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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite. et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthude. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 JOHN THOMAS. *• f <*>' \ CL - 4 JOHN THOMAS, First Bopiisi Missionory to Benooi. 1757-1801. t- BY f tm' REV. ARTHUR C. CHUTE, B. D., PA8TOn OF THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA. WITH INTRODUCTION BY REV. A. J. Gordon, D. D. ••I liopc yon win always keep some stlnlng biography on iH mort profttfible. "-Catherine Booth. Halifax, N. 8. : Baptist Book and Tract Society, 1893. I i 4 i » i I 'p DEDICATED TO MY DEAR WIFE, ELLA MAUDE HUNT CHUTE, M'ith LuUkt's words: " God's highest gift on earth is to have a pious, cheerful, God-fearing, home-keeping \cifer >/ '*t INTRODUCTION. We take sincere pleasure in commending the follow- ing pages to all students and lovers of Christian Mis- sions. The author of this little biography has put such under real obligation to himself, and he has done a praiseworthy work in lifting out of obscurity a true missionary hero and faithful servant of Jesus Christ. How often is it the case that a superior man is dwarfed in the shadow of another's greatness, which he himself has helped to create. If William Carey was the pioneer of Modern Missions, John Thomas was the pioneer of Carey. He returned from India in that memorable year 1792, to report a work already founded, and to seek assistance for prose- cuting it with greater vigor. Thus the Centennial which we have just been keeping marks not only the work of Carey, beginning, but the work of Thomas, begun. And so far as we can see, the great mis- sionary translator and preacher might not have had his face turned towards India, had not the missionary doctor gone before him to prepare the way. It is the story of John the Baptist and Vlll INTRODUCTION. Jesus repeated, with the literal feature acconipany- iug, that as the one increased, the other decreased ; Thomas becoming as obscure as Carey became ilhistrious. Happily the former seems to have had the spirit of the great Foreruuaer in rejoicing in his eclipse, since he couH say: ** JJlesned he the Lord, I am fidfdy wrapped 2ij) in reproach, while some are exposed to the dan'jers of fame and repu- tation" How through poverty and misfortune and ulti- mate insanity, this good missionary won tlie above- named beatitude, is admirably told in this compact volume ; and the author has done well in seeking that this benediction of obscurity and reproach, so long worn, shall at last be crowned with a worthy benediction of honor and appreciation. The sub- stance and the style of Mr. Chute's missionary mono- graph, its literary finish and its historical fulness, merit for it a place in permane it missionary bio- graphy. Such honor the writer of this introduc- tion cordially bespeaks for it. A. J. Gordon. Boston, November 10th, 1893. iiocoiiipany- clecreased ; ey became have had •ejoicing in Sfied he the ja'h, while and repu- ! and iilti- the above- lis compact ia seeking iproach, so 1 a worthy The sub- lary mono- al fuhiess, onary bio- introduc- iORDON. PREFACE. Why should a monoKraph on John Thomas bo written? And why should it be read? A three-fold answer may bo given. In the first place, Thomas was a brave pioneer in the modern Missionary Movement. He was the first to preach to the Bengalcse in their own language, having preceded William Carey some years. By him the Society formed at Kettering (1792) was led to begin its operations in India. From him Carey received his first instructions in Bengali. It was he who first began to translate the Bible into the Bengali tongue' and through his preachings Krishna Pal, the first heathen convert of the Seramporo Mission, was won. In the second place, the defects and eccentricities of his life and character are more generally known than his many good qualities and the profit of his ministry. There was much in his career well suited to quicken faith and beget heroic endeavor on the part of those who toil upon trying fields. In the third place, his biography, os written by Rev. C. B. Ijcwis, is not only large and closely-packed, but is now out of print and hardly obtainable. For these reasons, therefore, there is need of a brochure on Thomas among our missionary booklets ; and it is hoped the following pages may in some measure meet the demand. By the courtesy of Mr. Edward Goodman, of the Chicago Standard, there appear cuts of Thomas, Carey and Fuller, and of that building of historic interest— the home of Mrs. Wallis at Kettering. A. C. Chute, Halifax, Nova Scot ia, October r2th, 1803, ; CHAPTKB L III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. CONTEN^rS. PAOlf Both Sides ^ A Glance at India ^ The Wayward Youth and t^«e Sur- geon OF AN InDIAMAN ^ John Thomas and Charles Grant - 16 The Back Parlor 29 In Labors Abundant 43 Derangement and Death 56 Financial Difficulties 66 Beginnings of the Bengali Bible - 72 An Ever Faithful Preacher - - - 75 1/ ■ I "And Jcsns camo and spake unto them, saying: All power is given unto mo in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway even unto the end of the world. Amen." -Mat. 28: 18-20. JOHN THOriAS. CHAPTER L BOTH SIDES. " ' nest people help those who do not need It ; every traveller throws a stone where there is a heap already : all cooks baste the fat pig, and the lean one gets burned.'^ -C. H. SPUROEON. In the biographies of William Carey there is just enough said of John Thomas to make the reader curious to know more. And most of what is said does not give a very favorable impression of him. Those who have not care- fully looked into his life-story may think of him as little more than an impi-udent, debt-contract- ing man who hindered the cause of Missions rather more than he helped it. Indeed, so widely prevalent is this notion that one cannot well ignore it in giving a sketch of his life. Writers upon Carey's work desire to pay that wonderful ** little man with a far-off look " every possible honor ; and it may happen sometimes that Thomas is unintentionally made to suffer in order to add to the glory of the* greater man* But Carey has need of no glory other than what JOHN TIIOMAS, comes of an accurate recital of his acbievementp, while Thomas assuredly has need that justice he done him. The defects in the character and life of the latter have been extensively advertized ; while his excellencies, which were many and marked, have had little publicity. It will certainly not be amiss, then, while the labois of •' the consecrated cobbler" are still under full review, in connection with the Centenary of Modern Missions, to recount also the deeds of the consecrated surgeon, as far as these had to do with the planting of Christianity in the Indian Empire. Thomas had peculiar trials to encounter. He had much in his constitution to contend with ; and outside there were grievous difficulties against which he had to fight stoutly to the end. But, notwithstanding all that was ad- verse, he wrought for the divine Master in a manner that cannot fail to command in many ways our admiration, and the gratitude of the Christian world. He helped, more than is generally recognized, in paving the way for the success wnich attended the devoted and varied labors of the famous trio at Serampore — Carey, Marshman and Ward. Any who have not closely followed his career, and would like to do so, are recommended to iVnSSlONARY TO BENGAL. procure, if they can, his biography as vvritten by Rev. C. B. Lewis (London: Macraillan and Co., 1873), an octavo of more than four hun- dred pages. The book is somewhat monotonous tind unontertaining, it is true, but the reader will come upon much therein that is of worth 'Concerning early attempts to win India for Christ ; and as he reads on through copious ex- tracts from the journal of Dr. Thomas, he will find his heart going out with tenderness toward the much afflicted and often downcast, while always nobly heroic, missionary whose story it seeks to unfold. Sometimes the tear will start from the eye at beholding the complicated troubles through which the good man ever strove to make his onward way. If it be said that a missionary making so de- fective a history had as well not be written about, our answer is that the failings which attach to men are often as instructive as their virtues. In fact, it is through the agency of imperfect men and women, and no others, for others there are none, that God is winning the world unto Himself. "The most careful driver," says John Ploughman, "one day upsets the •cart, the cleverest cook spills a little broth, and as I know to my sorrow, a very decent plough- man will now and then break the plough and often make a crooked furrow." 6 JOHN THOMAS, CHAPTER 11. A GLANCE AT INDIA. ** The prejudices and persecutions of heathens were a sore enough trial, but sorer and more hopeless was the wiciced and contaminating influence of, alas, my fellow- countrymen. "-^OHN G. PATON. "When graceless white men go away from all the re- straints of society, from public opinion, from the salt of the earth, from the indirect influences of Christianity, they seem to become demons."— HENRY RICHARDS. It will help lis first of all to take a glance at Calcutta as it was prior to the time Thomas came there. After the Black Hole tragedy, when about a hundred and fifty Englishmen were cruelly suf- focated in that city (June 20, 1756), Lord Clive won a victory for England on the plain of Plassey (June 23, 1757) — a victory which was the beginning of the empire of Britain in the East. Just when England was, by her own injustice and colonial resentment, relaxing her grasp upon the American colonies, she was laying firm hold upon Eastern possessions. While America could get along better without her domination, India had need that ehe should obtain there such power as would eventually •' MISSIONARY TO BENCAT-. turn out to the furtherance of the gospel ainoiigst the millions of idolators. And though many influentirtl Englishmen were at first foes of Indian missionaries, the day came when those who sought the salvation of the heathen in that country had government support in their work of love. The British East India Company, at first nothing more than a commercial organization, but afterwards a recognized branch of the Englisli government, was bent solely upon financial gain. Therefore it toadied to heathen customs and would not permit interference with Brahmanism. There was not amongst most of those connected with it enough of Christianity to make them at all desirous that a false religion should give place to the true. Some little provision of a religious nature was made for the Company's servants in India. A church had been erected in 1715 in Calcutta, while the Company was simply commercial ; but this was destroyed at the time of the Black Hole horror. The year after his great triumph, Clive invited Kiernander, a Swede, mainly from personal and political motives, to come from Tranquebar, on the Coromandel coast (where Frederick IV., of Denmark, had sent Zeigen- balj; and Plutsohau in 1705 — a mission which s joiiyr TiroivrAs, f received aid from the English " Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge") for the purpose of establishing a mission." in Calcutta. Kiernander came ; and he continued his labors there until 1787^ about three* years after Thomas first visited Bengal. B«t na great results, at least of a sort clearly traceable, issued from hi** ministry. Kiernander knew not the language of the heathen, so that his work was confinecl to Europeans. In Calcutta he bwilt a church, largely at his own expense, having become rich by a second marriage. That public morals were low, there and then, is indicated by the* fact that his friends claimed for him much credit because he- did not permit the brick- layers to work upon the- edifice on Sunday.. Though Kiernander was a benevoleiit man, it does not appear that he greatly gloiied in the* Cross of JesuB Christ. In bis seventy-sixth year he was overtaken by financial ruin ; and when it was thought to- dispose of his mission church for an auction room, Charles Grant, a» distinguished servant of the East India Com- pany, and an earnest Christian, purchased the building that rt might continue to be used for divine worship. Here, for more than twenty years, beginning April 6', 1787, Rev. David Brown, of the Church of England, who cam& MISSIONARY TO BENOAL. 