  she  was  as  ready  to  condole  with  the  sorrows,  counsel 
the  perplexities,  remember  the  birthdays,  and  help  forward  the 
enterprises  of  the  friends  of  her  girlhood  as  she  had  ever  been. 

Her  interest  in  home  missions  remained  unchanged  also. 
"  I  feel  we  should  rather  be  giving  to  you,"  writes  the 
Hon.  Treasurer  of  the  Church  Army  in  acknowledging 
her  annual  subscription  sent  from  Kashmir.  Among  letters 
written  to  her  in  England  after  she  had  actually  reached  Leh 
in  August,  1897,  are  thanks  for  two  boxes  of  Kashmir  goods 
sent  to  different  friends  for  sales  of  work  at  home,  and  for 
her  annual  subscription  to  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  and  the  Church  Pastoral  Aid  Society.  She  had  been 
placed  on  the  Kensington  Committee  of  the  latter  in  1888, 
and  inquired  after  its  prosperity  in  a  letter  written  just  as 
she  started  on  her  last  journey. 

The  number  of  old  friends  with  whom  she  maintained  a 
regular  correspondence  in  hours  snatched  too  often  from 
needed  sleep  was  very  large.  The  effort  thus  made  was  not 
made  in  vain,  for  she  enjoyed  unbroken  intercourse  in  spirit 
with  those  she  cared  for  most,  and  the  spiritual  sympathy  of 
some  in  absence  is  worth  almost  as  much  as  their  bodily 
presence.  Turning  over  letters  to  her  that  chance  to  survive, 
one  passes  from  the  pastoral  counsel  and  warmly  expressed 
approval  of  her  work  of  the  Vicar  of  Kensington  to  pages 
of  home  news  from  old  schoolfellows ;  affectionate  letters 
from  former  College  by  Post  students,  telling  of  their  own 
efforts  in  work  for  God ;  thoughts  of  the  wise  gleaned  from 
hearing  or  reading,  and  passed  on  to  one  on  outpost  duty 
as  watchwords  from  home ;  and  words  of  cheer  from  fellow- 
missionaries  in  other  lands. 

Hers  was  not  one  of  the  self-contained  natures  that  need 
not  to  lean  strongly  on  the  love  of  others.  "  Being  alone 
in  the  world  "   was  her  definition  of  misery.     So  when   one 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  i55 

friend  writes  from  the  United  States  :  "  I  consider  every  line 
I  receive  from  you  a  great  treat  and  privilege,"  and  another 
in  England  writes :  "  You  are  happy  to  be  one  of  Christ's 
messengers,  now  that  possibly  all  days  of  service  for  His 
Church  may  be  short,"  we  can  understand  that  Irene  often 
said  of  her  mail :  "  It  is  heart-warming  to  read  all  these  kind 
letters,"  or  (referring  to  the  news  that  a  third  member  of 
her  hygiene  class  hoped  to  become  a  missionary) :  "  It  does 
warm  one's  heart  to  hear  from  the  dear  students."  Above 
all,  she  was  strengthened  and  comforted  by  the  assurance 
which  is  the  burden  of  most  letters  :  "  Courage ;  we  pray  for 
you  without  ceasing " ;  "  as  the  old  Scotch-woman  said,  '  We 
shall  pray  for  you  nard.'"  So  they  "held  the  ropes";  and 
her  exceeding  delight  in  the  home  mail,  which  one  Christmas 
had  almost  fifty  letters  for  her  by  one  post,  passed  into  a 
proverb  among  her  colleagues. 

The  value  she  set  on  their  affection  for  herself  would  not, 
however,  have  justified  the  time  she  gave  to  letter-writing 
had  it  not  been  her  effort  throughout  to  translate  the  personal 
regard  of  friends  into  concern  for  her  chosen  work,  to  receive 
gifts  for  her  pupils  rather  than  herself,  to  broaden  prayer 
for  her  into  prayer  for  Kashmir. 

In  this  effort  she  succeeded  to  a  remarkable  degree.  "  How 
near  in  some  respects  Kashmir  seems  with  your  own 
dear  self  in  it,'  said  another  correspondent  in  the  United 
States.  *'  You  cannot  think  how  glad  I  should  be  to  send  you 
anything  that  would  be  a  help  in  your  work,  and  that  would 
show  my  interest  in  it,"  says  a  former  schoolfellow.  From 
many  individual  friends,  from  her  Sunday  school  class,  from 
the  Kensington  C.M.S.  working  party,  and  from  little  bands 
of  helpers  she  had  called  into  existence  at  Mitcham  and 
at  Penshurst,  generous  gifts  came  again  and  again. 

As  an  illustration  of  co-operation  that  blesses  both  those 
abroad  and  those  at  home  a  letter  to  Irene  from  Mitcham, 


156  IRENE    PETRIE 

written  in  February,    1895,  may  be  quoted:  "I  cannot  tell 
you  how  deeply  the  accounts  of  your  work  interest  me.     I 
do   indeed  feel  how  immense  the  obstacles  and  hindrances 
are    which    meet    you    on    every   side,    overwhelming,    one 
would  be  tempted   to   say,   were  it  not  for   the   knowledge 
of    our   Father's    Presence    and   Power.      I    rejoice    to   feel 
that  I  may  in  some  measure,  however  small,  help  with  my 
prayers.     It  is  such  a  help   to   one's  prayers  to  have  more 
knowledge   of   the  difficulties   for  which    these   prayers   are 
specially    needed.  ...  I   took    your    letter    down    to    our 
•  Missionary  Union '  meeting,  and  read  all  about  the  presents 
and  the  women  and  girls  to  the  children,  to  their  great  delight. 
It  made  all  seem  so  much  more  real  to  them  to  hear  what 
actually  had  happened  to  their  handiwork.  ...  I  rejoice  to  say 
that  our  little  Union  continues  to  prosper  wonderfully.  .  .  .  WTiat 
makes  me  feel  most  thankful  and  hopeful  of  all  is  the  benefit 
I  cannot  but  recognise  that  it  is  to  our  children  themselves. 
It  is  so  cheering  to  see  quite  rough  and  unruly  ones  growing 
gentler  and  more  disciplined,  and  some  of  our  idlers  learning 
to  work  quite  hard  and  earnestly.  .  .  .  You  have  been  so  closely 
associated  with  our  Union  from  the  first  (indeed,  we  owe  its 
existence,  humanly  speaking,  to  your  visit),  that  I  longed  to 
tell  you  all  about  our  efforts  and  our  progress."     Another  letter 
from  Mitcham   in  1897  reported  a  missionary  band  of  sixty 
"  Sowers  "  all  working  with  undiminished  enthusiasm. 

Sentences  from  three  more  letters  will  indicate  how  Irene 
stirred  up  prayer  for  Kashmir.  A  London  friend,  who  had 
purchased  some  of  her  sketches,  writes  :  "  I  often  gaze  for 
a  long  time  at  your  sweet  little  pictures,  which  hang  together 
in  a  group  in  my  own  room,  and  pray  for  a  great  blessing  on 
you  and  all  the  work  in  Srinagar.  ...  I  hope  you  keep  well. 
I  think  you  must,  for  there  is  a  happy  ring  about  your  letter, 
as  if  you  had  found  your  God-made  niche  and  were  content." 
A  Scottish  lady,  whom  she  met  for  the  first  and  last   time 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  iS7 

during  a  day  and  a  half  in  Rome  on  her  way  back  to  India 
in  1895,  writes  fifteen  months  after  their  meeting:  "I  have 
not  forgotten  you  and  your  companion?  daily  in  my  prayers, 
but  have  asked  God  to  grant  you  health,  strength,  patience, 
and  courage  for  the  work  He  has  given  you  to  do,  and 
I  trust  He  has  heard  me."  A  lady  in  Montreal,  who 
knew  Irene  only  through  her  journals,  writes:  "I  really 
felt  as  if  I  knew  and  loved  her  also,  and  have  rejoiced 
over  her  good  work,  and  for  two  years  have  prayed  for  it 
every  day." 

That  sympathy  might  be  enlightened  and  prayer  definite, 
Irene  sent  home  many  photographs  and  journals,  and  also 
wrote  personal  letters,  full  of  graphic  details,  calculated  to 
interest  individual  correspondents,  that  friends  might  become 
distributers  as  well  as  recipients  of  information.  *'  How 
vividly,"  writes  an  American  friend,  "your  journals  have 
brought  places  and  people  before  me  !  I  am  sure  your  friends 
will  soon  insist  on  your  publishing  a  book." 

The  following  letter  of  condolence  from  a  London  neighbour 
expresses  another  aspect  of  her  influence  :  "  My  first  feeling  on 
hearing  the  news  was  that  if  any  death  could  be  without  sadness 
it  must  be  Irene's.  She  had  fulfilled  her  mission  so  truly,  with 
such  self-restraint  and  self-devotion  all  her  life :  first  at  home 
and  in  society ;  then,  when  the  way  was  clearly  opened  for  her 
to  go  to  India,  by  devoting  her  great  gifts  of  mind  and  heart 
so  enthusiastically  to  the  work  in  Kashmir,  grinding  at  the 
languages,  which  were  not  naturally  to  her  taste,  with  as  much 
earnestness  as  she  threw  into  everything  else.  Knowing  her 
and  hearing  her  speak  of  her  work  have  caused  me  many  times 
to  defend  the  cause  of  foreign  missions  against  slighting 
remarks,  and  to  realise  a  little  the  binding  force  of  the  charter 
of  missionary  work,  'Go  ye— teach  all  nations.'" 

One  further  quotation  from  the  magazine  article  already 
quoted  on  pp.  20  and  55,  will  convey  the  impression  made  by 


158  IRENE    PETRIE 

her  work  on  those  who  followed  it  at  home  through  journals 
and  letters  : — 

"First,  we  will  look  into  the  dark,  comfortless  women's 
quarters  in  one  of  the  homes  in  Srinagar.  A  group  of  women 
and  children  of  all  ages  are  squatting  on  the  floor  in  listless 
idleness,  a  look  of  settled  dulness  pervading  all  their  faces, 
until  transformed  into  one  of  eager  welcome  by  the  appearance 
of  their  English  lady  visitor.  Her  bright  face  shows  that  it 
is  Irene  herself,  as  she  gathers  her  ready  pupils  about  her, 
to  teach  them  to  knit  and  read,  and  best  of  all,  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge. 

"  Our  next  glimpse  is  of  a  little  English  gathering  of  mis- 
sionaries and  travellers  thrown  together  for  a  single  evening, 
by  chance,  as  we  are  apt  to  say.  Most  of  them  are  strangers 
to  one  another,  and  feeling  rather  lonely  and  very  homesick ; 
but  Miss  Petrie  cheered  us  all  up,  as  one  of  them  said : 
she  got  out  her  guitar  and  sang  the  dear  old  Scotch  songs  to 
us,  till  it  seemed  like  a  real  English  home  evening.  .  .  . 

"To  every  one  of  us  Irene  Petrie  has  three  lessons  still  to 
teach,  the  same  that  she  was  for  ever  teaching,  by  her  words 
and  life  and  influence,  to  all  who  knew  her  while  she  was 
on  earth.  The  first  is  the  lesson  of  simple,  childlike  trust  in  our 
Heavenly  Father's  will  and  power  to  send  or  keep  us  wherever 
He  sees  that  we  can  serve  Him  best.  The  next  is  the  lesson 
she  had  such  a  wonderful  power  of  bringing  home  to  the  heart 
of  even  the  youngest  child — that  in  God's  service  rich  and  poor, 
great  and  small,  all  alike  are  needed,  and  all  are  claimed  by 
His  love.  And  the  last  and  the  most  important  is  the  lesson 
that  prayer  is  the  highest,  the  hardest,  and  the  most  necessary 
service  of  all.  '  Oh,  if  you  only  knew,'  she  would  say  again 
and  again,  '  how  we  abroad  depend  upon  the  prayers  of  you 
at  home !  There  is  such  strength  and  such  support  to  us  in 
the  thought  that  you  are  praying  for  us,  and  that  we  all  are 
watching  and  waiting  and  working  together  for  the  harvest.' " 


A    QUIET    SUMMER  159 

A  passage  from  Irene's  letter  to  the  College  by  Post,  written 
at  Gulmarg  on  June  23rd,  1894,  will  fitly  conclude  this 
chapter.  After  describing  some  of  the  sights  that  indicate 
the  deep  need  of  those  who  are  without  knowledge  of  the 
True  God,  she  continues  : — 

"  But  there  are  happier  sights,  too,  out  here.  Never  have  I 
enjoyed  our  Church  service  more  than  when  joining  in  it  with 
a  large  congregation  of  native  Christians,  many  of  whom  had 
really  endured  the  trial  of  their  faith.  In  the  splendid 
Christian  schools  in  Amritsar,  among  Miss  Tuting's  gay  groups 
of  non-Christian  pupils,  and  in  the  medical  missions  both 
there  and  at  Srinagar,  Christ's  commands  to  teach  and  heal 
the  sick  are  being  literally  carried  out.  I  have  been  stirred 
by  watching  the  faces  of  the  women  of  four  cities,  from  the 
richest  to  the  poorest,  as  they  listen  to  the  message  coming 
with  wonderful  freshness  into  their  darkened  lives.  To  how 
many  of  these  it  brings  indeed  the  Light  of  Life  we  cannot 
now  know ;  it  seems  a  profanation  to  try  and  tabulate  results, 
when  Christ  tells  us  that  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
with  observation. 

"  Face  to  face  with  heathendom  and  missionary  work, 
many  preconceived  ideas  are  greatly  modified;  but  these 
following  impressions  are  daily  strengthened: 

"  The  need  is  indeed  great,  and  the  work  among  these  Indian 
natives,  who,  as  Christians,  often  put  our  religious  profession 
to  shame,  is  indeed  worth  living  for. 

"  The  largest  proportion  of  the  real  and  often  unexpected 
difficulties  in  missionary  work  can  be  directly  traced  to 
the  dearth  of  efficient  workers.  How  many  there  must  still 
be  at  home  who  could  come  and  help !  Well-educated 
ladies  as  doctors  and  teachers  are  urgently  wanted  for  the 
Christlike  work  of  medical  missions,  and  for  the  increasingly 
important  work  of  building  up  the  native  Christians,  and 
giving  higher   Christian  education. 


i6o  IRENE    PETRIE 

"As  a  learner  and  beginner,  I  would  venture  to  suggest 
to  any  who  hope  to  come  out  that  the  following  seem 
needful  qualifications :  Prudence  as  to  bodily  health, 
methodical  and  compact  habits  under  any  circumstances,  a 
large  heart,  a  reserved  tongue,  and  readiness  to  take  the 
second  or,  if  need  be,  the  tenth  place.  While  every  kind 
of  gift  can  be  turned  to  account  in  India,  it  is  also  true  that 
untrained,  inefficient,  or  self-sufficient  workers  may  often 
have,  and  cause,  disappointment. 

"  All  the  more,  then,  do  we  beg  for  the  prayers  of  the  Mite- 
Givers'  Guilds  and  all  other  members  of  the  College  by  Post, 
because  the  standard  must  be  a  high  one ;  and  any  flaws 
in  His  instruments  must  hinder  the  work  which  God  is  willing 
and  able  to  do  through  them,  and  which  is  indeed  His  own 
work." 

Referring  to  what  Irene  here  says  about  "  the  tenth  place," 
a  College  by  Post  student  unknown  to  us  personally  wrote 
in  February,  1898:  "In  the  light  of  the  knowledge  we  now 
have  of  Miss  Petrie's  remarkable  gifts  and  powers,  this  sentence 
in  her  first  letter,  which  struck  us  very  much  at  the  time, 
strikes  us  even  more  forcibly.  Written  by  one  so  highly 
gifted,  and  so  eminently  qualified  to  take  the  first  place,  how 
Christlike  the  sentiment !  How  ready  indeed  the  writer  was 
to  be  called  up  higher ! " 


CHAPTER     VIII 

FIRST  WINTER   IN   SRINAGAR 

(September  8th,  1894,  to  March  30TH,  1895) 

The  woman's  cause  is  man's ;   they  rise  or  sink 
Together,  dwarfed  or  godlike,  bond  or  free. 
If  she  be  small,  slight-natured,  miserable, 
How  shall  men  grow  ? 

But  in  the  shadow  will  we  work,  and  mould 
The  woman  to  the  fuller  day. 

Tennyson,  Tht  Princess. 

THE  quiet  summer  was  over,  and  on  September  7th  a 
picturesque  procession  of  one  hundred  and  two  human 
beings  and  six  quadrupeds  left  Gulmarg  for  Srinagar,  since 
"Hght  marching  order"  is  not  the  fashion  in  India.  Next 
morning  an  unforeseen  difficulty  arose  over  getting  a  mount 
for  Irene,  so  she  determined  to  proceed  on  foot,  "  I  set  off 
at  sunrise  with  a  coolie  we  knew  for  escort,"  she  says,  "and 
walked  on  fourteen  miles  across  the  plains,  stopping  only 
once  for  five  minutes,  till  10.30,  when  our  nice  boatmen 
appeared,  and  joyfully  conducted  me  to  our  old  craft,  where  I 
was  glad  enough  to  sit  down.  One  of  them  fanned  me,  while 
I  enjoyed  some  luscious  peaches.  I  had  to  wait  some  time 
for  the  rest  of  the  procession ;  and  at  6.30  after  a  long  day 
on  the  river  we  found  ourselves  opposite  to  the  Barracks. 
There  I  and  my  goods  were  landed,  and  a  warm  and  delightful 
welcome  joined  on  to  the  regretful  farewell  with  the  Perrydise 

161  II 


i62  IRENE    PETRIE 

party.     Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  were  at  tea  with  Miss 
Hull  and  Miss  Newnham,  and  I  felt  at  home  directly." 

"The  Barracks"  is  such  an  unexpected  address  for  lady 
missionaries  that  it  claims  explanation,  as  the  designation  of 
a  set  of  about  a  dozen  little  houses  for  European  visitors 
built  by  the  Kashmir  Government  on  the  Munshi  Bagh,  the 
European  quarter  of  Srinagar.  This  is  an  orchard  stretching 
for  half  a  mile  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Jhelum,  from  which 
it  is  separated  by  a  bund  rising  about  twenty  feet  above  the 
river.  Through  its  fine  chenars  and  willows  the  rosy  dawn 
may  be  seen  lighting  up  a  hundred  miles  of  the  Pir  Punjal 
range.  Miss  Hull  and  Irene  shared  one  of  these  houses, 
which  was  rented  by  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  and  until  her  own  rooms 
in  the  Hospital  were  ready,  Miss  Newnham  was  with  them. 
"  We  are  a  trio  now,  and  a  very  happy  one,"  says  Irene.  How 
close  is  the  co-operation  between  the  two  societies  in  the 
field  was  shown  by  the  fact  that  Miss  Newnham,  a  C.E.Z. 
lady,  working  for  the  C.M.S.  Hospital,  lived  in  a  C.M.S.  house  ; 
while  Irene,  a  C.M.S.  lady,  appointed  to  Kashmir  to  assist 
Miss  Hull  in  the  zenana  work,  lived  in  a  C.E.Z.  house. 

Her  life  quickly  fell  into  an  uneventful  routine.  She 
had  arrived  on  a  Saturday  evening,  and  before  breakfast  on 
Monday  she  resumed  her  Urdu  lessons  with  the  munshi.  On 
Tuesday  she  was  at  three  Sikh  zenanas.  The  warmth  of  her 
welcome  was  not  the  only  thing  that  made  her  feel  at  home, 
for  she  discovered  many  links  to  each  of  her  new  associates, 
and  their  familiarity  with  a  good  many  persons  and  places 
that  had  been  a  part  of  her  home  life  prevented  from  the 
first  any  sense  of  strangeness.  In  rare  moments  of  leisure 
the  little  group  of  missionaries  seem  to  have  enjoyed  each 
other's  society  thoroughly.  For  instance,  "the  nicest  dinner 
party  "  Irene  had  been  to  since  leaving  England  was  one  given 
by  moonlight  on  October  12th  at  the  summit  of  the  Takht-i- 
Suleiman,  to  which  Dr.  Neve  invited  six  of  his  colleagues. 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  163 

The  Munshi  Bagh  was  close  to  the  Takht  and  the  Hospital, 
so  there  are  many  references  to  both  during  this  first  winter. 
Soon  after  Irene  returned  to  Srinagar  in  October,  1895,  she 
went,  as  we  shall  see,  to  the  Sheikh  Bagh,  which  was  close 
to  the  city  and  to  the  School,  and  the  School  became  one 
of  her  great  interests  therefore  during  the  succeeding  winters. 
Midway  between  the  two  Baghs  stands  the  Residency, 
where  lives  the  representative  of  the  Empress  of  India,  with 
whose  help  and  under  whose  advice  the  Maharaja  rules. 

"  It  is  so  delightful  to  be  at  last  in  the  midst  of  the  work 
I  have  longed  for."  In  the  supreme  satisfaction  thus  ex- 
pressed by  Irene  she  was  almost  unconscious  of  minor  dis- 
comforts :  the  wind  that  blew  relentlessly  through  the  ill- 
fitting  doors  of  their  house ;  the  rats  that  ran  to  and  fro, 
consuming  furs  and  anything  else  they  could  find ;  the  appre- 
hension that  the  decrepit  house  itself  would  fall  down  suddenly 
if  either  flood  or  earthquake  took  place  j  the  inconvenience 
of  being  at  a  great  distance  from  nearly  all  the  zenanas ;  and 
the  trials  of  climate.  Kashmir  may  be  "  equal  to  Paradise  "  in 
spring,  but  burning  heat  in  summer,  deadly  stench  in  autumn, 
and  bitter  cold  in  winter  make  up  the  rest  of  the  year  for  its 
capital  city.  Premising  that  the  winter  1894-95  was  a  particu- 
larly severe  one,  we  may  quote  some  of  Irene's  descriptions  of 
its  course  at  once : — 

"  October  20th. — I'he  whole  Pir  Punjal  has  put  on  its  winter 
mantle  of  dazzling  snow,  and  is  surpassingly  beautiful.  Here 
the  mornings  are  chilly,  and  a  fire  welcome  at  night." 

^^  November  22nd. — Dreary  wintry  weather  has  come  now 
with  bare  trees,  rain,  wind,  and  snow  down  to  an  elevation  of 
two  thousand  feet  above  this.  We  sit  round  our  wood  fire, 
with  feet  in  the  fender." 

"December  'jth. — This  week  we  had  our  first  fall  of  snow, 
but  happily  it  did  not  He,  and  we  are  rejoicing  now  in  lovely, 
bright  days,  when  long  walks  are  a  real  treat." 


i64  IRENE    PETRIE 

Really  bad  weather  set  in  after  the  New  Year,  and  by  the 
middle  of  January  city  visiting  had  become  impossible. 

^^ January  i^th. — The  snow  is  about  a  foot  deep  all  round, 
and  folks  with  leisure  are  doing  a  great  deal  of  skating  and 
toboganning.  The  lakes  are  frozen,  the  trees  all  frosted,  our 
bath-rooms  floored  with  ice.  Water  freezes  in  the  basin  an 
hour  after  one  has  washed  one's  hands ;  and  we  are  moving  our 
larder  into  the  dining-room  to  keep  the  food  from  freezing." 

^^ January  24th. — The  road  from  Baramula  is  blocked  with 
snow ;  the  boat  with  the  mails  was  ice-bound  on  the  Wular 
Lake  for  six  days,  and  the  poor  men's  provisions  ran  short. 
The  horses  who  bring  in  the  mails  suffer  greatly,  as  there  is 
no  pity  for  animals  among  the  non-Christian  natives.  We 
walk  along  beaten  snow-tracks,  between  walls  of  snow  two  or 
three  feet  high,  and  every  building  is  fringed  with  long  icicles." 

"January  31J/. — We  are  well,  though  aching  with  cold." 

By  the  beginning  of  February  they  were  fairly  snowed  up ; 
and  to  save  the  servants  a  journey  across  the  compound, 
they  melted  a  block  of  ice  to  boil  water  for  making  their 
tea  from,  and  served  themselves.  Meanwhile,  sympathetic 
letters  from  England  expressed  a  hope  that  Irene  did  not 
find  the  heat  of  India  too  trying. 

February  wore  on  with  the  thermometer  four  degrees 
below  zero  at  night,  but  the  grey  sky  and  misty  horizon  since 
Christmas  gave  place  to  sunshine  and  lovely  distant  views. 
On  February  nth  they  picnicked  on  the  frozen  surface  of 
the  Dal  in  hot  sun.  Next  day  a  thaw  set  in,  and  mud 
unspeakable  succeeded  snow  in  the  city.  They  had  to 
wait  another  month  for  the  sight  of  mother  earth,  and  at 
the  first  green  blade  felt  like  Noah  welcoming  the  dove's 
olive  leaf.  March  14th  brought  a  final  snowstorm.  A  few 
days  later  the  skies  cleared,  the  mountains  were  seen 
again,  and  birds  began  to  sing  in  glorious  sunshine ;  but  the 
accumulated  snows  of  a  Himalayan  winter  turned  to  mud 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  165 

deeper  and  thicker  than  ever,  soaking  through  the  strongest 
footgear,  while  outside  the  city  the  horses  sank  in  mire 
up  to  the  girths.  "I  believe  we  must  be  the  muddiest 
missionaries  in  the  world,"  says  Irene. 

She  does  not  seem  to  have  suffered  in  health  from  these 
arctic  experiences,  but  she  had  many  admonitions  to  take  care 
of  herself,  of  which  these  words  from  a  letter  written  to  her 
by  the  Bishop  of  Lahore  on  November  12th,  1894,  may 
serve  as  an  example :  "  I  am  glad  you  have  found  so 
congenial  a  sphere  of  work  as  that  in  Kashmir.  I  would 
only  beg  of  you  to  take  care  of  your  health,  and  not  to  make 
experiments  in  the  way  of  going  long  intervals  without  food. 
I  venture  to  give  this  piece  of  advice  because  someone 
who  had  lately  seen  you  told  me  you  were  not  looking 
as  well  as  when  you  were  in  Lahore  last  winter." 

Valuable  work  is  so  often  hindered  or  even  abandoned 
because  ardent  missionaries  do  not  consider  their  own  health 
that  the  following  sentence  of  a  letter  of  Irene's  on  the  subject 
is  of  interest :  "  I  have  seen  enough  since  leaving  home  to 
realise  more  than  ever  before  what  a  blessing  good  health 
is,  and  what  dire  results  come  of  the  carelessness  of  some 
missionaries  as  to  health  and  food.  ...  Oh  that  people 
would  only  realise  that  God's  laws  of  nature  are  as  binding 
as  the  Decalogue  !  " 

When  she  had  been  in  India  eleven  months  she  could 
say:  "I  am  so  thankful  never  to  have  had  a  touch  of 
fever";  but  only  five  days  after  she  wrote  these  words  on 
November  2nd  a  small  pupil  waylaid  her  as  she  went 
home,  begging  her  to  hear  his  verses.  She  hngered,  though 
the  sun  had  just  set ;  two  days  in  bed  and  a  week's  absence 
from  work  was  the  price  paid  for  this  little  indiscretion. 
In  January,  when  "everyone  seemed  to  be  down  with 
dreadful  colds,"  Dr.  Neve  was  saying :  "  The  wonder  is  that 
Miss  Petrie  keeps  so  well,  and  still  goes  to  the  city  " ;  and 


t66  IRENE    PETRIE 

Irene  was  writing :  "  I  do  feel  how  much  all  the  health 
and  happiness  in  present  work  is  due  to  the  prayers  of 
the  dear  ones  far  away." 

She  touches  here  on  a  matter  about  which  friends  were 
wont  to  ask  first  of  all.  Often  before  they  had  begun  to 
ascertain  what  her  work  was,  they  wished  to  know  if  she 
was  happy  in  it,  if  it  came  up  to  her  expectations.  She 
answers  thus  on  October  27th,  the  anniversary  of  her  departure 
for  India.  "How  little  I  thought  this  day  year  where  I 
should  now  be  !  .  .  .  There  is  much  to  be  thankful  for  indeed, 
after  all  the  changes  of  scene  and  companionship  of  the  past 
year,  in  my  having,  as  I  think,  got  into  just  the  right  niche 
here,  in  this  pretty  little  home  with  this  kind  friend,  and  the 
beginnings  of  work,  and  constant  recreation  of  seeing  those 
glorious  mountains."  In  another  little  bit  of  retrospect  on 
December  7th  she  says  :  "  If  I  had  offered  generally  to  the 
C.M.S.  they  would  probably  have  sent  me  somewhere  else,  as 
they  never  appoint  ladies  to  Kashmir.  Between  the  ridiculous 
unpopularity  of  educational  missions  among  some  theorisers 
who  sit  at  home  and  the  lack  of  romance  about  a  mission- 
field  hitherto  apparently  unfruitful,  Kashmir  does  not  get 
the  sympathy  and  interest  that  it  ought  to  have.  ...  I  often 
marvel  at  the  chain  of  circumstances  that  led  me  here,  and 
hope  the  lines  have  not  fallen  in  too  pleasant  a  place  for 
a  missionary.  However,  looking  back  I  do  feel  that  each 
step  was  ordered  for  and  scarcely  by  me." 

Her  days  were  divided  between  learning  Urdu  and  visiting 
zenanas.  Every  morning  from  8  to  9  o'clock  she  studied  the 
Acts  and  Epistles  and  Rasum-i-Hind,  which  she  calls  "  the 
most  odious  book  I  have  ever  read,"  her  lesson  dividing  chota 
hazri,  taken  on  first  rising,  from  breakfast.  Family  prayers 
and  religious  instruction  of  their  own  servants  followed.  At 
1 1  they  started  for  the  day's  work  in  the  city,  returning  between 
5  and  6  for  tea.      Evensong,    at  which    Irene  was  organist, 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  167 

dinner  at  7.45,  and  another  hour  or  two  of  language  study, 
ended  the  day.  "  Exodus,  Prayer  Book,  and  grammar  "  were 
her  evening  subjects,  and  the  journey  to  and  from  the  city 
was  utihsed  for  "  grinding  at  dialogues."  By  October  she  tasted 
the  sweetness  of  being  able  to  explain  John  iii.  16  to  her 
pupils  in  their  own  tongue ;  in  January  she  added  a  second 
lesson  from  the  munshi  after  dinner;  but  one  gathers  that 
a  toilsome  evening  after  a  busy  day  was  telling  on  her  spirits 
for,  on  January  31st,  she  groaned  out :  **  It  is  really  humiliating 
to  find  how  well  everyone  else  gets  on  with  their  language 
studies ;  but  Miss  Hull  says  she  thinks  I  have  got  to  learn 
more  patience.  ...  If  only  my  useless  musical  memory  could 
be  transferred  to  these  old  languages ! "  The  very  next  day 
she  begins  Kashmiri  with  Miss  Hull,  and  finds  it  an  even 
worse  undertaking  than  Urdu.  "  I  wish  more  than  ever," 
she  writes  on  March  5th,  "  that  I  had  any  gift  or  taste  or 
memory  for  languages." 

^We  have  already  had  with  Irene  glimpses  into  zenanas  at 
Meerut,  Lahore,  and  Amritsar,  stations  where  work  is  at  a 
more  advanced  stage  than  in  Kashmir ;  and  one  may  hope  that 
the  time  is  long  past  when  mention  of  zenana  missionaries 
led  to  search  in  the  index  of  an  atlas  for  "  Zenana,"  and  that 
the  kind  of  life  led  by  our  women  fellow-subjects  in  India 
behind  the  purdah,  which  shuts  off  the  women's  quarters  from 
the  rest  of  the  dwelling,  is  now  matter  of  common  knowledge. 
It  may  be  well,  however,  to  remind  the  reader  that  their 
seclusion  is  neither  ancient  nor  indigenous ;  its  full  develop- 
ment, if  not  its  actual  origin,  in  India  dates  from  the 
Mohammedan  conquest  in  the  eleventh  century  a.d.  The 
learned  Pandita  Ramabai  tells  us  that  the  lauded  Sanskrit 
hterature  contains  "  many  hateful  sentiments  about  women," 
though  it  pictures  the  heroic  age  of  India  as  one  in  which  they 
were  to  a  large  extent  honoured  and  free,  like  the  Hebrew 
women  of  old.     But  one  of  the  root  ideas  of  Mohammedanism 


i68  IRENE    PETRIE 

is  that  while  woman  may  minister  to  man  as  either  toy  or 
drudge,  she  can  have  no  share  in  his  intellectual,  still  less 
in  his  religious,  life.  A  woman  never  enters  a  mosque.  The 
system  begins  by  despising  and  degrading  her,  and  ends  by 
distrusting,  insulting,  imprisoning  her,  and  placing  her  all 
her  life  under  the  absolute  rule  of  some  man — in  childhood 
of  her  father,  in  wifehood  of  her  husband,  in  widowhood 
of  her  son.  Poets  like  Byron  and  Moore,  who  were  never 
in  the  East,  have  thrown  over  her  imprisonment  a  glamour 
of  gleaming  robes  and  dazzling  jewels,  of  perfume  and  flowers 
and  music.  In  reality  the  zenana,  even  in  affluent  houses, 
is  mean  and  bare  and  squalid;  the  life  of  its  inmates  is 
dull  with  ennui  unutterable,  wretched  with  bickerings, 
jealousies,  petty  tyrannies,  and  sometimes  hideous  cruelties. 
So  close  is  the  imprisonment  that  an  Indian  woman  can  live 
and  die  without  seeing  even  a  tree  or  a  cow.  A  European 
invited  to  "  dine  with "  an  Indian  gentleman  eats  a  meal 
at  an  hotel  at  his  expense.  His  host  would  break  caste 
by  eating  with  him,  would  be  mortally  offended  by  an 
allusion  to  his  wife.  Etiquette  requires  even  a  lady  missionary 
asking  him  if  she  may  call  on  her  to  say  nothing  more 
definite  than  "  May  I  see  your  house  ? "  Women  of  the 
poorer  classes  are  not  thus  imprisoned,  but  how  utterly 
they  are  contemned  may  be  judged  from  words  addressed 
to  a  lady  who  was  labouring  among  village  women  in  the 
Punjab:  "You  will  take  your  book  into  the  fields  and  teach 
the  cows  next." 

A  recent  writer  in  the  Spectator  remarked  of  Asiatic  women 
generally  that  "their  ignorance  is  phenomenal,"  its  twofold 
result  being  abject  superstition  and  habitual  resistance  to  any 
kind  of  change ;  there  is,  moreover,  much  unhappiness  as  the 
men  slowly  become  more  educated,  and  are  thrown  more  and 
more  on  each  other  for  society;  while  the  children  learn 
nothing  till  they  cease  to  be  children.     Here  are  the  statistics 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  169 

for  India  according  to  the  1891  census.  Of  the  Hindu  women 
in  the  whole  Empire,  only  one  in  244  was  either  literate  or 
learning  at  school ;  of  the  Mohammedan  women,  only  one 
in  298.1 

Matters  being  thus,  it  is  not  hard  to  imagine  that  the 
personality  of  a  British  lady,  highly  cultured  and  free  to  order 
her  own  life,  is  at  first  a  puzzle  and  gradually  an  education 
to  the  women  of  India.  Comprehension  of  her  circumstances 
and  aims  comes  slowly,  and  after  much  questioning.  Irene 
was  constantly  asked  what  relation  she  was  to  Miss  Hull, 
whether  she  was  married,  or  was  going  to  be,  or  if  she  was 
not  married,  why  she  was  not.  She  was  even  asked  about 
her  brother-in-law's  income ;  their  notion  of  a  woman  being 
always  dependent  on  some  man  naturally  suggesting  this 
when  they  heard  that  her  one  relative  was  a  married  sister. 

Of  course,  no  wise  missionary  would  wish  that  Eastern 
customs  should  be  supplanted  wholesale  by  Western  ones. 
Miss  Hewlett's  opinion  on  this  has  been  quoted  in  Chapter  V. ; 
and  more  and  more  Irene  realised  that  in  preaching  Christ 
to  Indians  we  are  taking  a  faith  of  Oriental  birthplace  back 
to  its  own  continent,  and  that  Christianising  India  ought  to 
be  a  very  different  thing  from  Anglicising  India. 

Nor  is  it  merely  a  question  of  abolishing  certain  flagrant 
abuses  that  have  grown  out  of  the  zenana  system,  such  as 
marrying  very  young  girls,  and  condemning  to  perpetual 
widowhood  little  children  who  have  been  merely  betrothed. 
Non-Christian  Hindus,  under  the  indirect  influence  of  Christi- 
anity, are  finding  arguments  against  these  things  from  their 
own  ancient  books,  and  uniting  with  Christians  in  combating 
them.  Nor  is  it  even  the  fact  that  "the  Hindu  woman  is 
unwelcome  at  birth,  untaught   in  childhood,  enslaved  when 

"  None  of  this  applies  to  the  Parsis,  a  community  influential  out  of 
all  proportion  to  their  small  number.  Several  natives  of  India  and 
"  advanced  "  Indian  women  known  in  Europe  belong  to  that  community. 


I70  IRENE    PETRIE 

married,  accursed  as  a  widow,  and  unlamented  when  dead," 
that  most  strongly  urges  forward  zenana  missions.  Not 
because  she  is  unspeakably  miserable  but  because  she  is 
unspeakably  powerful  must  she  be  won  to  the  faith,  if  India 
is  to  be  conquered  for  Christ. 

Happy  companionship  in  marriage  being  scarcely  known, 
the  bond  between  mother  and  son  is  stronger  even  than 
with  us,  and  the  mother's  influence  paramount.  "  You 
would  not  dare  to  use  such  words  before  your  mother," 
said  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  rebuking  a  boy  for  foul  language, 
as  he  might  have  rebuked  a  boy  at  home.  "  My  mother 
taught  me  to  say  it,"  was  the  significant  reply.  Many 
a  man  who  no  longer  believes  in  the  Hindu  gods  does 
puja  to  pacify  his  mother,  or  is  deterred  by  home  influence 
from  confessing  that  he  does  believe  in  Christianity.  The 
Rev.  G.  E.  A.  Pargiter,  late  Principal  of  St.  John's  College, 
Agra,  tells  of  a  young  man  of  very  good  position  who  said 
to  him,  "  Can  I  not  be  a  secret  Christian  ?  for  my  mother 
says  she  will  poison  herself  if  I  am  baptised."  These 
two  typical  incidents  emphasise,  as  no  general  statements 
could  do,  two  aspects  of  the  crying  need  for  the  zenana 
missionary  as  the  one  teacher  who  can  reach  these  mothers. 
Many  a  Hindu  lad  who  has  been  at  school  and  college,  even 
in  Europe,  falls  back  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  level  of 
his  forefathers  when  he  returns  to  mother  and  wife  in  the 
zenana ;  and  the  history  of  what  bigoted  heathen  women  once 
accomplished  in  the  undoing  of  the  wisest  of  men  is  repeated 
on  a  smaller  scale. 

We  see  this  going  on,  but  happily  we  see  something  else 
going  on  besides.  Let  us  turn,  not  to  a  missionary  report, 
but  to  a  Blue-book  and  a  newspaper.  A  few  years  ago 
the  Director  of  Public  Instruction  in  the  Madras  Presidency 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  while  in  the  University 
examination  the  number  of  Brahmans  examined  had  decreased 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  171 

by  eight  per  cent.,  the  number  of  Christians  had  increased 
by  forty  per  cent.,  and  surmised  that  in  another  generation 
the  Christians  would  have  secured  a  preponderating  position 
in  all  the  great  professions.  The  Madras  Mail  accounted 
for  this  by  pointing  to  the  striking  superiority,  physical  and 
intellectual,  of  the  mothers  of  the  Christians.  The  census 
returns  already  quoted  tell  that  of  the  Christian  women  of 
India — and  the  majority  of  these,  we  must  remember,  belong 
to  the  humblest  classes  of  the  community — one  in  seven  is 
literate  or  learning. 

Briefly  as  they  are  stated,  these  facts  may  indicate  the 
importance  of  zenana  visiting  before  we  plunge  into  its 
apparently  commonplace  details.  We  thank  God  that  so 
many  of  Irene's  countrywomen  have  heard  the  call  to  it, 
and  we  recognise  that  success  in  it  demands  many  gifts : 
the  pastor's  love  of  souls ;  the  teacher's  love  of  instructing ; 
the  district  visitor's  kindliness ;  the  society  woman's  savoir 
faire ;  the  quick  insight  and  intelligence  that  come  of  a 
mind  trained  at  all  points;  the  ease  and  graciousness  and 
tact  that  come  of  birth  undeniably  gentle ;  the  delicate 
sympathy  that  can  only  come  of  having  those  laboured  for 
"  in  the  heart,"  as  St.  Paul  had  the  Philippians  in  his  heart ; 
the  spiritual  power  that  can  only  be  sustained  by  constant 
communion  with  God. 

To  her  Kensington  friends  Irene  pictured  her  daily  routine 
thus :  "  After  a  walk  of  about  a  mile  we  have  an  hour's  row 
in  our  boat  to  the  different  ghats,  whence  the  houses  can  be 
reached  on  foot.  Generally  an  eager  face  or  voice  gives 
welcome  ere  the  door  is  opened,  for  the  pupils  count  the 
days  of  the  week  to  the  time  when  the  visit  is  due.  The 
teacher  sits  down  with  them  on  chair,  charpai,  or  floor,  as 
the  case  may  be,  and  reading  or  knitting  is  produced.  Learn- 
ing is  slow  work  for  those  whose  minds  are  wholly  untrained ; 
but  knowing  what  reading  may  be   the  key  to  for  them,  we 


172  IRENE    PETRIE 

encourage  them  to  persevere  during  the  long  weeks  and 
months.  Then,  when  a  time  comes  that  all  the  pupils 
are  gathered  round  and  inclined  to  listen,  that  babies  within 
and  cocks  and  hens  and  pariah  dogs  without  are  quiet,  books 
and  work  are  laid  down,  the  Bible  is  opened,  and  week  by 
week,  from  different  portions,  we  try  and  set  before  them  some 
of  the  great  truths  of  the  loving  Father,  the  needing  sinner, 
the  ready  Saviour,  the  unfailing  Guide.  Often  a  verse  in 
which  the  teaching  of  the  lesson  can  be  gathered  up  is  learned, 
to  be,  as  we  hope,  a  permanent  possession  for  the  pupils. 
'  Miss  Sahib,  sing,'  is  a  frequent  request,  and  quite  a  chorus 
joins  in  the  Christian  hymns  we  have  set  to  the  quaint 
native  airs." 

"Three  new  houses,"  she  writes  on  October  4th,  "have 
been  opened  this  week,  with  warm  invitations  to  teach.  My 
fear  is  that  Miss  Hull  will  be  quite  overdone  ere  I  am  pro- 
ficient enough  to  help  really  well."  But  already  the  Niki 
Mem  ("little  or  youthful  lady"),  as  Irene  was  called  in  the 
zenanas,  was  able  to  teach  them  texts,  and  Miss  Hull  was 
emphatically  declaring  that  she  was  "  a  blessing."  Some  sixty 
women  and  girls  were  under  instruction  by  Christmas,  many 
of  whom  could  now  read  simple  books  in  their  own  language. 
**  Miss  Hull  has  such  interesting  welcomes  and  experiences," 
says  Irene,  "  one  feels  that  there  might  be  a  wonderful  harvest 
in  Kashmir,  if  only  more  efficient  workers  were  here  and 
prejudice  were  broken  down.  .  .  .  Alas !  we  have  had  to  refuse 
fresh  invitations  to  teach,  which  come  every  week,  because  we 
can  scarcely  keep  pace  with  houses  already  undertaken." 

Distances  were  so  great  and  time  of  so  little  consequence 
to  those  they  visited  that  it  was  hard  to  get  more  than 
three  visits  into  their  expedition  of  six  or  seven  hours,  and 
they  aimed  at  a  weekly  visit  to  every  pupil,  and  made  a  rule 
of  going  to  those  only  who  were  willing  to  have  a  Bible 
lesson.    These  lessons  followed  out  the  course  of  the  Christian 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  173 

year,  and  set  forth  systematically  the  great  outlines  of  the 
faith.  As  spring  advanced,  Irene  rejoiced  "  at  getting  longer 
hours  with  the  dear  pupils";  and  they  welcomed  more 
warmly  than  ever  teachers  whom  rain  and  mire  could  not 
daunt. 

"  The  work  gets  more  interesting  every  week,"  she  writes 
on  March  5th.  "  Many  of  the  pupils  are  very  dear,  and  it  is 
wonderful  to  see  the  eager  look  on  some  faces  over  the  Bible 
lesson,  and  to  hear  them  speak  of  and  to  Christ,  as  if  they 
really  trusted  in  His  present  power  to  help  them.  Of  course, 
there  are  the  terribly  sad  things,  suffering  and  degradation 
and  selfishness ;  and  now  that  the  month  of  Ramazan  has 
begun  there  is  more  inclination  to  oppose  among  the  Moham- 
medans. To-day  the  mother  in  a  family  who  has  listened 
very  civilly  at  other  times  and  always  been  extremely  friendly 
entirely  refused  to  come  to  the  Bible  lesson,  and  called  out 
to  ask  what  wages  I  received.  This  is  a  favourite  inquiry. 
But  her  little  girl  crept  up  close,  and  asked  if  I  had  ever  seen 
Jesus  Christ,  and  listened  and  questioned  about  Him  so 
eagerly.  Several  of  our  pupils  have  been  ill  lately,  and  when 
illness  comes  even  those  who  do  regard  us  as  heretics  seem 
grateful  and  glad  if  we  mention  that  we  remember  them  in 
our  prayers." 

Miss  Hull  tells  of  another  who  said :  "  Ah  !  it  is  time, 
the  distance  has  been  great,  and  see,  I  was  growing  old 
without  knowing  anything  of  Him ;  but  when  you  come 
and  read  to  us  it  seems  as  if  God  were  here."  "  You  will  not 
wonder,"  adds  Miss  Hull,  "  that  it  seemed  so  to  me  too.  .  .  . 
It  was  one  of  the  last  bright  days  of  autumn,  but  in  those 
hearts  the  light  that  never  fades  had  begun  to  shine,  the 
light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  Face  of 
Jesus  Christ." 

Few  Indian  cities  contain  a  greater  variety  01  women  to 
be  visited  than  Srinagar.     Irene  had  all  sorts  and  conditions 


174  IRENE    PETRIE 

of  pupils,  from  rich  officials'  families  to  very  poor  people, 
from  most  intelligent  to  utterly  dull ;  Kashmiris,  both  Hindu 
and  Mohammedan,  Sikhs,  Dogras,  Pathans,  Nepalese, 
Afghans,  Tibetans,  Punjabis,  Gujeratis,  Rajputs,  Bengalis, 
and  Farsis,  with  corresponding  variety  of  tongues. 

A  few  sketches  of  individual  pupils,  whom  one  follows  from 
week  to  week  in  Irene's  letters,  will  best  illustrate  this.  To 
give  names  would  be  an  intrusion  into  homes  whose  privacy 
is  as  much  to  be  respected  as  that  of  our  own,  and  particulars, 
however  interesting,  that  might  lead  to  identification  must 
in  many  cases  be  omitted  also.  We  begin  with  Hindus  and 
go  on  to  Mohammedans. 

While  the  Maharaja  is  at  Jammu  the  lord  lieutenant  or 
governor  is  the  greatest  native  at  Srinagar,  Though  not 
a  Christian,  he  spoke  with  the  greatest  appreciation  of  the 
Mission  School  at  Bareilly,  where  he  had  been  educated, 
contributed  to  the  C.M.S.  School  at  Srinagar,  and  received 
the  missionaries  most  courteously  when  they  visited  his 
ladies  at  his  invitation. 

The  mansion  of  a  rais,  which  commanded  an  alley  notable 
even  in  Srinagar  for  the  exceeding  vileness  of  its  smells, 
contained  a  large  and  very  nice  party  of  ladies,  studying  Urdu, 
Hindi,  and  English. 

In  an  untidy  room  at  the  top  of  a  dark  and  broken  stair- 
case lived  a  pleasant  Punjabi  lady,  arrayed  in  a  gorgeous 
costume,  green,  blue,  and  gold,  with  a  fine  scarlet  double 
chaddar,  like  that  described  in  Prov.  xxxi.  21  (margin).  She 
was  the  wife  of  a  tehsildar,  an  official  who  has  been  defined 
as  an  Oriental  edition  of  a  French  pr'efet^  but  more  powerful 
and  irresponsible. 

The  neat,  clean  little  home  of  the  wife,  mother,  and  year- 
old  son  of  the  munshi,  a  Hindu  pundit,  was  a  contrast  to 
these  abodes.  Irene  was  working  through  the  Gospels  with 
them  ;   and   he   had   quite  a  library  of  books,  the  two  great 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  175 

Sanskrit  epics  standing  alongside  the  Bible  on  his  shelves, 
in  a  way  entirely  characteristic  of  the  India  of  to-day. 

In  a  large  Sikh  family  three  generations  of  learners  speaking 
Urdu,  flavoured  with  Punjabi  and  Hindi,  all  pleasant,  nice 
people,  willing  to  learn,  formed  quite  a  school. 

The  circumstances  of  another  Sikh  pupil  were  tragic  enough 
to  call  out  much  of  Irene's  sympathy  that  winter.  The  man 
to  whom  she  had  been  betrothed  at  the  age  of  five  claimed 
her,  when  she  had  grown  into  a  bright  girl  of  eleven,  as  his 
wife.  He  had  never  done  anything  for  her,  and  was  a 
particularly  worthless  fellow,  whom  she  feared  and  hated  so 
intensely  that  she  declared  she  would  rather  go  to  prison  or 
throw  herself  into  the  river  than  marry  him.  For  three  years 
the  case  had  been  before  the  courts,  postponed  and  referred 
from  one  judge  to  another,  and  the  poor  mother  had  spent 
almost  all  she  possessed  in  fighting  for  her  daughter's  liberty. 
Neither  Hindu  nor  Mohammedan  was  likely  to  favour  a 
woman's  cause,  and  one  native  judge  ordered  the  girl  to  be 
struck  as  she  stood  before  him.  What  increased  the  bitter- 
ness against  them  more  than  anything  else  was  a  rumour  that 
they  were  inclined  to  Christianity.  The  missionaries  had 
reason  to  believe  that  they  were  much  more  than  inclined 
to  it.  "  Through  all  the  trouble  they  have  been  most  attentive 
listeners,"  says  Irene,  "  and  they  tell  Miss  Hull  how  greatly 
they  desire  to  become  Christians,  and  have  really  learned  to 
pray  to  Christ.  They  take  it  as  a  direct  answer  to  prayer 
that  recently  the  trial  seems  to  have  turned  quite  in  their 
favour;  and  last  week  the  mother  declared  in  court,  when 
appeal  to  the  guru  was  suggested,  that  she  no  longer  believed 
in  the  religion  of  the  Sikhs,  but  in  her  Miss  Sahib's  teaching, 
saying,  *  Come  what  may,  I  trust  in  Christ.' "  Irene  describes 
how  on  February  6th  Miss  Hull  and  she,  escorted  by  Mr. 
Tyndale-Biscoe,  made  their  way  through  a  crowd  of  gazing 
pundits  into  the  court.     "  The  judge  had  three  chairs  set  at  his 


176  IRENE    PETRIE 

side,  and  when  Miss  Hull  thanked  him  in  Kashmiri  a  murmur 
of  wonder  ran  through  the  audience.  The  poor  girl  has  never 
seen  her  supposed  husband  except  in  court.  He  is  a  very 
ill-looking  young  man,  and  the  witness  whom  he  brought,  a 
guru,  is  a  very  ill-looking  old  man.  The  judge  questioned 
him  through  and  through  as  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the 
Sikhs,  and  the  old  fellow  was  pretty  well  turned  inside  out 
as  he  kept  contradicting  himself  and  making  admissions  really 
damaging  to  his  side,  on  several  of  which  the  case  might  have 
been  instantly  dismissed.  But  alas !  it  was  only  postponed 
again.  However,  the  judge  was  civil  to  the  girl,  and  probably 
went  more  fairly  and  carefully  into  the  evidence  because  we 
were  there.  He  made  quite  an  oration  as  to  his  holding  the 
scales  of  justice  evenly,  and  all  through  took  elaborate  notes 
of  the  evidence  in  Persian."  A  fortnight  later  she  writes 
again :  "  The  poor  girl  and  her  mother  came  early  to  pour 
out  their  woes.  That  Kashmiri  judge  had  dismissed  their 
case  the  day  before  in  the  man's  favour,  and  they  had  been 
shamefully  treated  on  the  steps  of  the  court.  They  have 
a  last  chance  in  appeal  to  the  Chief  Justice's  court  against 
the  alternative  of  marriage  or  prison."  The  Lord  Chief 
Justice  was  a  Bengali,  educated  in  England,  and  the  appeal 
to  him  was  happily  successful.  The  girl  is  now  married 
to  a  worthier  suitor,  and  the  mother,  though  not  actually 
baptised,  seems  to  be  a  true  Christian.  The  missionaries 
still  hope  that  she  may  have  courage  to  confess  the  faith 
publicly. 

Among  Mohammedan  pupils  was  the  daughter  of  a  pir, 
wearing  a  coronet  of  jewels  and  a  single  cotton  garment,  and 
dying  by  inches  of  rheumatism  brought  on  by  sitting  on  a 
damp  floor  ;  and  the  family  of  a  very  wealthy  shawl  merchant, 
who  had  a  grand  palace,  with  gardens,  fountains,  and  summer- 
houses,  and  large  rooms  beautifully  carpeted,  where,  con- 
spicuous among  really  beautiful  Oriental  draperies  and  china, 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  177 

were  a  few  intolerably  vulgar  pieces  of  gaudy  glass  from 
England  and  a  cheap  nickel  clock  from  the  United  States. 
The  ladies,  who  though  pretty  looked  dreadfully  sickly  and 
delicate,  were  all  squatting  together  in  one  small,  stuffy  room, 
keeping  strict  purdah.  They  wore  embroidered  robes,  and 
heads,  throats,  arms,  and  hands  were  loaded  with  splendid 
jewels.  The  gentlemen  of  the  family  came  and  listened 
most  respectfully  to  the  Bible  lesson  given  to  them. 

Another  rich  Mohammedan,  by  race  one  of  the  fierce 
Pathans,  left  a  gentle  young  wife  m  the  plains  with  two 
bonny  boys,  and  came  to  Kashmir  to  find  State  employ- 
ment. Here  he  wedded  another  woman,  who  was  wild  with 
jealous  misery  when  she  discovered  some  time  afterwards 
that  he  had  already  a  wife  in  the  plains.  The  first  wife 
was  brought  to  Srinagar;  and  these  rivals,  living  together, 
were  the  very  first  of  Miss  Hull's  pupils  whom  Irene  visited 
in  May,  1894.  Then  the  second  wife  sat  smoking  her  hookah, 
and  defiantly  uttering  bitter  arguments  against  Christianity. 
But  both  begged  to  be  taught  when  visited  again  in 
September;  and  the  first  wife,  alone  with  Miss  Hull,  told 
of  her  faith  in  Christ,  but  in  a  whisper,  "  for  they  would  kill 
me  if  they  knew  it."  At  any  rate,  confession  must  have  meant 
immediate  separation  from  her  boys.  "  She  has  such  a  beauti- 
ful face,"  writes  Irene ;  and  the  work  of  Divine  grace  in  her 
heart  was  shown  by  the  way  in  which  she  alluded  to  her  rival 
as  "my  sister."  The  usual  reading  with  "sweet  Mrs.  X." 
became  a  Bible  lesson  to  the  two  boys,  and  the  mother  eagerly 
called  their  attention  to  all  that  was  said  of  Christ  and  His 
love. 

