{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14017/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14017","id":"gutenberg_14017","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14017","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: Health & Medicine","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Swain, Clara A., 1834-1910","Women missionaries -- Biography"],"text":"CLARA A. SWAIN, M.D.\n\nFirst Medical Missionary to the Women of the Orient\n\nby\n\nMRS. ROBERT HOSKINS\n\n1912\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\"The frail little mother of a frail little daughter\" did not live\nlong enough to see the fullest answer to her prayer that her\nyoungest born might \"grow up to be a good and useful woman,\" for\nshe passed away before her daughter began her medical career, but\nthe prayer was not forgotten by Him who ever hears the cry of\nthose who call upon Him in faith.\n\nClara was the youngest of the ten children of John and Clarissa\nSeavey Swain. She was born in Elmira, N.Y., but when she was two\nyears old her parents returned to their old home in Castile and\nhere she spent her early life.\n\n\n\nEARLY LIFE\n\n\nShe was not a strong child, and being the youngest of a large\nfamily naturally received much attention, which in after years she\nconcluded was not good for her. She once described herself as a\npuny little thing who wanted everything she saw and thought she\nought to have it. \"I had a will of my own,\" she said, \"and my\nmother found it necessary to be very firm with me at times. Once I\nwas very rude to her when she did not give me what I wanted, and I\nshall never forget how grieved she was, how lovingly she explained\nto me the necessity for controlling myself if I would be loved by\nthose around me.\" She was six years old when this naughtiness\noccurred. \"I promised my mother then,\" she said, \"that I would be\na good girl, and that I would ask God not to let me be naughty\nagain.\"\n\nShe and her sister Hattie, not quite two years her elder, loved\nout of doors a great deal. They were very fond of flowers and\nanimals, and, hand in hand, would wander up and down the street to\nstop and admire the flowers in the neighboring gardens, always\nmindful of their mother's injunction never to take a flower\nwithout permission. Happy indeed were they when they could bring\nhome a handful of wild flowers to their mother. \"God's flowers\"\nthey called them, because they did not grow in anyone's garden.\n\nClara's love for animals led her to pat every dog she met, and\nmore than once she caught a stray cat and took it home to pet it.\nA story is told that seeing a lame chicken she wrapped it in her\napron and took it home and bandaged its leg neatly, tending it\nwith such devotion that she soon had the happiness of seeing it\nable to run about to seek its own food. The cousin who told this\nstory laughingly said, \"She probably used splints, but of this I\nam not sure.\"\n\nMrs. Swain's sister Elizabeth lived a mile out of the village,\nwhile the home of the Swain family was within the boundary line,\nand as the little red school-house was between them the children\nof both families attended this school.\n\nClara was very fond of her Aunt Post and often went home with her\ncousins, staying with them days at a time. One of these cousins,\nnow eighty-eight years of age, writes: \"When Clara was seven years\nof age she was a very pleasant child, always eager to help\nsomeone. She lived with us, off and on, until she was twelve years\nold, when we moved to Michigan. She was as much at home with us as\nin her own home and we were sorry to part with her.\"\n\n\n\nCONVERSION\n\n\nWhen Clara was eight years old her sister Ann, six years her\nsenior, joined the Methodist Church, and this made a great\nimpression on her youthful mind. The consistent life of this\nsister and the sweet and simple religious life of her mother gave\nher many thoughtful hours, and she asked one day, \"Why am I not a\nChristian? I want to be good, too.\" Just before she was ten years\nold, under the influence of a powerful sermon, she felt that she\nmust give herself to the Lord to be his child forever. There were\nhours of darkness when she felt that she was too great a sinner to\nbe forgiven, but light came at last and she was happy in the\nconsciousness that she was an accepted child of God.