9 to India a month before Thomas, to take charge of the Orphan House at Howrah, preached to a small audience of his own countrymen. All the while there prevailed among Englishmen in Bengal, duelling and deism, drunkenness and gambling. In social life there was extreme depravity. What was presented in the lives of English residents was not calculated to give the heathen a favorable idea of Christianity. As a rule the servants of the Company, freed from the restraints of Christian society at home, gave loose rein to the baser propensities. As Steven- son says in his Dawn of the Modem Mission: *' These settlements from Christian countries had no direct influence on the Christianizing of India, unless it were an influence for evil. They were long a scandal and a stumbling-block in the way of missionary efibrt." But amidst the godless Englishmen of India there were godly exceptions. Among these few was the Evangelical Churchman just referred to, Charles Grant. In 17G7 he went East in the military service and was soon promoted to responsible positions. Through domestic afflic- tions ho was led to seek the consolations of the gospel ; and from that on was anxious, not only for the spiritual welfare of the Europeans who were in India, but for the vast heathen popula- [fl » I ■" I »>■' TO .ronx Trro.>rAK", tion of that dark land. Theiefoie he, alon<> with his pions brother-in-law, William Chambers, drew up proposals for the establishment of a Protestant mission in Bengal and Behar. These were submitted to such evangelicals at home as John Newton, Thomas Scott, Charles Simeon and Willi.am Wilberforce. Grant said that he- would himself pay the salaries of two mission- an^ci until a public fund could be established for their support ; but he believed that little or nothing could be accomplished until govern-- ment sanction were secured It was emphati- cally declared that " In every mission scheme for Bengal, the protection of govei'nment i',s' indispensably requisite " Visiting England, be- earnestly sought to obtain this protection ; and when the charter of the Company came to be renewed (1793) attempts were made, but in vain, to introduce clauses providing for the- spread of Christianity am-ong Indian peoples. About this time, however, there originated in* Northamptonshire, among a few humble Non- conformist ministers, a movement destined tc succeed without government patronage and in spite of its opposition. « :vrTSSTONARY Tl) BENKAr. 11 CHAPTER ITT. 1 TIIK WAYWAUD YOUTH AND THK SU'^OKOX OF AN INDIAMAN. " As the sea was returned to its smoothness of surface and settled calmness by the abatement of that storm, so the hurry of my thou8:hts being: over, my fears and appre- hensions of being: swallowed up by the sea beinK forgotten, and the current of my former desfres returned, I entirely forgot the vows and promises that I made in my distress. -ROBINSON CRUSOE. There is no full infonnation lefjardin'' tho early life of John Thomas, He was born in the town of Fairford, Glouces- tershire, England, May 16, 1757, a little more- than fonr years before the birth of Carey in Northamptonshire. When in his eleventh year he lost his mother. His father was a godly deacon of the Baptist Church in the town ; and to the deacon's house neighboring ministers often came, of whom special mention may be made of Benjamin Beddome, the hymn writer. From early years this son was ambitious to be a preacher ; but not quickly did he yield himself to a godly life. There were seasons now and again when he was under deep convic- tion of sin, but radical renewal was delayed. We may start out of our common course, when n ■i^^p 59B 12 m JOHN THOMAS, shook, like the needle of a compass," he him- self once said; "hut, the disturbance over, we turn to our track again." Jack, as ho was called, was not noted in youth for steadiness. Though having excellent abilities he did not distinguish himself at school, for he much preferred out-door sports to books. Several attempts were made to put him to an apprenticeship, but he would not keep at that to which he was set. At length, being sent to Westminster Hospital, he found in medical study something congenial, and so made good progress therein. As soon as necessary qualifi- cations were secured he was appointed assistant surgeon on one of His Majesty's ships. Once when out to sea, the ship sprang a leak and the situation was perilous. But, as he after- wards wrote, "that immeasurable goodness, that unsearchable Providence which so often ban- ishes our terrors and fears, though ever so violent, adapted our relief to the measure of our distress so nicely, that we did not let go our hope till it was swallowed up in the enjoyment of a safe arrival in harbor. This aftecting pre- servation from death," he adds, " changed my opinions on religious matters, which otherwise had about this time been strongly biased by d deism." IS ^ iples ity yet, msSTOXATlV TO nTIXfJAT.. IS however, did he make surrendei- of his heart to God When the wind veered and he was safe in port, the goodness of the heavenly- Father was put from his remembrance. Crusoe- like, " I hardened in harbor into my old sin» and forgot the God of my mercies." Leaving the Navy he opened business in Lon- don as surgeon and apothecary ; and then, at twenty-four, took to himself a Church of Eng- land girl to wife, although, as he tells us, he would have preferred to have had her a Bap- tist. The references to her in his biography are few and incidental, but those that appear advance her in an agreeable light. After mar- riage he now and then attended places of worship, a custom he seems to have abandoned for a season ; and one day he was so wrought upon by a sermon be heard that, like many another before and since, he went about to effect outward reform. A little later, hearing Dr. Stennett and turning eagerly to the Scrip- tures, he accepted Christ as his Saviour. "And then, " he says, " my assurance of pardon and everlasting happiness ran high and strong, with- out any intermission, for a long time " It was at this period in the life of Thomas, we may notice, that Lord Cornwallis was com- 14 .TOUX THOMAS, 'i ' ■ n I'l pelleil to surrender to Washington at Yorktown, Virginia (Oct. 19, 1781). But the '* long time " of whicli he speaks was only about four months. He was quite a man for the hill top, but not for abiding there long together. Having too sanguine expectations of financial prosperity he entered into debt, and so into trouble and perplexity. Then unexpect- edly there came to him one day a way of relief in the offer of the surgeoncy of a ship bound to the East Indies. This position he gladly accepted and went on board the Earl of Oxford early in 1783 — the year Carey was baptized by the younger Ryland. Not yet, however, had he made ])ublic profession of religion, some friends restraining him on account of past un- steadiness. During the voyage he won a good name as a physician, and was therefore asked on his return, September, 1784, to take a second voyage. The ensuing Christmas day he was baptized by Rev. Mr. Burnham ; and as the ship was not sent out in 1785, he was employed until she sailed with preaching in town and country. Within the year 1785 the subject of our sketch was powe' ially impressed by the perusal of Isaiah forty-ninth, and he thought the Lord then called him to go afar and preach to the our •usal ^ord the MISSIONARY TO BENtiAL. 15 Gentiles. There was awakened in liini' th(^ liope, which he cherished even in tlie gloomiest times which succeeded, that God would tlirongh him do much for the heathen. *• I understood that the Lord would surj^rise me with numbers surpassing my crediting powers : that I should stand astonished at it ; and that great person- ages should be among those who would nurse and take caie of me arc mine, and the temporal atfairs of the Lord's sheep." But his large expectations he never saw fulfilled. Neverthe- less, he toiled on bravely to the end with such confidence in God as we do not often see sur- j)assed. and mm wm. 16 JOHN THOMAS, CHAPTER lY. JOHN THOMAS AND CHARLES GRANT. i.i " The contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other."— Acts 15 : 39. "The regenerate and the unregenerate differ in their motives and their ends ; the one party are governed by regard to this world, the other by regard to eternity ; but the differences of good men respect only minor arrange- ments for promoting the benefit of mankind and the glory of God. "-ROBERT HALL. In March of 1786, Dr. Thomas again sailed for India. On reaching there he v/as intro- duced to the little circle of Christians then in Calcutta, and was warmly welcomed. Strongly desirous of seeing India won for Christ, Charles Grant expressed the wish that Thomas, who was fervently devoted to Christian work, might remain in Bengal and preach the gospel to the heathen. This proposal, as will be seen, was entirely in accord with the aspirations begotten in the Christian surgeon by that chapter in Isaiah. But there were obstacles in the way of acceding to Grant's desire. Behind him in England the doctor had left his family, and before him in India was the task of acquiring a difficult lan- «T;«age. Furthermore, he was already employed MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 17 as a ship's officer, and how could he allow the ship to return witliout him ? But these things were surmountable. As for his family, they could come later, and by dint of diligence the new tongue could be mastered. But what about his position on ship board ? Between him and fellow officers some unpleasantness had arisen because he had been so taken up with religious matters on shore ; and on account of this variance Thomas was the more ar.xious to get free from the engagement which bound him. The night of Jan. 12, 1787, was spent by him in medita- tion and prayer, and the conclusion was reached that God would have him stay and begin work with a view to saving the benighted pagans. Accordingly, after quite a financial surrender, his connection with the ship was severed. Engaging a moonshee of the writer caste, Kam Basu by name, afterwards Carey's teacher, he earnestly set about to learn Bengali, the language of the common people. But besides this he must also labor the while for the spiritual welfare of European residents. At the outset of the new effort it seemed that everything would move smoothly. Thomas soon found it to be one thing, however, to be engaged in Christian service during times of leisure from the ship, and quite another, and 18 JOHN TIlOMASt, !l If more difficult thing, to be regularly employed as a religious instructor. Grant, occupying a prominent official position, mingl-ed much moie with the world than Thomas regarded as proper ; and the newly-engaged missionary wrote in his journal : " Reputation is a snare to those who are called to follow Him who made Him -elf of no reputation." This was the com- mencement of failing sympathy between these two worthy men. Rev. David Brown, of whom mention has been made, was not among those who had to do with enlisting Thomas in this enterprise. Had he been consulted it is probable he would have pointed out difficulties likely to arise between a Baptist missionary and Piedobaptist supporters. Brown and Thomas were men of totally differ- ent make-up, and they could not well get along together. As a preacher Brown was scholarly and unattractive, though quite evangelical ; while Thomas was vivacious and popular, and evangelical to a high degree. Thomas hoped Grant would make him minister at Kiernan- der's mission church until he had acquired the Bengali tongue ; but in this he was disapointed, for Brown was chosen to the office. Grant now desired Thomas to go up country three hundred miles to Malda, where one of the MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 1» Udny brothers lived, and theie study the ver- nacular and preach to Europeans ; and then later, when Bengali had been learned, to remove to Goamalty, near by, where Grant owned a tract of land and an indigo factory. Into this plan Thomas entered. May, 1787, although he would greatly have preferred remaining where he was until he could preach to the natives. His brief labors in Calcutta had resulted in the conversion of two or three young Englishmen, one of whom, Robert Thomas Burney, was the means of turning many to Christ within the twenty years of subsequent continuance there. Before going north the missionary made in his diary an entry which may here be quoted as representing the place given in his life to prayer and the study of the Scriptures. It indicates, too, his desires and expectations with respect to those sitting in darkness. " Day and night, '^ he says, " I meditate on the