Here  is  a  glimpse  of  Mohammedan  family  life  on  another 
side  :  "  Coming  out  of  a  house,  I  was  accosted  by  an  old 
man  next  door  with  a  request.  His  son's  wife  had  become 
a  mother  a  week  before,  and  was  very  ill.  Could  I  do 
anything  for  her?     I  said   I  was   not  a  doctor  Miss  Sahib, 

12 


178  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  did  not  understand  these  cases,  but  went  in  to  see  the 
poor,  pretty  little  thing,  partly  because  I  did  not  want  the 
father-in-law  to  go  on  detailing  her  symptoms  in  the  street. 
I  ascertained  that  she  was  fearfully  weak,  and  was  getting  no 
nourishment.  I  recommended  them  to  give  her  warm  milk  at 
once,  and  to  go  without  delay  to  the  hospital  for  proper  treat- 
ment and  advice.  Two  days  later  Miss  Hull  and  I  were 
invited  in  together.  The  girl  looked  worse.  They  had  given 
her  no  milk,  though  their  own  dinner  was  cooking  in  the 
corner ;  they  had  not  gone  to  the  hospital,  because  her 
husband  said  it  was  '  so  cold  for  him  to  walk  there ' ;  and 
they  were  about  to  finish  the  poor  little  thing  off  with 
leeches.  Miss  Hull  administered  a  good  scolding.  '  She 
will  die,  and  then  you  will  say,  "  It  is  Fate,"  and  piously  cant 
about  the  will  of  Allah.'  He  promised  to  go  to  the  hospital, 
and  I  hope  her  words  will  have  some  effect."  Irene  insisted  on 
milk  being  given  to  another  poor  little  mother,  quite  a  child, 
living  on  a  diet  of  sherbet  only,  her  face  wasted  almost  past 
recognition ;  beside  her  lay  a  three  weeks'  babe,  the  feeblest 
little  scrap  of  humanity  Irene  had  ever  seen,  likewise  perishing 
of  starvation. 

The  kangre,  or  small  fire-basket,  carried  under  the  clothes 
for  warmth,  is  a  frequent  cause  of  accidents.  On  one  occa- 
sion Irene  found  a  poor  old  woman  badly  burned  three 
days  before.  Her  people  had  actually  done  nothing  for  her, 
though  only  a  few  minutes'  walk  from  the  State  Hospital, 
where  they  could  at  any  time  get  dressings.  A  whole  row 
of  men  were  enjoying  their  hookahs  in  a  room  close  by, 
and  her  own  daughter's  excuse  was  that  she  would  be 
ashamed  to  go  to  the  hospital.  "They  have  queer  notions 
of  shame,  certainly."  Again,  we  find  Irene  herself  dressing 
a  terribly  burned  foot  in  a  dirty  little  wooden  house  with 
a  mud  floor,  wondering,  as  she  washed  it  for  bandaging,  if 
it  had  ever  been  washed  before,  and  realising  how  unwilling 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  179 

Kashmiris  are   to   be   at   the   trouble  of  taking  a  girl   or  a 
woman  to  the  hospital,  however  sore  her  need. 

She  had  pupils  in  still  humbler  circumstances  than  those 
just  described.  Close  to  the  Munshi  Bagh,  in  a  sort  of 
farmyard,  lived  a  colony  of  Punjabi  Hindus,  the  policemen 
of  Srinagar,  *'  such  nice,  simple  people,"  who  listened  most 
attentively  to  the  Bible  lesson  Miss  Hull  gave  them  on  her 
way  back  from  church  on  Sunday.  Twice  a  week  Irene 
went  to  teach  their  girls  reading.  The  first  time  she  seated 
herself  on  a  big  stone,  in  front  were  her  swarthy  little  pupils, 
behind  were  white  goats  resting  their  heads  on  her  shoulders. 
Next  time  a  policeman  saw  her  approaching,  and  ran  out 
with  a  chair,  exhorting  them  to  attend  before  she  began.  The 
class  included  her  one  boy  pupil,  a  jolly  little  chap,  who 
wanted  her  to  teach  him  every  day.  Visiting  the  village 
another  day  with  medicine  for  a  fever-stricken  woman,  whose 
bed  was  the  bare  ground,  she  was  met  by  the  children  bring- 
ing their  books  and  begging  for  an  extra  lesson. 

Irene  shared  not  only  in  the  fisher's  work  of  "taking  souls 
alive  "  out  of  heathendom,  but  also  in  the  shepherd's  work 
of  tending  and  feeding  the  flock.  To  find  the  Srinagar 
sheep  we  must  go,  as  our  story  has  suggested,  to  the  C.M.S. 
Hospital,  where  the  first  Christian  Church  in  Kashmir,  in 
both  senses  of  the  term,  may  be  seen.  Its  whole  European 
staff  were  introduced  in  Chapter  VI.,  and  its  history  since 
1882  must  now  be  sketched. 

The  Drs.  Neve  have  seen  a  collection  of  lath  and  plaster 
huts  transformed,  between  1889  and  1899,  '"^o  0"^  of  the 
most  important  public  buildings  at  Srinagar.  South-east  of 
the  city,  and  well  away  from  its  dust  and  foul  odours, 
near  the  Dal  Gate,  and  on  the  already  described  spur  of 
the  Takht,  5,250  feet  above  the  sea,  it  stands — a  series  of 
picturesque,    red-roofed,    turreted   houses,  over   which   waves 


i8o  IRENE    PETKIE 

the  red   cross   flag,   flanked   by  a   pretty  little  church,   with 
glorious    prospects    from   the   verandahs,   over   shining  river 
and  maze  of  canals,  airy  pinnacles  of  city  mosques,  gardens, 
and    orchards,    blue    outlines    of    rolling    hills,    and    noble, 
serrated     ranges    of    the    snow-clad     Pir    Punjal.      On     its 
reconstruction    R.6o,ooo    have    been    spent;    the    cost    per 
bed   being   ;^i5,    as   contrasted   with  ;^3oo   in   an    EngUsh 
hospital.     The  annual  cost  of  maintaining  a  bed  is  ^£"5  5^., 
as    contrasted    with    £$0    or    ;^6o    here.      This     has    not 
been  the  outlay  of  a  missionary  society.      The  C.M.S.  has, 
indeed,   provided   its    staff;   but   with   the   exception  of  the 
very   first    doctor    sent,    all    happen    to    have    been    either 
honorary  workers  or  specially  supported  by  their  own  friends. 
The  whole  expenses  of  its  erection  and  of  its   annual   up- 
keep, which  amount  to  about  R.  15,000  a  year,  are   met  by 
the   gifts   either   of    local   friends,    including    a    good   many 
native   gentlemen,   or   of  friends   at    home,   who  have   been 
so  active    that    it   is   a    building    reared  without    either    a 
special    appeal    or    a    debt.      The    only     State    aid    is    a 
permission  to  obtain    rice  from    the  State  granaries  at  the 
same  rate    as     the    city    poor    obtain    it.      Even    with    its 
present  accommodation  for  125  in-patients,  it  is  hardly  large 
enough,  especially  now  that  the  erection  of  the  Pertab  Singh 
wards,   opened  by    the    Maharaja  whose    name    they  bear, 
and  the  addition  of  skilled  lady  nurses   to  the  staff  have 
greatly  increased  the  female  patients.     The  average  annual 
number  of  out-patients  is  36,000;  of  in-patients,  over  1,300; 
of  operations,  3,500;  over  300,000   visits   and   over   30,000 
operations  being  the  whole  record  for  the  ten  years  1889-99. 
Truly  a  mustard-tree  has  grown  from  the  tiny  seed  planted  by 
Elmslie ! 

Though  at  Srinagar,  it  is  by  no  means  for  Srinagar 
only.  On  one  typical  day  of  1896  they  took  a  census, 
which   showed  that  from   morning  to  evening   155   people, 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  i8i 

representing  90  villages  altogether,  were  in  the  hospital. 
From  150  miles  away  over  the  mountains  patients  have 
come  to  it,  and  it  influences  the  whole  valley.  In  so  lofty 
a  land  malarial  diseases  are  few;  so  are  accidents,  vehicles 
and  machinery  being  scarce.  "  Mauled  by  a  bear,"  "  fallen 
from  a  fruit-tree,"  are  typical  "accidents."  Poverty,  dirt, 
hereditary  disease,  and  contagion  fill  the  wards ;  eye  cases, 
bone  cases,  kangre  burns  abound,  and  the  majority  of  cases 
are  surgical.  As  many  as  58  operations  (15  major)  have 
been  performed  in  one  day.  The  after  mortality  is  less 
than  five  in  a  thousand,  in  spite  of  personal  habits  setting 
every  law  of  health  at  defiance,  of  ignorant  stupidity  and 
intolerance  of  splints,  of  poking  of  dirty  fingers  under 
antiseptic  dressings,  etc.  Dr.  Neve  attributes  this  low 
mortality  largely  to  the  absence  of  alcoholism  in  the  patients. 
We  must  surely  add  the  medical  skill,  the  healthy  site  and 
conditions  of  the  hospital,  and  the  blessing  of  God  on  work 
done  in  His  Name. 

Irene  describes  her  first  visit  to  it  thus :  "  I  waited  near 
the  gathering  crowd  of  patients,  who  were  standing  and 
squatting  in  dejected  attitudes  in  the  big  waiting-room  till 
the  doors  opened.  One  old,  feeble  man  with  such  a  weary 
expression,  and  one  poor  little  baby  unrolled  from  the 
depths  of  a  shapeless  bundle,  struck  me  particularly.  Then 
I  accompanied  Miss  Newnham  and  Miss  Neve  on  their 
morning  rounds  in  the  women's  wards,  where  their  gentle, 
skilful  fingers  are  daily  occupied  in  dressing  probably  several 
dozens  of  ghastly  wounds.  The  nattiness  of  all  the  arrarge- 
ments  was  as  much  to  be  admired  as  the  patience  of  many 
of  the  sufferers.  None  were  purdah  women,  and  in  many 
cases  not  only  their  husbands  but  their  other  relatives  conie 
to  watch  operations  and  dressings.  I  then  saw  the  clean,  well 
stocked  dispensary,  where  groups  of  patients  were  receiving 
medicines,  and  eyes  were  being  attended  to ;  and  the  men's 


i82  IRENE    PETRIE 

wards,  where  the  men  looked  up  so  gratefully,  making  their 
salaams  in  response  to  inquiries." 

The  growth  of  the  hospital  buildings  is  easily  seen ;  the 
statistics  of  its  patients  are  easily  given.  But  what  of  the 
results  that  justify  it  as  a  missionary  institution?  These 
cannot  be  tabulated,  yet  there  is  evidence  to  show  that 
they  are  potential  for  untold  good  in  that  moral  and  spiritual 
regeneration  of  Kashmir  which  is  the  supreme  aim  of  all 
missionary  effort.  In  addition  to  the  blessings,  both  to  the 
State  and  to  the  family,  of  threatened  lives  spared  and 
maimed  lives  restored,  which  all  hospitals  show,  this  hospital 
confers  in  a  yet  more  marked  degree  than  hospitals  at  home 
the  following  benefits  on  the  community.  Many  new  and 
important  data  are  contributed  to  medical  science  by  the 
diagnosis  under  new  conditions  of  a  great  variety  of  cases. 
The  Drs.  Neve's  articles  in  The  Lancet  are  an  illustration 
of  this,  and  their  conclusions  as  to  alcohol,  for  instance,  are  a 
matter  of  general  as  well  as  professional  interest.  Again, 
sojourn  in  the  wholesome,  airy  hospital  is  an  education  in 
the  laws  of  health,  a  revelation  of  undreamt-of  possibilities 
of  comfort  and  cleanliness  to  hundreds  or  rather  thousands 
of  a  nation  that  has  much  to  learn  here.  Again,  it  fosters 
friendly  feeling  between  Briton  and  Kashmiri,  and  breaks 
down  race  prejudice  as  nothing  else  could  do.  Years  of 
purely  business  intercourse  with  natives,  as  soldiers,  clerks, 
or  servants,  do  less  to  produce  sympathy  and  mutual  under- 
standing between  European  and  Asiatic  than  a  day  or  two 
of  patient  ministration  by  doctor  and  nurse  to  wounds  and 
disease.  The  native  is  no  longer  a  subordinate,  but  a  friend 
and  a  guest.  They  try  not  only  to  cure  him,  but  to  alleviate 
his  suffering  and  to  make  him  as  comfortable  as  possible; 
whereas  at  home  the  sick  Kashmiri  lies  on  the  mud  floor 
of  a  dark  room,  in  the  dirty  clothes  he  has  worn  day  and 
night  for  weeks  and  months.     If  he  cannot  cat  ordinary  food, 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  183 

he  is  told  to  starve,  as  a  means  of  expelling  his  malady ; 
and  the  worse  he  is,  the  larger  the  crowd  of  curious  and 
noisy  neighbours.  Strong  as  the  prejudice  against  the 
foreigner  and  the  foreigner's  creed  is,  the  Kashmiri  has 
been  learning  during  the  last  few  years  not  only  to  associate 
with  the  word  British  the  ideas  of  justice  and  freedom,  but 
with  the  word  Christian  the  idea  of  philanthropy. 

Even  if  no  religious  teaching  were  given  in  the  hospital,  its 
deeds  would  proclaim  forcibly  the  love  which  is  the  essence 
of  Christianity,  and  shape  an  answer  to  the  heathen  thought 
of  God  as  a  Being  Who  takes  pleasure  in  human  suffering. 
But  such  teaching  is  given  through  evangelistic  addresses 
to  the  out-patients,  and  through  short  but  systematic  Bible 
readings  to  the  in-patients,  given  when  they  are  withdrawn 
from  heathen  influences,  and  when,  in  long,  quiet  hours  ot 
convalescence,  the  words  spoken  can  sink  into  their  hearts. 

Patients  ask  the  doctor  to  come  and  talk  to  them  on 
religious  subjects,  and  often  old  patients,  still  reckoned 
Mohammedans,  may  be  heard  months  afterwards  attributing 
their  cure  to  Hazrat  Isa  (Holy  Jesus),  continuing  to  pray 
to  Christ,  and  gladly  buying  and  reading  the  Scriptures. 
Many  loud  professions  of  assent  and  admiration  are  doubt- 
less as  superficial  and  insincere  as  they  are  ready ;  nor 
is  gratitude  a  conspicuous  characteristic  of  the  oppressed 
Kashmiri.  One  hears  of  the  disgusting  ingratitude  of  the 
man  successfully  operated  on  for  cataract,  who  goes  off  "  in 
a  huff"  because  he  has  not  received  rupees  as  well  as 
restoration  of  sight;  one  hears  of  the  pathetic  ingratitude 
of  the  downtrodden  and  miserable  folk  who  have  found  the 
hospital  a  haven  of  refuge,  and  resent  being  discharged  when 
cured.  Still,  there  stands  the  object-lesson  in  practical 
Christianity,  "known  and  read  of  all  men";  and  though 
some  of  the  actual  instruction  may  be  scarcely  understood 
or  quickly  forgotten,  or  accepted  without  being  acted  upon, 


1 84  IRENE    PETRIE 

it  is  gradually,  by  means  of  the  Hospital,  permeating  the 
whole  population;  as  the  doctors  realise  when,  by  way  of 
holiday,  they  itinerate  among  the  teeming  villages,  and 
are  welcomed  and  listened  to  eagerly  by  former  patients. 
They  also  realise  the  crying  need  of  more  missionaries  to 
follow  up,  when  the  patients  have  gone  home  again,  the 
impression  made  in  hospital. 

What,  then,  of  the  little  flock  as  yet  gathered  in  Kashmir  ? 
On  Christmas  Day,  1895,  eleven  nationalities  were  represented 
at  the  Urdu  service.  "  The  numbers  are  small  as  yet,  com- 
pared with  Agra  or  Amritsar,"  says  Irene,  "but  the  service 
is  a  most  hearty  and  reverent  one."  The  pure  Kashmiris 
(all,  so  far,  converts  from  Islam)  are  very  few  in  number, 
mostly  ignorant  and  humble  people,  and  to  a  great  extent 
members  of  one  family  employed  at  the  hospital.  Beside 
the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  Christians  are  immi- 
grants must  be  set  the  fact  that  as  yet  the  more  prominent 
Kashmiri  inquirers  have  taken  refuge  in  India,  others 
carrying  in  the  sheaves  for  which  the  Kashmir  missionaries 
laboured.  We  read,  for  instance,  of  a  pir  convinced  of  the 
truth  in  Kashmir,  flying  from  persecution  at  home,  and  being 
baptised  in  the  Punjab. 

Among  the  Kashmiri  colony  at  Ludhiana  in  the  Punjab 
in  1865  was  an  old  man  named  Qadir  Bakhsh.  American 
missionaries  won  him  to  the  faith,  and  he  soon  became, 
as  already  told,  Dr.  Elmslie's  catechist,  and  for  more  than 
thirty  years  preached  the  Gospel  to  everyone  he  met,  till  he 
died  in  1897,  aged  over  a  hundred.  "Oh  yes,  I  know  Qadir 
Bakhsh,"  said  the  magnate  of  a  village  to  Mr.  Knowles; 
"  everybody  knows  him  for  miles  around.  He  is  a  very 
good  man,  but  is  always  bothering  us  about  his  religion." 
His  sons  were  employed  at  the  hospital,  and  to  a  grandson 
of  his,  born  in  August,  1894,  Irene  stood  godmother.  This 
child  with    *    younger  brother  is   now  receiving  a   Christian 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  185 

education  under  Miss  Hull's  care.  His  daughters-in-law  with 
a  few  other  women  came  to  a  Bible  class  which  Irene  held 
every  Tuesday  afternoon  in  the  dispensary,  her  pupils  cluster- 
ing round  the  fire,  their  little  ones  "keeping  fairly  quiet  in 
the  midst."  It  was  her  first  attempt  at  expositions  in  Urdu, 
and  each  lesson  was  worked  through  with  her  niunshi  before- 
hand. Her  most  intelligent  pupils  were  two  sisters  from  Ladakh, 
converts  of  the  Moravian  Mission  at  Leh  (see  Chapter  XIII.). 
One  of  them  was  the  wife  of  a  Madrassi  Christian,  courier 
to  a  rich  American.  When  he  started  with  his  master  on 
a  shooting  expedition  in  the  wilds,  he  moved  the  houseboat, 
where  his  wife  and  her  sister  lived,  opposite  to  the  Barracks, 
asking  Miss  Hull  by  telegram  to  take  care  of  them  in 
his  absence.  She  stipulated  that  their  jewelry,  valued  at 
R.2000,  should  first  be  deposited  in  the  bank ;  for  after  the 
manner  of  Tibetan  women  they  were  adorned  with  endless 
bracelets  and  necklaces,  one  consisting  of  thirteen  English 
sovereigns,  and  wore  on  their  heads  peyraks  thickly  studded 
with  turquoises. 

Irene  found  yet  another  pupil  and  another  godson  in  the 
family  of  the  Bengali  master  of  the  C.M.S.  School,  himself 
a  fruit  of  the  mission  college  founded  by  Carey  and  Marshman. 
We  meet  this  Mr.  Sircar  first  at  a  missionary  meeting  held 
on  St.  Andrew's  Day,  1894,  when  Dr.  E.  F.  Neve  spoke  in 
Urdu  on  China  and  Japan,  a  Christian  from  the  North-west 
Provinces  on  India,  and  Mr.  Sircar  told  of  his  own  conversion. 
Such  an  observance  of  the  Day  of  Intercession  appointed  by 
our  Archbishops  is  noteworthy,  and  Irene's  account  ends 
with :  "  I  doubt  whether  our  grand  Kensington  St.  Andrew's 
Day  meetings  are  more  hearty."  Like  her  other  godson 
Suleiman,  Atwal  Kuwar  Sircar  had  been  born  within  a  week 
or  two  of  her  own  nephew.  To  his  sister  Neru,  aged  nine, 
she  gave  regular  lessons  in  English  and  Urdu  during  both 
this    and    the    following   winter.      Humdrum    work    it   was, 


i86  IRENE    PETRIE 

calling  for  patience  first  of  all,  for  half  an  hour  was  once 
spent  in  getting  the  child  to  discriminate  between  two  of 
the  five  Z's  in  the  Urdu  alphabet.  "  But  one  does  long,"  as 
she  says  of  some  small  Kashmiris,  "that  these  little  ones 
should  grow  up  to  be  a  real  strength  to  the  church  here. 
There  are  so  many  adverse  influences  round  them." 

Are  the  Kashmiri  Christians  really  satisfactory  ?  may  be  asked 
by  those  who  have  a  general  idea  that  the  average  traveller 
in  distant  lands  is  very  ready  to  criticise  "native  Christians." 
It  is  strange  that  it  should  not  be  taken  for  granted  that 
some  native  Christians,  even  when  truly  converted,  are,  like 
some  Christians  at  home,  half-hearted,  inconsistent,  vulnerable 
to  the  shafts  of  temptation,  in  need  of  our  own  oft-repeated 
prayer,  "  From  hardness  of  heart,  and  contempt  of  Thy 
word  and  commandment,  Good  Lord,  deliver  us."  It  is 
strange  also  that  we  do  not  remember  that  every  year  of 
successful  missionary  work  must  add  to  the  number  of  those 
whom  it  used  to  be  the  fashion  to  term  "professors," 
Christians  simply  because  their  parents  were  Christians,  with 
no  experimental  knowledge  of  the  faith.  And  who  would 
deny  that  it  is  far  better  that  they  should  be  professors 
under  Christian  instruction  and  with  a  Christian  ideal  before 
them  than  unreclaimed  heathen?  Unless  he  is  personally 
interested  in  religious  effort,  a  traveller  is  likely  to  make  the 
most  of  the  shortcomings  of  native  Christians,  and  to  disparage 
the  work  of  the  modern  missionary  accordingly.  He  would 
not  dare  to  disparage  the  work  of  St.  Paul,  because  history 
has  vindicated  it ;  but  he  chooses  to  forget  what  "  unsatis- 
factory" people  St.  Paul's  converts  in  Corinth  and  Galatia 
were,  and  that  his  soul  was  not  only  encouraged  by  a 
Timothy,  or  an  Epaphroditus,  but  grieved  by  a  Phygellus, 
an  Hermogenes,  a  Demas,  an  Hymenseus,  and  an  Alexander. 

Friends  and  helpers  of  missions  have,  on  the  other  hand, 
tp  guard  alike  against  over  sanguine  views  of  new  converts 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  187 

and  undue  discouragement  about  old  ones.  We  expect  them, 
with  curious  lack  of  common  sense,  to  be  faultless ;  when 
we  find  they  are  not  faultless,  we  cease  to  believe  in  them, 
with  more  curious  lack  of  faith  that  where  God  has  begun 
a  good  work  He  can  and  will  perfect  it  in  His  own  time 
and  way. 

It  is  only  fair  to  recognise  that  the  past  of  the  Kashmiris 
places  them  at  a  disadvantage  as  compared,  for  instance, 
with  our  own  ancestors  of  a  thousand  years  ago.  Effects  of 
the  history  recalled  in  Chapter  VI.  are  graven  too  deeply  on 
their  character  for  generations  to  be  immediately  effaced,  even 
by  acceptance  of  the  Gospel.  How  complicated  is  the  process 
of  effacing  these  effects  will  be  seen  when  we  come  to  the 
story  of  the  C.M.S.  School.  Here  is  one  very  simple 
illustration  of  how  slowly  heathen  ideas  die.  A  Kashmiri 
girl  who  had  been  hearing  about  the  murder  of  John  the 
Baptist  prayed  aloud :  "  O  God,  never  again  show  mercy 
to  that  wicked  King  Herod." 

And  present  environment  is  quite  as  much  against  them 
as  heredity.  The  traveller  does  not  say  much  about  this,  for 
his  attention  is  engrossed  by  a  certain  charm  of  picturesque- 
ness  and  strong  colour  in  surroundings  wholly  new.  He 
sees  the  imposing  ceremonial  of  the  procession  to  the  Hindu 
temple;  he  has  no  conception  of  the  real  nature  of  the 
worship  carried  on  within,  or  of  the  degrading  and  polluting 
tales  of  the  gods  that  form  the  earliest  "  religious  "  instruc- 
tion given  by  mothers  to  their  children.  He  marks  the 
ostentatious  public  devotions  of  the  Mohammedan ;  he  can 
know  nothing  of  his  habitually  harsh  and  heartless  conduct 
to  his  hapless  wives,  not  because  he  is  personally  brutal, 
but  because  reverence  for  womanhood  is  utterly  alien  to  his 
creed.  "  I  sometimes  wish,"  writes  Irene,  "  that  those  globe- 
trotters who  are  attracted  by  the  outward  pious  cant  of  the 
Prophet's    followers,   and    fail    to    realise    any   special    need 


i88  IRENE    PETRIE 

for  Christian  missions,  could  see  what  we  see  within  the 
homes  here."  Into  some  the  reader  has  already  followed 
her.  Even  the  man  of  business,  who  lives  in  the  European 
quarter  of  an  Oriental  town,  rarely  becomes  intimate  with 
its  people.  He  does  not  enter  their  homes,  he  cannot  converse 
freely  in  their  language.  Only  the  missionary,  living  among 
them  zxi^for  them,  can  gauge  the  contrast  between  a  heathen 
environment  and  that  Christian  environment  at  home  which 
has  been  the  slow  growth  of  centuries,  and  which  affects  even 
the  irreligious  for  good.  He  indeed  penetrates  the  picturesque 
exterior,  and  realises  the  unutterable  dulness  and  sadness, 
and  the  absence  of  all  making  for  righteousness  in  lives 
without  Christ.  "The  wickedness  and  rottenness  and 
cruelty  and  suffering  that  we  come  across  make  Rom. 
viii.  22  (St.  Paul's  picture  of  creation  groaning)  very  real," 
writes  Irene.  Other  missionaries  have  expressed  the  thought 
that  whereas  at  home  we  see  many  proofs  of  the  devil's 
existence,  heathendom  declares  his  undisputed  sway. 

Babes  in  Christ,  still  imbued  with  heathen  ideas  on 
almost  every  subject,  have  to  follow  Him  often  as  indi- 
viduals in  this  hostile  environment.  Why  do  not  more  of 
us  go  out,  not  only  to  win  them  but  to  help  them  from 
day  to  day  to   live  the  Christian  life  when  won? 

In  1896  Dr.  A.  Neve,  after  fifteen  years  of  work  in 
Kashmir,  gives  in  a  personal  letter  the  following  telling  state- 
ment of  the  situation  :  "  On  the  evangelistic  side  of  our  work 
there  seems  to  be  more  encouragement  than  formerly.  I 
used  to  say  we  were  Hke  children,  picking  away  at  the 
mortar  in  the  cracks  of  a  great  granite  wall ;  but  sometimes 
it  seems  as  if  the  whole  mass  was  disintegrated  and  ready 
to  fall.  Though  it  is  much  too  powerful  for  any  light  artillery 
we  may  bring  against  it,  a  slight  earthquake  might  make 
huge  breaches.  It  is  the  action  of  God's  Spirit  that  can 
alone  effect  anything  noteworthy." 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  189 

In  addition  to  her  language  study,  her  zenana  visiting, 
and  her  instruction  of  native  Christians,  Irene  found  a  task 
quite  after  her  own  heart  in  forming  a  Sunday  class  for 
English-speaking  children.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  had 
done  something  in  this  direction  already,  and  there  was  room 
for  such  an  effort.  "  On  November  28th,"  writes  Irene,  "  I 
visited  two  nice  little  European  families,  telegraph  people, 
U^^ing  in  houseboats,  whose  mothers  warmly  welcomed  the 
idea  of  the  Sunday  class.  The  European  postmaster  also 
welcomed  the  idea,  but  his  motherless  little  ones  can  as 
yet  speak  Hindustani  only."  On  Advent  Sunday  the  school 
was  opened  ;  and  on  her  birthday  (December  22nd)  Irene 
carried  out  a  home  tradition  by  giving  a  children's  party 
to  fifteen  Sunday  school  pupils,  aged  from  three  to  thirteen. 
The  class  was  well  attended  and  firmly  established  when,  in 
the  spring,  she  handed  it  over  to  the  daughter  of  a  British 
officer  stationed  at  Srinagar. 

The  children's  party  inaugurated  a  very  bright  Christmas 
season,  a  pause  in  their  routine  which  brought  the  workers 
into  hospitable  touch  with  all  amongst  whom  the  work  lay. 
Christmas  Eve  was  spent  in  decorating  a  tree  with  gifts 
from  working  parties  at  Kensington,  Mitcham,  and  elsewhere. 
Irene  was  organist  at  the  Christmas  Day  services  in  the 
English  church,  choosing  music  familiar  at  St.  Mary  Abbots ; 
and  Miss  Hull  and  she  entertained  their  colleagues  at  lunch  in 
English  fashion.  Then  with  Miss  Neve  and  four  gentlemen 
she  set  off  for  the  Takht,  where,  after  a  truly  Alpine  climb, 
they  snowballed  each  other,  saw  a  huge  eagle  hovering 
over  the  crags,  and  watched  a  glorious  sunset  behind 
the  snowy  ranges.  Dr.  Neve  then  entertained  forty-five 
Kashmiris  in  native  fashion,  and  the  tree  and  distribution  of 
gifts  followed. 

Next  day  they  rode  through  the  snow  to  the  State  Leper 
Asylum,   on  a  breezy  tongue    of   land  stretching  into    the 


I90  IRENE    PETRIE 

Dal  Lake,  beyond  the  Hari  Parbat  Fort,  and  some  six  miles 
from  the  Takht.  In  1890  its  site  and  R.4000  for  building 
had  been  granted  by  the  Maharaja,  who  placed  it  under 
the  management  of  the  Mission  Hospital  staff,  an  incident 
which  marked  the  inauguration  of  a  new  policy  towards 
the  Medical  Mission,  after  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  strenuous 
opposition  from  his  Government.  The  yearly  expense  of  the 
asylum,  which  accommodates  over  eighty  lepers,  is  also  borne 
by  the  State.  In  Kashmir  segregation  is  voluntary,  but  many 
remain  where  healthy  conditions  of  good  air,  good  food,  a 
placid  life,  and  pleasant,  light  work,  mitigate,  and  in  some 
cases  even  apparently  cure,  the  disease.  The  lepers  listen 
attentively  to  Dr.  Neve's  teaching,  though  they  may  be  heard 
immediately  after,  either  from  sheer  inability  to  perceive 
that  it  is  incompatible  with  the  teaching  of  the  Prophet 
or  in  a  spirit  of  sullen  hostility,  to  mumble  the  Moslem 
creed.  Their  Christmas  visitors  brought  them  dalis  of  fruit 
and  sweets ;  and  Irene  describes  them  thus :  "  Some  are 
terribly  disfigured,  others  look  healthy,  but  probably  none 
can  ever  be  well." 

As  we  shall  have  no  further  occasion  to  take  the  reader 
to  the  Leper  Asylum,  three  very  interesting  later  allusions 
to  it  in  her  letters  may  be  quoted  here  : — 

February,  1895:  "A  Hindu  leper  in  the  asylum  told 
Dr.  Neve  before  the  other  lepers  that  he  believed  in  Christ. 
He  is  an  intelligent  man  who  can  read,  and  if  he  becomes 
a  real,  strong  convert  will  be  a  great  help  spiritually  among 
his  unfortunate  companions.  We  greatly  hope  that  the  years 
of  patient  work  there  may  now  bear  this  visible  fruit." 

June,  1896:  "We  went  down  the  lake  in  two  boats  to 
the  Leper  Asylum,  and  Miss  Hull  gave  a  first-rate  address 
in  Kashmiri  to  the  three  dozen  patients.  Sad  as  their  lot  is, 
it  is  certainly  cheered  not  a  little  by  the  perfect  arrange- 
ments  for  them  and  all  the  kind  attention  they   get.     The 


FIRST    WINTER    IN   SRINAGAR  191 

Hindu  whom  you  heard  of  goes  on  well ;  he  teaches  the 
others,  and  the  doctor  says  he  seems  to  be  living  a  Christian 
life  among  them." 

March,  1897:  "A  bright  spot  in  the  mission  work  lately 
has  been  the  baptism,  just  before  his  death,  of  a  leper  who  has 
been  a  Christian  at  heart  for  two  years.  There  are  now  two 
Christian  graves  at  the  asylum ;  and  we  noticed  with  great 
satisfaction  on  this  occasion  that  the  Mohammedans  had 
volunteered  to  carry  their  dead  companion,  though  he  was  a 
Christian.  The  first  Christian  leper  died  of  cholera  during 
the  fearful  epidemic  of  1892,  and  then  none  of  the  Moham- 
medans would  touch  him,  and  at  great  personal  risk  Dr. 
E.  F.  Neve  and  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  did  all  that  was  needful." 

The  day  after  that  Christmas  visit  to  the  lepers  a  little 
party  was  given  at  the  Barracks,  of  which  there  are  detailed 
accounts  in  Irene's  letters,  and  also  in  letters  from  Miss  Hull. 
We  blend  their  narratives,  distinguishing  Miss  Hull's  contri- 
butions by  brackets. 

"On  St.  John's  Day  Miss  Hull  started  in  a  dunga  at 
12  o'clock,  returning  from  the  city  shortly  before  5  o'clock, 
with  eleven  of  our  pupils,  who  were  not  too  shy  to  trust  them- 
selves to  the  terrors  of  the  journey.  It  was  quite  a  triumph 
to  get  these,  for  Miss  Hull  never  ventured  such  an  invitation 
before." 

["  I  scarcely  expected,  when  I  said  to  some  of  those  whom 
we  teach,  '  We  are  going  to  have  a  week's  holiday,  now  you 
will  have  to  come  and  see  us,'  that  they  would  really  come ; 
but  they  have  come  and  gone.  Only  those  who  know  some- 
thing of  the  fear  and  distrust  of  natives  generally  with  regard 
to  the  English  will  be  able  to  realise  what  it  means  that  three 
families  trusted  me  with  their  precious  children  for  the  after- 
noon. The  mothers  might  not  come — they  were  in  strict 
seclusion;  but  they  said,  'We  will  send  our  little  girls,  if 
you   will   come   yourself  to   fetch    them.'      It   was   rather  a 


192  IRENE    PETRIE 

weary  journey,  calling  now  at  one  house,  now  at  another, 
up  one  dreary  lane  after  another.  Some  had  forgotten  the 
day — days  are  much  alike  in  these  cheerless  homes — so  many 
disappointed  us.  We  passed  many  things  on  the  way  which 
seemed  very  wonderful  and  new  to  these  little  prisoners. 
'Mem  ji,  what  is  this?'  was  a  frequent  exclamation.  At 
our  landing-place  Miss  Petrie  stood  ready  to  receive  our 
guests.  They  must  have  been  glad  to  get  their  tea  now, 
you  will  think;  but  they  would  not  eat  with  us,  and  the 
very  mention  of  food  would  have  been  disastrous.  The 
whole  party,  however,  squatted  happily  on  the  floor,  glad, 
after  the  frost  and  snow  outside,  to  toast  at  our  fire,  and 
fill  their  small  fire-baskets  with  fresh  cinders.  Miss  Petrie 
struck  up  a  lively  air  on  the  piano,  and  we  sang  'There  is 
a  happy  land '  and  '  Here  we  suffer  grief  and  pain.' "] 

"  They  were  immensely  delighted,"  continues  Irene,  "  with 
our  house,  and  our  big  baja  (the  piano),  and  our  little  baja 
(the  guitar),  to  which  we  sang  Sanskrit  hymns,  as  the  guests 
were  all  Hindus.  They  salaamed  to  portraits  of  the  Queen, 
and  said  we  were  '  blessed  people.'  Then  Miss  Neve  and 
I  worked  the  magic-lantern,  while  Miss  Hull  explained  its 
scenes  from  the  Ufe  of  Christ." 

[*'  The  eager  question  :  '  Is  that  Jesus  Christ  ? '  as  they 
followed  picture  after  picture  from  the  manger  to  the  cross, 
and  the  reverent  salaam,  the  ever  and  anon  '  Blessed,  blessed 
be  Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  poor,'  showed  Who  was  the  central 
figure  in  their  thoughts.  Six  months  ago  these  women  and 
girls,  with  two  exceptions,  had  had  to  learn  to  pronounce 
the  Holy  Name  of  Jesus ;  and  now  with  a  shout  of  triumph 
they  hail  the  picture  of  the  angel  standing  by  the  empty 
grave.  '  He  is  God  ! '  they  exclaimed ;  '  how  could  death  hold 
Him?'  *Ah!  Miss  Sahib,  since  that  day  His  image  is 
imprinted  on  my  heart,'  was  the  fervent  expression  of  one 
when  I  visited  her  six   weeks  afterwards.      The  visit  to  us 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  193 

was  a  revelation  to  them,  as  none  of  them  had  ever  been 
in  an  English  house  before."] 

Three  uneventful  months  of  work  among  heathen,  Moham- 
medans, native  Christians,  and  European  children  followed; 
and  we  may  close  this  chapter  with  the  last  paragraphs  of 
a  letter  writtefn  by  Irene  to  the  College  by  Post  at  the 
opening  of  her  second  winter  in  Srinagar,  which  gathers  up 
the  impressions  of  this  first  winter.  After  describing  the 
routine  of  zenana  visiting  and  the  variety  of  women  visited, 
she  continues : — 

"  There  may  sometimes  be  a  flippant  listener  or,  especially 
in  Mohammedan  houses,  a  tendency  to  argue,  but  more 
often  the  quiet  behaviour  and  earnest  look  show  how  glad 
they  are  to  hear  the  good  news.  I  can  imagine  nothing 
more  thrilling  than  to  see  the  response  as  for  the  first 
time  the  tidings  of  a  God  of  Love  Who  sent  His  own 
Son  to  live  and  die  for  them  goes  home  to  one  heart  and 
another.  We  believe  that  here  and  there  in  this  city  there 
are  those  who  look  to  Him  and  trust  Him  already. 

"  Many  have  followed  Miss  Hull  all  through  the  Gospels, 
and  are  familiar  with  other  parts  of  Holy  Scripture,  which 
they  have  learned  to  love.  Others  are  only  beginning  to 
know  it,  and  in  a  sense  nearly  all  are  beginners,  for  they 
seldom  can  hear  more  than  once  in  a  week,  and  all  home 
surroundings  and  antecedents  hinder  rather  than  help  them. 

"We  earnestly  ask  your  prayers  for  them,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  may  Himself  teach  them,  and  give  all  the  faith  and 
patience  and  courage  they  need,  if  the  good  confession  is  to 
follow  the  belief  with  the  heart.  It  is  just  at  this  point 
that  you  can  be  fellow-helpers.  We  may  have  the  privilege 
of  actually  going  among  them ;  but  we  feel  more  and  more 
that  the  work  is  God's,  not  ours,  and  therefore  we  beg  you 
to  bring  the  needs  before  Him.  May  I  suggest  three  special 
subjects  for  prayer  ? 

13 


194  IRENE    PETRIE 

"  (i)  The  native  Christians.  Many  are  not  behind  English 
Christians  in  zeal  and  love;  others  are  as  yet  babes,  and 
for  them  we  long  for  such  gifts  as  St.  Paul  asked  for  the 
Ephesian  Christians. 

"  (2)  The  non-Christians,  some  of  whom  already  know 
much  of  Christianity;  others  may  have  heard  perhaps  once 
only,  in  hospital,  zenana,  or  village  gathering,  something  of 
the  love  of  Christ.  God  is  able  to  open  the  hearts  and  the 
understanding  of  those  who  hear.  Will  you  ask  Him  to  do 
this? 

"  (3)  Your  own  countrymen  in  this  land,  including  those 
who  are  specially  called  missionaries.  What  great  things 
might  be,  if  all  of  us  who  bear  the  Master's  Name  were 
His  faithful  witnesses  in  a  dark  land;  if  each  of  us,  by  the 
inspiration  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  perfectly  loved  God  and 
worthily  magnified  His  holy  Name  !  That  is,  indeed,  our 
greatest  need;  and  grateful  we  are  to  the  friends  at  home 
who,  unable  to  leave  England,  through  family  ties  or  other 
urgent  reasons,  are  yet  by  their  interest  and  their  prayers 
doing  so  much  for  the  great  world's  need  outside. 

"  Needy  as  all  the  Indian  Empire  is,  we  are  here  in  one 
of  its  neediest  corners,  and  as  we  look  at  the  high  mountains 
north  of  us,  or  in  the  faces  of  the  fur-clad  travellers  who 
find  their  way  here,  we  often  think  of  the  still  greater 
needs  of  the  vast  Central  Asian  regions  beyond,  where  a 
traveller  might  go  on  for  three  thousand  miles  without 
encountering  one  of  our  missionaries,  and  that  in  thickly 
populated  lands,  many  of  which  are  open.  No  wonder  that 
we  long  that  the  Lord  of  the  Harvest  would  thrust  forth 
labourers  into  His  harvest. 

"If  among  those  who  read  these  few  words  there  are  some 
who  cannot  but  hear  the  Master's  voice  as  He  says,  '  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world '  to  all  His  disciples,  and  who  are  offering 
fend  presenting  themselves  to  Him  for  service  wherever  He 


FIRST    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  195 

may  direct,  then  we  who  have  already  been  allowed  to  come 
to  one  of  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  wish  you  a  hearty 
God-speed. 

"  If  I  might  add  a  personal  word,  it  would  be  just  to  say 
that  missionary  work  has  far  exceeded  one's  highest  hopes 
in  happiness  and  interest.  Life  is  indeed  worth  living  out 
here,  and  even  if  permitted  to  sow  only  a  few  tiny  seeds, 
one  can  rejoice  in  the  certain  hope  of  the  harvest,  which 
may  be  seen  only  by  those  who  come  after,  but  for  which 
we  can  trust  Christ,  knowing  that  He  must  reign." 


CHAPTER   IX 

A  SUMMER  AT   HOME 

(May  2ND  TO  September  25TH,  1895) 

As  ever  in  my  great  Taskmaster's  eye. — Milton. 

(c  T^EAR  Miss  Petrie, — I  hope  you  will  have  a  very  happy 

JL>^  visit  to  England,  and  be  able  to  lead  many  to  see 
what  open  doors  there  are  in  Kashmir.  I  should  like  to 
hear  of  many  offering  for  work  there."  So  wrote,  on  March 
14th,  1895,  Miss  Dawe,  of  Nuddea,  caring,  after  the  generous 
manner  of  missionaries,  that  a  station  other  than  her  own 
should  be  befriended.  The  suggestion  that  in  going  home 
Irene  aimed  first  of  all  at  finding  new  friends  for  Kashmir 
was  a  true  one.  She  also  wished  to  be  enrolled  as  a  C.M.S. 
missionary  "in  full  connexion,"  and  to  see  the  relatives 
who  were  coming  over  from  Canada  for  the  Long  Vacation. 
Here  are  three  sentences  from  letters  on  the  last  point : — 

December  28th,  1894  :  "  My  heart  gives  a  great  bound  at 
the  very  idea  of  being  with  you  again,  and  seeing  Martin," 

January  31st,  1895;  "It  would  be  so  lovely  to  see  home 
again.  I  hardly  dare  think  of  it,  though  the  more  I  get  into 
work  here,  the  gladder  I  am  that  I  have  been  allowed  to 
realise  my  heart's  desire  of  being  a  missionary." 

February  28th  :  "In  a  little  over  ten  weeks  we  may  meet 
(D.V.).  What  a  grand  thought  it  is !  Every  day  I  build 
castles  in  the  air  about  the  train  pulling  up  at  Charing  Cross, 

S96 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  197 

and  the  vision  of  your  face,  and  the  first  glimpse  of  Martin." 
The  colleagues  at  Srinagar  greatly  enjoyed  her  Scottish  songs, 
and  playfully  referring  to  the  favourite  *'  My  heart  is  sair  for 
somebody,"  declared  that  the  "  somebody  "  for  whose  sake  she 
would  "  range  the  world  around  "  must  be  that  small  nephew. 
They  thought  her  so  much  in  need  of  rest  and  change  that 
they  urged  her  to  take  a  year's  furlough ;  but  the  very  fact  that 
she  went  and  came  at  her  own  charges  as  an  honorary  mis- 
sionary made  her  the  more  scrupulous  about  leaving  her 
work,  the  more  anxious  to  return  to  it  as  quickly  as  possible. 

On  February  14th  she  writes  :  "  According  to  present  arrange- 
ments Miss  Newnham,  Miss  Neve,  and  I  start  in  four  weeks, 
under  Dr.  Neve's  escort,  for  the  Punjab.  The  Urdu  examina- 
tion will  probably  be  at  Amritsar  early  in  April ;  and  on 
April  1 6th  the  Peninsula  leaves  Bombay.  I  shall  feel  nearly 
home  when  there."  After  her  passage  was  taken  for  April  i6th, 
the  C.M.S.  Conference,  for  which  the  rest  of  the  party  were 
going  to  the  Punjab,  was  postponed  till  the  autumn,  but 
Miss  Hull,  who  had  travelled  thither  alone,  considered  that 
Irene  could  do  so  also  without  difficulty ;  and  the  welcome 
news  that  Miss  Hull's  sister  could  be  with  her  at  Srinagar  for 
the  summer  set  Irene's  mind  at  rest  on  the  question  of  leaving 
her  colleague.  March  1 2th  found  her,  as  she  says,  "  very  sad 
at  the  prospect  of  good-byes  here  to  all  the  dear  pupils  and 
Miss  Hull.  However,  as  soon  as  I  get  afloat  on  the  dunga 
bound  for  Baramula,  my  heart  will  begin  to  leap  all  over 
again  at  the  thought  of  the  goal  of  the  long  journey.  I  can 
hardly  take  in  all  the  joyfulness  of  the  prospect." 

At  the  moment  of  starting  there  was  an  unexpected  delay. 
"  On  Sunday,  March  24th,"  she  says,  "  after  three  services  in 
drenching  rain,  we  noticed,  ere  darkness  fell,  that  the  river  was 
for  the  first  time  visible  from  the  windows  of  the  Barracks. 
Generally  it  is  twenty  feet  below  the  bund  on  that  side.  All 
night  long  we  heard  the  steady  splash  of  the  rain,  both  outside 


198  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  inside  the  house,  and  on  Monday  morning  the  high  roofs 
of  dungas  and  houseboats,  usually  hidden  beneath  the  bund, 
were  visible.  The  day  was  very  dark,  and  an  incessant  pour  of 
rain  v;as  interspersed  with  snow  and  lightning.  We  watched 
the  opposite  bank  of  the  river  gradually  disappearing,  and 
after  lunch  moved  everything  movable  into  the  dungas  Miss 
Hull  had  sent  for.  Dr.  Neve  came  and  kindly  assisted  in 
tearing  up  our  carpets  and  piling  the  furniture,  etc.,  on  taWe" 
and  shelves;  and  at  nightfall  we  abandoned  the  house  for  ^ 
houseboat  kindly  lent  to  us.  Mercifully,  however,  the  rain 
ceased  at  last,  and  we  hear  that  the  breaking  of  a  bund  higher 
up  the  river  and  flooding  there  probably  saved  us.  .  .  .  News 
of  the  road  speaks  of  tonga  service  suspended,  many  bridges 
carried  away,  two  and  a  half  miles  of  road  annihilated,  and 
post-runners  unable  to  get  in.  So  my  departure  is  perforce 
postponed;  and  as  I  shall  now  have  to  march  all  the  way, 
there  will  be  barely  time  to  catch  the  Peninsula.  However, 
they  are  making  needed  repairs  with  all  speed,  and  having 
a  dandy,  an  excellent  servant,  and  a  parwana  from  the  Governor 
for  coolies  and  supplies,  I  hope  to  get  on  all  right,  and  still 
to  have  a  day  in  the  Punjab  for  the  examination,  which  I 
have  just  heard  by  wire  that  they  will  arrange." 

Two  days  later  she  started,  and  her  account  of  what  befell 
her  is  dated: — 

••  City  Mission  House,  Amritsar,  April  g/A. 

"  My  solitary  journey  among  the  Himalayas  is  a  safely 
accomplished  fact  {Z)eo  gratias  /),  and  I  am  thoroughly  enjfjy- 
ing  a  quiet  day  in  feminine  society  again.  .    .  . 

"  Saturday,  March  30th,  was  a  really  lovely  spring  morning, 
so  Miss  Neve  proposed  a  walk  together  before  breakfast  for 
a  last  view  of  the  dear  hills  from  Rustum  Gari.  Dr.  Neve 
came  in  with  the  news  that  he  starts  for  the  seat  of  war  at 
onr«,  as  medical  officer  to   the  pioneer   civilian   engineering 


A   SUMMER    AT    HOME  199 

corps  in  the  Chitral  Expedition.  He  is  going  to  use  some 
long  accumulated  montlis  of  leave  due  to  him  on  the  under- 
taking, and  hopes  for  opportunities  of  medical  missionary 
work,  as  well  as  for  a  share  in  a  righteous  cause  that  seems 
more  like  a  real  crusade  than  any  war  of  modern  times.  We 
hear  that  Umra  Khan  has  already  been  erecting  mosques 
within  the  borders  of  Kafiristan,  and  making  some  of  the  poor 
Kafirs  Mussulmans  at  the  sword's  point.  ...  At  midday  Miss 
Hull  and  I  started  in  our  shikari  together  and  paid  some 
farewell  calls.  Then  she  went  on  with  her  city  work,  and 
I  glided  slowly  down  the  river  in  solitary  state,  getting  to 
Shadipur  after  dark,  where  we  moored  for  the  night.  My 
only  visitors  were  a  centipede,  whom  I  was  successful  in 
slaying,  and  in  the  gray  dawn  a  huge  jungle-cat,  who  had 
discovered  the  milk-jug  and  got  his  head  inside  it,  and,  half 
suffocated,  was  banging  it  round  the  boat  with  a  terrific  noise. 

"  On  Sunday  morning  we  were  on  the  Wular ;  the  clear 
blue  sky  and  lake,  with  just  a  brown  boat  or  so  here  and 
there,  being  set  in  a  perfect  circle  of  snowy  mountains  all 
round.  I  had  full  though  solitary  church  services.  We  were 
moored  at  Baramula  in  the  late  afternoon,  and  I  gave  orders 
for  a  start  at  dawn  on  Monday. 

"The  khansaman  was  well  up  to  time  with  his  chota 
hazri  and  packing ;  but  the  coolies,  who  do  not  love  early 
hours,  all  quietly  hid  when  loading  time  came,  and  we 
lost  nearly  an  hour  while  the  khansaman  went  indignandy 
round  with  the  Governor's  parwana  to  collect  them  or  others 
again.  We  got  off  in  good  time,  though — my  dandy,  with 
four  bearers  and  a  fifth  to  relieve  them,  three  baggage  coolies, 
the  khansaman  and  his  coolie,  and  then  the  canteen  coolie. 
We  had  to  take  all  needfuls,  except  eggs  and  milk,  with  us. 
The  khansaman,  who  is  as  fine  a  specimen  of  a  handsome 
Kashmiri  as  you  could  find,  looked  very  imposing,  and  was  most 
prompt  and  masterful  with  the  coolies,  though  I  forbade  him 


200  IRENE    PETRIE 

to  use  the  stick  he  delighted  in  flourishing.  We  started  under 
high  walls  of  snow,  but  in  an  hour  or  two  were  in  crocus-land 
amid  lovely  sunshine.  Gangs  of  coolies  were  at  work  repairing 
the  road.     We  spent  the  night  in  the  dak  bungalow  at  Urie. 

"  On  Tuesday,  April  2nd,  we  made  a  long  march,  the  hill- 
sides by  this  time  being  covered  with  almond-  and  peach-trees 
in  full  blossom.  The  scenery  is  surpassingly  grand.  There 
had  been  a  great  landslip  in  one  place,  and  the  whole 
mountain-side  seemed  to  have  overwhelmed  the  road.  A 
poor  horse  had  just  fallen  down  the  slope  from  the  temporary 
path  a  foot  wide,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  good  old 
khansaman  I  gave  a  rupee  for  labour,  with  the  happy  result 
that  he  was  restored  to  his  owner,  a  trader,  not  much  the 
worse  for  his  fall. 

"  On  Wednesday  we  did  two  more  beautiful  marches,  going 
through  all  the  stages  of  spring  to  summer,  with  corn  in  the 
ear  and  poppies  among  the  corn.  My  usual  routine  was 
breakfast  at  6  or  7  o'clock,  an  early  morning  march,  mostly 
on  foot,  Urdu  grammar  at  all  quiet  intervals  during  the  day, 
and  dinner  at  7  in  the  dak  bungalow,  where  I  always  got 
a  comfortable  room. 

"  On  Thursday  we  again  did  two  marches  ;  on  Friday  we  had 
a  hot  march  right  down  to  the  valley,  crossed  the  frontier, 
and  climbed  to  the  lovely  spot  on  the  mountain-side  where 
the  Dewal  dak  bungalow  is.  I  had  the  whole  place  to  myself, 
as  it  is  off  the  main  road  ;  and  hearing  of  an  English  lady  who 
might  prove  to  be  a  doctor  Miss  Sahib,  quite  a  number  of 
village  people  arrived  in  the  verandah  to  ask  for  medical 
help.  There  were  old  people  with  bronchitis,  a  man  who 
had  been  blind  for  eighteen  years,  and  a  wee  baby  with 
a  gentle  young  mother.  I  was  sorry  to  have  to  tell  the 
poor  things  that  I  was  not  a  doctor,  and  had  very  little 
medicine  with  me.  The  incident  made  passages  in  the 
Gospels  so  vivid;  and  I  could  not  help  feeUng,  if  one  may 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  aoi 

think  it  reverently,  what  a  deep  joy  it  must  have  been  to  our 
Lord  to  heal  all  that  were  sick  of  diverse  diseases. 

"  The  eaily  dawn  of  Saturday,  after  the  cloudless,  starlight 
night,  and  the  exquisite  last  march  up  another  two  thousand 
five  hundred  feet  to  Murree  was  something  to  remember 
always.  I  halted  to  gather  violets  and  maidenhair,  and  to 
listen  to  the  cuckoo  in  a  wood ;  and  then  as  we  reached  the 
ridge  there  was  the  glorious  stretch  of  now  far-away  snowy 
ranges,  the  nearer  view  of  huge  chains  of  wooded,  blue  hills, 
and  on  the  other  side  the  hot,  misty,  endless  plains.  I  said 
farewell  to  the  khansaman,  dandy,  and  camp  outfit ;  and  soon 
after  4  o'clock  was  tucked  into  the  mail  tonga  to  begin  a 
thirty-eight  mile  drive  at  full  gallop,  in  the  course  of  which 
we  descended  over  six  thousand  feet,  getting  into  Rawal  Pindi 
by  moonlight  about  9. 

"  On  Sunday  I  enjoyed  four  nice  services  in  the  most  home- 
like church  I  had  seen  for  very  long.  At  the  morning  garrison 
service  there  were  rov/s  and  rows  of  fresh  white  uniforms,  the 
Dragoon  band  led  the  Palm  Sunday  hymns,  and  special 
prayers  were  offered  for  the  troops  already  on  the  way  to 
Chitral.  I  also  went  to  a  Hindustani  service,  mostly  attended 
by  Christian  station  servants."  (Some  pleasant  intercourse 
with  the  newly  married  wife  of  a  young  officer  just  gone  to  the 
front,  and  with  the  wife  of  the  chaplain,  who  was  the  daughter 
of  Bishop  French,  is  then  described.)  "  In  the  afternoon 
Dr.  Neve  called,  and  most  kindly  planned  to  escort  me  to  the 
railway  station  at  11  p.m.,  looking  after  all  my  nondescript 
bundles  and  managing  coolies  and  gari-walas  just  as  the 
dear  father  would  have  done,  and  I  was  not  a  little  glad  of 
help.  I  had  a  fine  large  carriage  to  myself,  and  woke  at 
6  a.m.  to  see  harvest  in  progress  on  every  side.  So  I  have 
been  through  all  the  four  seasons  in  a  week.  Coming  home 
for  a  holiday  when  so  many  out  here  will  be  facing  hardship 
and  grave  danger  in  this  war,  I  feel  almost  an  impostor." 


