, /2-- 
 
 LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 FROM THE LIBH;J^Y OF 
 PROF-. WILLIAM MILLER PAXTON , DD • , L] 
 
 BV 3700 .G295 1848 
 Gardner, James, 
 Memoirs of Christian 
 missionaries 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 FEB 221912 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES; 
 
 WITH AN ESSAY ON 
 
 THE EXTENSION OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT 
 
 REY. JAMES GARDNER, A.M., M.D., 
 
 AUTHOK OF "MEMOIRS OF CHRISTIAN FEMALES," ETC. 
 
 Preach the Gospel to every creature."— Mark xvi. 15, 
 
 JOHN JOHNSTONE, 
 
 15 PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH; AND 
 
 26 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON, 
 
 M.DCCC.XLVIII, 
 
ENTERED AT STATIONERS* HALL. 
 
 edinburgh: johnstone, ballantynk, and co 
 104 h:gh stukkt. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 ESSAY ON THE EXTENSION OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT, V 
 
 REV. HENRY MARTYN, 
 
 REV. FELIX NEFF, 
 REV. JOHN ELIOT, 
 
 REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D., , 
 
 REV. JOHN CAMPBELL, 
 
 REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D., 
 
 REV. REGINALD ^11 EBER, D.D., . 
 
 REV. JOHN WILLIAMS, 
 
 REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS, . 
 
 REV. PLINY FISK, 
 
 REV. GEORGE WHITEFl ELD, A.M., 
 
 REV. J. ^ARSHMAN, D.D., 
 
 1 
 33 
 65 
 
 97 
 129 
 161 
 193 
 
 225 
 
 257 
 289 
 821 
 353 
 
ON THE 
 
 EXTENSION OF THE MISSIOMEf SPIEIT. 
 
 The ground or warrant on which the Missionary enter- 
 prise rests, is to be found in the last commission which 
 our Lord gave to his Apostles, — " Go ye into all the 
 world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." In 
 fulfilment of this command, the Church of Christ has 
 in every age felt and acknowledged it to be her incum- 
 bent duty to send forth messengers into heathen lands, 
 to announce the glad tidings of salvation through the 
 grace and mercy of the Crucified Redeemer. And 
 although the obligation to promote the cause of Missions 
 has never been openly denied by any section of the 
 Church, the energy and activity with which it has been 
 carried into operation has been widely different at dif- 
 ferent periods. It is scarcely possible to peruse atten- 
 tively the history of Christianity, without being struck 
 with the variety which has obtained in the vicAvs and 
 feelings of professing Christians in reference to the cause 
 of Missions. Amid all this apparent diversity, however, 
 one peculiarity may be uniformly observed, — that, in 
 
VI ON THE EXTENSION 
 
 proportion to the intensity of the power with which the 
 vital doctrines of the Christian system are found to 
 operate, whether in Churches or individuals, is the anxiety 
 to diffuse the knowledge of these doctrines among those 
 V who are ignorant of them. 
 
 It is on this principle that every Christian is neces- 
 sarily a friend of Missions. He has experienced the 
 blessedness, the peace and joy, connected with believing, 
 and he longs and prays that all may be made partakers 
 of the same precious grace. No sooner has the mind 
 been enlightened to a cordial belief of the truth as it is 
 in Jesus, and the heart awakened to the experience of its 
 power, than a principle of holy benevolence is summoned 
 into exercise. Andrew is called of the Redeemer, and 
 he hastens to invite his brother Simon to share in the 
 same glorious privileges which he has obtained. " I 
 have found the Messiah," is the joyful exclamation of 
 this converted Jew, and he recommends the precious 
 treasure to his unconverted brother. This is the true 
 missionary spirit, the spirit of enlarged Christian bene- 
 volence. Many are the counterfeit imitations which are 
 every day to be met with in the world, approximating 
 more or less in resemblance to this heaven-born affection, 
 but pure and lovely as its great original, it knows no 
 dwelling upon earth, save in the bosom of the pious and 
 humble disciple of that religion which not only commands 
 but inwardly constrains us to do good to all men as we 
 have opportunity. 
 
 Whenever we look around us in the world, we behold 
 the members of that great family to which we belong, 
 all bearing more or less the impress of that melancholy 
 change which sin hath wrought upon the soul. The 
 
OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. VU 
 
 whole world we inhabit is lying in wickedness; all is 
 barrenness and desolation. The curse of God harh gone 
 over the length and the breadth of onr earth, and little 
 or nothing remains of that moral order and beauty and 
 harmony which once characterized this fair portion of 
 the universe. It is cursed in its productions, for briers 
 and thorns must it bear; it is cursed in its inhabitants, 
 for cursed is every one that continueth not in all things 
 that are written in the book of the law to do them ; it 
 is cursed, in short, in its every circumstance and relation. 
 The laws and the processes of nature, it is true, still 
 preserve their wonted regularity ; the sun still arises, and 
 the rain descends; but man, ungrateful man, recognises 
 not the inexhaustible fountain whence all his blessings 
 flow. This scene of moral desolation and deformity is 
 deeply affecting to the heart of every true Christian. It 
 reminds him that he, too, was once a child of wrath even 
 as others; and while his grateful thanksgiving ascends 
 to heaven for the distinguishing mercy of his reconciled 
 Father, his earnest desire and prayer for the whole human 
 race, whom he now recognises as his brethren, is, that 
 they all may be saved. 
 
 The accomplishment of this magnificent design — the 
 salvation of a lost world — calls forth the unwearied ex- 
 ertions and persevering prayers of all who are actuated 
 by the pure benevolence of the Gospel. To preach 
 among the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ, is 
 the delightful employment reserved for those men of 
 God, who count not their lives dear unto themselves, 
 so that they may win souls to Christ, and extend the 
 boundaries of his kingdom. It is impossible to deny 
 our mead of praise to a Clarkson and a Howard; but 
 
VIU ON THE EXTENSION 
 
 what shall we say of those nobler, and purer, and more 
 devoted benefactors of our species — the Eliots, and 
 Careys, and Martyns, of the missionary cause? They 
 need not the approbation of men — their reward is on 
 high; but we know not finer exemplifications than these 
 of the pure, and lofty, and powerful benevolence of the 
 Christian faith. Under its gracious influence, their 
 minds were habitually elevated to the contemplation of 
 objects the most sublime and ennobling, their hearts were 
 set upon the fulfilment of a design the most exalted and 
 heavenly, and their whole energies, intellectual and 
 moral, were dedicated to the service and the glory of 
 their Lord and Master. 
 
 The office of a minister of Christ is a high and hon- 
 ourable one, but that of an ambassador to the heathen 
 is, if possible, still higher and more honourable. It is 
 to occupy the foremost place in the contest with the 
 powers of darkness, and he who is called to such a 
 station must expect to encounter hardships and trials of 
 a peculiar kind. But the very circumstance that he has 
 chosen to himself a post of difficulty and danger, shows 
 that he has counted the cost, and is fully prepared to 
 endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. So 
 deep is his impression of the value and importance of 
 divine truth, so vivid is his own experience of its influ- 
 ence and power in enlightening, sanctifying, and com- 
 forting the soul, that he counts no labour too great to 
 be undergone, if by any means he may be instrumental 
 in dispelling the darkness of ignorance, and superstition, 
 and debasing idolatry, which prevails upon the earth. 
 To engage in this glorious work, is the fondest, the most 
 ardent desire of his soul. " To deny me this," said an 
 
OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. IX 
 
 excellent and truly devoted American missionary, before 
 embarking for tbe scene of his labours, " would be to 
 deprive me of the greatest happiness which in this 
 world I can possibly enjoy. I would rather be a mis- 
 sionary of the Cross, than a king on a throne. Let the 
 men of this world possess its glittering toys; let the 
 miser grasp his cankered gold, let the voluptuary enjoy 
 his sordid pleasures, let the ambitious ascend he pinnacle 
 of earthly honour; but let me enjoy the sweet satisfac- 
 tion of directing the poor Pagans to the Lamb of God. 
 I court no greater good; T desire no greater joy; I ask 
 no greater honour. To Burmah would I go; in Bur- 
 mah would I live; in Burmah would I toil; in Burmah 
 would I die; and in Burmah would I be buried." 
 
