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The name is sometimes used of the two peninsulas west and east of the Ganges combined, to which even occasionally the Indian Archipelago is added; but, more commonly, it is applied either to the peninsula west of the Ganges (East Indies), or to the aggregate possessions of the British crown (the Viceroyalty of India, or the Indian Empire). The present form of government of the Indian Empire is established by the Acts 21, 22 Victoria, cap. 106, called an Act for the better Government of India, sanctioned Aug. 2, 1858. By the terms of this act, all the territories heretofore under the government of the East India Company are vested in the queen; and all its powers are exercised in her name; all territorial and other revenues, and all tributes and other payments, are likewise received in her name, and disposed of for the purposes of the government of India alone, subject to the provisions of this act. One of the queens principal secretaries of state, called the Secretary of State for India, is invested with all the powers hitherto exercised by the company or by the Board of Control. The executive authority in India is vested in a governor general or viceroy, appointed by the crown, and acting under the orders of the Secretary of State for India. The governor general has power to make laws and regulations for all persons, whether British or native, foreigners or others, within the Indian territories under the dominion of the queen, and for all servants of the government of India within the dominions of princes and states in alliance with the queen. The Secretary of State for India is aided in the administration by a council of fifteen members, of whom seven are elected by the Court of Directors from their own body, and eight are nominated by the crown. The duties of the council of state are, under the direction of the secretary of state, to conduct the business transacted in the United Kingdom in relation to the government of and the correspondence with India.

The total area and population of British India were, according to official returns of the year 1876, as follows:

There has never been a regular census of the whole of India under British administration, but enumerations, more or less trustworthy, were made in the north-western and in the central provinces in the years 1865 and 1866. The census of the north-west provinces, taken Jan. 10,1865, showed that this division of India had increased in prosperity within the decennial period 18561865, as reckoned by the number of houses and extension of cultivation. There were found to be 4.71 persons to a house or hut, and 7.06 to an enclosure, or family dwelling. The census further showed that there were 41 millions of Mussulmans in the north-west provinces, or about one seventh of the total population, the other six sevenths being Hindus of the four chief castes; namely, Brahmins, 70 subdivisions; Kshatryas, 175 subdivisions; Vaisyas, 65 subdivisions; Stidras, 230 subdivisions. The Sudras were found to form the great bulk of the Hindus, being 18,304,309 in number; the Vaisyas numbered 1,091,250; the Kshatryas, 2,827,768; and the Brahmins, 3,451,692. The census of the central provinces, taken in 1866, showed that their population consisted of 6,864,770 Hindus, 1,995,663 Gonds and aboriginal tribes, 237,962 Mussulmans, 6026 Europeans and Eurasians, and 90 Parsees. The number of Mussulmans was much lower than had been expected. All the enumerations showed a high proportion of children to adults. Thus, while the percentage of children under 12 years of age was 29 in England, it was in many parts of India as high as 55. Among the reasons to account for such a result are mentioned the custom of polygamy, and, in particular, the desire of the Hindus to have male issue, which induces them to marry as many wives as they can afford to keep until a son is born. The religious statistics of the four largest cities were, according to the enumeration of 1881: Calcutta, total population, exclusive of Howrah, 684,658; of whom 62 percent were Hindus, 32.2 Mohammedans, 4.4 Christians. About 20,000 were Europeans, and 20,000 Eurasians. In Madras the population was 405,848. Bombay had a population of 773,196, of whom less than 13,000 were British born. Lichnow had a population of 284,779. There is also a considerable admixture of Parsees and Indo Europeans, or, as they are now usually styled, Eurasians, i.e. of mixed blood. Leaving out of account the native states, the following is given as the relative proportion of creeds and races in India: Hindus, 110,000,000; Mussulmans, 25,000,000; aborigines or non-Aryans, 12,000,000; Buddhists, 3,000,000; Asiatic Christians, 1,100,000. The English population amounted, according to the census of 1861, to 125,945 persons.

