The Salvation Army's “Invasion” - Books and Journals

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86 A. M. Eason / Mission Studies 28 (2011) 71–90 to Muslims, who “complained to him every day that the Salvationists called them [sinners]” (TI Mar. 3, 1883:5). While the Salvationists denied that they had insulted any religious community, there can be little doubt that they actively targeted those of other faiths. As Louisa Tucker conceded under crossexamination, a Salvation Army procession “was [meant] to get [people] to give up their religion” (Bombay Gazette Mar. 9, 1883:13). Accordingly, the organization remained convinced of the necessity of parading down streets lined with Muslim mosques and Hindu temples. Convinced that salvation came through Christ alone, it believed that the only way to get this message across was to attract the attention of Indian people in the neighbourhoods where they lived and worshipped (TI Oct. 27, 1882:6). It was this kind of public and aggressive evangelism that most concerned the judges who ruled on the processions of the Salvation Army. Dosabhoy Framjee, one of the first magistrates to deal with the case, stressed that if Salvationists were “com[ing] to this country to convert people from one faith to another, they must avoid noisy and peculiar demonstrations, which are sure to give rise to passions and angry feelings and counter-demonstrations” (TI Sept. 28, 1882:3). By threatening public tranquillity, the Army’s marches constituted unlawful assemblies under the Indian Penal Code (O’Kinealy 1900:84–95). Similar rulings were made by higher courts, which considered the Army’s processions to be “missionary agencies” rather than expressions of praise and worship (TI Mar. 22, 1883:5). As such, they were likely to create disturbances in the “native” sections of Bombay. Even if, as the court finally concluded, the Salvationists had not intended to arouse the hostilities of Muslims or Hindus, some solution was necessary in order to prevent more serious problems in the future. In the end, therefore, the court suggested that the Salvation Army be allowed to march through the city’s streets, but avoid the use of music in strictly Muslim areas. In other words, it must abide by the spirit of the law, and do nothing further to threaten the public peace. Likely frustrated by the Salvation Army’s prolonged confrontations with the authorities, Frederick Tucker finally agreed to this proposal. In his eyes, such an agreement was a victory for the Army rather than a compromise with the state (WCB April 25, 1883:116; WCL May 23, 1883:1). Viewing the matter in similar terms was The Bombay Guardian, which claimed that “it concedes to Christians the rights so freely accorded to other religionists” (Bombay Guardian Apr. 21, 1883:243). Whether or not this agreement represented a convincing victory for Salvationists and other missionaries, it ultimately brought the Salvation Army’s dramatic confrontation with the colonial government to a close.
Conclusion A. M. Eason / Mission Studies 28 (2011) 71–90 87 One would not have expected a small missionary party arriving in India during the late-Victorian period to garner so much publicity, especially in a country of more than 250 million people. The Salvation Army, however, believed that sensational measures were necessary in order to win the lost, and this revivalist conviction quickly brought attention to the Salvationists who arrived in Bombay in September 1882. Their presence could not be missed – their dress was hardly typical of other Christians from the West and their processions were anything but quiet and unobtrusive. While their revivalist measures soon revealed how fragile religious freedom could be in British India, even after Queen Victoria’s Proclamation, they also highlighted the distance that lay between the Salvation Army and imperial governments. The Army’s evangelists were willing to defy the colonial authorities who sought to impede their public witness, basing their authority on the King of Kings rather than the Queen of England. For The Indu Prakash, the Anglo-Marathi paper in Bombay, this was something to be admired: “The Salvationists may be laughed at and ridiculed; but they have at least this in their favour – that they will not be affected by political considerations” (Cited in Report on Native Papers 1882:18). Although the British Empire may have made missionary work possible, there was no guarantee that it would embrace the kind of evangelism carried out by the Salvation Army. As Calcutta’s Statesman and Friend of India observed soon after the missionaries arrived in Bombay: “[W]hatever the Salvationists may do or attempt, they have nothing to do with the Government except in the way of antagonism” (SFI Sept. 30, 1882:2). The Salvation Army may not have been anti-colonialist, but during its earliest days in India it was quite capable of engendering state opposition in pursuit of its evangelical ends. In the process, Salvationists not only elicited support from Indians themselves, but also demonstrated how heavy handed the British Empire could be when its authority was called into question. At this point, at least, the Salvation Army’s presence in India was an embarrassment to the British government, making the task of colonial oversight harder rather than easier. References All about The Salvation Army (1882). London: S. W. Partridge and Co. Austin, Alvyn (2007). China’s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society, 1832– 1905. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. Badley, B. H. (1881). Indian Missionary Directory and Memorial Volume. Lucknow, India: Methodist Episcopal Church Press.
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