\n\nFrom her father's family she inherited a fund of Irish humor,\nwhile her mother, of good old New England blood, inclined to\nquietness of spirit with earnestness of purpose; and this blending\nof fun and sobriety caused the young Christian much perturbation\nof spirit. Conscientious in the extreme, she had many an hour of\nself-questioning when she feared that, in the exuberance of\nyouthful merriment, she had cast a shadow on her Christian\nprofession and caused sorrow to the heart of her loving Master.\nThen it was that the wise and tender mother helped her to see that\nit was the duty of a Christian, though only a child, to be\ncheerful and joyous, and that it was possible to please God in her\nplay hours as well as in attendance at church or Sunday school or\nprayer meeting,--just to be the happy child that he meant her to\nbe, and to ask his help to keep her good and true.\n\nHer school books did not satisfy her mind, and one who knew her\nat that time says she frequently visited the neighbors and\nborrowed books, some of which she read over and over again.\n\nHer love for children led her, when she was about twelve years\nold, to accept the proposal of the wife of the village merchant\nthat she assist her in the care of her baby, and the money thus\nearned was used to help her with her studies.\n\nIn 1848, Clara's sister Ann went to Michigan to teach, making her\nhome with the Aunt Post who had been so dear to the children of\nthe Swain family. After two years of teaching she was married from\nher aunt's home to a worthy man who still survives her. Before\nAnn's marriage Clara had gone to visit this aunt and was persuaded\nto stay, and eventually she took a small school near the farm and\ntaught for a year. \"While she was teaching,\" wrote one of her\ncousins, \"my mother broke her ankle and Clara cared for her almost\na year. She was a grand nurse, even at that age, and was a great\ncomfort to us all; she was so bright and cheerful that we were\nunwilling to have her leave us.\"\n\nHer talent for nursing was called into requisition soon after her\nreturn to Castile when the children of the Presbyterian minister,\nthe Rev. Mr. Hurlburt, became ill with typhoid fever and she was\ncalled to assist in caring for them. It was an anxious time for\nthe nurse as well as the parents, as one child after another fell\nill. Two of the children died, and later the father succumbed to\nthe fatal illness. The faithful nurse remained with the distracted\nwidow and the remaining children can cared for them tenderly as\nlong as they needed her services. In an old and well-worn Bible is\nthis inscription in her handwriting: \"This is the first Bible I\never owned. It was presented to me by Rev. and Mrs. Hurlburt.\"\n\nThe sumer of 1855 found Miss Swain, then twenty-one years of age,\nteaching a few private pupils in the village. One of her scholars\nof that summer recently spoke of her loving interest in her pupils\nand her care for their welfare. The following year she went to\nlive with some cousins in Pike and attend the school there.\n\nMr. Swain had a sister living in Canandaigua, who, knowing of\nClara's strong desire for self-improvement, invited her to come\nthere for a year of study in the seminary, an invitation which she\ngladly accepted; and after a year of close study she obtained a\nposition as teacher in the primary department of one of the public\nschools. \"Clara was determined to get an education and make use of\nit if she could,\" wrote one of her cousins.\n\n\n\nTEACHING IN CANANDAIGUA\n\n\nIn the spring of 1859 began an acquaintance with one who was ever\nafter one of Miss Swain's dearest friends. Miss Martha McFarland\nof Albany accepted the position of teacher in the intermediate\ndepartment of the school in which Miss Swain was teaching and they\nat once became friends. As Miss Swain's aunt was soon to leave\nCanandaigua, the two friends secured a pleasant boarding-place,\nand for three years they walked to school together in the morning\nand home again in the afternoon. Bothe were nature-lovers and many\na delightful hour they spent on their holidays and Saturday\nafternoons and whenever they could find leisure for one of their\npicnic outings. They were both members of the Methodist Church and\nwere constant in their attendance at the Sunday services and at\nSunday school as well as at the midweek prayer and class-meetings,\nand were ever ready to help in all forms of church work.