Christianity became known in India at an early period. There is an old tradition that one of the twelve apostles, St. Thomas, preached the Gospel to the people of India, but the tradition is not supported by any proofs. Cosmas Indicopleustes, who visited the country in the 6th century, found a large number of Christian congregations, with a bishop who was ordained in Persia. In consequence of this connection with Persia, the Christians of India, who, after the reputed founder of the Indian Church, were called Christians of St. Thomas, were drawn into the Nestorian movement, and subsequently received their bishop from the head of the Nestorian Church. Their territory extended from the southern point of the peninsula of Malabar as far as a few miles south of Calicut, and from the defiles of the Ghats as far as the sea. An Armenian or Syrian merchant, Thomas Canna, rearranged in the 9th century the ecclesiastical and political affairs of these Christians. Through his efforts they obtained from the kings of Malabar important privileges; in particular, an exempt jurisdiction in all except criminal cases. Their rank was equal to that of the nobility of Malabar, and they were in great demand for the armies of the Hindu princes. This finally induced them to attempt the establishment of a kingdom of their own, which was, however, of but short duration. After that their position was less favorable, and the Portuguese, who in 1498 landed, under Vasco de Gama, in the port of Calicut, were consequently regarded by them as their liberators. The first Portuguese missionaries were Franciscan monks, who were introduced in 1500 by Cabral. Dominican monks landed in 1503 with the two Albuquerques, but they confined themselves to a few convents, while the Franciscans were for about forty years the only Christian missionaries. It was, in particular, P. Antonio de Porto who in 1535 established on the island of Salsette a number of colleges, churches, and convents. In 1534 the first Roman Catholic bishopric for India was established at Goa; the first bishop, Albuquerque, was a Franciscan monk. But, although the convents of the Franciscans were so numerous that they constituted two provinces of the order, they soon ceased to make notable efforts for the propagation of Christianity, leaving the missionary field wholly to the new order of the Jesuits, who made their first appearance in India in 1542.

Their number increased very rapidly, and soon they had in all the Portuguese colonies of India houses and colleges, which were divided into the two provinces of Goa and Cochin. Their success at first was very slow, but when the Portuguese viceroy Constantine de Bragama banished some of the most prominent Brahmans, the Jesuits in 1560 succeeded in baptizing nearly 13,000 persons in that city. In 1579 several Jesuits were called to the court of the great mogul, Akbar, who for a time showed an inclination to accept Christianity. Subsequently, however, he conceived the plan of founding a new religion himself, and the Jesuit mission, which at first promised grand results, was confined to the establishment of a few congregations in the empire of the great mogul. The Jesuits were more successful in their endeavors to unite the Christians of St. Thomas with the Roman Catholic Church. This union was accomplished in 1599, at the Synod of Dramper, by the archbishop of Goa, Alexius Menezes. The bishopric of Goa had in 1557 been made an archbishopric, with two suffragan sees at Cochin and Malacca, to which, in 1606, Meliapur was added. The Christians of St. Thomas received, in 1601, an episcopal see at Angamala, which in 1601 was raised to the archbishopric of Cranganor. The right of patronage over the ecclesiastical benefices was left to the king of Portugal, as he had to defray most of the expenses for the support of the churches and missionaries. A new impulse was given to the missions when, in 1606, the Jesuit P. Robert de Nobili, at Madura, conceived the novel plan of introducing Christianity by accommodating his mode of life entirely to the Indian customs.

He called himself a Roman sannyasi (i.e. one who resigns everything), lived after the manner of the Brahmans, clothed his preaching of the Gospel in Indian figures of speech, and even retained among the new converts the difference of caste, allowing the converts to wear certain badges indicative of their caste. But he encountered a strong opposition, even among the members of his order, and a violent controversy began, which, after thirteen years, was decided by pope Gregory XV in favor of P. de Nobili, and the converts were permitted to wear the badges. After this the Roman Catholic Church made numerous converts. According to statements of the Indian Christians, P. de Nobili is said to have baptized about 100,000 persons belonging to all castes. The separation was carried through even with regard to churches and missionaries; the missionaries of the Brahmans being called Sannyasi, those of the Pariahs, Pandarams. The successors of Nobili, who were supported by the French missionaries of Pondicherv, enlarged the missions and developed the system, but became consequently involved in new controversies, especially with the Capuchins (controversy of accommodation), which in 1704, by cardinal Tournon, who had been commissioned to examine the subject, and again by pope Benedict XIV in 1744, by the bull "Onnium sollicitudinum," was decided against the Jesuits. These decisions not only put an end to the conversions, but the majority of the Indians who had been gained by the accommodation theories of the Jesuits again returned to their native religion. The suppression of the order of the Jesuits still more injured the Roman Catholic missions, which, moreover, suffered severely from the wars of Tippf Sahib. Long before this time the Jesuits had lost their missions among the Christians of St. Thomas, who in 1653 left the communion of Rome, and those in the vicinity of Cochin, as the Dutch from 1660 to 1663 had conquered nearly all the Portuguese possessions on the coast of Malabar.