202  IRENE    PETRIE 

On  Monday,  April  8th,  Irene  was  welcomed  to  Elmslie 
Cottage,  Amritsar,  by  Miss  Wright,  and  to  the  City 
Mission  House  by  the  C.E.Z.  ladies.  On  Tuesday  she 
attended  a  Holy  Week  service,  at  which  Dr.  Imad-ud-din 
preached;  and  in  response  to  a  sudden  summons  hastened 
on  Wednesday  morning  to  Batala,  where  she  was  entertained 
at  the  Baring  High  School,  so  closely  associated  with 
"A.L.O.E."  She  arrived  at  Batala  just  in  time  for  her  first 
Urdu  examination  paper  on  Wednesday  afternoon ;  and  before 
the  ink  was  dry  on  her  second  paper  on  Thursday  morning, 
she  hurried  off  to  catch  a  train  for  Amritsar,  that  her  written 
work  for  Dr.  Weitbrecht  might  be  followed  by  an  examination 
in  Rasum-i-Hind  and  Urdu  conversation  with  Dr.  H.  M.  Clark 
on  Thursday  afternoon.  On  Thursday  evening  she  started 
on  a  four  days'  continuous  railway  journey  to  Bombay.  In 
spite  of  circumstances  so  trying  for  an  examinee,  she  passed 
first  on  the  list  of  candidates  that  spring,  winning  over  two- 
thirds,  that  is,  "  honours "  marks,  and  taking  ninety  out  of 
a  hundred  marks  for  conversation,  which  is  regarded  as  the 
most  important  subject  of  all.  Such  was  the  reward  of  her 
patient  plodding. 

But  it  was  a  costly  success.  We  learn  incidentally  that  she 
was  far  from  well  when  she  left  Srinagar  and  on  the  road 
to  Amritsar;  and  throughout  her  journey  to  England  one 
helpless  arm  was  in  a  sling,  the  result  of  a  finger  poisoned 
by  some  city  mud,  which  got  under  her  nail  one  day  when 
she  was  drawing  off  her  boot.  The  agitation  of  delay  and 
uncertainty,  the  double  strain  of  her  difficult  journey  and  of 
the  long-dreaded  examination,  taken  in  hours  snatched  from 
fatiguing  days  of  travel  against  time,  came  upon  her  during 
the  intense  heat  of  April  in  the  plains ;  and  instead  of  the 
quiet  Good  Friday  and  Easter  she  had  planned  for,  by 
accepting  one  of  many  invitations  to  stay  with  friends  on 
her   homeward  way,   she   was   forced   to   hasten   on  without 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  203 

a  pause.  She  was  not  one  of  those  who  go  up  for  an 
examination  without  any  quickening  of  the  pulse ;  and  even 
to  her  plucky  and  resourceful  nature  a  week's  march  with 
native  companions  only,  must  have  been  an  ordeal,  especially 
as  she  had  to  carry  in  silver  in  her  dandy  all  the  money 
she  needed  till  she  reached  Bombay.  No  wonder,  then, 
that  she  was  completely  prostrated  with  fever  during  the 
rest  of  the  journey,  and  reached  Bombay  on  the  evening  of 
Easter  Monday  with  a  temperature  of  103°.  But  she  actually 
attended  an  early  celebration  of  the  Holy  Communion  next 
morning,  before  embarking  on  the  Peninsula,  cheered  by 
a  telegram  of  good  wishes  from  Miss  Hull. 

She  left  Bombay  on  Tuesday,  April  i6th,  reached  Mar- 
seilles on  April  30th,  and  London,  by  traversing  France,  on 
May  and.  The  fortnight  at  sea  was  a  time  of  great  suffering 
and  weakness;  yet  on  eight  out  of  twelve  weekdays  there 
is  an  entry  in  her  diary  of  Hindi  or  Kashmiri  study.  Her 
brother  and  sister,  who  had  left  Montreal  on  the  day  she  left 
Bombay,  met  her  at  Charing  Cross,  after  her  thirty-four  days 
of  lonely  travel,  and  took  her  to  Mrs.  Carus-Wilson's  house 
at  Hampstead. 

As  one  of  the  large  family  party  gathered  there  she 
spent  the  summer;  for  Hanover  Lodge  was  let  till  the  end 
of  the  season,  and  she  was  only  able  to  pay  it  a  short 
visit  immediately  before  her  return  to  India.  During  the 
time— less  than  five  months  in  all— that  she  was  in  Britain 
she  paid  fourteen  visits  to  friends  and  relatives  in  different 
parts,  most  of  which  included  a  missionary  address.  When 
she  arrived  she  was  much  exhausted ;  but  within  three  weeks, 
on  Ascension  Day,  May  23rd,  she  opened  her  lips  for  the 
first  time  on  behalf  of  Kashmir  at  Mitcham. 

Between  May  23rd  and  August  4th  she  gave  eighteen 
addresses  on  India  generally  and  Kashmir  specially ;  not 
as  a  C.M.S.   "  deputation,"  for  missionaries  are  not  expected 


204  IRENE    PETRIE 

to  speak  for  the  Society  during  the  first  four  months  of  their 
furlough,  but  in  voluntary  response  to  requests  from  those 
she  had  formerly  been  associated  with.  She  spoke  to  the 
Mitcham  Missionary  Union,  to  the  St.  Mary  Abbots  and  Latymer 
Road  Sunday  schools,  to  Gleaners  at  Kensington,  Hampstead, 
Canonbury,  and  Leamington,  to  the  C.M.S.  Ladies'  Union 
at  the  C.M.S.  House,  to  the  Emerson  Club,  to  the  children 
and  old  girls  of  the  Princess  Mary  Village  Homes,  to  cadets 
at  the  headquarters  of  the  Church  Army,  to  working  parties 
at  Kensington  and  Brighton,  to  a  missionary  meeting  in 
a  Cumberland  village,  at  a  Y.W.C.A.  Conference,  at  the 
Mildmay  Conference,  at  the  Keswick  Convention,  and  at 
Penshurst. 

Miss  Lloyd  furnishes  a  reminiscence  of  one  of  these  addresses 
given  during  a  happy  visit  to  Addlestone  for  the  twenty-fourth 
Commemoration  Day  of  the  Princess  Mary  Village  Homes. 
All  present  and  about  forty  former  inhabitants  of  its  picturesque 
cottages  were  gathered  together  on  "Old  Girls'  Day."  "Why 
should  mission  children  never  have  anything  but  hymns  ?  "  said 
Irene ;  and  taking  her  guitar,  she  sat  down,  and  poured  forth 
bewitching  little  Spanish  songs.  Then  she  talked — bright, 
sympathetic,  simple  chat,  growing  gradually  serious,  as  she 
spoke  of  using  all  gifts  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  then  of  the 
women  of  heathendom,  their  needs  and  their  appeal  to  us. 
Then,  taking  her  guitar  again,  she  sang  some  inspiring  hymns. 
And  long  afterwards  her  face,  her  voice,  her  manner,  dwelt  in 
the  memories  of  those  children  as  an  uplifting  vision  of  beauty 
and  goodness.  A  branch  of  the  Gleaners'  Union  among  the 
girls  was  the  immediate  outcome  of  her  visit ;  and  when,  two 
years  later,  the  village  was  once  more  gathered  together  to 
hear  of  her  sudden  home-call,  there  were  few  dry  eyes  in  the 
great  schoolroom.  Just  three  years  later,  on  Commemoration 
Day,  1898,  H.R.H.  the  Duchess  of  York  opened  the  "Irene 
Cottage,"  "  erected  to  the  memory  of  our  beloved  Irene  Petrie, 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  205 

with  the  money  she  so  lovingly  bequeathed  to  the  Homes,"  as 
Miss  Cavendish  wrote.  It  accommodates  eight  httle  girls  and 
a  mother,  and  had  already  given  shelter  and  a  first  experience 
of  human  love  to  three  hapless  waifs  rescued  by  the  Society 
for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children. 

Throughout  that  all  too  short  summer  of  1895  much  time 
had  to  be  spent  in  renewal  of  intercourse  with  friends,  eager 
to  welcome  her  home  and  hear  of  her  new  hfe ;  varying  from 
those  who  rejoiced  over  it,  like  one  who  wrote:  "  Think  some- 
times, dear  Irene,  of  an  old  friend  who  would  so  enjoy  seeing 
you  again,  and  hearing  all  you  have  to  say  of  your  blessed 
work,"  to  those  who  met  her  with,  **  I  suppose  you  have  no 
thoughts  of  going  back  to  India."  Her  bright  reply,  *•  I  am 
travelling  with  a  six  months'  return  ticket,"  puzzled  people 
who  were  concluding  that  she  had  wearied  of  a  whim. 

"I  know  of  no  one,"  writes  a  frequenter  of  the  C.M.S. 
House,  "who  gave  me  more  strongly  the  impression  of  whole- 
hearted devotion,  and  this  was  joined  to  so  many  gifts." 
The  impression  was  even  more  influential  in  quiet  talks  than 
in  public  addresses.  It  must  have  been  strange  to  turn  from 
the  husband  of  a  former  girl  friend,  who  said  he  had  no 
objection  to  his  wife  taking  an  interest  in  foreign  missions, 
because  "a  little  philanthropy  always  sits  wells  on  a  pretty 
woman,"  to  the  writer  of  the  following  words,  who  had  just 
been  invalided  home  after  five  years  of  happy  missionary  effort 
in  Japan  :  "  I  have  such  intense  recollections  of  the  joy 
that  came  in  the  work  at  times  that  I  am  half  afraid  of 
giving  exaggerated  impressions  to  people  at  home.  Some 
of  them  do  seem  to  think  it  so  extraordinary.  Of  course, 
there  are  disappointments  and  discouraging  times  which  come 
very  often ;  still,  I  don't  think  there  can  be  any  other  joy  in 
the  world  quite  Uke  the  joy  of  being  with  Christ  when  He 
finds  a  soul  that  has  been  out  in  the  dark  all  its  life." 
Mysterious  indeed  are   "the  issues  from  death  that  belong 


2o6  IRENE    PETRIE 

unto  God."  One  recalls  Irene's  visit  in  June,  1895,  when 
she  was  buoyantly  anticipating  a  speedy  return  to  Kashmir, 
to  the  devoted  feHow-missionary  who  had  written  thus  to 
her.  She  found  her  pale  and  feeble  on  the  sofa,  hardly  daring 
to  hope  that  she  would  ever  be  allowed  to  go  back  to  Japan. 
Who  would  have  expected  that  Irene's  friend  would  be  labour- 
ing on  now,  in  renewed  health,  having  accomplished  a  decade 
of  service,  and  that  for  the  vigorous  Irene  herself  only  two 
more  years  of  life  and  work  remained  ? 

Her  activities  that  summer  were  as  incessant  as  they  had 
ever  been,  for  at  home,  as  abroad,  she  lived  out  her  favourite 
motto :  "  As  ever  in  my  great  Taskmaster's  eye."  In  all 
intervals  she  was  executing  commissions  for  replicas  of  the 
sketches  she  had  brought  home  to  illustrate  her  addresses. 
Orders  for  these  flowed  in,  and  the  walls  of  many  a  house 
in  Britain  and  Canada,  as  well  as  in  India,  now  speak  through 
her  skilful  brush  of  Kashmir.  She  also  worked  at  Hindi  and 
Kashmiri  daily,  and  to  those  about  her  never  admitted,  what 
she  admits  not  once  but  often  in  her  diary  of  that  summer, 
that  she  was  "  very  tired."  In  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Carus-Wilson, 
written  July  loth,  evidently  in  answer  to  inquiries  and  exhor- 
tations, she  speaks  of  "  having  had  enough  pain  in  the  past 
week  or  two  to  serve  as  a  warning  " ;  and  that  most  motherly 
friend,  writing  after  her  return  to  India  to  implore  her  "  to 
take  her  life  more  quietly,"  says :  '*  I  saw  with  real  concern 
how  much  less  strong  and  well  you  were  than  when  I  first 
knew  you." 

"  Kashmir  is  evidently  a  trying  climate  for  you,"  wrote  Miss 
Lloyd.  "  We  thought,"  wrote  Miss  Jones,  whose  aff'ection 
for  her  old  pupil  has  been  already  referred  to,  "when  Irene 
was  in  England  that  her  lovely  complexion  was  looking  rather 
more  transparent  and  delicate,  and  we  feared  that  she  might 
not  be  able  to  stand  the  climate  very  long."  "  I  was  sorry," 
writes  a  third  friend,  "  to  see  how  delicate  Irene  looked  on 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  207 

her  return  from  Kashmir,  when  I  had  the  privilege  of  hearing 
her  speak  at  the  C.M.S.  House.  I  feared  that  the  trying 
climate  and  her  unwearied  labours  were  undermining  her 
constitution;  but  how  she  seemed  to  rejoice  at  being  able 
to  work  for  Christ !  " 

Looking  back  now,  one  realises  that  it  was  not  only  the 
"  unwearied  labours "  that  had  blanched  her  cheek  and 
checked  her  overflowing  vitality  and  elasticity  of  spirit.  She 
had  seen  the  affliction  and  heard  the  bitter  cry  of  heathen- 
dom, and  like  her  Divine  Master,  she  was  "moved  with 
compassion "  at  beholding  the  scattered  and  shepherdless 
multitudes.  Love  of  souls  was  the  keynote  of  her  life,  as  of 
the  life  of  every  true  missionary ;  and  though  she  never  uttered 
current  phrases  about  it,  she  was  weighed  down  by  the 
burden  of  perishing  humanity.  Her  one  desire  was  to  hasten 
back  to  do  whatever  might  be  done  by  her  for  its  succour. 

Meanwhile,  Miss  Hull,  caring  for  Kashmir  and  needing  her 
as  much  as  anyone  could,  wrote  thus : — 

"My  dearest  Irene, — 

"I  am  much  troubled  that  you  have  been  so  ill.  .  .  . 
Now  I  do  hope  you  will  take  complete  rest  in  England,  and 
not  rush  about  and  try  to  do  too  much.  A  voyage  round  the 
Cape  or  to  Australia  would  be  the  best  thing  for  you,  I  am 
sure.  .  .  .  Your  people  desire  no  end  of  love  and  salaams 
to  you,  and  there  are  constant  inquiries.  My  sister  takes  your 
Bible  class.     Ever,  dear  Irene,  with  much  love, 

"Your  very  loving  friend, 

"  E.  G.  Hull." 

Her  friends  at  last  insisted  upon  an  autumn  holiday  alone 
with  her  sister,  at  some  favourite  haunts  in  the  Highlands. 
First  she  spent  four  days  at  the  Keswick  Convention,  of 
which  she  writes  :  "  I  have  been  having  a  perfectly  delightful 


2o8  IRENE    PETRIE 

time  here,  and  have  already  come  up  with  quite  sixty  friends, 
old  and  new,  in  this  dear  place.  .  .  .  The  great  missionary 
meeting  was  splendid.  ...  It  was  followed  by  a  gathering  of 
missionaries,  accepted  candidates,  and  central  secretaries  only  ; 
and  the  gradual  recognitions  all  round  and  general  atmosphere 
were,  as  someone  suggested,  more  like  one's  idea  of  Heaven 
than  anything  else." 

Visits  to  kinsfolk  in  Northumberland  and  to  friends  in 
Cumberland  and  Midlothian  succeeded  Keswick,  and  Mr. 
Stock  met  her  just  in  time  to  forbid  the  Kashmiri  books  to 
cross  the  Border  with  her.  Then  for  barely  three  weeks  she 
roamed  over  the  hills  and  moors  around  Kingussie,  Invercannich, 
Blair-Athol,  and  Pitlochrie ;  and  watching  a  rainbow  from 
the  summit  of  Craigour  declared,  with  possibly  a  touch  of 
patriotic  partiality,  that  even  the  magnificent  Himalayas  must 
yield  the  palm  of  beauty  to  the  Highlands,  with  their  mystical 
charm  of  soft  colouring.  After  visiting  an  invalid  relative  in 
Wales,  she  came  to  London  with  strength  renewed  for  the 
farewells. 

During  the  summer  she  had  written  as  follows  to  the  C.M.S. : 
"  When  first  set  free  to  go  to  India,  I  went  out  with  the  desire 
to  join  the  C.M.S.  a  little  later  on.  .  .  .  Since  then,  having  seen 
the  work  of  many  societies,  and  made  the  personal  acquaint- 
ance of  over  a  hundred  missionaries,  my  desire  to  be  connected 
with  the  C.M.S.  in  preference  to  any  other  society  has  been 
greatly  strengthened.  Perhaps  the  chief  and  strongest  reason 
for  this  preference  is  that  C.M.S.  missionaries  have  the  privi- 
lege of  being  remembered  by  name  by  the  very  large  circle 
of  C.M.S.  Gleaners  and  others  who  use  the  Cycle  of  Prayer." 

The  C.M.S.  enjoys  the  reputation  of  being  second  to  no 
society  in  setting  up  a  high  standard  of  qualification  for 
candidates,  and  accepting  those  only  who  attain  it.  Though 
Irene  had  already  approved  herself  in  the  field  and  passed 
her  language   examination,  and  though  she  was  personally 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  209 

known  to  many  at  headquarters,  she  went  through  the  usual 
routine  of  general  examination  papers,  interviews,  and  con- 
fidential inquiries  addressed  to  her  intimate  friends ;  and 
on  July  30th  was  formally  accepted  "into  full  connexion 
as  an  honorary  missionary."  The  C.M.S.  never  had  a  more 
loyal  missionary,  nor  one  in  more  cordial  relation  to  all 
its  authorities ;  and  only  two  months  before  her  death  she 
wrote,  alluding  to  other  societies  :  "  I  always  feel  more  and 
more  glad  to  be  linked  with  the  C.M.S." 

As  she  sailed  before  the  annual  valedictory  meeting,  they 
took  leave  of  her  and  of  a  Persian  party,  consisting  of  the 
Rev.  A.  R.  and  Mrs.  Blacket  and  the  Rev.  C.  H.  and  Mrs. 
Stileman,  with  Bishop  Cassels  of  Western  China,  at  a  meeting 
in  the  C.M.S.  House  on  September  loth.  Three  sentences 
from  the  Instructions  addressed  to  her  by  the  Committee  may 
be  quoted :  "  We  are  very  glad  you  have  joined  us,  bearing  the 
honoured  name  you  bear  and  going  at  your  own  charges.  .  .  . 
The  Committee  are  aware  of  the  very  serious  obstacles  to 
the  progress  of  the  Truth  in  Kashmir,  but  they  pray  earnestly 
that  you  may  be  used  of  God  with  your  fellow-workers  to 
win  for  Christ,  by  His  grace,  many  of  the  children  and  women 
of  the  land.  .  .  .  May  many  in  the  Kashmir  territory,  and 
even  in  regions  beyond,  if  God's  providence  should  plainly 
so  direct,  hear  the  Gospel  message  from  your  lips."  One 
recalls  her  in  the  Committee-room  at  Salisbury  Square  that 
day,  her  fair  young  face  almost  as  white  as  the  ostrich  feather 
that  shaded  it,  almost  as  transparent  as  her  light  summer 
dress,  but  shining  with  a  rapt  devotion  and  stedfast  resolve 
that  gave  it  a  well-nigh  unearthly  beauty. 

Next  day  her  relatives  sailed  for  Canada,  and  she  went 
to  pay  a  farewell  visit  to  the  young  Lady  De  I'lsle  and 
Dudley,  who  ever  since  she  was  ten  years  old  had  been  her 
most  intimate  friend.  She  was  so  struck  with  htr  delicate  look 
that  she  wrote  to  Irene's  sister  :  "  Had  you  been  in  England,  I 

14 


210  IRENE   PETRIE 

would  have  implored  you  to  detain  her  here."  No  one  could, 
hov.-ever,  have  done  that.  On  September  14th,  in  the  ball- 
room at  Penshurst,  under  the  chandeliers  presented  to  Robert 
Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  Irene  pleaded 
the  cause  of  Kashmir  for  the  last  time  before  what  was  probably 
the  first  missionary  meeting  ever  held  in  that  place.  Lady 
De  risle  wrote  to  her  next  day :  "  Dear,  I  never  thanked 
you  half  enough  for  your  beautiful  talk  to  us  yesterday,  and 
for  all  the  trouble  you  kindly  took.  I  know  you  do  it  all  for 
the  Master,  and  look  for  no  reward;  but  already  one  sees 
what  a  deep  impression  you  have  made,  and  it  is  an  impres- 
sion that  with  some  of  us  will  never  wear  off."  Another  who 
was  present  wrote,  four  years  later,  of  "  the  remembrance  left 
of  the  sweet,  earnest  worker  who  was  giving  up  all  for  the 
sake  of  Christ,  pleading  the  cause  she  so  loved,"  adding  : 
"  I  am  very  glad  to  have  heard  and  seen  one  so  consecrated. 
Such  lives  are  an  inspiration."  The  immediate  result  of  this 
meeting  was  a  Penshurst  branch  of  the  Gleaners'  Union, 
which  afterwards  sent  considerable  sums  to  the  church, 
hospital,  and  school  at  Srinagar,  with  many  handsome  gifts 
for  the  mission  Christmas-tree,  and  for  prizes  to  zenana 
pupils. 

The  last  ten  days  were  spent  at  Hampstead ;  and  on 
September  19th  she  was  once  more  at  "the  dear  C.M.S. 
House  "  for  the  best  of  all  the  prayer  meetings  she  had  ever 
been  at  even  there.  The  first  part  concerned  Fuh-kien, 
and  letters  received  since  the  massacre  of  August  ist  were 
read,  with  such  tributes  to  the  group  of  martyrs  and  to 
the  brave  little  Stewart  children.  Finally,  the  Persian  group 
and  "  our  dear  friend  Miss  Petrie "  were  commended  in 
prayer. 

On  her  last  Sunday,  September  22nd,  she  worshipped  once 
more  in  her  beloved  parish  church,  under  a  tablet  placed 
there   two  days  before   to   her  parents  and  little  sister,    for 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  211 

which  she  had  chosen  the  text,  "At  home  with  the 
Lord  "  (2  Cor.  v.  8.). 

For  the  latest  gUmpses  of  her  we  turn  to  her  mother's 
dearest  friend,  Miss  Lloyd.  She  had  visited  her  at 
Hanover  Lodge  just  before  she  started  in  1893,  and  again 
at  Hampstead  on  September  24th,  1895.  "  I  felt  how  grown 
she  was  in  life  and  power  for  service,"  is  her  comment  on 
seeing  her  after  two  years'  interval.  In  1897  she  recalls  the  two 
visits  thus:  "I  saw  Irene  immediately  after  your  marriage,  .  .  . 
and  felt  perfectly  satisfied  from  my  interview  with  her  how 
fully  she  counted  the  cost  of  going.  She  played  the  organ 
a  little  for  me,  and  we  discussed  many  things.  I  could  not 
help  saying,  '  You  must  be  sorry  to  leave  this  home  of  your 
childhood,  all  so  comfortable  and  pleasant.  But  probably 
you  will  come  back  to  us  in  a  few  years.'  '  Not  so,'  was 
her  reply  (and  such  an  expression  of  her  deepest  feelings 
was  rare  enough  to  be  noted  and  remembered) ;  '  I  give  it  all 
up  freely  and  fully.  I  am  not  sorry  to  leave  these  things — 
not  even  the  organ — to  follow  the  Master.  I  know  He  has 
been  calling  me.'  I  saw  her  at  Hampstead  before  she  went 
away  finally.  She  looked  so  delicate  that  I  pressed  her  to 
go  to  a  place  more  healthy  for  her  than  Kashmir.  But  she 
said  that  her  call  was  to  go  there,  and  that  she  must  go.  .  .  . 
As  she  waved  me  farewell  from  the  gate,  I  thought  that 
probably  I  should  not  see  her  again ;  but  I  did  not  think 
that  it  was  she  who  would  so  soon  leave  her  post  of  service, 
she  looked  so  bright,  and  with  such  vitality  about  her.  .  .  . 
On  account  of  her  great  likeness  to  your  dear  mother  she 
was  always  a  great  favourite  of  mine,  and  I  have  felt  since 
she  went  to  India  that  it  was  a  great  privilege  to  hare  known 
her.  Her  short,  bright  life  was  a  very  happy  one  ;  like  Mary, 
she  sat  at  the  Master's  feet,  and  did  His  messages,  even 
to  a  distant  land." 

*'  When  shall  we  see  you  again  ? "  asked  another,  whom 


212  IRENE    PETRIE 

she  reckoned  an  "honorary  aunt,"  embracing  Irene  for  the 
last  time  ere  she  started.  And  to  her  Irene  said  what  she 
had  not  said  to  her  relatives  :  **  I  shall  stay  on  in  Kashmir 
as  long  as  I  am  fit  for  the  work  there."  Others  have  been 
spared  to  drive  a  longer  furrow  for  the  distant  seed-sowing, 
but  no  one  ever  looked  forward  more  unswervingly  when 
once  the  hand  had  been  laid  on  the  plough. 

So  she  went,  and  we  saw  her  face  no  more. 

How  cheerfully  she  began  the  easiest  and  most  enjoyable 
of  her  three  long  journeys  is  seen  from  her  letters  :  "  Our 
perfectly  happy  summer  together  with  all  its  interests  will  be 
one  of  the  brightest  portions  of  our  whole  Uves  to  look  back 
on.  ...  It  is  all  so  much  happier  than  it  was  two  years  ago.  .  .  . 
It  is  such  happiness  to  think  of  being  in  the  real  missionary 
work  again,  and  of  all  the  prayers  for  Kashmir  promised 
by  the  dear  home  friends.  There  surely  will  be  a  gift  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  for  many  there  soon." 

Seen  off  once  more  by  Mrs.  Carus-Wilson  and  Elliott,  she 
started  across  Europe  from  Victoria  Station  on  September 
25th,  An  urgent  invitation  to  address  the  Gleaners  at  Davos 
(see  p.  47),  which  would  have  involved  two  additional  days 
of  hard  travel,  was  only  declined  under  great  pressure  from 
friends.  But  she  fulfilled  a  long-cherished  ambition  by 
halting  for  one  night  in  Rome.  She  arrived  there  early 
on  Friday  morning,  and  left  on  Saturday  afternoon;  but 
thanks  to  her  old  habit  of  taking  in  quickly  what  she 
wanted  to  know  and  doing  quickly  what  she  wanted  to 
do,  and  also  to  the  friends  there  who  entered  heartily  into 
her  desire  to  turn  every  moment  to  account,  she  carried  out 
a  very  full  programme  of  sights. 

"Fancy  dating  to  you  from  the  Eternal  City,"  she  writes, 
"  and  on  the  evening  of  the  day  that  I  have  actually  seen 
Raphael's  '  Transfiguration,'  the  Michael  Angelo  ceiling,  and 
the  Via  Appia !  .  .  .  I  had  a  good  sit-down   study  of  the 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  213 

two  greatest  pictures  in  the  world,  '  The  Transfiguration '  and 
•  The  Communion  of  St.  Jerome,'  which  I  have  longed  to  see 
since  I  was  thirteen.  Neither  could  disappoint  in  the  least. 
.  .  .  But  of  all  the  sights  the  two  which  have  moved  me 
most  have  been  the  Catacombs  and  the  Mamertine  Prison. 
We  visited  the  Catacombs  of  St.  Sebastian  under  the  church 
dedicated  to  him.  A  dear  old  Franciscan  took  us,  who  had 
a  more  heavenly  minded  face  than  any  other  of  the  many 
religieux  I  have  seen  in  Rome.  .  .  .  Down  in  the  awful 
darkness  of  the  Mamertins  dungeon,  where  many  had  been 
starved  and  slain,  as  well  as  incarcerated,  I  felt  quite  ashamed 
to  call  myself  a  missionary  at  all,  thinking  of  that  grand 
St.  Paul  and  what  he  bore  for  Christ's  sake  and  the  Gospel's. 
I  have  been  reading  the  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy  all  over 
again ;  it  does  come  fresh  after  seeing  that  place  of  suffering, 
with  the  post  against  which  the  prisoners  were  guarded,  and 
feeling  the  chill  air  of  the  lower  cell,  into  which  those  shortly 
to  die  were  let  down  by  ropes."  Many  close  pages  follow 
describing  enthusiastically  "  the  originals  in  the  Vatican  of  all 
the  dear  old  Greeks  which  we  used  to  admire  in  Smith's 
History,  and  such  marvellously  lovely  statues,  that  one's  Hfe 
feels  altogether  enriched  by  seeing  them,"  and  much  else  ; 
and  she  concludes  by  saying  :  "  The  whole  visit  has  been 
delightful,  and  a  real  rest  on  the  way.  .  .  .  Urdu  and  Kashmiri 
will  come  to  the  front  still;  but  with  thought  I  can  muster 
enough  French  and  Italian  just  to  manage  at  the  railway 
stations.  .  .  .  Italy  is  certainly  as  pleasant  and  kindly  a  land 
to  travel  in  as  our  dear  Highlands." 

In  the  train  between  Rome  and  Brindisi  she  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Carus-Wilson :  "I  can't  tell  you  how  I  value  your  united 
prayers  for  poor  Kashmir  and  the  workers  there.  I  feel  so 
utterly  unworthy  both  of  the  work  and  of  all  the  kindness  for 
the  work's  sake.  Do  ask  that  I  may  get  away  from  self  and 
be  filled  with  the  Spirit." 


a  14  IRENE    PETRIE 

Brindisi  was  reached  in  time  for  a  noon  service  on  Sunday, 
September  29th.  That  evening  the  Oriental  sailed,  reaching 
Bombay  on  the  Saturday  of  the  following  week.  Contrasting 
her  twelve  and  a  half  days  at  sea  with  the  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  days  spent  at  sea  one  hundred  and  two  years  earlier 
by  Carey  on  his  way  to  India  should  emphasise  the  far 
heavier  responsibility  for  India  of  this  generation. 

Fine  weather  and  the  companionship  of  particularly  agreeable 
friends,  both  new  and  old,  rendered  the  voyage  delightful. 
"Many  old  travellers,"  she  writes,  "say  this  is  the  finest 
passage  they  have  ever  made.  ...  I  am  longing  now  to  be 
back  at  work.  Nothing  else  is  so  well  worth  living  for,  I  am 
sure."  "  I  am  greatly  looking  forward "  (this  to  a  South 
Kensington  friend),  "to  being  with  the  dear,  brown  pupils 
again,  and  expect  a  busy  winter  among  the  zenanas  with  further 
language  studies.  Please  remember  Kashmir  in  prayer." 
"  More  than  ever,"  she  writes  to  Mrs.  Carus-Wilson,  "  I  feel 
that  the  work  there  is  the  thing  of  all  others  to  be  glad  to 
live  for,  even  if  progress  may  at  present  be  so  slow,  outwardly, 
that  only  those  who  come  after  see  results." 

Meanwhile,  there  was  work  of  another  kind  at  hand.  In- 
stead of  taking  between  thirty  and  forty  missionaries  out,  as  the 
Carthage,  sailing  a  month  later,  had  done  in  1893,  the  Oriental 
carried  only  one  other  missionary,  a  clerical  member  of  the 
Cambridge  Mission  to  Delhi.  Irene  says  :  "  I  daresay  a  good 
many  on  board  disapprove  of  missionary  ladies.  .  .  .  People 
are  amused  at  my  daily  attempts  to  get  through  a  little 
Kashmiri  study;  but  all  are  most  pleasant  and  kind,  and 
many  come  up  and  ask  for  information  about  the  work,  and 
even  ventilate  their  own  or  friends'  criticisms  of  missions, 
from  the  sending  of  missionaries  into  China  to  the  slovenly 
attire  of  lady  missionaries  in  some  remote  districts.  ...  I 
think  it  is  really  good  for  both  parties  that  we  should  come 
into  touch  in  this  way,  and  if  only  I  could  use  it  to  the  full, 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  215 

it  would  be  an  opportunity  for  trying  to  win  some  station 
folks'  goodwill  and  interest  for  the  cause."  By  way  of  con- 
trast to  this,  she  had  for  fellow-travellers  the  late  Bishop 
of  Calcutta  and  the  Rev.  S.  Morley,  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Tinnevelly  on  October  28th,  1896. 

Landing  at  Bombay  on  October  12th,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Morley 
and  Irene  were  entertained  by  the  Rev.  W.  G.  Peel,  who  was 
consecrated  Bishop  of  Mombasa  in  1899.  Two  years  later 
Mrs.  Morley  wrote,  on  hearing  of  Irene's  death  :  "  I  cannot 
tell  you  how  deeply  the  news,  so  unexpected,  touched  us, 
for  she  had  won  our  hearts,  even  in  the  short  time  we  had 
known  her,  by  her  bright  and  sweet  manner  and  her  Christ- 
hke  love  of  her  poor  people  in  Kashmir.  One  of  the  great 
pleasures  we  were  looking  forward  to  in  going  there  was 
the  renewal  of  our  friendship  with  her.  We  have  postponed 
our  visit,  not  caring  to  see  Srinagar  without  her." 

Mr.  Morley  saw  her  into  the  train  on  Sunday  evening  for 
Jeypore,  which  was  reached  at  5  a.m.  on  Tuesday.  Here  she 
was  the  guest  of  Miss  Hull's  sister,  the  wife  of  Dr.  Hendley, 
of  the  Army  Medical  Department.  A  letter  of  welcome 
from  Miss  Hull  awaited  her ;  and  hearing  how  tired  and  busy 
she  was  from  Mrs.  Hendley,  Irene  declined  an  invitation  to 
Lucknow,  and  hurried  on.  Enthusiastic  traveller  as  she  had 
always  been,  she  wrote  now:  "Once  on  Indian  soil,  the 
thought  of  work  again  is  so  alluring  that  the  one  wish  is  to 
get  back  to  it  as  soon  as  possible."  The  chief  incident  of 
her  stay  at  Jeypore — that  most  picturesque  of  Indian  cities — 
was  a  ride  on  one  of  the  Maharaja's  elephants;  and  she 
dined  "at  the  Residency,  which  is  very  palatial,  as  befits 
a  house  where  the  heirs  to  nearly  all  the  European  thrones 
have  been  entertained.  .  .  .  Rajputana  is  the  happy  hunting- 
ground  of  those  who  shoot  tigers,  and  the  place  for  Royal 
Highnesses  who  go  globe-trotting  to  have  sport  after  big 
game." 


2i6  IRENE    PETRIE 

Leaving  Jeypore  before  dawn  on  Thursday,  she  got  to 
Amritsar  at  3.30  a.m.  on  Friday.  A  pleasant  forenoon  was 
spent  with  her  friends  there  "hearing  of  recent  encourage- 
ments that  renewed  one's  longings  for  our  poor  Kashmir," 
and  she  visited  some  Christians  who  had  moved  from  Srinagar 
to  Amritsar.  After  tiffin  Mr.  Clark  and  his  daughter  saw  her 
mto  the  train  for  Rawal  Pindi,  and  she  finished  her  very  last 
railway  journey  at  2  a.m.  on  Saturday  morning,  remarking, 
over  a  final  packing  of  her  trunks  for  the  hills,  "  I  hope 
there  will  be  no  luggage  in  Heaven."  A  special  tonga  brought 
her  to  the  house  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Spencer  at  Murree,  whose 
sister  had  been  a  London  friend.  Miss  Hull  had  sent  the 
khansaman  here  with  a  second  note  of  welcome  to  escort 
her  the  rest  of  the  way. 

She  spent  a  quiet  Sunday  at  Murree,  rejoicing,  one  week 
after  enduring  90**  in  the  cabin  of  the  Oriental,  in  furs 
and  a  fire;  and  set  off  for  Srinagar  early  on  Monday. 
Murree  to  Srinagar  had  been  a  journey  of  twelve  days  in 
April,  1894,  and  in  April,  1895,  Srinagar  to  Murree  had 
been  a  journey  of  seven  days ;  but  in  the  "  prosperous 
journey,  by  the  will  of  God,"  of  October,  1895,  two  days 
by  road  in  a  tonga  and  two  days  by  water  in  a  dunga 
covered  the  whole  distance  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  miles. 
When,  after  swinging  round  corner  after  corner  down  the 
great  sweeps  of  the  descending  road,  she  reached  the  river, 
her  own  head-boatman  met  her  with  yet  a  third  note  of 
welcome  from  Miss  Hull,  and  in  glorious  weather  she  was 
paddled  up  the  Jhelum,  Kashmir  looking  more  beautiful 
than  ever. 

Sunset  on  Thursday,  October  24th,  found  her  in  the 
city.  "As  I  scrambled  up  our  ladder  to  the  top  of  the 
bund  I  heard  the  dear  Miss  Hull's  voice,  and  a  minute 
later  was  in  her  arms  in  the  pretty  drawing-room,  looking 
cosier   and  nicer    than   ever.  ...  My  thirty  days   of  travel, 


A    SUMMER    AT    HOME  217 

during  which  there  has  not  been  one  contretemps,  are 
over;  and  thankful  indeed  I  feel  for  the  journeying  mercies 
which  all  through  have  been  the  answer  to  the  dear  ones' 
prayers,  and,  above  all,  for  being  back  here  with  such  an 
overwhelmingly  sweet  welcome." 


CHAPTER    X 

SECOND   WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR 

(October,  1895,  to  August,  1896) 

There  is  nothing  fruitful  but  sacrifice. 

BETWEEN  October  24th,  1895,  and  July  8th,  1897, 
Irene  was  not  absent  from  Srinagar  for  more  than  a 
fortnight  at  a  time ;  and  the  continuous  story  of  zenana  and 
schjool  work,  varied  by  study  of  a  second  and  third  language, 
is  one  of  unhasting,  unresting  labour,  each  day's  work  done  in 
the  day,  each  week's  work  in  the  week,  as  if  she  ever  heard 
the  warning  voice,  "  Never  if  not  to-day."  She  could  not  have 
crowded  more  achievement  into  those  last  twenty  months  had 
she  known  that  her  sun  would  go  down  while  it  was  yet  day, 
even  before  noon. 

The  "  portion  "  for  March  25th  in  Daily  Light — that  favourite 
manual  of  missionaries  all  over  the  world — contains  these 
words :  "  I  will  keep  thee  in  all  places  whither  thou  goest, 
and  will  bring  thee  again  into  this  land "  (Gen.  xxviii.  15). 
Miss  Hull  appropriated  this  promise  to  Irene  when  they 
read  it  together  just  as  she  started  for  England,  and  now 
they  rejoiced  together  over  its  fulfilment.  A  letter  written  by 
Miss  Hull  to  her  young  colleague  in  September,  1895,  brings 
both  work  and  workers  vividly  before  us  : — 

"  My  dearest  Irene, — 

"...  I  have  felt  so  much  for  you  parting  with  your  dear 

31 8 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  219 

sister  and  her  husband  and  the  baby  boy.  ...  I  trust  it  will 
comfort  you  a  little  to  feel  how  much  your  coming  back  is 
looked  forward  to,  and  what  a  blessed  work  you  are,  I  trust  and 
believe,  coming  to  do  here  in  poor  Kashmir.  No  place  or 
people  could  want  you  so  much,  and  after  all,  there  is  much 
happiness  in  being  where  we  are  wanted." 

The  day  after  her  arrival  Irene  went  into  the  city  with  Miss 
Hull.  "  I  found,"  she  says,  "  the  dear  brownies  had  an  even 
bigger  slice  of  my  heart  than  I  had  thought  when  in  England. 
It  is  delightful  to  get  into  work  again  in  this  dear  place  " ;  while 
Miss  Hull  wrote  in  India's  Women  :  "  You  can  think  what  a 
joy  it  was  to  welcome  Miss  Petrie  back  again.  Her  bright, 
loving  face  was  welcomed  by  many  who  had  learned  to  know 
and  love  her  before  she  left." 

There  is  a  notable  ring  of  joy  in  all  the  letters  about  her 
return  ;  for  though  she  had  given  up  much,  life  still  contained 
for  her  in  larger  measure  than  for  many  what  she  once 
enumerated  as  '■''the  three  great  blessings — love,  health,  and 
work."  Above  all,  it  now  contained  the  joy  of  rejoicing  with 
the  Great  Shepherd  Who  seeks  His  sheep  scattered  upon  all 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Well  might  a  friend  who  followed 
every  detail  of  her  Indian  labours  write :  "  Really,  it  seems 
to  be  an  overflowing  life  of  joy  and  usefulness  and  peace  into 
which  God  has,  in  His  mercy,  brought  you  in  India." 

Was  it,  then,  really  a  sacrifice  to  get  out  of  the  tame  routine 
of  home  into  a  career  so  varied  and  interesting  ?  The  question 
directs  us  to  another  aspect  of  her  life,  for  particulars  of  which 
one  is  indebted  to  opportunities  of  talk  with  her  colleagues, 
since  her  own  letters  contain  hardly  a  hint  of  it.  The  traveller 
who  visits  Kashmir  for  a  few  weeks  of  its  exquisite  spring,  and 
only  enters  Srinagar  once,  either  to  call  at  the  house  of  a 
great  man  which  has  been  specially  prepared  for  his  reception, 
or  to  shop  in  the  bazar  which  has  just  been  cleaned  up  foi 
European   sightseers,  may   imagine   that   love  of  excitement 


aao  IRENE    PETRIE 

or  adventure  or  some  other  ulterior  motive  brings  a  lady 
missionary  there ;  and  may  go  home  to  utter  cheap  disparage- 
ment of  her  toils,  quite  ignorant  of  the  conditions  under  which 
they  are  carried  on.  "  You  do  not  require  eyes,"  writes 
an  English  resident  in  Srinagar,  in  a  private  letter,  "when 
approaching  the  habitation  of  a  Kashmiri.  So  when  you  find 
yourself  amongst  a  collection  of  such  habitations  you  more 
than  know  where  you  are."  Few  streets  possess  drains ;  the 
courtyards  are  very  cesspools.  A  refined  lady,  accustomed  to 
our  well-scavengered  thoroughfares,  passes  to  her  daily  work 
by  the  accumulated  refuse  of  months,  even  of  years,  whose 
overpowering  exhalations  force  her  to  press  a  handkerchief 
to  her  face,  wondering  how  the  natives,  who  walk  up  and 
down  complacently  inured  to  this  atmosphere,  can  survive. 
In  places  the  filth  is  above  her  boots,  and  her  servant  must 
carry  her  on  his  back. 

His  escort  is  indispensable  for  another  reason.  One  result 
of  the  Mohammedan  conquest  of  Kashmir  is  that  its  people 
have  no  trace  of  chivalrous  feeling.  The  men  stand  idle, 
and  watch  the  women  toiling  up  and  down  the  ghats  with 
heavy  waterpots,  believing  that  their  wives  were  born  to  be 
the  burden-bearers.  When  a  track  wide  enough  for  one  has 
been  swept  in  the  snow,  a  Kashmiri  will  yield  the  right  of  way 
to  an  Englishman  as  he  would  yield  it  to  a  cow  or  a  pariah 
dog,  to  avoid  trouble ;  but  he  would  shoulder  an  English  lady 
into  the  snow  without  hesitation  if  she  had  no  one  to  protect 
her  from  insult.  If  he  is  unwilling  that  the  inmates  of  his 
zenana  should  be  taught,  he  will  close  his  door  in  her  face 
with  a  rude  rebuff,  or  try  to  stare  her  out  when  she  has 
entered,  or  set  the  dogs  in  the  street  howling,  if  staring  does 
not  daunt  her. 

She  endeavours  to  teach  in  an  apartment  that  is  at  once 
schoolroom,  drawing-room,  nursery,  and  kitchen,  seated 
generally  on  an  unclean  floor,  in  an  atmosphere  bad  enough 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  lai 

in  mild  weather,  but  intolerable  in  cold  weather,  when  the 
women  keep  warm  by  holding  kangres,  whose  fuel  is  cow-dung, 
under  their  clothes.  Irene's  senses  were  peculiarly  susceptible 
to  every  kind  of  physical  pleasure  or  pain,  and  she  was  so 
overcome  on  two  occasions  that  she  fainted  away  when  giving 
her  lesson.  She  was  alone ;  her  pupils  thought  she  was  dead, 
and  seem  to  have  been  too  bewildered  to  do  anything.  When 
she  recovered,  she  walked  home,  and  said  nothing  about  it, 
still  less  mentioned  it  in  her  weekly  letter;  but  Miss  Hull 
chanced  to  hear  of  these  occurrences  afterwards. 

And  there  is  the  trial,  in  order  not  to  hurt  the  feelings  of 
a  hostess  whose  intentions  are  kind,  of  swallowing  sweetmeats 
prepared  with  rancid  oil,  or  tea  strained  through  the  corner 
of  the  dirty  single  garment  worn  by  Kashmiris,  and  "  tasting 
like  boiled  sea-water,  with  some  grease  in  it." 

We  at  home  seldom  hear  of  these  things,  because  mission- 
aries scarcely  allude  to  them,  as  they  find  the  difficulties  of 
the  work  itself  far  more  trying  than  any  mere  physical  dis- 
comforts. The  task  set  before  a  European  to-day  of  entering 
into  the  mind  of  an  Oriental  is  a  harder  one  than  that  set 
before  the  first  preachers  of  the  Gospel ;  for  St.  Paul  was  not 
the  only  one  of  those  first  preachers  who  had  at  once  Hebrew 
religion,  Greek  education,  and  Roman  citizenship,  and  who  was 
therefore  already  in  touch  on  one  side  with  each  of  his  diverse 
hearers.  But  how  little  English  women  and  Indian  women 
have  in  common  spiritually,  intellectually,  or  socially  we  have 
already  seen.  Another  worker  among  the  women  of  India  says 
that  one  hour  with  a  pupil  there  is  more  exhausting  than  a 
whole  day  of  teaching  in  a  high  school  at  home,  so  great  is 
the  strain  of  prayer  and  of  longing  to  gain  the  heart  and 
touch  the  conscience.  Not  a  few  of  those  described  by 
Irene  as  "the  dear  pupils  who  are  so  nice"  were,  we  learn 
from  others,  ignorant  and  apathetic  beyond  conception.  For 
generations  they  have  accepted  the  dictum   that  a  woman 


222  IRENE    PETRIE 

has  no  intellectual  nature  to  be  cultivated  by  reading  and 
thinking,  no  spiritual  nature  to  be  uplifted  by  religion.  We 
are  told  of  one  girl  in  particular  whom  she  would  not  give 
up,  though  during  two  years  she  had  been  trying  in  vain  to 
enable  her  to  master  the  alphabet. 

Little  more  than  a  week  after  her  return  to  Srinagar  in 
good  health  and  spirits  Irene  was  on  the  sick-list,  the  result 
of  several  long  days  amid  the  autumnal  odours  of  the  city. 
She  was  absolutely  forbidden  to  enter  it  throughout  the  month 
of  November ;  and  Miss  Hull  wanted  to  take  her  away  for 
a  trip  in  a  dunga.  She  herself  wrote,  however:  "Having 
slept  in  eighty-two  different  places  in  the  course  of  nine 
months  this  year,  I  don't  think  I  can  be  quite  in  need  of  a 
change.  ...  I  believe  I  have  much  needed  to  learn  the 
lesson  of  being  still  and  waiting  for  a  while,  and  it  was  sent 
pretty  definitely  to  me."  So  she  used  the  unwonted  leisure 
in  writing  her  annual  letter  to  the  College  by  Post,  putting 
up  fifty  Christmas  presents  for  friends  at  home,  studying 
Hindi,  and  visiting  pupils  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
Barracks. 

Joyfully,  on  December  2nd,  she  resumed  city  work,  and 
spent  three  active  days  among  the  zenanas.  "  On  December 
6th,"  she  writes,  "  I  was  just  thinking,  while  dressing,  how 
lovely  it  was  to  be  quite  well  again,  and  how  much  work  I 
hoped  to  get  through  now,  when  violent  pain  came  on,  and 
I  had  to  go  back  to  bed.  It  was  a  bad  internal  chill,  due, 
we  believe,  to  the  draughts  through  our  handleless  doors.  I 
cannot  remember  such  another  helpless  time  of  suffering. 
For  two  days  I  scarcely  lifted  my  head  once  from  the  pillow, 
and  was  unable  to  move  from  one  position.  ...  I  do  feel 
very  thankful  to  God  for  recovery,  and  grateful  indeed  to 
the  kind  friends  here.  I  cannot  describe  how  good  they 
were  and  how  clever.  .  .  .  The  sad  part  was  to  be  giving 
such  a  lot  of  trouble  to  all  these  dear,  busy  people.     I  only 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  223 

hope  I  shall  be  able  to  serve  Miss  Hull  and  Miss  Barclay  in 
some  way  some  day.  Now  it  is  all  happily  over,  one  feels 
how  much  one  may  learn  at  such  a  time — new  lessons,  just 
the  ones  needed,  of  course."  Miss  Hull  relates  that  her 
first  act  on  realising  that  she  was  dangerously  ill  was  to 
send  for  her  cheque-book.  "  Owe  no  man  anything "  had 
always  been  a  part  of  her  religion ;  and  the  incident  is 
characteristic  of  her  calm  sense  of  duty  under  agitating 
circumstances. 

Mr.  Clark  had  advised  Miss  Hull,  instead  of  facing  the 
rigours  of  another  winter  in  Srinagar,  to  migrate  to  the  Hazara, 
whose  inhabitants  had  never  had  a  resident  missionary,  but 
had  always  welcomed  visits  warmly.  She  therefore  left 
Srinagar  on  December  i6th;  and  Irene  accepted  an  oft- 
repeated  invitation  to  Holton  Cottage,  of  which  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  had  taken  possession  in  December,  1894; 
whose  hospitality  she  had  already  enjoyed  for  four  days  in 
January,  1895,  when,  scarcely  settled  themselves,  they  took 
in  Miss  Hull,  who  was  recovering  from  a  severe  cold,  and 
cancelled  Irene's  plans  for  solitary  Urdu  at  the  Barracks 
meanwhile.  On  December  14th  she  rose  from  her  bed  to 
pay  them  a  second  visit,  which  lasted  till  April  8th,  1896, 
returning  to  them  again  from  November  7th,  1896,  to  July 
8th,   1897. 

On  December  17th  she  again  went  into  the  city;  but 
influenza  was  prevalent  there,  and  Dr.  Neve  wrote  so  strongly 
to  her  about  the  risk  she  was  running,  that  she  was  compelled 
to  prolong  her  Christmas  holiday,  and  actually  owned  to  not 
having  a  great  deal  of  strength.  But  to  the  home  friends, 
who  had  proposed  another  furlough  on  hearing  of  her 
alarming  illness,  she  replied :  "  It  would  take  more  than 
all  the  king's  horses  and  all  the  king's  men  to  drag  me 
across  the  world  again,  within  a  year,  after  once  getting  back 
to  work  here." 


224  IRENE    PETRIE 

Her  second  Christmas  in  Srinagar  was  as  happy  as  the 
first.  On  December  21st  she  writes  thus  of  the  joy  of 
giving  its  message  in  the  zenanas  :  "  The  good  news  comes 
all  fresh  to  oneself  when  one  tries  to  make  it  plain  to  these 
women,  and  many  enter  into  the  lessons  in  a  wonderful  way." 

At  the  New  Year  she  says :  "  At  last  I  am  rejoicing  in 
really  good  health  again,  and  appreciate  it  immensely.  I  hope 
now  to  be  allowed  to  have  a  long  spell  of  work."  That 
hope  was  fulfilled,  for  at  the  end  of  1896  she  was  able  to 
report  that  she  had  not  been  kept  in  one  working  day,  and 
had  given,  on  an  average,  twenty  Bible  lessons  every  week,  in 
addition  to  much  miscellaneous  teaching.  Four  short  trips, 
amounting  altogether  to  six  weeks'  absence  from  Srinagar, 
was  all  the  vacation  she  took  that  year.  "  I  am  sure,"  she 
says,  "  that  present  good  health  is  given  in  answer  to  many 
prayers  by  kind  friends  at  home."  Doubtless,  also,  she  had 
learned  lessons  of  prudence  in  sparing  herself,  all  home 
counsels  being  pointed  with  the  warning,  "You  will  have  to 
leave  Kashmir  unless  you  take  better  care  of  yourself." 

But  probably  the  chief  explanation  of  her  sustained  health 
was  that  she  no  longer  lived  in  the  draughty  and  ruinous 
Barracks,  at  a  distance  of  over  an  hour's  journey  from  the 
city,  which  involved  an  exhausting  day  of  continuous  labour. 
Holton  Cottage  is  a  cosy  house,  well  built  in  English  style, 
and  stands  in  a  plot  granted  to  the  mission  by  the  Maharaja 
on  the  Sheikh  Bagh,  a  pleasant  meadow  planted  with  fruit- 
trees,  and  skirted  by  the  Jhelum.  A  sketch  of  Irene's  done 
there  the  following  spring  shows  the  sharp  tip  of  Haramuk 
dazzlingly  white  through  a  mist  of  soft  green  and  snoN\7 
blossom  in  the  orchard,  a  combination  of  the  grandeur  of  the 
Alps  with  the  charm  of  an  English  April.  She  was  now  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  Munshi  Bagh,  and  only  four 
hundred  yards  from  the  city;  and  her  move  from  the 
Barracks  was  a  move  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  extremity 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  225 

of  the  European  quarter,  which  lies  along  the  Jhelum  between 
the  Takht  and  the  first  of  the  city  bridges. 

Of  all  her  abodes  in  India  "dear  Holton  Cottage,"  as 
she  often  calls  it,  the  one  she  was  in  longest,  exactly  a 
year  in  all,  became  most  truly  a  home  to  her ;  and  the  happy 
effects  of  residence  there  upon  her  health  and  spirits  are  to 
be  traced  in  her  letters.  She  was  persuaded  to  return  to  a 
midday  lunch,  and  to  rest  occasionally ;  and  "  the  many 
comforts  of  this  sweet  home,"  to  which  she  gratefully  refers, 
included  perfectly  congenial  companionship  with  friends  "  who 
become  kinder  and  dearer  every  week,"  and  an  enjoyment 
of  their  two  children,  who  were  not  much  older  than  her  own 
nephews,  echoed  in  one  of  her  latest  letters,  where  she  says . 
"  Small  boys  are  quite  the  nicest  things  in  the  world." 

She  needed  all  her  strength  that  winter  for  carrying  on 
the  whole  of  the  zenana  work,  now  rapidly  growing,  for,  as 
Miss  Hull,  on  leaving  Srinagar,  wrote  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  C.E.Z.M.S.  in  December,  1895  :  "A  greater  number 
of  houses  have  been  visited  than  in  any  previous  year ;  and 
a  reverent  and  earnest  attention  is  paid  to  the  Bible  lessons, 
which  has  been  very  encouraging."  Miss  Ada  Barclay, 
an  artist  who  had  come  to  Kashmir  to  paint,  occasionally 
volunteered  help  with  pupils  who  knew  English ;  otherwise, 
Irene  was  alone  in  the  visiting.  During  the  four  months 
of  Miss  Hull's  absence  she  rose  nobly  to  this  responsibility, 
finding  time,  now  that  she  had  passed  in  Urdu,  for  an  hour' 
Kashmiri  in  the  morning,  and  an  hour's  Hindi  in  the  evening 
as  well. 

In  her  annual  letter  of  December,  1895,  to  the  C.M.S. 
headquarters  she  says : — 

"Among  the  pupila  themselves  there  are  the  difficulties, 
known  to  all  teachers,  of  hearts  that  resemble  the  hard,  the 
shallow,  and  the  choked  soil  in  which  the  good  seed  could 
not  bring  fruit  to  perfection.     But  if  there  are  some  who 

IS 


226  IRENE    PETRIE 

are  indifferent,  or  unpersevering,  or  distracted  with  other  things, 
there  are  many  whom  it  is  always  delightful  to  teach.  Among 
encouragements  may  be  noted  the  welcome  given  in  an  ever- 
increasing  number  of  houses  to  the  Miss  Sahibs,  and  that 
not  merely  from  the  desire  for  an  amusing  break  in  the 
monotony  of  their  lives,  or  even  from  a  wish  to  learn  some 
kind  of  work,  but  from  a  real  willingness  to  study,  and  in 
many  cases  to  put  honest  effort  into  the  learning.  The 
lessons  in  reading  and  work  are,  of  course,  only  means  to 
an  end ;  and  signs  are  not  wanting  that  among  the  pupils 
some  are  grasping  the  thought  of  a  God  of  Love,  and 
beginning  to  look  to  Christ  as  their  own  Saviour,  not  only 
in  their  troubles,  but  also  from  their  sins,  of  which  there 
seems  often  to  be  a  real  sense.  Some  have  learned  to 
pray  to  Christ,  and  to  look  to  Him  for  answer  to  their 
prayer;  others,  who  have  been  too  bigoted  in  their  old 
beliefs  to  listen  without  making  some  opposition,  have  ex- 
pressed real  gratitude  on  hearing  that  we  are  in  the  habit 
of  praying  for  them. 