word of God and have much fellowship with Him, and much con- fidence of being sent with a message from God to these poor heathens, and that the Lord will certainly bless the preaching of the gospel now at this very time. I have said that the gospel would never depart from this country till the glory of the latter times comes. I have made my boast of God amongst the people, and told 20 JOHN THOMAS, them that I had unshaken trust in God ; and I do not think of being ashamed of this boasting ; but believe what God hath spoken concerning those that wait for Him and put their trust in Him. . . O for a seekinj^ first His kingdom daily ! O for the marrow of His word, the energy of His Spirit, and the sober consolations of unin- terrupted fellowship with Him. But I do not desire consolations only, seeing it is best some- times to suffer ; therefore I throw the reins to Jesus, not with an air of carnal ease, but with the utmost desire that He should undertake the work of guiding and governing me through a slippery, dangerous path." On the 18th of June, 1787, he reached Malda, where he was cordially received into the home of George Udny, brother of Robert^ one of the circle of Christians in Calcutta. But Thomas took away with him overmuch care of the brethren he left behind. William Chambers and others were harboring Arrain- ianism — a thing that Calvinistic Thomas could ill brook. He wished that at the begin- ning of the gospel stream in Bengal there might be purity : but his method of seeking to secure it did not work to advantage. At great length he wrote to correct what he thought serious error — wrote in quite a dogmatic and dictatorial liatn lin- ^mas pgin- light 5ure igth lious )rial MISSIONARY TO BENGAL 21 way. Of the displeasure produced thereby Grant waa a partaker. In the first letter writ- ten by Carey to the Society that afterwards sero liim and Thomas forth as their first mis- sionaries, Carey has this to say of his colleague : " The more I know, the more I love him. He is a very holy man — but his faithfulness often degenerates into personality, which may account for the difference between Mr. Grant and him."* When Thomas saw that by his plain corres- pondence, at the time of which we are speaking, serious offence had been given, he wrote vit'i exceeding tenderness to Chambers, for he was not a man whose eyes never became opened to his mistakes, nor was it little that he grieved over them when he saw them. One sentence from this epistle we may here give as suitable *See Serampore Letters, edited by Lcighton and Mor- nay Williams. G. P. Putnam's Sons, Now York and Lon- don, 1892. An exceedingly interesting book.— In reading the letter from which the above is taken— all thu letters of the volume appearing just as they were written— one is reminded of what Fuller once wrote Carey. The mis- sionary had asked the secretary to adhere, when publishing what he wrote, to his mode of spelling Indian words, whereupon Fuller made the following rejoinder: "But you do not always spell alike. Sometimes you write moonshee, and sometimes munshi. 'If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who can prepare for the battle ? ' You must again allow me to remind you of yonr punctuation. I never knew a person of so much knowledge as you possess of other languages, write English so bad ! Yon huddle half-a-dozen periods into one. Where your sentence ends, you very commonly make only a semicolon, instead of a period. If your Bengali New Testament should be thua pointed, I should tremble for its fate. " 22 JOHX THOMAS, to be remembered in connection with his own pioneer missionary labor as a whole : " You are sensible," he says, *'that I meant to do you good, and not evil, in what is past, and also that young beginners do mischief before they do good, in most trades and callings, and sometimes it is the same in the gospel." We may add that but for the mistakes of predecessors, there would be less of success to successors. But to God be all the glory ! The ill feeling between Grant and Thomas kept increasing. After the latter had been about two months in Malda, his mind was turned to the neglect of the Lord's Supper in which the little band of Christians there was living, and he determined that the ordinance should be administered once a month. First of all, however, he thought he ought to insist on the immersion of all who desired to participate. Accordingly, he began to sj)eak out plainly upon the subject of baptism, and also to com- municate with the Calcutta friends about it. " If the tiny pins of a watch," he wrote, " are of so much value and use, notwithstanding their smallness, and if it be essential that tliey are rightly placed, who can say that the ordi- nances of God's house are less so 1 " Convinced of the importance cf the matter, he prepared a I MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 23 pamphlet against infant sprinkling and in support of believer's baptism. This he supposed would silence all objectors and at once bring them over to his view, for he had not yet learned that "nothing is so hopelessly obstinate as theological traditional prejudice." This controversy caused the Ptedobaptist friends of the man who was always loyal to truth, as he understood it, cost what it might, to draw off from him. To counteract his influ- ence, if possible, books were sent up from Calcutta to Malda. But in spite of this, one man, William Long, who belonged to the civilian circle in which Thomas moved, became satisfied that the Baptist position was Scriptural, and was baptized, June 13, 1788, probably the first administration of Bible baptism ever occurring in Bengal. When the report of the event came south, Robert Udny wrote Thomas questioning the authority of a layman to bap- tize. " I wonder," says Thomas, " what he thinks ' a minister ' to be ! I have been ministering to him these twelve months, and yet he is unwilling to allow me the same authority as a poor uncalled, unsent, uncon- verted, but ordained gownsman ! " At this point the humble Baptist missionary was in collision with a great ecclesiastical system ; but he had the right of it, nevertheless. 24 JOHN THOMAS, Moreover, Thomas was now in a financial strait. His release from the ship had cost him considerable, and for Indian muslins sent to the English market he had received scarcely half what was reckoned upon. Besides, Grant's waning friendship made his income from that source precarious. In his extremity, George XJdny, who was perhaps as faithful a friend as he ever had, although much affected by the attitude of Grant, oflfered to advance Thomas half of what he then required, provided Grant would advance the other half. This Grant was not inclined to do ; but after a while he agreed to the proposal upon certain conditions. Thomas must remove to Goamalty, near the ruins of the ancient city of Gour, must cease troubling Malda and Calcutta with his Baptist notions, and must not publish the translation of Matthew which he had just completed. The reason why printing of the translation was opposed is not quite evident. Perhaps Grant did not have confidence in the excellence of the work, and he may have been reserving his sup- port for the translation which his brother-in-law, Chambers, contemplated making, but never made. But Thomas will receive help upon no such terms as those stated, great as is his need of MISSKJNARY TO BEXOAL. 25 ; money. He will remain a loyal Baptist, and will do his utmost to have the gospel of Matthew speedily published. And very soon, therefore, the breach between Grant and Thomas is made complete. But just before the final separation. Grant gave 500 rupees ( nearly $250 ) and George Udny as much more, to build for Thomas a bungalow at Harla Gachi, six miles from Udny's residence, which the missionary began to occupy in October of 1789. Then on the 7th of the following month. Grant informed Thomas by letter that henceforth he would cut off all allowances from him, and advised him to return to the practice of medicine. George Udny likewise declined further assistance for a while. It was about this time, we may recall in passing, that Thomas first witnessed the burn- ing of a widow upon the pyre of the dead husband. The year 1829 was a memorable on& for India, because then, largely through Carey 's^ efforts, this inhuman practice of Suttee was abolished by la>v. But ten years before Carey saw a case of this sort, Thomas looked upon it, August 30, 1789, and began immediately t' exert himself to bring the horrible thing to an end. An account cf this first scene he published in two Calcutta papers of September 3, 1789, the Gazette and Chronicle ; and urged the duty^ 26 JOHN THOMAS, r ii of government interference with this heathen custom. In connection with the above-mentioned withdrawal of temporal aid, it has been custom- ary to lay the blame upon Thomas. But it is worth while to recall what Carey wrote in 1796 touching the affair. This is what he says : " Mr. Grant's opposition to the work, I think abominable. The fact is, as can be proved by a long correspondence between him and Mr. Thomas, now in preservation, that Mr. Thomas left a much more lucrative employment and the society of his family, at Mr. Grant's desire, to preach the gospel among the natives ; who afterwards, because he would not conform to his peremptory dictates, in matters which he could not conscientiously do, cut off all his supplies and left him to shift for himself in a foreign land." And listen to Thomas's own words at this trying time : " I am afar off from riches, rep- utation and worldly pleasures. Many are they who rise up against me. Some are displeased with me for preaching at all ; others are dis- ])lea9ed with me for preaching to the natives. Others threaten me if I should print my trans- lation. Others are angry because I preach the baptism of Christ and His apostles. Others, f I 1 MISSIONARY TO BEXCiAL. 27 ! that I will not administer the bread and wine to them, because they were never rightly bap- tized. Others are angry with me for personal reproof, etc. But the greatest question of all is, whether He be angry or no, in whose name I continue to say and to teach these things .... My wife and family not coming out, is a grief to me. Mv circumstances are another source oi trouble ; but 1 believe that, by my poverty, the Lord is trying those who are rich and able, and on whom it is very incumbent to relieve me ; and in due time I hope to be relieved. But, if not, I had rather be as I am tlian as they are ; and blessed be God always, that He has afflicted and tried me, and, by some indis- cretion of my own, brought me into a state of poverty and dependence. Blessed be the Lord, I am more safely wrapped up in reproach, while some are exposed to the dangers of fame and reputation." He continues : " I begin to get old and this country -will quicken my pace. It cannot be much longer ; I may safely begin to take leave. Adieu, vain and empty world, vile and sinful body, frail and fluttering friends? kind and sterling brethren! Adieu. But where I am going must be considered, and alas, I can^ not well say. I cannot truly constantly think, I am betwixt two opinions of myself. I have 28 .TOIIV THOMAS, too much hatred of sin, and too much love for that which is good, to think myself still in the bonds of iniquity ; and I have too many of those things which grow on corrupt trees to think steadily that I am a child of God. Some- times I find my hopes are beyond all painful scruples ; but never find my despair and doubt beyond any comfortable hope." Poor lonely man ! Multiform and heavy were thy hardships. But through grace thou didst triumph ; and so may we. Difficulties are leaden steps upon which we may go up to a golden throne. or lie of to re- fill ibt ivy lOU are o a ' - • : .;':'!:"M.fll'!^"!i 'il^ MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 29 CHAPTER V. THE BACK PARLOR. i "How far that little candle throws his beams!" -SHAKSPEARE. '* If my hand slacked, I should rob Qod, since He is fullest good, Leaving a blank instead of violins. He could not make Antonio Stradivari's violins Without Antonio."