A RECORD TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY

A COMPILATION OF TABLETS AND MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS FROM VARIOUS

PARTS OF THE BENGAL AND AGRA PRESIDENCIES.

SUCH AS HAVE PRE-EMINENTLY DISTINGUISHED THEMSELVES

H O L M E S  A N D  C O.

CALCUTTA:

1848.

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SERAMPORE

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SERAMPORE.

REVEREND WILLIAM CAREY, D. D.—(The Father of Missions.)

    Dr. Carey was born August 17th, 1761, at Pauler's Perry, in Northamptonshire. His mother died when he was young. His father was Preceptor in the Established Church at Pauler’s Perry. Though imperfectly brought up in the tenets of the Christian religion, his mind was not directed to the Saviour of the world by his father, who was at that time, unhappily, ignorant of the Saviour himself, but at the age of fifteen the subject of our memoir was apprenticed to a Shoe Maker in the village of Paddington, (ten miles from Pauler's Perry,) and there, often held conversations with a fellow-apprentice, named John Ward, which first led him to reflect closely on his state as a sinner before God; and his occasional access to the ministration of the Rev. Thomas Scott, author of the Commentary on the Bible, and Pastor at Ravanstone, (a village a few miles distant,) tended greatly to increase his convictions of his fallen condition. At length he met with the excellent Mr. Hall’s "Help to Zion’s Travellers," which did more towards giving him just ideas of himself, as a sinner, and in pointing out the way of salvation than all that he had ever read or heard before, and encouraged him, finally, to give himself up to the exclusive service of the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was about eighteen years old, left wholly to his own judgment, he thought he saw many things in the Established Church, in which he had hitherto been brought up, that he could not reconcile with the scriptures; and at length a sermon which he heard from Heb. xiii. 13—"Let us therefore go forth without the Camp bearing his reproach," led him at once to forsake it and cast lot with a few poor people near him who were of the Baptist denomination. Before he was twenty, a number of persons, in a village a few miles distant, came to him one sabbath, and urged him, as they were that day destitute of a minister, to attend and give an exhortation from the word of God. With much reluctance and fear he complied with their desire, and they felt themselves so much instructed by his discourse from the scriptures that they asked him again, and again, till in a year or two be consented to become the pastor of the small Church at Moulton, where he continued, up to 1788, when he was prevailed upon to remove to Leicester. In the interval, he became acquainted with the Rev. John (afterwards Dr.) Ryland, then an assistant to his father in the Gospel ministry at Northampton, by whom he was soon after baptized: and about the same time with the Rev. John Sutcliff of Olney, whose Church he joined, and the Rev. Andrew Fuller of Kettering; who was, also, his senior by about seven years. Possessed of kindred minds these four pious men gradually framed a bond of union with one another, which was never interrupted in this life, and which eternity itself will never dissolve.—With these, with Mr. Thomas Scott, and with the Rev. Robert Hall of Arnsby, father of the late, Robert Hall of Bristol, the author of "Help to Zion’s, travellers" (whom he esteemed above all the rest as a minister,) Carey spent the first ten years of his Christian life to his unspeakable advantage. His desire for the salvation of the heathen appears to have sprung up in his own mind, without any fostering from without; for, as soon as that work appeared, he read Cook’s voyages, and the state of the Islanders in the South Seas, deeply impressing his mind, he was led into a train of thought which ended in the full conviction, that it was a duty binding on Christians now, as well as in the Apostles’ days, to carry the Gospel to the heathen in every part of the world. This conviction affected him so strongly that it became at length irrepressible, and he constantly conversed on the subject with such of his friends as appeared most eminent for spirituality of mind. Being one day at Birmingham about the year 1785, he mentioned his views to a few friends there; upon which one of them said, "If you will write your thoughts on this subject, I

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will be at the expense of bringing them through the press." Animated with this promise, Carey replied, "That if he could not prevail on some one else to undertake it he would attempt it himself." "Well," said his friend, "remember that I have your pledge from which you cannot recede." On returning home, Carey mentioned the subject to his friends Fuller and Ryland, urging them to undertake the task; they respectively excused themselves and advised him to begin writing without delay, but not to print his thoughts immediately. It is probable, however, that he did this, for we find it said in the Periodical Accounts, that he wrote the article on missions as early as 1786. The Missionary feeling however appeared to gather strength in the minds of his three friends Fuller, Sutcliff, and Ryland, with whom originated those monthly prayer-meetings for the spread of the Gospel, both at home and abroad, which gradually spread wider and wider among the worshippers of the Saviour, till at length they now fill nearly the whole of the Christian world.—Two sermons were at length preached at a meeting of ministers at Clipstone, in April 1791.—One on "Jealousy for the Lord of Hosts," by Mr. Sutcliff, from 1st Kings, xix. 10, and another on the "Pernicious influence of delay in Religious concerns," by Mr. Fuller, from Haggai, i. 2. After these services Mr. Carey proposed it as a question for the ministers to discuss, "whether it be not practicable, and our bounden duty, to attempt something towards spreading the Gospel in the heathen world, and as the public services which included these two sermons had been attended with unusual solemnity, this question was managed by these ministers with earnest concern relative to exerting themselves for the enlargement of the Saviour’s kingdom.—The chief step then taken, however, was their unanimously agreeing to request that Mr. Carey would publish his thoughts on the subject of Missions, which had laid by him for more then five years.—These issued from the press in the beginning of 1792, and in the words of Fuller, "the author generously proposed to devote profits might arise from this publication to the use of a Missionary Society," whenever it should be formed.—This pamphlet, contains a short review of former undertakings for the conversion of the heathen, commencing with apostolic times, and continuing the survey to the attempts of Ziegenbalg and Groundler in 1707.—The review concludes with the following observations respecting Moravian Missions:—"But none of the moderns have equalled the Moravian brethren in this good work; they have sent Missions to Greenland, Labrador, and several of the West India Islands, which have been blessed for good.—They have likewise sent to Abyssinia in Africa." A brief but luminous survey of the present religious state of the world follows; and then, a section showing the practicability of something being done more than what is at present done for the conversion of the heathen.—To the whole, is added an inquiry into the duty of Christians in general on this subject, and what means ought to be used in order to promote the work.—It is altogether one of the most clear, concise and heart-stirring essays on Missions that was ever published.—At the annual Association of the Baptist Churches held at Northampton, May the 31st, 1792, Mr. Fuller says, brother Carey preached a very animating discourse from Isaiah, liv. 2, "Enlarge the place of thy Tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen they stakes;" in which he pressed two things in particular, as expository of lengthening our cords and strengthening our stakes; that we should expect great things; and that we should attempt great things. This sermon so affected the audience, that before the ministers parted, a resolution was passed that a plan should be prepared against the next minister’s meeting to be held at Kettering, for forming a Society in the Baptist denomination for propagating the Gospel among the heathen. This meeting was held at Kettering, October the 2nd, 1792,—but the whole day passed away, without any effort being made to form a Missionary Society, or even to bring the subject prominently forward.—At length, Carey grieved to the soul, took Fuller aside, and sharply remonstrating with him on his permitting the day thus to pass away without attempting any thing, begged him, if he intended to do nothing toward forming a Missionary Society, at once to say so, and not keep him any longer in suspense. Greatly moved by this, Fuller instantly called into Mr. Wallis’ parlour, as many of the ministers as then remained, and with eleven beside himself and Carey, gave existence to the Baptist Missionary Society. The fund then subscribed to commence this holy undertaking, amounted to thirteen pounds, two shillings, and six pence. Thus after full nine years of anxious thought and exertion, had Carey the satisfaction of seeing a Society formed, with the express purpose of sending the Gospel to the heathen. In reviewing his conversion to God, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that he was indebted to Divine grace for a change of heart so thorough and lasting; in contemplating his being called to the ministry before he was twenty, and so greatly blessed therein, can we ascribe the fact to any thing less than the grace of God constraining him to declare to others what he himself had felt and handled of the word of life? since nothing less than Divine grace could have implanted in his mind that earnest desire after the salvation of the heathen, which lived and flourished amidst all the coldness of his brethren on the subject, until every obstacle being surmounted, he beheld a Missionary Society, formed among his dearest friends, which, small as it then appeared, was the forerunner of the London, the Church, and the Scottish Societies; and of all which have been subsequently formed in America; as well as on the continent of Europe. Surely the grace which was thus given to Carey, was not in vain; and the title of the father of Missions, so justly awarded to him, demanded on his part the deepest gratitude to the Father of mercies and the Redeemer of men. It has been seen, that when Carey and his colleagues formed a Missionary Society, consisting of twelve persons beside himself, they had no specific object in view! That it was their duty to exert themselves for the conversion of the heathen, they felt with irresistible force; but to which part of the four hundred millions, whom Carey in his pamphlet had represented as not having yet heard the Gospel, they should turn their attention, they knew not. The Islands of the South Seas had at first attracted his attention; but it is now evident to us, that had he chosen that part of the world for his labours, the peculiar talent with which God had intrusted him, that of fitness to translate the sacred oracles, would have been almost buried—circumstances have since shown that India presented almost the only field in which this talent could be fully employed. Perhaps some may ask, what fitness he could possess for acquiring languages, who had been trained up in such an humble sphere of life till the age of thirty-two, without even tasting those literary

