CRYSTAL GAZING

It is asking too much of human nature to expect a missionary to argue the futility of foreign missions, or to look to an English member of the Indian Civil Service to urge the cause of native independence. In the American Review of Reviews for December "A British Official" speaks true to type in defending English dominion in India. Strong upon his shoulders presses the weight of "the white man's burden" when he writes that "the people of India in the mass realize that they cannot do without English protection and rule".

There are other observers who are not so sure of this. Many currents and and cross-currents are at work in India at present making accurate judgement difficult. On the one hand, as Mr. Otto Rothfeld points out, a growing capitalism is overthrowing traditional economic institutions. In the wake of an industrial revolution have appeared materialistic tendencies in thought. This has brought all the force of Hindu idealism in revolt against importations of Western methods and ideas.

Another observer, Mr. W. G. Tinckam Fernandez emphasizes the importance of the social upheaval. From Punjab to Ceylon, Gandhi has stirred up the Parlabs against the Brahmans. The traditional casts system, which has so long divided India into myriad factions, now seems on the point of breaking up. Out of a new unity may spring a new national feeling to threaten English political dominance as it has never been threatened by the combined attacks of native princes and the external pressure of France and Russia.

These various tendencies blend together and produce a peculiar inconsistency of temper which both invites and repels European missionaries, whether political or religious. The low caste Hindu, now for the first time awake to his own worth, finds in Christianity a promise of social equality and a religious solace denied him by Hinduism. From this point of view the moment seems opportune for the spread of Christianity. But this is only half the story. The forces of nationalism, reinforced by the tide of reaction against European culture which has swept over the Orient since the World War warn the Westerner to keep his distance. At bottom is the feeling that a rejuvenated India must work out its own salvation.