The Christians of St. Thomas were, however, a second time prevailed upon to unite with Rome by Italian Carmelites; and in 1698, through the mediation of the emperor Leopold I, one bishop and twelve missionaries of this order received permission to settle on the coast of Malabar. But this protection afforded to the Italian missionaries led to a serious quarrel between the Portuguese government, bishop, and missionaries and the Italians, as Portugal declined to forego its right of patronage, although it was neither able nor willing to exercise it. In 1838, Gregory XVI, by the bull "Mallta praeclare," abolished the former papal constitutions for the Church of India, and assigned to the several vicars apostolic their dioceses. The sees of Cranganor, Cochin, and Meliapur (St. Thomas) were suppressed. The diocese of Meliapur was transferred to the vicariate apostolic of Madras; the territory of the two other bishoprics to the vicariate of Malabar, which had been erected in 1659 for the Incalceate Carmelites, and the see of which is now at Verapoly. To it were also assigned the United Christians of St. Thomas, a population of about 200,000, with 330 priests and 160 ministers. The Portuguese of Goa now tried to make a schism. The archbishop of Goa, Jose da Silva y Torres, who had been consecrated in 1843, ordained, immediately after his arrival in Goa in 1844, no less than 800 priests, chiefly men without any education, and sent them into the territories of the vicars apostolic. They succeeded in obtaining control of a majority of the churches, and jurisdiction over a population of about 240,000 souls. A letter from pope Gregory XVI to the archbishop remained without effect. In i848 Portugal consented to the transfer of the archbishop from Goa to Portugal, where he became coadjutor of the archbishop of Braga. But the bishop of Macao continued to perform episcopal functions in the dioceses of the vicars apostolic, denounced the latter, defied the letters of the pope, and at Goa within seven days ordained 536 priests. When Pius IX threatened the bishop of Macao with ecclesiastical censures, the Portuguese chambers complained of the attitude of Rome so severely that the papal nuncio was on the point of leaving the country. New negotiations between Rome and Portugal led, however, in 1859, to another compromise, and the opposition of the Portuguese priests in British India to the vicars apostolic appears to have died out. From the vicariate apostolic for Agra and Tibet, which was established in 1808, the vicariate of Patna was separated in 1845. Both vicariates are administered by missionaries of the Capuchin order. The French vicariate of Pondicherry was established in 1770; from it three new vicariates were formed in 1846 namely, Mysore, Coimbatfr, and Madura; the two former under priests of the Paris Seminary of Foreign Missions, and the latter under the Jesuits, who in 1836 had reoccupied this former field of their order. The vicariate of Vizigapatam was established in 1848 for the priests of the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales.

Protestant missions began at the commencement of the 18th century, when the Lutheran missionary Ziegenbaly was sent to the Danish coast of Tranquebar. Amidst the greatest difficulties which the foreign languages and the officers of the colony placed in his why, he founded schools, translated the Bible and the Catechism into the Tamil language, collected a congregation which rapidly increased, and laid the foundation of the Evangelical Church of India. A large portion of the councils either belonged to the lowest castes or were pariahs. In the course of the 18th century, the missionary work was carried on by the Missionary Society of Halle; at first with great zeal, which, however, gradually slackened under the influence of Rationalism. The last great missionary who was sent out from Halle was the apostolical Fr. Schwarz (q.v.), the results of whose work can still be traced. Gradually the Halle Society leaned on the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, which at last took entire charge of these missions. With regard to the differences of castes, the first missionaries had been earnestly opposed to their continuance in the Christian churches; but this policy was subsequently changed, and the differences permitted to remain, on the ground that they were merely of a social character. In 1841 the Lutheran Missionary Society of Dresden began to gather up again the scattered remnants of the old missionary societies in Tranquebar, but in the prosecution of the work became involved in many difficulties with the other missionary societies which had taken charge of the Halle missions.