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advantages enjoyed so fully by the Missionaries and Clergymen who now come forth to India? That his brethren deemed him possessed of such fitness, however, is evident from the language of Fuller in his "Narrative of the first Establishment of the Baptist Society," which he ascribed to the workings of his brother Carey’s mind for the preceding nine or ten years, in which he observes that his conversations, prayers, and sermons, were mostly accompanied with something relative to this subject; and adds:—"He possessed at the same time a great thirst for Geographical knowledge, and a remarkable aptitude at learning languages; so that his most intimate friends were, for several years past, induced to think that he was formed for some such peculiar undertaking, that he should have acquired a knowledge of the learned languages, while labouring with his hands to supply the wants of an increasing family, or faithfully discharging his ministry among an affectionate people, in a Church, (then at Leicester,) the number of which the Saviour, by his blessing on his pastoral labours, was pleased to double, in the four years he ministered to them, will appear singular to many." So fully capable was he of going forward alone, in the study of a language when once placed in the proper course, that he could be at no loss, after his acquaintance with Mr. Sutcliff and Dr. Ryland, both sufficiently familiar with Classical and Hebrew literature, and who as they found him so much more ready than themselves in acquiring languages, would compassionate his want of leisure, amidst the labours of his calling and the cares of a family, and naturally give him the best instructions in their power. It was in these later four years of pastoral labour that he gave a proof of his power of acquiring a language, which filled Fuller, Sutcliff, and Ryland, with surprize. In their theological researches, their diligence in prosecuting which will sufficiently appear, if we recollect, that Fuller, about this time, published his various writings on Faith,) it was found desirable to have recourse to certain Dutch divines. How to do this was the difficulty; they were not found in an English dress, and neither Fuller, Sutcliff, nor Ryland, were willing to undertake the labour of learning Dutch merely to obtain this object. Carey, understanding the case, however, instantly sat down to the language of Holland, as he had to that of Rome, Greece, and Palestine, and in about three months, presented them, to their astonishment, with a translation of the author they so much desired to peruse. It is manifest therefore, although he as yet knew it not, that Providence was training him up with a view to his giving the word of God in the classic language of India, aid its kindred and multifarious dialects. As yet, India was quite out of the thoughts of both Carey and his colleagues. Within a few months after their embryo Missionary Society was formed, Providence brought it before them. John Thomas, formerly Surgeon of the "Oxford" Indiaman, had gone out to India in his Medical capacity, as early as 1783. On his arrival in Calcutta, he who had been brought to the knowledge of the Saviour about two years previously, sought for religious people there; but finding none, at length put the following advertisement in the India Gazette of November 1st, 1783:—

"Religious Society."

    "A plan is now forming for the more effectually spreading the knowledge of Jesus and his glorious gospel in and about Bengal; any serious persons of any denomination, rich or poor, high or low, who would heartily approve of, join in, or gladly forward such an undertaking, are hereby invited to give a small testimony of their inclination, that they may enjoy the satisfaction of forming a communion, the most useful, the most comfortable, and the most exalted in the world. Direct for A. B. C. to be left with the Editor." To this the following answer was received the next day: "If A. B. C. will open a subscription for a translation of the New Testament into the Persian and Moorish languages, (under the direction of proper persons) he will meet with every assistance he can desire, and a competent number of subscribers to defray the expence." Who the writer of this note was Mr. Thomas was never able to discover; but he was able to do no more in that voyage, although on his second to Bengal, in 1786, in the same capacity, he found three or four Christian friends connected with the family of the late Charles Grant, Esq. who had not then left India; by these, and afterwards by Mr. Grant himself, he was received in the kindest manner; and on Mr. Grant’s removing from Malda to Calcutta, Mr. Thomas preached in his house every Sunday evening. Soon after, a friend gave him to understand that Mr. Grant wished him to stay in the country, to learn the language, and preach the Gospel to the Hindoos. To this he felt averse at first, but after "much prayer, and many tears," to use his own expression, he gave himself up to this work, and God removed difficulties out of the way, and encouraged him by adding two seals to his first labours, in the conversion of two Europeans, previously complete deists. He now began to translate the scriptures into Bengalee, and actually finished Matthew, and circulated it in manuscript; for respecting it he says in his letter to Mr. Fuller, "There are several Brahmins who have the book of Matthew in their hands, who read it in their families and among their friends, whom, I have never seen." At the end of 1791, Mr. Thomas returned to Britain, with the hope of obtaining help in this good work, both as to men and money. This, coming to the ears of Carey and his friends, they requested Mr. Fuller to write to Mr. Thomas, and in reply to the request a letter was written (from which these particulars are extracted) fully acquiescing in their Missionary plans. The infant Missionary Society deemed this a call to Bengal: and the inquiry now was, who will go to India with Mr. Thomas? No one of Carey’s friends offered; but on the question being put to him, (now in his thirty-second year, with a wife, and three children, and Mrs. Carey ready to be confined with a fourth,) he at once answered, "Yes:" and as his wife was so near the time of her confinement, he made up his mind to take only his eldest son with him, and to leave the rest of his family till Providence should open the way for their following. It was on the 1st of April 1793, that he parted from his beloved flock at Leicester, with this determination, intending to come out in an English vessel. But through the mysterious ways of Providence, however, he and Mr. Thomas were disappointed in this particular, after having been a fortnight on board: and they were ultimately obliged to take their passage in a Danish Ship, then about to sail from the Downs. These circumstances occasioned a delay of nearly two months, in which period