\n\nThrough her years of teaching Miss Swain showed the same\nconscientious spirit that was evidenced in her child and school\nlife. \"Have I done all I ought? Have I been as helpful to my\npupils as I might be?\" she often asked herself. For a time she\ntaught a class in Sunday school, and her boys were impressed by\nher consistent life. Later, one of them said, \"We noticed that you\nalways went to prayer meeting so we thought we would go and see\nwhat was in it.\" This class was a joy to her and her pleasure was\ngreat when one and another gave himself to the Lord for service.\n\n\"Miss Swain was ready _in season and out of season_,\" said one of\nher friends. \"One Sunday evening when a company of us were\ntogether having a sing, she turned to a young man near her and\nbluntly asked, 'Why are you not a Christian?' Taken by surprise,\nthe young man had no answer ready and they both went on singing.\"\nThe Rev. Mr. Hibbard was pastor of the Methodist Church in\nCanandaigua and Miss Swain and her friend very much enjoyed an\noccasional visit to the parsonage, where they were always warmly\nwelcomed.\n\n\n\nTRAINING IN THE SANITARIUM\n\n\nNotwithstanding her love for children, Miss Swain did not find\nteaching altogether a delight. The inattention of the children and\nthe daily routine made her feel irritable, she said, but she kept\nsteadily on, hoping in time to carry out a purpose which she had\nin mind of some day becoming a doctor. When an opportunity offered\nfor her to take a position in the Castile Sanitarium under Dr.\nCordelia A. Greene, she gladly gave up teaching and entered upon a\ncourse of training which, though sometimes irksome, proved more\ncongenial than her former occupation.\n\nAll the way along, her strong will had availed to overcome\nobstacles, and here, during many weary hours, she comforted\nherself with the thought that she was nearing the goal of her\nambition. She could not have had a more satisfactory opportunity\nfor the training that she needed; for though Dr. Greene exacted\nthoroughness in every line of work, she was so sympathetic and so\nready to give a word of commendation and encouragement, that her\npupil could not do otherwise than accede to all the requirements\nof her position. It was not long before doctor and pupil became\nfast friends and the congenial companionship was a life-long\npleasure to both. \"I owe much to Dr. Cordelia,\" she said many\ntimes in after life.\n\n\n\nAT THE MEDICAL COLLEGE\n\n\nAfter three years of study and practice in the Sanitarium she\napplied for admission to the Woman's Medical College in\nPhiladelphia, from which she was graduated in the spring of 1869.\nShe often spoke of the pleasure she had in lingering in the park\nafter class hours, on her way to her boarding-place, and of\nthe occasional free and intimate talks with certain of her\ninstructors.\n\nShe enjoyed the Sabbath services and had many opportunities of\nhearing some of the celebrated preachers of the day. The Rev. Dana\nBoardman seems to have been a favorite with her and she took notes\nof several of his sermons. \"Bishop Simpson's Christmas sermon\n(1868) on Luke 2:13, 14, filled my heart with peace and good-will\nto (all) men,\" she notes. A sermon by Dr. Willett in November,\n1868, on \"What do ye more than others?\"--Matt. 5:47, and one by\nDr. McGowan on Mark 10:21, \"One thing thou lackest,\" led to much\nheart-searching. A short time before leaving Philadelphia she\nheard Phillips Brooks preach from Malachi 4:2. \"A wonderful\nsermon,\" she termed it, and she greatly enjoyed a talk by him on\ntithing, which she determined to act upon.\n\nWe have no special record of Dr. Swain's years of study in the\nWoman's Medical College, but we may be sure that she improved\nevery opportunity to perfect herself in her chosen calling. Her\ninstructors were her warm friends and she corresponded with some\nof them after she went to India. Dean Bodley, in one of her\nletters, gave the names of nine young women in the college who\nwere preparing for medical missionary work, and Dr. Swain made a\nnote of them, saying that she must write to them before their\ngraduation. Two of these ladies went to India as medical\nmissionaries.