-GEORaE ELIOT. At Haria Gachi, where the bungalow had been erected, Thomas went on, as best he could, witli his translation and mission work, though sometimes much pub about to secure the neces- saries of life. Once when he was ready to give up his boat, or anything he had, to a creditor, the goodwill of George Udny was shown in discharging the debt. In the middle of 1790, there appeared encouraging signs in the work among the natives, so that the Malda friends agreed to allow him a monthly stipend. But a larger and more certain means of support was required. Therefore Thomas began to contemplate a return to England to stir up an interest there in his labors; and more and more, as the year 1791 advanced, did he become assured that this should so JOHN THOMAS. be the next step. He had no thought whatever, sorely as he had been tried, of abandoning the missionary undertaking. His purpose in coming homo is thus stated in a letter to his brother : — " You need not be surprised to see me in England, perhaps about the middle of 1792 ; for I intend to take my passage this season. My intention is to make types, procure a press, also a fellow-laborer ; and, if I can, establish a fund in London for the support of this work, and also to regain my family, and return after eight months' stay in England." The latter part of 1791 was spent by him at Nuddea, the Hindoo Oxford, where he studied Sanscrit, the language in which the Hindoo sacred books are written, with Padma Lochan as his tutor, and enjoyed much kindness at the hands of the learned Sir William Jones. On the 30th of January, 1792, annus mirabilis, he left Calcutta for his native country ; and on the ninth of July following, was with his family in England, having been separated from them for the space of six years and four months. Leaving Thomas for a little, let us now attend to some events which led up to a friendly recep- tion for him in the home land. i MISSIONARY TO BEXOAL. 31 At this period there existed among Christian people in general utter indifference to the con- dition of the heathen world, although there were already several >c'eties which were attempting something in foreign mission work. But now there came a real waking up, on the part of a few persons, to the duty of the whole Church of God in the matter of gospel extension ; and these few were so faith-filled and persistent that they could not rest until a society for sending the glad tidings of great joy into distant parts was formed upon a much broader and firmer basis, and with larger de^''^ns, than ever yet known. Towards that missionary awakening there were three treatises in particular that con- tributed much. The first was by Jonathan Edwards of New England. In 1744 a few Scottish ministers banded together to pray especially for the spread of the gospel in the world ; and two years later they communicated with the Christians of North America asking them to join in this exercise. Thereupon Edwards wrote his " Humble attempt to promote explicit agreement and visible union of God's people in extraordinary prayer for the revival of religion and the advancement of Christ's kingdom on earth.'' This, mainly S2 JOHN THOMAS, through the efforts of John Satcliff, Baptist pastor at Olney, was reprinted and circulated in England ; and its influence was so great in the Northamptonshire Baptist Association that the pastors composing that body formed, in 1784, the "monthly concert" for prayer. The second treatise was by "the Franklin of theology," Andrew Fuller, a man who was, under God, a mighty power in the historical epoch under review. By him the churches were aroused to meet their financial obligations to those afar off, and the English government was wrought upon to grant missionaries of the Cross liberty to go to India and preach and teach (1813). Those who have read Dr. John Brown's touching story of Rah and his Friends, will remember the reference there to Fuller. *' You must have observed," the writer says, " the likeness of certain men to certain animals, and of certain dogs to men. Now, I never looked at Rab without thinking of the great Baptist preacher, Andrew Fuller. The same large, heavy, menacing, combative, sombre, honest countenance, the same deep inevitable eye, the same look — as of thunder asleep, but ready^-neither a dog nor a man to be trifled with." i MISSIONARY TO B?:N(iAL. 33 ii But to return to the second tractate. It bore the title, " The Gospel Worthy of all Accepta- tion," and made its appearance the year after the "monthly concert'' was established. This struck a telling blow at the prevailing hyper- Calvinism which held men back from any aggressive effort in the way of seeking the salva- tion of the unregenerate. The third treatise, and the most remarkable one, was by William Carey. While Thomas was toiling in and about Malda, ambitious to do something to win heathen India for Christ, Carey, the shoemaker-preacher of Moulton and Leicester, was having his eyes opened to the needs of the heathen world on the one hand and to the import of the Great Commission on the other. The result of his studies and prayers was embodied in his *' Enquiry into the Obli- gations of Christians to use Means for the con- version of the Heathens." For some time the piece was laid by in manuscript, for the author had no money with which to print it. But one day, meeting in Birmingham deacon Thomas Potts, of Pearce's Church, the deacon wanted to know of him what it was he had in his head about missions ; and when he learned of what Carey had written, and the cause of its being kept from the public, he furnished ten pounds 34 JOHN THOMAS, In * with which to publish it, and the treatise was soon abroad doing effective work. It appeared at Leicester in 1792. Besides these three treatises, there were also three sermons, preached in the Association afore- mentioned, that had much influence. Two of them were delivered in 1791 at Clipstone — one by Sutcliff and the other by Fuller. They were both discourses which deepened the conviction of the hearers that guilt rested upon the Church of God in not carrying the good news to distant and benighted peoples. The other was Carey's noted sermon, given at Nottingham, May 31, 1792, while Thomas was homeward bound, from Isaiah 54 : 2, 3, with the memorable divisions : " Expect great things from God," and "Attempt great things for God." After this was delivered, Carey called for some immediate action, for none were so eager for prompt and definite effort as he ; and it was at once agreed that by the next ministers' meeting, in the ensuing October, a plan should be presented at Ketter- ing, where Fuller had his pastorate, for organ- izing a foreign missionary society. Accordingly, on the evening of the 2nd of October, 1792, in the back parlor of the house of Mrs. Beeby Wallis,* widow of a departed 1H ^1 * The house still stands and is visible from the Midland Railway. MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 35 f deacon of Fuller's church, there was formed what received the name of " The Particular Baptist Missionary Society for Propagating the Gospel amongst the Heath'en." It must not be forgotten that there were foreign missionary societies before this, and care must needs be taken, especially by Baptists, lest the work done by these be underrated. But it may be justly affirmed that their purposes and achievements were comparatively feeble and limited. As is said in the introduction to A Handbook of Foreign Misahns (18»8) : " The revival of the true apostolic ideal, of going to a people on the evangelical errand, neither as con- queror nor as colonist, and of winning the nations for Christ v/ithout interfering with their independence or asserting any kind of authority over them, was a result of the great revival of religion in England during the latter part of the eighteenth century ; and among the foremost pioneers of the work was William Carey." Or again, in the utterance of Dr. Murdock, found in his admirable address* delivered at the Centenary in Philadelphia (1892) : "One of the aspects which differentiated the new era from every movement which had preceded it, was * A CerUury of Missions and its Lessons, by Rev. J, N. Murdock, D. D. :86 JOHN THOMAS, that it organized the home work of missions in a way to give unity to missionary counsels and permanence to missionary efforts. The work of others had failed because it had no basis of direction and supply in the home churches. The earlier missions were personal and not organic. They were, indeed, fruits of the best spiritual fervors of the Reformation, but they had no roots in the churches of the Reformation." But now that the first Baptist Society had been formed, serious questions confronted its officers. Who will go as missionaries? Where are funds to be had with which to send them ] And to what part of the world ought they to turn'? For one, Carey was leady to depart as a missionary for any quarter of the globe. As to furds, Carey and Fuller were prepared to enter upon the work of soliciting contributions. As to a field, Carey thought of Tahiti, in the South Seas, or Western Africa ; while his friend Samuel Pearce was inclined to propose the Pelew Islands. Fifty years later than this, David Livingstone had an eye on China, but the Lord, through Robert Moffat, who was A'isiting home, directed him to South Africa. And now, through John Thomas, the great Head of the Church drew the attention of the newly-formed Society to India. A little boy MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 37 n. Lad its ere m 1 to as As to 113. the nd the |his, but svas ica. eat the oy named John Williams, afterwards an iron- monger's apprentice, was being prepared of God for the South Seas, and the *' London Mission- ary Society " was soon born to send hiin. Three months before that parlor meeting, Thomas reached his native land and began forthwith to arouse interest in his worthy aims. Dr. Gordon has said, in speaking of the opening up of Africa by David Livingstone on the one hand, and the simultaneous abolition of Ameri- can slavery by Abraham Lincoln on the other, that God never makes half a providence any more than man makes half a pair of shears. To cite another illustration of the truth thus strikingly put, recall the remarkable work of William Carey and his associates in making many translations of the Scriptures, beginning with the Bengali. In that is seen one half of another providence. And here is the other half : Mary Jones, a Welsh peasant girl, carefully puts by for six years her little earnings with which to buy a Bible, and when the required sum is gathered, walks barefooted twenty- tive miles from her home to make the purchase. Seeing her giief at learning that one could not be had, because all were promised, Thomas Charles was so moved that he sent her away with the coveted treasure. Then Charles 38 JOHN THOMAS, I raised the cry, " We must have a society for distributing Bibles through Wales," a cry which expanded upon the lips of Joseph Hughes into the exclamation : "If for Wales, why not for the world ?" And thus originated the " British and Foreign Bible Society " (1804) for the cir- culation of God's Word in every tongue.* Now in the missionary uprising in England, and in the home-coming of Dr. Thomas at this juncture, there was completeness. As Lewis re- marks : " But for Thomas, it is to the last degree unlikely that this Society would have thought seriously of India as their field of labor. But for the Society, it is more than probable that Thomas would have failed to evoke the sympathy and support essential to the continu- ance of his work." To Thomas the attention of the Committee was immediately turned. Of his efforts among the Hindoos they were not entirely ignorant. He had corresponded with Stennett, Booth and the elder Ryland, and there was already some interest in his labors. Fuller, the Secretary, was appointed by the Society to make inquiry concerning his ** character, principles, ability *For an interesting account of this, see the little volume: The Story of Mary Jones and her Bible. London : British and Foreigii Bible Society ; and also an article by Dr, Farrar in Beview of the Churches, January 15th, 1892, MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 39 '- le icr iie ry and success "; and the investigation left a favorable impression. The correspondence of Thomas with the home brethren was examined ; and the difficulties between him and Grant were looked into. " We read," says Fuller, " the letters which had passed between Mr. Thomas and a very respectable gentleman who had em- ployed him in India. It seemed to us that he had been rather too warm ; yet this difference did not sink him, in any considerable degree, in our estimation." It is worth noting that it was at this very time that Charles Grant was in England trying to carry out his scheme for India's spiritual welfare, having left the East nearly two years before Thomas, or just after he with- drew from Thomas the support he had been giving him. As the outcome of investigation and confer- ence, Thomas and Carey were accepted as mis- sionaries to India, and the two, with Fuller, went about collecting the money needed above what had already come in. Nor was this an easy task. The main body of the Christian people were not at all in sympathy with the enterprise, while some were decidedly opposed to it. London min- isters, with the exception of John Newton, stood aloof. Even Dr. Stennett counseled his metro- 4a JOHN' THOMAS, politan brethren " not to commit themselves." But the movement was of God and could not be stayed. On the 20th of March, 1793, the Society solemnly set apart at Leicester, the modern Antioch, their Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto the Holy Ghost had called them ; and shortly John Thomas and William Carey were on the way to their assigned field. This new venture, let us notice, brought marvelous gain to the country where it had origin ; for apathy at home needed smiting as well as heathenism abroad. What Fuller re- marked of himself might with equal truth be spoken of his own and otlifr religious bodies. " Before this," he said, " I did little but pine over my misery, but since I have betaken my- self to greater activity for God, my strength has been recovered, and my soul relpenished." Or, as he elsevvhere wrote : " We consider the mission to Bengal as the most favorable symptom attending our denomination. It conBrms what has been lor some time with me an important principle, that where any denomi- nation, congregation, (or individual) seeks only its own, it will be disappointed, but where it seeks the kingdom of God and His righteous- ness, its ' own prosperity will be among the I MISSIONAKY TO BKNliAL. 