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Mrs. Carey, who had been confined of her fourth son, Jabez, having fully recovered, agreed to go to India with her husband, on the condition that her sister should accompany her. This being at once acceded to, Mr. Thomas, together with Mr. Carey, his four sons, Mrs. Carey and her sister, embarked June 12th 1793, on the Danish Ship "Cron Princessa Marie" and arrived in India Nov. the 12th, after a voyage of five months. On their arrival, (as no particular part of India had been assigned for their labours by their brethren at home,) they remained two or three months in Calcutta and its neighbourhood. The salary appointed for the two brethren, sufficiently shows how unable Fuller and his other friends at home were to judge relative to the support of a Missionary in Inda, and how necessary it was that they should do something for their own support. With the strongest affection for them, they resolved that "the salary of Messrs. Thomas and Carey shall for the first year be the sum of £150, divided between them on their arrival, and that they shall draw this sum annually for their support." Thus Carey had seventy-five pounds annually; or, as the Rupee was then two and six pence, 600 Rupees, that is, fifty Rupees monthly, to support himself, Mrs. Carey, her sister and four sons; and even the second year, when his brethren at home had in love, added to this £20 annually, because of his large family, the whole amounted the monthly allowance of sixty-five Rupees. It is no wonder, that he found it impossible to live on this pittance in Calcutta, where even a wretched house could scarcely be obtained for a monthly rent equal to the whole amount of his salary. In consequence, he, within four months, left Calcutta, and took a small portion of land at Deharta, a place about forty miles distant, towards Jessore, with the determination to subsist his family by cultivating land with his own hands, thinking it as easy to support them by agriculture in Bengal, as in Britain. Providence, however, graciously prevented the distress in which this agricultural enterprize must have terminated, by bringing before him, the very next month, an offer from Mr. Udny, then residing at Maldah, to superintend at Indigo Factory at Mudnabatty, on a monthly salary of 200 Rupees; with which offer, as Mr. Thomas had accepted a similar one, Mr. Carey closed, with deep gratitude to his Heavenly Father, for thus graciously supplying his wants in a strange land. To Maldah, he at once removed, and in June, he went to Mudnabatty, (about midway between Maldah and Dinagepore) where Mr. Carey resided until December 1799, and being soon able to converse in Bengalee, he made know the Gospel to all around him and within his reach. It is, however, our chief object to trace his progress in translating the Scriptures. In this work the ardour of his mind carried him forward in a degree scarcely credible. In his journal, sent home to his friends Fuller, Sutcliff, and Ryland, we find the following entry:—"January 27th, 1794. This day finished the correction of the first chapter of Genesis, which my Moonshee says is rendered in very good Bengalee; just as we finished it, a Pundit, and another man from Nuddea, came to see me. I shewed it to them, and the Pundit seemed much pleased with the account of the creation; only they have an imaginary place somewhere beneath the earth, (Patala,) which he thought should have been mentioned likewise; I observed that the earth was a planet, and that the heavens and the earth included all the material creation." Within a year after he settled at Mudnabatty, he began the study of the Sanscrit language. In his course of translating, he found it necessary to examine into the original meaning of the words he used, and these being, in many instance compound words, he felt it necessary to ascertain the meaning of their primitive elements, as, without this, he scarcely felt himself safe in the use of words in a language so little known to him. This course led him at once to the Sanscrit language, from which at least five-sixths of the pure Bengalee tongue is derived; and determined him, at the age of thirty-four, to attempt the study, encompassed as it was with difficulty. India had never seen typography applied to her own indigenous characters, till about twelve years before the arrival of Carey and Thomas, she was indebted for its existence to the ingenuity and unceasing efforts of Lieut. Wilkins, then a young man in the Bengal Army, and now, the justly celebrated Dr. Wilkins, the author of our best Sanscrit Grammar, and Librarian to the Hon’ble East India Company. The attachment of this young man to Indian literature is testified both by Sir Wm. Jones and by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, Esq., the author of the first and the most elegant Grammar of the Bengalee language which has yet appeared. This was printed at Hoogly, in 1784, with the first complete fount of Bengalee types fabricated by Lt. Wilkins, and respecting which, Mr. Halhed, then in the Civil Service, testifies in his preface, that in preparing it, Lieut. Wilkins performed all the various operations of the type-founder, from cutting the punches with his own hand, to bringing them complete from the foundery. To mention how deeply Mr. Thomas interested himself in the work both of translating and printing the Scriptures, is only an act of justice to his memery. It has been already seen in what manner he began by translating Matthew, and circulating it in manuscript as early as 1788, and in a letter, dated Calcutta, January 4th, 1794, not two months after his landing, he says, "I am pursuing my Sanscrit studies, and keep a Pundit; brother Carey pays a Moonshee twenty Rupees per month, which takes almost half his income. I should be very happy to see a Bible in any degree of forwardness before I die, and have been talking with a printer to-day, in whose hands are the Bengalee types which are used here, on the expence of such a work." In one dated August the 4th, 1794, Carey says, "I now inform you brethren, that I can subsist without any further assistance from you. At the same time, I sincerely thank you for the exertions you have made, and hope that what was intended to supply my wants may be appropriated to some other mission. It will be my glory and joy nevertheless, to stand in the same near relation to you, and to maintain the same correspondence with you, as if I needed your supplies."

    Another plan which Carey then formed for doing good to India at his own charge, was the following: "Mr. Thomas and I, between whom the utmost harmony prevails, have formed a plan for erecting two Colleges, (Chowparries, Bengalee,) one here, and the other at the place of our residence; in each of which we intend to educate twelve lads, six Musoolmans and six Hindoos; a Pundit is to have the charge of them; and they are to be taught the Sanscrit, Bengalee, and Persian languages. The Bible is to be introduced there, and perhaps a little Philosophy and Geography. The time for education is to be seven years; and we are to provide them with meat, clothing and lodging, as well as instruction. We are now inquiring for children proper for the purpose. It will be requisite for the Society to send us a printing

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press from England; and if our lives are spared, we will repay them. We can engage native printers to perform the press and compositors’ work." Thus the comprehensive mind of Carey, while intent on printing the Scriptures planned in the very first year on his entering on his Missionary work that institution for Native Instruction which after the lapse of thirty years he lived to see realized in Serampore College. It is satisfactory to find that Fuller, Sutcliff, and Ryland, with their associates at home, fully responded to their brethren in India in generosity of feeling; as will appear in the following extract from a public letter, written by Fuller, September the 16th, 1795:—" It affords us great satisfaction that you have conceived a design of laying out your money in such works as establishing schools and translating the Bible. The latter however will be a great undertaking, and when it is proper to print it, you must not, even if you can afford it, deny us the pleasure of participating with you in the expence. The. public is generous, and what shall we do with our money, but appropriate it to the service of our God?" He at the same time informed them that "they had already resolved upon a Mission to Africa, and were that day met at Birmingham to take leave of the brethren, Grigg and Rodway, about to sail for Sierra Leone." It is evident however, that they soon became perplexed about printing; for while in a letter to Mr. Fuller, dated August the 8th, 1795, Mr. Thomas says, "We intend to print and send abroad Genesis, Matthew, and Mark, this year, at our joint expence," in one to Mr. Pearce, dated October 2d, Carey says: — "The translation of the Bible is going on, and it is to me a very pleasant work. Genesis, Exodus, Matthew, Mark, and part of John and James, may be reckoned ready for the press; printing is uncommonly expensive here; and if types could be got from England, there are natives who can do the business of compositors and pressmen; and this would be the cheapest way. Mr. Thomas has a set of letters fit for types to be formed by, written for that purpose by a native, who writes an excellent hand. I will persuade him to enclose them to the Society this season. We intended to have printed at our own expence, but at present are not able." In another letter to Fuller, dated November 16th, 1796, Carey says: "I expect the New Testament will be complete before you receive this, except a very few words which may want altering a third and fourth revisal, and now I wish the printing to be thought of. It will be at least two years from this time, before communications respecting printing will arrive from England, by which time every correction may certainly be made. We were in hopes of printing it at our own expence; but in that we are disappointed. Were it printed here, 10,000 copies would cost at the nearest calculation, 43,750 rupees, an enormous sum. But it may be done much cheaper, by sending out a printing press, with types, &c. and if a serious printer could be found, who was willing to engage in the Mission, he would be a great blessing to us in superintending the work; for the natives would do the laborious part." On this plan Fuller and his associates appear to have proceeded without delay. They immediately began to correspond with Mr. William Ward, who had been brought up to printing under Benson in London, and recently called to the Ministry by the Baptist Church in George Street, Hull, of which he was a member. He was then twenty-eight, and was studying under Dr. Fawcett, at Ewood Hall, in Yorkshire. In October 1798, Mr. Fuller and his associates engaged him as a Missionary to Bengal; upon this Mr. Ward wrote immediately to Carey, informing him of having engaged in the work; and what must have been the surprize and the gratitude of Carey to the God of all mercy, when this letter told him, that the young man lie saw in London and to whom he then said, "I am going out to India to translate the Scriptures, and you must follow after to print them;" was now coming out with this express view, and with the determination to be his helper in Mission to his life’s end. Mr. Ward arrived in India, October the 13th, 1799, with his colleagues Emanuel Brunsdon, Wm. Grant, and Joshua Marshman, with their respective families. Mr. Grant died of a fever eighteen days after they landed, and Mr. Brunsdon of a liver complaint about twenty months afterwards. In about the same space too, Mr. Fountain died at Dinagepore, and Mr. Thomas at Sadamahl, which left only Carey, Ward, and Marshman, with their respective families. When Mr. Ward had arrived from England with the printing apparatus, Bengalee types were still wanting which Providence was pleased to supply in a way quite unexpected. About two months after Carey’s arrival at Serampore, with Mrs. Carey and his four sons, a native* named Punchanan, who had been instructed in cutting punches by Lieut. Wilkins and had wrought at the same bench with him in cutting the Bengalee fount of types, applied for employment, offering to cut a fount at a rupee four annas each letter. Filled with gratitude to God for an occurrence so unexpected, the brethren instantly retained him, and a fount of Bengalee types was gradually created for about 700 rupees, instead of £540 sterling, (the price they would have cost in cutting at home.) The New Testament was then brought through the press within eleven months, Carey having taken an impression of the first page, March the 18th, 1800, and the last page being printed February the 10th, 1801. With the Old Testament he proceeded, at press, without delay; and finding, after he had occupied himself in translating so many years, that by far the greater part of the words in other dialects around him, were derived from the same source, (the Sanscrit language,) and were precisely the same in meaning and import, the translation of the New Testament into some of these, appeared quite within reach. His being appointed in May 1801, to Fort William College, gave him the command of the first Sanscrit Pundits in India, retained as they were for the College, and increased his knowledge of both the Sanscrit and Bengalee language, (in which be constantly gave lectures) to a degree he could scarcely have obtained in other way. Meanwhile pundits continually applied to him from various countries in India, who

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    * This man, though he lived only 3 or 4 years, instructed in his art a family at Serampore, and thus the knowledge of type cutting has remained at Serampore ever since. And as a new fount of types in any language could be obtained for so small a sum, Dr. Carey, before his death, had the satisfaction of seeing founts of types prepared at Serampore in the Deva Nagree, the Kytee, or Bazar Nagree, the Punjabi, the Cashmeer, and the Multanee characters on the West of India; the Mahratta, the Orissa, the Telinga, the Tamul, and the Cingalese, on the South; the Thibet and Assamese on the North-East, and the Burmese and the Chinese on the East; together with founts in the Persian, the Armenian, and other Oriental characters.