\n\n\n\nCALL TO SERVICE IN INDIA\n\n\nThe story of Dr. Swain's call to go to India has been told many\ntimes. Mrs. D.W. Thomas, who, with her husband, had charge of the\ngirls' orphanage of the Methodist Mission, had long felt the need\nof efficient medical aid for the women and children of India and\nhad been doing what she could to alleviate the sufferings of those\nwith whom she came in contact. She had even thought that she would\nherself study medicine when she should go to America for change\nand rest. In the meantime she was instructing a class of the older\ngirls in the orphanage in physiology and hygiene, both in English\nand the vernacular, with the hope that some time they might have\nregular medical training. She talked with native gentlemen and\nwith English officials of the great need for intelligent medical\ntreatment for the women and children of the country, especially\nfor those who live in seclusion, and of her hope that a lady\nmedical missionary might be sent to India. A native gentleman so\nthoroughly approved of the idea that he offered to defray all the\nexpenses of a medical school or class if a lady physician could be\nsent from America to take charge of it.\n\nMrs. Thomas's letter of appeal to Mrs. J.T. Gracey, a former\nmissionary, for her assistance in the matter, led Mrs. Gracey to\ninquire at the Philadelphia Woman's Medical College if a suitable\nperson could be found among the graduates, who would accept a call\nfrom the Woman's Union Missionary Society of America to go as a\nmedical missionary to India. Miss Clara A. Swain, M.D., was named\nas one fitted by both professional acquirements and Christian\ncharacter for such a position. It required much thought and prayer\non Dr. Swain's part before she could signify her acceptance of the\ncall, and during the three months of delay in giving her answer\nthe Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal\nChurch, of which she was a member, was organized. Naturally she\npreferred to go under the auspices of her own denomination, and\nthe Union Missionary Society gracefully and generously accepted\nher decision.\n\nConfident that she was obeying the call of God, she set about her\npreparations for the long journey before her in a cheerful spirit,\nanswering the demurs of her friends with, \"It is God's call. I\nmust go.\" She was greatly cheered when she found that Miss\nIsabella Thoburn, whose brother (now Bishop Thoburn) had been some\nyears in India, was to be her traveling companion. They sailed\nfrom New York November 3, 1869, and arrived in Bareilly January\n20, 1870, during the annual conference of the Methodist Mission.\n\n\n\nAPPOINTMENT TO BAREILLY\n\n\nThe two ladies, whose previous slight acquaintance had ripened\ninto warmest friendship during their weeks of journeying together,\nhad hoped that they might be associated together in mission work,\nbut it was not so to be. Miss Thoburn was appointed to educational\nwork in Lucknow, and Dr. Swain found that she was to remain in\nBareilly. This appointment gave her the opportunity to begin her\nmedical work at once, for there were not only the girls'\norphanage, for which Mrs. Thomas had so long desired efficient\nmedical help, but scores of Christian women who could not go to\nthe city hospital. In addition to these, there was the class of\nfourteen intelligent Christian girls that had for two years been\nreceiving excellent preparatory training from Mrs. Thomas, who had\nfully believed that her prayer for a lady doctor would be answered\nand that these girls would yet have the opportunity for the study\nof medicine. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were well acquainted with several\nof the wealthy and influential natives of the city, and Mrs.\nThomas welcomed the opportunity to introduce her doctor friend to\nthese homes.\n\nThere was no lack of patients for the new doctor; for in addition\nto her work in the orphanage and her medical class, calls to\nnative homes in the city became more and more frequent. At the end\nof the first six weeks after her arrival in Bareilly, Dr. Swain's\nnote book recorded one hundred and eight patients. Her report to\nthe conference, after a year of such service as she had never\ndreamed of, gave the number of patients prescribed for at the\nmission house as twelve hundred and twenty-five, and of visits to\npatients in their homes, two hundred and fifty.