 These words convey a most beautiful and impressive 
 exhibition of the missionary spirit, impelling the Chris- 
 tian to forsake his country, his friends, his worldly all, 
 and to go forth suffering all hardships, encountering all 
 difficulties, and cheerfully hazarding even life itself, at 
 the bidding of his Lord. His object is one — the ad- 
 vancement of his Master's cause; and for the promotion 
 of this one object he hves, he labours, and he dies. And 
 whence such Christian heroism, such self-devotion as 
 this? The answer is plain. It is simply because the doc- 
 trines of the Cross have acquired such an ascendency over 
 his mind and heart, that it has become with him a para- 
 mount, an all- engrossing desire to "preach the Gospel 
 to every creature." And it is in proportion as the saving 
 influence of divine truth is felt by any man that he 
 longs and prays for the communication of that truth to 
 the uttermost ends of the earth. 
 
 If these remarks be sound, it must follow as a natural 
 
X ON THE EXTENSION 
 
 consequence, that if we are sincerely desirous to promote 
 the extension of the missionary spirit, and to lead our 
 fellow-countrymen to lend their energies, their prayers, 
 their substance, to the advancement of the great and 
 good cause, we must obviously direct our whole efforts 
 towards raising the standard of Christian principle and 
 feeling among the people of our land. It is not enough 
 for the diffusion of a more intense interest in the cause 
 of Missions, that the mere profession of Christianity be 
 widely prevalent; there must be a strong, deep-seated, 
 experimental feeling of the power of Christianity as an 
 operating principle in the soul, before a Church, or even 
 an individual, will be led to make those self-denying 
 sacrifices which the Redeemer so often requires of his true 
 believing followers. Christians are called to the exalted 
 honour of being fellow- workers with him in the salvation 
 of a ruined world, and if once they are awakened to a 
 true realizing view of this their high and holy calling, 
 will they content themselves with giving out of their 
 abundance a paltry donation, or with uttering a cold 
 formal prayer that Christ's kingdom may come ? Ah, 
 no ! They themselves have experienced the blessed tran- 
 sition from death unto life; they feel that once they 
 were darkness, but now they are light in the Lord ; and 
 having tasted and seen that the Lord is gracious, their 
 contributions, their prayers, their influence, are the out- 
 ward expression of the intense spiritual feeling by which 
 they are prompted. There is a correspondence, therefore, 
 between the outward act and the inward principle. If 
 the latter^be feeble and inoperative, the former will par- 
 take of a similar aspect. The contributions to the mis- 
 sionary fund will be dolled out with a niggardly hand, 
 
OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. XI 
 
 the prayers for the success of the missionary enterprise 
 will be formal and infrequent, and all interest in the 
 glorious cause will speedily languish and die. Such is 
 the blighting influence upon missionary efforts of a low 
 state of spiritual feeling wherever it is found, whether in 
 individual believers or Christian Churches. Indifference 
 to the truth, and indifference to the diffusion of the truth, 
 invariably accompany each other; and it is not until 
 both ministers and people have been quickened to a more 
 lively and fruitful state of piety, that we can expect the 
 missionary spirit to be displayed with becoming vigour 
 and intensity in the Churches of Britain. Religion must 
 become a powerful, an all-pervading principle in the 
 hearts and in the lives of professing Christians. *' The 
 wildest enthusiasm," as Dr Paley well remarks, " is 
 more rational in religion than indifference." If the 
 Christian seeks to be conformed to his Saviour's image, 
 one feature especially will start out every day into bolder 
 relief — his love to souls; and the strength or weakness 
 of this quality forms a faithful index to the actual con- 
 dition of the spiritual man. Accordingly, it is uniformly 
 found, that wherever a revival of religion has taken place, 
 Christians have been roused to a greater anxiety than 
 they have ever before felt for the extension of the gospel 
 both at home and abroad. They are intensely desirous 
 to communicate to others those blessed truths Avhich 
 they feel so vividly to be the power of God and the 
 wisdom of God for their own salvation. 
 
 To promote the extension of the missionary spirit, the 
 ministers and members of our Churches must be awak- 
 ened to a deeper and more realizing sense of the living 
 power of religion in their own personal experience. Let 
 
Xll ON THE EXTENSION 
 
 prayer ascend continually to God for the influences of 
 his grace, that such a blessed result may be speedily and 
 extensively manifested. Were a spirit of prayer, not 
 formal, unmeaning prayer, but holy wrestling with God, 
 more prevalent in Christian congregations and families 
 the heart would be touched with a lively concern for 
 the glory of the Redeemer, and the salvation of souls. 
 Each one would feel, in somewhat of its true meaning and 
 importance, the petition — brief, but full of interest to the 
 believer — '' Thy kingdom come." The men of prayer 
 are the greatest friends of missions. To them the faith- 
 ful, laborious missionary owes a debt of the deepest gra- 
 titude; for, in answer to their prayers, he receives that 
 comfort, and support, and success, which so often refresh 
 and encourage him in his work. It is impossible to 
 estimate too highly the importance of prayer in promot- 
 ing the success of the missionary cause, and in urging 
 forward the extension of the missionary spirit. In a 
 matter which is so entirely dependent upon the blessing 
 of God, prayer cannot be abandoned, or even partially 
 restrained, without the most serious guilt being incurred 
 by the professed child of God. 
 
 And to prayer ought to be added a spirit of faith — of 
 faith in the ultimate triumph of the Gospel on the earth. 
 If the express promise hath been given, that the Son of 
 God shall have " the heathen for his inheritance, and 
 the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession," why 
 should we be slow of heart to believe? We too often 
 calculate the disparity between the means and the end; 
 and we speak and think, and even act, as if the Spirit 
 of the Lord were straitened. In cherishing such an un- 
 believing frame of mind, we are doing what we can to 
 
OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. XllI 
 
 prevent the success of the missionary enterprise, and to 
 limit the effusion of the Holj Spirit. It ought never to 
 be forgotten that the promise of God standeth sure, and 
 that the means which we employ for the accomplish- 
 ment of the promise are such as God himself hath ap- 
 pointed. To distrust him, then, is as unreasonable as it 
 is sinful. He hath declared that "the earth shall be 
 filled with the knowledge of the Lord," and that " all the 
 kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of 
 our Lord and of his Christ." To the accomplishment 
 of this, all the events and arrangements of Providence 
 have been, and still are, gradually tending. The revolu- 
 tions of empires, the overthrow of dynasties and king- 
 doms, the rapid advancement of society, the manifold 
 discoveries of the sciences and arts, — all the changes 
 and endless shiftings which we every day witness in the 
 opinions and the actions of men, are evidently hastening 
 on that glorious time when '' He shall come whose right 
 it is to rule," and " the government shall be upon His 
 shoulder." 
 
 That a spirit of faith and prayer may be widely dif- 
 fused, and that thus the missionary spirit may be power- 
 fully awakened, and kept alive, it is not only necessary 
 that Christians should strive to aim at a higher standard 
 of personal piety, but ministers should frequently, in the 
 course of their ordinary ministrations, dwell upon the 
 subject of Missions. The extension, and the ultimate 
 establishment of the Messiah's kingdom, occupies so 
 prominent a place both in the Old and New Testaments, 
 and it is so interwoven with the whole doctrines of the 
 Christian scheme, that it ought to be a theme often and 
 forcibly urged upon the attention of the hearers of the 
 
XIV ON THE EXTENSION OF THE MISSIONARY SPIRIT. 
 