This society is the only one among the missionary societies now laboring in India which undertakes to vindicate the social, though not the religious standing, of the caste. The recent mission in India begins with the arrival of the Baptist missionary, W. Carey, at Calcutta (Nov. 1793). He encountered from the start the formidable and entirely unexpected opposition of the East India Company, which hoped for larger commercial profits if it spared the religious belief and practice of the Hindus and Mohammedans, and therefore not only discouraged the establishment of Christian missions, but supported and defended the religious institutions of the native religions. The few chaplains who were sent out to attend the spiritual needs of the English in India were like the European residents in general, drunkards, servants of the mammon, and worldlings; when, therefore, the Rev. Henry Martyn, one of the most zealous missionaries of that time, arrived in 1806 in Calcutta, and endeavored to kindle a missionary spirit, he provoked thereby such a storm of indignation that he had to confine himself for some time to the reading of the homilies of the Church of England. When Carey landed in India, permission was refused to him to stay within the territory of the British dominions, and he was compelled to seek refuge in the small Danish possession of Serampoor (a few miles from Calcutta).

Here he was hospitably received by the governor, who himself was a pupil of Schwarz, and under his auspices he began the Baptist mission, which has become of so great importance for all India. Carey, who himself had mastered more than thirty Oriental languages, and the missionaries Marshman and Ward, caused the translation of the Bible into more than twenty languages of India, the compilation of grammars, dictionaries, school-books, and many learned works on the history, religions, and customs of India, new editions of the chief works of the native literatures, and thus, even where they did not succeed in forming new congregations, they smoothed the way for subsequent missionary labors. In 1803, the indefatigable Carey, who in 1800 had been appointed professor of Sanskrit and other Oriental languages at Fort William (Calcutta), was allowed to begin a mission in Calcutta, which was at first intended only for English, Portuguese, and Armenian Christians, but was soon joined by several converted Hindus and Mohammedans. Soon a converted Hindu, Krishna, appeared in public as a preacher, and by his impressive sermons organized the first native congregation in Bengal. This success of the Baptist mission encouraged a number of the chaplains of the government to labor for the removal of the obstacles which the East India Company placed in the way of Christianity. David Brown, Henry Martyn, Thomas Thomason, Daniel Corrie, and Claudius Buchanan, and many others, distinguished themselves by establishing schools and seminaries, by literary labors, by appointing native preachers and teachers, and, in general, by their great zeal on the missionary field.

The translation of the Bible by H. Martyn, and the labors of the Mohammedan Abdul Messih, who was converted by him, were especially productive of great results. But more than all his predecessors, it was the Rev. CL. Buchanan who succeeded in overcoming those hindrances which had prevented the free propagation of Christianity throughout India. After having traveled through a large portion of the country, and acquired a minute knowledge of the people, he returned in 1807 to England, and by a number of works endeavored to gain public opinion for a radical change in the administration of India. His writings produced a great effect, and when, in 1813, the charter of the East India Company was renewed, the English Parliament passed resolutions which granted to all British subjects the right to establish schools and minions in India, and compelled the company to provide itself schools and seminaries for the instruction of the natives. This was followed by a number of other reforms, as the prohibition of burning of widows (1829), and of a further payment of temple and pilgrim taxes (1833 and 1840), and the admission of native Christians to the lower offices of administration. Full liberty for missionary operations was finally given in 1833, when a resolution of the British Parliament allowed all foreigners to settle in British India. and thus opened the field to all non-British missionary societies of the world.

The first bishopric of the English Church in India was established at Calcutta in 1814. The first bishop, Dr. Middleton, a rigid High-Churchman, was more noted for his quarrels with the ministers of other denominations than for missionary zeal. His successor, Heber (q.v.), on the contrary, though likewise a High-Churchman, was indefatigable in his devotion to the missionary cause, and sternly opposed the toleration of caste differences among the converts. His work was continued in the same way by his successor, Wilson (died 1858). In 1835 other bishoprics were established at Bombay and Madras, and the bishop of Calcutta received the title of Metropolitan of India.