\n\nThe young women of the medical class were gaining practice and\nexperience by caring for the sick in the orphanage and the\nChristian village, and sometimes accompanying Dr. Swain to visit\nher city patients, and they were also becoming proficient in\ncompounding and dispensing medicines. This class, begun March 1,\n1870, was graduated April 10, 1873, having passed an excellent\nexamination before two civil surgeons and an American physician,\nfrom whom they received certificates entitling them to practice in\nall ordinary diseases.\n\n\n\nTHE NAWAB'S GIFT\n\n\nThe need for a dispensary and hospital became daily more\nimperative, and it was opportunely met in the munificent gift of\nthe Nawab of Rampore, who owned an estate adjoining the mission\npremises in Bareilly. The Hon. Mr. Drummond, the commissioner of\nthe Northwest Provinces, was interested in mission work,\nespecially in the effort to help the women of the city and\nneighboring villages through medical aid, and he agreed with the\nmissionaries that the Nawab's estate was just what was needed to\ncarry out their plans. He therefore arranged that Mr. Thomas\nshould go to Rampore and in a personal interview represent to the\nNawab his desire to procure a portion of his estate in Bareilly\nwhich adjoined the mission property, for the purpose of\nestablishing a hospital for women.\n\nAccordingly, on receiving an intimation that the Nawab would\nreceive them, on October 8, 1871, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas and Dr.\nSwain set out for this momentous interview. An interesting\ndescription of this visit is given in Mrs. Gracey's book, \"Woman's\nMedical Work in Foreign Lands,\" and in Dr. Swain's book, \"A\nGlimpse of India.\" Mr. Thomas's carefully prepared Hindustani\nspeech was not finished before the Nawab replied graciously, \"Take\nit! It is yours! I give it to you with great pleasure for such a\npurpose.\"\n\nMrs. Thomas naively wrote: \"We were so amazed at the readiness and\ngraciousness of the gift that we nearly forgot to make our salaams\nand express our thanks and gratitude. The Nawab replied that there\nwere two great merits in this gift--one for himself and one for\nMr. Thomas, for taking so great interest in the charitable work.\nMr. Thomas then asked permission to found the first hospital for\nwomen in India in His Highness's name, to which he replied, 'As\nyou think proper, so do.' So His Highness Mahomed Kallub Ali Khan,\nBahadur, Nawab of Rampore, has the honor of making the first\ngenerous contribution toward founding the _first woman's hospital\nin India_. His Highness again expressed the satisfaction he felt\nin bestowing this gift, and said he would send his general to\nBareilly on Monday to make out the papers and put us in formal\npossession of the property.\"\n\nBefore the party left the Nawab's dominions, the ladies were asked\nto see a sick woman in the Tahsildar's house, and they found her\nvery ill indeed. Dr. Swain prescribed for her and for several\nothers who asked for medicines; then they returned to the Rest\nHouse to get their breakfast and talk over the interview, and to\nthank God for his great bounty to the mission work.\n\nMrs. Thomas wrote: \"We were bewildered and overwhelmed to think\nthat the possessions which we had longed and prayed for these many\nyears were ours. The gift came to us so freely and in such a way\nthat we could take no credit to ourselves for having obtained it.\nLike all God's free gifts it was given before asked for; no\npersuasions or arguments of ours would have made any difference.\nGod saw our need and supplied it.\"\n\nThe estate consisted of forty acres of land, a fine old kothi or\nmansion, and an extensive garden. The house needed repairs which\nwere soon completed and Dr. Swain and Miss Sparkes, who had been\nappointed to take charge of the orphanage, moved into their new\nhome January 1, 1872. A part of the house was used for a\ndispensary until other arrangements could be made, and then\nfollowed busy and often weary days, borne with patience, however,\nfor the work was for the Master.\n\nThe much-needed and well-planned dispensary building was completed\nin May, 1873, and the hospital buildings connected with it\nreceived the first indoor patients January 1, 1874. From that time\non there was no lack of occupants for the rooms. In the published\ncollection of her letters, entitled \"A Glimpse of India,\" Dr.\nSwain gives a graphic picture of the buildings, their occupants\nand their mode of life.\n\nVisits to homes in the city were continued, and Dr. Swain and her\nassistants were fully occupied every day. Three of the graduates\nof the medical class were employed by Dr. Swain as Bible women and\ngave much assistance in the religious work connected with the\nhospital.