 Gospel. Let them be reminded, that the religion of 
 Christ is destined to reach from sea to sea, and that it 
 is the duty and the privilege of every follower of Christ 
 to exert himself to the utmost for the attainment of this 
 blessed consummation. Let them be warned that theirs 
 is a solemn responsibility in connexion with this great 
 event, and that if they decline to aid, by their substance 
 and their prayers, in sending the Gospel to the dark 
 places of the earth, they are setting at nought their Sa- 
 viour's last command, and doing what in them lies to 
 defeat the glorious purpose for which he died. Were the 
 claims of the missionary cause thus strongly urged, not at 
 stated times merely, but urged frequently, nay, habitually, 
 as naturally rising out of almost every view which can 
 be taken of the doctrines of Christianity, the minds of 
 the people would become familiar to the duty of sup- 
 porting Missions, as equally powerful in its obligation 
 with the ordinary duties of the Christian life. It would 
 be seen and felt to be binding, not at particular and 
 seldom-recurring periods only, but at all times, and in 
 all circumstances. The zeal of the supporters of Mis- 
 sions would then rival in force and efficiency the zeal of 
 the devoted missionary himself. And the reflex influ- 
 ence of such a spirit upon the character and experience 
 of the Christians by whom it was imbibed, would be 
 powerful and well marked. In proportion as they sought 
 to impart the Gospel to others, they themselves would 
 feel its salutary and sanctifying power. 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 
 
CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES. 
 
 HENRY MARTYN. 
 
 HE^^RY Martyn was bom at Truro, in the county of 
 Cornwall, in England, on the 18th of February 178]. 
 His father had originally followed the humble occupation 
 of a miner, but by diligent attention to the acquisition of 
 knowledge, he rose from a state of poverty and depres- 
 sion to one of comparative ease and comfort, having 
 been admitted as chief clerk to a merchant in Truro. 
 Henry's education was commenced in his eighth year, 
 at the grammar school of the town, and his progress 
 appears to have been satisfactory both to his master 
 and his parents. His dispositions at this early period of 
 his life are represented to have been of a very amiable 
 cast, tender and affectionate, mild and pliant. 
 
 After having remained at school till he was between 
 fourteen and fifteen years of age, he was induced to 
 become a candidate, in the autumn of 1795, for a va- 
 cant scholarship at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In 
 the competition, however, he was unsuccessful ; and in 
 after life he adverted to his disappointment as hav- 
 ing originated in the wise arrangements of his heavenly 
 Father, who had thereby altered the whole aspect of 
 
2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 liis future history. After this repulse, Henry returned 
 home, and continued at school for two years longer. 
 At the end of that time he entered St John's College, 
 Cambridge, where he studied with the utmost ar- 
 dour and perseverance. Providentially for his spiritual 
 improvement he had the privilege of the conversat 
 and company of a religious friend at college, besi 
 enjoying the tender counsels and admonitions of a sis 
 in Cornwall, vs^ho was a Christian of a meek, heavenly, 
 and affectionate spirit. To the latter, particularly, he 
 was indebted for much instruction in that knowledge 
 which alone, by the blessing of the Spirit, " maketh wise 
 unto salvation." In speaking of her frequent conveisa- 
 tions with him on spiritual matters, he thus expresses 
 himself: — " I went home this summer, and was fre- 
 quently addressed by my dear sister on the subject of 
 religion ; but the sound of the Gospel conveyed in the 
 admonition of a sister, Avas grating to my ears.*' The 
 first result of her tender exhortations and earnest en- 
 deavours was very discouraging ; a violent conflict tool: 
 place in her brother's mind, between his conviction of ts; 
 truth of what she urged and his love of the world ; ai 
 for the present, the latter prevailed : yet pious siste.s, 
 similarly circumstanced, may learn from this case not 
 merely their duty, but from the final result, the success 
 they may anticipate from the faithful discharge of it. — 
 "I think," he observes, when afterwards reviewing ths 
 period with a spirit truly broken and contrite, " I do 
 not remember a time in which the wickedness of my 
 heart rose to a greater height, than during my stay at 
 home. The consummate selfishness and exquisite ir ^- 
 tability of my mind were displayed in rage, malice, aud 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 6 
 
 envy, In pride and vainglory, and contempt of all ; in 
 the harshest language to my sister, and even to my 
 father, if he happened to differ from my mind and will : 
 
 what an example of patience and mildness was he ! 
 
 1 love to think of his excellent c[ualities, and it is fre- 
 quently the anguish of my heart, that I ever could he 
 hase and wicked enough to pain him hy the slightest 
 neglect. my God and Father, why is not my heart 
 douhly agonized at the remembrance of all my great 
 transgressions against Thee ever since I have known 
 Thee as such ! I left my sister and father in October, 
 and him I saw no more. I promised my sister that I 
 would read the Bible for myself, but on being settled at 
 college, Newton engaged all my thoughts." 
 
 Henry's residence at college for more than two years 
 was productive of much improvement in scientific know- 
 ledge, but he still remained ignorant of those truths which 
 are infinitely superior in value to all the learning of the 
 schools. At length, however, in the providence of God, 
 his mind became deeply impressed with a sense of the 
 importance of religion. The event which seems to have 
 been instrumental in arousing him from his melancholy 
 indifference on this vitally important subject was his 
 father's death. On first receiving the heart-rending intel- 
 ligence he was almost inconsolable. His studies were 
 for a time forgotten, in the anguish of his heart. He 
 began to read his Bible, but still he felt it rather to be 
 a duty suitable to the solemn occasion, than a source 
 of relief from the poignancy of his sorrow. The Holy 
 Spirit, however, was secretly and insensibly commenc- 
 ing the good work of grace in Henry's soul. First he 
 read, then he inquired, then he prayed. " But though I 
 
4 MEMOIR OF 
 
 prayed for pardon," says he, " I had little sense of my 
 own sinfulness." Prayer was to him more a duty than 
 a craving necessity. He had not yet experienced, in 
 any degree, the plague of his own heart. He still 
 imagined that all was well with him, nay, he candidly 
 confesses, " I began to consider myself a rehgious 
 man." How earnestly and indefatigably does the great 
 enemy of souls endeavour to defeat the benevolent 
 workings of the Spirit of God ! " The strong man 
 armed" was striving to keep possession of his palace, 
 but there had already come One stronger than he, who 
 was about to dislodge him, and to convert that heart 
 which had too long been the abode of Satan, into a 
 habitation of God through the Spirit. In the midst 
 of this inward struggle, young Martyn was called to 
 engage in the public exercises of the university, and 
 while he applied himself with ardour to his mathema- 
 tical studies, he strenuously watched against the absorb- 
 ing influence of secular pursuits. Accordingly we find 
 him in after-life looking back upon this period of his 
 spiritual history, and acknowledging with gratitude that 
 " the mercy of God prevented the extinction of that 
 spark of grace which his Spirit had kindled." 
 
 It was very pleasing to his sister to perceive from his 
 letters, that a decided change had taken place in Henry's 
 views and feelings in regard to divine things. He 
 still continued to exert himself with as much ardour as 
 formerly in his studies at college, but the spirit from 
 which he now acted was essentially different. He no 
 longer counted secular knowledge the only, or even the 
 chief object of pursuit ; and though not yet twenty years 
 of age, he succeeded in carrying off the highest academical 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 5 
 
 honours. His remark on the occasion shows the moderate 
 view which he took of all earthly blessings : " I obtained 
 my highest wishes," he said, " but was surprised to find 
 I had grasped a shadow." And yet, Avith such subdued 
 feelings, he did not relax in his perseverance to attain 
 an acquaintance with the most important departments 
 of human learning ; nay, so great was his diligence, that 
 by his fellow-students he was designated " the man who 
 had not lost an hour." Christians have the strongest of 
 all motives to be industrious ; time acquires with them 
 a peculiar value, as hurrying them onward to that solemn 
 day when " we must each one of us give an account of 
 himself to God." 
 