"As  to  needs  for  the  work,  the  minor  ones  have  in  large 
measure  been  supplied  by  the  kindness  of  personal  friends 
in  England,  who  have  enabled  us  to  give  many  acceptable 
little  gifts,  such  as  bags  for  books  and  work,  leaflets,  texts, 
work  materials,  and  dolls  for  rewards.  The  great  need  which 
we  feel  more  and  more  is,  of  course,  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  we  ask  friends  to  pray  that  this  may  be  given 
abundantly  to  both  teachers  and  taught  in  this  place." 

Here  are  one  or  two  dated  extracts  from  subsequent  letters  : — 

January  nth,  1896:  "It  is  wonderful  to  think  of  the 
change  here  since  the  days  when  it  was  a  concession  to 
allow  the  ladies  to  teach  even  knitting;  and  when,  that 
learned,  the  pupils  cared  for  no  more  visits." 

February  7th :  "  Seven  pupils  are  now  reading  as  well  as 
hearing  the    Bible  lessons,    five   in   Hindi ;  and   as  one  gets 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  227 

more  into  their  speech,  the  little  talks  we  have  become  more 
and  more  interesting.  It  is  so  delightful  when  they  take  up 
the  lesson  and  give  it  back  in  different  words,  showing  that 
the  idea  is  grasped." 

February  T4th  :  "There  has  been  so  much  illness  lately 
that  I  am  like  a  walking  druggist's  shop." 

March  28th  :  "  There  have  been  some  specially  interesting 
fresh  openings  among  the  zenanas,  and  in  every  case  the 
proposal  of  Bible  teaching,  which  one  always  makes  on  a 
first  visit,  has  been  warmly  welcomed,  and  the  lessons  have 
been  reverently  and  often  eagerly  listened  to.  You  can  guess 
the  feeling  of  responsibility  when  one  begins  at  the  very 
beginning  with  those  who  have  never  had  Christian  teaching 
before.  One  could  not  dare  to  go  without  recollecting  the 
promises  of  the  Holy  Spirit's  aid.  John  iii.  16,  Luke  xv.  3-7, 
and  John  x.  11,  always  seem  to  help  most  then,  and  one  goes 
to  Phil.  ii.  6-10  again  and  again  a  little  further  on  to  sum 
up  the  lessons  from  the  Gospel.  The  Love  and  Holiness 
of  God  are  the  ideas  one  longs  for  them  to  grasp  first." 

In  March  Irene  added  another  undertaking  to  her  already 
heavy  burden  of  work  in  Miss  Hull's  absence.  Their  old 
quarters  in  the  Barracks  had  been  condemned  as  actually 
unsafe,  so  a  new  C.E.Z.M.S.  house  was  being  built  on  the 
Sheikh  Bagh  as  a  **  twin  "  to  Holton  Cottage,  and  Irene  was 
preparing  it  for  its  occupants.  As  their  return  approached, 
we  find  her  living  in  a  constant  nightmare  of  yard  measures 
and  pages  of  dimensions,  sitting  up  far  into  the  night  writing 
to  Bombay  for  hardware,  to  Calcutta  for  draperies,  to  Cawn- 
pore  for  blinds,  to  Lahore  for  groceries,  to  the  Hills  for  tea, 
etc.,  etc.,  and  hardly  able  to  get  off  to  her  visiting  in  the 
morning,  being  waylaid  with  inquiries  and  petitions  from 
all  sorts  of  people.  That  someone  should  superintend  was 
essential,  for  just  as  a  Kashmiri  domestic  will  dust  a  room 
before   sweeping  it,    a  Kashmiri   builder   will   stain  the  floor 


228  IRENE    PETRIE 

before  he  distempers  the  walls.  Incidentally  her  account  book 
shows  how  liberally  she  contributed  to  the  plenishing  of  this 
house,  in  which  she  was  to  live  herself  for  scarcely  six  months. 

She  was  also  busy  in  organising  a  choir  of  eighteen  for 
the  Easter  services  in  the  English  church,  not  only  to  render 
them  as  attractive  as  possible  to  the  residents,  but  to  create 
an  inducement  for  regular  church-going  to  the  choir  itself, 
which  largely  consisted  of  young  telegraph  clerks.  "  After 
Easter,  if  the  chaplain  and  other  summer  visitors  wish  to 
take  over  the  charge  of  the  music,  they  can  easily  do  so,  and 
I  shall  be  set  free  for  something  else,"  she  writes.  Which 
was  exactly  what  happened,  and  so  the  choir  became  a 
permanent  institution.  She  had  always  been  an  adept  at 
discovering  work  that  no  one  else  was  doing,  and  passing  it 
on  to  others  when  its  need  and  value  had  been  recognised. 

None  of  these  things,  however,  interrupted  her  regular  routine 
of  zenana  visiting,  and  we  can  well  believe  that  she  was  ready 
for  a  brief  Eastertide  outing  on  the  Wular  Lake  with  the 
C.M.S.  School.  Reserving  particulars  of  that  for  the  next 
chapter,  we  may  here  complete  the  story  of  zenana  work  up 
to  August,  1896. 

Irene  had  planned  to  be  in  Srinagar  to  welcome  Miss  Hull 
to  the  newly  furnished  house ;  but  got  back  from  the  Wular 
on  April  i8th  to  find  that  Miss  Hull  had  returned  before 
she  was  expected,  and  was  already  in  possession  of  it.  With 
her  were  two  more  C.E.Z.  ladies  and  a  group  of  converts 
from  the  Hazara.  Miss  Coverdale  had  come  to  make  her 
third  brave  attempt  at  work  in  Srinagar  (see  pp.  58  and  128) ; 
and  Miss  Pryce-Browne,  who  had  left  England  in  October,  1895, 
and  divided  the  winter  between  Amritsar  and  the  Hazara, 
arrived  in  Kashmir  as  the  station  to  which  she  had  originally 
been  assigned.  The  party  was  completed  in  June  by  Miss 
Howatson,  who  had  just  become  a  C.E.Z.  missionary  in 
local  connexion.     She  formed  a  school  for  Punjabi  girls  near 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  229 

the  Amira  Kadal  Bridge,  "whose  bright  little  pupils  soon 
became  very  fond  of  their  teacher,  and  bid  fair  to  overflow 
their  cheery  schoolroom."  "We  are  quite  a  strong  band  of 
workers,"  Miss  Hull  wrote  joyfully  in  May ;  but  there  was 
more  than  enough  for  each  to  do.  Unhappily,  Miss  Coverdale's 
health  again  failed,  and  it  was  not  until  November  that 
she  was  able  to  take  part  in  the  work.  By  that  time 
Miss  Pryce-Browne  had  been  invalided  home. 

We  must  go  back  some  years  for  the  story  of  Miss  Hull's 
native  following.  The  Hazara  forms  the  northern  extremity 
of  the  Punjab,  and  its  chief  city,  Haripur,  lies  over  a  hundred 
miles  due  west  of  Srinagar.  In  1882  a  Pathan  policeman 
named  Sayad  UUah  Khan,  heard  Mr.  Knowles,  who  had 
not  yet  joined  the  Kashmir  Mission,  preaching  there.  Later 
on  he  heard  similar  preaching  from  Major  Battye,  of  the 
5th  Goorkas;  and  having  long  felt  the  burden  of  sin,  and 
finding  no  peace  from  the  Koran,  he  sought  out  the  missionary 
and  the  officer  for  further  instruction,  and  at  last  followed 
Mr.  Knowles  into  Kashmir,  a  rough  journey  of  some  hundred 
and  sixty  miles,  and  asked  for  baptism.  On  May  13th,  18S3, 
he  was  admitted  into  the  Church.  He  had  had  to  abandon 
his  village  and  all  his  possessions,  and  so  bitter  were  his  own 
relatives  against  him  that  his  father  beat  him  unmercifully 
as  he  lay  fever-stricken  and  helpless  in  bed.  His  wife,  whom 
he  brought  away  with  great  difficulty,  was  baptised  in 
September,  1883,  and  three  more  of  his  relatives  in  1884. 
In  successive  C.M.S.  annual  reports  one  meets  him  again 
and  again,  as  dresser  and  then  assistant  house-surgeon  at  the 
hospital.  In  1 891,  to  the  sorrow  and  utter  astonishment  of 
the  missionaries,  after  actually  preaching  Christ  in  their  com- 
pany, he  lapsed  to  Mohammedanism.  They  prayed  for  him 
with  unwearied  persistency,  but  heard  no  more  till  Miss  Hull 
found  him,  four  years  later,  when  itinerating  round  Haripur. 
Enemies  had  intercepted  his  letters  to  Srinagar,  but  he  warmly 


230  IRENE    PETRIE 

welcomed  her  into  his  house,  and  she  found  that  he  had  long 
since  repented  of  his  apostasy,  and  had  preached  among  his 
Pathan  countrymen  with  such  effect  that  several  of  them 
were  anxious  for  baptism. 

"So,"  says  Irene,  "Miss  Hull  has  brought  a  family  of 
Pathans  with  her,  and  has  been  settling  them  in  a  set  of 
nice  back  premises  in  our  compound.  Three  enter  our 
service,  two  are  to  be  trained  for  work  at  the  hospital. 
At  the  end  of  his  visit  to  us  Sayad  Ullah  himself  is  to  go 
itinerating  with  Dr.  Neve,  and  then  return  to  his  house 
at  Mansahra,  nearly  thirty  miles  north  of  Haripur,  where,  as 
he  is  a  man  of  considerable  property,  we  hope  he  will  be  a 
great  help  to  the  infant  Church.  .  .  .  Sunday,  April  26th,  was 
an  eventful  day  in  the  Indian  Christian  Church  here.  Miss 
Hull's  whole  family  of  Pathans,  four  men,  two  women,  and 
a  two-year-old  child,  were  baptised.  It  was  a  specially  happy 
occasion  for  Mr.  Knowles,  as  they  had  been  won  by  Sayad 
Ullah,  the  first  whom  he  baptised  here.  Miss  Hull  had 
clothed  them  all  in  white,  and  they  looked  such  a  fine, 
strong  set." 

One  has  since  died  in  the  faith ;  but  Sayad  Ullah,  the 
following  autumn,  once  more  apostatised,  under  threat  of 
immediate  death.  Our  last  glimpse  of  him  is  in  Mr.  Greene's 
annual  letter,  March  5th,  1897  :  "  I  had  been  requested  to  call 
at  Mansahra  to  visit  a  Christian,  who  recanted  publicly  some 
five  years  ago,  and  had  been  received  back  into  the  Church 
about  five  months.  We  discovered  that  he  was  still  professing 
in  his  town  to  be  a  Mohammedan,  but  was  induced  to  confess 
faith  in  Christ  before  some  six  hundred  townspeople  and 
eleven  maulvis.  He  was  publicly  denounced  as  a  kafir,  and 
within  five  days  he  had  again  recanted  to  Mohammedanism." 
This  straightforward  record  of  the  falling  away  of  a  man  who 
had  not  only  laboured  but  suffered  for  Christ,  and  seemed 
to  be  a  sincere  Christian  during  eight  years,  takes   us  back 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  231 

from  our  easy-going  Western  Christianity  to  primitive  times, 
and  emphasises  words  of  our  Lord  and  of  St.  Paul  which 
we  sometimes  hear  without  heeding. 

Irene  had  at  this  time  about  fifty  regular  zenana  pupils,  and 
the  work  extended  steadily.  Early  in  June  she  writes  :  *'  In 
a  new  house  to  which  some  children  pupils  conducted  me 
there  was  a  very  nice  group,  eager  to  learn.  One  passed  on 
the  whole  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son  in  broad  Punjabi  to 
another,  and  it  was  evidently  very  fresh  and  very  welcome 
to  all."  At  the  end  of  May  the  one  Canadian  telegram  that 
reached  Kashmir  during  1896  announced  to  her  the  birth 
of  a  second  nephew  in  Montreal.  "  Everybody  here,  British 
friends,  servants,  native  Christians,  were  so  kind  and  pleased 
at  my  good  news,"  she  writes,  "and  all  through  the  week 
it  has  been  quite  an  excitement  among  the  zenana  pupils. 
I  hear  one  passing  on  the  news  to  another  in  various  forms 
of  Hindustani,  Punjabi,  and  Kashmiri.  '  May  God  give  her 
seventy  sons,  and  may  they  live  lakhs  of  years  ! '  are  some  of 
the  kind  and  comprehensive  wishes  expressed."  The  incident 
shows  not  only  that  growing  regard  for  Irene  was  bound  up 
with  the  fruitfulness  of  her  work,  but  that  a  common  sense 
of  the  ties  of  blood  helped  to  interpret  to  her  pupils  the  life 
and  mind  of  one  so  strangely  different  from  themselves. 

In  spite  of  its  elevation  of  5,200  feet  above  the  sea,  Srinagai 
is  not  only  hot  but  malarious  during  July  and  August,  as  the 
moisture  given  off  by  lakes  and  marshes  and  inundated  paddy 
fields  recondenses  on  the  mountain-sides  like  steam  in  a  cup, 
making  the  air  heavy  and  relaxing.  Irene,  more  and  more 
immersed  in  her  work,  stayed  on  after  the  heat  had  dispersed 
most  of  the  residents  in  Srinagar,  and  seems  only  to  have 
yielded  to  a  strong  letter  written  to  her  by  Dr.  Neve 
on  July  2nd,  in  planning  for  two  little  outings.  From 
July  1 6th  to  31st  she  was  in  the  Sind  Valley  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.   Knowles  and  their  little  daughter  Winifred,    "  a   great 


232  IRENE    PETRIE 

ally  "  of  hers.  One  cannot  linger  over  her  description  of  the 
girdle  of  snow-peaks,  of  the  many  processions  of  yaks,  led 
by  fur-clad  Tibetans,  or  the  one  procession  of  "American 
tourists,  rather  a  rare  species  here,  whose  diamond  rings 
and  long  train  of  new  boxes  looked  a  little  incongruous." 
From  August  7th  to  i8th  she  enjoyed  some  of  the  most 
glorious  views  in  the  world  at  Nil-Nag,  near  Islamabad,  a 
day's  journey  south  of  Srinagar,  where  a  pretty  little  lake  lies 
on  the  borders  of  the  vast  pine-forest  clothing  the  Pir  Punjal. 
Here  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  whose  husband  had  started  for 
Leh  on  May  29th,  was  her  companion,  and  here  she  wrote  an 
Indian  tale,  entitled  An  Old  Padlock. 

The  following  further  sketches  of  Irene's  pupils  are  gathered 
from  the  letters  of  her  second  and  third  winter  in  Srinagar,  and 
pass,  as  in  Chapter  VIII.,  from  Hindus  to  Mohammedans. 

The  first  two  portraits  illustrate  Dr.  Gust's  assertion  at  the 
meeting  of  the  British  Association  in  1895,  that  there  are 
many  fellow-subjects  of  ours  in  India  with  whom  it  is  possible 
to  form  acquaintances  and  friendships  based  on  mutual 
respect,  and  to  associate  on  the  same  terms  as  with  one's 
own  countrymen.  They  also  show  how  absurd  it  is  to  say 
that  we  may  as  well  leave  the  peoples  of  India  undisturbed  in 
the  historic  religions  that  they  have  accepted  for  centuries. 
Education  in  Europe  involves  the  loss  of  caste ;  few  who  lose 
it  thus  care  to  undergo  the  six  months  of  repulsive  penances 
by  which  alone  they  can  regain  it  on  return  to  India,  and  so 
an  ever-increasing  number  of  the  ablest  men  in  India  become 
technically  outcasts,  cease  to  believe  in  Hinduism,  and  are 
either  agnostics  or  members  of  the  Brahma-Samaj  community 
started  by  Rammohun  Roy  and  developed  by  Keshub  Chunder 
Sen,  which  endeavours  to  combine  into  a  Theistic  creed  selec- 
tions from  the  Vedas,  the  Christian  Scriptures,  and  various 
philosophical  systems  of  the  East  and  of  the  West. 

In    a    handsome    house    outside    Srinagar,    furnished    in 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  333 

European  style,  lived  the  one  pupil  who  knew  English  really 
well  and  had  a  drawing-room.  She  belonged  to  a  family  well 
known  in  Calcutta,  and  her  brother  was  studying  in  London. 
Her  husband,  a  wealthy  Bengali,  occupied  a  high  official 
position  in  Kashmir ;  and  he,  too,  had  been  educated  in 
London.  "  Dear  Mrs.  X.,"  as  Irene  often  calls  her,  undertook 
a  systematic  study  of  the  Gospels,  in  which  her  husband  joined. 
"  I  do  so  want  to  read  the  whole  Bible,"  she  said  one  day  to 
her  teacher,  when  they  met  with  an  Old  Testament  reference. 
"  Could  you  not  come  oftener  ?  "  In  graceful  acknowledgment 
of  Irene's  instruction  she  sent  an  exquisite  little  goblet  of  silver 
repouss'e  work  to  her  Canadian  nephew  on  his  birthday ;  and 
a  few  words  from  her  letter  of  condolence  to  Irene's  sister 
may  be  quoted :  "  I  often  sit  down  to  write  to  you,  but 
my  heart  feels  so  heavy  and  sore  that  I  have  to  put  it  off. 
I  cannot  think  of  the  loss  of  my  dear  friend  Miss  Petrie 
without  pain.  She  was  such  a  dear  and  affectionate  friend ; 
her  last  good-bye  to  me  is  still  in  my  mind." 

Close  to  this  pupil,  in  another  pretty,  luxurious  house  of 
European  style,  lived  another  rich  Bengali,  educated  at 
Edinburgh.  A  sentry  stationed  in  his  hall  showed  that  he 
held  an  important  State  appointment.  In  deference  to  the 
Maharaja's  wishes  his  wife  was  in  semi-purdah,  but  wore 
the  Brahma-Samaj  dress,  which  is  half  European  and  half 
Oriental.  Her  father  had  been  a  leading  member  of  the 
Brihma-Samij  in  Calcutta,  and  both  she  and  her  husband 
belonged  to  it.  She  also  knew  English,  and  read  our 
literature  diligently  with  dictionary  and  notebook ;  dressed 
her  little  daughter  like  an  English  child,  and  gave  her  an 
English  schoolroom.  This  advanced  lady  welcomed  Irene 
most  warmly  on  her  return  to  Srinagar,  and  had  many  a 
long  and  serious  talk  with  her.  One  day  she  was  found 
studying  a  ten-volumed  work  of  Voysey's,  mistaking  a  treatise 
hostile  to  our  faith  for  a  standard  exposition  of  Christianity, 


234  IRENE    PETRIE 

because  its  author  had  once  been  a  clergyman.  An  aggressive 
English  Unitarian  had  placed  this  in  the  public  library. 

Every  year  secular  education  is  producing  in  India  more 
Hindus  instructed  in  Western  lore ;  they  sometimes  meet  the 
Christian  teacher  with  the  arguments  of  European  infidels, 
from  whose  writings  they  derive  their  whole  knowledge  of 
the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ,  imagining  that  they  have 
weighed  it  as  well  as  their  own  ancient  religions  in  the 
balance,  and  found  them  alike  wanting ;  sometimes  they 
are  intellectually  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  but 
without  either  repentance  or  faith,  offering,  like  Alexander 
Severus  of  old,  to  build  a  temple  to  Christ,  and  enrol  Him 
among  the  gods,  but  refusing  to  acknowledge  Him  as  their 
"  Master  and  only  Saviour."  "  My  head  may  be  convinced 
by  the  Christians'  arguments,  but  my  heart  is  not  touched, 
is  in  effect  the  profession  of  many  who  know  much  and 
yet  declare  that  they  are  not  Christians.  And  then,"  says 
Irene,  "  one  feels  the  impotence  of  all,  without  the  work  of 
the  life-giving  Spirit.     We  do  want  a  Pentecost  in  Kashmir." 

Turning  now  to  those  actually  Hindus,  and  as  such 
opposed  to  Christianity,  one  finds  them  less  bitterly  hostile 
than  the  Moslems.  As  a  rule,  idols  are  not  very  apparent 
in  the  zenanas,  and  as  puja  is  performed  quietly  in  the  early 
morning,  the  visitor  sees  little  of  idolatrous  rites.  But  idolatry 
is  there. 

The  wife  of  a  Punjabi  ofificial,  a  tall  woman  with  a  fine, 
open  brow  and  handsome  face,  well  set  off  by  her  crimson 
chaddar,  had  a  bonnie  little  girl  about  ten  years  old,  named 
Parbuti.  She  took  her  one  day  to  a  neighbour's  house, 
where  a  small  pupil  was  reading  an  imperfectly  prepared 
lesson  to  Miss  Hull.  "  Beat  her,  and  she  will  soon  learn," 
suggested  Parbuti's  mother.  "  No ;  I  am  trying  another  way. 
Love  her,  and  she  will  soon  learn,"  was  the  reply.  "She 
teaches  by  love ;  teach  my  little  girl  also,"  said  the  astonished 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SK.INAGAR  235 

mother;  and  in  Parbuti  Irene  had  a  pupil  so  attentive  that 
she  soon  earned  an  Enghsh  doll  as  a  prize  for  Hindi 
reading.  She  worked  hard  for  it,  because  she  wished  to 
give  it  away  to  her  elder  sister,  who  was  bewailing  her 
young  husband,  and  kind-hearted  Parbuti  thought  the  doll 
would  be  a  comfort  to  her  and  her  fatherless  baby  girl. 
And  the  mother  begged  Irene  to  send  her  widowed  daughter 
"  the  Lord's  Book,"  saying,  "  It  will  comfort  her."  Irene  had 
taught  them  for  some  time  and  found  them  most  responsive, 
when  the  following  incident  came  upon  her  as  a  shock.  They 
were  reading  the  first  chapter  of  St.  Mark,  and  having  a 
lesson  on  prayer.  "  Do  you  pray  ? "  "  Oh  yes,  we  pray  to 
Parmeshwar  "  (Hindu  name  for  the  Great  God).  "  There  is  our 
prayer "  (pointing  to  an  invocation  on  the  wall),  "  and  here  is 
his  picture."  So  saying,  they  produced  a  hideous  daub  of  a 
monster  from  the  box  containing  their  treasures,  and  salaamed 
to  it.  What  prolonged,  patient  effort  it  must  take  to  eradicate 
such  an  idea  of  God  ! 

One  day  a  visitor  at  this  house  asked  Irene  to  teach  her 
also.  "She  took  a  lesson,"  says  Irene,  "then  and  there,  and 
I  gave  her  a  first  Hindi  reader,  and  called  at  her  house  a  few 
days  later.  We  could  get  no  answer  at  all,  and  supposed  every- 
one was  out;  but  it  was  explained  when  we  next  went  to 
see  Parbuti's  mother.  Her  friend's  husband  had  been  very 
angry  about  his  wife's  request,  declared  he  would  not  have 
her  learn  about  Jesus  Christ,  and  tore  her  reading-book 
to  shreds  lest  it  should  contain  Christian  teaching." 

Again,  some  Kashmiris,  whom  she  had  hoped  for  as  pupils, 
returned  their  reading-books,  fearing  they  might  provoke 
their  husbands  to  beat  them. 

The  following  sketch  brings  out  the  reward  of  perseverance, 
m  spite  of  such  opposition.  In  March,  1896,  a  winsome  little 
Kashmiri  girl,  with  her  small  brother,  sat  on  the  threshold 
of  a  pupil's  house  and  overheard  part  of  the  lesson.     Presently 


236  IRENE    PETRIE 

Irene  came  out,  and  having  forgotten  to  call  her  boatman, 
was  retracing  her  steps  in  search  of  him,  regretting  the  time 
thus  lost.  But  what  seemed  a  mistake  was  an  over-ruling. 
The  child,  perceiving  that  the  "  Niki  Mem  "  was  going  towards 
her  own  home,  darted  after  her,  took  her  by  the  cloak,  and 
drew  her  past  the  temple,  with  its  sound  of  mumbled  prayers 
and  group  of  disreputable  faqirs,  into  a  large  Kashmiri  house, 
of  the  sort  that  the  missionaries  had  fewest  and  wanted  most 
of.  It  proved  to  be  the  priest's  own  house;  and  here  she 
found  an  eager  group,  many  of  whom  seemed  really  to  wish 
to  learn,  as  they  squatted  round  her  on  the  mud  floor,  all 
chattering  Kashmiri.  Of  her  second  visit  she  writes :  "  The  priest 
himself  was  there,  and  had  confiscated  all  the  girls'  books, 
because,  he  said,  it  was  not  their  custom  for  the  girls  to  read ; 
they  must  spin  and  pound  the  rice.  I  felt  rather  baffled,  but 
began  to  teach  a  little  Punjabi  guest,  who  had  a  book;  and 
meanwhile  the  old  mother  gave  the  priest  such  a  scolding 
for  not  appreciating  the  Miss  Sahib's  visits,  that  the  books 
were  produced,  and  one  girl  at  a  time  came  to  read,  the 
others  pounding  the  rice  with  much  ostentation  close  by. 
A  bhajan  made  them  all  suddenly  silent,  and  I  was  allowed 
to  give  to  a  quiet,  respectful  audience  a  Bible  lesson  on  the 
One  True  God  creating  the  world.  When  I  asked  if  they 
wanted  me  to  come  again,  the  four  pupils  were  eager  in 
assenting."  She  went  again,  and  found  mother  and  wife 
ready  to  listen,  the  priest  looking  as  black  as  a  thunder- 
cloud all  the  time.  A  week  or  two  later  he  was  out;  the 
ladies  freely  expressed  their  pleasure  in  her  visits,  and  one 
rendered  the  whole  lesson  from  her  "stiff  and  halting 
Kashmiri"  into  fluent  colloquial  for  the  benefit  of  a  visitor. 
By  October,  1896,  she  joyfully  reports:  "The  Kashmiri 
priest's  house  has  become  one  of  the  nicest  of  alL  The 
women  give  a  wonderfully  hearty  welcome,  and  three  are 
learning   to   read,   which    represents   a  good   break-down   of 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  237 

prejudice  since  the  time  when  the  priest  confiscated  their 
books  and  scowled  at  me.  The  old  mother  is  such  an 
earnest  listener  to  the  Bible  lesson,  keeps  the  babies  in 
order,  repeats  emphatically  what  she  approves,  and,  by  the 
way,  calls  me  her  mother.'"  They  made  Irene  a  real  Kashmiri 
doll  as  a  token  of  affection.  The  latest  record  of  this  house, 
just  seven  months  after  the  first  visit  to  it,  is  as  follows: 
"Prejudice  has  broken  down,  the  priest,  though  he  still  looks 
a  little  sulky,  now  prompts  his  womenkind  in  their  lessons, 
and  they  really  drink  in  the  Bible  teaching."  The  old  mother 
called  down  blessings  every  time,  not  only  on  Irene  but  on 
her  sister  and  her  nephews. 

Another  most  attentive  and  affectionate  pupil  was  the  wife 
of  a  Dogra  priest,  court  chaplain  and  representative  of  the 
State  religion  at  the  Maharaja's  own  temple,  whose  massive  gilt 
dome  rises  beside  the  palace.  Nowhere  had  Irene  a  gladder 
welcome  or  greater  freedom  of  speech.  The  priest  came 
in  and  assented,  and  when  she  left,  politely  escorted  her 
through  the  courtyard  and  gateways  to  her  own  servants 
on  the  ghat.  His  wife  was  able  to  read  the  Gospels  for 
herself  in  Hindi  when  they  left  for  the  Punjab ;  and  as  she 
studied  John  xiv.  with  Irene  before  departing,  she  said 
earnestly,  "Please  pray  often  for  me." 

A  group  of  pilgrims  from  the  almost  unknown  land  of  Nepal 
were  also  most  receptive  hearers. 

One  has  heard  of  husbands  desiring  that  their  wives  should 
be  taught  by  zenana  missionaries.  Irene  met  with  a  yet  more 
striking  request  in  July,  1896.  "While  I  was  teaching  in  a 
Kashmiri  house  where  about  twelve  women  came  to  listen," 
she  says,  "  an  educated  man  joined  the  audience,  and  passed 
on  what  I  said  in  good  colloquial  Kashmiri  to  those  farthest 
off,  assenting  to  it  all.  He  then  told  me  that  he  was  the 
master  of  one  of  the  State  schools  close  by,  and  invited  me 
to  go  and  give  his  boys  a  Bible  lesson." 


238  IRENE    PETRIE 

In  December,  1895,  ^  father  waylaid  Irene,  asking  that 
his  daughter  might  be  taught.  She  found,  in  a  well-to-do 
Sikh  house,  a  motherless  boy  and  girl.  The  girl  became  a 
very  bright  and  charming  pupil ;  and  her  brother,  who  attended 
the  State  school,  always  tried  to  be  in  when  Irene  was  there, 
and  expected  to  have  dictated  to  him  a  text  gathering  up 
the  Bible  lesson.  He  and  his  sister  then  learned  it  during 
the  week.  She  had  other  boy  friends  in  the  zenanas  who 
listened  to  the  lessons  given  to  their  mothers  and  sisters. 

More  and  more  she  desired  to  get  at  the  Kashmiris,  espe- 
cially the  shy  and  conservative  punditanis ;  for,  untaught  as 
they  are,  the  women  of  this  class,  whence  the  Mission  School 
is  mainly  recruited,  are  as  clever  as  the  men,  and  already 
there  are  evidences  of  what  education  may  do  for  them. 
One  punditani,  a  dear,  gentle  little  thing,  who  brought  a 
dali  of  rosy  apples  and  sugar,  and  fetched  an  umbrella  for 
her  teacher  when  it  came  on  to  rain,  paid,  at  Irene's  sug- 
gestion, a  private  visit  to  the  hospital,  where  her  poor  ears, 
torn  through  with  heavy  earrings,  were  successfully  made 
whole  again. 

The  concluding  Hindu  sketches  shall  be  of  four  ladies  of 
quality,  who  were  especially  responsive  pupils. 

A  Gore  Brahman  of  the  highest  caste  of  all  was  a  bright 
pupil  reading  Hindi,  who  listened  at  Christmas,  1894,  as 
willingly  as  the  Mohammedans  listened  unwillingly  to  the 
story  of  the  Incarnation.  In  February  a  letter  came  from 
her  husband,  who  was  at  the  Palace,  begging  for  a  doctor 
and  a  visit.  Miss  Newnham  went  at  once,  and  Irene  also 
rode  off  to  her  distant  dwelling,  to  find  her  terribly  weak 
and  suffering.  At  her  request  she  read  aloud  the  story  ot 
the  Crucifixion  from  St.  John's  Gospel,  and  most  eagerly  did 
one,  who  had  heard  the  Name  of  Christ  for  the  first  time 
only  a  few  months  before,  follow  the  story  of  His  Passion 
and   cry   to   Him   to   help  her.      When    Irene    returned  iu 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  239 

October,  1895,  she  introduced  a  new  little  son,  and  listened 
as  gladly  as  ever  to  the  Bible. 

"  A  friend  of  hers,  another  charming,  high-caste  lady,  told  me," 
says  Irene,  "  that  she  was  my  sister  in  faith.  One  day  we  talked 
of  prayer,  and  she  said,  *  I  pray  daily  to  Christ ;  but  He  has 
not  answered  my  prayer,  for  He  has  taken  away  all  my  four 
children,  and  He  does  not  grant  me  another  child.'  She 
is  one  of  our  dearest  pupils ;  and  I  tried  to  tell  her  of  a  Love 
that  knows  best,  and  of  prayers  heard,  though  not  answered 
at  once,  or  in  our  way,  and  of  the  little  ones  in  His  care. 
How  could  one  believe,  beside  that  poor  mother,  that  unless 
they  are  baptised  Christians  there  would  be  no  future  hope 
for  that  beautiful  earthly  love?  Such  are  some  of  the  deep 
and  difficult  problems  of  life  and  death  that  come  up  in  our 
teaching." 

Another  most  eager  listener  was  a  dear  little  woman  with 
one  small  boy,  who  came  all  the  way  from  the  city  to  visit 
Miss  Hull,  then  out  of  health,  just  three  days  before  the  birth 
of  a  little  daughter.  The  next  news  was  of  her  serious  illness. 
Her  husband  tended  her  most  carefully,  allowed  Dr.  Neve 
to  see  her,  and  spoke  most  gratefully  afterwards  of  "the 
goodness  of  God  and  of  the  merciful  doctor  sahib."  He 
kept  her  New  Testament  at  his  office  to  read  himself;  and 
after  a  lesson  about  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  wife  said  earnestly, 
"  Then  He  will  really  come,  and  always  be  with  us  and  help 
us,  night  and  day." 

A  rais  who  had  been  educated  in  the  Delhi  Mission  School 
invited  Irene  to  instruct  his  wife  in  the  Scriptures,  saying,  "  I 
have  a  Bible  of  my  own."  During  two  months  she  took  her 
through  a  course  of  instruction  following  the  lines  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed,  and  then,  as  her  pupil  was  leaving  Srinagar,  went 
by  invitation  to  say  farewell.  "She  and  her  husband  gave  me," 
she  says,  "  a  little  ruby  and  pearl  ring  as  a  token  of  friendship 
and  remembrance.     He  said  so  prettily  :  *  We  know  we  cannot 


240  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  must  not  give  you  anything  for  teaching  her ;  but  this  is 
only  for  friendship.  I  shall  not  be  poor,  and  you  will  not  be  rich 
if  you  take  it ;  but  we  want  you  to  remember  her  by  it.'  He 
also  promised  to  read  the  Gospels  aloud  to  her  in  the  evenings." 
Six  months  later  she  returned,  and  so  far  from  having 
forgotten  the  teaching,  had  been  writing  out  all  her  lessons 
during  her  absence.  She  begged  for  two  lessons  a  week,  and 
though  a  grandmother,  set  to  work  to  learn  Hindi,  taking  the 
Hindi  Gospels  and  second  reading-book  away  with  her  the 
following  summer. 

Here  is  a  picture  of  some  very  different  experiences  among 
Mohammedans. 

"  My  pupils  are  mostly  painstaking,  and  really  interested — 
dear  things  ! — and  some  make  real  progress.  Sometimes  one 
has  one's  struggles  with  them  in  this  land  of  distractions  and 
interruptions.  Picture  one  of  to-day's  visits :  A  very  large 
house,  with  elaborately  painted  walls  and  ceilings,  and  a 
large  garden.  Groping  up  a  pitch  dark  staircase,  through 
a  *  knock-you-down '  odour,  one  reaches  a  big  room  with  a 
good  many  costly  things  in  it,  and  a  generally  pigsty  effect  of 
mess  and  squalor.  Here  sit  the  two  wives  of  a  rich  Mussulman, 
remarkably  beautiful  girls,  with  slender  figures  and  lustrous 
eyes,  loaded  with  many  pounds  of  jewelry,  their  hands  dirty, 
their  chaddars  draggled,  their  hair  in  scores  of  tiny  plaits. 
Last  week  they  were  preparing  vegetables  with  the  aid  of  an 
excessively  dirty  but  good-natured  old  woman,  who,  with  men- 
servants,  after  the  custom  of  a  native  house,  is  constantly 
bustling  backwards  and  forwards,  talking,  banging  doors,  and 
interrupting  the  mistresses  in  a  perfectly  inconsequent  way 
to  ask  for  keys  or  pice,  or  to  show  a  piece  of  raw  meat,  or  to 
make  the  room  more  untidy  than  it  was  before  by  tumbling 
in  a  lot  of  crumpled  bedding.  Presently  the  baby  wakes  up 
crying — poor  little  mortal !  The  pupil  has  torn  and  dirtied  her 
reading-book  almost  beyond  recognition ;  but  I  refuse  to  give 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  241 

her  a  new  one  without  payment,  which  is  counted  out  in 
minute  copper  coins.  Then  the  lesson  seems  to  be  com- 
pletely wiped  from  her  memory,  and  after  half  an  hour's 
pounding  at  two  lines  without  much  apparent  progress,  I  am 
obliged  further  to  refuse  her  the  knitting  lesson  she  really 
wanted,  promising  it  next  week,  however,  on  condition  of 
a  good  reading  lesson  being  ready.  By  the  time  I  am 
about  to  give  the  Bible  lesson  they  have  suddenly  decided 
that  it  is  a  cold  day,  and  that  their  cotton  garments  are  un- 
satisfactory. So  a  rout-out  of  their  wardrobes  follows,  and 
after  a  long  interval  they  rearray  themselves  in  figured  silk 
saris  and  pushmina  shawls,  and  then  try  and  cheer  their  poor, 
bare  feet  over  the  kangres,  which  have  to  be  re-filled,  or 
stirred,  or  blown,  whenever  there  is  no  other  excitement. 
Just  as  we  again  start  the  Bible  lesson  a  shouting  man  some- 
where below  disturbs  everything,  and  the  pupils  are  so 
inattentive  that  at  last  I  am  driven  to  an  awful  threat  kept 
only  for  rare  occasions.  '  Do  you  want  me  to  go,  and  never 
come  back?  There  are  too  many  attentive  pupils  to  leave 
any  time  for  inattentive  ones.'  All  the  indifference  vanishes 
now,  and  with  a  vehement  '  No  ! '  they  actually  settle  down 
at  last,  get  the  door  shut,  and  hsten  with  respect  and,  I  think, 
interest,  which  becomes  keen  when  I  begin  to  sing  the  hymn 
at  the  end.  That  they  are  determined  to  have,  so  I  save  it 
up  as  something  to  be  earned  by  hstening  well.  This  is 
rather  a  discouraging  sketch ;  but  the  house  is  a  new  one, 
and  I  look  forward  to  the  time  when  they  will  love  the  teaching 
for  its  own  sake,  as  so  many  have  learned  to  do.  And  there 
is  much  to  love  in  the  girls  themselves."  These  girls  may 
perhaps  be  identified  with  a  Mohammedan  babu's  "two 
wives  "  who  seemed,  on  another  occasion,  quite  terrified  when 
the  sound  of  his  step  was  heard ;  one  fled,  the  other  was 
roughly  scolded,  and  burst  into  a  fit  of  weeping. 

In  December,  1896,  Irene  writes:  "Yesterday  I  had  the 

16 


242  IRENE    PETRIE 

worst  experience  of  blasphemous  opposition  I  ever  knew.  A 
Pathan  visitor  stirred  up  my  pupils.  It  was  frightfully  sad, 
one  more  mstance  of  the  strength  of  evil  here,  especially 
in  that  awful  Mohammedan  system." 

We  may  compare  words  in  another  letter  of  that  winter, 
written  when  she  had  been  three  years  in  India:  "Acquaint- 
ance with  Mohammedanism  is  a  horrible  experience.  It  is 
truly  a  vile  thing.  I  wish  the  globe-trotters  who  admire  the 
pious  cant  which  is  exhibited  outwardly  could  know  a  httle 
of  the  loathsomeness  of  its  real  working." 

Yet  there  were  encouragements  here.  "Another  Moham- 
medan lady,"  she  writes,  "who  last  year  asked  me  to  come 
to  teach  knitting  only,  did  not  care  to  read,  and  seemed  to 
endure  rather  than  enjoy  the  Bible  lesson,  is  now  both  an 
industrious  reader  and  also  one  who  responds  most  warmly 
when  the  Bible  is  opened." 

The  Mohammedan  of  whom  we  hear  most  was  the  wife 
of  a  prosperous  tradesman,  "a  dear,  friendly  little  woman, 
who  listens  so  nicely,"  with  a  daughter  six  years  old.  Irene 
describes  her  first  impression  of  her  pupil  in  November, 
1894,  thus:  "Like  every  native  room  I  know,  with  about 
three  exceptions,  her  room  is  as  untidy  and  uncomfortable 
as  possible;  shop  stores  on  dusty  shelves  at  one  side,  at 
the  other  an  unmade  bed,  over  which  the  hostess  pulls  a 
quilt  ere  inviting  me  to  sit  on  it  beside  her.  The  lattice 
windows  are  pasted  up  with  newspaper;  the  hen  and  her 
brood  promenade  the  floor."  The  pupil's  first  impression 
of  Irene,  then  making  her  earliest  efforts  to  talk  Urdu,  was 
conveyed  thus  to  Miss  Hull:  "She  has  a  nice  face,  but  is 
very  young  and  unlearned."  In  January,  1895,  Irene  plunged 
through  seas  of  mud  to  find  mother  and  daughter  hibernating, 
only  the  tip  of  a  nose  visible  under  the  quilt,  but  ready  to 
receive  a  Bible  lesson.  Another  day  she  found  her  more 
anxious  to  argue  than  to  learn,  and  posted  up  in  the  stock 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  243 

Mohammedan  objections  to  Christianity.  When  Irene  returned 
in  October,  1895,  however,  she  embraced  her  effusively,  dis- 
playing a  new  baby,  became  a  most  attentive  and  reverent 
listener,  and  asked  to  be  prayed  for  regularly.  In  February 
she  specially  asked  prayer  for  her  daughter,  then  pining  in 
consumption,  and  was  touched  with  the  kindness  she  received 
at  the  Mission  Hospital,  saying,  "  Our  people  never  do  such 
things."  The  child  died  in  June,  1896.  "She  has  been  quite 
a  pet,"  writes  Irene,  "  both  with  us  and  at  the  hospital.  Her 
poor  mother  is  in  such  grief,  and  the  ten-year-old  brother 
looked  the  picture  of  sorrow.  How  little  one  knows,  but  I 
do  feel  that  their  strong  love  cannot  be  a  lost  good,  and 
that  God  in  His  mercy  will  provide  some  good  thing  for 
that  dear  little  one,  so  that  there  may  be  some  happy 
reunion  and  future  knowledge  for  these  who  have  only  heard 
a  little,  but  have  listened  when  they  heard ;  though  they 
have  certainly  not  *  kept  the  Catholic  Faith  whole  and  un- 
defiled.'  For  oneself,  one  prizes  all  the  articles  of  that 
Faith  more  and  more  when  in  such  work  as  this,  and  longs 
more  and  more  for  others  to  share  in  them  ;  but  as  one  knows 
and  loves  more  and  more  of  these  people,  who  know  not 
their  Lord's  Will,  one  is  less  and  less  able  to  accept  the 
terrible  sentence  passed  on  them  in  the  Athanasian  Creed." 
In  October,  1896,  when  Irene  was  proceeding  as  usual 
into  the  house  of  this  pupil,  a  door  was  for  the  first  time 
slammed  in  her  face ;  and  the  husband  met  her,  grunting  out, 
"  No  leisure."  "  I  am  afraid  it  means,"  she  says,  "  that  the 
man,  who  is  a  bad  husband  and  no  friend  to  Christianity,  will 
not  let  the  poor  little  wife  go  on  learning."  The  very  last 
zenana  visit  which  Irene  paid,  on  July  7th,  1897,  was  to  this 
pupil,  whom  she  characterises  as  "  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
affectionate  pupils"  she  had. 

Our   last  sketch  introduces  a  husband  of  a  different  type, 
a   Dogra  by  race,  formerly  in  the  Maliaraja's   Band,  now  a 


244  IRENE    PETRIE 

tradesman.  He  had  learned  much  of  Christianity  in  the 
Punjab,  and  desired  a  Bible  for  himself  and  instruction  for 
his  wife.  Irene  writes  in  May,  1896:  "\\Tien  I  took  him  a 
Bible  his  whole  face  glowed,  and  he  willingly  gave  two  silver 
pieces  for  it,  and  spoke  with  real  love  and  reverence  of  its 
teaching.  That  afternoon  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  saw  him 
reading  it  aloud  outside  his  shop  and  praising  its  truths,  in 
the  presence  of  a  number  of  Mohammedans.  He  showed  it 
to  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  and  told  its  history,  and  this  dialogue 
ensued.  "Why  did  you  want  it?"  "Because  I  wish  to 
read  it."  "  Oh,  many  wish  to  read  it  now.  Nearly  a  hundred 
come  weekly  to  my  house  to  do  so.  But  why  do  you 
wish  to  read  it?"  "  Because,  sahib,  I  believe  it."  "  Others, 
too,  believe  it,  but  will  not  confess."  "Why  should  I  fear 
to  do  so,  if  I  believe  it  in  my  heart  ? "  Mr.  Knowles  read 
regularly  with  him,  while  Irene  taught  his  wife.  She  gradually 
became  m^re  keen,  learning  much  from  her  husband's  Bible 
as  well  as  from  Irene,  who  once  found  her  giving  lively 
explanations  of  some  Scripture  pictures  to  a  visitor. 

A  friend  who  had  not  been  outside  Christendom,  and  whose 
thoughts  ran  on  missions  and  revivals  in  a  land  where  "the 
reproach  of  Christ "  is  for  most  a  mere  phrase,  put  this  question 
to  Irene  :  "  Do  you  have  many  true  conversions  ?  "  Irene  did 
not  live  to  receive  the  letter ;  and  one  can  only  imagine  that 
she  would  have  replied  with  Ezekiel,  "O  Lord  God,  Thou 
knowest."  The  striking  statement  of  an  enlightened  Mussul- 
man that  at  the  Resurrection  many  a  Christian  will  rise 
from  a  Mohammedan  tomb  is  especially  true  of  such  work 
as  hers.  Even  here,  writing  in  English  and  naming  m 
names,  one  dares  not  reproduce  her  statement  concerning 
several  of  those  described  that  she  had  reason  to  believe 
they  were  Christians  at  heart.  Miss  Kant,  of  Leh,  whom  we 
shall  meet  again  in  Chapter  XIII.,  wrote  thus  to  her  touch- 
ing this  matter  in  April,  1897  :  "  I  can  well  understand  that  you 


SECOND    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  245 

long  for  open  decision  for  Christ ;  but  I  think  we  must  not 
forget  what  that  means  for  the  majority  of  the  native  women. 
It  really  requires  very  strong  faith  and  a  very  great  love  for 
the  Saviour  for  a  woman  to  come  forward  openly  and  pro- 
fess her  belief  in  Christ.  I  think  secret  disciples  of  the  Lord 
can  do  much  good  for  Him,  too,  if  they  only  are  in  earnest 
And  then  our  work  is  only  to  lead  them  to  Christ ;  accepting 
Him  is  their  part,  and  the  desire  to  confess  Him  openly 
must  be  wrought  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  Of  course,  it  would 
be  much  more  encouraging  if  we  saw  more  open  results  of 
our  labours ;  but  the  Lord  knows  best  why  He  cannot  grant 
that  to  us  yet.  We  will  take  comfort  from  our  mutual  experi- 
ences, and  pray  all  the  more  for  each  other  and  for  the  work 
entrusted  to  us.  If  only  we  are  faithful  in  doing  the  work 
which  the  Lord  wishes  us  to  do  we  need  not  worry  ;  He 
will  surely  let  us  see  fruit  thereof,  if  not  here,  then  before 
His  throne." 

The  Church  at  home  and  abroad  thanks  God  "now  for  the 
career  of  more  than  one  missionary  who  never  to  his  know- 
ledge had  a  single  convert — for  instance,  Henry  Martyn  and 
James  Hannington  ;  and  words  written  by  the  former  will 
close  this  subject  more  fitly  than  any  generalities  :  "  Even  if 
I  should  never  see  a  native  converted,  God  may  design  by 
my  patience  and  continuance  in  the  work  to  encourage  future 
missionaries." 


CHAPTER    XI 

WITH   THE   BOYS   OF   KASHMIR 

'Tis  in  the  advance  of  individual  minds 

That  the  slow  crowd  should  ground  their  expectation. 

Eventually  to  follow. 

Browning,  Paracelsus. 

TWELVE  hundred  years  ago,  when  Britain  was  ver>' 
slowly  becoming  a  Christian  country,  a  twofold  work  of 
evangelisation  and  of  education  went  on  together,  and  the 
missionaries  were  teachers  as  well  as  preachers  and  pastors. 
So  it  is  to-day  in  India  generally,  and  in  Kashmir  specially. 
Soon  after  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Neve  and  Mr.  Knowles  schools 
for  boys  were  started  at  Srinagar  and  at  Islamabad,  Christian 
homes  rather  than  educational  institutions,  but  influential 
enough  to  rouse  Government  opposition  in  1883.  In  1889 
there  were  some  three  hundred  pupils. 

Meanwhile,  a  future  Principal,  in  whose  hands  the  C.M.S. 
School  was  to  become  what  Irene  calls  "an  ideal  missionary 
work  among  the  lads,"  was  studying  at  Jesus  College,  Cambridge, 
and  making  a  reputation  on  the  river,  being  coxswain  of  the 
victorious  crew  in  the  University  Boat  Race  of  1886.  One 
of  a  well-known  Oxfordshire  family  claiming  kinship  with 
William  Tyndale  the  reformer,  he  had  been  solemnly  warned 
on  going  to  Cambridge  against  "  the  missionary  set "  as  against 
lunatics,  but  he  got  into  it,  nevertheless.  After  leaving 
Cambridge  the  Rev.  C.  E.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  M.A.,  became 
curate  to  the  Rev.  A.  J.  Robinson,  of  Whitechapel,  well  known 

246 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  247 

as  a  warm  friend  of  the  C.M.S.  He  married,  in  1891,  the 
daughter  of  a  Birmingham  clergyman,  who  had,  like  Irene, 
been  at  the  Notting  Hill  High  School.  By  this  time  the 
C.M.S.  had  accepted  his  own  offer  of  service,  and  as  a  scholar 
and  athlete,  fresh  from  an  English  public  school  and  university, 
he  had  found  a  large  and  most  congenial  task  before  him 
in  helping  Mr.  Knowles  to  develop  the  school  in  Kashn-wr. 
It  now  numbered  some  five  hundred  boys,  including  sons  of 
the  leading  men  in  the  country.  The  Islamabad  school 
was  given  up,  partly  for  lack  of  funds,  partly  because  it 
did  not  seem  wise  to  keep  as  headmaster  there  a  native 
Christian  removed  from  all  the  means  of  grace.  But  Mr. 
Knowles  returned  from  furlough  in  1893  to  find  that  the 
original  School  in  Srinagar  had  grown  into  a  group  of  schools, 
and  in  1894  he  handed  over  the  principalship  to  Mr. 
Tyndale-Biscoe,  remaining  Treasurer  and  Visitor  himself.  In 
May,  1896,  Mr.  George  Tyndale-Biscoe,  Associate  of  King's 
College,  London,  came  out  at  his  own  charges  to  co-operate 
with  his  brother  as  Vice-Principal.  He  was  Acting-Principal 
during  the  furlough  of  the  latter  in  1897-98.  Two  more 
relatives  of  the  Principal  have  since  joined  him — an  Oxford 
M.A.,  as  superintendent  of  the  technical  department,  opened 
in  1899,  and  a  Cambridge  M.A.,  a  Wrangler,  who  has  become 
weekly  examiner  (see  p.  118). 

Such  is  the  whole  European  staff,  which  has  superintended 
the  following  five  schools  :  the  Central  School,  between  the 
third  and  fourth  bridge,  and  opposite  the  Shah  Hamadan 
mosque,  of  which  Mr.  Sircar,  whom  we  have  already  met  in 
Chapter  VIII.,  was  Headmaster;  the  Renawari  School,  in  a 
suburb  beside  the  Dal  Lake,  close  to  Hari  Parbat  Fort,  of 
which  Mr.  Paul  Thornaby,  a  Christian  from  the  North-west 
Provinces,  was  Headmaster ;  the  Habba  Kadal  School  for 
junior  boys,  close  to  the  second  bridge,  of  which  Poonoo,  a 
Kashmiri,  is  Headmaster ;  the  Amira  Kadal  School,  close  to 


248  IRENE  PETRIE 

the  Sheikh  Bagh  and  the  first  bridge;  and  the  Ali  Kadal 
School,  close  to  the  fifth  bridge. 

Of  forty-four  native  masters  in  July,  1899,  three  are 
Christians,  five  Mohammedans,  the  rest  Hindus,  nearly  all  old 
boys,  who  work  loyally  and  well  for  much  less  pay  than  they 
would  get  in  the  public  offices.  All  the  schools,  both  at 
work  and  at  play,  are  under  the  constant  supervision  of  the 
European  teachers. 

Eschewing  the  solemn,  conventional  missionary  report,  the 
Principal  has  told  the  story  of  the  C.M.S.  School  at  Srinagar 
year  by  year  in  a  most  graphic  and  original  way  through  a 
series  of  pamphlets,  entitled  Breakmg  up  and  Building  (1893), 
Tacking  (1894),  Coaching  in  Kashmir  (1896),  Coxing  in 
Kashmir  (1897),  Paddling  in  Kashmir  (1898),  and  Towing  in 
Kashmir  (1900).  The  names  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
rowing  is  as  useful  as  reading  in  developing  ideals  of  manliness. 

What,  then,  are  the  boys  when  they  come  to  this  school? 
What  do  their  teachers  endeavour  to  make  them  ?  How  do 
they  try  to  accomplish  their  endeavour?  Does  this  school, 
taking  it  as  a  typical  school  in  the  earlier  stages  of  a  mission, 
justify  the  distrust  and  indifference  with  which  many  good 
people  at  home  regard  educational  missions? 

In  race  the  boys  vary  even  more  than  the  inmates  of  the 
zenanas,  coming  from  Kashmir,  Punjab,  Bengal,  Nepal,  Nagar, 
Dras,  Tibet,  and  Afghanistan.  They  are  mostly  Hindus,  but 
include  some  Moslems  and  Sikhs.  Socially  they  vary  from 
relatives  of  the  Maharaja  to  waifs  of  the  street,  from  holy 
Brahmins  to  despised  hanjis,  but  most  of  them  are  of  the  small 
but  influential  pundit  class  already  described  in  Chapter  VI. 
The  school  contains  faces  of  all  hues,  dresses  of  all  kinds, 
long  hair,  plaited  pigtails,  shaven  crowns. 

"A  Kashmiri  is  as  different  from  a  European  as  a  sheep 
is  from  a  war-horse,"  says  the  Principal,  in  a  private  letter ; 
and   it  would   be   hard  to  imagine  a  greater  contrast  to  an 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  249 

English  schoolboy  than  a  Kashmiri  boy  when  he  first  comes 
to  the  C.M.S.  School.  He  is  clad  in  the  pheran,  or  woman's 
dress  with  hanging  sleeves,  which  a  conqueror's  insolence 
imposed  long  ago  upon  the  men  of  Kashmir,  His  person 
and  clothes  are  so  conspicuously  dirty,  even  on  great  occasions, 
that  the  Resident,  when  distributing  the  school  prizes  one 
year,  was  moved  to  offer  a  prize  of  R.20  to  the  boy  who 
appeared  to  be  the  cleanest  at  the  next  prize-giving. 

He  is  afraid  to  climb  the  hills,  for  their  summits  have  been 
reserved  for  the  gods,  who  might  revenge  themselves  on  an 
intruder;  he  is  afraid  to  go  out  after  dark,  for  the  jinns 
or  goblins  have  appropriated  the  streets  then.  He  is  not 
afraid  to  tell  lies,  for  falsehood  and  hypocrisy  are  in  his 
blood ;  and  if  his  master  were  unwise  enough  to  believe  him, 
he  would  feel  honoured  on  hearing  that  he  was  the  best  friend 
the  boy  had  ever  had,  and  that  love  for  him  came  before  love 
for  his  parents.  He  is  not  afraid  to  "  sneak,"  but  will  come 
to  the  master  with,  "Please,  sir,  I  wish  to  speak  to  you 
privately,"  and  then  in  the  most  plausible  way  will  proceed 
to  say  all  that  he  can  to  damage  the  character  of  another 
boy  or  of  a  master,  hoping  to  curry  favour  by  slander. 

He  has  a  great  reverence  for  the  bovine  species,  for  Apis 
is  sacred  to  the  Kashmiri,  as  it  was  to  the  Egyptian,  and 
in  Kashmir  "vaccicide"  is  a  capital  crime.  Once  a  class 
of  pundit  lads  were  listening  to  the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal 
Son.  The  order  to  kill  the  fatted  calf  made  them  all  rise  and 
stamp  with  indignation  at  such  a  profanity,  and  henceforth  the 
missionary  had  to  translate  the  phrase  freely  by  *'  Get  dinner 
ready."  While  he  has  this  great  reverence  for  cows,  the  pundit 
has  no  reverence  at  all  for  women,  but  dreads  the  idea  of 
female  education,  lest  it  should  lead  to  men  having  to  do 
some  of  the  toilsome  work  now  performed  by  their  sisters, 
wives,  and  mothers. 