In 1867 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland sent Dr. Norman M'Leod and Dr. Watson to inquire into the working of the missions there. The following facts are gleaned from later reports. The missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel are distributed among 84 principal stations, assisted by 70 unordained European agents, and 111 ordained and 3040 unordained native agents. 24,578 communicants, and 14,094 catechumens are connected with the churches, while there is a total of 75,152 baptized adherents. There are 718 schools, with 28,021 pupils. St. Thomas's College, in Ceylon, has recently been endowed by the society to the amount of £25,000.

The London Missionary Society has its most successful mission in Travancore, where 269 stations are filled. There are 45,176 adherents, of whom 5,192 are communicants. 285 day schools are maintained, with 13,295 pupils. The native contributions for 1888 amounted to £1029. In South India there are 208 stations and outstations supplied by 24 foreign and 14 native ordained pastors, assisted by 4 foreign and 104 native unordained workers. The adherents number 7619, of whom 1105 are communicants; 110 day schools are maintained with 5726 pupils in attendance. Native contributions for 1888 amounted to £1220. In North India 24 ordained and 43 unordained workers supply 26 stations and out- stations. The number of communicants is 535; adherents 1872; day schools 75, with 5266 pupils. £1234 were contributed by the natives in 1888. Benares has a mission college; Almora a college; Calcutta, Bangalore, Nagarkoil have higher institutions of learning. There is a medical mission at Nevoor.

The Church Missionary Society has in Madras large Tamil congregations, served by native pastors. It has also a mission to the Mohammedan population of that city. In 1820 Tinnevelly was entered by the society, and now there are more than 1000 villages in which there are Christians. Successful work is done in Travancore, Cochin, and among the Pelegus. There are 88,000 Christians in all of South India.. North India is also a field of the society. Divinity colleges are supported at Calcutta and Allahabad. A medical mission: was started in the valley of the Kashmir in 1865, which is very successful. A divinity school was started at Poona, in Western India, in 1886. Ceylon, as the result of the society's work, has 6508 adherents; Trinity College, at Kandy, and important schools at Cotta and Jaffra. It has 92 stations, with 6548 members. It is now more liberal than formerly in regard to India, and is entering upon all kinds of aggressive work. Among the latest is a medical mission. Its work is now in a critical condition, owing to the great number professing conversion. Many of the churches and schools are self-supporting, and are themselves animated by a missionary spirit. This district is in juxtaposition with: the South Travancore missions of the London Society, and with the Tinnevelly missions of the Propagation Society. Add the converts reported by these, and the 6000 of the American Board, and we have 8000 Tamil Christians within 150 miles of Cape Comorin. The Wesleyan Missionary Society devotes but a twelfth of its income to the Indian missions, which are, of course, among its smallest. It has stations at Madras and six other points in the Tamil country, seven or eight stations in the Canenere districts, 465 Church members in all, 5 native ministers, besides several candidates, and 3500 pupils in the schools.

The following are extracts from the late (1888) re-ports of some of the American societies. The American Board-has the Marathi Mission, established in 1813, the Madtlra, established in 1834, and the Ceylon, established in 1816. The Marathi Mission has 7 stations, 102 outstations, 12 preachers, 2 medical catechists, and with Bible readers and teachers, 255 native helpers.' The native contributions amounted to $4779. The Theological Seminary, suspended in 1866, was reopened in. 1888. There is a mission high-school and college at Admednagar, which had 311 pupils in 1887. The Madura Mission has 12 stations, 234 out-stations, 3233 church members, 11,881 adherents, 10 missionaries, 20 native pastors, 399 native workers of all classes, 13 common schools, with 3215 pupils, a collegiate theological institute, with 334 pupils; in all the mission 5680 pupils. A new feature is the employment of native evangelists by the native churches themselves for the outlying districts. The native contributions amounted to $6545. The Ceylon Mission has 7 stations, with 25 out-stations, 389 members, 8455 under instruction. Native contributions, $5752. This mission has had a wonderful educational work; the report claims that one in thirteen of the population are in school. Nearly all of the schools are managed by the missionaries; 329 have been educated at Jaffra College. The Presbyterian Church sustains the Lodiana and Furrukhabad Mission, with 17 stations, 28 American and 11 native missionaries, 30 American and 120 native teachers, 456 communicants, and 6194 scholars in the schools. Out-stations are increasing in numbers. Tours into different districts have been made as in former years. Various melas have been attended, among which was Hardwar. The number of people present at this place, according to government officials, was almost 3,000,000. For days some twenty preachers, native and foreign, preached to many thousands. Frequently many remained after the service to discuss some of the points set forth in the discourse. Cases of self-torture were fewer than usual. "The more revolting rites of Hindiism are evidently becoming obsolete." At this festival the brethren were ‘ particularly struck with the marked increase in the knowledge of Christianity manifested by the pilgrims." The Sabbath- school and prayer meeting are established at most of the stations, and in the Lodiana Mission the native Christians have contributed for religious and charitable objects during the year, 670 rupees. Nearly 11,000,000 pages of publications of various kinds have been issued. A "medical mission" is connected with these missions, at which 1311 patients have been treated.:

The (Dutch) Reformed Church has the Arcot Mission, organized in 1854. The mission occupies North and South Arcot, the united area of which is 19,925 square miles, with a population of 3,770,192; churches, 23; out- stations, 86; communicants, 1755; contributions of the native churches, $756 50. Besides the boarding schools for girls at Vellore and Madavaalle, with 98 pupils, there are 8 caste girls' schools, with 586 scholars. The school formerly known as the Arcot Seminary will hereafter be called the Arcot Academy. It had 71 pupils in 1887. The Theological Seminary in the Arcot Mission, for which an endowment of $65,000 has been secured by Dr. Chamberlain, was opened in March, 1888, with 13 students. It has 7 scholarships provided by churches, and 9 provided by individuals. In addition to the regular services at-stations and out-stations, the Gospel was preached during the year 1888 in 8978 places, to heathen audiences numbering 395,979; more than 14,000 tracts, books, etc., were distributed. In the hospital and dispensary at Arcot 5883 outpatients, and 475 in- patients were treated. The Rev. Dr. Scudder notes the change that has taken place in the attitude of the natives in the following terms: "As to the results, I have to mention that the temper of the people has been greatly mollified. This is, perhaps, one of the most wicked districts in Southern India. Its inhabitants used to hear the preached Word with souls full of rage — rage gleaming in their eyes and disfiguring their countenances. It does seem to us that there has been a marked change within the year. Earnest, anxious, sometimes longing looks are cast upon us now as we repeat the sweet story of the cross. Tracts, Gospel portions, the smallest leaves, are eagerly received, where formerly volumes, or books of poetry, or English publications were sought for. There are now no refusals, where before friendly offers were fairly spurned. There are quiet, calm inquiries, where before were angry oppositions, or worse, sullen silence."

The mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India was begun in 1856. The work is now in the-form of three Annual Conferences, viz., the North India, the South India, and the Bengal, which have 71 foreign missionaries, 58 assistant missionaries, 535 other agents, 6517 members, 5770 probationers, 2 theological schools, with 57 students, 16 high- schools, with 134 teachers and 1973 scholars, 617 other day-schools with 18,505 scholars, and church property to the amount of 1,701,200 rupees. In the district of Bareilly there is a successful medical mission, one of the missionaries having charge of three government hospitals in the province of Kusmaon, and a medical class of native Christian women having been established at Nynee Tal. The hospitals, schools, and orphanages under the care of the missionaries are disposing large numbers of the inhabitants in favor of Christianity.

"It is easy to see," says Bishop Kingsley, in a letter to the Christian Advocate and Journal, ‘ that both Hindu idolatry and Mohammedanism are losing their hold on the minds of those who still show them an outward deference. I have talked with intelligent Hindus with the red paint on their foreheads, indicating that they had faithfully attended to their religious rites, who nevertheless told me they had no faith in these mummeries, and felt the heathen yoke that was upon them an intolerable burden; deploring caste, and mourning over the degraded condition of their women. They will do utter violence to their doctrine of caste when it can be done without exposure. Mohammedans have made similar confessions to me, saying they felt at liberty, so far as any conscientious scruples were concerned, to violate the requirements of that religion. Besides all this, there seems to be a sort of foreboding in regard to many particulars that their ancient religion is about worn out. One is, that after about thirty years more the Sacred Ganges will lose its virtue. In 1868 the statistics of the Roman Catholic Church in British, Portuguese, and French India were as follows:

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