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could converse with ease in Bengalee or Hindoostanee as well as Sanscrit; this gave him an opportunity of closely examining their vernacular dialects; which led to his almost immediately beginning the study of the Mahratta and the Orissa, and a few months after, to a translation of the New Testament in those languages. He afterwards did the same with the Sikh or Panjabee, the Bulochee and other dialects on the West; the Telinga, the Kurnata, and the Konkun on the South, and the Assamese, the Khassee, and the Munipooree on the North-East, so that, (with his brethren’s help,) he had the satisfaction, before his death of seeing the whole of the sacred scriptures translated and printed in seven of the Eastern languages, including the Chinese; and the New Testament completed in twenty-one others of the languages and dialects of India, and the surrounding countries. In his labours as a Missionary, he greatly abounded, in the younger part of his life, before he was closely engaged in the work of translating the scriptures. But although it was impossible to continue these in the same degree in his old age, especially when his hands were so full of other work, no less important to the cause Christianity, he never lost his Missionary spirit. On the contrary, he constantly mourned that he could do no more, personally, in a work which had filled his whole heart from his youth; and the Missionary cause was never forgotten in his prayers, either public or private. In addition to the evening monthly prayer meetings, for the revival and progress of true religion throughout the earth, constantly held at Serampore, he for thirty-three years held a weekly meeting for prayer with his brethren, in the Mission Chapel from 7 to 8 in the morning, with a view to the spread of the Gospel India—and the blessing of God, granted on the Missionary labours of those helpers, united with him European, East Indian and Native (for with him there was no difference beside that created by the grace of God,) was such as to excite the deepest gratitude. In April 1800, Serampore was the only Missionary station, in this part of India, as Mudnabutty had been unavoidably given up: and this contained a small Church of eleven Members, of which he was then chosen pastor. This one Missionary station with a small Church, Dr. Carey lived to see increased to eighteen Missionary stations in his own immediate connection in Bengal, Hindoostan, Assam, and Arracan: and beheld twenty-six Gospel churches raised in them, each on the average containing nearly double the number of members which that one in Serampore contained in 1800, and these stations and Churches occupied by nearly thirty Missionary labourers, all, with the exception of six Missionary brethren, from Europe raised up by Divine goodness in India itself. In addition, to this he beheld eleven Missionary stations more, containing as many Churches of the same faith and order, and no less then twenty-five Missionary stations formed by other denominations of Christians, on the prosperity of which he felt scarcely less interested than in the thirty in his own denomination. Surely when the venerable Carey looked back "on all the way the Lord his God had led him, these forty years" in Bengal, and recollected how India was brought before him as the scene of his future labour,—how the wants of himself and his family were supplied, when his brethren at home could not help him—how his mind was kept steady to his work amidst every discouragement—how the way was opened for printing the scriptures beyond his highest expectations,—and afterwards for his extending so widely the work of translation—and how the grace of God had been poured out in the increase of Missionary stations in this part of India alone.

    Before we come to the close of this good and great man’s memoir, we will here briefly advert to the deep interest he constantly felt in the welfare and happiness of the natives in a temporal point of view; to his labouring with the Government till he procured from the Marquess of Wellesley the abolition of the horrid cruelties practised at Saugur Island, by the natives devoting their offspring to death there; to his incessant labours in exposing the abominations of the Suttee, which he had the happiness at length to see abolished by Lord Wm. Bentinck, to his cultivation of science, particularly that of botany, which he enriched with various discoveries of his own, he could not but feel that the grace of God had kept him alive in his work even to the end. What must have been the feelings on a death-bed of a man who had lived wholly to himself compared with the joyous tranquillity filled Carey’s soul in the prospect of entering into the joy of his Lord, and above all with what he felt when, a few days before his decease he said to his companion in labour for thirty-five years, "I have no fears; I have no doubts; I have not a wish left unsatisfied."

    The following proceedings relative to Dr. Carey, took place at a Meeting of the Asiatic Society, held June 2d, 1834, The Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of Calcutta, Vice-President, being in the chair. His Lordship addressed the meeting as follows:—

    "It had been suggested to him that the death of the Rev. Dr. Carey, one of the oldest and warmest supporters of the Asiatic Society, was an occasion which called for some testimonial of the sense entertained by all its members, of the value of his services to the literature and science of India, and of their sincere respect for his memory."

    "He had himself enjoyed but two short interviews with that eminent and good man; but a note from Dr. Wallich, who was prevented from attending to propose the resolution, supplied his own want of information. Dr. Carey had been 28 years a member of the Society: and (with his Calcutta duties) a regular attendant at its meetings, and an indefatigable and zealous member of the Committee of Papers since the year 1807."

    "He had enriched the Society’s publications with several contributions: an interesting report on the agriculture of Dinajpore, appeared in the tenth volume of the Researches. An account of the funeral ceremonies of a Burman priest in the twelfth: the Catalogue of Indian medicinal plants and drugs in the eleventh volume, bearing Dr. Fleming’s name, was also known to have been principally derived from his information and research. As an ardent Botanist, indeed, he had done much for the science of India, and one of the last works upon which he had been engaged, was the publication as Editor, of his deceased friend, Dr. Roxburgh’s Flora Indica."

    His Bengalee, Mahratta, Telingas, and Punjabi Dictionaries and Grammars, his translation of a portion of the Ramayana and other works, were on our shelves, to testify the extent of his learning as

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an oriental scholar. It was well known that he had prepared some time ago an elaborate Dictionary of the Sanscrit language, the manuscript of which, and a considerable portion of the work already printed off, the result of many years of intense labour and study, had been destroyed by the fire which burnt down the Serampore premises. He had also been of great assistance, as the author testified, in the editing of Baboo Ram Comal Sen’s Anglo-Bengalee Dictionary."

    "The memory of those members, who had been longer associated with him than himself, would easily fill up this very imperfect estimate of his various services."

    "During forty years of a laborious and useful life in India, dedicated to the highest objects which can engage the mind—indefatigable in his sacred vocation, active in benevolence, yet finding time to master the languages and the learning of the East and to be the founder, as it were, of printing in these languages; he contributed by his researches and his publications, to exalt and promote the objects for the which the Asiatic Society was instituted. The close of his venerable career should not therefore pass without a suitable record of the worth and esteem in which his memory was held; and his Lordship begged to move that the following minute be entered in the journals of the Society:—It was seconded by Colonel Sir Jer. Bryant, and carried unanimously:—

    "The Asiatic Society cannot note upon their proceedings the death of the late William Carey, D. D. so long an active member and an ornament of this Institution, distinguished alike for his high attainments in the oriental languages, for his eminent services in opening the stores of Indian Literature to the knowledge of Europe, and for his extensive acquaintance with the sciences, the natural history, and botany of this country, and his useful contributions in every branch towards the promotion of the objects of the Society, without placing on record this expression of their high sense of his value and merits as a scholar, and a man of science, their esteem for the sterling and surpassing religious and moral excellencies of his character; and their sincere grief for his irreparable loss."

    A Marble Bust of Dr. Carey is placed in the Metcalfe Hall; the following is inscribed on the base:

    William Carey, D. D. Founder of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India. 1820.

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THE REVEREND JOSHUA MARSHMAN, D. D.

    Dr. Marshman was born of humble parentage in the village of Westbury Leigh, in Wiltshire on the 20th of April 1768. Of his family little is known, except that they traced their descent from an officer in the Army of Cromwell; one of that band who, at the Restoration, relinquished, for conscience sake all views of worldly aggrandisement, and retired into the country to support themselves by their own industry.