41 I it things that will be acUlecl unto it." ''Then the sliephords," runs the Dream of the Tinker, "took Christiana and her company and had them to Mount Charity, where they showed them a man that had a bundle of cloth lying before him, out of which he cut coats and giirments for the poor that stood about him ; yet his bundle or roll of cloth was never less. Then said they, What should this be 1 This is^ said the shepherds, to shew you that he who has a heart to give of his labor to the i)Oor shall never want wherewithal. He that watereth shall be watered himself. And the cake that the widow gave to the i)rophet did not cause that she had the less in lier barrel." How apt, too, in this connection, are those beautiful Hues by the authoress of The ScJfoii- berff'Cotta Family : '* Is thy cruse of comfort failing ? llisc and share it with another. And through all the years of famine, it shall serve thee and thy brother ; Love divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy handful still renew ; Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast for two. "For the heart grows rich in giving; all its wealth is living grain ; Seeds which mildew in the garner, scattered, fill with gold the plain. Is thy burden hard and heavy? Do thy steps drag wearily ? Help to bear thy brother's burden ; God will bear both it and thee. 42 JOHN THOMAS, ■** Numb and weary on the mountams, wouldst thou sleep amidst the snow ? Chafe that frozen form beside thee, and together both shall glow. Art thoii stricken in life's battle ? Many wounded 'round thee moan : Lavish on their wounds thy balsam, and that balm shall heal thine own. " Is the heart a well left empty ? None but God its void can fill; Nothing but a ceaseless fountain can its ceaseless longings still. Is the heart a living poivor ? Self -entwined, its strength sinks low ; It can only live in loving, and by serving love will grow. ANDREW FULLER. MISSIONARY TO BENiJAL. 43 CHAPTER VI. IN LABORS ABUNDANT. "The profession of the physician has been more suc- cessfully than any other secular employment, s^rafted upon that of a spiritual guide to the heathen." -WILLIAn R. WlLLIAnS. "The Holy Supper is kept, indeed, in whatso we share with another's need : Not what we give, but what we share,— For the gift without the giver is bare; Who gives himself with his alms feeds three,— Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me." -LOWELL The words of a certain biographer regarding the imperfect subject of his sketch have fre- quently come to mind in the writing of these pages. " It was the fashion of okl," says that author, " when an ox was led out for sacrifice to Jupiter, to chalk the dark spots, and give the offering a false show of unblemished white- ness. Let us fling away the chalk," he adds, '* and boldly say — the victim in spotted, but it is not therefore in vain that his mighty heart is laid on the altar of men's highest hopes." Like all the rest of us, John Thomas had his defects. He was somewhat fickle, hasty of speech and improvident. lie was human. And more human elements would appear in biogra- phies if God had the writing of them all, But > r- •m^^¥fi>'»m»'mm 44 JOHN THOMAS, we aio distinctly taut of them, was conferred with ; and while he woukl gladly have done what ho could to get Carey off, he would not bo party to the return of his medical associate. It becoming clear, then, that license for their going could not be secured, it was decided boldly to take shipping without it. By some good people this action was deprecated ; but Fuller, always to the front, and generally sound in heart and head, thus made answer : "The apostles and primitive ministers were com- manded to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature ; nor were they to stop for the permission of any power upon eai th ; but to go and take the consequences. If a man of God, conscious of having nothing in his heart 46 JOHN THOMAS, unfriendly to any civil government whatever, l^ut determined in all civil matters to obey, and teach obedience to the ' powers that be,' puts his life in his hand, saying, * I will go, and, if I am persecuted in one city, I will flee to an- other ' — whatever the wisdom of the world may decide upon his conduct, he will assuredly be acquitted, and more than acquitted, at a higher tribunal." Accordingly, arrangements were made with the captain of the Oxford to take Carey and his boy Felix, then between seven and eight, and Thomas and wife and their only surviving child, £250 being paid as passage money. But before the hour of sailing, \vord came to captain White that complaint would be lodged against him if a certain unlicensed passenger, whose name was not given, were allow^ed to proceed to India. Pursuant to this, Carey and son and Thomas left the ship, .£150 being restored, the balance being kept for the conveyance of Mrs. Thomas and child, and " the black boy Andrew," who were going with the Company's permission. By this event the friends of the infant cause were thrown into perplexity. But day dawned quickly. With brief delay passage was secured on board a Danish Indiaman, Mrs. Carey coming meanwhile into fitness and willingness to accom- MISSIONARY TO BEXfiAL. 47 pany her husband, an«l on the 13th of June, 1793, twenty-one days after the Oxfordlehj the Ki'on PrhicenHa Maria,, took Thomas and Carey from the much-loved shores they were never ta see again. The Reign of Terror in tVance, be it observed, was at this time at its height. On the 11th of November following, Calcutta was reached — Thomas during the voyage having been a faithful teacher and Carey an apt pupil of the Bengali language. As they passed up the Bay of Bengal they met a ship which was bearing away the retiring Governor-General of India, Lord Cornwallis, who had twelve years before surrendered the British army to General Washington. At once Carey engaged Ram Basu, Thomas's former instructor, to lead him on in acquiring the vernacular. In the way of provision for temporal necessities the Society had furnished the brethren £150 worth of goods, to be disposed of upon reaching destination, foreign exchanges being then unknown. It was Carey's plan, as set forth in his Enquiry,, to secure and cultivate a piece of ground for the payment of current expenses. With this in mind, he removed to Bandel, twenty-five miles up the river, a cheap and quiet place, from which numerous heathen vil- lages were easily accessible. Here he met the 48 JOHN THOMAS, venerable Kiernandci*, then in liis eighty-fourth year. But the place proved unsuitable for his purpose, so that in about a month they weie again in Calcutta. Temporarily Thomas re- sumed medical practice, while Carey looked about for land. At length the latter found what he desired at Dehatta, on the borders of the Soondarbans, a tiger-haunted and malarial region forty miles south-east of Calcutta, and turned to Thomas, who had taken charge of the finances, for the needed money, only to learn that it had all been spent. But how could Thomas be expected by this time to have very much 1 To the Committee at home he had given the lowest possible estimate of living in places outside of (/alcutta; but upon this amount a family living in Calcutta would starve. Carey, brought up in the most rigid economy, and remembering, perhaps, the starvation rates which Thomas had before mentioned, seems to have expected that two families, his own con- sisting of seven members, could live upon £150 for more than two months, and then have left enough for the purchase of land. Anyway, he was much surprised when he found that all the funds had been exhausted, and at the height of his disappointment wrote the Committee about the extravagance of his colleague. Thomas, MISSIONARY TO llENOAL. 49 setting up the practice of medicine, had need of some show of respectability beyond that of his brother, and inasmuch as his family was smaller than Caiev's, there was due him somethini? which could pjropeily be used for this purpose. The complaints which Carey sent home rega'd- ing Thomas at this time have had wide circu- lation ; but scant currency has been given to what he wrote after a fuller view had been had of the case. He came t) sa}", and to say it as a matter of justice and not of generosity merely, that he wished all he had then written to the disadvantage of Thomas were '• forever sup- piessed and buried in oblivion." Thomas, as everybody knows, was not a good financier; and no one would attem[>t to exonerate him in all his mismanagement. Bub there is enough which uiay fairly be laid to his charge without running over into exaggeration. But Carey went, 'i; vertheless, to Dehatta, having borrowed money, and was there kindly received (Feb. 6, 1794) and temporarily pro- vided for at the home of Charles Short, after- wards the husband of Mrs. Carey's sister. A few acres of land were here procured, and a hut was built ; but soon the family was much afflicted by sickness, — Carey's own troubles being greatly augmented the while by the up- 50 JOHN THOMAS, Mi braidings of his wife, who never shared in her husband's missionary aspirations. At the same time prosperity was not attending Thomas in Calcutta ; and the young enterprise of rooting Christianity in that dark land seemed doomed to death. But God had not deserted His ser- vantp. And it was through John Thomas, mark you, that William Carey was brought out of his present dire distress. On the evening of January 3rd, 1 794, a heavy affliction came to the TJdny fan.ily. Robeit Udny and wife weie drowned by the upsetting of a boat off Calcutta, The mother was then with her son George at Malda, and to the afflicted ones there Thomas straightway wrote an affectionate letter of condolence. Then there came to him in return an urgent invitation to visit Malda, an invitation accepted to the great comfort of the sorrowful. One day while out riding, Mrs. Udny said : "You have no mind, Doctor, for indigo works, have you V " Yes, madam," he replied, " I .should like it very much, if any one would so employ me." Just then Mr. Udny was erecting two factories, one at Moypaldiggy and the other at Mud- nabatty, twenty miles apart ; and not only was Thomas engaged to take charge of the former, but he put in a plea on Carey's behalf and MISSIONARY TO BENCJAL. 