He  believes  that  contact  with  leather  defiles,  and  a  football 


250  IRENE    PETRIE 

is  therefore  polluting  ;  that  manual  toil  degrades,  and  to  touch 
a  chappar  would  therefore  lower  him  to  the  hanji's  level ; 
that  any  active  exertion  is  unworthy  of  a  gentleman's  dignity. 
He  is  full  of  self-complacency  over  being  a  holy  Brahman 
by  caste.  He  has  no  consciousness  of  sin  as  Christians 
understand  it,  and  no  dread  of  defilement  from  "the  things 
that  proceed  out  of  the  man." 

He  will  sit  at  his  books  all  day  long  and  dearly  loves 
cramming  for  an  examination.  He  will  sleep  and  work  in 
alternate  shifts  of  two  hours  the  whole  night  in  order  to  write 
himself  F.A.,  or  B.A.,  or  M.A.,  as  the  stepping-stone  to  get 
a  snug  official  post.  When  he  finds  games  and  gymnastics 
on  his  time-table  he  remonstrates,  declaring  he  has  come 
to  school  to  learn  and  not  to  play.  He  much  prefers  in- 
struction in  Christianity  to  athletics,  will  ask  to  read  the 
Bible  out  of  school,  and  will  engage  in  pious  conversation 
on  the  most  holy  subjects  for  hours.  Then  when  the  unsus- 
pecting missionary  is  rejoicing  over  an  out-spoken  inquirer, 
on  whom  he  has  expended  time  and  effort  for  months,  he 
receives  such  a  letter  as  this  one  actually  sent  to  Mr.  Tyndale- 
Biscoe  by  a  Mohammedan :  "I  believe  in  Christ,  and  wish 
to  be  baptised  " ;  then  came  a  postscript,  containing  the  pith 
of  the  communication :  "  Please  find  me  a  lucrative  post,  a 
house,  and  a  Christian  wife." 

Is  it  possible  to  turn  such  lads  as  these  into  manly 
Christians  ?  The  question  had  a  decided  answer  a  few 
months  after  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe's  arrival  from  a  young 
officer  who  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Jhelum  watching  his 
efforts  to  get  some  high-caste  boys  to  pull  an  English  oar. 
"  So  you  think  that  you  will  get  these  lazy  Brahmans  to 
row,  do  you?  You  might  as  well  try  to  change  a  leopard's 
spots  or  a  nigger's  skin  as  attempt  that.  The  best  thing 
you  can  do  is  to  pack  up  your  boxes  and  go  back  to  England. 
There  arc  plenty  of  people  to  be  converted  there."     Others 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  251 

spoke  in  the  same  cheering  way;  and  when,  one  year  later, 
crews  of  Brahmans  swung  past  in  good  style  and  time, 
another  wiseacre  pronounced  :  "  Yes,  of  course  you  have 
Brahmans  rowing  in  English  boats,  because  they  like  to  copy 
sahibs ;  but  you  will  never  persuade  them  to  paddle  in  their 
native  boats  like  the  common  hanjis."  But  six  years  later  crew 
after  crew  of  Brahmans  might  be  seen  thoroughly  enjoying 
themselves  as  their  chappars  urged  on  the  swift  shikaris. 

One  puts  this  fact  in  the  forefront,  rather  than  the  fact  that 
at  the  entrance  examination  for  the  Punjab  University  in 
July,  1899,  nine  out  of  ten  candidates  sent  up  by  Mr. 
Tyndale-Biscoe  passed,  because  in  bringing  about  that 
transformation  of  character  which  is  the  supreme  aim  of  the 
school,  mere  book-learning  is  secondary  to  the  discipline  of 
alternating  study  with  sports  systematically.  Getting  up 
subjects  for  examinations  will  never  overcome  the  tyranny  of 
dastur,  the  hopeless  answer  to  argument  and  persuasion: 
"Our  fathers  from  time  immemorial  have  been  dirty,  effeminate, 
superstitious,  cowardly,  lazy,  liars,  sneaks,  and  hypocrites." 

Moreover,  book-learning  is  not  to  be  had  at  the  Mission 
School  only.  For  just  as  Lady  Dufferin's  Fund  followed 
the  pioneer  medical  work  done  by  zenana  missionaries,  so 
Government  schools  in  India  have  followed  the  pioneer 
educational  work  of  the  Church  there.  And  in  Kashmir  the 
State  School  has  a  great  advantage  over  the  Mission  School. 
It  enjoys,  besides  the  active  favour  of  the  authorities.  Govern- 
ment grants  that  enable  it  to  secure  the  most  expensive 
teachers,  and  to  offer  not  only  free  education,  but  free  books 
and  scholarships,  to  a  people  inclined  to  be  penurious  in  such 
matters.  But  being  in  a  native  State,  the  C.M.S.  School 
cannot  apply  for  the  Government  grant  that  is  given  to 
mission  as  well   as  to  other  schools  in  British  India.^     The 

'  This  year  {1900)  the  Kashmir  State  is,  h'  wcver,  giving  it  a  grant  of 
R.I, 800. 


252  IRENE    PETRIE 

annual  C.M.S.  grant  was  raised  from  R,i,8oo  to  R. 3,000 
early  in  1897,  and  is  now  R.6,000.  Even  this  is  scarcely 
half  of  the  whole  expense  of  upkeep ;  and  in  1898  the  fees 
charged  amounted  to  hardly  one-thirteenth  of  the  outlay. 
For  the  balance  the  Principal  and  his  friends  are  entirely 
responsible — a  state  of  things  which  may  be  compared  with 
the  facts  already  given  about  the  Hospital.  Yet,  fees,  daily 
Christian  teaching,  and  compulsory  games  notwithstanding, 
the  C.M.S.  School  more  than  holds  its  own.  In  November, 
1895,  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  wrote  in  a  private  letter :  "  For 
some  reason  unknown  to  me,  the  sons  of  the  big  men  here 
are  leaving  the  State  School  and  coming  to  the  Mission 
School.  One  has  to  be  very  careful  in  one's  treatment  of 
them,  as  they  imagine  they  are  dukes,  and  if  one  is  too  severe 
upon  their  cheek,  they  leave."  In  October,  1898,  the  number 
of  boys  had  risen  to  fifteen  hundred,  and  as  the  accommo- 
dation was  overcrowded,  fees  had  to  be  raised  to  reduce 
numbers. 

While  the  State  School  keeps  them  at  the  books  they  love 
from  morning  to  night,  athletics  have  from  the  first  been 
prominent  in  the  Mission  School  curriculum.  As  early  as  1886 
native  friends  were  subscribing  to  a  cricket  club ;  in  1892  a 
fire  brigade  was  formed,  which  has  not  only  done  good  service 
in  the  frequent  conflagrations  at  Srinagar,  but  is  an  invaluable 
lesson  in  practical  humanity,  an  almost  unknown  thing  outside 
Christendom.  Every  day  an  hour  is  spent  in  the  gymnasium, 
where  the  giant  stride  is  the  favourite  appliance ;  every  Thursday 
there  is  compulsory  cricket  and  football  en  masse;  besides 
voluntary  games  daily,  and  boating  and  swimming  once  or 
twice  a  week  in  summer.  Now,  football  cannot  easily  be 
played  m  a  pheran. 

In  other  ways  unceasing  war  is  waged  with  dastur.  A  boy 
must  "  eat  shame,"  for  instance,  when  his  dirty  face  is  publicly 
scraped  with  a  knife.     "Our  keenness,"  says  the  1899  report, 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  253 

"  especially  in  the  matter  of  clean  faces  and  swimming,  has  lost  us 
more  than  fifty  boys.  We  always  lose  scholars  at  every  upward 
move,  as  the  parents  are  so  stupid ;  but  our  schools  refill,  and 
if  we  keep  firm  to  our  resolution  and  show  no  sign  of  budging, 
we  always  gain  our  point,  and  start  once  more  on  a  higher 
platform,  ready  to  rise  again."  Such  recent  incidents  as  the 
following  are  turned  to  account  by  the  master,  and  the  boys 
must  learn  and  unlearn  many  things  when  he  says  to  them : 
"  Go  and  help  that  poor  fellow  who  has  fallen  over  the  rocks. 
He  lies  badly  wounded,  and  no  passer-by  is  concerning 
himself  about  it " ;  or,  "  Row  out  at  once,  and  bring  in  that 
sepoy  who  has  been  cut  oif  by  the  flood ;  his  countryman  is 
bargaining  with  him  for  seven  rupees  ere  he  will  stir  a  finger 
to  save  him  " ;  or,  "  Look  at  that  big  coward  of  a  schoolfellow 
who  is  kicking  his  mother.  Go  and  duck  him  in  the  river 
till  he  begs  her  pardon  " ;  or,  "  Come  down  the  lake  with  me, 
and  find  out  how  to  enjoy  an  open  air  holiday,  climbing  and 
swimming  and  living  under  canvas." 

Not  in  one  day  but  in  many  days  a  change  comes  over 
those  who  in  another  few  years  will  be  the  leaders  of  their 
people.  As  surely  as  Pharaoh's  craven  bondsmen  became 
a  nation  of  heroes  under  Joshua,  after  their  forty  years' 
education  under  Moses,  so  surely  will  the  Kashmiri  pundit 
become  eventually  a  "Christian  knight." 

"The  contrast  between  the  ordinary  State  School  trained 
Kashmiri  and  the  manly  and  courteous  Mission  School  lad, 
whose  standard  is  often  a  Christian  one,  is  most  striking,"  says 
Irene.  "  To  know  many  of  these  fellows  is  to  love  them," 
writes  the  Principal.  "They  have  such  kind  thoughts,  and 
are  so  thoughtful.  One  cannot  make  out  why  they  are  not 
Christians ;  many  of  them  in  their  lives  are  superior  to  many 
an  English  schoolboy." 

A  Government  head  clerk  recently  thanked  an  "  old  boy  " 
for  introducing  manners  into  the  office.     About  a  weightief 


254  IRENE    PETRIE 

matter  Irene  writes  :  "  Through  various  old  boys  who  are  em- 
ployed in  the  department  we  have  heard  disgraceful  accounts 
of  the  deliberate  attempts  to  bribe  and  intimidate  them  to  give 
false  evidence  against  the  innocent ;  and  it  is  good  to  hear  of 
these  lads  standing  firm  in  the  midst  of  the  universal  cor- 
ruption." "  You  have  made  me  a  man,"  said  one  old  boy  to  the 
Principal.  "  Formerly,  if  I  saw  someone  lying  by  the  roadside 
I  would  go  on,  thinking  it  was  no  affair  of  mine  ;  now  I  would 
try  to  help  him."  Even  more  encouraging  was  it  to  hear  on 
a  stormy  night  when  they  were  finding  their  way  down  a 
precipice,  "  Please,  sir,  let  me  go  first " ;  or  after  there  had 
been  a  row  and  an  inquiry,  "  It  was  not  his  fault,  sir ;  I 
did  it."  So  the  modest  and  plucky,  the  frank  and  truthful, 
the  cheerful  and  helpful,  the  kind-hearted  and  loyal  type  of 
character  gradually  begins  to  be. 

"  Is  this  all  ?  "  some  may  ask.  "  Is  it  not  much  ?  "  one  asks 
in  return.  But  it  is  not  all.  Of  still  more  important  results 
we  must  not  expect  precise  statistics.  "  I  take  it  for  granted," 
says  the  Principal,  "that  you  will  understand  that  I  should 
not  be  here  spending  all  my  time  amongst  the  boys  every 
day  if  I  had  not  the  one  great  central  truth  at  heart — Christ 
Jesus,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  whom  the  Kashmiris  do  not 
know.  My  work  here  and  the  work  of  my  colleagues  never 
will  or  can  be  complete  till  every  man,  woman,  and  child 
have  become  not  merely  followers  in  name,  but  true  Christians, 
as  we  say  here,  pakka  followers  of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Man, 
the  Son  of  God.  Nor  can  this  people  be  great  or  good  or 
noble  until  they  have  God's  Holy  Spirit  in  their  hearts." 

At  the  daily  Bible  lesson  the  taught  are  more  eager  than 
the  teacher.  It  is  followed  by  an  address  to  the  whole  school, 
illustrated  with  Scripture  pictures.  On  Sunday  afternoons 
there  is  a  Bible  class,  at  which  attendance  is  entirely  voluntary. 
The  number  rose  trom  fifty  in  February,  1896,  to  over  seventy 
on  Easter  Day,  and  in  January,  1897,  from  sixty  to  seventy 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  255 

found  their  way  to  it  through  deep  snow.  It  grew  into  quite 
a  school,  in  which  the  Principal  was  aided  by  his  wife,  his 
brother,  and  Mr.  Sircar's  eldest  son.  "These  eager  boys 
and  men,  gathered  in  the  Holton  Cottage  garden,  are  really 
a  wonderful  sight,"  says  Irene.  Its  influence  was  acknowledged 
in  a  remarkable  way  when  rival  Sunday  afternoon  lectures 
were  started  at  the  largest  Hindu  temple  in  Srinagar. 
Attendance  at  these  could,  however,  be  counted  on  the  fingers, 
while  the  Bible  class  increased  steadily  in  numbers. 

Prizes  for  Scripture  knowledge  are  annually  offered  to  all 
the  Mission  Schools  of  the  Punjab  and  Sind  in  memory 
of  General  Lake,  one  of  the  soldiers  who  won  the  Punjab  for 
Britain,  and  took  the  first  steps  towards  winning  it  for  Christ. 
In  1896  nine  of  the  Srinagar  masters  and  elder  boys  entered 
for  the  senior  examination  :  one  obtained  the  third  prize,  the 
rest  were  honourably  mentioned.  In  1897  a  Srinagar  boy 
won  the  first  junior  prize. 

Not  so  easy  to  state  are  the  effects  of  Christian  influence 
and  example  out  of  school  hours,  and  especially  in  private 
talks  with  individual  boys  during  holiday  excursions.  They 
were  evident  when  at  a  festival  of  the  goddess  Rajin  the 
schoolboys  dared  to  stand  upright  amid  a  worshipping  crowd. 
Here  are  boys  reading  their  Bibles  quietly  at  home,  and 
bringing  many  questions  to  the  Principal  ;  here  is  a  master 
most  zealously  and  ably  translating  a  Bible  lesson  from  Urdu 
into  Kashmiri,  developing  truly  Christian  traits  of  character, 
trying  to  make  the  boys  love  the  One  True  God  and  one 
another,  but  still  in  outward  profession  a  Hindu;  here  is 
a  boy  confessing  his  faith  in  Christ  when  alone  with  the 
Principal,  and  the  first  question  he  is  asked  is,  "  Are  you 
willing  to  die  for  this  faith  ? "  For  in  India  relatives  have 
no  scruples  about  taking  strong  measures  to  avoid  the  scandal 
of  a  baptism  in  the  family,  and  a  Christian,  determined  to 
make  open   profession,   can    be,  and   is,  slowly  poisoned   or 


256  IRENE    PETRIE 

starved,  and  so  quietly  made  away  with.  Thirty  years  after 
Elmslie  began  work  in  Kashmir  not  one  pundit  had  been 
baptised. 

If,  therefore,  the  value  of  missionary  work  is  to  be  gauged 
by  number  of  converts,   undoubtedly  the   most   satisfactory 
missionary  method  in  India  is   preaching  in   bazars  to  men 
who  have  nothing  worldly  to  lose,  and  who  may  have  some- 
thing worldly  to  gain  by  accepting  the  creed   of  the  ruhng 
Briton.      And  people  who  only  want  stirring   tales   of  mis- 
sionary  success  must   turn   to   the  triumphs   of  the   Gospel 
among  the  unsophisticated  pagans  of  Africa  and  the  South 
Seas  rather  than  to  educational  missions  in  India.     But  if  it 
is  worth  while  to  mould  in  accordance  with  Christian  ideals 
the  most  promising  young  manhood  of  an  important  nation, 
as   the   manhood    of   our   own    nation   was   moulded   slowly 
a  millennium  ago,  then  what  missionary  has  a  grander  oppor- 
tunity than  the  master  of  such  a  school  as  this?      If  com- 
fortable  Christians  at  home   ask  why  have  not  those  whom 
he  convinces  of  the  truth  the  courage  of  their  convictions, 
one  can  only  emphasise  the  answer,  Baptism  may  mean  death ; 
it   must  mean  becoming  an  outcast.      None  can  judge  the 
Kashmiri  lad  who  defers  the  moment  of  open  confession  save 
persons  whose  own  religious  convictions  are  in  deed,  not  in 
word,  dearer  to  them  than  all  their  property,  all  their  reputa- 
tion, all  their  prospects,  all  their  friends,  all  their  kinsfolk,  and 
life  itself. 

The  leaders  of  any  enterprise  become  so  much  a  part  of  it 
themselves  that  they  can  hardly  appreciate  its  character  and 
value ;  and  the  estimate  of  it  formed  by  the  mere  visitor  may 
be  as  one-sided  as  it  must  be  superficial.  Hence  Irene's 
descriptions  of  the  C.M.S.  School,  already  to  some  extent 
drawn  upon,  are  worth  quoting.  She  watched  its  working 
from  month  to  month  as  one  whose  own  task  lay  elsewhere, 
and  her  enthusiasm  for  it  manifestly  grows.     "  I  can  imagine 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  257 

no  finer  kind  of  missionary  work,"  she  says  ;  and  to  such  words 
as  these  she  added  actions,  giving  more  and  more  time  and 
effort  of  various  kinds  to  it  herself. 

She  tells  many  things  that  cannot  be  repeated  about  in- 
quirers, known  even  in  the  mission  circle  by  numbers,  not  by 
names,  so  great  was  the  risk  not  only  to  themselves  but  to 
future  inquirers  had  conversions  been  reported ;  of  others 
won  to  inquire  through  them ;  of  persecution  at  home  stedfastly 
endured.  Even  in  the  busy  spring  of  1896  she  made  some 
time  to  aid  in  instructing  such  inquirers  individually. 

In  January,  1896,  after  alluding  to  the  new  readiness  to  hear 
in  the  zenanas,  she  says  ;  "  The  change  Mr,  Tyndale-Biscoe 
speaks  of  is  even  more  remarkable.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
school  he  could  only  give  historical  teaching  from  the  Bible, 
and  that  with  the  utmost  caution,  to  avoid  wounding  pre- 
judices, and  always  with  the  chance  of  flippant  argument  and 
questioning.  Now,  he  says,  he  can  go  right  to  the  point, 
speaking  without  reserve  in  all  his  Bible  lessons,  and  reverent 
listening  is  invariable.  .  .  .  There  can  hardly  be  any  country 
where  open  profession  by  high-caste  Hindus  would  be  more 
difficult  and  dangerous,  and  yet  there  are  all  these  oppor- 
tunities for  teaching  and  all  these  earnest  hearers." 

In  February,  1896,  she  writes  :  "  A  sad  blow  to  the  schools 
has  come  this  week,  showing  the  jealousy  and  opposition  of 
the  non-Christian  powers  that  be.  The  headmaster  of  the 
Maharaja's  School  has  got  an  order  issued  by  the  Council  at 
Jammu  to  say  that  only  those  who  have  been  educated  in  the 
State  School  shall  be  eligible  for  employment  in  any  Govern 
ment  office.  If  enforced,  this  will  practically  deprive  all  Mission 
School  boys  of  the  power  of  earning  a  Uving,  and  already  the 
State  School  boys  are  jeering  at  them  in  the  street  about  it. 
The  order  seems  additionally  shameful  after  all  the  recent 
smooth  speeches  and  protestations  of  friendship  from  the 
Government  and  the  State  School."    Yet  that  very  month  two 

17 


258  Irene  petrie 

new  branch  schools  were  opened,  and  four  or  five  more  wefe 
asked  for.  In  the  end  the  order  in  Council  was  annulled 
through  the  intervention  of  the  Acting  Resident,  Captain 
Chenevix  Trench. 

Irene  gave  her  first  lesson  to  some  eighty  boys  in  the 
Habba  Kadal  School  on  January  i6th,  1896,  a  month  after 
her  arrival  at  Holton  Cottage.  In  March  she  examined  the 
boys  of  the  first  and  second  classes  in  the  Urdu  version  of 
St.  Matthew,  and  corrected  papers  in  Roman  history. 

On  March  28th  she  writes :  "  One  feels  more  and  more 
what  an  immense  silent  work  the  Mission  Schools  are  doing. 
One  would  like  all  the  Christians  with  tongues  and  pens  and 
purses  to  see  and  hear  what  I  have  seen  and  heard.  Then 
Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  would  no  longer  wish  in  vain  for  some 
University  men  as  assistants,  and  for  sufficient  funds.  .  .  . 
Many  good  people  withhold  the  gifts  they  might  give  because 
in  the  present  stage  they  cannot  count  out  baptised  converts." 

During  the  annual  festivals  of  certain  gods  the  school  is 
closed.  Recognising  that  it  is  out  of  school  that  the  most 
valuable  lessons  can  be  taught,  the  Principal  has  proposed, 
as  a  counter-attraction  to  these  festivals,  expeditions  to  the 
Wular  Lake.  A  few  years  ago  the  proposal  was  met  with 
a  dead,  discouraging  silence,  and  even  the  handful  who 
were  coaxed  into  accepting  the  invitation  backed  out  of 
the  trip,  daunted  by  its  possible  dangers,  at  the  last 
moment.  Nowadays,  however,  so  many  want  to  go,  that  only 
the  most  satisfactory  boys  and  most  promising  oarsmen  have 
a  chance  of  being  taken.  Board  and  lodging  under  canvas 
are  supplied  on  condition  that  the  boys  will  work ;  and  when 
they  must  pull  hard  at  the  oar  hour  after  hour  to  get  in  before 
nightfall,  they  have  no  time  to  think  of  the  ignominy  of 
hanji's  work  and  the  terrors  of  twilight  demons.  Nor  do 
they  find  their  footing  on  the  mountain-tops  disputed  by  any 
supernatural  powers.     So  they  enjoy  a  holiday  invigorating  to 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  259 

both  mind  and  body;  and  the  Principal  finds  these  trips 
"most  helpful  in  breaking  down  the  terrible  barrier  which 
divides  the  native  from  the  sahib." 

Eastertide  coincided  with  the  Hindu  New  Year  in  1896, 
and  from  April  8th  to  18th  a  party  of  fifty  enjoyed  an  early 
and  lovely  spring  on  the  Wular  Lake,  which  is  about  the 
size  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee. 

Irene's  lively  chronicle  of  the  expedition,  called  An  Easter- 
tide Holiday  in  Kashmir,  begins  by  enumerating  its  personnel — 
the  Padre  and  Mem  Sahib  with  their  two  baby  sons,  Miss 
Barclay  and  herself,  nine  masters  and  the  little  Punjabi  wife 
of  one  of  them,  about  twenty  boys,  and  servants,  including 
"the  head  boatman,  whose  beard  is  dyed  red  in  honour  of 
Mohammed,  and  the  pundits'  cook,  a  holy  Brahman,  whose 
ideas  of  neatness  and  punctuality  would  not  commend  him 
to  unholy  Westerns." 

The  slow  houseboat  starts  a  day  in  advance;  then  one 
day's  hard  rowing  brings  the  twelve-oared  cutter  Fanny,  the 
pair-oared  Blanche,  and  other  smaller  craft  to  the  camping 
place  at  Zurimanz,  a  green  hollow  where  a  tiny  mountain 
stream  trickles  out  into  the  lake,  and  the  white-  and  pink- 
robed  branches  of  the  fruit-trees  wave  over  brown  huts 
clustering  together  on  its  edge,  gay  with  countless  blossoms 
of  the  iris,  just  bursting  their  sheaths.  "  The  surrounding 
mountain  views  suggest  the  Bay  of  Uri  on  the  Lake  of 
Lucerne,"  says  Irene,  whom  we  find  now  sketching,  now 
taking  an  oar,  now  giving  a  Bible  lesson  to  the  boys. 

"  It  is  charming  to  see  them  all  so  happy ;  it  is  good  to 
look  at  the  Padre  Sahib  among  his  boys  and  to  recognise  in 
many  of  them  the  results  of  his  training.  We  hope  this  time 
of  coming  apart  from  all  their  old  surroundings  may  be  a 
help  to  them.  The  air  is  grand,  and  the  sound  of  the  waves 
breaking  on  the  shore  makes  one  think  of  the  sea.  Bible 
lessons  and  quiet  talks   in   little   groups   round  the   bonfire 


26o  IRENE    PETRIE 

or  alone  with  the  Padre  Sahib  come  home  to  them  as  they 
could  not  do  in  the  city,  and  their  hearty  and  intelligent 
singing  of  hymns  to  the  '  baby  organ  ^  is  a  delight  to 
listen  to." 

Heavy  rain  during  three  nights  and  two  days  brings  out 
the  best  side  of  the  Kashmiri  character — a  contentment  that 
makes  light  of  hardships  :  nothing  seems  to  damp  the  spirits 
of  the  whole  party ;  the  more  it  rains,  the  louder  the  boys 
sing  and  laugh  in  their  soaking  tents. 

Some  adventures  add  zest  to  the  trip.  One  day  the  Padre 
Sahib  and  a  party  of  twenty-eight,  with  the  Fanny  and  another 
boat,  accomplish  the  unprecedented  feat  of  travelling  to 
Baramula  and  back  between  6.45  a.m.  and  8  p.m.,  sixty  miles 
in  all,  and  the  boys,  many  of  whom  have  never  been  so 
far  from  home  before,  feel  quite  like  heroes  at  the  great 
journey  they  have  made. 

Another  day  they  cross  the  lake  to  Bandipur.  Their 
co-religionists  there  refuse  to  give  or  sell  them  any  food, 
and  as  they  cannot  touch  food  prepared  by  those  of  another 
religion,  they  have  to  return  hungry,  realising  that  the  law- 
givers of  Hinduism  could  never  have  travelled.  While  they 
are  recrossing  the  lake  a  storm  comes  on,  and  the  Blanche 
has  to  lay  to,  and  wait  for  the  Fanny  to  rescue  her  crew 
and  take  her  in  tow.  One  boy  says,  *'  I  am  not  afraid  of  being 
drowned  myself,  but  I  have  a  little  brother,  and  he  will  be 
so  sorry  if  I  go  down."     The  three  women  left  at  Zurimanz — 

Looked  at  the  squall,  and  they  looked  at  the  shower, 
And  the  night  rack  came  rolling  up  ragged  and  brown. 

It  is  very  late  and  dark  when  at  last  they  hear  shouts  and  oars 
plashing,  and  run  down  with  lanterns  to  welcome  the  party, 
whom  the  villagers  put  up  in  their  mosque,  as  the  tents 
are  soaking.     A  rumour   reaches   Srinagar  that    they  have 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  261 

all  been  drowned  in  the  storm,  and  at  the  request  of  Captain 
Trench,  the  Governor  of  Kashmir  telegraphs  inquiries.  A 
weeping  and  excited  crowd  gather  in  the  capital,  to  be 
pacified  by  this  telegram  from  the  post-office  official  at 
Sopur:  "Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  and  all  his  pundits  are  standing 
beside  me  now." 

The  fears  thus  roused  seem  to  add  warmth  to  their  welcome 
when  their  little  procession  enters  Srinagar  on  April  i8th. 
An  Eastertide  Holiday  in  Kashmir  concludes  thus :  "  It  is 
a  thriUing  experience  to  see  the  crowds  on  bridges  and  ghats, 
and  to  hear  the  pleased  expressions  of  welcome  from  those 
within  speaking  distance.  On  the  outgoing  journey  the  State 
School  boys  had  jeered  at  the  Mission  boatloads  for  doing 
hanji's  work ;  we  decide  to  return  the  jeers  with  cheers  coming 
back.  As  we  pass  under  the  fifth  bridge  we  see  that  that 
whole  State  School  has  turned  out  to  watch,  and  hundreds 
of  turbaned  heads  are  clustered  thickly  on  the  bank,  tier 
above  tier.  The  Fanny  comes  opposite,  a  halt  is  called,  and 
with  a  '  one — two — three — four  ! '  the  rov/ers  rise  to  give  a 
salute  of  oars  and  three  ringing  cheers,  which  are  warmly 
echoed  back  from  the  bank.  Beyond  the  third  bridge  another 
halt  is  called,  and  all  adjourn  to  the  Central  School,  where 
the  Padre  Sahib  addresses  the  boys,  commends  their  good 
conduct,  and  reminds  them  of  the  thankfulness  we  should 
feel  to  the  Father  Who  has  kept  us  in  safety.  All  sing  'O 
worship  the  King '  and  join  in  prayer.  Then  comes  a 
pleasant  impromptu  speech  of  thanks  to  the  Padre,  and  three 
cheers  for  him  and  the  hdies.  Finally,  we  halt  at  the 
Sheikh  Bagh,  the  joyful  singing  of  the  boys'  favourite  hymns 
to  the  plash  of  oars  ceases,  and  we  disperse  to  take  up 
each  our  own  work  again,  feeling  enriched  and  strengthened 
by  our  happy  time  of  rest  apart  with  Nature  and  with  the 
Lord  of  Nature." 

Henceforth  the  school  took  a  more  and  more  prominent 


262  IRENE    PETRIE 

place  in  Irene's  life,  and  she  describes  her  mornings  there 
as  the  most  interesting  in  the  whole  week.  She  taught, 
as  we  have  seen,  in  the  Habba  Kadal  School,  early  in 
1896.  She  thus  describes  teaching,  later  in  the  year,  at 
the  Renawari  School :  "I  have  the  pleasure  at  present  of 
taking  a  Httle  share  in  the  school  work,  and  very  delightful 
pupils  these  intelligent  boys  are.  From  one  school  in  a 
distant  suburb  on  the  Dal  Lake  the  school  boat  comes  to 
meet  me,  manned  by  over  a  dozen  pundits,  who,  after  saluting 
with  their  oars,  row  the  teacher  swiftly,  among  the  willows  and 
bulrushes  and  lotus,  to  the  school,  where  seventy  or  eighty  boys 
are  gathered  for  the  Bible  lesson,  at  which  they  answer  well." 
When  deep  snow  made  the  expedition  to  the  Renawari  School 
impossible,  she  taught  in  the  Amira  Kadal  School.  She  says : 
"  I  am  going  through  the  Book  of  Daniel,  a  very  interesting 
subject,  one's  point  of  view  with  Hindu  boys,  who  are  all 
students  of  Persian,  being  strangely  different  from  what  it 
would  be  in  an  English  class.  More  advanced  Scripture 
teaching  with  smaller  senior  classes  follows,  and  here  a 
knowledge  of  the  Gospel  narratives  is  shown  that  would  shame 
many  English  children.  Finally,  there  is  an  English  lesson, 
which   has   its   comic   side   as   regards  pronunciation." 

Her  pupils  wrote  out  and  sent  in  to  her  for  correction  the 
texts  they  learned.  She  received  every  week  from  fifty  to  a 
hundred  of  these,  some  illustrated  and  illuminated  after  the 
gaudy  and  elaborate  Kashmiri  fashion.  Mrs.  Grimke  had  kindly 
sent  a  number  of  her  well-known  polyglot  Scripture  cards, 
which  were  given  to  successful  scribes  as  rewards.  A  pupil 
who  wrote  out  his  text  particularly  well  was  one  of  two  brothers, 
sons  of  a  monarch  claiming  descent  from  Alexander  the  Great, 
whose  stronghold  had  been  stormed  by  Colonel  Durand  in 
the  Hunza  Nagar  expedition  of  1891,  and  who  was  now 
detained  in  Hari  Parbat  Fort  as  a  prisoner  of  state.  Mr. 
Tyndale  Biscoe  relates  how  his  eldest  son  was  brought   to 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  263 

the  school  by  the  Assistant  Resident  in  November,  1895, 
adding  :  "  I  hope  he  may  stay  long  enough  with  us  to  receive 
the  full  benefit  of  a  Christian  education,  so  that  when  he 
becomes  ruler  his  subjects  may  benetit  by  his  enlighten- 
ment." 

Sir  Lepel  Griffin  says  that  the  Kashmiri  pundits  stand 
second  in  astuteness  and  versatility  to  the  Mahratta  Brahmans 
of  Western  India  only,  which  quite  explains  Irene's  enjoyment 
of  them  as  pupils. 

On  March  ist,  1897,  the  lor^est  shikari  on  the  Jhelum  was 
launched.  It  had  been  built  for  the  Central  School  under  the 
Principal's  direction,  and  purchased  out  of  the  proceeds  of  two 
of  Irene's  sketches,  one  a  commission  from  a  Canadian  lady, 
who  had  seen  some  of  her  work  in  Montreal,  the  other  bought 
by  Mr.  Geoffroy  Millais.  So  almost  daily  thirty-five  pundits 
might  be  seen  paddling  the  Irene  up  and  down  the  river,  with 
Kashmiri  chappars,  to  the  amazement  of  both  Europeans  and 
natives.  May  the  spectators  some  day  include  the  subaltern 
quoted  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  !  She  gave  the  school 
a  second  boat  shortly  after,  out  of  proceeds  of  a  second 
picture  bought  by  Mr.  Millais  and  another  bought  by  some 
residents  as  a  wedding  gift  to  the  Accountant-General's 
daughter.  Two  more  sketches  were  ordered  by  an  American 
sportsman  passing  through  Srinagar,  and  again  the  school 
coffers  profited.  But  more  and  more  the  demand  exceeded 
the  supply  that  her  scanty  leisure  could  produce. 

We  catch  a  last  glimpse  of  Irene  with  the  boys  out  of 
school  hours  in  May,  1897.  "  The  Renawari  School  took 
Miss  Howatson  and  me  in  their  shikari  across  the  lake  to 
the  Nishat  Bagh,  where  the  lilacs  in  masses  are  a  great  sight. 
They  are  favourite  flowers  here,  and  one  sees  bunches  of  them 
in  the  poorest  shops  and  houses,  as  well  as  sprays  tucked  into 
the  boys'  turbans.  We  made  tea,  and  I  bought  some  Hindu 
sweets  for  the  boys,  who  were  niost  polite  cavaliers." 


264  IRENE    PETRIE 

Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  who  in  his  annual  letter  to  headquarters 
speaks  of  Miss  Telrie  as  "  a  very  great  acquisition,"  pictures 
her  influence  among  his  boys  as  splendid,  and  says  the  mere 
carrying  of  her  sketching  materials  on  such  expeditions  was  an 
education  to  them.  In  his  1898  report  he  recounts  "  some  of 
the  labour  lovingly  given  by  her  in  connexion  with  the  schools," 
saying :  "  She  filled  a  great  want  in  teaching  Scripture,  and 
the  boys  much  appreciated  her  visits.  .  .  .  Whenever  she  could 
find  a  spare  hour  she  devoted  it  to  painting,  for  which  she 
had  a  great  gift,  and  sold  her  paintings  for  the  good  of  the 
school  funds.  ...  But  above  all  her  special  gifts  for  painting 
and  teaching  was  her  personality,  ever  bright  and  cheery.  No 
matter  what  her  state  of  health,  or  weariness  of  brain  or  body 
in  her  work,  she  was  ever  the  same,  ever  a  beam  of  sunlight 
and  brightness  which  never  seemed  dimmed,  because  she 
lived  and  worked  not  for  herself  but  for  her  Saviour  and  for 
those  to  whom  He  had  sent  her." 

The  attractive  power  of  the  "personality"  spoken  of  here 
had  struck  a  London  acquaintance,  who,  after  meeting  her 
again  in  1895,  wrote:  "Dear,  sweet,  beautiful  creature! 
I  thought  when  I  saw  her  that  merely  to  look  at  her  was 
enough  to  convert  a  heathen.  There  was  a  look  of 
exquisite  purity  and  refinement  such  as  only  Christianity  can 
produce." 

So  little  idea  had  she  herself  of  any  capacity  for  woik 
among  the  boys  of  Kashmir,  that  when  mentioning  the 
C.E.Z.M.S.  reinforcements  she  had  playfully  lamented  thus: 
"It  does  seem  a  pity  that  some  of  us  cannot  be  turned  into 
efficient  men,  to  be  twice  as  useful  as  a  pack  of  women." 

But  remembering  the  deep-rooted  contempt  of  the  Hindus 
for  the  weaker  sex,  and  the  inordinate  value  they  set  on  intel- 
lectual attainment,  one  can  easily  imagine  that  the  "Niki  Mem," 
with  her  beaming  face,  her  sweet  voice,  her  culture,  her  trained 
skill  in  teaching,  her  independence,  and  her  gentle  dignity,  all 


WITH    THE    BOYS    OF    KASHMIR  265 

illuminated  by  her  faith  in  Christ,  must  have  inspired  the 
Kashmiri  pundits  with  a  new  ideal  of  womanhood,  must  have 
impressed  them  once  for  all  with  the  conviction  that  Chris- 
tianity is  no  mere  system  of  dogma  alien  to  themselves,  but 
the  sole  power  adequate  to  the  task  of  regenerating  their 
nation. 


CHAPTER    XII 

THIRD  WINTER  IN   SRINAGAR 

(September,  1896,  to  July,  1S97) 

Hodie  mihi,  eras  Tibi. 

A  VISIT  from  their  diocesan,  which  marks  an  epoch  in 
the  Kashmir  Mission,  most  happily  inaugurated  the 
winter's  work  of  the  httle  band  reassembled  at  Srinagar  in 
September,  1896. 

During  the  early  days  of  C.M.S.  work  there  young  English- 
men used  to  go  to  Kashmir  with  the  undisguised  intention 
of  escaping  from  the  restraints,  none  too  strict,  of  ordinary 
Anglo-Indian  Ufe ;  and  the  only  sign  that  the  sahib  16g  had 
any  religion  was  a  gong  summoning  Europeans  once  a  week 
to  service  in  a  summer-house,  formerly  used  as  a  dancing- 
hall.  Writing  from  Srinagar  in  July,  187 1,  Bishop  French 
says  :  "  British  Christianity  never  shows  itself  in  more  fear- 
fully dark  and  revolting  aspect  than  in  these  parts.  People 
seem  to  come  here  purposed  to  covenant  themselves  to  all 
sensuality,  and  to  leave  what  force  of  morality  they  have 
behind  them  in  India."  The  upper  room  on  the  Sheikh 
Bagh  that  then  served  as  a  place  of  worship  was  so  ill- 
appointed  that  the  Bishop  had  to  send  for  his  own  camp-table 
when  he  administered  the  Holy  Communion  there.^  The 
fierce  opposition  aroused  by  his  attempt  to  evangelise  the 
Kashmiris  has  been  described  already  in  Chapter  VI. 

'  Life,  vol.  i,  cb.  ziLt 

266 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  267 

Even  in  1883  Mr.  Clark  speaks  of  Srinagar  as  the  one 
place  where  English  Christians  v/ere  actually  prohibited  from 
building  a  church,  so  bigoted  was  Runbir  Singh.  The  present 
Maharaja,  however,  permitted  the  erection  of  a  humble 
wooden  structure  on  the  Munshi  Bagh,  in  the  compound  of 
the  senior  C.M.S.  missionary,  who  acts  as  honorary  chaplain, 
except  for  the  few  weeks  of  spring  when  a  chaplain  arrives  with 
the  throng  of  English  visitors,  moving  on  later  to  Gulmarg 
with  them.  The  Urdu  service  for  native  Christians  was,  as 
we  have  seen,  held  in  the  waiting-room  of  the  hospital. 

Exactly  twenty-five  years  after  Bishop  French  penned  the 
sentence  just  quoted,  his  successor.  Bishop  Matthew,  came  to 
Kashmir  to  consecrate  three  churches :  a  church  at  Gulmarg, 
All  Saints'  Church  on  the  Munshi  Bagh  for  the  Anglo-Indians, 
and  St.  Luke's  Church  on  Rustum  Gari  for  the  natives 
(see  p.  116).  All  three  were  on  ground  ceded  by  the  Maharaja 
to  the  British  Government,  and  Mr.  Nethersole,  State 
Engineer  to  the  Kashmir  Durbar,  was  architect  of  the  two 
in  Srinagar.  The  story  of  the  erection  of  St.  Luke's  suggests 
a  parable.  The  walls  first  raised  collapsed,  and  they  dis- 
covered that  the  ground  was  undermined  with  Mohammedan 
tombs ;  so  they  set  the  foundations  anew  upon  a  solid  rock, 
and  now  no  building  in  Kashmir  stands  more  secure.  It 
is  a  cruciform  structure  of  red  brick,  with  a  vaulted  roof, 
ceilings  of  pretty  Kashmir  parquetry,  lancet  windows  glazed 
in  geometrical  patterns,  a  gracefully  proportioned  apsidal 
chancel,  and  a  carved  screen  across  the  nave  beyond  which 
non-Christians  are  seated.  "  A  most  lovely  church,  pinkish 
red  inside,  like  Exeter  Cathedral,"  is  Irene's  description.  It 
accommodates  two  hundred,  and  cost  about  ;^Soo,  less  than 
many  a  luxurious  congregation  at  home  spends  on  a  new  organ 
or  a  new  scheme  of  lighting  that  is  not  really  necessary.  In 
the  main  it  was  built  out  of  the  fees  received  by  the  Drs. 
Neve  from  their  wealthier  patients;  and  the  furniture  and 


268  IRENE    PETRIE 

fittings  of  this,  the  first  Christian  church  in  Kashmir,  were 
likewise  almost  all  freewill  offerings  of  or  through  those  who 
had  already  given  themselves  to  God  for  the  evangelisation 
of  that  land.  Miss  Hull  gave  the  font,  Miss  Pryce-Browne 
the  ewer.  Miss  Coverdale  the  lectern.  The  chancel  rails 
were  a  gift  from  one  of  Irene's  friends  in  Philadelphia,  who 
v.TCte  to  her  that  "  they  had  already  flashed  their  blessing 
across  the  seas  to  America " ;  the  reading-desk  was  a  gift 
from  the  Penshurst  Gleaners  (see  p.  210);  the  Holy  Table 
represented  the  proceeds  of  a  lecture  on  Kashmir  delivered  in 
Montreal  at  Irene's  instigation, — nearly  all  these  things,  given 
by  dwellers  in  three  different  continents,  were  of  native  work 
in  finely  carved  cedar  and  walnut  wood.  Irene's  own  charac- 
teristic offering,  purchased  out  of  the  proceeds  of  sketches  of 
Kashmir  sold  in  India,  Great  Britain,  and  Canada,  was  the 
organ,  of  solid  polished  oak  with  a  full  and  sweet  tone.  She 
secured  the  kind  interest  of  Mr.  Henry  Bird  in  choosing  and 
despatching  it  from  London,  and  lent  it  for  the  summer  to 
All  Saints'  Church,  which  had  been  opened  on  May  3rd. 

The  Bishop  of  Lahore  arrived  on  September  loth  with  his 
chaplain,  the  Rev.  Edmund  Wigram,  son  of  the  late  Honorary 
Secretary  of  the  C.M.S.  Other  visitors  for  the  occasion  were 
Colonel  Broadbent,  C.B.,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  staying 
at  the  C.E.Z.  House;  and  the  Rev.  Cecil  Barton  (C.M.S., 
Multan),  staying  at  Holton  Cottage.  Miss  Broadbent  became 
Mrs.  Cecil  Barton  in  October,  1896;  and  in  November,  1899, 
Mr.  Barton  was  transferred  from  the  Punjab  to  Srinagar. 

Early  on  September  12th  Irene  and  Miss  Howatson  were 
decorating  St.  Luke's  with  flowers.  Irene  thus  describes 
its  dedication:  "All  the  Indian  and  Kashmiri  Christians 
came,  and  a  large  number  of  the  English  inhabitants,  headed 
by  the  Resident,  Sir  Adelbert  Talbot.  The  choir  was  led 
by  some  of  our  party,  and  Dr.  E.  Neve  played  the  organ. 
Dr.  A.  Neve  received  the  Bishop  and  six  clergy,  who  came  to 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  269 

the  west,  or  rather  east  door,  as  the  church  is  occidented,  and 
presented  the  petition  for  the  dedication  of  St.  Luke's,  which 
was  read  in  Urdu.  The  Bishop  v.-ent  separately  to  the  font, 
the  lectern,  the  place  of  weddings,  the  place  of  confirmations, 
and  the  Holy  Table,  praying  for  a  blessing  on  each.  After 
the  ante-Communion  Ser^'ice  he  preached  a  fine  sermon  in 
English,  which  Mr.  Wigram  rendered  into  Urdu  for  the  native 
half  of  the  congregation.  The  Communion  Service  in  Urdu 
followed,  and  it  was  touching  to  see  aged  Qadir  Bakhsh 
coming  forward,  supported  by  his  son.  The  dear  Bishop, 
who  walked  part  of  the  way  back  with  me,  said  he  had  never 
enjoyed  such  a  service  more.  He  is  delighted  with  every- 
thing in  both  churches." 

Henceforth  service  has  taken  place  daily  in  St.  Luke's  ;  and 
from  that  lofty  site  its  spire  witnesses  to  Christianity  through- 
out Srinagar.  "We  hope,"  says  Irene,  "it  may  be  to  future 
generations  what  St.  Martin's  at  Canterbury  is  to  England, 
when  Kashmir  has  indeed  become  a  '  Happy  Valley,'  which, 
alas  !  it  is  very  far  from  being  at  present." 

The  fete  for  the  building  fund  and  organ  of  All  Saints' 
in  May  had  been  the  event  of  the  Kashmir  season.  Irene 
had  lent  sketches  to  its  exhibition,  contributed  largely  to  its 
concerts,  and  helped  to  sell  at  its  stalls.  This  church  was 
consecrated  on  Sunday,  September  13th.  "We  have  had  a 
most  beautiful  Consecration,"  she  writes.  "  May  Pryce-Browne 
and  I  have  been  agreeing  that  we  were  never  at  a  more 
personally  helpful  service.  We  were  a  choir  of  sixteen, 
and  there  was  a  congregation  of  about  two  hundred.  The 
Resident  read  the  petition  for  its  consecration.  The  offertory 
sentence  was  '  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord '  from 
Elijah^  taken  as  a  quartette:  soprano,  I.E.V.P.  ;  alto,  Mrs. 
G.  A.  Ford  ;  tenor,  Mr.  Barton ;  bass,  Dr.  E.  Neve.  There 
was  a  choral  Communion,  the  choir  being  all  communicants 
themselves,  as  well  as  a  large  part  of  the  congregation ;  it  was 


270  IRENE    PETRIE 

quietly  and  reverently  done,  and  so  delightful.  .  .  .  The 
evening  service  was  even  heartier  than  that  in  the  morning  ; 
many  said  it  was  like  a  home  church  service.  The  clever 
bandmaster,  who  is  organist  now,  and  plays  up  to  a  first-rate 
professional  standard,  said  it  was  the  best  service  he  had 
ever  heard  in  India.  Yet  it  was  certainly  no  mere  perform- 
ance, but  a  congregation  all  praising  God  together,  as  in  St. 
Mary  Abbots.  For  anthem  we  had  my  most  dearly  beloved 
air  and  words  from  Sf.  Paul, — 

O  Thou,  the  true  and  only  Light, 
Direct  the  souls  that  walk  in  night, 

as  a  quartette,  taken  by  the  four  singers  of  the  mornmg."  At 
the  special  request  of  the  chaplain,  the  Rev.  G.  A.  Ford, 
Irene  and  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  sang  some  oratorio  solos  on 
the  following  Tuesday,  at  a  further  service  attended  by  many 
not  usually  church-goers. 

The  Bishop  also  gave  the  prizes  in  the  School;  visited 
the  Hospital,  and  described  it  as  a  model  of  what  a  mission 
hospital  should  be;  consecrated  the  English  cemetery,  and 
held  two  confirmations — one  at  All  Saints',  where  the  candidates 
included  two  daughters  of  a  Unitarian  who  had  been  under 
the  influence  of  the  C.M.S.  missionaries;  and  one  in  St. 
Luke's,  where  eleven  candidates,  representing  seven  nation- 
alities, professed  their  faith.  Having  thus  "confirmed  the. 
souls  of  the  disciples,  and  exhorted  them  to  continue  in  the 
faith,"  that  " real  father  in  God  to  all  under  his  jurisdiction" 
went  on  his  way ;  and  two  years  later,  on  December  2nd,  1898, 
after  an  episcopate  of  nearly  eleven  years,  he  was  suddenly 
called  home.  He  had  preached  with  all  his  usual  power 
on  the  evening  of  Advent  Sunday  about  the  Church's  duty 
to  proclaim  the  witness  of  Christ's  Kingdom  to  the  world, 
exhorting  his  hearers  to  be  ready,  should  the  summons  come 
that  night,  to  answer  gladly,  "Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus.' 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  271 

These  were  the  very  last  words  of  his  ministry  and  almost  of 
his  Ufe,  for  before  he  could  pronounce  the  benediction  at  the 
close  of  the  service  he  was  smitten  with  paralysis,  which 
proved  almost  immediately  fatal. 

The  above  episode  has  again  introduced  the  British 
residents  at  an  Indian  station.  Their  relation  at  Srinagar 
to  Irene  and  her  fellow-missionaries  may  be  dealt  with  further 
here,  the  narrative  being  both  a  contrast  and  a  complement 
to  that  in  Chapter  V. 

At  home  even  the  least  benevolent  of  the  well-to-do  are 
brought  into  some  kind  of  friendly  contact  with  lives  less  pros- 
perous than  their  own,  and  do  something  for  their  humbler 
neighbours,  if  only  through  taking  a  Sunday  school  class.  But 
in  India  great  barriers  of  race,  creed,  and  language  rise 
between  the  sahib  log  and  those  who  serve  them ;  and  the 
missionaries,  belonging  to  the  former  class  and  living  in 
India  for  the  sake  of  the  latter,  appear  to  be  the  only 
people  capable  of  breaking  this  barrier  down.  The  state 
of  affairs  in  Lahore  showed  us  how  little  actual  inter- 
course and  mutual  understanding  there  may  be  between 
busy  missionaries  living  in  the  native  quarter  and  even 
religiously  disposed  Anglo-Indians  in  the  European  quarter. 
Not  in  India  only,  but  among  the  darker  races  generally,  the 
average  Briton  probably  hardly  realises  how  much  has  been 
done  by  the  missionary  in  opening  up  a  country  where  he 
finds  his  work  and  income,  or  how  much  is  being  done  by 
the  missionary  in  preserving  law  and  order  within  its  borders. 
And  the  missionary  hardly  realises  what  keen  critics  he  has  in 
his  own  compatriots ;  how  much  "  saving  common  sense "  in 
ordinary  affairs  of  life,  as  well  as  devotion  to  his  work,  may 
enable  him  to  influence  them  for  good.  There  is  often  help 
that  he  would  gladly  receive  from  the  station  folk,  who 
would  in  their  turn  find  that  the  givers  of  such  help  are 
even  more  blessed  than    the  receiver. 


272  IRENE    PETRIE 

A  letter  from  the  wife  of  an  Englishman  holding  an  impor- 
tant State  appointment  at  Srinagar,  who  is  herself  very  nearly 
related  to  a  well-known  Indian  general  and  to  a  well-known 
Indian  statesman,  speaks  thus  of  the  relation  between  the 
station  and  missionary  communities  there:  "I  know  and  can 
fully  sympathise  with  the  deep  interest  which  you  feel  in  this 
subject,  which  bears  so  closely  upon  the  life  of  your  gifted  and 
beloved  sister.  I  have  been  in  various  stations  in  India  which 
were  centres  of  missionary  work,  and  have  seldom  seen  the 
same  spirit  of  friendship  and  co-operation  as  exists  in  Kashmir 
between  the  workers  and  the  ordinary  English  community.  To 
me  it  seems  a  pity  that  the  two  parties  should  not  always  be  'in 
touch,'  as  both  would  benefit  by  freer  intercourse,  and  more 
influence  would  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  work  done  by  the 
missionaries.  .  .  .  That  we  are  more  fortunate  in  this  respect 
in  Kashmir  is,  in  m.y  private  opinion,  due  to  the  personality 
of  the  missionaries  themselves,  most  of  whom  are  men  and 
women  of  culture  and  good  social  position,  and  endowed  with 
gifts  and  qualities  which  win  not  only  admiration  but  also 
friendship  and  support.  Foremost  among  them  was  your 
sister,  and  it  was  with  much  pleasure  that  I  heard  of  the 
endeavour  to  raise  a  fund  to  her  memory,  which  I  hope  will 
meet  with  due  success." 

The  residents  in  Srinagar,  who  are  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  great  tide  of  visitors  to  Kashmir  that  sets  in  with  spring 
and  recedes  again  m  autumn,  consist  of  some  fifty  or  sixty 
Europeans  connected  with  the  military  and  civil  service,  en- 
gineering, and  commerce,  varying  much  in  character  and  in 
social  position.  Both  with  them  and  with  the  Eurasian  com- 
munity the  missionaries  cultivated  friendship,  enlisting  the  help 
of  some  of  them  for  work  that  did  not  demand  their  own  special 
training  or  knowledge  of  languages.  There  was  the  Resident, 
who  always  read  the  lessons  in  All  Saints'  Church,  and  whom 
the  Maharaja  had  learn*"^.  to  trust  and  respect  for  his  known 


THIRD    \Vn>ITER    LN[    SRINAGAR  273 

religious  principles.  There  was  the  Assistant  Resident,  who 
had  successfully  intervened  on  behalf  of  the  schools.  There 
was  the  son  of  a  late  President  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
whose  photographs  have  familiarised  not  only  the  scenery  but 
the  mission  buildings  in  Kashmir  to  many.  There  was  the 
lady  artist,  who  was  Irene's  chief  ally  during  the  winter,  in 
which  she  was  the  only  zenana  worker.  These  two  last  helped 
in  so  many  ways  that  they  seemed  almost  like  members  of 
the  mission  circle.  There  was  the  venerable  Colonel,  who, 
with  the  aid  of  Qadir  Bakhsh,  sometimes  conducted  a  service 
for  beggars.  He  delighted  in  Irene's  Jacobite  songs  and 
well-informed  talk  about  good  Scottish  families ;  she  brought 
him  heather  from  the  Highlands  in  1895,  and  he  brought  to 
show  her  his  treasured  heirloom,  a  sword  that  had  belonged  to 
Prince  Charlie.  Other  unnamed  station  people  there  were  of 
whom  even  the  charitable  Irene  is  driven  to  say :  "  The  worst 
thing  of  all  in  Kashmir  is  the  conduct  of  some  of  the  English 
people  who  find  their  way  to  this  remote  place.  It  is  grievous 
to  hear  how  the  inquiring  and  intelligent  natives  point  to 
them  as  the  stumbling-blocks  in  the  way  of  their  accepting 
Christianity.  I  wish  they  could  be  packed  off  to  Antarctica, 
or  other  uninhabited  regions  where  there  are  no  poor  puzzled 
non-Christians  to  be  caused  to  stumble." 

The  residents  received  from  as  well  as  gave  to  the 
mission.  Many  attended  the  daily  evening  service  held 
by  the  missionaries  in  January,  1896,  during  the  Week  of 
Universal  Prayer,  "  several  of  whom  seemed  really  to  care." 
They  mustered  also  in  large  numbers  in  the  Library,  the 
rendezvous  of  the  fashionable  world  of  Srinagar,  to  hear 
lectures  by  Dr.  Neve,  one  on  "  Recent  Progress  in  New 
Testament  Criticism,"  one  on  "The  Resurrection — A  Fact," 
which  attracted  English  who  were  not  church-goers  as  well 
as  educated  natives,  and  the  whole  missionary  party  prayed 
that  these  lectures  might  bear  fruit.     Again,  the  ennui  of  the 

18 


274  IRENE    PETRIE 

winter  1894-95  was  to  be  relieved  by  a  series  of  concerts  in 
the  Library,  and  they  came  to  the  missionaries  for  really  good 
music,  Irene  on  one  occasion  taking  part  in  eleven  out  of 
eighteen  performances,  either  as  vocalist,  instrumentalist,  or 
accompanist.  Every  resident  practically  was  there,  and  they 
acknowledged  this  help  by  devoting  half  the  proceeds  to  the 
C.M.S.  Hospital,  the  other  half  going  to  the  All  Saints' 
Building  Fund. 