    His father, a man of strong mind, undaunted intrepidity and inflexible integrity, passed the early part of his life at sea; and was engaged in the "Hind" Sloop of War, commanded by Captain Bond, at the Capture of Quebec,—the action in which the gallant Wolf fell; but shortly after he returned to England, determining to settle among the humble and honest manufacturers of his native country, and taking up his residence in Westbury Leigh, he married and turned his attention to the Weaving trade. Hence he was subsequently unable to afford his son any education beyond what his native village supplied, except in his own Christian principles; but he lived to see principles he had instilled, ripen into the most enlarged and active benevolence.

    Dr. Marshman from a very early age, exhibited so extraordinary a thirst for knowledge, as to convince his family and friends that he was destined for something higher than the loom. At the age of eight, he first began a course of desultory reading, snatching every moment from labour, and play, to devote to his books; so that between the age of ten and eighteen, he had devoured the contents of more than five hundred volumes. Thus at an early period he was enabled to lay in a vast store of knowledge, which, improved by subsequent study, made his conversation both rich and instructive. After reading through all the volumes so humble a village could furnish, he extended his researches to a greater distance, and often travelled a dozen miles to borrow a book. Having no one to direct his pursuits, he read promiscuously whatever fell in his way, and with the utmost avidity. But it was Biography, and more particularly to History, that the bent of his mind was directed; so much so, indeed, that when his parents, on the death of an elder brother, endeavoured to direct his thoughts to the joys of Heaven, he declared that he felt no disinclination to contemplate them, provided there was room to believe that the reading of History would not be incompatible with the pursuits of that blessed region. At the age of twelve, the Clergyman of his own parish meeting him one day with a book in his pocket, too large for concealment, asked him several questions, and among the rest, the names of the Kings of Israel from the beginning to the Babylonish captivity, and being struck with the accuracy of his replies desired him to call at his house, in future, for any book he might wish to read. On his reaching the house, the Clergyman begged he would tell him whom he thought the best preacher;—the Dissenting Minister of the Town or himself, with the certainty on the one hand that the first name excelled, and the fear on the other of losing the promised treat, he hesitated for a moment. But determining not to purchase even this treat at the expense of truth, he begged to be allowed to refer him to the answer of Melville, who, when asked by Queen Elizabeth, whether she or her Royal Mistress of Scotland excelled in beauty, replied that each was handsomest in her own kingdom, and desired him to accept that as his answer. At the age of fifteen his father sent him up to London to Mr. Cator; the bookseller in the Strand, in the hope that some path would open for his obtaining a livelihood in a sphere more congenial with his tastes than a weaver's cottage. Here he was employed on errands, but at every interval of leisure, he availed himself of the new facilities he enjoyed for reading. His life in the shop was not of the most agreeable description; and it was considerably embittered by the prospect of being condemned to a life of such intellectual drudgery. On one occasion, having been sent to the Duke of Grafton with three folio volumes of Clarendon’s History and several other books,

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he was quite overcome with fatigue and despondency, at the tasks to which he was subject, and walking into Westminster Hall laid down his load and began to weep. But the bitterness of his feelings soon passed off the associations of the place with which his reading had made him familiar, crowded into his mind, and appeared to fill him with new energy; and he determined, as he had often told, in however opportunity should come round for his emancipation. He returned to the country between the age of sixteen and seventeen, and resumed his manual occupations, still continuing to indulge his irrepressible thirst for reading. He now turned his attention to divinity, and made himself familiar with the works of all the most celebrated Divines, without distinction of sect; and those who have enjoyed the advantage of conversing with him on religious topics, cannot have failed to appreciate the industry which had given him so vast a store of knowledge. To these pursuits he added the study of Latin. The strength of mind displayed in these intellectual pursuits by one who was obliged to look for his daily bread to the labour of his own hands, will appear, on reflection, to form perhaps the most remarkable trait in his character. At the age of twenty-three he married the grand-daughter of the Rev. Mr. Clark, the Baptist Minister at Frome, and this change in his circumstances rendered him doubly anxious for a different sphere of life.

    At length, the long-expected opportunity arrived. The post of Master in a School supported by the Church in Broadmead, in the city of Bristol, became vacant. His friends urged him to apply for it. He came up to Bristol, underwent an examination before the Committee of management, and was unanimously accepted. The salary was small, £40-a-year; but it brought him into a new circle, where his energies and talents might wider play. He removed to that city at the age of twenty-five, and obtained permission to devote the time, not occupied in this School, to one of his own. This Seminary was soon crowded with pupils; it rose rapidly in public estimation, and placed him, at once, in circumstances of independence. Among his scholars was the late lamented and amiable Mr. Rich, the Resident at Bagdad, whose work on Babylon has given him so just a celebrity. But the chief advantage of his position at Bristol was the introduction it afforded him to Dr. Ryland, the President of the Baptist Academy. He entered as a student in that Seminary, and devoted every moment, which he could spare from his avocations, to his studies under so able a Master. He applied himself diligently to the Greek and Hebrew languages; and subsequently added to them a knowledge of Arabic and Syriac, in which his attainments, though not profound, were greatly above mediocrity. In this congenial course of improvement he passed six of the happiest years of his life. By the advice of Dr. Ryland he prepared himself for the Ministry, for which his great theological reading had well fitted him, and there was every prospect of his becoming an ornament to the denomination, in his native land, with which he was associated. But a nobler field of exertion was now opened before him; for which, in the economy of Providence, this previous training appears evidently to have been intended to prepare him.

    Dr. Carey, who had been employed for six years in India, in the new and untried field of Missionary labours, while his future colleague was completing his studies at Bristol, had requested the Baptist Missionary Society, of which Dr. Ryland was one of the founders, to send more labourers into vineyard. Dr. Ryland proposed the subject to his pupil, and found that it was not altogether new to his mind as the perusal of the Periodical Accounts of the Mission had begun to kindle in his mind an anxiety for India. He was accepted by the Society, then in its infancy, as a Missionary, and embarked with Mr. Grant, one, of his own pupils, Mr. Ward, and Mr. Brunsden, in the Criterion, an American vessel. They arrived at Bengal in October, and intending to proceed to Mudnabatty to join Dr. Carey, were advised to take up their abode temporarily at Serampore, where, they landed on the 13th October, 1799. It was about this time that the fear of an invasion of India by the French predominated in the Government Councils, several French emissaries in the guise of priests having been detected about the country. In announcing the arrival of Dr. Marshman and his associates, the Printer of one of the Calcutta papers, who had never heard of the existence of a Baptist denomination, set forth that four Papist Missionaries had arrived in a foreign ship and proceeded up to a foreign settlement. The paragraph could not fail to catch Lord Wellesley’s eye. The Captain was instantly summoned to the Police, and informed that his ship would be refused a port clearance unless he engaged to take back the Papist Missionaries. He explained the mistake, and in one respect removed the fears of Government; but there was so strong a disposition manifested to obstruct Missionary operations, upon the plea of their dangerous tendency, that the Missionaries found they could not reside with any confidence in the British territories—and that it was wise to accept of the countenance and protection which was so generously offered them by the Danish authorities. Dr. Carey felt the full force of their arguments and soon after came down to join them, and thus commenced the Serampore Mission.

    Three congenial minds were thus brought together by the appointment of Providence, and they lost no time in laying a broad basis for their future operations. They threw their whole souls into the noble enterprise which demanded all their courage and zeal; since from the British Government they had nothing but the sternest opposition to expect, the moment the extension and the success of their labours should bring them into public notice. The resources of the Society were totally inadequate to the support of all the Missionary families now in the field. Indeed, Dr. Marshman and his associates had come out with the distinct understanding that they were to receive support only till they could support themselves. They immediately began to open independent sources of income. Dr. Carey obtained the post of Professor in the College of Fort William, then recently established. Dr. and Mrs. Marshman opened a boarding-school, and Mr. Ward established a printing-office, and laboured with his own hands in setting the types of the first edition of the Bengalee New Testament, which Dr. Carey had brought with him. Dr. Carey's motto, "Expect great things, attempt great things," became the watchword of the three. They determined by a noble sacrifice of individual interests and comforts, to live as one family, and to throw their united income into one joint-stock, to be devoted to the common cause. Merging all minor differences of opinion in a sacred anxiety for the promotion of the great enterprise which absorbed their minds, they made a combined movement of the diffusion of

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truth and knowledge of India. To the hostility of Government, and to every discouragement which arose from the nature of the undertaking, they opposed a spirit of Christian meekness and calm perseverance. They stood in the front of the battle of Indian missions; and during the arduous struggle, which terminated with the charter of 1813, in granting missionaries free access to India,—they never, for a moment, deserted their post, or despaired of success. When, at a subsequent period, Lord Hastings, who honoured them with his kind support, had occasion to advert, in conversation, to the severe conflict they had passed through, he assured them that, in his opinion, the freedom of resort to India which missionaries then enjoyed, was owing, under God, to the prudence, the zeal and the wisdom which they had manifested, when the whole weight of government, in England and India, was directed to the extinction of the missionary enterprise.