\n\n\n\nFIRST FURLOUGH\n\n\nThe anxiety and the responsibility of the rapidly increasing work\nbrought weariness of mind and body, and in March, 1876, Dr. Swain\nreturned to America for a much needed rest. This was extended to\nthe autumn of 1879 when, on September 25, she again sailed for\nIndia, arriving in Bombay November 6. At the conference held in\nCawnpore in January, 1880, Dr. Swain received her appointment to\nBareilly and with gladness of heart took up her old work.\n\n\n\nPHYSICIAN TO THE RANI OF KHETRI\n\n\nIn March, 1885, Dr. Swain received a call to a native state to\nattend the wife of the Rajah, and after two weeks of successful\ntreatment she was formally requested to remain as physician to the\nRani and the ladies of the palace. After much thought and prayer\nit seemed to her that it was the Lord's will that she should\nremain and do what she could for him in this place where there\nwere no Christian influences; so she consented to the proposal on\ncondition that she and her companion be allowed to carry on the\nwork as Christians should. To this the Rajah agreed, and Dr. Swain\nsigned a contract to remain two years.\n\nIn the Blue Book, or Administration Report, of the Khetri State,\n1886, the Rajah wrote: \"I cannot look back with greater pleasure\nor satisfaction on anything I have done than on the facilities\nintroduced by me for rendering medical aid to the female portion\nof my subjects. It is a patent fact that the Indian woman,\nsecluded as she is within the four walls of the zenana, cannot\nfully benefit by any system of medicine; and it was not till the\ngenerous efforts of Lady Dufferin were turned in this direction\nthat the wives and daughters of the richest and most enlightened\nIndians enjoyed a better position than the lowest and meanest of\ntheir fellows. It therefore gives me genuine pleasure to bring\nprominently to your notice the existence of a regular institution\nin this benighted portion of India, for the treatment of females\nof all classes. I have employed a very competent European lady\ndoctor, Miss Swain, M.D., to attend on Her Highness, the Rani\nSahiba, and, feeling it my duty to place her advice and assistance\nwithin the reach of all my subjects, have established a regular\ndispensary for women. It was opened June 1, 1885, at the expense\nof the state, and a room in the palace building appropriated to it\nuntil a more convenient and suitable one could be provided. An\nallowance of Rs. 100 per mensem is fixed for medicines, and is\nfound for the present to be sufficient. The average daily\nattendance at the dispensary is five.\"\n\nUnder Section 12, Schools, this report is given:--\"I am glad to\nsay that the people of my state are beginning to evince greater\ninterest in the education of their children than they have done\nbefore. The greatest desire of Her Highness, the Rani Sahiba, was\nthat I should make suitable provision for the education of girls.\nI, accordingly, engaged a competent European lady, Miss P.E.\nPannell, as mistress, and the Khetri Girls' School was opened by\nHer Highness in April, 1885, in the teeth of opposition from the\northodox portion of the community. As was expected, at first every\neffort to teach these girls was frowned upon and considered absurd\nby their relatives and friends. This feeling, however, gradually\ngave place to trust and confidence, and the school is now showing\nsome return for all the time and patience spent upon it. The\nnumber of pupils on the roll is twenty, of which three have gone\nto their _susval_ (husband's home) and three attend only\noccasionally. The average attendance of fourteen girls has,\nhowever, been regular. Great pains has been taken to teach\ntruthfulness, honesty and love for one another. Instruction is\nalso given in needlework of various kinds, and other things, the\nknowledge of which is necessary for good housekeeping. The\nimprovement made by some of the girls in this direction may at\nonce be noticed by a change in the manner of doing nicely the\nlittle things which go to make up their lives. The school owes its\nexistence to the care of Her Highness, who is much interested in\nit.