01 Fecu'etl for him the latter, the returns for tlieir services being partly dependent upon tho measure of their success. In connection with ^he pursuit, there was much leisure from Nov- -ember to June, so thati»mple opportunities were lifforded for study and preaching. At this <:hange of circumstances the missionaries wrote to England relieving the Society for the present of any financial burden on their account, and suggesting that other needy fields be looked to. But Carev and Thomas were none the less bound to the organization under which they had been sent out. The gain of this to the mission just at this stage it would be difficult to estimate. The Society could as yet help them but little any- way, and secular employment of some sort these men must be engaged in or the East India Company would not permit them to remain ■within British jurisdiction. Then later when Carey has acquired Bengali, and the time is ripe ior entering more fully into distinctively mis- sionary service, a welcome u found within Danish dominions at Serampore, where the work marches on with rapid strides. On the first day of November, 1795, Samuel Powell, who had gone to India upon the same fihip with Mrs. Thomas, was baptized by Carey ; 52 JDHN THOMAS, after which Carey, Powell, Thomas and Long, whom Thomas baptized, organized themselves into a Christian Church — the first Baptist Church in India. Writing his father about this date Thomas said : " I act part of the day as a servant, part as a master, doctor, mission- ary, merchant, justice of the peace, and can even make bread occasionally. I like the i)art of a strolling missionary best of all ; and, next to that, it is a pleasure to heal the poor and relieve them from any of their pains and diseases. I have patients from all parts, all poor and costly, but some of my sweetest moments are spent in giving them relief." In indigo culture neither of the brethren succeeded, not because of inefficiency or lack of care, but chiefly on account of the heavy rains, and to some extent because they did not have committed to them such discretionary power in the conduct of affairs as was needful for best results. Near the close of 1797 Thomas resigned his position, thinking Udny would soon, owing to former failures, abandon the indigo works. In some respects his stay at Moypaldiggy was the happiest portion of his life. With him he had his family, from whom he had long been separated ; and near by was Carey, with whom he prayed and planned and MISSIONAUV TO BKNJJAL. m and held sweet converse. And he was now, too, the servant of an honorable missionary Society. Had he continued longer here it seem.s as though it would have been better for him ; for a period ensues in which he hus no certain rest- ing place. In 1798, not to go into weari.some detail, ho itinerated in much poverty. At Coolea- dean, in 1799, he rented an indigo factory for himself, but met with utter failure. Then he turned to the sugar business and made no improvement. And then at Supur he passed through an alarming illness. In 1799, the year of George Washington's death, Carey's work ceased in connection with the factory at Mudnabatty ; and he and Foun- tain, who had joined him in 179G; proposed erecting buildings for missionary purposes at Kidderpore, twelve miles from Mudnabatty, where there was a small out-factory. Carey cherished the idea of a number of missionary families uniting in a Community, somewhat after the Moravian model. But the East India Company would not allow him to carry out his designs within its territory, and therefore they proceeded to the Danish settlement of Seiam- pore, on the west bank of the Hoogli, fourteen miles from Calcutta, reaching there January 10th, 1800. A few months before this, William Ill «, .54 JOHN THOMAS, Ward, Joshua Marshman and wife, Daniel Brunsdon and wife, William Grant and wife, and Miss Tidd, afterwards the wife of Fountain and then of Ward, had come to strengthen the mission. A Danish ship took the first English missionaries to the Hindoos, and an American ship took leinforcements. The refusal of the East India Company to carry messengers of the Cross to India in their vessels was overruled to the glory of God by the gainful contact which Baptist Churches of the United States had with gome of these outgoing heralds.* Thomas, now in the Birbhum district, wished that one or more of the new missionaries would join him ; but they did not go to the East with flattering impressions concerning him. Fuller's conversation with Charles Grant had not turned to Thomas's advantage ; and the effect of Carey's early letters had not been nullified. Therefore the recent comers did not care to enter into closest relations with him. But now and again Thomas turned from his evangelizing tours to visit the toilers at Seram- pore. By this time he had assumed the Bengali dress, that he might get about the more easily and economically. On the 26th of November. ""See Serampore Letters, (1800-1816,) by Lcighton and Mornay Williams. MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 5o and 1800, he set the broken arm of a Hindoo, Krishna Pal by name, and afterwards preached to him the plain gospel in a very effective manner. The man had heard the message before this, but not sjivinfjlv. " When his arn* was set right," says Thomas, *' he complained still of pain, but more of himself, as a sinner ;; and with many tears, cried out : ' I am a great sinner ! A great sinner am I ! Save me. Sahib ! save me ! ' Then with unusual light and enlargement of soul, I renounced all power to save him myself, and referred him to Jesus, my Saviour, of whose mission and power to save all those who come unto God by Him I spoke many things." The result was, Krishna was converted ; and, upon the last Lord's Day of 1800, was baptized by Carey in t^ e river Ganges. Ilencefoith he was an earnest gospel preacher among his own countrymen for more than twenty years ; and liis hymn, translated by Dr. Marshman, beginning : "O thou, my soul, forget no more The Friend who all thy sorrows bore," 18 r;Ow widely sung in Ohristiiii and in heathen lands. But poor Thomas was not permitted to witness the baptism of the first convert made by the mission — tlie baptism of the one he had been instrumental in leading to Jesus. 56 JOHN THOMAS, CHAPTER VII. DERANGEMENT AND DEATH. I "That man is very strong and powerful who has no more hopes for himself, who looics not to be loved anv more, to be admired any more, to have anjy more honour or dignity, and who cares not for gratitude ; but whose sole thought is for others, and who only lives on for them. "-HELPS. "I rejoice that the broken barque shall come to land, and that Christ will on the shore welcome the sea-sick passenger."- SAMUEL RUTHERFORD. Occasionally in the ])revious career of the subject of this sketch there were suggestions of the possibility of his mind giving way ; and around the date c£ Krishna's immersion came a combination of circumstances which brought the woist to ])ass. His health was broken and his tinancial matters wee in a distressing state. December 17th, 1800, he entered Serampore, and although greatly weaiied with toilsome journeyings, he sat up all night with Brunsdon, who was seriously sick and who had been anxiously looking for the " Ijelovcd physician.'' *' This I feel," wrote Thomas, " is niy joy, that I should be permitted to be a comfort and ser- vice to the body of His saints." Next morning A letter was handed him from Fuller, reproach- MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 57 ing hini for long-continued silence ; and at once, without taking sleep, reply vvas made to this epistle. The Secretary said that the action in leaving Moypaldiggy " conveyed an idea of the mission being only a secondary object with him." This cut deeply and was not just. Thomas humbly says in answer to the charge : — ** It may appear so ; but still, if the Society were to leave me, and every mortal upon the earth, I, nevertheless, had rather die in the mission work than live upon the wealth of all India out of it." In the afternoon of the same day he crossed the river and preached to groups of hearers and at night attended a conference of mission- aries. Next morning he was employed in look- ing for a house that he might live in Serampore. Then he met a number of visitors, among them Krishna, whom he longed to see break caste and follow Christ in baptism. In speaking of the words he heard the day his arm vvas set, Krishna said : *' I shall never forget them. Oh, how they have softened my heart, Sahib ; but T have cor fessed my sins ; I have obtained righteousness of Jesus Christ ; and I am free." In the afternoon Thomas went to Krishna's house and there addressed a few listeners. " What a dav this has been ! " he wrote in his 58 JOHN THOMAS, diary. " It is now midnight, but it is stil! noon-tide with me." Other days went by filled up with anxious watchings over Brunsdon, exciting interviews with inquiring natives, ardent preaching, con- ferences with brethren and fervent wrest- lings at a throne of grace. Then followed the relinquishment of caste on the part of Krishna and Gokul. " This blessed day, thrice blessed day, I praise the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth, for Gokul and Krishna have thrown away their caste 1 Yes- terday I was so confident that the time was come, that all my brethren imputed it to my too sanguine disposition — which also Mr. Grant complained of. But, O my God, what had my disposition to do in this matter ? Or what ray polluted hand 1 Or what any arm of flesh ? No hand was here but Thine. Thou alone hast done it, when some of us least expected it ; and I was not too sanguine in Thee, neither can any ever be." But amidst this he seems to have had apprehension of pending t ^ ^»^nty to himself as he adds : " Oh how unuttw.jle is my joy ! But, lest I be exalted above measure, some terrible messenger is at hand ! — Welcome, good messenger, terror along ! for my soul is not afraid." Then speedily there appeared clear MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. r>o evidences of his insanity. In unstudied rhyme his disorded mind ran on in this fashion : " Sing a song of fifteen years, — if, my sou', thou canst for tears. Sing of hope and sing of doubt, sing how all is well made out." Ho attended the church meeting where Felix Carey, Krishna and Gokul (who drew back for a little) came to relate their experiences, and all the time kept growing worse. On the 28th of December, Carey baptized his own son Felix and Krishna ; but Thomas, who had anticipated the day with so much delight, had to be confined in the school room. But he could hear them sing the hymn, "Jesus, and sha'l it ever bo— A mortal man ashamed of Thee ?" which his pandit, Padma Lochan, had put into Bengab*. At the same time, Mrs. Carev was likewise insane. Directly Carev and Marshman took their de- ranged brother to Calcutta, where he was placed in the hospital for lunatics. In twenty -four days, however, he was fit to be released ; an I accepting an invitation from Ignatius Fernandez, a Eurasian trader, who had been biptized at Serampore on the 18th of January, he set out for Dinajpoor. The journey thither was a sad one, because all along the river, which had been so much travel sed by the now feeble man, he ^ 60 JOHN THOMAS. was reminded of the little fruit of his efforts in the towns and villages where he had long and earnestly preached Christ. Tie entered some- what into the feelings of the Master when He wept over unbelieving Jerusalem. It will be iieen how poorly Thomas was now able to shoulder any responsilnlity. He had had mental restoration, and was not again insane, but he was physically wrecked. Yet notwith- standing this he sought, under pressure from creditors, and fiom strong desire to owe no man anything, some way by which to become clear with the world. So he entered, at the advice of some acquaintances, upon indigo-culture for himself at a little out-factory in Sadamahal, twenty-four miles from Dinajpoor. This move displeased the Serampore brethren, who thought it meant deeper indebtedness ; but his designs were laudable, though he did not succeed. Many mournful days had he had before, but none weie sadder tlian these he now p.issed throuijh. News came to him of Brunsdon's death ; rains fell to the destruction of his indigo crop ; ami, worse than all, while trying to do his best and greatly needing sympathy, severe criticisms leached him from Serampore. *' Diiven from among men, I sit alone, friend- less, almost comfortless, as to this world, for MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 61 weeks toirether. I have been in doubt and perplexity of soul, such as I never knew before ; in darkness, without any light : my bodily strength decayed ; my heart literally sore ; my spirits drunk up. But I know the light as well as the darkness, the voice of the Shepherd as well as the voice of the wolf. I heard Him say, * Come unto me.' I know His voice and feel His glorious power also, strength- fining vile me unto patience and long-suffering with some joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father." As the days and nights went, his physical