    It would be impossible within the limits to which we must confine ourselves, to enumerate the plans which they formed for the mission, for translations of the sacred scriptures, and for education; or the obstacles which tried the strength of their principles. Neither is it possible to individualize Dr. Marshman’s efforts in every case; for, so complete was the unity of their designs, that it seemed as if three great souls had been united in one, so as to have but one object, and to be imbued with one impulse. But with this unity of design, there was necessarily a division of labour; and we may briefly state therefore the particular objects which engaged Dr. Marshman’s time and attention. In 1806, he applied himself diligently to the study of the Chinese language, and was enabled to publish a translation of the entire scriptures, and a grammar in that tongue. The Loll Bazaar Chapel, erected at a time when the means of religious instruction in Calcutta were small, and when religious feeling was at so low an ebb that even Martyn could not command, on an evening, a congregation of more than twenty, was mainly indebted for its existence to Dr. Marshman’s personal efforts. When the erection of it was suspended for lack of funds, he went about from house to house raising subscriptions for it; and for his pains was exhibited in masquerade, at an entertainment given to Lord Minto, as a "Pious Missionary, begging subscriptions." To him the Benevolent Institution in Calcutta was indebted for its birth and subsequent vigour. The idea of it was struck out when Dr. Leyden, Dr. Marshman, and Dr. Hare were dining together; and the prospectus, drawn up by Dr. Marshman, was carefully revised by Dr. Leyden. He continued to act as Secretary to the Institution to the last moment in which his health permitted him to act. He was also associated with Dr. Carey in the translation of the Ramayana into English, of which three volumes were published. To the plan of native schools, he gave up much time and labour; and the valuable "Hints" which he published, in the form of a pamphlet, just at the period when the first efforts were made for education in India, twenty-one years ago, was deemed worthy of being incorporated with one of the leading publications in England.

    In 1826, he revisited England after an absence of twenty-seven years, and travelled through the United Kingdom, endeavouring by his public addresses, and in private conversation, to urge on the cause of missions; and there are many now in India, to whom this notice will recall, with a melancholy pleasure, the warmth and animation which he was the means of communicating to their mind; on that subject. He visited Denmark, and was graciously received by his Majesty Frederick the Sixth, to whose steady and uninterrupted protection the mission may be said to have been indebted for its existence, when assailed by the British government. His Majesty was pleased to grant a charter of incorporation to the Serampore College, upon Dr. Marshman’s petition. He returned to Serampore in May 1829, and joined Dr. Carey and his associates in superintending the mission under the new form of an independent association, which it had acquired. In June, 1834, he was deprived of this venerable friend and colleague with whom he had been permitted to act for thirty-five years. He bore the separation with more firmness than was expected; but the dissolution of such an union, cemented by the noblest of all undertakings and sanctified by time, made a deep and indeed indelible impression on his mind. All the veneration and affection of his younger associates, could not fill up the void created by the loss of Dr. Carey. He appeared among us as the solitary relic of a past age of great men. The activity of his mind, however, though with occasional interruptions, continued till the mind itself appeared to be worn out. About six weeks before his death, he was taken out on the river by the advice of Dr. Nicolson and Dr. Voigt, but his constitution was exhausted. Yet when the excitement of this short excursion, which was extended to Fort Gloster, had given him a small return of strength, both bodily and mental, the energy of former times seemed again to come over him, and he passed several days in arranging plans of usefulness, the accomplishment of which would have required years. At length, on Tuesday, the 5th of December, he gently sank to rest, without pain or sorrow, in the lively enjoyment of that hope which is full of immortality.

    The form of Dr. Marshman was tall and athletic. His constitution appeared to be framed of iron. He exposed himself to all the severities of an Indian climate, with perfect impunity. He enjoyed, till within the last year of his life, such uninterrupted health as falls to the lot of few in India. During thirty-seven years he had not taken medicine to the value of 10 rupees. The strength of his body seemed to be admirably adapted, with the structure of his mind, to fit him for the long career of usefulness was permitted to run. He was peculiarly remarkable for his ceaseless industry. He usually rose at four, and despatched half the business of the day before breakfast. When extraordinary exertions appeared necessary, he seemed to have a perfect command over sleep, and has been known, for days together, to take less than half his usual quantity of rest. His memory was great beyond that of most men. He recalled facts, with all their minute associations, with the utmost facility. This faculty he enjoyed to the latest day of his existence. During the last month of his life, when unable even to turn on his couch without assistance, he dictated to his daughter, Mrs. Voigt, his recollections of the early establishment of the Mission at Serampore, with a clearness and minuteness perfectly astonishing. The vast stores of knowledge which he had laid up in early life, and to which he was making constant addition, rendered his personal intercourse in society a great enjoyment. His manners and deportment, particularly towards his inferiors, were remarkable for amenity and humility. To his family he was devoted almost to a fault, so that his enemies found in this subject a fertile field for crimination—

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with what generosity of feeling let every parent judge.  During a union of more than forty-six years, he was the most devoted of husbands, and as the father of a family of twelve children, of whom only six lived to an age to appreciate his worth, and only five survive to deplore his loss, he was the most affectionate of parents.

    The leading traits of his character, more especially in the earlier part of career, were energy and firmness. These, combined with a spirit of strong perseverance, enabled him to assist in carrying into effect the enlarged views in which he and his colleagues delighted to indulge. His piety was deep and genuine. His religious sentiments were without bigotry. But the most distinguishing feature in his life, was his ardent zeal for the cause of missions. This zeal never for a moment suffered any abatement, but rather seemed to gather strength from every new difficulty. The precious cause, as he latterly denominated it, occupied his dying thoughts as it had occupied his living exertions; and the last question which he asked of those around him was "can you think of any thing I can yet do for it?" This zeal was united with a degree of pecuniary disinterestedness which has seldom been surpassed. He considered it his greatest privilege that God had enabled him to lay on the altar of his cause so large a contribution from his own labours. With the means of amassing an ample fortune, he did not leave behind him, of all his own earnings in India for thirty-eight years, more than the amount of a single year’s income of his Seminary in its palmy days.

    We owe some apology for the length to which this notice has been extended; but the subject scarcely admitted of our saying less. To some even this lengthened memorial of the last survivor of the three men who were, under God, the means of giving a spiritual and intellectual impulse to India, which felt, during the present century, seems likely to remain forever, will not be displeasing; while others may possibly find some excuse for the length to which filial veneration has extended a tribute of affection, for one to whom the writer is indebted for whatever can be deemed valuable in life.

THE REVEREND WILLIAM WARD.

    Mr. Ward arrived in India October the 13th, 1799. Of his earlier years we have no account, except that his career was such as marked the benevolent, disinterested, and diligent man, and that he after a suitable education, under the care  of Benslay, known in London as one of the ablest in the typographic art.  He improved the opportunities he there possessed of enlarging his mind; and about his nineteenth year, religion gave it that effectual turn which laid the foundation for his future usefulness and excellence of character.  After having, with much ability, conducted a provincial paper for years, in Hull, he at length determined to devote himself wholly to the eternal salvation of his fellow-creatures, as the highest object for which he could live.  Upon this, resigning his secular business, he, with a delicacy of mind, which he carried into all his future concerns, placed himself, at his own charge, under an eminent Divine with a view of fitting himself for the ministry, although he might have been welcomed into any of those institutions, supported by the British public, with the view of assisting young men in preparing for the ministry.  The Divine under whom he studied, was Dr. Fawcett of Yorkshire, the author of an excellent Commentary on the scriptures.