\"\n\nIn addition to her school, Miss Pannell was engaged to teach the\nRani and some of the court ladies. Dr. Swain and Miss Pannell were\nthe only Christians in the state, but their little Sunday service\nconducted for their servants gained attention, and others asked to\nbe allowed to attend, some becoming so much interested that they\nprocured Bibles and Testaments that they might read the \"wonderful\nwords\" themselves. A supply of tracts and portions of Scripture\nwas always on hand, to distribute whenever and wherever the ladies\nfelt they would be appreciated.\n\n\n\nSECOND FURLOUGH\n\n\nThe serious illness of one of Dr. Swain's sisters decided her to\nreturn to America, and she left Khetri in March, 1888, having\nspent nearly three years in \"seed sowing\" as she called it. Her\nown health, too, demanded a change, and in company with a most\ncongenial missionary friend she turned her face toward the\nhomeland. She returned to India in company with the same congenial\nfriend, in time to attend the North India Conference before going\nto her Khetri home, Miss Pannell again accompanying her.\n\n\n\nRETURN TO KHETRI\n\n\nThe isolation of their life in Khetri had been at times a great\ntrial to both Dr. Swain and Miss Pannell, but they felt that they\nwere where God wanted them to be and bore their privations\nbravely. However, at this time Dr. Swain wrote: \"After eighteen\nmonths of the religious life of America and the many precious\nprivileges enjoyed there, it seems harder to settle down to the\nlife here. I miss the church services much more than I did when I\nwas here before.\" At another time she wrote: \"I have sometimes\nfelt tempted to give up my work here, but then the thought comes\nto me that I can do more by remaining here, and paying the salary\nof a native preacher to do what I should never be able to do.\"\n\nA second princess had been born during Dr. Swain's absence from\nKhetri. This occasioned close attendance at the palace, as the\nbaby was delicate, and Dr. Swain had an opportunity for Bible\nstudy with the Rani who enjoyed nothing more than an hour of daily\nstudy of the Scriptures. The older princess, too, was ready with a\nnew Bible verse every day, and a Sunday service was held in the\nRani's apartments, at which the women of the court and their\nattendants were present. The Sunday Bible class at the home was\nnot neglected; it increased in interest and numbers, some of the\nmore intelligent of the Rajah's staff occasionally joining the\ncompany and listening with interest to the hymns and the reading\nof the Scriptures.\n\nThe birth of the prince and heir in January, 1893, was a time of\ngreat rejoicing and much ceremony. Offerings were made to the\ndeities day after day, the poor were fed and presents given to the\nBrahmans. The Rani acknowledged her thankfulness to God by a\ndonation, in the name of her little son, to Christian work, asking\nthat the money be used to support an orphan in the mission to\nwhich Dr. Swain belonged.\n\n\n\nTRIP THROUGH EUROPE AND THE HOLY LAND\n\n\nDr. Swain's engagement with the Khetri state expired in October,\n1895, and in March, 1896, she left India, as she supposed,\nforever. \"Mother Ninde\" and her traveling companion, Miss Baucus,\nfrom Japan, were among the missionary party of eleven, some of\nwhom were anticipating a trip to the Holy Land. In company with\nMiss Baucus, Dr. Swain visited Jerusalem, where they were joined\nby Miss Dickinson of Utica, N.Y., and the three traveled together\nfrom April 1, 1896 to July 4, when they sailed for America. They\nhad visited the places of interest in and around Jerusalem,\nBethany, Bethlehem, on to Beirut, Damascus, Baalbek, Nazareth,\nTiberias and the Sea of Galilee, a tour much enjoyed by them all.\n\nAt Jerusalem they met a company of Americans, and arranged to\naccompany them to Constantinople. On the way they stopped at Smyrna\nand made a hurried trip to Ephesus, arriving in Constantinople May\n20. There they remained six days and then sailed for Athens. On\nJune 2 they began their European tour, sailing on an Italian\nsteamer to Brindisi, where they parted with their American\nfriends. The three then visited Venice, Munich, Dresden, Cologne\nand Paris, reaching London June 27, and remaining there till July\n4, when they sailed for New York.\n\n\"No more sea for me!\" was Dr. Swain's reply when asked if she were\nnot tired of travel. \"I took many rest days while the others were\nsight-seeing, and now I hope to have a good long rest here at the\nCastile Sanitarium.