 After having made a short visit to his friends in Corn- 
 wall, Henry returned again to Cambridge, where he 
 studied so assiduously, that in a short time he obtained 
 a fellowship in St John's College. Shortly before this, 
 he had become personally acquainted with the Rev. Mr 
 Simeon, to whose pious and affectionate instructions he, 
 in common with multitudes, felt that he owed much. 
 It was in consequence of a remark made by this honoured 
 servant of Christ, in reference to the benefit which had 
 accrued from the labours of Dr Carey in India, that 
 Martyn was first led to think of dedicating himself to 
 the missionary cause. This resolution was soon after 
 confirmed by reading the life and labours of David 
 Brainerd, whose ardent piety and apostolic exertions 
 excited in the mind of the youthful Martyn a strong 
 desire to imitate his example. At length, after serious 
 consideration of the subject in all its bearings, and ear- 
 nest prayer to the Almighty for his direction, he offered 
 himself as a missionary to the Church Missionary So- 
 
6 MEMOIR OF 
 
 clety, then called the Society for Missions to Africa and 
 the East. His feelings at this important crisis in his 
 history may be drawn from the following extract of a 
 letter, addressed at the time to his youngest sister : — 
 
 " I received your letter yesterday, and thank God for 
 the concern you manifest for my spiritual welfare. O 
 that w^e may love each other more and more in the 
 Lord ! The passages you bring from the Word of God 
 were appropriate to my case, particularly those from the 
 first Epistle of St Peter, and that to the Ephesians, 
 though I do not seem to have given you a right view of 
 my state. The dejection I sometimes labour under seems 
 not to arise from doubts of my acceptance with God, 
 though it tends to produce them ; nor from desponding 
 views of my own backwardness in the divine life, for I 
 am more prone to self-dependence and conceit, but from 
 the prospect of the difficulties I have to encounter in 
 the whole of my future life. The thought that I must 
 be unceasingly employed in the same kind of work 
 amongst poor ignorant people, is what my proud spirit 
 revolts at. To be obliged to submit to a thousand un- 
 comfortable things that must happen to me, whether as 
 a minister or a missionary, is what the flesh cannot en- 
 dure. At these times I feel neither love to God nor 
 man ; and, in proportion as these graces of the Spirit 
 languish, my besetting sins — pride, and discontent, and 
 unwillingness for every duty, make me miserable. You 
 will best enter into my views by considering those texts 
 which serve to recall me to a right aspect of things. I 
 have not that coldness in prayer you would expect, but 
 generally find myself strengthened in faith and humility 
 and love after it ; but the impression is so short. I am 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 7 
 
 ftt this time enabled to give myself, body, soul, and spirit, 
 to God, and perceive it to be my most reasonable ser- 
 vice. How it may be when the trial comes, I know 
 not, yet I will trust and not be afraid. In order to do 
 His will cheerfully, I want love for the souls of men to 
 siiffer it — I want humility — let these be the subjects of 
 your supplications for me. I am thankful to God that 
 you are so free from anxiety and care : we cannot but 
 with praise acknowledge his goodness. What does it 
 signify whether we be rich or poor, if we are sons of 
 God ? How unconscious are they of their real greatness, 
 and will be so till they find themselves in glory ! When 
 we contemplate our everlasting inheritance, it seems too 
 good to be true ; yet it is no more than is due to the 
 blood of God manifest in the flesh." 
 
 In the following year, Mr Martyn received ordination 
 to the office of the holy ministry, and commenced the ex- 
 ercise of his pastoral functions, as curate of Mr Simeon, 
 in the church of the Holy Trinity in Cambridge, under- 
 taking likewise the charge of the parish of Lolworth, a 
 small village at no great distance from the university. 
 At this place, in the very outset of his ministry, an 
 incident occurred which seems to have made a deep im- 
 pression upon his mind. An old man, who had been 
 one of his auditors, walked by the side of his horse for 
 a considerable time, warning him to reflect, that if any 
 souls perished through his neglect, their blood would 
 be required at his hand. He exhorted him to show his 
 hearers that they were perishing sinners, to be much 
 engaged in secret prayer, and to labour after an entire 
 departure from himself to Christ. " From what he said 
 on the last head," observes Mr Martyn, " it was clear 
 
8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that I had but little experience ; but I lifted my heart 
 afterwards to the Lord, that I might be fully instructed 
 in righteousness." So meekly and thankfully did this 
 young minister listen to the affectionate counsel of an 
 old disciple. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1804, Mr Martyn's 
 prospects of going abroad as a missionary were appa- 
 rently in danger of being frustrated, in consequence of 
 the unexpected loss of his little patrimony. This was 
 to his mind the more distressing, as it rendered his 
 \^ younger sister entirely dependent upon him ; and he 
 could not bear the thought of leaving her in actual dis- 
 tress when he himself, by remaining in England, might 
 alleviate or remove it. In these circumstances, he re- 
 solved to consult some of his friends, and set out for 
 that purpose to London. Exertions were in consequence 
 made to procure for him a chaplainship to the East 
 India Company, but in vain, and he returned to resume 
 his ministerial labours at Cambridge, resigned to the 
 will of God, and ambitious only to discharge present 
 duty with fidelity, " casting all his care" upon the Lord, 
 knowing well that " He cared for him." 
 
 In the interval which passed between the months of 
 February and June, he was found earnestly labouring in 
 the service of his divine Master. He preached animat- 
 ing and awakening discourses; he excited societies of 
 private Christians to " watch, quit themselves as men, 
 and be strong ;" he visited many of the poor, the afflicted, 
 and the dying ; he warned numbers of the careless and 
 profligate, — in a word, he did the work of an evangelist. 
 Often did he redeem time from study, from recreation, 
 and from the intercourse of friends, that, like his Re- 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 9 
 
 deemer, he might enter the abodes of misery, either to 
 arouse the unthinking slumberer, or to administer con- 
 solation to the dejected penitent. Many an hour did 
 he pass in an hospital or an alms-house; and often, 
 after a day of labour and fatigue, when wearied almost 
 to an extremity of endurance, he would read and pray 
 with the servant who had the care of his rooms, thus 
 making it his meat and drink, his rest as well as his 
 labour, to do the will of his heavenly Father, in con- 
 formity to the example of Christ, — 
 
 " His care was fixed 
 
 To fill his odorous lamp with deeds of light, 
 And hope that reaps not shame." 
 
 In a short time, the prospect seemed to open up to 
 him of obtaining what had been the anxious v/ish of his 
 friends — a chaplainship in the service of the East India 
 Company. Fully encouraged to expect that he would 
 not in this case be disappointed, he set out for Cornwall 
 on a visit to his friends. While there, he frequently 
 preached, and both his sisters heard him — the younger 
 with delight, and the elder with every appearance of 
 being seriously impressed. " I found," said he, referring 
 to the latter, " that she had been deeply affected, and 
 from her conversation I received great satisfaction. In 
 the evening I walked by the water-side till late, having 
 my heart full of praise to God for having given me 
 such hopes of ray sisters." At length, after having 
 withstood the most earnest entreaties of his friends to 
 remain in England, he began to make preparations for 
 finally leaving his native shore. To one possessed of 
 such tender sensibilities as Henry IMartyn, it was a trial 
 of extreme severity to bid a long, and, in all probability. 
 