    It was while studying under this good man, and occasionally preaching in the villages around, that Mr. Ward learnt the state of the Mission in Bengal, recently begun by Messrs. Carey and Thomas,—the former of whom he knew previously to his embarking for India; and finding that while a translation of the scriptures was in great forwardness, the difficulty and expense of printing in the infant state of the art there, were such as to create much discouragement, his mind became enkindled by an unquenchable desire to engage in the work of printing and spreading the scriptures among the Hindoos; while his view of the miseries of that people, daily perishing in ignorance and vice, suffered him to make no other delay, than was necessary to arrange for his voyage with the Rev. Andrew Fuller, Secretary to the Baptist Missionary Society, a man of kindred mind and spirit.  On the 25th of May, 1799, he left London in the American ship Criterion, accompanied by his brethren, Marshman, Grant and Brunsdon, (with their respective families), he being alone unmarried.  On the voyage, perhaps one of the most pleasant ever made to India; though it lasted nearly 5 months, the kindness of Captain Wickes, and honor to his country and to religion, gave Mr. Ward, with his brethren, full opportunity of gratifying their benevolent wishes.  Dividing the ship's company into two classes, he and his colleagues regularly attended them day by day, instructing some in reading, others in writing and Arithmetic, and others more advanced, in whatever they chose to learn of an abstruser character; and with the exception of about four, the whole of the ship's crew and the passengers were under a course of tuition during the voyage, Mr. Ward himself resuming his studies in Greek, which he had commenced under Dr. Fawcett.  Thus the ship resembled a temple of learning; and days and weeks glided away almost without being perceived.  Meanwhile, on the sabbath and in the week, preaching, prayer, and reading the scriptures furnished a rich variety of exercises, in which Captain invariably participated, he himself in rotation leading their morning and evening exercises of devotion.  On Mr. Ward's arrival in India, his mind at once entered into the situation of the natives, and although thirty, he applied with so much vigour and perseverance to the study of the language, that he delivered his first Bengalee sermon in the Mission Chapel at Serampore within 19 months after his arrival.  He however soon discerned that the voice of the European Missionary could perform but a small part of the labour necessary to the planting of the Gospel there, and that far more, under the Divine blessing, was likely to be effected by the press towards shaking that vast fabric of superstition which had stood for so many ages.  To this therefore he recurred with new delight.

    While Mr. Ward devoted himself with all the energies of his soul to the salvation of the Hindoos, the same delicacy of mind which had made him decline all gratuitous help in preparing himself for the ministry determined him and his brethren to be no burden to the public at home, while seeking the good the heathen abroad.  In the first month of their united residence at Serampore, January 1800,

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THE REVEREND WILLIAM WARD.

when scarcely able to support their families, the with this view entered into a solemn covenant with each other, in which they agreed to form a common stock and a common table, while, to meet all other expenses for their families, they prescribed an equal and rigid course of economy, each according to the size of his family, receiving a certain sum monthly from the common stock.  The rest they devoted to form a fund applicable, under their own direction, to the support of their widows and orphans should they die in the prosecution of their work, and to the spread of the Gospel around them in whatever way they might deem most efficient.  This family covenant, with such alterations made by themselves as circumstances dictated, has been sacredly observed ever since.  Having thus formed their plan, Mr. Ward, who was exceeded by none of his brethren in zeal and disinterestedness, bent his mind to realize its objects by the most strenuous mental and even personal labour.  On slight instances may not be unworthy of notice.  The first edition of the New Testament in Bengalee was put to press in May 1800, as soon as a fount of types had been cast under his direction.  Thinking it would save expense while it would advance his knowledge of the language, he, assisted by Mr. Brunsdon and Dr. Carey's eldest son, then about fourteen, (both of whom he had taught the art) composed the whole edition with his own hands, finishing it in about ten months.  Thus, the first edition of the Bengalee New Testament was brought through the press by European manual labour.

    To trace the whole of this excellent man's labours, in the succeeding 20 years, would take up too much space.  We can only mention a few particulars.  The Bengalee version of the New Testament being published Mr. Ward and his colleagues could not contemplate the state of the country around without longing that the Scripture might be given in the other languages of India.  Of these the Sanscrit, the Hindee, and the Orissa, first claimed attention; and it was determined to attempt a translation into them without hinting it to any one.  Nor was it until (1805) nearly four years after, that the step was disclosed.  In this work, Mr. Ward rendered material assistance to his brethren.  While his love to the Scriptures made him commence the study of the Persian and the Hindee with the hope of rendering aid in the Hindee translations, he in addition to his daily labours as a Missionary, set about the formation of such new founts of types as the edition of the scriptures would require, and thus, before a version was ready, types were prepared to give it circulation.  Such a blessing rested on this course, that at the time of his decease, he had completed no less that fifteen founts of Indian characters, besides those in Persian and Chinese, with which he had brought through the press 20 versions of the New Testament, the twentieth being printed to the Epistle of James, at the time of his decease.  Although he was herein assisted with all the advice and help his brethren could afford him, still the industry and energy necessary to enable any one in an Indian clime to go through such a labour, can be appreciated only by those who know the country.

    The speedy decay of the paper made in India, was also found a most discouraging circumstance.  The havoc made in it by insects threatened destruction to almost every copy of the scriptures in a few years.  As it was impossible to employ Europe paper, on account of its cost, nothing remained but the hope of forming a paper of Indian materials as impervious to insects as English.  This experiment, with the advce [sic] of his brethren, Mr. Ward commenced nearly fifteen years ago, and after a long series of disappointments which would have deterred many from further attempts, he had the satisfaction of producing, by means of the steam engine, paper produced as enduring, and as impervious to insects as English paper and at a price not higher than than given for paper made in the country.

    With his indefatigable industry in conducting business, Mr. Ward united the zeal and spiritual-mindedness of the most devoted Missionary.  The manner in which he laboured, personally, among the Heathen, in season and out of season, his tender and assiduous care in forming the minds of the native converts; his missionary correspondence in India, Europe, and America, his seizing every moment of leisure to send forth something from the Press which might be profitable to the mind, all testify how full the Missionary cause reigned in his heart, and with what success he furthered it objects.

    In thus striving, after the example of the apostle, to promote the planting of the Gospel in a Heathen country by the labour of his hands, as well as by his missionary ministrations, Mr. Ward enjoyed happiness of a peculiar nature, and such was the blessing granted on his own exertions, and those of his colleagues, that, before his death, he saw ten Missionary stations in Bengal and Hindustan, beside his own, annually supported by their own efforts of those they had originated in India, without the annual expenditure of a penny raised in Europe and in America.  At his death, it is probable, that in addition to his own professional efforts, he contributed, annually, a larger sum to Missionary objects than any single individual.  Thus did this genuine friend to India, employ that skill and industry which might have realized an ample fortune for his family, in seeking to plant the gospel therein, expending on this sacred object the product of his labour from year to year, under his own direction and uniting in himself the three-fold character of benefactor, superintendent, and missionary.

    Yet while thus acting, he thought nothing of his labours, or of himself, his attention was so fixed on the difficulties of the work, and the vastness of what remained to be done, that no idea was more prominent in his mind than the insufficiency of all human effort without Divine aid, and the necessity of earnest and persevering prayer, that this might be granted.  His whole hope, as to his personal acceptance with God, was fixed on the death and mediation of the Saviour; and the highest title he ever desired was that off, [sic] "a sinner saved by grace."

    Nor did he cultivate these Missionary feelings at the expense of the social virtues; gentle, wise, and kind; so amiable indeed in the whole of his intercourse with his family and friends, that they almost forget him as a public man, in the loss they felt themselves to have sustained in their domestic circle, and the common intercourse of life, by the termination of their intercourse.

    The same spirit of kindness and affection pervaded his writings.  And if ever the pen of one who wrote on Indian affairs was guided by philanthropy and truth, it was that of Mr. Ward's.  His afterworks breathe the same fervor.  His "farewell letter" too well deserve the name; they were indeed

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such to most of the friends to whom they addressed; while his "reflections on the word of God" may be regarded as his dying meditations, and disclose in the fullest manner those springs of faith, and hope and sacred joy, which continually nourished his own vigorous and happy mind.

    That after 24 years thus spent in seeking the welfare of India, his surviving brethren should mourn his loss, will not appear strange.  Still amidst their deepest grief, they bless the Giver of all good, that he was so long continued to them, and that a life of the most exemplary usefulness, was crowned by a death of more than ordinary calmness and resignation.

_______

The following Inscription, in scribed on a white marble tablet, is placed in the Mission Chapel at

Serampore:—

This Tablet is inscribed to the Memory of the Serampore Missionaries—

William Carey,    Joshua Marshman,    William Ward,

and of their faithful and beloved associate

John Mack,

in the chapel consecrated by their ministrations, 1845.

_______

MRS. HANNAH MARSHMAN, (Widow of Joshua Marshman, D. D.)

