be ridiculed or condemned. No sect shall be vilified, ridiculed or hated. No prayer, hymn, sermon, or discourse to be delivered or used here shall countenance or eneoarage any manner of idolatry, sectarianism or sin. Divine service shall be conducted here in such spirit and manner as may enable all men and women irrespective of distinctions of caste, colour and conditions and to unite in one family, eschew all manner of error and sin, and advance in -wisdom. faith and righteousness.”
'The total cost of the building, as shown in the account sub joined to this report, was Rs. 24,346-7-1 and a balance of Rs. 199-15-9. A little more than one third only of the total amount raised for this bnilding was contribnted by the members and the rest by sympathisers of the movement.
Mission Fund.—The late Mr. Justice M. G. Ranade first suggested in 1881 the idea of appointing a devoted Missionary to propagte the principles of the Samaj. The members of the Bombay Prarthana Samaj thereupon met on the 31st July 1881 under the Presidency of Dr. R. G. Bhandarkar to discuss the question and of those present 13 members promised to pay 2 per cent of their monthly income towards the Mission Fund and also towards maintenance of the Orphanage at Pandharpur if necessary. A circular was sent round and 30 more members off!red to contribute to this fund. Till 1899 this fund was owned and managed by a separate committee annually elected from amongst the subscribers of the Fund, after which it was handed over to the Bombay Prarthana Samaj for management. At this time the total amount of the fund was Rs. 6,171-4-8 as stated in the published report of this Samaj for the year 1900-01.
Missionaries.—The first Missionary appointed by the Samaj was the late Mr. Sadashiv Pandurang Kelkar who worked as such from 1882 to 1894. In 1898 Mr. Shivram Narayen Gokhale was appointed Missionary by the Prartbana Samaj of Poona. He is still working mainly in connection with that Samaj and is partly paid out of the proceeds of this Fund. The late Mr. Moti Bulasa, B.A., a
young and energetic member of the Deccan Education Society was sent to England as the first Indian student from the Western Presidency to be trained as missionary in the Manchester College, at Oxford. He sailed on the 16th of September 1900 but unfortunately died of rheumatic fever at Port Said on the way. Mr. V. R. Shinde, B. A., was then sent next year and returned from Oxford in October 1903 after the due course of two years at the Manchester College and worked as Missionary of the Samaj till November 1910. Dr. V. A. Sukhtankar was also sent as the* third scholar and returned after a course of two years at the Manchester College and an additional one of two years in Germany; but he worked as missionary of the Samaj for not more than a year (1908-9).
The Theistic Association and Rev. Pratapchandra Muzumdar. Although the names of the three great leaders Rammohan Rai, Devendranath Thakur, and Keshab Chandra Sen are rightly held in a pre-eminently high veneration all over the Theistic Church of India, yet it must be distinctly and thankfully acknowledged even in this sketch of the history of this Samaj that no Bengali gentleman, either lay or missionary, has shed as much direct and personal influence over this Samaj in the most formative period of its life and as effectively conveyed the message of Brahmoism, both in its practical! and devotional aspects, to this Western Presidency, as the late revered Babu Pratap Chandra Muzumdar. Rev. Mr. Muzumdar resided in Bombay for six months and delivered lectures in English every Saturday and conducted service in Hindi every Sunday evening in the Prarthana Mandir. He also delivered two public lectures in the Framji Cowasji Institute and one in the Town Hall. He held a theological class at his private residence for the benefit of young men, once a week assembled the ladies of the Samaj and with the help of some friends arranged lectures to them on scientific and domestic subjects. Regarding his work and its effect the following remarks are extracted from the report of the Samaj for the year 1872:—
“ He delivered public lectures and sermons. Besides he gave religious counsel and cheer to individual members that met him- From his advent the mode ot our public worship was largely improved. His main purpose was to remove onr religious indifference and awaken in us a real spiritual earnestness and devotion to God. The benefit of his presence and work amongst us may not as yet be fully estimated, yet that it is there will be admitted by all. He visited Poona twice and spent there a week every time. He spent another fortnight in Baroda and Ahmedabad. The rest of his, six months in this presidency he spent in working in this city of Bombay.”
Mr. Muzumdar started the Theistic Association in 1872 which has been directly or indirectly the cause of nearly all the naw existing institutions of the Samaj. The main aim of this Association was to bring about a working union of all persons of monotheistic persuasion in Bombay either members or sympathisers of the Samaj. According to the first object they met once a month for lectures and religious discussion. According to the 2nd, ladies’ meetings were held every week with a view to introduce religious, moral and practical reform into the families. Thirdly several branches Were started to inaugurate various works of public utility. As the result of this last activity, „ which was generally conduoted on the same lines as those of the Indian Reform Association started by Keshub Chandra Sen on his return from England, a cheap pice paper was started under the name Subodha Patrika in two editions, Marathi and Gujarati. Of these the Gujarati edition was discontinued after some years, but the Marathi is still continued from 1873 and is thus one of the oldest journals of this presidency. With a view to promote free primary education among the Millhands and other day-labourers of this city two night schools were first started in 1874, to which twomore were added in 1878. To Messrs. B. K. Gangnaik and Laxman Ganesh Munja is largely due the credit of establishing and conducting those schools in their early days. Now there are eight