1 MEJIOIR OF 
 
 a final farewell to his country and his friends. But 
 on this, as indeed on every former occasion in his life, 
 he felt that the principles and motives of Christianity 
 are sufficient to triumph over the strongest feelings and 
 the tenderest affections of the human heart. Some 
 months, however, elapsed between the last visit which 
 he paid to his friends and his final departure from 
 England. This intervening period he spent in his mi- 
 nisterial labours at Cambridge. At length the hour 
 arrived when he was summoned to embark for India. 
 His feelings on this occasion he thus describes in a letter 
 to his favourite sister, who could so well sympathize 
 with him in all his spiritual anxieties : — 
 
 " I rejoice to say, that I never had so clear a con- 
 viction of my call as at present, as far as respects the 
 inward impression. Never did I see so much the ex- 
 ceeding excellency, and glory, and sweetness of the 
 work, nor had so much the favourable testimony of my 
 own conscience, nor perceived so plainly the smile of 
 God. I am constrained to say, What am I, or what is 
 my father's house, that I should be made willing? — 
 what am I, that I should be so happy, so honoured ? " 
 In his Journal, likewise, he expresses himself to the 
 same effect : — " I felt more persuaded of my call than 
 ever; there was scarcely the shadow of a doubt left. 
 Rejoice, O my soul, thou shalt be the servant of God in 
 this life and in the next, for all the boundless ages of 
 eternity." 
 
 On the 8 th of July, Mr Marty n left London for 
 Portsmouth ; and such was the acuteness of his feelings 
 during this journey, that he fainted, and fell into a con- 
 vulsion fit at the inn where he slept on the road, a 
 
HENRY MARTYN. ] 1 
 
 painful intimation to those friends who were with him, 
 of the poignancy of the grief which he endeavoured 
 as much as possible to repress and conceal. The next 
 morning, however, he was sufficiently recovered to pro- 
 ceed, and was much refreshed in his spirits at the sight 
 of many of his brethren at Portsmouth, who had come 
 (several from a considerable distance) that they might 
 affectionately accompany him to the ship. Among these 
 was one whose presence afforded him an unexpected 
 happiness. " To be obliged to give up all hopes of your 
 accompanying me to Portsmouth," he had written a 
 short time before to Mr Simeon, " is a greater disap- 
 pointment than I can well describe. Having been led 
 to expect it, I seem to experience a painful privation. 
 However, you will not now have the pain of observing 
 in your brother a conversation and spirit unsuitable to 
 the important work on which he is going. Yet this 
 I believe, that though I have little affection towards 
 heavenly things, I have less towards every thing earthly." 
 From Mr Simeon he learnt, to his exceeding comfort, 
 that his flock at Cambridge intended on the day of his 
 departure, as far as it could be ascertained, to give 
 themselves up to fasting and prayer ; and at his hands 
 he received, with peculiar gratification, a silver com- 
 pass, sent by them as a memorial of their unfeigned 
 affection. 
 
 In setting sail, he thus describes his feeHngs in a 
 letter to Mr Simeon : — " It was a very painful mo- 
 ment to me when I awoke in the morning after you 
 left us, and found the fleet actually saihng down the 
 Channel. Though it was what I had anxiously been 
 looking forward to so long, yet the consideration of 
 
12 MEMOIR OF 
 
 being parted for ever from my friends almost overcame 
 me. My feelings were those of a man who should 
 suddenly be told, that every friend he had in the world 
 was dead. It was only by prayer for them that I could 
 be comforted ; and this was indeed a refreshment to my 
 soul, because, by meeting them at the throne of grace, 
 I seemed again to be in their society." 
 
 Unexpectedly, the vessel was forced to put back to 
 Falmouth, where Mr Martyn had an opportunity of 
 spending three weeks with his friends ; after which he 
 again embarked, and in a short time the shores of Eng- 
 land disappeared from his view. During the voyage, 
 he employed himself partly in study, and partly in 
 labouring to promote the spiritual interests both of the 
 sailors and soldiers on board ship. On reaching the 
 Cape, the following beautiful passage occurs in his 
 Journal : — 
 
 " January 30. — Rose at five, and began to ascend 
 
 Table Mountain at six, with S and M . I 
 
 went on chiefly alone. I thought of the Christian life — 
 what uphill work it is ; and yet there are streams flow- 
 ing down from the top, just as there was water coming 
 down by the Kloof, by which we ascended. Towards 
 the top it was very steep ; but the hope of being soon 
 at the summit encouraged me to ascend very lightly. 
 As the Kloof opened, a beautiful flame-coloured flower 
 appeared in a little green hollow, waving in the breeze. 
 It seemed to be an emblem of the beauty and peaceful- 
 ness of heaven, as it shall open upon the weary soul, 
 when its journey is finished, and the struggles of the 
 death-bed are over. We walked up and down the 
 whole length, which might be between two and three 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 13 
 
 miles ; and one might be said to look round the world 
 from this promontory. I felt a solemn awe at the grand 
 prospect, from which there was neither noise nor small 
 objects to draw off my attention. I reflected, especially 
 when looking at the immense expanse of sea on the 
 east, which was to carry me to India, on the certainty 
 that the name of Christ should at some period resound 
 from shore to shore. I felt commanded to wait in 
 silence, and see how God would bring his promises to 
 pass. We began to descend at half-past two. Whilst 
 sitting to rest myself, towards night, I began to reflect 
 with death-like despondency on my friendless condition. 
 Not that I wanted any of the comforts of life, but I 
 wanted those kind friends who loved me, and in whose 
 company I used to find such delights after my fatigues. 
 And then, remembering that I should never see them 
 more, I felt one of those keen pangs of misery that 
 occasionally shoot across my heart. It seemed like a 
 dream, that I had actually undergone banishment from 
 them for life ; or rather like a dream, that I had ever 
 hoped to share the enjo3"ments of social life. But, at 
 this time, I solemnly renewed my self-dedication to God, 
 praying that for his service I might receive grace to 
 spend my days in continued sufi'ering, and separation 
 from all I held most dear in this life — for ever. Amen. 
 HoAv vain and transitory are those pleasures which the 
 worldliness of my heart will ever be magnifying into 
 real good ! The rest of the evening I felt weaned from 
 the world and all its concerns, with somewhat of a 
 melancholy tranquillity." 
 
 After a voyage of nine months from the date of his 
 leaving Portsmouth, Mv Martyn's eyes were gratified 
 
14 MEMOIR OF 
 
 with a sight of India. This was to be the scene of his 
 labours ; and the very extent of the field, and the 
 apparent hopelessness of the enterprize, seem to have 
 affected his mind almost immediately on landing. " What 
 surprises me," says he, " is the change of views I have 
 here from what I had in England. There, my heart 
 expanded with hope and joy at the prospect of the speedy 
 conversion of the heathen ; but here, the sight of the 
 apparent impossibility requires a strong faith to support 
 me." 
 
 On arriving at Calcutta, Mr Martyn was hospitably 
 received into the house of the Rev. David Brown, whose 
 devoted piety and Christian worth were peculiarly re- 
 markable ; and not long after he had taken up his resi- 
 dence there, he was seized with a severe attack of fever, 
 which for some time was rather alarming. In the course 
 of this illness he was assaulted by Satan with a tempta- 
 tion by no means uncommon — that of a desire to find 
 in himself some warrant for approaching the Saviour. 
 This is a delusion by which many souls are ensnared 
 to their ruin. It is the glory of the Gospel, as a 
 scheme for the salvation of lost sinners, that Christ is 
 offered freely^ and that the only warrant for any one 
 coming to Him is to be found in the unlimited extent 
 of the Scripture invitations, — " Look unto me and be 
 ye saved, all ye ends of the earth" " Whosoever will, 
 let him come and take of the water of life freely." If, 
 then, we would come to Christ, we must come as sin- 
 ners, not looking for any thing in ourselves to recom- 
 mend us to his favour, but simply looking to Him as 
 our all and in all. Mr Martyn's feelings on this subject 
 are thus described by his own pen : — " I could derive no 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 15 
 
 comfort from reflecting on my past life. Indeed, exactly 
 in proportion as I looked for evidences of grace, I lost 
 that brokenness of spirit I wished to retain, and could 
 not lie with simplicity at the foot of the cross. I really 
 thought that I was departing this life. I began to 
 pray, as on the verge of eternity ; and the Lord was 
 pleased to break my hard heart. I lay in tears, inter- 
 ceding for the unfortunate natives of this country, think- 
 ing with myself that the most despicable soodar of India 
 was of as much value in the sight of God as the king of 
 Great Britain." 
 
