It  is  a  part  of  His  wise  beneficent  arrangement.  The  potter
makes  out  of  the  same  lump  of  clay  vessels  of  honour  and  dis-
honour. The  clay  has  no  more  right  to  say  to  him,  "  Why  hast
thou  made  me  thus  1 "  than  we,  poor  ignorant,  vile  creatures,
to  ask  our  true  Merciful  Almighty  Creator.'  ....  Another
man  asked  me,  how  old  the  Christian  religion  was  which  I
preached,  and  whether  the  other  religions  professed  by  Hindus
now  prevailing  were  not  very  ancient  ?  I  replied  by  asking
whether  he  would  eat  the  fruit  of  a  poisonous  tree  because  it
was  old,  in  preference  to  the  newly-grown  sugar  cane.  A
third  inquired  what  (temporal)  benefit  would  those  derive
who  embraced  Christianity?  I  quoted  a  common  proverb
among  them,  'Is  a  reward  needed  for  eating  sugar  cane)'
Another  man  asked  me,  '  What  is  the  difference  between  your
religion  and  ours?  You  have  pictures  and  images  in  your
church ;  you  burn  lights,  and  we  do  the  same.'  I  gave  him
to  understand  that  I  was  a  Protestant  and  not  a  Papist.  One
can  well  imagine  the  reasons  why  so  many  Coolies  find  their
way  to  the  Romish  Church,  and  take  their  children  with
them."

Such  are  the  people  I  have  to  labour  among,  and  contend
with.  At  times  my  heart  faints,  and  I  am  constrained  to
exclaim,  "  With  men  this  is  impossible,  but  with  God  all  things
are  possible ! "  The  same  God  who  has  blessed  the  efforts  of
His  servants  to  drive  away  the  heathen  darkness  to  nirwana
from  Fiji,  and  such  other  places,  shall,  in  due  time,  do  the
same  in  British  Guyana.
CHAPTER  XV.
THE  VARIOUS  TRADES,  OCCUPATIONS,   OR  PROFESSIONS  OF
THE  IMMIGRANTS  AND  NATIVES  OF  THE  COLONY.