Outside  the  fashionable  world  were  the  small  officials,  some 
of  them  Eurasians,  a  class  that  won  Irene's  sympathy  here 
as  in  Lahore.  She  observed  that  many  of  them  sent  their 
children  to  a  Roman  Catholic  school  at  Murree,  not  because 
they  were  Roman  Catholics,  but  because  the  education  was 
good  and  cheap ;  also  that  some  were  too  far  off  to  attend  the 
Sunday  school  already  described  in  Chapter  VIII.  So  in 
January,  1897,  she  started  a  second  Sunday  school  at  the  house 
of  one  of  the  mothers  of  these  children,  and  found  English- 
speaking  boys  and  girls  "quite  a  hohday  after  zenana  women." 

Her  Easter  choir  of  telegraph  clerks  has  been  mentioned. 
These  young  men  were  often  welcomed  to  Holton  Cottage 
for  pleasant  evenings,  to  whose  pleasantness  Irene  was  always 
ready  to  contribute.  It  is  amusing  to  see  her  on  one  day 
transposing  Adam's  "Cantique  de  Noel"  into  another  key 
to  suit  the  fine  voice  of  the  important  British  Resident  at  a 
great  Oriental  court  elsewhere  in  India,  and  on  another  day 
improvising  a  piano  accompaniment  to  the  violin  of  a  shy 
Eurasian  clerk,  who  had  left  all  his  music  "  down  country." 
Alcohol  proves  at  least  as  insidious  a  temptation  in  India  as 
it  does  here,  and  the  missionaries  realised  that  their  friendli- 
ness had  not  been  in  vain  when,  after  the  midnight  service  on 
New  Year's  Eve,  1896,  five  of  these  clerks  signed  the  pledge. 

One  of  Irene's  fellow-workers  remarks  that  the  comparative 
dearth  of  good  music  and  intellectual  interest  in  Srinagar 
must  have  been  a  real  privation  to  one  of  her  antecedents. 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRI  NAG  AR  275 

She  writes  herself :  "  I  always  have  The    Weekly  Times  from 
home,  and  Miss  Hull  and  I  enjoy  it  together.     Then  it  goes 
to  a  nice  little  couple  who  are  not  well  off,  and  greatly  like 
a   newspaper,      I   think   we  missionaries  should  try  to  keep 
au  courant  with  what  goes  on  in  the  rest  of  the   world;  in 
such  a  secluded    vale    as  this  we  might  get  groovy."      The 
quotation  illustrates  her  retention  of  a  fresh  interest  in  many 
fields  of  thought  and  action  which  undoubtedly  gave  her  there, 
as  here,  an  attractiveness  in  general  society  not  found  in  those 
who  can  talk  and  think  only  of  their  own  particular  enterprises. 
It  also  illustrates  how  she  shared  these  interests  with  others. 
Absorbed  as  she  was  in  her  work,  she  still  appreciated  the 
recreative  power  of  a   good   book  that  turned  her  thoughts 
into  quite  another  channel.     In  a  rare  moment  of  leisure  we 
find   her   feasting   on   Aurora    Leigh^     "  which    is    splendid, 
so  rich  in  new  thoughts."    A  propos  of  a  clever  but  cynical 
short  novel  of  the  day,  taken  up  at  another  moment  of  leisure, 
she  says :    "  There  is  so  much  misery  of  every  kind   in  this 
bad  old  world  that  I  always  feel  angry  with  the  people  who 
increase  it   by  writing  miserable   books  " ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  remarks   that    "amid  the  gossip  and   mischief-making 
of  such   an   isolated   station   as    Srinagar,    the    lives    of  my 
colleagues   and    books    like    Ian    Maclaren's    are    a    tonic." 
The  many  books  sent  her  as  gifts  by  home  friends,  added  to 
the  little  stock  she  brought  out,  seem  to  have  formed  quite  a 
circulating  hbrary  among  her  English  and  native  acquaintance. 
She  had  always  been  quick  at  finding  out  and  comforting 
those  who,  in  the  world's  phrase,  are  "  down  in  their  luck," 
and  courageous  in  taking  by  the  hand  those  "  under  a  cloud," 
and  endeavouring  to  remove  prejudice  and  misconstruction — 
a  far  harder  work  of  charity  than  subscribing  to  the  relief  of 
the  destitute.    "It  is  naturally  impossible  to  give  any  instances 
of  such  fulfilments  of  the  law  of  love  in  India ;  but  sentences 
from  letters  written  to  her  by  Europeans  of  different  nationalities 


2  76  IRENE    PETRIE 

in  two  Indian  cities  may  be  quoted,   one  a   case   of  trouble 
through  wrongful  accusation,  the  other  a  case  of  deep  need : — 

"  How  kind  and  sympathetic  of  you  to  have  written  such 
a  sweet  letter  !  .  .  .  Many,  many  sincere  thanks  for  your  help 
in  prayer;  it  is  all  in  all  to  us  just  now,  and  we  are  most 
grateful  to  feel  God  has  so  blessed  us  with  friends.  ...  I 
have  read  your  letter  more  than  once,  for  it  is  most  consoling." 

"  Some  time  back  you  sent  me  a  very  comforting  verse  to 
think  of  from  the  Word  of  God.  Will  you  please  send  me 
another  message  of  peace  and  love.  I  do  feel  so  thankful 
for  the  privilege  of  writing  to  you  sometimes." 

The  words  of  three  of  her  fellow-missionaries  will  fitly  con- 
clude this  subject : — 

Miss  Pryce-Browne  says  :  "  Irene  had  a  wonderful  influence 
on  society  in  Srinagar,  not  by  what  she  said  but  by  what 
she  was." 

Miss  Phillips,  whom  we  meet  later,  says  :  "  Irene's  broad- 
minded  outlook  and  delight  in  all  that  was  good,  and  her  wonder- 
ful power  of  attracting  love,  gave  her  a  great  influence  over  the 
whole  community  at  Srinagar.  Her  tact  and  sympathy  brought 
out  all  that  was  best  in  those  she  came  into  contact  with,  and 
made  them  think  of  themselves  in  a  way  that  stimulated  them 
to  become  their  best  selves.  Upon  merely  worldly  people 
she  made  a  great  impression,  not  by  what  she  said,  for  she 
never  thrust  religion  upon  them ;  but  what  she  was  compelled 
them  to  respect  the  principles  she  professed.  No  one  else 
could  fill  the  place  she  filled  here." 

Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe,  at  a  public  meeting  in  Kensington  in 
January,  1S99,  spoke  thus:  "Perhaps  Miss  Petrie's  strongest 
point  was  the  way  in  which  she  used  her  opportunities  of  inter- 
course with  the  Europeans.  Everyone  was  obliged  to  allow 
that  she  was  there  wholly  for  the  love  of  God.  Artist  and 
musician,  and  most  accomplished,  she  was  always  well  received, 
and  won  many  to  care  for  missionary  work.     It  is  not  ea.sy 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  277 

to  keep  up  such  social  intercourse  when  absorbed  in  that 
work,  but  one  of  her  talents  was  being  methodical.  Looking 
only  at  the  work  she  did  among  her  own  countrymen,  one 
could  never  say  her  life  had  been  thrown  away." 

A  new  trial  to  the  much-tried  Kashmir  Mission  followed 
quickly  upon  the  bright  incidents  of  the  Bishop's  visit. 
Since  her  arrival  in  India  in  1895,  Miss  Pryce-Browne  had 
been  much  out  of  health,  and  when  she  returned  from  a 
summer  trip  to  the  Toshmaidan  worse  rather  than  better, 
the  doctors  decided  that  she  must  go  home,  "  a  terrible 
disappointment  to  her,  and  a  real  sorrow  to  us,"  says  Irene. 
"  Though  in  India  for  less  than  a  year,  and  constantly  suffering, 
she  has  done  some  real  and  lasting  work,  and  her  influence 
has  already  been  one  for  which  many  have  cause  to  be  thank- 
ful." For  instance,  there  are  among  Irene's  papers  several 
letters  from  a  driver  of  the  Royal  Horse  Artillery  acknowledging 
missionary  magazines,  etc.  They  tell  how  he  was  won  to 
God  through  an  address  which  Miss  Pryce-Browne  gave  at 
a  hill  station  in  December,  1895,  and  show  that  he  became 
leader  of  a  little  band  of  whole-hearted  Christian  soldiers 
in  his  battery,  and  was  devoting  all  his  leisure  to  Urdu, 
hoping  for  work  among  the  natives  later  on.  Her  friendship 
with  Miss  Pryce-Browne  had  been  a  great  help  and  happiness 
to  Irene,  and  it  was  she  who  sorrowfully  escorted  the  invalid 
to  Baramula  in  October,   1896. 

Of  the  three  young  colleagues  who  had  rallied  so  hopefully 
round  T^Iiss  Hull  in  April,  1896,  one  was  invalided  home 
within  six  months,  one  was  laid  aside  again  and  again  by 
illness,  one  had  less  than  sixteen  months  yet  to  live.  All 
had  been  medically  passed  and  fully  trained.  Let  the  arm- 
chair critics  who  hint  that  the  lives  of  missionaries  are  easy 
take  such  facts  to  heart ;  and  let  the  supporters  of  missions 
ut  home  realise  the  importance  of  sending  out  only  the  robubt, 


2 73  IRENE    PETRIE 

of  making  all  possible  provision  for  their  health  and  comfort 
in  the  field,  and  of  insisting  that  they  get  rest  and  change 
enough  after  their  arduous  toils  in  an  exhausting  climate. 
Missionaries  are  breaking  down  at  undermanned  stations ; 
thousands  of  cities  and  villages  are  still  unevangelised ;  the 
cry  for  more  workers  comes  from  all  parts  of  the  world. 
Of  five  hundred  and  forty-five  who  recently  approached  the 
C.M.S.  with  more  or  less  articulate  offers  of  service,  only  a 
hundred  were  accepted,  of  whom  seventy-seven  had  first  to 
be  trained.  And  all  experience  suggests  that  of  the  twenty- 
three  ready  to  go  at  once,  some  will  soon  be  invalided  home 
or  die  at  their  posts. 

It  is  right  to  set  up  a  high  standard  of  qualification; 
and  it  is  equally  right  to  guard  against  all  preventable 
waste  of  life  and  health  in  those  sent  forth.  But  great  is 
the  responsibility  of  others  who  hold  back  when  they  are 
qualified  to  go,  for  they  cannot  say.  The  work  we  might 
do  there  will  be  done  as  well,  perhaps  better,  by  some- 
one else  if  we  stay  at  home.  There  is  indeed  need  to  pray 
that  in  the  day  of  God's  power  His  people  may  ofier  them- 
selves willingly  (Ps.  ex.  3).  One  may  doubt,  however,  if 
Europeans  can  ever  win  India  or  any  other  heathen  land  as 
a  whole.  Their  work  is  rather  to  win  its  future  evangelists 
from  among  their  countrymen,  and  as  Bishop  Selwyn  used 
to  say,  "The  white  corks  are  only  to  float  the  black  nets." 
Lastly,  that  there  is  at  work  a  Divine  Power  that  "  can  save 
by  few  "  is  demonstrated  by  comparing  missionary  resources 
with  missionary  achievements.  When  Gideon,  at  the  head 
of  32,000  men,  met  the  multitudes  of  the  children  of  the  East, 
"  innumerable  as  locusts,"  at  least  135,000  in  number,  he  was 
making  no  common  venture  of  faith.  But  less  than  one  in 
a  hundred  of  his  warriors  stood  the  test  imposed  on  them, 
and  starting  with  one  to  four,  he  was  not  given  the  victory 
till   he   had   one  to   four   hundred   and    fifty   of  the  enemy. 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  279 

That  history  contains  a  most  instructive  allegory  of  present- 
day  missionary  enterprise. 

On  November  7th,  as  Miss  Coverdale  was  now  better  and 
able  to  rejoin  Miss  Hull,  Irene  returned  to  Holton  Cottage. 
"  Both  abodes  and  work  seem  to  shift  and  change,"  she  writes, 
"  and  one  readapts  oneself  without  much  loss  of  time."  This, 
however,  was  to  be  her  last  move.  Her  routine  of  work  was 
now  as  follows  :  An  early  morning  lesson  in  Kashmiri  with  the 
munshi;  on  five  days  in  the  week  morning  and  afternoon 
rounds  in  the  zenanas,  till  three  of  her  mornings  were  claimed 
by  the  schools ;  on  Saturday,  study,  correspondence,  and 
choir  practice.  Her  Sunday  was  very  full,  including  early 
Communion  and  morning  service  at  All  Saints',  either  as 
organist  or  in  the  choir ;  morning  and  afternoon  service  at  St. 
Luke's,  as  organist  always  at  one,  and  after  March  at  both ; 
Sunday  school  for  European  children  after  morning  service ; 
visits  to  native  Christian  women;  and  Bible  classes  for  her 
own  servants  and  for  the  Holton  Cottage  household. 

The  following  dated  glimpses  into  the  zenana  work  of  that 
last  winter  well  illustrate  one  comment  in  an  article  on 
Irene's  career,  entitled  A  Heroine  of  the  Cross,  by  Blanche 
Macdonell  ^ :  **  Hers  was  a  patient,  persistent  enthusiasm,  un- 
wearied by  disappointment,  undeterred  by  drudgery  " : — 

August  22nd,  1896  :  "  I  have  got  back  to  work  at  once,  which 
is  always  delightful.  The  pupils  are  so  sweet  and  nice,  and  so 
pleased  to  see  me.  One  old  Kashmiri  body  hugged  me,  and 
said  her  Uver  had  been  longing  for  me." 

October  30th :  "  In  most  instances  the  appearance  of  the 
Bible  is  the  signal  for  a  hush  all  round,  and  the  mistress  her- 
self resolutely  checks  interruption ;  sometimes  "  because  the 
Miss  Sahib  is  reading,"  but  sometimes — which  one  prefers  to 
hear — "  because  the  Miss  Sahib  is  reading  the  Holy  Book." 

'   In   The  New   York  Churchman  for  June    n  h,    1893, 


28o  IRENE    PETRIE 

November  (to  the  College  by  Post) :  "  For  almost  uninter- 
rupted opportunity  for  work,  and  many  helps  by  the  way  since 
1896  began,  there  is  great  cause  for  thankfulness,  though  there 
may  not  be  much  of  excitement  or  romance  to  relate.  .  .  . 
There  is  ever-growing  interest  in  knowing  and  loving  the  pupils 
better,  and  watching  a  growing  love  in  them  for  what  we  have 
come  to  tell  them.  .  .  .  Occasionally  indifference  proves  worse 
than  opposition ;  but  sometimes  one  has  the  happiness  of 
watching  it  changing  to  interest.  In  one  house  the  sowing 
once  seemed  to  be  by  the  wayside,  and  among  thorns,  for  the 
young  girls  almost  hailed  the  distractions  caused  by  barking 
dogs,  crowing  cocks,  roaring  babies,  and  shouting  mothers. 
Now  these  same  girls  are  models  of  reverence  and  attention, 
they  coax  the  poor  wee  babies  into  quietness,  and  begin  to 
remember  and  understand  what  they  hear  in  their  lessons.  .  .  . 
There  is  indeed  a  rich  field  of  work  in  Kashmir  and  the  lands 
near,  and  our  small  mission  party  can  do  but  a  little.  I 
suggested  lately  to  a  pupil  leaving  Srinagar  that  there  might 
be  a  lady  where  she  was  going  who  would  help  her  to  continue 
learning.  'It  is  a  little  village,'  she  replied ;  '  what  Miss 
Sahib  would  have  time  to  come  and  teach  us  ? ' " 

Annual  letter  to  C.M.S.  Headquarters,  January,  1897  :  "The 
total  number  of  pupils,  not  all  under  instruction  simultaneously, 
has  been  about  sixty.  .  .  .  Both  Urdu  and  Hindi  are  studied, 
and  in  some  houses  conversation  has  to  be  entirely  in 
Kashmiri.  ...  In  addition  to  school  work  and  a  certain  amount 
of  miscellaneous  teaching,  I  have  been  able  to  pay  over  six 
hundred  zenana  visits,  when  a  Bible  lesson  has  been  given, 
during  1896.  .  .  .  One  is  more  and  more  glad  to  be  in  this 
needy  place,  though  we  look  increasingly  to  the  help  of  those 
who  cannot  be  here  themselves  in  intercession  for  more  of  the 
life-  and  love-giving  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

Press  of  work  from  day  to  day  can  have  left  little  time  for 
preparing  all  these  lessons ;  but  every  hour  of  patient  Bible 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  281 

study  in  former  days  had  its  reward  now,  as  Irene  brought 
forth  out  of  the  good  treasure  of  her  heart  good  things 
accumulated  there  almost  from  childhood.  Many  minute 
notebooks,  some  filled  with  memoranda  concerning  the  cir- 
cumstances of  all  her  pupils,  Asiatic,  European,  and  Eurasian, 
some  with  skeleton  lessons  carefully  grouped,  show  that  her 
work  was  as  methodical  as  it  was  rapid  and  ardent. 

She  had  learned  to  walk  on  the  sunny  side,  and  it  is 
only  now  and  then  that  one  gets  a  glimpse  of  discourage- 
ment and  difficulties.  One  day  in  January,  1897,  we  find 
her  adjourning  with  an  eager  set  of  pupils  to  the  courtyard, 
because  their  men  relatives  were  too  churlish  to  make  room 
for  the  Bible  lesson.  "Snow  was  falling  heavily,  but,"  says 
Irene,  "  if  they  did  not  mind,  poor  things !  in  their  cotton 
rags,  it  was  not  for  me  to  mind  in  my  nice  warm  furs." 

Less  cheerfully  she  writes  later  on  :  "One  learns  to  expect 
nothing  from  Orientals  "  ;  and  in  June,  1897  :  "  One  does  long 
that  their  languages  could  be  more  easily  read.  Even  a 
diligent  pupil  after  two  years  of  weekly  teaching  would  hardly 
ever  be  able  to  read  the  Gospels.  One  envies  the  simplicity 
of  the  North  American  syllabic  system,  or  of  the  Roman 
character  used  in  Uganda.  .  .  .  There  seems  to  be  an  unsatis- 
factory amount  of  waste  labour  somewhere.  ...  I  don't  see 
any  way  out  of  the  present  groove  as  yet,  but  am  far  from 
sure  that  endless  zenana  teaching  on  the  system  we  have 
to  follow  here  is  the  most  excellent  way."  And  again : 
"  Another  woman  whom  I  had  met  and  given  a  Gospel  to 
long  ago  asked  me  to  come,  and  I  found  an  unusual  and 
gratifying  state  of  things.  She  could  not  only  read,  but  she 
had  read  the  Gospel,  and  had  a  very  fair  idea  of  its  con- 
tents and  meaning.  She  had  learned  to  read  in  a  Govern- 
ment school  at  Sialkot;  and  it  is  delightful  to  think  that 
our  time  together  can  consequently  be  spent  on  real  Bible 
study,  instead  of  so  much  being  swallowed  up  in  the  endless 


282  IRENE    PETRIE 

and  sometimes  apparently  hopeless  grind  at  alphabet  and 
syllables." 

Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  writes :  "  Irene  toiled  away  so  patiently 
and  bravely,  but  it  was  often  very  discouraging  and  uphill 
work  ;  the  hardness  of  the  women  and  their  utter  incapacity 
to  grasp  or  even  to  listen  to  the  Gospel  story  were  very 
trying  at  times  to  dear  Irene.  One  was  sometimes  tempted 
to  think  she  was  lost  on  Kashmir ;  yet  no  work  for  the  Lord 
is  in  vain,  and  her  call  to  glory  may  be  His  way  for  her 
to  glorify  Him.  It  was  indeed  a  laying  all  at  the  Master's 
feet  when  she  came  here." 

The  onlooker  rather  than  the  combatant  can  foresee 
the  issue  of  such  a  scattered  and  prolonged  warfare  as 
this.  Here,  for  instance,  are  some  significant  words  from 
an  article  recently  written  by  a  Mohammedan  in  India,  in 
which  sullen  hostility  gives  place  to  passionate  and  almost 
panic-stricken  denunciation  of  missionaries  generally,  and 
zenana  missionaries  particularly :  "  The  missionaries  who 
pour  like  a  flood  into  this  country  are  striking  deadly  blows 
at  the  root  of  our  faith.  ...  If  we  let  them  work  un- 
molested, if  we  allow  English  women  to  undermine  our 
faith,  in  a  few  years  (if,  indeed,  one  Mussulman  remain  in 
India)  our  knees  will  be  feeble,  our  heart  faint,  our  religion 
gone." 

On  her  return  in  1895  Irene  had  resumed  her  Bible  class 
for  Christian  women,  but  some  of  her  pupils  had  left  Srinagar, 
and  the  small  flock  of  native  Christians  had  become  still 
smaller  because  some  had  been  drawn  into  another  fold. 
She  writes :  "  The  Roman  Catholics  did  some  sheep- 
stealing  recently,  and  got  a  ward  assistant  at  the  Hospital, 
a  very  ignorant  old  Christian,  and  his  boys,  Kttle  more 
than  infants."  Mr.  Knowles's  account  in  his  annual  letter 
to  headquarters  says  that  the  man  was  bringing  so  much 
reproach  on  the  Name  of  Christ  by  his  laziness  and  constant 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  283 

grumbling  about  the  smallncss  of  his  wages  that  he  was 
told  to  go,  and  went  to  the  Roman  priests,  who  housed  him 
and  made  him  very  happy  for  a  while  by  giving  him  nearly 
twice  the  pay  he  had  with  the  C.M.S.  missionaries.  In 
June,  1896,  having  tired  of  the  priests,  he  returned  to  Hospital 
employment.  The  incident,  which  has  many  parallels  in 
India  and  elsewhere,  illustrates  that  Roman  preference  for 
fields  already  worked  by  other  Christian  missionaries  which 
compelled  the  gentle  and  large-hearted  Bishop  Matthew  to 
say  in  his  first  Charge  :  "  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  protest  against 
this  marauding  policy,  this  wanton  aggravation  of  bitterness 
and  of  those  divisions  which  we  deplore."  It  forcibly  contrasts 
with  the  policy  of  our  own  Church  in  seeking  out  all  over 
the  world  the  wholly  unevangelised. 

In  November,  1896,  Irene  passed  her  Christian  class  on 
to  Miss  Coverdale,  whose  still  precarious  health  made  city 
visiting  undesirable  for  her.  "  It  was  very  sad,"  she  writes, 
"  to  say  good-bye  to  the  class,  but  one's  hands  were  filled  with 
other  work,  and  many  new  pupils  were  asking  for  visits."  She 
still  had  some  native  Christians  on  her  Hst.  There  is,  for 
instance,  a  most  grateful  letter  in  Urdu,  signed  "Your  Christian 
sister,"  from  one  living  remote  from  any  missionary,  to  whom 
she  seems  to  have  found  time  to  write  letters  and  send 
magazines. 

Just  before  Christmas  she  had  what  was  almost  her  only 
experience  of  village  itineration.  About  twelve  miles  from 
Srinagar  lies  Yetchgam.  The  fact  that  this  means  "bad 
village  "  and  is  a  corruption  of  its  original  name  Atchchagam, 
or  "  good  village,"  suggests  an  unattractive  degeneracy  in  the 
place ;  but  its  recent  history  is  encouraging  enough  to  be  traced 
out,  as  typical  of  a  kind  of  work  that  should  not  be  altogether 
omitted  in  the  story  of  Kashmir.  There,  as  throughout  India, 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  people  live  in  villages.  In  August, 
1889,  two  fully  qualified  medical  women,  Dr.  Cutler,  and  Miss 


284  IRENE    PETRIE 

Werthmiiller,  of  Peshawar,  whom  we  shall  meet  again,  with 
Miss  Hull  and  Miss  Edgley,  of  Clarkabad,  a  fourth  C.E.Z. 
lady,  came  to  Yetchgam.  The  doctors  operated  successfully 
on  the  wife  of  the  lumbardar — that  is,  the  hereditary  tax- 
gatherer,  the  headman  of  the  village,  on  whose  character  and 
influence  its  prosperity  largely  depends.  They  relieved  many 
other  suffering  women,  preached,  and  left  Gospels  with  those 
who  could  read.  "  Man  goeth  forth  unto  his  work  and  to 
his  labour  until  the  evening,  that  is  God's  plan  for  us,"  said 
Dr.  Butler,  as  they  turned  homeward  from  an  arduous  fort- 
night's work  in  this  and  other  villages ;  and  within  seven 
weeks  her  own  evening  fell  suddenly,  as  we  have  told  in 
Chapter  VI.  But  the  seed  had  not  been  sown  in  vain. 
The  lumbardar's  son  read  their  books  diligently. 

Five  years  after,  in  November,  1894,  Miss  Hull  went  by  in- 
vitation to  Yetchgam  with  Irene,  who  says  :  "  We  rode  through 
the  now  dry  rice  fields,  where  the  last  of  the  crop  was  being 
threshed  in  primitive  fashion,  then  across  one  of  the  flat 
chalk  tablelands  a  few  hundred  feet  above  the  valley,  then 
down  to  the  hollow  with  its  pretty  brook  and  grove  of 
grand  crimson  chenars,  under  which  the  tumbledown  houses 
were  clustered.  We  had  lunch  in  the  lumbardar's  garden ; 
the  feast  began  with  fruit  and  nuts,  then  toffee  and  sweets, 
then  curried  mutton,  lastly  chapatis,  honey,  custard  pudding, 
and  tea.  The  family  and  their  friends  assembled  on  all 
sides  to  see  the  lions  fed.  Then  Miss  Hull  and  I  sang 
bhajans  to  the  guitar,  and  she  spoke  on  the  story  of  Zacchaeus 
in  Kashmiri.  Medicines  and  presents  were  distributed,  and 
we  went  on  to  another  house,  where  over  thirty  (not  counting 
babies)  gathered  and  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  the  story 
of  the  Prodigal  Son.     We  rode  home  by  moonlight." 

In  December,  1895,  as  Irene  was  leaving  the  house  of 
the  Chief  Justice's  wife,  she  found  the  son  of  the  lumbardar  of 
Yetchgam  waiting  for  her  at  the  ghat,  to  secure,  if  possible, 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  285 

through  her  pupil,  judgment  in  his  favour  in  a  case  trumped 
up  against  him.  Miss  Hull  explains  the  matter  in  India's 
Women.  An  influential  maulvi  had  visited  the  village,  and 
the  people  took  the  opportunity  to  lodge  a  complaint  against 
the  young  man  on  account  of  non-attendance  at  the  mosque 
and  reading  pernicious — that  is,  Christian — books  given  him 
in  1889.  A  great  disturbance  ensued,  and  he  was  threatened 
with  excommunication.  He  replied :  "  God  has  given  me 
understanding,  which  I  must  use  in  search  of  truth  j  and 
if  that  be  denied  me  here,  I  will  save  you  the  trouble 
of  turning  me  out,  I  shall  go  myself.  But  the  more  you 
persecute  me,  the  more  my  conviction  of  Christianity  grows." 
In  February,  1896,  after  the  case  had  been  pending  six 
months,  decision  was  given  in  his  favour. 

On  December  14th  and  isth,  1896,  Miss  Hull  and  Irene 
spent  "two  delightful  days"  at  Yetchgam,  finding  "  the  people 
so  simple  and  so  eager  to  hear  the  Gospel."  Miss  Hull 
thus  describes  the  visit :  "  Dear  Irene  Petrie  and  I  visited 
a  village,  where  the  lumbardar,  one  of  the  finest  gentlemen 
I  ever  knew,  had  started  a  school,  managed  by  his  daughter, 
in  their  own  house.  All  the  chief  men  in  the  village 
assembled  in  its  largest  room  to  see  Dr.  Neve's  lantern, 
which  Irene  worked,  while  I  explained  the  pictures  of  our 
Lord's  life.  At  that  of  the  Crucifixion  absolute  silence 
fell  on  the  room,  and  we  left  them  to  their  thoughts.  The 
Resurrection  and  Ascension  followed.  Then  the  lumbardar 
rose  and  said:  'Truly  v>'e  do  love  Him.  It  is  our  one 
thought  and  hope  that  He  may  come  again.'  A  few  months 
after  this  open  profession  of  his  faith  he  died." 

In  Srinagar  on  Christmas  Day  the  largest  number  of  com- 
municants ever  gathered  at  a  native  service  there  knelt  at 
the  Holy  Table  in  St.  Luke's.  "  The  message  of  Christmas 
seems  so  much  richer  and  more  wonderful  every  year,  as 
expressing  the  central  truth,  especially  when  one   has   been 


286  IRENE    TETRIE 

trying  to  give  it  to  the  pupils  here,"  writes  Irene.     "...  On 

December  29th  the  whole  British  community,  with  hardly 
an  exception,  accepted  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe's  invitation  to 
a  carol  concert.  .  .  .  Mr.  Millais  lent  his  American  organ, 
and  the  old  English  church,  an  unconsecrated  building,  was 
decorated  with  crimson  hangings,  mistletoe,  and  pine  and  ivy, 
and  the  text,  '  Good  tidings  of  great  joy  to  all  people.' 
Every  seat  was  filled,  and  the  audience  were  asked  to  refrain 
from  applause  as  the  concert  was  sacred.  About  seventy 
were  present,  and  the  concert  was  repeated  for  some  fifty 
English-speaking  native  gentlemen."  Irene's  share  in  the 
music  was  a  large  one. 

So  she  entered  on  the  last  seven  months  of  her  life ;  and 
none  of  the  friends  in  England  had  her  more  in  their  hearts 
than  two  who  thus  worded  their  wishes  for  1897  :  "I  earnestly 
hope  it  will  be  your  best  year,  my  dearest  Irene."  "May 
the  new  year  of  your  life  be  to  you  one  of  increasing  know- 
ledge of  the  power  of  Christ's  Resurrection."  Truly  fulfilled 
were  both  wishes. 

From  the  day  she  began  Urdu  at  The  Willows  Irene  had 
been  labouring  without  intermission  at  three  languages.  An 
Indian  missionary  who  has  passed  the  first  examination  in 
Urdu  has  a  choice  between  a  further  examination  in  Urdu  or 
one  in  the  language  of  his  own  district.  Irene  having  passed 
in  Urdu  in  1895,  accordingly  presented  herself  in  1897  for 
examination  in  Kashmiri,  a  tongue  in  which  two  Europeans 
had  hitherto  been  examined,  some  half-dozen  only  having 
learned  it.  The  language  is  difficult  and  uncertain  in  itself, 
and  there  are  hardly  any  books  to  help  the  student.  Nor 
is  it  easy  to  express  oneself  colloquially  with  the  limited 
vocabulary  of  the  uneducated,  for  whom  the  more  accurate 
terms  borrowed  from  Sanskrit,  Persian,  and  Arabic  by  the 
translators  of  the  Bible  into  Kashmiri  would  be  unintelligible. 

In  the  first  months  of  1897   she  worked  for  four  or  five 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  287 

hours  daily  with  a  munshi  whose  circumstances  were  charac- 
teristic of  modern  India.  His  father,  a  Brahman  of  the 
highest  caste,  forbade  him  to  go  to  the  C.M.S.  School,  and 
when  he  went  notwithstanding,  burned  his  books  and  expelled 
him  from  home  for  six  months,  avowing  his  fear  that  he 
would  become  a  Christian.  Later  on  he  withdrew  the  pro- 
hibition on  the  ground  that  the  English  might  rule  Kashmir 
entirely  some  day;  but  he  pressed  his  son  to  read  the 
Ramayana  instead  of  the  Bible.  When,  however,  the  Bible 
was  read  aloud  to  him,  he  admitted  that  it  was  very  beautiful, 
and  in  spite  of  himself  it  seemed  to  influence  the  old  man's 
life.  Seeing  his  son  with  Daily  Light  (Irene's  gift),  he 
begged  him  to  lay  it  aside,  "  for  perhaps  this  book  will 
convince  you  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  " ;  but  once  more 
he  listened,  and  admitted  that  it  was  good.  How  deeply  the 
young  man  was  influenced  was  shown  one  day  when  he  said 
quite  simply  :  "  I  thank  God  and  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  that  I 
have  been  able  to  give  up  lying  entirely."  He  was,  however, 
an  affectionate  and  dutiful  son,  and  open  profession  of 
Christianity  must  have  meant  for  him  death  to  his  family. 

Miss  Newnham  and  Irene  went  up  together  for  examination 
on  March  30th  and  31st.  "It  was  rather  a  struggle,"  says 
the  latter,  "  and  I  felt  strangely  stupid  over  some  of  the 
papers.  I  see  the  force  of  Dr.  E.  Neve's  prescription  of 
fifteen  years  to  get  a  hold  upon  Kashmiri."  Dr.  A.  Neve 
and  Mr.  Knowles  were  the  examiners,  and  once  more  she 
came  out  with  honours  marks,  gaining  most  over  conversa- 
tion. "  It  is  a  comfort  to  have  done  with  the  examination," 
she  writes,  "  but  I  have  no  means  done  with  Kashmiri 
study,  and  mean  to  '  munshi '  again." 

She  was  also  making  considerable  progress  in  Hindi.  "  One 
lady,"  she  wrote  of  her  zenana  pupils,  "wanted  me  to  teach 
her  Persian  and  Pushtu,  another  Gurumaki,  another  laments 
that  I  cannot  speak  Bengali,  so  one  often  feels  small." 


288  IRENE    PETRIE 

Dr.  A.  Neve  wrote  a  few  months  later :  "  You  probably 
know  how  brilliantly  she  passed  her  Kashmiri  examination. 
Her  examiners  rejoiced  in  the  thought  that  these  linguistic 
powers  would  open  to  her  the  hearts  of  hundreds  of  women 
in  che  dark  city  of  Srinagar." 

The  very  day  after  the  examination,  and  amid  all  her  usual 
work,  she  wrote  for  the  mail  of  April  3rd  the  Letter  to  School- 
girls inserted  at  the  end  of  this  chapter.  The  request  for  it 
from  the  Headquarters  of  the  C.M.S.  had  expressed  a  hope 
that  when  she  came  home  on  furlough  she  might  be  able  to 
give  special  help  "  in  interesting  bright,  keen  girls  at  our 
best  schools."  They  also  asked  for  an  illustrated  article  for 
The  Gleaner,  which  was  never  written. 

A  few  days'  absence  with  Miss  Pryce-Browne  in  October 
had  been  the  only  break  in  nearly  eight  months'  work,  and  the 
examination  had  left  her  weary  and  troubled  with  an  obstinate 
cough.  So  she  was  quite  ready  for  the  annual  school  outing 
to  the  Wular  Lake,  April  9th  to  23rd,  which  proved  pleasanter 
than  any  of  their  trips  hitherto.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe 
took  forty-two  boys,  and  all  went  well.  "  Even  I,"  writes  Irene 
on  April  15th,  "am  not  ambitious  nowadays  about  getting 
a  certain  amount  done,  and  so  many  expeditions  fitted  in. 
I  am  just  lazing  for  a  while,  and  already  feel  a  different 
creature.  One  comes  to  a  point  at  which  it  seems  impossible 
to  go  on  giving  out  and  teaching  without  a  little  pause  for 
taking  breath  and  getting  change  of  thought."  Dr.  Andrew 
Murray's  Jesus  Himself  was  her  companion  on  this  holiday, 
and  she  took  with  her  "Biscuit,"  a  horse  she  had  just 
purchased,  which  new  possession  enabled  her  to  see  more 
of  the  "Happy  Valley"  in  the  next  three  months  than  she 
had  seen  in  all  the  preceding  three  years.  On  Easter  Day 
Jusuf,  the  Ladaki,  the  only  Asiatic  Christian  in  the  camp, 
made  the  fourth  communicant.  In  the  afternoon  Mr.  Tyndale- 
Biscoe  held  his  pundits'  Bible  class,  and  Irene  looked  up  some 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  289 

of  the  women  in  the  village.  None  could  read,  but  she  had 
an  audience  of  over  forty  for  a  Bible  talk  and  the  Heart  Book. 
They  were  very  friendly,  but  wofully  ignorant.  "  How  well  I 
remember,"  writes  Mrs.  Tyndale-BiscoCj  '*  Irene  singing — 

On  the  Resurrection  morning 
Soul  and  body  meet  again 

(Hymns  Ancient  and  Modern,  No.  499)  at  our  last  quiet 
Easter  Service  in  the  tent  at  Zuriinanz.  It  was  such  a  lovely 
Easter,  and  we  were  all  so  happy  !  " 

Refreshed  by  the  clear  mountain  air  and  by  Nature  at 
her  loveliest,  Irene  returned  to  work  harder  than  ever  for 
ten  more  weeks. 

Two  incidents  stand  out,  of  both  of  which  she  writes  buoy- 
antly. On  June  9th  she  was  one  of  a  party  of  six  men  and 
three  ladies,  "six  of  whom  had  attended  St.  Mary  Abbots, 
and  six  of  whom  had  ascended  Ben  Lomond,"  that  chmbed 
"  the  Rigi  of  Kashmir,"  a  peak  which  Irene  had  longed  almost 
daily  to  scale  for  three  years,  A  thousand  feet  was  accom- 
plished on  horseback,  the  remaining  four  thousand  feet  on 
foot,  the  whole  expedition  lasting  sixteen  hours. 

Then  came  the  Diamond  Jubilee  celebrations,  and  her  full 
and  animated  descriptions  show  that  no  one  entered  into 
them  more  than  she  did.  These  few  sentences  from  her 
letters  must  suffice  here : — 

"A  book  given  me  at  the  New  Year,  called  The  Queen^s 
Resolve^  has  been  well  worked  in  the  zenanas,  and  also  at 
the  school.  When  the  picture  of  the  Malika  Qaisar-i-Hind 
appeared,  all  the  boys  quite  spontaneously  made  a  deep 
salaam,  and  some  wanted  to  start  for  England  in  order  to 
see  her  for  themselves. 

"The  festivities  included  a  School  regatta,  at  which  the 
Resident  and  the  rest  of  the  sahib  16g  attended,  and  the 
performers,   over  a  hundred  in  number,  appeared  in  really 

19 


290  IRENE    PETRiE 

clean  things ;  a  review,  at  which  the  Maharaja's  troops  looked 
very  soldierly,  though  not  gorgeous,  in  khaki ;  a  fete  in  the 
Residency  Gardens;  and  a  great  durbar,  a  very  gay  and 
interesting  sight,  at  which  the  Maharaja  entertained  all  the 
sahib  16g,  including  the  missionaries.  At  the  military  sports 
in  the  afternoon  of  Jubilee  Day  a  telegram  was  handed  to 
the  Resident,  who  showed  it  to  us  at  once.  It  was  the  dear 
Queen's  own  message,  and  we  read  it  with  such  a  thrill, 
within  half  an  hour  of  its  despatch  by  her  own  hand." 

Irene's  power  to  do  and  to  enjoy  were  apparently  as  great 
as  ever.  Thrice  in  her  last  week  at  Srinagar  she  made  three 
expeditions  into  the  city  in  one  day ;  **  organist  at  four 
services  "  is  the  entry  for  her  last  Sundays ;  the  friends  who 
feared  that  day  was  too  arduous  for  her  already  could  not 
dissuade  her  from  undertaking  what  was  so  great  a  delight  to 
herself.  "  Her  bright  enjoyment  of  everything  made  her 
always  the  life  of  any  little  party,"  says  Miss  Hull;  "and 
her  music  was  an  unfailing  source  of  pleasure  to  us  all." 
"  She  was  the  life  of  the  mission,"  says  Dr.  Neve  ;  "  and  with 
all  her  inexhaustible  activity  there  was  no  appearance  of  rush 
or  flurry.  She  would  spend  a  social  evening,  entertaining 
us  with  her  music  and  conversation,  and  then  retire  to 
write  letters  till  2  a.m."  "  Her  amazing  energy  enabled  her 
to  accomplish  much  in  her  short  life,"  says  Miss  Pryce-Browne  ; 
"  and  it  is  hard  to  imagine  Srinagar  without  her."  "  In  three 
years  she  accomplished,"  says  Mr,  Tyndale-Biscoe,  "  what 
it  would  have  taken  another  ten  or  twelve  years  to  do." 

She  herself  wrote  to  a  friend  who  had  her  inmost  con- 
fidence :  "  Ask  for  me  that  I  may  more  fulfil  those  lines, — 

Striving  less  to  serve  Thee  much, 
Than  to  please  Thee  perfectly." 

And  what  the  companions  of  those  closing  months  emphasise 
most,  and  in  a  way  very  significant  to  those  who  had  known 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  291 

the  impetuous  and  ambitious  Irene  of  earlier  years,  is  lier 
gentleness  and  absolute  humility  and  unselfishness,  reminding 
one  of  Tennyson's — 

Ere  my  flower  to  fruit 
Changed,  I  was  ripe  for  death. 

There  is  much  to  be  learned  as  well  as  much  to  teach 
in  the  mission  field,  and,  as  her  missionary  friend  at  Agra 
writes  :  "  Dear  Irene  must  have  been  quick  in  learning  what 
it  takes  others  a  long  life  to  complete."  "  Our  darling  Irene," 
writes  an  American  friend,  "  was  so  true,  so  heart-whole,  so 
simple  in  her  love  of  Christ,  that  few  stood  by  her  side  in 
the  work  and  worship  which  she  offered  ;  and  can  we  wonder 
that  the  great  love  found  acceptance  without  length  of 
years  ?  " 

Growth  both  in  wisdom  and  in  grace  is  manifest  in  her 
later  letters.  Tolerant  she  had  always  been,  not  with  the 
shallow  tolerance  of  those  who  have  no  deep  convictions, 
but  with  the  large-hearted  intelligence  of  a  sympathetic  nature. 
And  many  things  are  in  a  new  perspective  for  the  missionary. 
She  says,  for  instance  :  "  Why  must  High  and  Low  Church 
people  be  at  war  with  each  other  always,  when  both  are  so 
good,  if  only  they  would  be  a  little  broader  and  more 
tolerant  towards  each  other?  It  is  really  pitiable  to  hear 
the  paltry  grounds  on  which  a  Christian  of  one  party  will 
furbish  up  a  criticism  on  one  of  another  party.  One  wonders 
how  there  can  be  room  for  all  these  small  spites  in  face  of 
the  great  non-Christian  world."  Elsewhere  she  speaks  of 
"  good  Churchmanship  with  a  Keswick  flavour,  which  is  the 
reverse  of  high  and  dry,"  as  being  what  she  herself  loves. 

"As  much  as  anyone  I  ever  knew,  your  dear  sister 
approved  herself  a  servant  of  God  by  kindness,"  writes  Miss 
Hull;  and  one  mark  of  this  was  the  growing  generosity  of 
her  judgments.     That  the  harsh  judgment  is  as  often  unfair 


292  IRENE    PETRIE 

as  the  kind  judgment  is  just  was  a  lesson  she  had  fully 
taken  tn  heart.  Not  only  is  there  the  deepening  appreciation 
of  what  was  admirable  in  each  of  her  colleagues,  the  constant 
record  of  small  kindnesses  and  courtesies  shown  to  herself; 
but  also  the  qualifying  statement  when  she  is  obliged  to 
mention  what  is  to  anyone's  discredit,  the  merciful  allowances 
made  for  those  to  whom  others  were  merciless.  She  rose  to 
the  requirement  of  the  aged  St.  Paul  that  "  the  Lord's  servant 
must  be  gentle  towards  all." 

And  she  left  many  things  unsaid  and  undescribed  that 
fill  a  large  place  in  much  private  correspondence.  "  Had 
she,"  one  asks,  "no  unsatisfactory  friends,  no  trying  col- 
leagues, no  worrying  acquaintances,  no  inconsiderate  com- 
panions, no  stupid  helpers,  no  dilatory  tradesmen,  no 
careless  servants;  were  hopeless  weather,  uncomfortable 
accommodation,  wearing  delays,  vexatious  losses,  bodily  aches 
and  pains  unknown  to  her  experience  ?  "  If  they  were  known, 
she  neither  brooded  over  them  nor  chronicled  them. 

Miss  Pryce-Browne,  who  lived  in  closest  intimacy  with 
her  for  six  months,  says :  "  Irene's  unselfishness  and  the 
humility  that  never  claimed  anything  for  herself  were 
wonderful.  Her  wide  sympathies  gave  her  a  marvellous 
memory  for  everyone's  concerns,  and  enabled  her  to  enter 
into  their  lives  ;  and  for  everyone  she  had  a  kind  word.  Her 
thoughtfulness  for  others  appeared  in  many  little  things.  In 
trying  conditions  of  work  and  climate  it  is  hard  for  a  mis- 
sionary to  be  always  bright  and  amiable,  as  she  was. 
Returning  from  a  long  and  harassing  day  in  the  city,  she 
would  refrain  from  saying  a  single  word  about  her  own 
experiences,  but  promptly  enter  into  mine." 

"So  many  things  in  her  daily  life,"  says  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe, 
"  little  things  in  themselves,  were  the  very  things  which  helped 
those  around  her  to  live  the  unselfish  and  therefore  the  happy 
Christian  life  she  lived" 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  29J 

More  and  more  one  sees  in  her  the  living  embodiment 
of  St.  Paul's  portrait  of  Love,  refusing  to  be  affronted  or 
alienated,  or  diverted  by  passion  or  prejudice.  More  and 
more  one  sees  in  her  the  spirit  of  Christ,  discerning  and 
calling  out  what  was  lovable  in  all  whom  she  met,  and 
loving  them  accordingly. 

This  ripening  of  character  is  the  only  premonition  of 
swift-coming  death.  "Yet,"  writes  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  in 
August,  "  now  that  we  look  back  upon  all,  she  had  seemed 
overwrought  of  late,  and  was  rather  depressed  at  times. 
She  said  once,  '  I  feel  as  if  I  had  come  to  a  blind  road ;  I 
see  no  way  before  me.'  Then  she  did  not  seem  very  keen 
about  going  home  next  spring.  I  think  she  felt  she  was 
more  needed  here,  and  that  it  would  not  be  right  for  her 
to  neglect  her  post." 

Her  relatives  were  writing  about  a  probable  return  to 
England  in  1898;  but  she  wrote  on  October  30th,  1896: 
"  Here  one  never  seems  to  look  very  far  ahead " ;  and  in 
the  spring  of  1897  :  "  I  am  making  no  definite  plans  of  any 
kind  at  present,  beyond  this  summer."  She  never  once  speaks 
of  returning  home  again  herself;  but  in  her  latest  letters  dwells 
again  and  again  with  intense  pleasure  upon  the  thought  that 
in  the  near  future  "  the  dear  old  Lodge  "  of  so  many  happy 
memories  might  once  more  become  the  permanent  home  of 
her  sister. 

Her  fruit  was  ripe  already,  and  "  when  the  fruit  is  ripe, 
straightway  the  husbandman  putteth  forth  the  sickle,  because 
the  harvest  is  come  "  (Mark  iv.  29). 

An  In  Memoriam  article  in  The  IfitelUgenceriox  March,  1898, 
picturing  those  latter  days  in  Srinagar,  and  the  Letter  to 
Schoolgirls,  which  was  the  last  thing  she  wrote  for  the  press, 
are  appended  to  this  chapterf 


294  IRENE    PETRIE 

IRENE     PETRIE 

BY    MRS.    C.    E.    TYNDALE-BISCOE 

It  is  an  impossible  task  to  write  anything  that  can  do  full 
justice  to  such  a  beautiful  and  bright  life  as  dear  Irene's  was, 
but  I  will  do  my  best  to  give  a  few  little  glimpses  of  what 
she  was  to  us  and  to  the  work  in  Kashmir. 

There  are  many  people  who  can  talk  beautifully,  and  can 
win  much  praise  and  respect  from  the  outside  world,  but 
it  is  not  everyone's  life  that  can  stand  close  inspection.  We 
had  the  privilege  of  having  Irene  in  our  home  for  a  year, 
and  can  only  say  that  her  presence  was  one  continual  joy 
to  us,  and  the  longer  we  knew  her  the  more  could  we  see 
how  her  outward  life  was  fed  by  the  inward  Power.  She  was 
one  who  had  laid  all  her  gifts  and  talents,  which  were  many, 
at  her  Master's  feet,  and  had  learnt  how  to  pass  on  the 
Love  of  Christ  not  merely  by  words  but  by  deeds  also. 

She  would  be  the  last  to  wish  anyone  to  speak  of  her 
wholeheartedness,  unless  it  was  for  some  practical  purpose. 
So  let  me  recall  a  few  facts  in  her  Kashmiri  life,  that  they 
may  be  helpful  to  others. 

I.  It  is  well  known  how  gifted  she  was  in  intellect,  and 
what  a  power  she  had  for  retaining  what  she  read,  so  much 
so  that  she  was  to  us  as  an  ever-ready  book  of  reference. 
Remember  her  powers,  and  now  look  at  her  work.  She 
has  for  some  time  been  giving  a  Kashmiri  girl  lessons 
in  reading,  and  has  at  last  succeeded  in  teaching  her  the 
first  page  of  the  Urdu  Primer ;  the  lessons  are  interrupted 
for  a  short  time,  and  when  she  returns  the  girl  has  forgotten 
everything,  and  all  has  to  be  begun  over  again.  And  time 
after  time  she  would  visit  at  the  same  house  and  repeat 
the  same  Gospel  message  without  seemingly  making  any 
impression.  But  bravely  she  would  plod  on  until  a  gleam  of 
intelligence  would  dawn  on  the  dull  faces  of  the  listeners. 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  295 

She  would  often  come  in  after  a  long  and  weary  day's 
teaching  amongst  such  people  tired  out  and  depressed, 
but  in  a  very  short  time  would  be  her  cheery  self  again, 
once  more  ready  to  go  bravely  on,  and  to  struggle  with  a 
dulness  resulting  from  generations  of  mental  undevelopment- 
One  can  understand  a  person  of  less  ability  having  some 
sympathy  with  such  dulness,  but  for  one  so  highly  cultured 
as  Irene,  her  patience  and  sympathy  were  indeed  wonderful. 

2.  The  ladies'  work  in  Srinagar  is  increased  by  the  inde- 
scribable filth  of  the  city.  .  .  .  Think  of  the  refinement  and 
comfort  to  which  Irene  had  been  accustomed,  and  then  carry 
your  thoughts  to  the  scene  of  her  labours.  Kashmir,  for 
tourists,  may  be  one  of  the  most  beautiful  places  in  the  world ; 
but  workers  in  its  cities  and  villages  can  tell  another  tale. 

3.  There  are  people  full  of  energy  and  activity  that  are 
tempted  to  look  down  upan  the  work  of  others  who  are  not 
able  to  do  as  much  as  themselves;  but  not  so  Irene.  She 
was  always  advocating  rest  for  others,  and  making  out  that 
everyone  worked  far  harder  than  she  did,  and  could  speak 
the  language  far  better  than  she  could.  Her  wonderful 
energy  of  mind  seemed  to  triumph  over  physical  weakness ; 
she  never  seemed  to  know  when  she  was  tired  or  needed 
rest ;  and  we  have  even  known  her  start  out  to  her  work  with 
a  temperature  over  100°,  so  that  we  have  had  to  give 
positive  orders  to  her  boatmen  not  to  take  her  to  the  city. 
She  did  not  intend  to  be  deliberately  rash,  but  her  energy 
and  spirit  were  so  great  that  she  would  not  believe  she  was 
unfit  for  work.  Considering  her  indomitable  energy,  it  was 
marvellous  to  see  her  sympathy  for  the  unenergetic;  she 
had  all  sorts  of  excuses  ready  for  other  people  who  were  un- 
able to  do  as  much  as  she  did. 

4.  Although  so  full  of  her  own  work,  she  had  room  for 
interest  in  other  branches  of  the  mission,  and  in  all  good 
works,     whether  9.t    hoine    or    Jibroad-       She    rendered   us 


296  IRENE    PETRIE 

invaluable  help  in  our  schools,  by  taking  charge  of  one  ol 
them  and  teaching  in  a  second.  .  .  .  One  seldom  finds 
Christian  workers  who  can  take  as  much  interest  in  the  work 
of  others  as  in  their  own. 

5.  Another  pleasing  incident  in  her  life  was  her  thoughtful- 
ness  in  little  things.  She  kept  shelves  and  boxes  stocked 
with  useful  articles,  ready  for  birthdays  or  other  special 
occasions;  if  any  of  us  required  anything  it  was  generally 
to  be  found  amongst  her  stores,  and  nothing  delighted  her  more 
than  to  be  able  to  find  she  could  meet  our  little  emergencies 
and  supply  our  wants. 

We  can  indeed  say  of  Irene  that  she  had — 

A  mind  to  blend  with  outward  things, 
While  keeping  at  Thy  side, 

for  she  was  always  ready  to  enter  into  the  social  gatherings 
of  her  friends  and  contribute  to  their  enjoyment  by  her 
wonderful  musical  talent,  and  her  sweetness  and  brightness 
must  have  left  a  hallowing  influence  on  all  with  whom  she 
came  in  contact.  .  .  . 

The  Kashmiris  have  indeed  lost  a  true  friend;  the  work 
a  whole-hearted  and  earnest  worker ;  and  we  a  bright  gleam 
of  sunshine,  which  welcomed  us  in  the  morning,  and  in  the 
evening  helped  us  to  forget  the  little  worries  of  the  day.  She 
was  one  who  had  freely  received  and  who  freely  gave.  God 
give  us  grace  to  follow  in  her  train  ! 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  297 


IN    THE    VALE    OF    KASHAHR 

BY    IRENE    E.    V=    PETRIE 

"  The  glory  of  our  Jhelum  is  its  fulness,"  says  a  Kashmiri 
proverb  about  the  great  stream  that  winds  through  this 
valley,  till  at  Baramula  it  enters  the  rocky  gorge  through 
which  in  a  narrower  channel  it  will  rush  onwards  mile  after 
mile  towards  the  Punjab.  Then  the  mighty  Indus,  having 
received  all  the  Five  Rivers,  rolls  seaward  through  burning 
desert  plains.  What  a  contrast  between  them  and  the  ice- 
bound winter  fastnesses  our  Jhelum  issued  from  first ! 

Crossing  the  river,  this  first  week  of  spring,  one  sees  eddying 
patches  of  foam  which  tell  their  tale  of  the  force  and  struggle 
of  waters  high  upon  the  mountain  gullies,  where  the  sun's  rays, 
after  long  sleep,  are  just  now  hourly  breaking  up  the  masses 
of  snow. 

As  one  thinks  of  the  welcome  moisture  which  will  help  dried 
and  famine-stricken  lands  far  off,  the  river  highway  itself  seems 
a  parable  of  the  Master's  will  for  the  flow  of  His  life-giving 
Word  in  an  ever  widening  and  deepening  stream  through  this 
land,  that  "every  thing  shall  live  whithersoever  the  river 
cometh,"  as  we  read  in  the  vision  of  Ezek.  xlvii.  That  is 
the  promise  for  the  future  which  we  hope  and  expect.  As  yet, 
however,  we  seem  in  Kashmir  to  be  still  scarcely  emerging 
from  the  ice-bound  stage  and  the  wintry  sleep  of  ignorance 
and  superstition,  and  darkness  is  only  beginning  to  be  broken 
here  and  there  after  centuries  of  sway. 

What  is  being  done  in  Kashmir  to  bring  the  life-giving 
Word  within  reach  of  those  who  need  it,  and  what  are  the 
difficulties  and  the  hindrances  staying  its  flow  ? 

Probably  you  associate  with  the  name  of  Kashmir  the 
thought  of  shawls  and  mountains  and  big  game ;  and  if  ypu 


298  IRENE    PETRIE 

sometimes  visit  the  Indian  Museum  at  South  Kensington  you 
may  see  sketches  of  the  people,  the  city  life  on  the  river  banks, 
and  a  panorama  from  a  high  hill  near  here  of  the  central  valley 
through  which  the  Jhelum  flows,  and  of  the  great  Himalayas 
beyond  between  us  and  India.  Pictures,  however,  give  but  a 
faint  idea  of  the  glory  of  the  scenery  at  certain  times  of  the 
year,  and  the  strange  varieties  of  aspect  from  plains  round 
Srinagar  glowing  with  heat  in  summer  and  snow-blocked  crags 
and  steeps  high  up  where  the  cold  may  be  Arctic.    .  . 