condition grew worse, while he still goaded himself on to work. But as the end drew nearer, happier ex|)er- iences began to predominate. More and more did his eyes open to the promises until he could say : *' My troubles look like mice before theie thundei bolts." Something of the warmth and brightness of his eternal home began to reach his weary sj^irit. In the following stanzas he found an exact expression of his mind : " Tl on art my Pilot wise ; Mv compass is Thy word ; My soul each storm dcflos, While I have such a Lord. I trust Thy faithfulness and power, To save me in the trying hour. " Though rocks and quicksands deep Through all my passage lie, 62 JOHN' HO MAS, Yet Christ will fiafcly » . >, And guide nic with Hi; eye. My anchor, hope, shall lirm abide. And I each boisterous storm outride. " Hy faith, I see the land. The port of endless rest. My soul, thy sails expand, And fly to Jesus' breast. Soon shall I reach that heavenly shore. Where winds and waves distress no more !" After the middle of Septt njl)er, he was com- pelled to leave the solitude of Sadamuhal and go on \ .'sebrtck to Diiiajpoor for medical ad- vice and fiiendly assistance. Part of the jour- ney was made in scorching sun and part in dienching lain, so that a violent fever ensued. On the morning of the 29th, he made the last entry in his journal, indicative of the dying man's undying devotion : "O Laid, accept my early thanks through the Redeemer, in whom Thou art well pleased, and may they never cease to flow from this heart ... I conversed with a Brahman on death, on the shaateis, on idols, and the worship of them, till he made a sudden bow and disappeared.' A day or two before the end came, he rejjeated the first veise of, "Jesus, lover of my soul," in a manner so impressive, that new beauties were brought from it to the listeners. ''Unable to read,"^ writes his friend Powell, "his mind was so stored with Scripture that he would ofcen cite passages appropriate to his situation and ciicumstances, MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 63 oni- aucl ad- our- t in ; last fying t iny horn cease eised ■s, on le a, Y two veise uer so ouglit II »r read, stored isvages :ances. fioio which he derived much comfort. His soul was continually breathing after God. Once, while he was in great pain, he cried out in triumph, 'O death, where is thy sting?' His last agonies \\ere exceeding great. Several hours before his death he became speechless, and continueil so, till his soul burst from her prison and winged its way to a brighter and better world, where pains and sorrows are unknown. He ex[)i;rd on the 13th day of October (1801), and was buried hy the si<.le of Mr. Fountain." Concerning the departed missionary, his V>rethren had many kind things to say after he had gone from them. " Never shall I forget the time," wrote Ward, **' after setting Krishna's arm, he talked to him with such earnestness about his soul's salvation that Krishna wept like a chilli. Thus brother Thomas led the way to India, and was the means of the planting of the church by the conversion of the first native.^* Marshman wsote : " When everything is con- sidered, he was a most useful instrument in the mission. To him it is owing, under God, that the Hindoos now hear the Word of Life. His unquenchable desires after their conversion in- duced him to relinquish his secular employment on board the Earl of Oxford East Indiaman, to devote himself to that object alone, which 64 JOHN THOMAS, ultimately led our beloved Society to their en- gagement in the present mission. His peculiar talents, his intense, though irregular spirituality, and his constant attachment to that beloved object, the conversion of the heathen, will render his memory dear as lorg as the mission endures." Carey declared that he was " one of the most affectionate and close exhorters to genuine godliness, and to a close walk with God, that could be thought of." One cannot but wish, with Mr. Lewis, that the fragrance of these and other similar utter- ances had reached him whilst his fainting spirit might have been sustained thereby. Truly a fallen world is helped up to God much more by tender and sympathetic word spoken in the ear that yet hears than by eulogistic obituary or epitaph. Something very touching is related of Mrs. Robert Burdette, who died a number of years ago in Burlington, Iowa. She was a great lov- er of flowers ; and during her protracted illness, beautiful bouquets were continually being brought her. When nigh unto death, and think- ing of the funeral rites, she knew that a profusion of flowers would be brought to her burial ; and she requested, in the spirit of her Lord, that, instead of making such use of them, they should MISSIONARY TO BKNCJAL. 65 be taken to the poor sick and siifiei ing ones of her city, for to the dead they could not minister, but to the living they might cany something of the joy and light of Cxod. Ah, if we have affection- ate words to utter and generous deeds to perform, let them be spoken and done while yet they may be of some avail. Lives greatly complained of because bearing scant fruit, would be much more noble if only friends near by showed larger sym- pathy and more i)rayerfully plied the ministry of cheer. Speak out your appreciation now, O reader, and reserve it not to be chiseled in marble. As you tread life's rugged highway, where go many who are foot-sore, it will not be amiss frequently to call up Browning's line : " A handsome word or two gives help." Or to remember, and often repeat, those lines by Milton : "Apt words have power to suage the tumors of a troubled mind, And are as balm to festered wounds." 06 JOHN THOMAS, CHAPTER VIII. FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES. ' ' That which makes head against the greatest oppo- sition, gives l>est demonstration that it is strongest." -BUNYAN'S "Old Honest." " On the whole, we make too much of faults ; the details of the business hide the real centre of It What ure faults, what are the outward details of a life, if the inner secret of it, the remorse, temptations, true, often- fcaffled, never-ended struggle of it be forgotten ? " -THOMAS CARLYLE. Thus hastily have we tried to review, and to review justly, the career of Dr. John Thomas, from birth at Fairford to burial at Dinajpoor ; but before taking our leave of him, let us dwell more in detail upon a few things which have already had passing notice. In the first place let us look at his financial record. Those who know anything of the man at all are aware that he was most always heavily in debt. Now let none speak of this as though it were a light thing. The people of God should have scrupulous care to avoid reproach because of any unfaithfulness in business transactions. The gospel is to be borne into the marts of trade through exceptionally upright dealing. MISSIONARY TO BEX(}AL. 87 What care I wliat you say, remarks Emerson, when what you do stands over my head and thunders in my ears so loud I cannot hear what you say ! But any who follow Thomas's history will observe how many things, over which he ha.' no control whatever, conspired against his finan- cial prosperity. When he was sailing as sur- geon, the officers of Indiamen were allowed to take merchandise in their vessels on their own account, and to dispose of it as they might have opportunity. Thomas, availing himself of this privilege, had gains upon his second voyage ex- ceeding £500. Kelinquishing the ship for mission work cost him quite a sum, but he thought this would be much more than made good by profits from the Indian products he sent back for the English market. But art- icles of English manufacture were introduced at home just in time to diminish the demand for what he sent thither. Hence, that which he expected would realize £2,000, brought only £924, and consequently he was thrown into em- barrassment from which he never recovered. To the end of his days he was much hampered by this loss. Had the Society relieved him be- fore he came to India as their missionary ; or, better, had he found a way of relieving himself, r 6S JOHN THOMAS, I I I ! iiis subsequent history would certainly bave taken on a brighter hue. An inquisitive stranger wanted to know cf a Christian shoemaker what was his business. The reply was : "Pointing lost souls to the Sav- iour; but I make shoes to pay expenses." The business of Thomas was tlie same ; but he had to keep to some secular calling as a means of partial support. And in every such calling to which be turned his hand he met with failure. Year after year the rains destroyed his indigo crops ; and when he went into the sugar business, some unlooked-for turn left him in penury. He went at a good many things, and would some- times have done better to have been less forward in seeking change ; but this very haste was due, in part, to eagerness to mend matters. His generous disposition, too, made further havoc of his finances. No ^n was ever more ready than he to run and minister to th(^ poor and the suffering, and upon such hs made no small expenditure. After he was bereft of support from Charles Grant, and his friends at Malda settled upon him a monthly allowance, he made a characteristic entry in his journal, viz: *'Very much enjoyed relieving the Brahman out of my ntvv salary." Had he been less kind, he would, perhaps, h ve been more kindly remembered. MISSIONARY TO BEX(}AL. 6^ Then his supposed converts took advaul^age of him. To help them out of distress, he would sometimes become responsible for them, having contidence that unto him they would prove true. Eager to do anything that would put any inta situations where they would be helped in any degree from heathenism to Christianity, he was not always prudent. In short, he was toiling for India when circumstances were decidedly more harassing th .n they were a little later. " His compassion to the poor," says Carey, *• leads him to give far beyond his ability."' Nearly a year after he left Moypaldiggy, Foun- tain wrote : " Brother T.'s removal is a great loss to this part of the country. I understand he has been thronged with patients from place to place wherever he has gone. Perhaps there never was a person in this country who has done so much in this way for the poor and needy as he has. The blessings of hundreds^ ready to perish have fallen upon him. His^ regard for them is so great that I have known him to get no sleep for a whole night when he has had a surgical operation to perform the next day. He has many qualifications which render him the fittest person for a missionary that could anywhere be found." Carey addid : " His home is constantly surrounded by the 70 JOHN THOMAS, afflicted, and che ciiies wrought by him would have gained any physician or surgeon in Europe the most extensive reputation." And the ren- dering of such services cost him outlay of money as well as of time and strength. He himself records (June 17, 1798): "I have hundreds of patients and I go on in my old way. I maintain here and there a most deplor- able object, while I am in want myself ; but it looks to me like murder to neglect those who are actually ready to perish, on any pretense whatever." Once in writing Fuller, he said : " In England the j)Oor receive the benefits of the gospel, in being fed and clothed by those who know it not, and know not by what thev are moved ; . . . but here ! Oh miserable sight ! I have found the pathways stopped up by sick and wounded people, perisliing with hunger and distress, and that in a populous neighborhood, where plenty of people pass by, some singing, others talking, but none showing any more compassion than as though they were dying weeds, and not dying men. There is such a blessedness and sweetness in giving, especially to those who have been accustomed to feel distress of their own, that I wonder that all men who are able do not indulge themselves in this pleasure." MISSIONARY TO BEXOAL. of Some people can be in debt and have very little concern about it ; but Thomas was not one of that sort Most cruel wrong is done him if it is thought that he was indifterent to the claims of creditors. Earnestly did he pray God to help him pay what he owed ; and strenuously did he labor in conformity with his petitions. Once when on the very eve of a financial success^ and when it seemed certain that an important sum would quickly come to him, he cheerfully penned the words : " It has now pleased the Lord to hear and answer my prayers, old and new, offered up ten years ago and since, that He would remember His words, ' The silver and the gold is mine,' and grant me