\"\n\n\n\nTO INDIA FOR THE JUBILEE\n\n\nBut to the great surprise of many of her friends, and\nnotwithstanding the remonstrances of some who feared she would not\nlive to return to America, she determined to go to India to attend\nthe Jubilee of the Methodist Mission, founded by the Rev. William\nButler in 1856. In company with some missionaries under\nappointment to India she sailed from New York, November 6, 1906,\njust thirty-seven years from the time that she started out on her\nuntried career. She spent eighteen months among old friends and\nold scenes in India, rejoicing in the great advance in numbers,\nintelligence and spirituality of the native Christians, and had\nthe great pleasure of meeting again the young prince of Khetri and\nhis sisters--now orphans--and of hearing from them of their\nmother's last days and of her continued love for the Bible, to\nwhich she had given so much attention while Dr. Swain was with\nher.\n\n\n\nAT HOME IN CASTILE\n\n\nOnce more she turned toward the home land, arriving in Castile,\nN.Y., in April, 1908, where she was joined by the friend of her\nearly missionary days in India.\n\nDr. Cordelia Greene, who established the Sanitarium, was succeeded\nby her niece, Dr. Mary T. Greene, who arranged that the two\nfriends should occupy rooms in her lovely cottage, Brookside,\nopposite the Sanitarium grounds, where for nearly three years they\nenjoyed the comforts of a home and of congenial society. Though\nliving outside the institution they took their meals with the\nSanitarium family and took part in the daily morning prayer\nservice in the helpers' sitting-room and the after-supper service\nfor patients and guests in the large parlors, enjoying to the\nfull the spiritual atmosphere of the place.\n\nThere were quiet hours of delightful study in the Book which each\nhad made the guide of her life; social afternoons with friends\nfrom different parts of the country and from over the seas who\nwere taking a rest-time in the lovely village; and pleasant\nevenings before the cheerful grate fire in Dr. Swain's room. These\nwere made more heartsome one autumn because of the presence of a\nmuch-esteemed missionary friend, Miss Knowles, from India, and of\nMiss McFarland, Dr. Swain's dear friend of Canandaigua days, who\nhad come to spend a little time with the one whose companionship\nhad always been a pleasure, and whose correspondence during her\nabsence from America had been a delight.\n\n\n\n\"A GLIMPSE OF INDIA\"\n\n\nRelatives and friends of Dr. Swain had carefully preserved many of\nher letters; and Dr. Greene, who had long desired that these\nletters should be published, conceived that the favorable time had\ncome and urged the immediate preparation of the work. The letters\nwere read, extracts made, compiled and edited; and in the summer\nof 1909 \"A Glimpse of India\" was given to the public. This\nfurnished a most interesting record of the busy life of the first\nmedical missionary to the women of the orient. As long as Dr.\nSwain was able, she attended the Sunday morning service and the\nThursday evening prayer meeting, as well as the meetings of the\nmissionary and the Ladies' Aid societies of the church. When she\nwas no longer equal to the walk to church, she and her friend had\nregular Sunday morning service in their room with hymns, Scripture\nreading, prayer and a sermon, and were often present in spirit at\nthe midweek prayer meeting, though their prayers and praises were\nuttered in their room.\n\n\n\nTHE LAST YEAR OF HER LIFE\n\n\nThe last year of Dr. Swain's life was spent in much weakness at\ntimes, occasioned by an attack of grippe which would not be\novercome, but it was not until the first week in December that she\nfelt that she could not hope to get stronger. When confined to her\nbed she kept her Testament and Psalms near her, and though seldom\nable to read more than a verse she enjoyed the daily morning Bible\nreading and prayer with her friend.\n\nLoving attendance and the best medical care were given her but\nnought availed, and early Christmas morning, while sleeping, she\npassed from earth to her Father's home above. She was laid to\nrest in the beautiful cemetery at Castile, December 28, 1910.\n\nThe prayer of the \"frail little mother of a frail little daughter\"\nwas fully answered in this good and useful life.","title":"Clara A. Swain, M.D.","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":6034}