 During his residence at Aldeen with Mr Brown, Mr 
 Martyn employed himself chiefly in acquiring the Hin- 
 dustani, besides preaching occasionally to his country- 
 men in Calcutta. The purity of his doctrines, as might 
 have been expected, proved offensive to many ; but, in 
 spite of all opposition, this devoted messenger of Christ 
 was determined to know nothing, in his public ministra- 
 tions, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 
 
 On the 13th of September, Mr Martyn received his 
 appointment to Dinapore. A few days before he left 
 Aldeen, several of his friends came together to his 
 pagoda, that they might unite with him in imploring 
 a blessing on his intended labours. Such a meeting 
 could not fail to be highly interesting ; and it was not 
 the less so from a recollection that the place in which 
 they were assembled had once been an idol temple, 
 and this seemed to supply a consolatory pledge, as well 
 as a significant emblem, of what all earnestly prayed 
 for, and confidently anticipated in poor idolatrous In- 
 dia. " My soul," said Mr Martyn, '^' never yet had 
 such divine enjoyment. I felt a desire to break from 
 
^ 
 
 16 MKMOIR OF 
 
 the body, and join tlie high praises of the saints above. 
 May I go in the strength of this many days. — Amen. 
 ' My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
 rejoiced in God my Saviour.' How sweet to walk with 
 Jesus, to love him, and to die for him ! ' Surely good- 
 ness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ; 
 and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.'" 
 And again, the next day, he says, — " The blessed God 
 has again visited my soul in his power, and all that was 
 within me blessed his holy name. I found my heaven 
 begun on earth. No work so sweet as that of praying, 
 and living wholly to the service of God." 
 
 On the 15th of October, after taking leave of the 
 Church at Calcutta in a farewell discourse, and of the 
 family at Aldeen in an exposition at morning w^orship, 
 Mr Martyn entered his budgerow,* which was to convey 
 him to Dinapore, and sailed up the Ganges, accom- 
 panied by his brethren, Mr Brown, Mr Corrie, and Mr 
 Parsons. Mr Marshman, seeing them pass by the 
 mission-house, could not resist joining the party ; and 
 after going a little way, left them with prayer. At night, 
 Mr Martyn prayed with his brethren in the vessel ; and 
 the next day they devoted the whole morning to reli- 
 gious exercises. " How sweet is prayer," said he, " to 
 my soul at this time. I seem as if I could never be tired, 
 not only of spiritual joys, but of spiritual employments, 
 since these are now the same." 
 
 The day after, the weather becoming tempestuous, 
 his brethren sorrowfully and reluctantly left him to pro- 
 secute his voyage alone. Before they parted, however, 
 they spent the whole morning (to use his own words) in 
 
 * A budgerow is a travelling boat, constructed like a pleasure barge. 
 
HENRY JIARTYN. 17 
 
 a divine ordinance, in which each of them read a por- 
 tion of Scripture, and all. of them sang and prayed. 
 " Mr Brown's passage, chosen from the 1 st of Joshua, 
 was very suitahle," said Mr Martyn, — " ' Have I not sent 
 thee ? ' — Let this be an answer to my fears, O my Lord, 
 that I am in thy work ; and that therefore I shall not go 
 forth at my own charges, or fight any enemies but thine. 
 It was a very affecting season to me ; but in prayer I 
 was far from a state of seriousness and affection." 
 
 At the commencement of his labours at Dinapore, 
 Mr Martyn met with considerable opposition ; but such 
 was the mild and affectionate, yet firm adherence to sound 
 principle, by which his whole conduct was characterized, 
 that he soon succeeded in gaining the esteem and the 
 confidence of those who waited upon his ministry. In 
 prosecuting his work as a missionary, he now com- 
 menced the study of the Sanscrit, besides dedicating 
 a considerable time every day to a translation of the 
 Parables into Hindustani, along with a commentary 
 upon them. Both among Europeans and natives he 
 was indefatigable in preaching the Gospel, and endea- 
 vouring to commend the truth to every man's conscience. 
 
 In the superintendence of the schools which he had 
 established, in his Sabbath duties, and in his week-day 
 labours, Mr Martyn was so incessantly occupied, that 
 his health began to yield. Still he felt unwilling to re- 
 lax in his exertions. He devoted much of his time to 
 the translation of the Scriptures into Hindustani and 
 Persian, — an employment which seems to have afforded 
 him peculiar delight. " The time fled imperceptibly," 
 he observes, " while so delightfully engaged in the trans- 
 lations ; the days seemed to have passed like a moment. 
 
 B 
 
18 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Blessed be God for some improvement in the languages! 
 May every thing be for edification in the Church ! 
 What do I not owe to the Lord, for permitting me to 
 take part in a translation of his AVord ; never did I see 
 such wonder, and wisdom, and love, in that blessed 
 book, as since I have been obliged to study every ex- 
 pression; and it is a delightful reflection, that death 
 cannot deprive us of the pleasure of studying its mys- 
 teries." 
 
 Controversies on the subject of religion with the 
 natives were of almost daily occurrence, and although 
 Mr Martyn regretted his imperfect acquaintance with 
 the language, he succeeded in so conveying his mean- 
 ing as occasionally to strike conviction into the heart. 
 His reception, indeed, among the poor ignorant Hindus 
 was far more gratifying and encouraging than among 
 the wealthy Europeans at the station, " I spoke," 
 said he, on one occasion after visiting a family of 
 rank, " several times about religion to them, but the 
 manner in which it was received damped all farther 
 attempt." What a striking illustration does tliis af- 
 ford of the truth of our Lord's saying, " How hardly 
 shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of 
 God!" 
 
 There was one, however, in whom the confiding mis- 
 sionary of the Cross imagined that he had found a 
 Christian brother, and who lived to deny the Lord that 
 bought him. The individual to whom we refer, was 
 Sabat the Arabian. This man came to Dinapore in 
 1807, and joined himself to Mr Martyn, professing to 
 have been a convert to Christianity for three years. The 
 language in which he expressed hhnself, naturally led 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 1 9 
 
 to the belief that his heart had been really touched with 
 divine grace. " If the Spirit of Christ is given to be- 
 lievers, why," said he, " am I thus after three years' be- 
 lieving ? I determine every day to keep Christ crucified 
 in sight, but soon I forget to think of him. I can 
 rejoice when I think of God's love in Christ ; but then 
 I am like a sheep that feeds happily, whilst he looks only 
 at the pasturage before him, but when he looks behind 
 and sees the lion, he cannot eat." Mr Martyn enter- 
 tained a very favourable opinion of Sabat, so that in 
 writing to Mr Brown, who had sent him from Calcutta, 
 he remarks, that " not to esteem him a monument of 
 grace and to love him, is impossible." For two years 
 Sabat assisted Mr Martyn in translating the Scriptures, 
 and although we find him often complaining of the un- 
 sanctified temper of the Arabian convert, still he never 
 seems to have doubted the reality of his conversion. 
 Yet several years after the death of Martyn, Sabat apos- 
 tatized from the faith of Christ, and published in Cal- 
 cutta a virulent attack upon the Gospel. He went out 
 from God's people, for he had never belonged to them. 
 The end of this poor man was miserable. He wandered 
 from place to place, unable to find peace for his troubled 
 soul, and in the righteous judgment of God he was cut 
 off, without having, to all human appearance, found a 
 place for repentance. " The wicked is driven away in 
 his wickedness, but the righteous hatli hope in his 
 death." 
 