People  at  home  sometimes  think  that  life  out  here  must  be 
very  romantic,  and  picture  Arabian  Night  palaces  and  ladies 
gorgeously  robed  and  covered  with  jewels.  A  few  days  of 
plodding  through  the  unspeakable  mud  of  unsavoury  streets 
and  lanes  in  thaw  time,  and  a  few  visits  to  the  abodes  of  even 
the  well-to-do,  would  soon  dispel  some  of  the  romantic  ideas, 
and  leave  squalor  and  shoddiness  as  the  prevailing  impressions. 
What  grandeur  does,  a  load  of  jewelry  convey  even  when 
real — and  "  Brummagem  ware  "  is  not  uncommon — when  the 
lady  wearing  it  has  a  stained  chaddar  and  dirty  hands,  and 
when  no  corner  of  her  house  is  free  from  dust  and  mess  ? 

Then,  again,  there  may  be,  and  sometimes  are,  eager 
listeners,  but  more  often  one  has  to  realise  that  minds  and 
hearts  asleep  to  all  but  the  most  material  things  have  to  be 
treated  as  we  should  treat  those  of  a  small  child.  Perhaps 
remembering  what  it  was  once  to  listen  to  a  book  or  sermon 
far  beyond  our  comprehension,  we  can  sympathise  with  these 
poor  things  who  all  the  time  have  possibilities  of  such  good 
in  them.  The  sun's  rays  penetrate  the  ice  and  snow  and 
let  loose  the  waters  to  revive  and  fertilise,  and  the  Light  of 
the  Sun  of  Righteousness  can  and  will  penetrate  their  hearts 
that  the  Word  may  do  its  work  there,  though  it  may  be  at 
the  cost  of  struggle. 

Let  me  try  and  recall  as  examples  of  our  pupils  some  houses 
visited  during  the  Itxst  few  days.     Jlere  are  sorjie  Sikh  girls  who 


THIRD    WINTER    IN    SRINAGAR  299 

come  in  from  rice  pounding  and  water  carrying  to  take  their 
lessons,  and  are  always  bright  and  affectionate.  After  more 
than  two  years  of  work  they  begin  to  read  quite  nicely ; 
they  love  singing,  and  remember  fairly  well,  and  are  good 
listeners  when  a  pause  from  the  chorus  of  babies,  dogs, 
cocks,  and  horses  down  below  makes  the  Bible  lesson 
possible.  Some  way  off  is  a  highly  educated  Bengali  lady 
in  a  dainty  European  house,  who  enjoys  advanced  Bible 
study.  A  contrast  to  her  is  a  policeman's  wife  from  Poona, 
who  shares  a  diminutive  hut  with  a  large  goat,  and  seems 
almost  too  dull  to  take  in  anything,  though  she  loves  to 
be  visited,  and  perhaps  progresses  a  little. 

From  a  rickety  house  a  mile  beyond,  which  looks  as  if 
it  must  tumble  bodily  into  the  river  at  the  next  big  earth- 
quake, issues  a  gay,  little,  round-faced  Punjabi  maiden  of 
seven.  With  refreshing  readiness  she  goes  through  last  week's 
lesson  perfectly,  and  both  she  and  her  mother  listen  reverently 
to  the  Bible  lesson  and  seem  to  comprehend  a  good  deal. 
Here  is  another  house,  where  the  woman  nurses  a  pet  gray 
cat  with  a  necklace  on,  while  reading  fluently  in  Hindi.  Of 
her  own  accord  she  has  lately  begun  initiating  a  neighbour 
into  the  mysteries  of  the  Shastri  character,  and  yesterday 
the  said  neighbour  took  a  very  satisfactory  lesson. 

Thence  crossing  fields  one  reaches  a  village  chiefly  in- 
habited by  people  connected  with  the  native  regiments  of 
Dogras  and  Goorkhas.  A  dog  barks  noisy  welcome  to  a 
house  where  the  widow  of  a  native  officer  lives,  whose 
son  is  a  master  in  the  Mission  School.  Two  months  ago 
she  was  quite  confined  to  bed  with  acute  rheumatism. 
Dressings  and  medicine  from  the  hospital  have  done 
their  work  so  well  that  she  is  about  again  and  in  good 
spirits,  and  the  Mission  Hospital  has  once  more  opened 
a  home  to  the  Christian  teacher.  Two  little  girls  thence 
are   now  going  regularly  to    school ;    and  yesterday,   when 


300  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  mother,  had  her  weekly  Bible  reading,  visitors  from 
Kishtewar  and  Nepal  came  in  to  listen  and  learn,  too,  so 
representatives  of  four  countries  were  assembled  in  that  one 
little  room.  Some  had  never  heard  the  message  before,  but 
seemed  to  understand  well  enough  when  I  showed  them 
the  little  Heart  Book^  and  then,  in  view  of  the  glistening 
Pir  Punjal  snows  opposite,  taught  them  the  prayer,  "Wash 
me,  and  I  shall  be  whiter  than  snow."  .  .  . 

Now  you  have  heard  a  few  of  our  ups  and  downs  in  the 
daily  work  here.  Will  you  help  us  and  those  we  work 
among  by  praying  for  the  power  of  God's  Holy  Spirit  here? 
And  will  you  think  if  you  can  do  anything,  either  now  or 
later  on,  when  after  school  days  you  will  have  more  respon- 
sibility in  shaping  your  own  course?  In  Ezek.  xlvii.  we 
read  of  one  sad  thing  along  with  the  description  of  the  river 
of  blessing — that  the  "miry  places  and  the  marishes  shall 
not  be  healed."  I  sometimes  think  of  that  when  passing 
reen,  stagnant  pools  with  poisonous  exhalations  which  lie 
here  and  there,  near  the  running  water  of  the  river,  and 
yet  separated  from  it.  May  it  be  that  none  of  our  Uves 
will  stagnate  into  a  mere  passive  state  of  "hoping  we  are 
doing  no  harm,"  but  may  we  all  know  something  of  the 
flow  and  fulness  of  the  life-giving  River  shadowed  in  Ezekiel's 
vision ! 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE     LAST     TOURNEY 

(July  8th  to  August  6th,  1897) 

Ne  dites  pas  qiCelk  est  par  tie  :  dites  quelle  est  arrivh. 

WE  do  wrong,  as  Bishop  Westcott  remarks,  to  the  great 
promise  that  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not  prevail 
against  the  Church  when  we  interpret  it  only  of  successful 
resistance,  and  not  of  irresistible  advance.  Our  Lord  Himself 
said,  "Other  sheep  I  have,  .  .  .  them  also  I  must  bring." 
St.  Paul  had  hope  that  as  the  faith  of  his  earlier  converts 
grew,  he  would  be  able  to  preach  the  Gospel  even  unto 
the  parts  beyond  them  (2  Cor.  x.  15,  16).  And  ever  since 
missionaries  have  looked  farther  than  their  immediate  sphere 
of  work.  Xavier  pressed  on  from  India  to  China  and  Japan  ; 
French  forsook  the  partly  evangelised  Punjab  for  wholly 
unevangelised  Arabia. 

Kashmir  is  the  frontier  state  of  Hindustan,  and  some 
fifteen  hundred  years  ago  it  sent  out  five  hundred 
missionaries  to  promulgate  in  Tibet  the  Buddhist  creed,  which 
is  still  in  possession  there,  though  only  its  mouldering  relics 
now  remain  in  Kashmir  itself.  Remembering  this,  the  Rev. 
R.  Clark  wrote  nearly  twenty  years  ago  :  "  Had  the  Kashmiris 
as  much  of  Christian  life  and  power  as  they  have  already 
of  natural  vigour  and  talent  they  might  stir  all  Asia  for  Christ, 
as  they  have  in  times  past  done  much  to  form  its  destinies." 

301 


302  IRENE    PETRIE 

Irene  utters  the  thought  of  the  little  band  at  Srinagar  to-day 
when  she  writes  in  February,  1895:  "Needy  as  Kashmir  is, 
we  who  are  here  are  often  led  to  think  of  the  still  deeper 
needs  of  those  vast  Central  Asian  regions,  to  many  of  which 
this  Valley  is  the  highway,  in  which  no  missionaries  of  any 
kind  are  working,  and  from  some  of  which  the  request 
for  Christian  teachers  has  come  more  than  once." 

As  we  saw  in  Chapter  VI.,  the  great  range  of  the  Western 
Himalayas  divides  two  very  different  provinces  ruled  by  the 
Maharaja  of  Kashmir:  the  Vale  of  Kashmir,  or  basin  of  the 
Jhelum,  to  the  south-west,  whose  people  are  Aryan  by  race 
and  Hindu  and  Moslem  by  religion ;  and  Ladakh,  otherwise 
known  as  Kashmiri  Tibet,  Tibetan  Kashmir,  or  Little  Tibet, 
the  basin  of  the  Upper  Indus,  to  the  north-east,  whose  people 
are  Mongolian  by  race  and  Buddhist  by  religion. 

As  long  ago  as  1854  Mr.  Clark  and  Colonel  Martin 
travelled  into  Ladakh  to  reconnoitre,  and,  mainly  through 
the  munificence  of  Colonel  Martin,  a  Moravian  Mission  was 
established  at  Lahul.  Need  any  reader  be  reminded  that  the 
Moravians  who  went  out  in  1732  were  the  first  organised  band 
of  missionaries  to  the  heathen  from  any  reformed  Church 
(for  the  venerable  S.P.G.  laboured  almost  exclusively  among 
our  own  colonists  then);  that  the  Moravian  is  still  the  one 
Church  that  has  missions  in  all  the  five  quarters  of  the 
globe;  that  of  its  communicants  one  in  60  (as  compared 
with  one  in  3,500  of  other  reformed  Churches)  is  a  missionary  ? 
For  170  years  the  utter  simplicity,  unworldliness,  and  devotion 
of  these  humble  apostles  has  been  a  grand  object  lesson  to 
Christendom,  and  their  converts  are  now  three  times  as 
numerous  as  the  parent  Church. 

In  1885  the  Moravians  occupied  Leh,  the  capital  of  Ladakh, 
a  most  appropriate  outpost  for  the  spiritual  warfare  now  being 
waged  on  the  confines  of  the  Indian  Empire.  It  is  a 
cosmopolitan  city,  where  four  languages  are  commonly  spoken, 


THE  LAST  JOURNEY  303 

and  four  religions,  Mohammedanism,  Hinduism,  Buddhism, 
and  Sikhism,  are  represented.  Here  Mr.  Redslob  started  a 
school  and  a  dispensary.  Mrs.  Bishop  describes  him  as  a 
man  of  noble  physique  and  intellect,  a  scholar,  a  linguist,  an 
expert  botanist,  and  an  admirable  artist,  whom  the  Tibetans 
quickly  discovered  to  be  the  truest  friend  they  had  ever  had, 
and  on  whom,  says  Dr.  Neve,  they  bestowed  the  title  of  "  Khu- 
taktus,"  or  "  Incarnation  of  the  Deity."  Mrs.  Bishop  also 
pictures  the  humble,  whitewashed  mission  station,  its  garden  gay 
with  European  flowers,  and  the  favourable  contrast  to  their 
compatriots  presented  by  the  Christian  Tibetans.  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Marx,  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  Rev.  F.  B.  Shawe,  from 
England,  joined  Redslob  later,  and  by  1890  their  work  was 
flourishing.  But  May,  1891,  found  all  the  five  missionaries 
and  Mr.  Redslob's  daughter  dangerously  ill  with  a  prevalent 
epidemic.  In  their  extremity  of  helplessness  an  English 
surgeon,  Dr.  Thorold,  just  starting  with  Captain  Bower  on  a 
remarkable  journey  from  Tibet  to  Shanghai,  came  to  their 
aid  the  day  before  a  son  was  born  to  Mrs.  Marx.  Here,  as 
in  so  many  other  missions,  we  see  in  lives  laid  down  the 
seed  of  the  future  harvest,  for  Redslob,  Marx,  and  the  infant 
died,  while  the  two  widows  and  the  little  girl  crept  slowly 
back  to  life.  In  1897  the  mission  staff  consisted  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Ribbach  (on  furlough  in  July  and  August),  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Fichtner,  Mr.  and  JNIrs.  Francke  (he  was  of  the  same 
family  as  the  famous '  preceptor  of  Count  Zinzendorf),  and 
Miss  Kant,  a  fully  trained  nurse  (see  p.  244). 

In  1898  Dr.  E,  Shawe,  Mr.  Shawe's  cousin,  arrived  with 
a  young  wife,  who  died  in  giving  birth  to  her  first  child  in 
September,  1899.  During  1899  nearly  six  thousand  medical 
and  surgical  cases  were  treated  in  Leh.  There  are  now 
three  schools,  with  an  average  attendance  of  fifty  children, 
and  a  Christian  congregation  of  twenty-five.  The  un- 
varnished statement  of  the  report  of  February,  1899,  says : 


304  IRENE    PETRIE 

"  Though  we  cannot  boast  of  great  victories,  striking  results, 
and  great  numbers  of  conversions,  we  are  grateful  to  say  that 
the  power  of  the  Word  is  evidently  proving  itself  in  some 
hearts." 

One  Ladaki,  formerly  destined  to  be  a  Buddhist  priest, 
was  brought  in  1895  by  Miss  Kant  to  Srinagar  for  education, 
and  both  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  and  Irene  characterised  him 
as  "  the  best  native  Christian  that  they  knew."  Having 
lived  a  plucky  and  consistent  life  in  school  and  out  of  it, 
he  returned  to  Leh,  saying :  "  Sahib,  I  don't  want  popularity 
or  power  or  wealth ;  but  what  I  do  want  is  to  go  back  to  my 
people  to  preach  Jesus  Christ  and  His  saving  power."  Irene 
had  taught  him  regularly;  he  was  present  at  her  last  Easter 
Communion;  and  we  hear  in  1899  of  his  continuing  to  speak 
of  her  with  the  deepest  reverence  and  affection.  Two  other 
pupils  of  hers  from  Leh  were  described  in  Chapter  VIII. 

Dr.  Neve  hopes  that  the  dominion  of  the  Grand  Lama 
himself,  the  one  country  absolutely  closed  to  Europeans, 
may  one  day  be  evangelised  by  the  Christians  of  Ladakh. 
Meanwhile,  Ladakh  itself  is  waiting  to  be  spiritually  conquered 
from  Kashmir  once  more.  Its  religion,  appropriately  called 
Lamaism,  from  its  lamas  or  monks,  is  one  of  several  religious 
systems  of  which  Buddhism  is  the  generic  name — systems 
which  dififer  almost  as  widely  from  each  other  as  they  do  from 
the  original  teaching  of  Siddartha,  pictured  in  the  beautiful 
though  largely  mythical  story  which  Sir  Edwin  Arnold  has  re- 
told for  Western  readers.  Its  leading  characteristic  in  Ladakh 
is  propitiation  of  evil  spirits  by  means  of  grotesque  ceremonial. 
Empty  and  ruinous  monasteries  are  among  many  signs  of 
its  quiet  decay  at  the  present  time,  but  what  is  to  supersede 
it  ?  Islam  makes  steady  progress  in  Ladakh  ;  and  while  "  a 
lie  which  is  all  a  lie  "  (like  demon-worship)  "  may  be  met 
and  fought  with  outright,  a  lie  which  is  part  a  truth"  (like 
Islam)  "  is  a  harder  matter  to  fight." 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  305 

No  wonder,  then,  that  Irene  was  keenly  interested  in  the 
efforts  of  the  Moravians  at  Leh.  Only  six  weeks  after  her 
first  arrival  at  Srinagar  she  chronicles  many  particulars  of 
the  work  at  Leh  which  she  had  learned  from  talk  with  Dr. 
Shawe,  and  several  subsequent  allusions  to  it  occur  In  her 
letters  (see  p.  194).  In  January,  1895,  she  relates  how  Dr. 
Neve  and  Mr.  Knowles  had  been  sending  home  a  strong 
appeal  to  the  C.M.S.  to  make  Kashmir  the  base  of  operations 
for  a  campaign  in  trans-Himalayan  lands  open  to  the  Gospel 
and  wholly  without  missionaries.  In  November,  1895,  Miss 
Kant,  and  in  April,  1896,  and  March,  1897,  Mr.  Francke, 
visited  Srinagar. 

A  walking  tour  among  mountains  had  always  been  Irene's 
notion  of  an  ideal  holiday,  and  in  Feburary,  1896,  she  writes  : 
"  Ada  Barclay  and  I  are  rearing  a  tall  castle  in  the  air  for  a 
journey  to  Leh.  It  is  probably  very  much  in  the  air,  but  that 
would  be  a  very  interesting  summer  holiday."  On  May  8th, 
1897,  she  speaks  in  almost  the  same  words  of  a  similar  plan 
with  Miss  Tyndale-Biscoe,  then  visiting  Kashmir.  On  May  9th 
she  met  Dr.  Graham,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Leh  as  State 
jurgeon.  On  June  5th  she  says :  "  We  still  talk  of  Ladakh  for 
next  month."  On  June  19th  :  "I  have  no  idea  where  I  shall 
be  this  time  next  month.  Having  good  health,  a  horse,  and 
time  this  year,  the  big  march  to  Leh  would  be  my  ambition, 
if  it  can  be  realised ;  but  other  ladies  with  an  indefinite  appetite 
for  continuous  exercise  are  scarce."  On  June  26th  :  "  It  seems 
a  pity  to  go  away  when  Srinagar  is  still  so  cool ;  but  holidays 
have  to  be  taken,  and  perhaps  they  are  good  as  a  precautionary 
measure  even  for  those  who,  like  myself,  have  to  be  thankful 
for  very  good  health.  ...  I  may  perhaps  still  go  to  Leh." 
On  July  3rd  :  "  My  plans  have  been  shaped  at  last  by  a  kind 
letter  from  Miss  Phillips,  of  Peshawar,  welcoming  me  to  join 
their  party  for  a  journey  to  Leh.  I  owe  this  to  dear  Miss 
Hull.     She  told  the  ladies,  who  are  great  friends  of  hers  but 

20 


3o6  IRENE    PETRIE 

whom  I  have  never  met,  of  my  wish  to  travel  in  Ladakh.  ...  I 
have  such  kind  letters  of  welcome  from  the  missionaries  at  Leh, 
written  when  the  plan  was  still  only  a  castle  in  the  air,  which 
I  feared  it  would  remain  a  week  ago.  It  is  most  delightful  for 
me  to  be  so  happily  provided  for,  and  to  have  the  prospect  of 
such  an  interesting  journey  to  regions  which  I  have  long  had 
a  strong  desire  to  see." 

The  story  of  Irene's  journey  from  Srinagar,  capital  of 
Kashmir,  to  Leh,  capital  of  Ladakh,  will  be  elucidated  by  a 
preliminary  sketch  of  the  route,  taken  mainly  from  Mr.  E.  F. 
Knight's  Where  Three  Empires  Meet,  and  Mrs.  Bishop's 
Among  the  Tibetans. 

The  road,  which  lies  due  east  along  the  highway  from  North 
India  to  Central  Asia,  is  in  many  places  merely  a  rough  bridle 
path,  along  precipices  and  over  landslips,  diverted  by  unford- 
able  rivers,  swept  by  avalanches,  and  exposed  to  tropical  sun 
and  arctic  gales.  It  is  open  to  travellers  during  the  later 
summer  months  only,  and  even  then  is  impossible  iox 
vehicles,  and  in  many  parts  dangerous  for  horses.  The 
journey  is  divided  into  nineteen  marches,  which  means  that 
260  miles — a  distance  equal  to  that  between  London  and 
Newcastle — is  traversed  in  a  longer  time  than  the  journey 
from  London   to  Bombay  now  occupies. 

Its  first  stages,  up  the  Sind  Valley  to  Sonamarg  ("  golden 
meadow,"  so  called  from  the  crocuses  which  stud  its  fields), 
are  by  luxuriant  pasture,  dark  pine  forest,  and  towering  snow 
mountain,  through  some  of  the  lovehest  and  most  diversified 
scenery  in  lovely  Kashmir.  A  sudden  ascent  from  Sonamarg 
leads  out  of  the  Vale  of  Kashmir  by  the  Zoji-Lk — that  is,  the 
Zoji  Pass — the  lowest  depression  in  the  Western  Himalayas, 
11,500  feet  high,  their  average  height  being  18,000  feet. 
This  may  be  described  as  a  gigantic  step  into  the  highest 
inhabited  country  in  the  world.  Keen  winds  rush  with 
tremendous   fotce   between   the   vertical   slate   cliffs  on  each 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  307 

side  of  it,  and  it  is  "a  thoroughly  severe  pass."  No  part  of 
Ladakh  is  less  than  9,000  feet,  and  many  of  its  people  live  at 
an  elevation  of  12,000  to  15,000  feet  above  the  sea.  When 
they  visit  Srinagar  (5,200  feet)  they  declare  they  are  stifled  by 
being  on  such  low  ground ;  while  the  missionaries  admit  that 
the  high  altitude,  to  which  these  Tibetans  have  become  inured, 
is  wearing  them  out ;  and  travellers  find  that  the  air  passages 
become  irritated,  the  skin  cracks,  and  ultimately  the  heart's 
action  is  affected.  Sandy  plateaux,  bairen  mountains,  and 
flaming  aridity  are  the  features  of  the  route  through  Ladakh, 
the  one  extensive  oasis  on  the  way  being  at  Kargil.  This 
cloudless,  rainless  wilderness,  where  burning  sun  alternates  with 
biting  blasts  from  snow  slopes  and  glaciers,  and  the  absence  of 
perspective  in  the  thin,  dry  air  makes  small  and  distant  objects 
seem  near  and  gigantic,  strangely  fascinates  the  traveller.  It 
is  peopled  by  a  race  who  do  all  they  can  to  make  their 
surroundings  yet  more  fantastic,  and  who  are  as  great  a 
contrast  to  the  Kashmiris  as  their  land  is  to  Kashmir.  Their 
irredeemable  and  grotesque  ugliness  is  heightened  by  their 
costume ;  but  they  are  healthy,  hardy,  and  long-lived  ;  for 
Orientals,  fairly  truthful  and  honest ;  peaceable,  cheerful, 
contented,  and  industrious.  In  order  to  keep  down  population 
in  a  country  aff'ording  but  meagre  sustenance  to  its  people, 
one-sixth  of  them  become  monks  and  nuns.  Ladakh  formerly 
acknowledged  the  Emperor  of  China  as  its  suzerain,  was 
annexed  by  the  Sikhs  in  1834,  and  handed  over  to  Golab 
Singh  in  1847.  His  successor  still  acknowledges  the  Grand 
Lama  as  its  pope  by  sending  yearly  gifts  to  Lhasa.  All  over 
the  land  are  chortens,  or  cenotaphs  (white-washed,  globular 
monuments  crowned  with  little  pinnacles,  containing  the  ashes 
of  lamas),  and  manis,  or  mendons  (walls  from  two  to  nine  feet 
high,  and  sometimes  half  a  mile  long),  on  which  the  Buddhist 
invocation,  Oin  mani  padine  hum  ("  Oh  the  jewel  in  the  lotus  "), 
is  repeated  again  and  again. 


3o8  IRENE    PETRIE 

After  two  more  passes,  the  Namika-Lk  (13,000  feet)  and 
the  Futu-La  (13,400  feet),  the  road  descends  to  Leh  by  the 
Valley  of  the  Indus. 

The  most  weird  and  ghostly  spot  on  the  whole  route  is 
Lamayuru,  whose  scenery  is  so  bare  and  wild  that  it  suggests 
a  landscape  on  the  dead  moon.  Past  Lamayuru  the  road 
leads  through  a  hot  and  glaring  desert,  the  sky  changes 
from  turquoise  to  copper  hue,  and  a  haze  of  the  finest 
granite  dust  fills  the  air.  At  last  the  traveller  emerges 
from  the  narrow  gorges  of  the  Indus  en  the  wide  expanse 
of  a  valley  in  which  Leh  appears,  nestling  beneath  a  huge 
monastery  perched  on  a  beetling  crag.  Being  at  an  elevation 
of  11,500  feet,  the  city  itself  stands  higher  than  the  summit 
of  Mount  Etna,  and  the  distant  snow  mountains  closing  in 
the  views  from  all  its  streets  must  recall  Innsbriick.  The 
Empress  of  India  is  represented  there  by  the  British  Joint 
Commissioner,  who  settles  all  disputes  arising  between  the 
Maharaja's  subjects  and  those  of  the  Emperors  of  China 
and  Russia;  for  in  summer  it  is  the  meeting-place  for  the 
Central  Asian  caravans;  but  as  it  is  nearly  1,000  miles  as 
the  crow  flies  from  the  sea,  and  about  500  miles  from  the 
railway,  it  may  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  least  accessible 
cities  in  the  world. 

Irene  began  this  arduous  expedition  in  the  best  of  spirits  on 
July  8th.  In  a  letter  written  that  day  (which  reached  Canada 
five  days  after  the  startling  telegram  announcing  the  bare 
fact  of  her  death)  she  does  indeed  remark :  "  Fever  has 
been  epidemic,  and  I  have  not  quite  escaped  lately.  However, 
we  look  forward  to  losing  all  the  '  temperatures  '  among  the 
hills."  Her  friends  seem  also  to  have  had  some  misgivings 
about  her.  Miss  Hull,  who  refused  to  believe  that  one  with 
Irene's  exquisitely  fair  complexion  could  be  as  "  tough  "  as 
she  said  she  was,  had  observed  that  in  one  year  she  had  done 
three  years'  work,  getting  up  early  and  sitting  up  late;  and 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  309 

that  sometimes  she  returned  from  the  zenanas  so  dazed 
with  fatigue  that  she  seemed  neither  to  see  noi  to  hear  any- 
thing that  was  passing  around  her,  yet  woke  up  presently  to 
become  the  Hfe  of  the  party  during  the  evening,  the  spirit 
within  her  habitually  sustaining  her  infirmity.  Earlier  in  the 
summer  Irene  had  said  to  her,  "  I  feel  a  great  longing  for  a 
good  rest " ;  and,  had  she  known  how  much  fever  her  colleague 
had,  Miss  Hull  would  have  restrained  her  from  starting.  But 
she  was  on  the  sick-list  herself  that  day.  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe 
says :  "  Dear  Irene  had  for  so  long  been  full  of  her  trip  to 
Leh.  .  .  .  All  the  Holton  Cottage  party  were  to  start  together, 
as  we  were  going  to  Sonamarg ;  but  on  July  8th  my  husband 
got  fever,  and  we  had  to  defer  our  trip.  So  Irene  started 
alone.  .  .  .  She  had  been  rather  run  down,  and  let  out,  so 
unusual  for  her,  that  she  had  slight  fever,  but  was  full  of 
getting  away  to  fresh  air.  She  looked  very  tired  the  day  she 
left,  and  I  put  it  down  to  all  she  had  been  doing." 

Preparations  for  the  journey  had  been  no  light  undertaking. 
They  had  to  obtain  a  special  parwana — that  is,  an  order  for 
transports  and  supplies  from  the  tehsildar,  officers  in  Her 
Majesty's  service  being  the  only  people  allowed  to  travel 
without  this,  and  to  take  all  requisites,  even  eggs  and  milk, 
with  them.  "Yet,"  Miss  Hull  says,  "up  to  the  last  day  in 
Srinagar  Irene  was  visiting  her  pupils,  and,  amid  all  personal 
preparations,  sending  off  pictures  to  the  Simla  Exhibition  to 
bring  in  some  help  to  the  schools,  which  were  so  much  on  her 
heart !  "  The  larger  of  the  two  pictures  she  sent  to  this,  the 
thirtieth  Annual  Exhibition  of  the  Simla  Fine  Arts  Society, 
was  sold  at  once,  the  smaller  one  subsequently.  Their 
proceeds,  her  very  last  gift  to  the  C.M.S.  School,  are  acknow- 
ledged in  the  1899  report.  And  as  she  went  down  the  river, 
fatigued,  fevered,  and  agitated  about  keeping  her  fellow- 
travellers  waiting  through  an  unexpected  delay,  she  was  writing 
at  length  concerning  "a  pet  scheme"   for   putting  Hanover 


310  IRENE    PETRIE 

Lodge  at    the    disposal   of  "the  dear   inmates  of   Holton 
Cottage  "  when  they  left  Kashmir  on  furlough  in  the  autumn. 

The  first  twenty  days  of  the  journey  are  described  in 
Irene's  own  graphic  journal,  supplemented  by  various  letters. 
For  the  closing  ten  days  of  her  life  there  are  the  full  records 
penned  to  tell  her  nearest  and  dearest  all  they  most  wanted 
to  know  by  companions  who  cared  for  her  as  lovingly  as  they 
themselves  could  have  done.  The  impression  made  by  the 
whole  narrative  on  those  who  have  already  seen  it  was  uttered 
not  by  a  sentimental  woman,  but  by  a  London  business  man, 
who  wrote :  "  In  reading  this  story  of  her  last  journey  one 
seems  to  forget  that  it  is  the  description  of  a  summer  holiday 
expedition  ;  an  inner  meaning  comes  out  of  it,  and  one  feels 
that  the  ascent  of  those  great  mountain  passes  was  indeed  the 
ascent  to  the  Gate  of  the  Heavenly  City  of  one  who  was  sr 
fit  to  enter   there." 

Irene's  Last  Journal.^ 

"  Thursday,  July  2>th,  is,  after  the  manner  of  summer  days  in 
Srinagar,  scorchingly  hot,  and  the  final  preparations  for  a  long 
journey,  after  all  the  days  of  winding  up  work,  seem  rather 
like  a  bad  dream.  However,  all  is  made  easy  and  pleasant 
by  the  kind  aid  of  the  friends  at  Holton  Cottage.  Farewells 
are  said  to  them  at  midday,  on  embarking  in  the  dunga,  which 
carries  tents,  furniture,  luggage,  and  the  writer  to  Gunderbal. 
The  Dal  Lake  is  glowing,  and  the  mountains  are  misty  in  the 
sunshine ;  willow-trees  and  weeds  give  all  a  green  effect,  as 
the  waterlilies  are  over,  and  the  time  of  rose-coloured  lotus 
and  brown  bulrushes  has  not  yet  arrived.  The  inhabitants 
seem  to  have  plenty  to  talk  about,  as  usual,  as  the  boat  scrapes 
under  the   bridges   of  the  Mar  Nullah  Canal ;  and  its  roof 

'  Passages  from  letters  arc  distinguished  from  the  journal  by  being 
enclosed  in  brackets. 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  311 

makes  the  ripe  mulberries  rattle  down  like  a  shower  of  hail 
from  overhanging  trees.  Alas  !  as  we  emerge  from  the  canal 
the  whole  country  appears  like  one  vast  lake,  and  it  becomes 
evident  that  instead  of  getting  to  our  destination  by  sunset, 
vvhen  the  other  boat,  coming  up  the  river  from  Baramula  with 
the  Peshawar  ladies,  is  to  meet  us,  we  shall  be  many  hours 
late.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  Friday  morning  before  either 
boat  reaches  Gunderbal.  [I  am  in  a  little  of  a  plight,  as  the 
servant  engaged  to  attend  on  me  has  disappeared,  and  my 
temperature  goes  up  to  103°,  a  point  at  which  one  does  not 
enjoy  cooking,  washing  up,  or  bed-making  particularly.  How- 
ever, the  boatman  does  anything  he  can,  and  I  am  wonderfully 
better  next  day.]  The  rushing  Sind  River,  coming  straight 
down  from  the  snows,  makes  Gunderbal  far  cooler  than 
Srinngar,  though  it  is  only  fifteen  miles  off. 

^'-  July  ^th. — [I  have  a  very  pleasant  meeting  in  the  morning 
with  Miss  Werthmiiller  and  Miss  Kutter,  both  from  Canton 
Berne,  and  Miss  Phillips,  out  since  1884,  with  whom  I 
chum  in  one  of  the  tents.  All  are  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  and  I 
think  we  shall  be  a  veiy  happy  party.  The  Swiss  ladies 
are  great  walkers  and  mountaineers.  IMiss  Phillips  is  not 
very  strong,  and  travels  in  a  dandy,  in  which  she  kindly 
insists  on  putting  me  for  a  part  of  our  first  march.  My 
dear  Biscuit  is  on  his  best  behaviour,  and  my  syce,  who 
knows  the  whole  country  well,  is  a  great  help  in  many  ways. 
The  Peshawar  ladies  have  brought  a  nice  little  Pathan  cook- 
bearer,  and  their  horse  and  syce.]  The  first  day's  march 
to  Kangan  is  cheered  by  the  scents  of  wild  roses  and  rich 
jasmine,  which  drape  the  trees  with  snowy  clusters  for  many 
miles.  Halting  to  pitch  tents  within  view  of  the  crags  of 
Haramuk,  we  are  hailed  by  a  kind  greeting  and  invitation 
to  dine  from  Captain  and  Mrs.  Albert  Tyndale-Biscoe,  on 
their  way  down  from  Sonamarg." 

[In  a   letter  to   Elliott  Miss   Phillips    thus  describes  the 


312  IRENE    PETRIE 

meeting :  "  It  was  just  four  weeks  before  she  was  called 
Home  that  your  beloved  Miss  Irene  Petrie  stepped  off  her 
boat  to  greet  us.  I  remember  being  struck  by  her  brightness 
then,  as  I  was  often  afterwards,  and  we  had  a  delightful 
afternoon  together.  ...  I  soon  got  to  love  her,  she  was  so 
thoughtful  and  did  so  many  kind  things  unobtrusively.  It 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  me  to  watch  her  sketching,  and  how 
she  loved  singing!"  Mrs.  C.  E.  Tyndale-Biscoe  writes: 
"A  letter  from  my  sister-in-law  with  whom  Irene  dined  at 
Kangan,  says,  '  That  kind  Miss  Petrie  gave  me  another  lesson 
on  the  guitar  last  night.  She  told  me  her  temperature  was 
up  to  103°  the  night  before,  when  she  was  all  alone  in 
the  dunga.  I  did  feel  sorry  for  her,  but  she  seemed  to 
think  it  rather  a  joke,  and  appeared  as  well  and  cheery  as 
usual.* "] 

'^/uly  10th. — The  ascent  to  Gund  is  a  typically  lovely 
march,  between  fresh  green  rice  fields,  trickling  streams, 
blossoming  trees,  the  rushing  river,  grassy  slopes,  forest-clad 
heights,  and  beyond,  crags  and  snowy  summits.  Here,  under 
walnut-trees,  tents  are  pitched  for  Sunday,  July  nth. 

"  Afonday,  July  1 2/A,  is  happily  fine  for  that  most  beautiful 
of  marches,  the  ascent  to  Sonamarg,  and  grand  indeed  the 
snow  peaks  and  glaciers  look  above  the  endless  pine  forests. 
In  two  places  the  roaring  Sind  River  has  burst  right  over 
the  path,  and  farther  on  we  have  our  first  experience  of 
the  snow  slopes  on  avalanche  tracks  before  reaching  the 
green  meadows  of  Sonamarg. 

^^July  i2,th. — Our  last  ride  among  the  pine  forests  to  Baltal 
is  a  very  lovely  one.  Exquisite  alpine  flowers  and  asparagus 
fern  grow  in  clusters  under  the  trees.  Here  and  there 
avalanches  have  fallen  right  across  the  river,  which  has  forced 
a  way  through,  between  high  cliffs  of  ice  and  snow,  leaving 
a  big  snow  slope  on  the  bank,  by  which  we  are  going. 
Many   of  the   mountains  have  pinnacles  like  the  Chamonix 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  313 

Aiguilles.  Our  camp  is  just  at  the  foot  of  the  Zoji-Iii, 
opposite  the  peaks  (17,000  feet),  which  overshadow  the  Cave 
of  Amarnath,  whence  the  Sind  has  it  source.  Though  only 
9,000  feet  above  the  sea,  we  find  the  breezes  chilly  already. 
[We  have  got  on  so  far  most  comfortably  and  happily.  I 
am  with  such  nice,  kind  companions,  and  the  mountain  air 
is  a  wonderful  tonic.  I  hope  this  grand  trip  will  set  me 
up  for  many  a  long  day  to  come.] 

^^July  \^th. — By  5  a.m.  our  procession  is  starting,  and  the 
four  ladies,  dandy,  two  ponies,  six  servants,  ten  baggage 
ponies,  and  ten  coolies,  wind  across  the  first  glacier  of  the 
Zoji-Lk  in  a  thin  Hne.  After  a  long  pull  of  2,000  feet  up 
the  steep,  zig-zag  path,  we  give  the  green  and  wooded  land 
of  Kashmir  a  last  look,  and  turn  into  the  long  valley  between 
peaks  14,000  feet  high  and  upwards,  which  is  the  summit  of 
the  Pass.  Here  for  many  hours  we  tramp  along  the  snow. 
At  first  no  water  is  seen  in  the  hollow,  then  at  its  bottom 
the  glacier  is  broken,  and  the  streamlet  of  the  Dras  River 
appears,  trickling  between  vast  blue  cliff's  of  ice,  to  the  north- 
east, for  we  have  crossed  the  water-shed.  Our  horses  look 
remonstrance  for  being  brought  into  such  places ;  the  little 
terrier  from  Peshawar  is  trembling  with  fright  and  cold  in 
the  bearer's  arms.  It  is  like  nothing  we  have  seen  before, 
except  pictures  of  Greenland.  The  river  grows  bigger  and 
more  tumultuous,  and  the  horses  are  led  through  the  water 
breast  high  to  the  path  beyond.  An  oasis  where  the  snow 
is  melted,  and  pretty  yellow  and  white  anemones  have  come 
hurrying  out,  enables  us  to  sit  down  for  lunch  ;  but  the  water 
we  boil  for  cocoa  seems  curiously  cold,  till  we  realise  the 
effect  of  11,500  feet  of  altitude  upon  boiling  point.  At  last 
we  reach  spongy  meadows,  with  only  occasional  glaciers. 
One  or  two  of  these  are  a  test  for  the  giddily  disposed,  as 
the  path  is  only  a  foot  wide,  and  below  the  ice  slopes  with 
tremendous  steepness  to  the  perpendicular  cliffs  rising  from 


314  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  rushing  river.  At  4.30  p.m.,  after  about  ten  hours'  walking, 
we  reach  Malayan,  where  the  stone-built,  flat-roofed  thana 
for  travellers  has  already  a  Central  Asian  look.  Here  our 
tents  flap  vigorously  in  the  bitter  wind,  and  we  pile  on  all 
our  wraps.  The  village  is  small,  but  quite  a  concourse  of 
patients  assemble,  to  whom  Miss  Werthmiiller,  the  'doctor 
Miss  Sahib,'  ministers. 

"y///y  i^tlu — Weather  looks  forbidding,  and  we  feel  rather 
tired  still.  However,  Matayan  is  not  attractive  enough  to 
detain  us,  and  we  start  on  again,  down  a  bleak  valley,  brightened 
only  with  a  yellow,  flowering,  poisonous  kind  of  samphire. 
During  the  twelve  miles'  march  to  Dras  we  pass  a  solitary 
village  of  Pandras,  where  the  poor,  half-starved  looking  people 
must  get  a  very  scanty  living  on  the  late  crops  of  barley 
growing  on  the  few  ledges  which  can  be  irrigated  and  culti- 
vated among  these  bleak  heights.  It  is  a  relief  to  get  into 
the  more  open  valleys  and  see  small  villages  and  patches  of 
green.  The  people  must  lead  a  strange,  isolated  life,  and  their 
haggard  faces  and  ragged,  patched  garments  suggest  great 
poverty  \  the  coolies  brought  in  response  to  our  parwana 
seem  far  weaker  than  Kashmiris.  They  wear  conspicuous 
Mussulman  charms,  and  carry  a  steel  and  tinder-box  for 
kindling  light  with  flints.  Fuel  is  very  scarce,  the  willows 
in  a  tiny  plantation  by  the  thanadar's  house  being  almost 
the  only  trees  in  the  land.  But  all  that  we  see  gives  a 
pleasing  impression  on  these  Dras  people.  Two  years  ago, 
when  Dr.  Neve  passed  through,  he  was  greeted  by  an  old 
patient,  who  wished  his  little  son  to  be  given  a  Christian 
education.  This  boy,  Karema,  has  been  living  at  Holton 
Cottage  ever  since,  and  attending  the  C.M.S.  School.  All 
like  him  as  a  bright,  wiUing  little  fellow,  and  hope  he  may 
become  a  true  Christian  and  go  and  teach  his  own  people 
some  day.  As  yet,  however,  he  has  much  to  learn.  Lately, 
when  asked  if  he  knew  why  the  missionaries  had  come  to 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  315 

Kashmir,  he  replied  that  it  must  be  because  they  could  not 
get  bread  enough  in  their  own  country,  an  answer  which  one 
understands  after  visiting  Dras.  The  thanadar  is  a  Punjabi, 
and  his  ladies  beg  us  to  go  and  see  them.  Miss  Werthmiiller 
and  I  pay  them  quite  a  long  visit.  They  produce  their  stock 
of  literature — a  volume  of  Hindu  mythology  with  pictures, 
written  in  Sanskrit  characters,  which  they  can  read,  and  a 
Kashmiri  New  Testament,  which  unhappily  they  cannot  read. 
Christian  teaching  is  evidently  quite  new  to  them,  but  they 
are  delighted  with  some  of  Mrs.  Grimke's  Hindi  texts,  and 
with  the  promise  of  a  Hindi  Testament,  which  I  hope  to 
send  them  later  on. 

^^Jidy  16th. — We  march  twenty  miles,  nearly  all  on  roads 
so  bad  that  it  is  getting  dark  when  we  reach  Kharbu. 
Leaving  the  broad  Dras  Valley,  we  are  shut  into  a  long, 
cheerless  gorge,  surrounded  by  bare,  towenng  heights.  At 
intervals  the  monotony  of  the  path  along  the  precipice 
becomes  broken  by  a  waterfall,  which  the  ponies  have  to  be 
led  through,  while  we  cross  by  a  bridge  made  of  some  three 
thin,  round,  pine  branches,  with  a  few  scraps  of  basketwork 
laid  on  them  and  held  down  by  stones.  Mountain  travelling 
accustoms  one  to  many  things  one  could  not  dare  in  cold 
blood  at  home.  Masses  of  wild  roses  in  full  bloom  adorn 
the  scene,  many  lizards  inhabit  the  rocks,  a  large  kind  of 
magpie  ventures  close  to  us,  and  the  voice  of  the  cuckoo 
is  heard  higher  than  any  other. 

^^/uly  i']th. — At  an  early  hour  tents  are  struck  and  sent 
on,  and  we  try  to  cover  as  much  ground  as  possible  before 
the  great  heat  sets  in,  for  we  have  descended  to  8,300  feet. 
Moreover,  supplies  are  running  short,  and  it  is  important 
to  reach  a  place  for  Sunday  where  the  servants  can  get 
a  good  meal,  which  they  cannot  do  in  these  poor  little 
hamlets.  The  road  seems  rather  worse  than  yesterday's, 
its  last  stage  being  along  the  Suru  River.     But  it  is  refreshing 


3i6  IRENE    PETRIE 

to  look  at  the  green  villages  about  Kargil,  and  our  camp 
on  a  hillside  among  poplars  is  a  nice  resting-place  for 
Sunday^  July  \Zth.  We  read  the  service  in  the  only  shady 
nook  that  can  be  found — a  large  stone  by  a  stream  under 
scraggy  willows.  The  midday  heat  is  intense,  and  we  are 
glad  to  enjoy  some  cooler  breezes  in  the  starlight  after  dinner, 
till  startled  by  a  stream  of  water  which  has  just  broken 
through  a  nullah  higher  up  the  hill,  bringing  a  small  river 
right  through  our  tents. 

""July  igth. — Continued  fatigue,  fever,  and  the  uncertainties 
of  the  next  march,  owing  to  the  destruction  of  Kargil  bridge, 
detain  us  for  one  more  hot  day,  and  we  reap  the  benefit  of 
the  Kargil  postmaster's  intelligence  in  stopping  various  letters 
addressed  to  us  at  Leh.  [We  are  all  very  glad  of  two 
days'  rest  here,  though  in  this  strange,  barren  land  of  huge 
mountains  and  roaring  rivers  the  sun  is  shining  with  such 
strength  as  one  has  imagined  in  an  Arabian  desert  only. 
The  air  is  marvellously  clear  and  dry.  Our  servants  are  all 
doing  well,  the  ladies  are  delightful,  and  we  are  very  thankful 
for  freedom  from  accident  and  mishap  so  far.] 

"July  2oth. — There  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  make  a  long 
detour  up  the  Suru  Valley,  where  at  Kinor,  fifteen  miles  on, 
the  river  can  be  crossed  by  another  bridge,  shaky  enough, 
but  just  able  to  bear  our  procession  in  small  detachments. 
We  come  under  the  brow  of  some  perpendicular  mountains, 
reminding  one  of  pictures  of  Sinai,  and  arrive  after  dark  at 
Tikzan. 

''July  2\st. — A  gray  day  with  showers — unusual  experience 
for  these  parts — makes  our  march  particularly  pleasant.  We 
begin  with  a  steep  ascent  of  800  feet  to  a  plateau,  where  are 
wild  roses  of  all  shades  of  pink  and  white ;  then  comes  a 
descent  into  a  valley;  then  another  ascent  of  2,000  feet 
and  a  delightful  breezy  walk  over  the  hills,  with  splendid 
views  on  all  sides.     A  curious  rocky  valley  with  reddish  cliffs 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  3x7 

like  pillars  leads  down  past  the  old  Sikh  fort  to  Paskim, 
and  there,  soon  after  our  arrival,  we  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  Dr.  Arthur  Neve,  Mr.  Millais,  and  Mr.  G.  Tyndale- 
Biscoe,  who  have  come  from  Dras  by  another  pass,  and  are 
on  their  way  to  Nubra.  They  dine  with  us,  and  we  hear 
how  one  of  the  shakiest  of  the  bridges  on  this  side  of  the 
Zoji-Lk  was  washed  away  the  day  after  we  crossed,  and 
the  sahibs  had  to  wade  through  the  roaring  current ;  also 
how  a  hundred  patients  had  come  to  the  doctor  in  Dras,  and 
forty  in  Kinor  that  morning. 

''''July  22nd. — It  is  somewhat  exciting  to  know  that  to-day 
we  shall  reach  the  Buddhist  country.  At  Shergol  we  see 
the  first  monastery,  some  flags  waving  before  it.  Then,  as 
the  valley  opens  out,  the  rocks  and  mountains  begin  to 
assume  the  fantastic  shapes  associated  with  Tibet,  and  we 
feel  more  than  hitherto  the  curious  effect  of  the  clear,  rarified 
air  in  the  deception  it  causes  as  to  distances.  The  huge, 
spire-like  rock  at  Mulbekh,  with  the  monastery  perched  on 
its  extreme  pinnacle,  seems  higher  than  Ehrenbreitstein,  and 
more  striking  in  outline  than  Gibraltar.  Here  we  see 
chortens  and  manis — raised  by  the  piety  of  many  bygone 
generations — and  red-robed  monks,  and  pigtailed  men  with 
jolly,  smiling  faces  and  willing  ways.  .  .  .  The  three  sahibs 
invite  us  to  dine  in  their  cosy  little  camp. 

''July  27^rd. — We  follow  the  course  of  the  Wakka  for  some 
miles  farther,  then  the  path  leads  by  a  small  side  stream 
along  a  gloomy  nullah,  walled  in  by  absolutely  bare  rocks, 
and  overlooked  by  one  gigantic,  perpendicular  peak,  with  a 
horse's  skeleton  in  the  foreground.  This  is  the  Namika-L^ 
(13,000  feet  high),  and  a  more  dried  up,  desolate  place  it 
would  be  difficult  to  imagine.  The  forbidding  look  of  these 
mountains  in  the  fierce  noonday  glare  reminds  one  of  the 
scenery  near  Aden.  The  Pass  is  easy  throughout,  and  we 
enter  another  valley,  in  which  are  some  more  spire-like  rocks. 


3i8  IRENE    PETRIE 

crowned  with  ruined  buildings ;  they  must  have  been  placed 
there  by  people  as  skilled  in  rock-climbing  as  the  little 
Tibetan  goats.  Under  one  of  these  we  pitch  our  tents, 
by  a  second  village  called  Kharbu  (11,780  feet  high), 
shut  in  by  the  weirdest  rocks  and  peaks,  among  which 
the  watercourses,  with  fresh,  running  streams,  have  been 
cleverly  led  on  all  sides.  The  reds  and  yellows  and  purples 
of  the  hills  at  sunset  are  extraordinary ;  but  the  would-be 
sketcher  is  completely  baffled  by  the  scenery  here.  All 
previously  conceived  ideas  of  sketching  seem  as  upside  down 
as  everything  else  in  Tibet.  The  queer  shapes,  utter  absence 
apparently  of  atmospheric  effects,  unprecedented  colours, 
and  extraordinary  dryness  of  the  air,  which  arrests  the  flow 
of  one's  pigments,  are  difficulties  hitherto  undreamed  of. 
European  travellers  of  any  kind  are  not  common,  and  ladies 
with  paint-boxes  appear  strange  monstrosities  in  the  puzzled 
eyes  of  the  ladies  of  these  parts,  who  come  to  say  ^  Ju ' 
('  Salaam ')  very  politely.  The  people  all  seem  friendly  ;  and 
the  thanadar,  having  received  a  letter  about  us  from  the 
Leh  friends,  is  most  attentive.  Either  from  the  elevation  or 
the  sun,  both  Miss  Phillips  and  the  writer  are  on  the  sick- 
list,  so  a  three  days'  halt  for  recruiting  is  made. 

^'/ufy  24M  is,  alas !  almost  a  lost  day.  Few  things  have 
such  a  vexatiously  incapacitating  effect  as  this  sun-fever ; 
the  only  longing  is  to  lie  in  a  heap,  seeing,  hearing,  eating, 
doing  nothing. 

" Sunday,  /ufy  2$th. — The  breezes  are  fresher,  the  invalids 
are  better,  and  the  able-bodied  have  discovered  a  charming 
little  cathedral,  a  semi-cave  in  the  great  rock  above  the 
watercourse,  with  embellishment  of  delicate  ferns  and  alpine 
flowers.  Here,  at  11.30  and  6.30,  in  a  veritable  temple  not 
made  with  hands,  the  three  sahibs,  who  reached  Kharbu 
yesterday,  join  the  four  ladies  for  two  very  happy  services. 
Dr.  Neve  is  chaplain,  the  other  sahibs  read  the  lessons,  and 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  319 

a  chapter  of  Ian  Maclaren's  Mind  of  the  Master^  which  I 
had  brought  with  me,  forms  our  sermon.  I  jot  down  a  few 
Cathedral  Psalter  chants,  and  we  venture  on  a  fully  choral 
service.  Dr.  Neve  says  it  must  be  the  first  time  the  Psalms 
have  been  sung  thus  in  Tibet,  and  these  must  be  the  first 
Christian  services  ever  held  in  Kharbu.  May  they  not  be 
the  last!" 

["  I  can  see  Irene  now — dear  girl ! — leading  us  in  our  service 
of  praise,"  writes  Miss  Phillips.  "The  hymns  she  chose 
were  'The  sands  of  time  are  sinking,'  'For  all  the  saints 
who  from  their  labours  rest,'  and  '  Peace,  perfect  peace,  in 
this  dark  world  of  sin  ? '  "] 

'■^ July  2(ith. — We  enjoy  a  quiet  day  at  picturesque  Kharbu 
getting  various  sketches.  The  pretty  green  oasis,  with  waving 
barley  in  the  fields  and  hedges  of  wild  roses,  is  such  a  welcome 
break  among  the  bare,  stony  hills  around.  Another  great 
spire-like  rock,  crowned  with  ancient  fortifications,  which 
seem  now  quite  inaccessible,  forms  the  most  striking  feature 
of  the  scene." 

[She  wrote  her  last  letter  to  her  sister  that  day,  saying : 
"We  are  pretty  far  in  the  wilds  now;  really  among  the  lamas 
and  monasteries  and  chortens  and  manis.  This  is  indeed  a 
queer  land,  unlike  anything  else.  Even  the  rocks  look 
perfectly  uncanny.  .  .  .  You  and  the  dear  ones  are  constantly 
in  my  thoughts,  and  nearly  every  night  I  dream  that  we 
are  in  London  together.  It  is  so  funny  to  alight  from  a 
Metropolitan  train,  or  turn  aside  from  a  Piccadilly  shop,  as  I 
did  this  morning,  and  open  one's  eyes  in  a  tent  in  Tibet.  .  .  . 
Miss  Phillips,  about  whom  we  were  rather  anxious,  consulted 
Dr.  Neve,  who  recommended  resting  till  Tuesday  and  taking 
our  journey  as  easily  as  possible.  So  we  shall  hardly  reach 
Leh  before  the  31st,  but  still  hope  to  see  something  of  the 
missionary  friends  and  their  work.  Dr.  Neve  has  put  me 
also  on  a  course  of  quinine,  so   I  expect  to   have  no  more 


320  IRENE    TETRIE 

fever,  and  already  feel  quite  well.     We  are  all  enjoying  our 
stay  in  this  interesting  place."] 

^'  July  21th. — We  march  farther  up  the  valley,  and  ascend  by 
an  easy  slope  the  Futu-Lk.  The  peaks  all  round  are  magnifi- 
cent, and  from  the  top  of  the  Pass  there  are  grand  views  of  the 
ranges  on  all  sides.  Unlike  the  Zoji-Lk,  these  two  last  passes 
are  free  from  snow.  The  chortens  and  manis  on  every  side 
become  countless  as  we  descend  two  thousand  feet  to  Lamayuru, 
which  must  therefore  be  specially  holy.  We  go  up  to  pay  our 
respects  to  the  monks  and  nuns  in  the  queer-looking  rookery 
of  a  monastery.  Two  wild,  dirty  figures,  bare-headed  and 
clothed  in  red  rags,  receive  us,  and  conduct  us  through  the 
doorway,  with  its  big  prayer-wheel,  up  narrow  stairs  and 
passages,  past  dark,  gaping  holes  and  clefts,  and  the  proverbial 
fierce  mastiff  of  Tibetan  gonpas.  A  lock  and  key  of  unique 
design  fastens  the  chapel  door,  and  when  this  swings  back  we 
pass  into  a  dimly  lighted  chamber,  hung  round  with  coloured, 
Chinese-looking  scrolls;  low  kneeling-stools  being  ranged  up 
and  down  the  floor  for  the  thirty  or  forty  monks  whose  duty 
it  is  to  pray  for  the  community,  they  in  their  turn  supporting 
the  monastic  institutions.  Upon  the  altar,  raised  on  gaudily 
painted  boxes,  are  set  small  water  vessels  and  oil  lamps,  all  in 
burnished  brass.  Vases  of  flowers  and  fans  of  peacock  feathers 
and  paper  lanterns  are  prominent.  In  the  midst  of  these  is 
an  ofl"ering  of  grain  to  the  long  row  of  gaudy  idols  behind  the 
altar,  amongst  whom  Buddha  and  Chamba  are  conspicuous. 
A  copper  vessel  is  opened  to  display  the  ever-burning  lamp 
— a  lighted  wick  floating  in  oil.  We  are  shown  the  musical 
instruments — gongs,  trumpets,  bells,  rattles,  shawms — and 
the  books.  Permission  is  given  to  make  pictures,  and  Miss 
Kutter  and  I  have  a  busy  twenty  minutes  photographing 
and  sketching,  in  spite  of  the  unspeakable  stuffiness  of  the 
atmosphere.  We  ask  after  the  nuns,  and  they  produce  one,  a 
giggling  young   lady  also  dressed   in  red  rags,  who  proudly 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  321 

stands  beside  the  lamas  to  be  photographed.  .  .  .  The  Lama- 
yuru  people  are  not  troubled  with  shyness.  All  round  our 
tents  they  cluster,  and  two  girls,  with  the  assurance  of  Ladaki 
ladies,  come  inside  bringing  roses,  and  then  squat  down  to 
watch  us  brushing  our  hair.  We  get  rid  of  them  happily 
by  presenting  each  with  an  English  pin  !  " 

Besides  the  journal,  which  ends  here,  there  are  sketch-books 
containing  more  than  a  dozen  water-colour  sketches  made 
by  Irene  during  this  journey :  in  the  foregrounds  manis  and 
chortens,  in  the  middle  distance  grotesque  rocks  of  crudest 
colouring,  in  the  distance  towering  snow  mountains — all  rapid 
work  en  route,  but  full  of  vigour  and  spirit ;  and  one  who 
knows  the  region  says :  "  She  has  quite  caught  the  rich  colour- 
ing peculiar  to  Ladakh."  There  are  half  a  dozen  pencil 
landscapes,  too,  with  full  memoranda  for  carrying  them  out 
in  colour  later  on,  and  telling  outlines  of  picturesque  figures 
at  many  places,  and  curiosities  from  Lhasa  seen  at  Lamayuru. 
The  last  sketch  was  made  on  July  30th. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  C  E.  Tyndale-Biscoe  on  July  27  th 
Irene  says  :  "We  hope  to  reach  Leh  on  July  31st,  get  about 
four  days  there,  and  then  return.  The  entire  change  is  doing 
us  all  a  world  of  good,  and  we  are  such  a  happy  party." 