    Mrs. Marshman, was a daughter of Mr. J. Sheppard and grand-daughter of the Rev. Mr. Clarke, of Frome, pastor of a Church in Brotherton, Wiltshire, she was early brought to think of her sinful state and place her reliance upon Christ.  Her mother was a truly pious person, and was in the habit of speaking often and feelingly to her little girl.  When Mrs. Marshman was eight years old her mother died, which so affected the father that it preyed upon his health and within three years after he was carried to the tomb—thus at the early age of eleven was the subject of this memoir, left an orphan.  The charge of the little girl devolved upon her grand-father, who nurtured in her all those pious feelings which had been first planted in her breast by the conversations of her mother.  At the age of 15, she was led to think seriously of joining herself to Christ's people; and at this time her health was so delicate that more than once her life was despaired of; to this period she always referred, as the happiest of her life in which she was during her distress led to think more upon her state as a sinner to put her whole dependence upon the Saviour.  Soon after this she was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Marshman of Westbury Leigh, no relation to her subsequent husband.  At 17, she became acquainted with Dr. Marshman, her future husband and soon after marriage, went to reside at Bristol where a wide sphere of usefulness opened for both of them.  They lived most happy.  Their cup of bliss seemed full, so full that for a long time she could not join in her husband's views to engage in Mission work.

    Her removal had been expected for some time; more than once during the last twelve months it was thought her end was at hand.  Her's [sic] was a gradual decay; at intervals she rallied but all could see she was slowly sinking into her rest.  The delightful nature of religion was beautifully exemplified in her experience when at the near approach of death.  Her's [sic] was a settled and well-grounded hope, and she realized in her last moments the enjoyment to be derived from religion.

    One feature of her deportment when viewing the grim monster must not be omitted, and this was a spirit of prayer; this characterized her during life, her attendance upon the Thursday morning prayer-meetings was never neglected, and this was continued after entering on her eightieth year.

    On the 2d of March a sudden change had taken place—death had evidently put his seal upon her.  Mr. Denham was summoned to her bedside, and found her calm; all her mental powers unimpaired.  She addressed him and said she would not long continue a tenant of this world, and then spoke of her trust in the Saviour.  She referred with evident delight to the period when she had been brought to a sense of her lost condition, and looked back upon her thoughts and feelings then.  Mr. Denham read with her the 43d Psalm, to each verse of which she responded.  At 5 P. M. when Mr. Denham again saw her she was in deep thought; her mind seemed to be in repose.  Upon noticing her visitor she addressed him, and uttered several stanzas which, as she informed her daughter, she had committed to memory before she was eighteen years of age.  To this period her thoughts seem constantly to be turning; it was then, she said, that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was so useful to her.  To a question from her daughter, as to whether she had any fears, she energetically answered—"no fears, child, no fears; has He not said that He will save to the uttermost those that come unto him, and will not cast away any?"  And then turning to Mr. Denham, she added, "should you speak of me after my death speak to the people and tell them, He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters," she then begged him to read the part where Bunyan describes the pilgrims as having just escaped from drowning in the river Jordan.  The time, the circumstances seemed all to be realized in her case.  "I wish myself among them," she repeated with a great deal of feeling and energy.  The words of Steadfast seemed to interest her much, and when the reader came to the part where a change was manifested in the appearance of Steadfast, a brightness seemed to spread itself over her countenance; the reader could not proceed and stopped; her spirit had fled, death had taken possession of her without any of her friends perceiving it; she died on the bosom of her daughter.

    The deceased had nearly completed her eightieth year and nearly the forty-eighth year of her residence in the country, she was one of that small and devoted band that formed the Baptist Mission in India, and was a Member of the Church which was commenced at Serampore in the year 1804.  In her removal the last link of that chain which connected the latter Missionaries with the former brethren has been broken.

The following Inscription to her memory is placed in the Mission Chapel at Serampore:—

In Memory of Hannah Marshman, widow of Joshua Marshman, D. D.

the last surviving Member of the Mission Family at Serampore, she arrived in this settlement in

October 1799, and opened a seminary to aid in the support of the Mission in May 1800,

after having consecrated her life and property to the promotion of this sacred cause and exhibited

an example of humble piety and energetic benevolence for forty-seven years.

She was removed to her eternal rest at the age of eighty, March 5th, 1847.

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MISSION BURIAL GROUND, SERAMPORE.

… … … … … …

Joshua Marshman, D. D.

the last of the Serampore Missionaires,

by whom Christian truth and general knowledge

were introduced into these provinces,

was born at Westbury Wilts, April 20th, 1768,

died at Serampore, December 5th, 1837,

and lies buried at the foot of this stone, in the

same Cemetery with his beloved Colleagues,

Carey and Ward.

"They that turn many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars for ever and ever."

… … … … … …

348

MISSION BURIAL GROUND, SERAMPORE.

… … … … … …

Sacred to the Memory of William Ward,

one of the Serampore Missionaries;

he was born at Derby, October 20th, 1769,

having devoted himself to the work of Missions,

he arrived at Serampore October 13th, 1799,

where he assisted in the formation of the

Missionary establishment and laboured with

ardent zeal, in promoting the translations of the

Sacred Scriptures and in preaching the Gospel

to the Heathen.  Having impaired his constitution,

he returned to his native land in Dec. 1818,

and was absent nearly three years; during

which period he travelled through Great Britain,

Holland, and the united states of America;

to encourage Missionary zeal and to raise funds

for Serampore College.  He returned to India

in 1821, and after labouring with his usual

energy for seventeen months, he was removed

to his heavenly rest, March 7th, 1823,

aged 53 years, 4 months and 15 days.

Also to the Memory of Mrs. Mary Ward,

he relict, born Jan. the 29th, 1775,

died June the 18th, 1832.

"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

349

… … … … … …

Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. John Mack,

the beloved Associate in the College,

and the Mission of Carey, Marshman, and Ward.

He was born in Edinburgh, March the 12th, 1797,

and died at Serampore, April the 30th, 1845.

This Monument is erected by his affectionate and

disconsolate widow, Mary Mack.

… … … … … …

_________

In Memory of Felix Carey,

born 21st Oct. 1823, died 26th June 1834.

_________

Sacred to the Memory of Mrs. D. Carey,

wife of the Rev. W. Carey, D. D.

who departed this life on the 8th day of Dec. 1807,

aged 51 years.

Is this small token of conjugal affection and filial

regard, erected by her affectionate husband

and bereaved children.

"Prepare to meet thy God."—Amos.

_________

Charlotte Emelia,

the second wife of Wm. Carey, D. D.

is interred on the East side of this tomb; she

was born at Rundhoff near Sleswie,

March 11th, 1761, and departed this life

May the 30th, 1821, aged 60 years.

"The memory of the just is blessed."

Grace Carey,

third wife of the Rev. Dr. William Carey,

died July 22d, 1835, aged 58 years.

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the

ear; but now mine eye seeth thee, wherefore I

abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes."—

Job, XLII. and 5th verse.

_________

William Carey,

born 17th Aug. 1761, died 9th June 1834.

"A wretched, poor, and helpless worm on thy kind arms I fall."

_________

THE LATE MR. FELIX CAREY

    Mr. Felix Carey was the eldest son of the Rev. Dr. Carey and the author of the following works:—A Burman Grammar, a Burman Dictionary in manuscript, part of the Burman New Testament. A Palee Grammar, with a Sanskrit translation; Vidyaharavulee, or Bengalee Encyclopedia, in Octavo, with plates. A large English and Bengalee Dictionary, edited by Mr. Carey, and Sree Ran Coomul Sen. A work on Land in Bengalee; translation in Bengalee of an Abridgement of Goldsmith’s History of England, printed at the Serampore Press for the School Book Society. The Pilgrim’s Progress translated into 

350

PULTAH BURIAL GROUND.—CHANDERNAGORE.

the Bengalee, and printed at Serampore. Translation into the Bengalee of a Chemical Work, by Rev. John Mack, for the students of Serampore College. Translation into Bengalee of an Abridgement of Mill’s History of British India, for the School Book Society. He had also for some years been assisting his venerable parent in various Biblical translations, for which he was peculiarly qualified; as he came out with his father to India when quite a boy, and was undoubtedly the best Bengalee scholar among his countrymen; especially in his knowledge of the idioms and construction of that language. In the midst of all these engagements for the good of India, and in the prime of life, he was cut off, and carried from the bosom of an affectionate family into eternity.

Sacred to the memory of Felix Carey, eldest son of the Rev. W. Carey, D. D.

who departed this life on the 10th of November, 1822, ætat 36 years and 20 days.

A prisoner of hope released.