money to pay my debts, and '".hat I may have to give to him that needoth; that T may render to every man his due, and owe no man anything." But in this, as usual, his hopes wore blasted. "No answer to prayer respecting my temporal affairs. Yet I will wait on Him, and wait for Him, and look to Him." Never, never, does this oft-disappointed man charge God foolishly ! Dwell thoughtfully upon this, O ye who murmur much under the Divine hand. 72 JOHN THOMAS, CHAPTER IX. BEGINNINGS OF THE BENGALI BIBLE. tongue. gali gi annua r; " A sublimer thought cannot be conceived than when a poor cobbler formed the resolution to give to the millions of Hindoos the Bible in their own language." -WILLIAn WILBERFORCE. When Tliomas had decided to devote himself to missionary work in India he set about at once, and earnestly, acquiring the Bengali Halhed had, in 1778, printed a Pen- but there was no Bengali diction- ary, nor were there any Bengali books to give assistance. But in Ram Basu he had a clever teacher, and in a comparatively short tima, though it meant much more for him to *' plod " than for Dr. Carey, he was preaching to the Bengalese. It was not simply in order to be able to preach to the heathen, however, that he sought to know their language. He longed to see a Bengali Bible in their hands, and he endeavored to do something to give it to them. To Fuller he wrote in the end of 1796 : " I would give a million pounds sterling, if I had it, to see a Ben- gali Bible. O most merciful God, what an in- WILLIAM CAREY. \ I I MISSIONARY TO BEN(iAL, 73 estimable blessing will it be to these nnllions I Metliiiiks all heaven and hell will be moved at the Bible's entering such a country as this. O Lord, send forth Thy light and Thy truth I " But the people were not entirely kept from reading anything out of God's Book until a whole Gospel should be translated and printed. This man who loved them, as no other one in India loved thern in those earlier days, was accustomed to write upon slips of paper, in his own admiiable Bengali caligraphy. striking Scripture texts and then to distribute them through his hungry audiences. And as the weeks and months went on he was doing what he could, amid numerous du*ies, to prepare larger portions for the printer. After he had translated the Gospel of Matthew he sought to have it put to press, but met with various hindrances therein. Then he completed the translation of Mark and the Epistle of James. During the voyage to England and back, Genesis was translated, and just after returning to India he did the Gospel of Luke. One of his objects in visiting his native land was to make arrangements for types and presses. Sorely was his soul tried by the delays in publication, but greater accuracy of translation was thereby secured. By July of 1800 the Gospel of Mat- I 74 JOHN' THOMAS, tliew was published, and this was in the main his own translation. To him there came no little joy in being able, near the close of his life, to carry about copies of this for distribution in his journeyings. On the 7th of February, 1801, two weeks after Dr. Thomas's release from the hospital, the last sheet of the Bengali New Testament was put into Dr. Carey's hands at Serampore. " When a volume had been bound, " says Dr. George Smith, " it was reverently offered to God by being placed on the Communion table of the Chapel, and the mission families and the new-made converts gathered around it with solemn thanksgiving to God. As Tyndale's version had broken the yoke of the papacy in England, Carey thus struck the first deadly blow at Brahmanism in its stronghold." But Thomas had a hand, let us remember, in giving the Bible to the Hindoos. If it was a thing so sublime for Carey to conceive and execute so much in the matter of Scripture trans- lation, what Thomas hoped and prayed for, and what he in a small measure achieved, is not altogether unworthy of mention. "The small- est thing," says John Foster, " rises into consequence when regarded as the commence- ment of what has advanced, or is advancing, into magnificence." MISSIONARY TO BEN(4AL. ii> ain no life, I in 3eks , the was pore. Dr. cl to table and with dale's icy in leadly •er, in tt was \e and trans- ir, and lis not I small- into lence- uicing, CHAPTER X. AN EVER FAITHFUL PREACHER. What meaninj the Christian life? Is It success ? or vuTgar wealth, or name ? is It a weary struggle— a mean strife For rank, low gains, ambition, or for fame ? What sow we for ? The world ? For fleeting time ? Or far>off harvests, richer, more sublime? The brightest life on earth was one of loss. The noblest head was wreathed with sharpest thorn. Has He not consecrated pain— the Cross ? What higher crown can Christian's brow adorn ? Be we content to follow on the road Which men count failure, but which leads to God." Indigo culture was no more Thomas's business than tent-making was Paul's. It was the ruling purpose of his life to direct the lost to the world's only Saviour. As a preacher of the gospel to the heathen he had remarkable power, as abundant evidence goes to show. His addresses were full of life, and very tender, so that he was gladly heard by the common people. On the 27th of February, 1788, the year Judson was bom, he preached his first seimon in Bengali. It was with wonderful tact and ability that he met and overcame the objections and opposi- tion of the natives. Once when on a journey he saw a multitude congiegating for worship of 76 JOHN THOMAS, one of the heathen gods. Coming up and making his way thiough the company, ho took an elevation near the idol, the onlooking people wondering, as he did so, what the European oould be about. Beckoning for silence, and pointing to the imagp, he said : " It has eyes" (then turning to the assembly), "but it cannot see! It has ears, — but it cannot hear! It lias a nose, — but it cannot smell ! It has hands, — but it cannot handle ! It has a mouth, — but it cannot speak ! Neither is their any breath in it ! " An oM man who was present, struck by what was so evident, ciied out : " It has feet, — but it cannot run away!" And then a universal shout arose and the faces of the priests were covered with shame. No matter what secular employment he was obliged to engage in, nor how many and wearing were other claims upon him, he found much space for preaching. " He was well understood wherever he went," says his sympa- thetic biographer, "and he so spoke in Bengali, that crowds everywhere delighted to listen to his addresses, and were often deeply moved by his pungent and affectionate appeals. In dealing with those subtle and difficult meta- physical questions which the learned or un- learned Hindoo is ever ready to propound and i MISSIONARY TO r.KN(;AL 77 to >ved In leta- un- and ' ' who nevf r argue long without a > jj discuss, ami wliich are so well adapted to blunt the edge and turn the point of ordinary exhor- tation, he showed great ability and power. Those questions, in their Bengali aspects, he was peiiiaps the tiist to encounter as a Christian evangelist ; and the ingenuity, practical good sense, and profound reverence for the divine honor which his arguments displayed, are worthy of all al mi ration by his successors. He seems to have baen singularly fitted to announce the gospel to the Hindoos, * speaking to them ly many similitudes, such as they tliem- selves use. quotation or a comparison. To press on when fruit of effort keeps issuing to view is comparatively easy ; but Dr. Thomas held to his post amidst direct discouragements. Indeed we do not every day encounter men with such unyielding faith in the ultimate tri- umph of the Cross as he had. If he did not swiftly see come to pass what he longed for, he would not on that account lie idly by and give way to complaint. He loved Jesus, and he loved the souls of th^se for whom Jesus died. He did not belong to the ranks of weaklings who run from duty at the approach of harsh criticism and censure. He was in the employ of God, and to his Employer he strove IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4^. i <5p % 1.0 iil28 |Z5 1.8 I.I L25 iU |iL6 III ^ v Vi 1 v<\^ O A, "T* V^" ^^ o 78 JOHX THOMAS, to be true to the last. Just think of the disappointments which overtook him in his ministry of love! In 1788 he was cheered by the promise of conversion given by h''s moon- shee, Ram Basu. He remembered that David Brainerd had joy among North American Indians at beholding his interpreter accept Jesus ; and he hoped the same would be done by his teacher. But Ram Basu was the first of many who promised well and turned out ill. Mohan Chand, the Brahman, disappointed him. These two he once took to (yalcutta that those who had come to be not altogether friendly to him there, might behold some fruits of his exertions. But both remained to the close unwilling to renounce caste and be baptized. Then in one named Parbati, a high-caste man, great hopes were centred. From Ram Basu and Parbati, Thomas took home to Dr. Stennett a letter appealing for missionaries to their country and for the whole Bible in their own language. And to these two, and Mohan Chand also, letters were sent back from the brethren in England. But all three were soon guilty of gross departures from rectitude, much to the sorrow of him who yearned ov^er them. Then Padma Lochan, Thomas's teacher of Sanscrit, whose translation of Joseph Grigg's hymn was MISSIONARY TO BEXOAL. It sung at Krishna's baptism, gave evidences of inward renewal ; but later on there were lack- ing satisfactory sigas of anything beyond a sur- face movement. From time to time other inquirers arose and new felicity came to the heart of him who bore to them the glad tidings. But in every case until Krishna, the preacher's high expectations were brought to the ground. And who wonders that he wrote one day : *• I am quite weary of hearing and seeing hopeful beginnings end in a hopeless manner, or near it. Yardi, like all the rest, is going ; and if ever I meet with any that distinguish themselves by inquiry, attention and seriousness, they only give me pain, where once I felt only pleasure." He elsewhere says : *' Sometimes I am not humble, nor lowly, nor meek enough to go without such thoughts as these, — Why should I preach any more, or wait any longer ] Why not go to England and sell holy ballads for my bread, rather than live in these suburbs of hell, where religion itself is as cold as death, and where Satan's seat is, visibly ? Why not go and feed with the flock of Christ in my native country, and give this work up as one which the Lord will not prosper 1 I suppose there is a good deal of flesh and blcod at the bottom of 80 JOHN THOMAS, all this. But again, I think of my adorable Master, and some of His servants, like Jeremiah, and, at a very humble distance, I follow on, determined at all events to pray and preach among them here, till I die myself. That can- not now be very long hence, for I am forty-one years of age, and I feel myself begin to change, and to lose my health, natural spirits and strength. I would therefore have you look out in time for another man to take my j)lace ; — but do not let him be such an one as I am 1 But now I am forgetting the Lord of the vine- yard. Tie will send by whom He will send j — sometimes by an angel and sometimes by an ass!" To those looking only at that which is outward it would seem that the lot of this man was wholly miserable. Yet it was not so. Hear the wav ft/ he expresses himself in one place, quite lemind- ing us of the seraphic Samuel Ruthe' *'ord : *'I have preached many a time among the Hindoos unsuccessfully : whilst at the same time 1 have enjoyed such enlarged views of the solemn truths I delivered, however undervalued by them, such liberty in expressing them, and such a clear, sweet, soul-satisfying taste of the goodness of God, and of the baseness of every other independent enjoyment, if there be an MISSIONARY TO BENGAL. 81 the ime emn by and the very Is an in(lephecies, in token -^, and in stirrings of hope in the Church. Onr children, I trust, will lice to see many churchea of Christ among the heathen." And lo 1 how largely has been fulKlled tlie long-cherished hope of sainted John Thomas, pioneer pieacher to benighted Bengalese ! " The blank interstices Men take for ruins. He will build into With pillared marbles rare, or knit across With generous arches, till the fane's complete." — E. B. Brownino. THE END. HF.RAlU PRIXTINO and PlBLISHISO Oil.. HALIFAX, X. S. li otteu of for the Bart once Oh what but one lat great long and )ecies, in 3 Church. ee many • tilled the Thomas, ese ! It ROWNiNG. X. N. S.