 Towards the beginning of the year 1807, Mr Mar- 
 tyn completed the translation of the Book of Common 
 Prayer into Hindustani, and about the same time he 
 commenced the performance of divine worship in the 
 
20 MEMOIR OP 
 
 vernacular language of India. On the Sabbath evenings 
 he met with some of the soldiers stationed at Dinapore, 
 and engaged with them in religious exercises. Every 
 opportunity of doing good he eagerly embraced, im- 
 pressed as he was with the conviction, that it was alike 
 his duty and his privilege to work while it is called 
 to-day, seeing the night cometh when no man can work. 
 In reference to the schools, he thus writes to his valued 
 friend, Mr Corrie : — " Your schools flourish — blessed be 
 God ! The Dinapore school is resorted to from all 
 quarters, even from the other side of the river. The 
 Bankipore school is also going on well. I do not in- 
 stitute more till I see the Christian books introduced. 
 The more schools the more noise, and more inquiry ; 
 and more suspicion of its being of a political nature. 
 Besides, if all the schools were to come to a demur 
 together, I fear their deciding against us ; but if one or 
 two schools, with much thought about it, comply with 
 our wishes, it will be a precedent and example to others. 
 I think you should not dictate w^hich of their books 
 should be given, but only reserve the power of rejecting 
 amongst those which they propose. I bless God that 
 you are brought to act with me in a broad and cautious 
 plan ; but I ti-ust our motto shall be, ' constant though 
 cautious' — never ceasing to keep our attention fixed 
 steadily on the state of things, and being swift to em- 
 brace every opportunity." 
 
 While thus engaged, however, in his Master's work, 
 it pleased Him with whom all wisdom dwells, to visit 
 him with a severe trial, in the death of his eldest sister, 
 the intelligence of which affected him with the most 
 pungent sorrow. " O my heart, my heart," he ex- 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 21 
 
 claimed, " is it, can it be true, that she has been lying 
 so many months in the cold grave ! Would that I 
 could always remember it, or always forget it ; but to 
 think for a moment of other things, and then to feel the 
 remembrance of it coming, as if for the first time, rends 
 my heart asunder. When I look round upon the crea- 
 tion, and think that her eyes see it not, but have closed 
 upon it for ever, — that I lie down in my bed, but that 
 she has lain down in her grave, — oh ! is it possible ! I 
 wonder to find myself still in life, — that the same tie 
 which united us in life, has not brought death at the 
 same moment to both. O great and gracious God ! 
 what should I do without Thee ! But now thou art 
 manifesting thyself as the God of all consolation to my 
 soul ; never was I so near Thee ; I stand on the brink, 
 and long to take my flight. There is not a thing in 
 the world for which I could wish to live, except the 
 hope that it may please God to appoint me some work. 
 And how shall my soul ever be thankful enough to Thee, 
 thou most incomprehensibly glorious Saviour, Jesus ! 
 O what hast Thou done to alleviate the sorrows of life ! 
 and how great has been the mercy of God towards my 
 family, in saving us all ! How dreadful would be the 
 separation of relations in death, were it not for Jesus." 
 
 Acutely as Mr Martyn suffered under this afflicting 
 dispensation, he omitted the prosecution of his various 
 duties for only one day, devoting himself, in season 
 and out of season, to the work which his Master had 
 assigned him. It was not so much by preaching, in the 
 first instance, that he hoped to reach the hearts of the 
 natives, but by the institution of schools, and the distri- 
 bution of the Scriptures. Anxious to try the effect of 
 
22 MEMOIR OP 
 
 this mode of carrying on his missionary work, he re- 
 sisted the earnest solicitations of his friends at Calcutta, 
 who were urgent with him to accept the Mission Church 
 at the Presidency. Mr Martyn preferred the retirement 
 of Dinapore, with the hope of benefiting the natives, 
 and, therefore, though the application was made to him 
 through his much esteemed friend, Mr Brown, he 
 counted it his duty to decline the ofPer. In a short 
 time, however, his present situation was rendered much 
 less agreeable, by the removal of the only family with 
 whom he had lived on terms of Christian intimacy, and 
 to whom he had been the instrument of first imparting 
 serious impressions. And another circumstance which 
 distressed his mind not a httle, was the temporary sus- 
 pension of public worship on the Sabbath, in conse- 
 quence of the state of the weather. Application had 
 been made to the governor-general for the erection of a 
 church, and meanwhile Mr Martyn opened his own 
 house as a place of worship. No exertions were spared 
 to fulfil, as an hireling, his day ; " the early morning, 
 as well as the closing evening, found him engaged in 
 his delightful labours." At length he succeeded in ac- 
 complishing his great work, — the version of the New 
 Testament in Hindustani. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1809, Mr Martyn was 
 removed from his station at Dinapore to Cawnpore, 
 where his duties varied little from those to which he 
 had already been accustomed. It was \\ hile here that his 
 labours were blessed in the conversion of a native Hindu, 
 named Shekh Salih. This young man, who had come 
 on a visit to his father, was present on one occasion when 
 Mr Martyn was preaching to the natives. He came to 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 23 
 
 scoff, but he remained to pray. It pleased God to open 
 his eyes and to touch his heart, and he earnestly desired 
 to understand more fully the doctrines of Christianity. 
 With this view he procured a situation as a copyist 
 of Persian writings, in connection with the mission. 
 He had not revealed the state of his mind to any one, 
 but he sought in every possible way to obtain the infor- 
 mation he so much desired. A favourable opportunity 
 providentially occurred. AYhen Mr Martyn finished 
 his translation of the New Testament into Hindustani, 
 the book was given to Salih to bind. He not only 
 bound but read the book; and thus, by the divine bless- 
 ing, was he brought effectually from darkness into God's 
 marvellous light, and in course of time he became a 
 faithful minister of the Cross, and lived, laboured, and 
 died, a devoted servant of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Soon after Mr Martyn's arrival at his new station, intel- 
 ligence reached him from Europe, first of the dangerous 
 illness, then of the death of that sister who had taken so 
 deep an interest in his spiritual welfare. This threw a 
 deep gloom for a time over Mr Martyn's mind, but still he 
 persevered in labouring for souls, as one who must give 
 an account. " What is there now I should wish to live 
 for ? " w^as his language at this time. " 0, what a barren 
 desert, what a howling wilderness does this world appear. 
 But for the service of God in his Church, and the pre- 
 paration of my own soul, I do not know that I would 
 wish to live another day." To a kind friend, to whom he 
 had been long and tenderly attached, he thus writes : — 
 " Since you kindly bid me, my beloved friend, consider 
 you in the place of that dear sister, whom it has pleased 
 God to take from me, I gratefully accept the offer of a 
 
24 MEMOIR OF 
 
 correspondence, which it has ever been the anxious wish 
 of my heart to establish. Your kindness is the more 
 acceptable, because it is shown in the day of affliction. 
 Though I had heard of my dearest sister's illness, some 
 months before I received the account of her death, and 
 though the nature of her disorder was such, as left me 
 not a ray of hope, so that I was mercifully prepared for 
 the event, still the certainty of it fills me with anguish. 
 It is not that she has left me, for I never expected to see 
 her more on earth. I have no doubt of meeting her in 
 heaven, but I cannot bear to think of the pangs of dis- 
 solution she underwent, which have been unfortunately 
 detailed to me with too much particularity. Would that 
 I had never heard them, or could efface them from my 
 remembrance ! But, oh, may I learn what the Lord is 
 teaching me by these repeated strokes ! May I learn 
 meekness and resignation ! May the world always ap- 
 pear as vain as it does now, and my continuance in it as 
 short and uncertain ! How frightful is the desolation 
 which death makes ! and how appalling his visits, when 
 he enters one's family ! I would rather never have been 
 born, than be born and die, were it not for Jesus, the 
 prince of life, the resurrection and the life. How inex- 
 pressibly precious is this Saviour, when eternity seems 
 near ! I hope often to communicate with you on these 
 subjects, and in return for your kind and consolatory let- 
 ters, to send you, from time to time, accounts of myself 
 and my proceedings. Through you I can hear of all my 
 friends in the west. When I first heard of the loss I was 
 likely to suffer, and began to reflect on my own friendless 
 situation, you were much in my thoughts, Avhether you 
 would be silent on this occasion or no ? whether you 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 25 
 
 would persist in your resolution ? Friends indeed I have, 
 and brethren, blessed be God ! but two brothers cannot 
 supply the place of one sister. When month after month 
 passed away, and no letter came from you, I almost 
 abandoned the hope of ever hearing from you again. It 
 only remained to wait the result of my last application 
 through Emma. You have kindly anticipated my re- 
 quest, and I need scarcely add, are more endeared to me 
 than ever. 
 