This  same  day  she  was  eagerly  planning  that  when  the 
Swiss  ladies  turned  back,  she  and  Miss  Phillips  would  go  on 
together  to  Himis,  which  would  have  involved  the  great 
fatigue  of  riding  a  yak.  There  are  two  jottings  in  her  diary 
for  the  coming  August:  ''August  4/'//.— Godson,"  to  remind 
her  of  the  birthday  of  the  little  son  of  Mr.  Sircar,  who  had 
left  Srinagar  for  the  Baring  High  School  at  Batala  some  time 
since ;  and  "  August  20th. — Hindi  Gospel  for  Dras  thanadar's 
ladies,"  to  remind  her  to  follow  up  what  had  been  her  very 
last  bit  of  missionary  work.  "  Returning  from  Leh,'"  writes 
Miss  Phillips,  who  sent  the  promised  book,  "  I  went  in  to  see 

21 


32a  IRENE    PETRIE 

the  women  at  Dras,  and  told  them  about  her  having  passed 
away.  They  seemed  to  have  been  much  impressed  by  her 
visit."  In  a  letter  to  her  sister  of  July  19th  Irene  had  said 
she  would  be  thinking  specially  of  her  elder  nephew  on  August 
22nd  (his  third  birthday),  and  had  ordered  the  Child's  Bible 
for  him  from  London  as  her  birthday  gift. 

So  truly  in  the  midst  of  life  she  was  in  death  !  "  It  is 
almost  impossible,"  wrote  Miss  Coverdale,  reporting  to  head- 
quarters, "  to  realise  that  it  is  Miss  Petrie  who  has  gone 
and  will  never  come  back  to  us.  She  seemed  so  unlikely 
to  die  (if  one  may  say  such  a  thing) — so  full  of  life  and 
energy  and  plans,  not  at  all  intended  for  death." 

But  for  her  that  toilsome  journey  had  been  one  prolonged 
battle  with  a  malady  well  known  to  be  most  fatal  to  the  young 
and  strong.  "  She  started  in  spite  of  fever,"  says  Dr.  Neve, 
"justified,  perhaps,  in  thinking  that  a  change  of  air  and  a  holiday 
would  put  her  all  right."  "  She  suffered  with  fever  off  and 
on  most  of  the  time,"  say  the  Swiss  ladies,  "  but  was  the  life 
of  the  party,  equal  to  more  than  any  of  the  other  three."  It 
seemed  to  be  no  more  than  an  ordinary  attack  of  fever,  not 
at  all  uncommon  on  the  road  from  Srinagar  to  Leh.  What 
could  not  be  discovered  yet  was  that  while  she  was  suffering 
from  ordinary  fever  in  the  fierce  midsummer  of  Srinagar 
the  germs  of  typhoid  had  found  their  way  into  her  system, 
doubtless  through  the  foul  smells  of  that  unclean  city.  The 
exhilarating  mountain  air,  and  possibly  her  own  spirit  and 
determination,  had  retarded  their  development. 

Higher  and  higher  she  went,  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
heart  of  the  mighty  mountains  it  had  been  the  dream  of  her 
life  to  see,  intent  only  on  the  idea  of  renewing  her  strength 
that  she  might  continue  to  tell  those  least  likely  to  hear  it  from 
others  that  God  loved  them.  And  neither  she  nor  anyone 
else  knew  how  few  were  the  marches  between  her  and  Home 
as  she  nightly  pitched  her  moving  tent.     We  have  seen  that 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  323 

love  of  home  was  one  of  her  ruling  passions,  and  among  the 
very  few  possessions  she  took  with  her  to  Leh  were  the 
portraits  of  her  parents  and  her  sister  Evelyn.  She  had 
given  up  the  earthly  home  freely  and  for  ever ;  but  now, 
her  work  being  accomplished,  she  was  to  rejoin  those  dearly 
loved  ones  in  a  moment,  and  to  be,  like  them,  for  ever  "  at 
Home  with  the  Lord." 

After  the  happy  services  in  "Kharbu  Cathedral,"  as  they 
called  it,  the  three  sahibs  had  gone  on  their  adventurous  way. 
A  week  or  two  later  they  approached  Leh,  expecting  to  see 
there  the  colleague  whom  they  regarded,  says  Dr.  Neve,  as 
"  the  strongest  and  most  able  of  the  lady  zenana  visitors." 
But  when  they  drew  near  the  city  a  messenger  met  them  with 
fatal  news,  and  they  entered  it  to  find  only  a  new-made  grave. 

On  July  27th  Irene  had  used  for  the  last  time  the  pen  whose 
speed  had  always  been  a  proverb  among  her  friends.  She 
had  then  done  over  two  hundred  miles  of  the  journey, 
reckoning  their  detour.  Sixty-six  miles  remained,  of  which 
Miss  Phillips  writes  thus : — 

"On  July  28th  Irene  seemed  perfectly  well.  I  had  been 
ill,  and  I  was  so  touched  by  her  thoughtfulness.  We  had  to 
cross  a  very  high  pass.  Being  in  a  dandy,  I  travelled  slowly  ; 
and  though  I  said  nothing  about  it,  I  much  dreaded  the  possi- 
bility of  an  attack  of  illness  when  alone.  A  few  miles  on, 
dear,  sweet  Irene  came  to  me  and  said  :  '  I  am  going  to  stay 
with  you  all  the  time.  You  shall  not  be  alone  at  all  to-day.' 
I  remember  so  well  her  joy  on  reaching  the  top  of  the  pass, 
and  seeing  the  glorious  views  all  round. 

*'  On  July  29th  we  had  a  long  and  difficult  march.  After 
starting  about  6  a.m.  we  found,  four  hours  later,  that  the 
Indus  had  overflowed  its  banks,  and  it  was  necessary  to  go 
through  the  water.  It  was  too  deep  to  ride  through,  so 
she  was  carried  over  in  my  dandy — an  uncomfortable  and 
rather    dangerous    experience.      Then    we    had    to    cross    a 


324  IRENE    PETRIE 

perilous  track  on  the  face  of  the  rock.  It  was  fearfully 
hot,  and  she  said  to  me,  *  I  am  feeling  this  terrible  sun 
so  much.'  I  had  to  go  on  without  stopping,  as  my  men 
carried  me  very  slowly.  She  stayed  in  the  shadow  of 
a  great  rock,  and  overtook  me  at  the  entrance  of  our 
camping-ground.  We  were  both  tired  out,  and  after  tea  I 
begged  her  to  go  to  bed.  '  No,'  she  said ;  'it  is  so  dull  in 
bed.  I  could  not  bear  it.'  So  she  took  a  little  sketch  of 
the  mountains  in  the  glorious  sunset  glow."  (One,  if  not 
two,  vigorous  water-colours  of  snow  peaks  rising  beyond  the 
gloom  of  dense  woods  represent  that  evening's  work.) 

"About  8  a.m.  on  Friday,  July  30th,  we  passed  through 
the  picturesque  village  of  Bazgo.  '  I  must  just  sketch  this,* 
she  said;  and  springing  from  her  pony,  she  sat  on  a  stone, 
and  took  a  rapid  pencil-sketch,  putting  in  notes  to  guide  her 
as  to  future  colouring,  and  expatiating  on  the  beauty  of  the 
scene.  .  .  .  She  arrived  at  Pyang  just  as  it  was  getting  dusk. 
I  had  been  there  an  hour,  and  ran  out  to  meet  her.  She 
said,  '  I  am  so  tired,'  and  cried  a  Httle.  Miss  Werthmiiller 
suggested  that  it  would  be  better  for  her  to  stay  at  Pyang 
till  Saturday  afternoon. 

"Saturday,  July  31st,  I  stayed  with  her,  and  the  others 
went  on  in  the  early  morning.  At  midday  she  said  she  did 
not  think  she  could  sit  on  her  pony,  and  asked  whether  I 
thought  we  had  better  stay  another  day.  All  the  servants 
and  food  had  gone  on ;  it  was  a  desolate  place ;  her  tempera- 
ture was  104°,  and  I  knew  there  was  a  doctor  in  Leh,  twelve 
miles  away.  So  I  sent  for  the  headman  of  the  village,  and 
told  him  he  must  get  men  to  carry  her  on  her  bedstead ; 
and  at  5  o'clock,  when  it  was  cooler,  I  took  her  off." 

Miss  Kant  thus  describes  her  arrival : — 

"  Dear  Miss  Petrie  had  written  to  me  about  coming  up 
to  Leh  this  summer,  and  I  was  looking  forward  to  her 
visit  with  great  pleasure.  .  .  .  We  expected  her  party  during 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  325 

the  forenoon  of  Saturday;  but  only  the  two  Swiss  ladies 
arrived,  telling  us  that  Miss  Phillips  and  Miss  Petrie  would 
not  come  in  till  the  evening,  as  the  latter  had  suffered 
very  much  from  fever  during  the  last  three  days.  This 
news  rather  alarmed  me,  and  I  thought  it  would  be  better 
if  Miss  Petrie  would  share  my  own  room,  instead  of 
being  in  a  house  in  the  compound  with  the  other  ladies, 
as  I  should  be  better  able  to  look  after  her  and  '  mother ' 
her,  especially  as  Dr.  Neve  had  told  me  that  she  had  been 
really  overworking  herself  before  leaving  Srinagar.  How  glad 
have  I  been  that  God  did  put  this  into  my  mind !  We 
went  out  in  the  evening  to  meet  the  two  ladies,  and  were 
greatly  alarmed  first  to  see  Miss  Petrie's  riderless  pony  led 
in  by  the  syce,  and  presently  to  see  her  carried  on  a  bedstead. 
But  in  her  lively  manner  she  made  light  of  it,  and  wanted 
to  walk  the  rest  of  the  way.  She  was  carried  into  the  com- 
pound, and  just  rose  to  v/alk  into  my  room,  which  she  was 
never  to  leave.  ...  I  found  her  temperature  alarmingly 
high,  and  at  once  went  for  Dr.  Neve. 

"  On  Sunday  she  wanted  to  get  up  for  the  English  service, 
to  which  she  was  eagerly  looking  forward,  and  was  greatly  dis- 
tressed when  I  said  that  Dr.  Neve  did  not  wish  her  to  rise  till 
he  had  seen  her.  Flowers  from  my  little  garden  gave  her  so 
much  pleasure,  and  she  repeatedly  said  she  felt  as  if  she  were 
in  old  England  again." 

Miss  Phillips  says  of  that  Sunday :  *'  She  seemed  so  lively 
and  bright  that  there  was  difficulty  in  keeping  her  in  bed. 
Mrs.  Francke  told  me  afterwards  they  thought  she  could  not 
be  ill  at  all.  ...  I  told  her  all  about  the  service,  which  seemed 
to  please  her.  Miss  V/erthmiiller  and  Miss  Kutter  had  to 
return  to  India  on  Wednesday ;  but  I  felt  I  could  not  leave 
her,  so  stayed  on  and  helped  to  nurse  her." 

Only  on  that  day  was  the  real  nature  of  her  illness  suspected. 
On  Monday,  August  :;nd,  Dr.  Neve  left  her  in  the  hands  oi 


326  IRENE    PETRIE 

Dr.  Graham,  State  surgeon  at  Leh,  a  man  as  able  as  himself, 
having  arranged  that  special  messengers  should  recall  him  at 
once  if  matters  took  an  unfavourable  turn.  Her  fine  constitu- 
tion and  the  skilled  care  of  Miss  Kant  gave  Dr.  Neve  every 
reason  to  expect  that  the  fever  would  run  a  normal  and  favour- 
able course,  approach  the  crisis  on  his  return  some  ten  days 
later,  and  detain  her  in  all  some  six  weeks  at  Leh.  Not  being 
absolutely  certain  yet  that  it  was  typhoid,  they  never  told  her 
what  they  feared ;  and  the  only  thing  that  seemed  to  distress 
Irene  herself  was  the  breaking  up  of  others'  plans  through  her 
detention.  On  Tuesday  she  remarked  that  the  illness  must 
have  been  sent  to  teach  her  patience,  words  showing  that  she 
had  no  idea  that  her  end  was  drawing  near.  "  I  was,  however, 
strongly  impressed,"  says  Miss  Phillips,  "with  the  conviction, 
not  that  her  life  was  nearly  over,  but  that  some  great  change 
in  it  was  at  hand  ;  that  she  would  not  resume  the  old  routine 
in  Srinagar.  She  seemed  to  be  recapitulating  and  weighing 
all  her  work  there,  as  if  she  were  closing  a  chapter." 

We  return  now  to  Miss  Kant's  narrative  :  "  Monday  was  a 
trying  night,  and  Miss  Phillips,  to  whom  she  seemed  greatly 
attached,  sat  up  with  her.  .  .  .  On  Tuesday  afternoon  the 
home  mail  arrived.  It  contained  a  photograph  of  her  younger 
nephew  (a  baby  scarcely  a  year  old)  in  his  mother's  arms. 
How  she  did  love  to  have  this  picture  !  I  am  truly  thank- 
ful that  it  arrived  on  that  day ;  had  it  come  a  day  later,  I 
fear  she  would  hardly  have  had  power  to  recognise  it.  I  put 
it  on  a  little  table  beside  her  bed,  with  a  vase  of  sweet  peas, 
mignonette,  and  carnations.  Her  eyes  rested  on  it  again  and 
again,  and  her  frequent  remark  was,  '  Are  they  not  dear,  sweet 
things  ? '  I  am  so  glad  our  Heavenly  Father  gave  her  this  last 
taste  of  earthly  love ;  she  did  so  fully  enjoy  it,  and  was  so 
thankful  for  it.  On  Wednesday  there  were  marked  signs  of 
sinking  strength.  ...  In  the  afternoon  I  read  her  the  first 
page  of  her  sister's  letter,  and  she  enjoyed  it  much,  looking 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  327 

forward  to  the  rest,  which  we  were  never  able  to  give  her. 
She  remarked,  '  I  did  worry  very  much  about  several  things 
during  the  first  day,  but  I  have  asked  our  Father  to  take  it  all 
away,  and  He  has  done  so,  and  now  I  can  be  quite  contented.' 
It  was  so  touching  to  hear  her  expressions  of  thankfulness 
for  the  little  I  was  able  to  do  for  her.  We  could  not  do  very 
much,  but  I  know  from  all  the  members  of  our  mission  that 
what  we  did  was  done  in  Christian  love,  and  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  be  able  to  do  it.  A  remark  of  hers  on  Wednesday,  when  I 
was  doing  something  for  her,  was,  *  I  am  so  glad  the  Lord  sees 
everything  you  arc  doing  for  me.  I  am  only  one  of  the  least, 
yet  He  has  said  He  will  reward  what  ye  do  for  one  of  the 
least'  This  was  about  the  last  really  intelligent  utterance. 
On  Thursday  consciousness  was  fading  away  more  and  more. 
All  through  Friday  she  was  perfectly  unconscious  and  did  not 
speak  one  word." 

On  Friday  morning  Mrs.  Fichtner  wrote  to  Mrs.  Tyndale- 
Biscoe  that  Irene  was  lying  unconscious,  but  that  Dr.  Graham 
saw  no  actual  danger;  and  Miss  Phillips  wrote  a  letter  to 
her  sister,  suggesting  that  on  its  receipt — i.e.,  six  weeks  later — 
a  telegraphic  message  of  love  should  be  sent  from  Canada. 
But  in  the  late  afternoon  Dr.  Graham  noticed  a  failure  of 
the  pulse  that  made  him  send  instantly  for  Dr.  Neve,  express- 
ing a  fear  that  he  might  not  be  in  time.  This  was  the  first 
note  of  real  apprehension.  In  the  evening  she  began  to  speak 
again,  making  an  inquiry  about  her  pony's  feed  on  the  level 
of  ordinary  talk  that  reassured  Miss  Phillips,  who  went  to 
bed  feeling  quite  happy  about  her.  But  the  experienced 
Miss  Kant  saw  an  expression  in  her  face  showing  that  the 
words  merely  reflected  what  had  passed  in  her  mind  before 
consciousness  failed,  and  said  this  was  the  worst  sign  of  all. 
Miss  Kant  continues  :  **  Dr.  Graham  seemed  more  hopeful 
when  he  left  her  at  10,  but  gave  orders  that  he  was  to  be 
summoned  again  at   12.     I  then  put  her  in  charge  of  Mrs. 


328  IRENE    PETRIE 

Francke,  and  for  some  time  after  heard  her  trying  to  sing. 
Then  all  was  quiet,  till  suddenly  Mrs.  Francke  called  me.  I 
was  at  the  bedside  in  a  moment,  just  in  time  to  see  the 
last  breath  taking  its  flight  from  this  earthly  body." 

She  was  spared  the  pain  of  parting  tears. 

She  was  spared  all  mortal  strife  ; 
It  was  scarcely  dying ;   she  only  passed 

In  a  moment  to  endless  life. 

The  last  words  she  listened  to  before  she  became  un- 
conscious were  these  :  "  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace, 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  :  because  he  trusteth  in  Thee." 
The  Christmas  child,  whose  name  was  Peace,  who  gave  her 
life  to  preach  the  Gospel  of  Peace,  who  would,  we  are  told, 
always  be  remembered  first  of  all  as  "  the  peacemaker," 
entered  into  the  peace  of  God  under  the  shadow  of  the 
great  monastery  with  its  vain  dream  of  the  peace  of  Buddha. 

Very  unusual  had  the  issue  of  the  illness  been.  After 
an  abnormally  lengthened  preliminary  stage,  suddenly,  ere 
the  crisis  was  reached,  heart  failure  supervened,  due  partly 
to  the  great  altitude  and  fatigue  of  the  journey,  partly  to 
reaction,  after  fighting  the  malady  inch  by  inch  instead  of 
succumbing  to  it  at  once.  Four  restless  days  of  fever, 
nearly  two  days  of  unconsciousness,  then,  without  gasp  or 
struggle,  almost  imperceptibly,  her  spirit  passed,  summoned  in 
a  moment,  from  the  promise  of  many  years  of  happy,  fruitful 
work,  into  the  immediate  Presence  of  her  Lord.  IMost  literally 
fulfilled  was  His  promise  :  *'  If  a  man  keep  My  word,  he 
shall  never  taste  of  death."  To  her,  even  more  than  to 
most,  gradual  loss  of  health,  slowly  failing  power  to  accom- 
plish what  she  willed  to  do,  prolonged  helplessness,  would 
have  been  a  keen  trial.  Moreover,  this  Hfe  had  been  sweet 
to  her,  and  ready  as  she  was  to  die,  she,  who  was  dear  to 
so  many,  and  to  whom  her  chosen  work  was  so  dear,  had 
many  reasons  for  desiring  to  live.     So  for  her,  and  surely  it 


THE    LAST    JOURNEY  329 

was  a  token  that  God  had  pleasure  in  her  single-hearted 
service,  there  was  no  "  sadness  of  farewell,"  no  vain  longing  in 
the  last  hours  for  her  dearest,  no  sense  of  our  sorrow  in  losing 
her.  One  Friday  she  was  sketching  meadow  and  mountain 
with  her  wonted  delight,  next  Friday  she  was  breathing  out 
her  life  in  song  in  the  hour  of  release  from  all  suffering. 
For  full  of  hopes  and  plans  for  the  morrow  as  she  was,  her 
work  had  already  been  faithfully  done,  and  "  she  fell  asleep 
Hke  a  tired  child  on  her  father's  knee."  Such  is  the  simple 
description  of  her  end  given  by  the  young  wife  of  Mr. 
Francke,  who  adds  :  "  I  think  it  a  great  blessing  to  have 
been  allowed  to  be  present  when  this  blessed  child  of  God 
was  called  Home.  .  .  .  All  who  witnessed  it  will  never  forget 
the  impression  it  made." 

And  for  her  who  lay  now,  they  said,  "with  a  lovely  flush 
on  her  cheek,  looking  so  beautiful  that  it  was  hard  not  to 
believe  she  would  presently  awaken  as  from  happy  dreams," 
for  her  who  had  all  her  life  made  music,  this  same  Mrs. 
Francke  gave  her  harp-case,  and  out  of  it  Mr.  Francke  and 
Dr.  Graham  wrought  the  coffin ;  and  only  Christian  hands 
bore  her  to  her  grave  in  the  Moravian  God's  Acre  outside 
Leh,  to  rest  beside  the  noble  Marx  and  Redslob. 

On  Sunday  evening,  August  8th,  all  the  missionaries  and 
all  the  native  Christians  gathered  in  the  little  chapel,  with 
Captain  Stewart,  the  Queen's  representative  at  Leh,  who 
had  sent  most  beautiful  flowers  and  had  desired  to  be  one 
of  the  bearers.  After  a  Tibetan  hymn  Dr.  Graham  read 
the  Anglican  Burial  Service,  the  four  ladies  sang  "  For  all 
the  saints  who  from  their  labours  rest,"  Mr.  Francke  gave 
an  address,  and  then  they  sang  in  Tibetan  the  beautiful 
aria  "Wo  findet  die  Seele  die  heimath,  die  ru'.ie."  The 
service  was  concluded  in  the  God's  Acre  with  "Jesus  mcine 
Zuversicht"  in  Tibetan,  followed  by  Mr.  Fichtner  reading 
the  Tibetan  litany,  portions  of  Scripture,  and  mure  German 


330  IRENE    PETRIE 

chorales.  Dr.  Graham  then  finished  the  Anglican  service, 
and  the  ladies  sang  "Peace,  perfect  peace." 

So  Irene  "  sleeps  to  wake  "  where  the  giant  mountains  she 
had  from  earliest  childhood  longed  to  see  keep  watch  and  ward 
over  the  little  grass-grown  grave.  Miss  Kant  planted  clematis, 
"  caring  for  it  as  if  it  had  been  the  grave  of  her  own  sister  " ; 
and  every  Easter  Day  the  Moravians  meet  on  that  spot  to  give 
thanks  in  a  special  liturgy  for  those  who  have  departed  in  the 
faith  since  the  Feast  of  the  Resurrection  was  last  celebrated. 

On  Sunday,  August  15th,  there  were  memorial  services  at 
Srinagar.  "  I  preached  a  funeral  sermon  at  St.  Luke's,"  says 
Mr.  Knowles,  "  from  the  text  i  Cor.  xv.  19,  exhorting  the 
congregation  to  remember  that  the  better  part  of  our  hope 
in  Christ  is  laid  up  for  us  in  heaven.  Miss  Petrie,  I  know, 
felt  this  very  much,  or  she  could  not,  as  she  told  me  once, 
have  done  the  things  she  did.  The  hymn  after  the  sermon, 
'  For  ever  with  the  Lord,'  was  one  of  her  favourites."  At  the 
evening  service  in  All  Saints'  Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  preached 
from  I  Cor.  xv.  58,  referring  to  her  bright  example  and  the 
Power  that  led  her  to  leave  all  for  Christ's  sake,  saying  that 
while  many  are  ready  to  scoff  at  missionaries  and  suggest  that 
they  have  ulterior  motives,  no  one  could  say  that  it  was  desire 
for  position  or  love  of  travel  that  brought  her  to  Kashmir. 
She  had  heard  the  call  of  Christ  Himself,  and  obeyed  it. 

Before  the  darling  youngest  child,  for  whom  she  had 
cherished  so  many  fond  hopes,  was  given  to  her,  Irene's 
mother  carefully  copied  out  in  her  graceful  writing  a  poem 
called  *'  The  Missionary's  Grave,"  which  concludes  thus  : 

Here  a  soldier's  ashes  rest 

In  this  desert  spot  of  ground ; 
Long  the  foe  around  him  pressed, 

Now  he  is  with  glory  crowned. 
Let  the  world  its  heroes  praise, 

Round  their  tombs  its  laurels  twine ; 
May  the  Christian's  fighting  days 

And  the  Christian's  srrave  be  mine  ! 


CHAPTER    XIV 

AN   INSPIRING   MEMORY 

If  I  could  have  such  a  memory  of  one  as  dear  to  me,  I  think  the  joy 
would  outweigh  the  sorrow. — A  Letter  of  Condolence. 

One   death   in   the   mission   field   is   worth  six  lives  at  home. — T.  V. 
French,  BisJiop  of  Lahore. 

IRENE  PETRIE  was  universally  and  deeply  lamented," 
says  the  historian  of  the  C.M.S.,  and  it  is  no  mere 
stereotyped  phrase  concerning  one  who  had,  like  King  David, 
bowed  the  heart  of  all  who  knew  her.  Few  taken  so  early  can 
have  been  more  widely  mourned,  can  have  left  so  far-reaching 
an  influence.  The  news  came  as  an  enduring  personal  sorrow 
to  very  many  to  whom  she  was  "  our  beloved  Irene,"  and 
ever  extending  circles  all  wept  and  bewailed  her,  beginning 
at  Leh  with  those  who  had  nursed  her  so  tenderly,  one  of 
whom  had  first  seen  her  that  day  four  weeks  ago,  the  other 
had  taken  her  as  a  slight  acquaintance  into  her  room  to 
mother  her  less  than  one  week  before.  "  What  one  felt  and 
still  feels  about  it,"  wrote  Miss  Kant  to  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe, 
"  one  can  hardly  say.  It  is  too  much  for  words.  She  had 
grown  so  dear  to  us  during  the  few  days  she  was  amongst  us." 
And  the  doctor,  who  had  done  all  that  human  skill  could 
do  for  her,  wrote  thus  to  a  medical  confrere :  "  Why  such  a 
strong,  earnest,  clever,  happy  worker  should  have  been  taken, 
our  short  sight  cannot  see.  For  India's  sake  I  would  most 
gladly  have  taken  her  place." 

Ill 


332  IRENE    PETRIE 

The  news  reached  Srinagar,  and  "  it  was  as  when  a  standard 
bearer  faiateth."  Dr.  Neve  wrote  in  Picturesque  Kashmir 
(p.  123):  "Our  stay  in  Ladakh  was  saddened  by  the  illness 
and  death  of  Miss  Irene  Petrie,  a  charming  and  accomplished 
young  lady " ;  and  in  his  annual  report :  "  The  Mission 
Hospital  has  lost  a  true  and  generous  friend.  An  honorary 
missionary  of  rare  gifts  and  accomplishments,  a  good  linguist, 
unselfish,  sympathetic  in  manner,  given  to  good  works,  her 
sudden  Home  call  has  left  a  gap  in  our  small  mission  band 
which  it  will  be  hard  to  fill  "  ;  and  in  a  private  letter  :  "  All  the 
mission  will  feel  it,  not  merely  for  a  few  weeks,  but  for  months 
and  years.  But  surely  one  will  ever  be  thankful  for  having 
known  her,  till  tht  time  of  the  ever-blessed  reunion  takes  place." 

Mr.  Knowles  wrote  to  headquarters  :  "  I  scarcely  know 
how  to  write.  .  .  .  'Tis  hard  to  say,  and  still  harder  to  feel, 
God's  will  be  done.  Miss  Petrie  was  such  a  true  friend, 
such  a  devoted  worker,  such  a  real  helpmeet  in  the  work. 
Only  a  little  while  was  she  spared  to  us,  but  her  goodness 
and  her  earnestness  will  live  in  our  memories  for  many  a 
day.  Only  a  short  while  was  she  spared  to  the  work,  but 
her  ministration  among  these  people  of  Kashmir  will  endure 
for  a  long  time  as  a  power  in  the  lives  of  many  of  them." 

Miss  Hull  wrote  :  "  The  news  came  to  me  as  a  most 
terrible  shock,  and  it  seemed  so  much  to  change  and  sadden 
one's  life  that  one  so  bright  and  full  of  life  and  energy  should 
have  so  soon  ended  her  earthly  course.  I  have  indeed  lost 
in  her  a  most  kind  and  loving  friend,  whom  I  shall  sorely 
miss.  ...  I  trust  I  shall  come  in  time  to  rejoice  with  her 
who  rejoices  now  in  her  Saviour's  Presence ;  at  present  the 
sense  of  loss  prevails  over  everything."  At  a  meeting  in 
London  in  1899  she  said:  "Irene  Petrie's  short  and  bright 
life  and  work  among  us  will  always  be  a  holy  memory." 

Mr.  Tyndale-Biscoe  wrote :  "  Kashmir  has  lost  the  truest 
of  friends.     For  many  months  she  has  been   a  true,  loving 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  333 

sister  to  us,  and  we  have  shared  one  another's  joys  and 
sorrows." 

Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  wrote :  "  It  seems  impossible  to 
realise  that  dear  Irene  has  gone  from  us.  Such  a  wonderful 
life  of  usefulness  and  brightness,  spent  in  love  and  thought- 
fulness  for  others;  herself  always  last,  or  rather  nowhere  at 
all.  She  has  left  a  very  great  blank  in  our  home ;  she  was 
so  entirely  one  with  us.  .  .  .  But  we  both  feel  that  it  is  one 
of  the  happiest  calls  Home  that  we  know,  for  one  so  ready 
and  just  a  little  tired  with  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day." 

Miss  Coverdale  wrote  to  headquarters :  "  We  could  ill 
spare  her,  and  are  inclined  to  think  that  God's  work  here 
must  suffer  through  her  removal ;  but  we  know  that  He 
would  not  have  taken  her  if  His  work  or  plans  would  be 
hindered  thereby.  It  has  been  my  sad  duty  to  tell  all  her 
zenana  pupils,  and  without  exception  there  has  been  great 
lamenting." 

Miss  Howatson  wrote  on  January  loth,  1898:  "I  visit 
several  of  Miss  Petrie's  zenanas,  and  it  is  a  great  happiness 
to  me  to  hear  the  oft-repeated  words  of  praise  and  love  spoken 
of  her  by  her  pupils.  She  is  much  missed  and  mourned 
by  them.  Some  of  the  women,  when  they  first  heard  the 
sad  news,  shed  honest  tears  of  sorrow,  and  we  wept  together. 
But  one  brave  little  Mohammedan  girl  said,  *  Never  mind. 
Miss  Sahib.  Surely  she  is  with  God  now,  for  see  how  she 
loved  and  served  Him  here  on  earth.' " 

The  news  reached  the  homeland,  and  fresh  as  if  she  had 
not  been  four  years  away  was  the  grief  over  what  one 
neighbour  called  "  the  overwhelming  calamity  of  her  ever- 
to-be-lamented  early  death." 

"  I  feel  completely  stunned,"  wrote  a  friend  living  in 
Switzerland.  "  Her  dear,  sweet  face  is  looking  at  me  now 
from  my  writing-table,  where  I  have  always  loved  to  have 
it,  and  seems  to  say,  It  is  not  true." 


334  IRENE    PETRIE 

"  She  was  such  a  bright,  devoted  young  creature  !  It  seems 
as  if  a  star  had  gone  out,"  wrote  a  London  friend. 

"The  world  seems  emptier  since  your  sweet  sister  left  it," 
wrote  the  author  of  C.M.S.  Sketches. 

"  Our  dear,  bright,  splendid  Irene,"  wrote  the  distinguished 
artist  who  had  painted  her  portrait,  "how  dearly  we  loved 
her  !  How  we  admired  and  prized  her !  One  feels  every- 
thing poorer  without  her." 

"  I  cannot  express  the  feeling  that  comevs  over  me  when 
I  think  that  I  shall  never  more  look  upon  that  lovely  form 
or  Usten  to  her  voice,"  wrote  a  life-long  friend,  who  only 
survived  her  a  few  months. 

"Like  everyone  else  who  came  across  her,"  wrote  her 
friend  at  Mitcham,  "  I  found  her  friendship  and  the  winning 
influence  of  her  bright  spirit  inexpressibly  helpful;  and  it  is 
hardly  possible  to  say  how  much  we  owe  here  to  the  work 
she  did  in  helping  to  start  and  promote  missionary  interest 
among  our  girls.  They  loved  working  for  her;  and  it  was 
very  touching  to  see  the  real  sorrow  with  which  they  heard 
of  her  death." 

The  following  words,  pathetic  in  their  very  simplicity,  were 
written  by  a  Highland  woman,  in  whose  cottage  Irene  had 
twice  spent  some  days  :  "  Dear,  dear  Miss  Petrie  has  gone 
home — sweet,  loving,  kind,  gentle,  noble  Miss  Petrie !  When 
I  read  it,  I  just  sat  down  at  the  fireside  and  wept  till  I 
was  tired." 

The  news  reached  friends  in  Canada,  the  United  States, 
New  Zealand,  Japan,  and  in  each  place  the  sound  of 
lamentation  was  taken  up. 

"  It  seems  impossible,"  wrote  the  friend  in  Japan  whom 
we  met  in  Chapter  IX.  invalided  home,  "  to  believe 
that  it  can  be  true.  She  looked  so  bright  and  young, 
as  if  she  might  have  so  many  years  of  beautiful  work 
before  her." 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  335 

But  in  this  chorus  of  voices  lamentation  is  not  the  dominant 
note,  nor  even  admiration,  nor  love,  though  these  notes  ring 
out  loud  and  clear,  as  is  seen  by  the  following  expressions  of 
appreciation  of  what  she  did  from  India,  and  of  affection  for 
what  she  was  from  Britain.  And  all  these  things  were  written 
by  those  to  whom  she  had  no  tie  of  blood,  for  she  was  as  poor 
in  relatives  as  she  was  rich  in  friends. 

A  Canadian  traveller,  who  arrived  in  Srinagar  with  an 
introduction  to  her,  says :  "  I  had  the  great  privilege  of 
meeting  her.  She  was  one  of  those  rare  and  precious  beings 
whom  to  know  is  to  love.  ...  I  was  struck  with  the  rare  gifts 
of  both  head  and  heart  that  Heaven  had  favoured  her  with. 
She  took  such  an  intelligent  interest  in  her  work,  and  at 
the  same  time  was  so  bright  and  cheerful  and  full  of  human 
sympathy  and  kindness." 

A  London  friend,  who  visited  Kashmir  in  189S,  says  :  "  I 
had  a  longing  to  see  Kashmir ;  but  it  seemed  so  sad  to  come 
here  with  no  bright  welcome  from  dear  Irene,  that  I  almost 
shrank  from  it.  ...  I  have  asked  many  people  about  her, 
and  I  am  much  struck  by  worldly  people  as  well  as  mis- 
sionaries witnessing  to  the  great  charm  of  her  sunny  bright- 
ness and  sympathetic  thought  for  others.  They  tell  me 
how  gifted  she  was,  how  ready  to  join  in  all  the  harmless 
amusements  of  the  station,  while  the  missionaries  testify  to 
her  thorough,  unfaltering  devotion  to  duty  and  power  of 
winning  the  people." 

i\nother  traveller  in  India  says  :  "  She  was  so  talented  !  I 
thought  her  gift  for  languages  quite  marvellous  when  I  went 
with  her  to  the  zenanas  and  school  one  day.  Her  life  seemed 
to  me  a  very  complete  one,  and  she  was  an  example  to  as  all 
of  diligence  and  love." 

Dr.  Graham  says  :  "  Her  example  and  influence  have,  I 
know,  told  widely." 

Miss  Phillips  says  :  "  Her  reputation  in  India  was  that  of 


336  IRENE    PETRIE 

a  splendid  worker.  Her  sweet,  fair,  beautiful  life  will  bear 
much  fruit  far  and  wide." 

Out  of  many,  we  quote  these  brief  expressions  of  affection 
by  two  friends  in  England  and  America,  by  a  schoolfellow,  and 
by  an  aged  neighbour  who  had  known  from  childhood  Irene's 
mother  as  well  as  Irene  : — 

"  My  love  for  dear  Irene  was  very  great." 

"  She  was  to  me  exceedingly  precious,  and  her  friendship 
one  of  God's  blessings." 

"  It  seems  too  sad — poor,  sweet  thing ! — to  think  of  her 
being  ill  and  dying  among  strangers.     I  did  love  her  so !  " 

*'  I  do  think  I  loved  Irene  as  if  she  had  been  my  own 
daughter." 

Then  above  the  regret,  the  admiration,  and  the  love,  rises  the 
chord  of  inspiration,  in  which  blend  the  quickened  faith  that — 

Transplanted  human  worth 
Will  bloom  to  profit  otherwhere, 

and  the  rekindled  desire  to  follow  Christ  here  as  she  followed 
Him.  Again  and  again  in  letters  about  her  occur  such  phrases 
as  "called  to  higher  service,"  "quickly  promoted";  and  to 
many  the  thought  of  the  larger  life  beyond  seems  to  grow 
luminous  as  they  contemplate  a  life  begun  thus  on  earth. 
Not  only  she  herself,  but  her  special  gifts  and  acquirements 
must  surely  live  on. 

Here,  from  widely  different  places  and  people,  are  one  or 
two  expressions  of  this  faith  and  this  desire : — 

"Though  her  visits  to  the  zenanas  are  over,  her  work,  we 
know,  is  not  done." 

"  How  truly  she  is  still  living  and  speaking,  though  not  still 
here ! " 

"  How  very  near  she  seems  !  " 

"  Somehow,  she  often  seems  so  near  now,  as  if  one  could 
talk  things  over  with  her.  No  more  human  limitations  for 
her  immortal  spirit,  but  strength  always  to  do." 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  337 

"It  seemed  to  me  unlike  a  death.  She  was  needed  by 
her  Saviour  to  renew  her  work  in  a  higher  spiiere." 

"As  I  think  of  our  beloved  Irene  at  rest,  I  think  of  her 
also  as  having  been  removed  from  work  below  to  something 
nobler  and  perhaps  more  difficult  above,  for  which  our  Father 
has  seen  her  still  better  fitted.  I  do  not  believe  her  active, 
clever,  capable,  spiritual  mind  and  her  loving,  earnest,  ardent 
soul  have  ceased  to  work  for  the  Master  she  loved  and  lived 
for,  and  for  the  souls  for  whom  she  willingly  laid  down  her 
precious  life." 

"  What  a  beautiful,  consecrated  life  it  was !  What  a  glorious 
life  it  is,  freed  from  all  earthly  bonds,  and  having  entered  into 
the  fuller  service  of  Heaven ! " 

"  Heaven  is  getting  richer." 

"  I  think  of  her  as  a  power  not  less  but  rather  more  than 
ever  active  in  the  Master's  service ;  and  the  thought  seems 
to  bring  with  it  a  greater  longing  than  ever  not  to  suffer 
oneself  to  fall  too  far  behind  her,  or  to  become  too  unworthy 
of  her  influence,  her  example,  and  her  love." 

"Called  away  in  youth,  yet  leaving  so  intensely  bright  a 
memory  that  she  will  live  long  in  influence." 

"She  will  ever  be  an  inspiration  for  all  that  is  good." 

"  You  will  like  to  know  what  an  inspiration  she  was  to  me, 
and  how  often  the  thought  of  her,  with  her  brilliant  gifts  and 
attractive,  sweet  ways,  given  so  absolutely  to  God's  service 
in  Kashmir,  has  given  quite  a  new  colouring  to  missionary 
Ufe  and  its  possibilities,  and  an  impetus  to  my  missionary 
interest.  Her  example  must  have  stirred  and  quickened 
very  many;  and  her  so  siidly  early,  and  to  us  mysterious. 
Home  call  will,  I  trust,  result  in  many  pressing  forward  to 
try  and  fill  her  place." 

"  I  so  often  think  of  her  longing  that  the  women  of  Kashmir 
should  know  more  of  the  Love  and  Holiness  of  God ;  and 
have  often  prayed  for  this,  and  for  the  many  houses  she 


338  IRENE    PETRIE 

visited.  It  is  such  a  privilege  to  be  able  to  help  her  work 
by  continuing  to  pray  for  it,"  says  an  Irish  friend. 

"  Let  us  pray  every  day  for  all  those  dear  women  over 
whom  she  yearned,  who  heard  the  sweet  Word  of  Life  from 
her,"  says  a  correspondent  in  New  Zealand. 

And  the  three  next  quotations  are  from  letters  of  Canadians 
who  knew  her  by  report  and  by  her  writings  only : — 

"  It  is  good  to  know  that  such  lives  are  possible." 

*'  I  had  come  to  feel  that  I  knew  and  loved  her  too." 

**  What  a  lovely  life  hers  was  !  May  her  memory  abide 
as  a  blessing  in  the  land  for  which  she  sacrificed  herself  so 
freely ! " 

This  last  letter  is  from  Srinagar :  "  I  came  to  Srinagar 
motherless  and  fatherless,  and  thinking  myself  friendless, 
as  everyone  here  was  a  perfect  stranger  to  me.  But  I  was 
not  friendless  long,  for  the  Master  had  one  of  His  own 
disciples  ready  to  love  and  care  for  me.  This  one  chosen 
to  be  a  friend  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word  was  Miss 
Petrie.  To  know  her  was  to  love  her,  and  I  loved  her 
from  the  first.  All  my  little  troublesome  thoughts  used  to 
vanish  on  seeing  her  face  with  an  ever  welcome  smile,  and 
hearing  her  voice;  and  I  always  left  her  feeling  better  and 
braver  and  happier  after  our  meeting,  and  for  her  love 
and  sympathy.  She  became  a  part  of  my  daily  life  here, 
and  I  never  could  imagine  Srinagar  without  her.  Your 
dear  sister's  life  here  has  been,  to  everyone  who  knew  her, 
a  pattern  of  holiness,  love,  and  charity.  It  is  my  constant 
prayer  now  that  I  may  be  helped  in  my  endeavour  to  follow 
in  her  footsteps,  and  be  as  worthy  and  ready  to  enter  into 
His  gates  with  thanksgiving  as  she  was." 

At  the  Church  Congress  in  London  in  1899  a  note  of 
encouragement  for  our  generation  was  sounded  when,  turning 
from  mere  ecclesiastical  questions  and  controversy  about 
religion,  they  considered  Experimental  Religion   itself  as  a 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  339 

force  manifested  in  the  practical  work  of  the  Church  at  home 
and  abroad.  One  of  the  strongest  papers  on  this  subject  by 
a  well-known  layman  led  up  to  the  following  climax  :  "  Whence 
come  the  increasing  number  of  missionaries,  men  and  women, 
many  at  their  own  charges,  leaving  refined  and  cultivated 
home  circles  to  spread  the  Gospel  of  Christ  ?  Whence 
come  the  Pilkingtons,  and  the  Fremantles,  and  the  Irene 
Petries  ?  " 

A  striking  proof  that  her  life  had  touched  other  lives  to 
bless  them  was  seen  in  the  impulse  in  different  quarters  to 
perpetuate  Irene's  memory  by  doing  something  for  Kashmir. 
Any  costly,  conventional  monument  would  have  been  contrary 
to  her  character  and  wishes.  In  addition,  however,  to  the 
simple  tablet  near  to  the  organ  and  to  the  marble  com- 
memorating her  parents  and  sister  in  the  parish  church  of 
Kensington,  a  brass,  with  inscription  in  Urdu,  has  been 
placed  in  St.  Luke's  Church,  Srinagar,  by  two  fellow-mission- 
aries "  in  loving  memory  of  Fanny  Butler  and  Irene  Petrie." 

But  to  us  she  seems  to  say,  Kashmir  had  my  life ;  may 
it  not  have  some  of  your  service,  or  at  least  some  of  your 
substance  ? 

One  girl  friend,  whose  proficiency  on  the  violin  had  made 
her  a  valuable  ally  to  Irene  in  the  concerts  she  so  often 
organised,  proposed  to  her  music  pupils — most  of  them 
children,  none  of  them  personally  acquainted  with  Irene — 
to  undertake  the  support  of  an  orphan  girl,  saved  from  the 
famine,  as  an  "  Irene  Petrie  "  scholar  in  Miss  Hull's  board- 
ing school.  This  "  Inasmuch  Society,"  whose  existence  be- 
came known  to  me  quite  accidentally,  has  since  adopted  two 
more  children,  and  members  who  cannot  contribute  the  penny 
a  week  asked  for,  promise  at  any  rate  to  pray  regularly  for 
their  little  proteges. 

The  Irene  Petrie  Memorial  Fund  was  the  outcome  of 
proposals  independently  made  by  various  friends.      Of  late 


340  IRENE    PETRIE 

years  the  C.?vI.S.  has  given  to  individuals,  parishes,  and 
local  unions,  contributing  a  fixed  sum  annually,  the  privilege 
of  appropriating  one  of  its  workers  abroad  as  their  "own 
missionary."  A  sum  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  raised,  to  produce 
annually  an  "  Irene  Petrie  Fund,"  which  shall  be  used  by 
the  C.M.S.  to  provide  Kashmir  with  one  more  missionary. 
A  considerable  amount  has  now  been  collected,  and  some 
of  the  gifts  are  noteworthy  enough  to  be  mentioned.  The 
earHest  offering  was  the  first  of  three  gifts,  amounting  to 
several  pounds  in  all,  from  the  children  of  the  Latymer  Road 
Mission  School,  mostly  gathered  in  coppers.  A  factory 
girl,  who  was  a  diligent  student  in  the  College  by  Post, 
spent  some  of  her  scanty  leisure  in  earning  half  a  crown 
to  give.  Almost  the  last  act  of  a  friend  over  eighty  years 
of  age  was  to  write  a  cheque  for  the  fund,  and  speak  in 
eager  appreciation  of  Irene's  work.  Another  gift  was  sent 
by  the  daughter-in-law  of  William  Carey's  colleague  Marsh- 
man,  writing  in  extreme  old  age,  little  more  than  three 
months  before  her  death,  and  recalling  Irene's  interest  in 
spiritual  things  as  a  member  of  her  Bible  class  when  a 
very  young  girl.  Of  the  largest  gifts,  one  was  a  thank- 
offering  for  recovery  from  critical  illness,  "  in  loving  memory 
of  Irene  " ;  one  was  part  of  a  large  sum  dedicated  to  foreign 
missions  in  consequence  of  zeal  awakened  by  a  talk  with 
Irene  before  she  went  to  India ;  one  was  from  a  lady  whose 
own  hope  of  offering  for  work  in  Kashmir  had  been 
thwarted ;  and  a  sum  of  nearly  thirty  pounds  was  the  result 
of  a  collection  made  in  Montreal  by  a  Canadian  who  knew 
Irene  only  by  repute. 

Montreal  has  given  yet  another  gift  to  Kashmir.  Chapter 
VI.  told  how  the  John  Bishop  Memorial  Hospital  was 
endowed  for  Dr.  Butler,  and  in  what  loss  and  disappoint- 
ment that  promising  enterprise  ended.  Since  then  the 
erection  of  a  Jubilee  State  Hospital  for  women  in  Srinagar, 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  341 

and  the  enlargement  of  the  women's  wards  in  the  C.M.S. 
Hospital,  has  lessened  the  need  of  it  there.  The  C.M.S.,  to 
whom,  with  the  consent  of  the  C.E.Z.M.S.,  Mrs.  Bishop 
transferred  its  endowment  in  1899,  are  therefore  re-erecting 
it  at  Islamabad,  and  sent  out  in  March,  1900,  as  its  future 
medical  officer.  Miss  Minnie  Gomery,  M.D.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  a  clergyman  at  Montreal,  and  in  her  medical 
course  at  Bishop's  College  she  carried  off  every  prize  for 
which  she  could  compete,  and  ended  by  winning  the  gold 
medal.  As  a  young  medical  student  looking  forward  to 
missionary  work,  she  heard  so  much  about  Irene  that  she 
desired  to  go  to  Kashmir,  of  all  fields.  The  Montreal  Branch 
of  the  Gleaners'  Union  have  pledged  themselves  to  support 
her  as  the  gift  of  Canada  to  Kashmir,  and  as  one  result 
of  Irene's  missionary  career,  Dr.  Butler  has  at  last  a  worthy 
successor. 

Irene  always  diverted  attention  from  herself  to  her  field, 
saying  in  her  letters,  "  The  work,  not  my  work,  remember." 
Thither,  therefore,  we  will,  in  conclusion,  follow  Dr.  Gomery. 

"  The  impression  of  Irene's  beautiful  life  lives  on,  and  helps 
us  in  many  ways,"  writes  Mrs.  Tyndale-Biscoe  in  October, 
1899.  "What  she  was  to  us  and  in  our  home  I  never  can 
express  in  words.  Whenever  I  hear  music  and  look  on 
lovely  scenery  I  seem  to  miss  her  most;  but  they  are  all 
such  happy  memories,  one  can  feel  thankful  they  have  been 
given  to  us." 

"  One  of  my  Mohammedan  masters,"  writes  Mr.  Tyndale- 
Biscoe  in  December,  1899,  "was  telling  me  how  his  little 
sisters  and  mother  missed  the  visits  of  Irene,  and  were  often 
talking  of  her.  Thanks  to  Miss  Petrie  and  Miss  Howatson, 
he  said,  his  sisters  now  read  very  well ;  and  he  intends  (their 
father  being  dead)  to  give  his  sisters  in  marriage  to  educated 
men,  who  need  companions  and  not  furniture ;  and  holds  to 
his  disapproval  of  child-marriage,  though  people  are  saying 


342  IRENE    PETRIE 

it  is  a  shame  the  elder  one  is  not  married  yet.  The  little 
girls,  now  fourteen  and  twelve  years  old,  are  teaching  others 
to  read,  and  one  of  them  taught  the  master  himself  the  Ten 
Commandments  in  rhyme ;  he  then  taught  them  to  his  boys 
at  school.  Their  volunteering  to  make  garments  for  a  neigh- 
bour aged  ninety-eight,  to  save  her  a  tailor's  bill,  was  a  little 
act  of  kindness  so  unprecedented  in  Kashmiris  that  it  formed 
another  proof  that  the  hours  of  patient  labour  in  that  house 
had  not  been  lost." 

The  following  incident  is  related  by  the  wife  of  a 
master  in  the  CM.S.  School,  who,  as  Miss  Rudra,  was  an 
assistant  C.E.Z.  missionary  at  Srinagar.  She  is  the  daughter 
of  a  Bengali  clergyman,  and  sister  of  a  master  at  the  S.P.G. 
College  at  Delhi.  "  I  visited  a  pupil  of  your  dear  sister's," 
Mrs.  Singh  writes,  "  a  girl  of  twenty,  who  said,  with  tears  in 
her  eyes,  that  she  had  known  of  many  teachers  coming  to 
her  house  to  teach,  but  that  no  teacher  was  like  her  own,  who 
taught  the  way  to  God,  without  m6ney  and  without  price. 
I  am  quite  sure  that  the  seed  which  is  sown  in  such  hearts 
as  these  will  never  be  choked,  but  will  some  day  bring  forth 
fruit  unto  eternal  life." 

Within  a  fortnight  of  her  departure  from  Srinagar  Irene  her- 
self wrote  :  "  One  is  quite  content  if  one  is  allowed  to  scatter 
a  few  seeds,  and  to  help  to  lay  foundations  for  the  people 
who  come  after  to  make  something  of."  Seedtime  has  come 
in  Kashmir ;  but  it  is  still  dark  winter,  and  only  when  summer 
brings  harvest  can  results  be  estimated.  Such  shrewd 
observers  as  Sir  Herbert  Edwardes  and  Bishop  Cotton  uttered 
their  deliberate  opinion  that  missionaries  as  a  rule  underrate 
the  amount  of  their  success.  And  our  Lord  Himself 
illustrated  the  saying,  whose  truth  He  endorsed,  "  One  soweth 
and  another  reapeth."  When,  after  three  years  of  sowing.  He 
lay  in  the  tomb,  the  world  said  that  a  first  promise  of  success 
had  been  followed  by  utter  failure.     Yet,  in  consequence  gf 


AN    INSPIRING    MEMORY  343 

His  sowing,  the  apostles  reaped  three  thousand  souls  in  one 
day.  The  world  had  not  allowed  for  His  "  glorious  Resurrec- 
tion and  Ascension,  and  the  Coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost," 
and  its  appreciation  of  His  life  work  was  utterly  at  fault. 
So  now  the  world  entirely  fails  to  gauge  the  forces  at  work 
in  such  a  field  as  Kashmir.  And  when  the  missionaries  of 
the  future  seem  suddenly  to  enter  into  the  labour  of  the  past 
and  present  missionaries  whose  story  has  been  told  here, 
even  the  Church  will  be  astonished,  instead  of  recognising 
in  their  swift  success  the  inevitable  result  of  all  the  previous 
patient  toil.  "  The  husbandman  waiteth  for  the  precious  fruit 
of  the  earth,  being  patient  over  it.  .  .  .  Be  ye  also  patient ; .  .  . 
for  the  coming  of  the  Lord  is  at  hand."  "  The  King  is 
coming,"  wrote  Irene,  very  shortly  before  her  Home  call. 
And  the  one  certainty  is  that  in  due  season  they  will  reap,  if 
they  faint  not 

Half  a  century  ago  Sir  H.  Lawrence,  one  of  those  Christian 
Governors  who  sought  to  establish  the  rule  of  Christ  as 
well  as  the  rule  of  Britain  in  India,  was  asked  by  the 
Maharaja  of  Kashmir  to  suggest  a  design  for  his  newly 
issued  coinage.  He  gave  him  the  letters  "I.H.S.":  in 
Greek,  the  first  half  of  the  Name  that  is  above  every  name ; 
in  Latin,  the  initials  for  "Jesus,  Saviour  of  men."  Every 
time,  therefore,  that  a  Kashmiri  handles  the  silver  coin  of 
his  country,  he  touches  the  superscription  of  the  true  "  King 
of  the  Nations  "  (Rev.  xv.  3,  R.V.,  margin),  and  unconsciously 
passes  on  the  symbol  of  a  sure  and  certain  hope  that  the 
troubled  history  of  Kashmir  leads  up  to  the  hour  when  there, 
as  in  all  the  world,  a  King  shall  reign  in  righteousness. 

THE   END 


Pnnied  by  Hastll,  Watson,  &  Viney,  Ld.,  London  and  Aylesbury. 


IRENE    PETRIE    MEMORIAL    FUND 


Committee 

The  Ven.  Dr.  Thornton  (Archdeacon  of  Middlesex). 

The  Rev.  Canon  Pennefather  (Vicar  of  Kensington). 

The  Rev.  C.  E.  Tyndale-Biscoe  (C.M.S.,  Kashmir). 

Charles  B.  P.  Bosanquet,  Esq. 

Andrew  Lighton,  Esq. 

Eugene  Stock,  Esq. 

Tl^e  Lady  De  l'Isle  and  Dudley. 

Mrs.  Charles  Carus-Wilson  (Hampstead). 

Mrs.  Arthur  Di6sy. 

Miss  E.  G.  Hull  (C.E.Z. M.S.,  Kashmir). 

Miss  Lloyd  (Addlestone). 

Mrs.  Pearson. 

Miss  Elsie  Waller. 

I^rtasuter 
Ashley  Carus-Wilson,  Esq.  (41,  Old  Queen  Street,  Westminster). 

gjon.  ^Ecrttnrs 
Miss  Mary  Bidder  (10,  Queen's  Gate  Gardens,  London,  W.). 


OBJECT 

To  raise  a  sum  whose  annual  interest  shall  be  used  by  the 
C.M.S.  to  maintain  one  more  missionary  in  Kashmir. 


Nearly  ;,C6oo  has  been  already  collected.  Further  contributions  may 
be  sent  to  the  Treasurer  or  Hon.  Secretary.  Cheques  and  postal  orders 
should  be  crossed  "  Bank  of  England,  West  London  Branch."  Small 
sums  will  be  gladly  received  as  well  as  large  ones  ;  and  all  interested  are 
asked  to  make  the  Fund  known  as  widely  as  possible. 


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CENTRAL  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
University  of  California,  Saji  Diego 


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UCSD  Libr.