 " Of your illness, my dearest Lydia, I had heard no- 
 thing, and it was well for me that I did not. — Yours 
 ever affectionately, H. Martyn." 
 
 He now commenced his public ministrations among 
 the heathen, preaching the Gospel to a crowd of mendi- 
 cants who assembled on a stated day before his house, 
 for the purpose of receiving alms. This motley congre- 
 gation of beggars, of all descriptions, increased to the 
 amount of even eight hundred, to whom an opportunity 
 was thus afforded Mr Martyn of preaching the glad tid- 
 ings of salvation. The subject of the first discourse which 
 he addressed to them is thus stated in his own words : — 
 " I told them (after requesting their attention) that I gave 
 with pleasure the alms I could afford, but wished to 
 give them something better, namely, eternal riches, or 
 the knowledge of God, which was to be had from God's 
 Word ; and then producing a Hindustani translation 
 of Genesis, read the first verse, and explained it word 
 by word. In the beginning, when there was nothing, 
 no heaven, no earth, but only God, he created without 
 help, for his own pleasure.— But who is God ? One so 
 great, so good, so wise, so mighty, that none can know 
 him as he ought to know ; but yet we must know that 
 
2 b' MEMOIR OF 
 
 he knows us. When we rise up, or sit down, or go 
 out, he is always with us. He created heaven and 
 earth ; therefore, every thing in heaven — sun, moon, 
 and stars. . Therefore how should the sun be God, or 
 moon be God ? Every thing on earth, therefore Ganges 
 also — therefore how should Ganges be God ? Neither 
 are they like God. If a shoemaker make a pair of 
 shoes, are the shoes like him? If a man make an 
 image, the image is not like man his maker. Infer, 
 secondly, if God made the heaven and earth for you, 
 and made the meat also for you, will he not also feed 
 you ? Know also, that he that made heaven and earth 
 can destroy them — and will do it ; therefore fear God, 
 who is so great, and love God, who is so good." 
 
 In reference to his second discourse to the beggars, he 
 says, " I did not succeed so well as before ; I suppose 
 because I had more confidence in myself and less in the 
 Lord. I fear they did not understand me well; but 
 the few sentences that were clear they applauded. 
 Speaking to them of the sea and rivers, I spoke to them 
 again of the Ganges, that it was no more than other 
 rivers. God loved the Hindus — but he loved other 
 people too ; and whatever river, or water, or other good 
 thing, he gave Hindus, he gave other people also ; for 
 all are alike before God. Ganges therefore is not to be 
 worshipped ; because, so far from being a god, it is not 
 better than other rivers. In speaking of the earth and 
 moon, as a candle in the house so is the sun," I said, 
 " in the heavens. But would I worship a candle in my 
 hand ? These were nice points ; I felt as if treading on 
 tender ground, and was almost disposed to blame myself 
 for imprudence. I thought that, amidst the silence 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 27 
 
 these remarks produced, I heard hisses and groans — 
 but a few Mahometans applauded." 
 
 In the midst of these exertions, the devoted mission- 
 ary's health began to fail. An attack of pain in the 
 chest, accompanied Avith fever and debility, excited con- 
 siderable alarm in the minds of his friends. A letter 
 from Mr Brown thus adverts to the subject : — " You 
 will know, from our inestimable brother Corrie, my soli- 
 citude about your health. If it could make you live 
 longer, I would give up any child I have, and myself 
 into the bargain. May it please the adorable unsearch- 
 able Being with whom we have to do, to lengthen 3'our 
 span ! Amidst the dead and the dying, nothing can be 
 more apparently prosperous for the Church of God, than 
 the overwhelmings now taking place in the earth. 
 Christ will find his way to the hearts of men, and there 
 will be a great company to praise him. I know not 
 why we should wish to be saved, but for this purpose ; 
 or why, but for this purpose, we should desire the con- 
 version of heathens, Turks, and infidels. To find them 
 at the feet of Jesus will be a lovely sight. Our feeble 
 voices cannot praise him much. We shall be glad to 
 see them clapping their hands and casting their crowns 
 before him ; for all in heaven and earth cannot sufii- 
 ciently praise him. I see no cause to wish for any thing 
 but the advancement of that knowledge, by which 
 there is some accession of praise to his holy and blessed 
 name. We grasp and would wish to gather all to 
 Christ, but without him we can do nothing: he will 
 gather himself to those that are his." It was with 
 extreme difficulty that he was prevailed upon to spare 
 himself; providentially, however, he obtained no small 
 
28 MEMOIR OF 
 
 assistance and relief by the arrival of his dear friend, 
 Mr Corrie, who happened to stop at Cawnpore on his 
 way to Agra. Notwithstanding this seasonable aid, Mr 
 Martyn's health became so precarious that he was recom- 
 mended either to try the effect of a sea voyage, or to 
 return to England for a short time. The latter alter- 
 native he at last, though with reluctance, resolved to 
 adopt. Still anxious, however, to carry forward his mis- 
 sionary work, he decided upon going into Arabia and 
 Persia, for the purpose of having the Persian and Arabic 
 translations of the New Testament, in the preparation of 
 which he had been long employed, revised and corrected 
 by some of the most learned men. At Shiraz, in Per- 
 sia, where he resided for some time, he excited great 
 interest by the success with which he conducted discus- 
 sions with the Moollahs and the Soofie doctors. After 
 a stay of ten months he completed the Persian New 
 Testament, and also the version of the Psalms in Per- 
 sian, — " a sweet employment," to use his own words, 
 " and which caused six weary moons that waxed and 
 waned since its commencement, to pass unnoticed." 
 
 The following extracts from his Journal may be ad- 
 duced as-specimens of the questions which Mr Martyn 
 was called to discuss, in his conversations with the Persian 
 youths :-^ 
 
 " Two young men from the college, full of zeal and 
 logic, came this morning, to try me with hard questions, 
 such as. Whether Being be one or two ? What is the 
 state and form of disembodied spirits ? and other foolish 
 and unlearned questions, ministering strife, on all which 
 I declined wasting my breath. At last, one of them, 
 who was about twenty years of age, discovered the true 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 29 
 
 cause of his coming, and asked rae bluntly to bring a 
 proof for the religion of Christ. ' You allow the divine 
 mission of Christ,' said I, ' why need I prove it ? ' Not 
 being able to draw me into an argument, they said what 
 they wished to say, namely, ' that I had no other proof 
 for the miracles of Christ than they had for those of 
 Mahomet, — which is tradition.' ' Softly,' said I, ' You 
 will be pleased to observe a difference between your 
 books and ours. When, by tradition, we have reached 
 our several books, our narrators were eye-witnesses ; 
 yours are not, nor nearly so.' In consequence of the 
 interruption these lads gave me, for they talked away a 
 long time with great intemperance, I did little to-day. 
 
 " In the evening, Seid Ali asked me ' the cause of 
 evil ? ' I said ' I knew nothing about it.' He thought 
 he could tell me, so I let him reason on, till he soon 
 found he knew as little about the matter as myself. He 
 wanted to prove that there was no real difference be- 
 tween good and evil — it was only apparent. I observed, 
 that this difference, though apparent, was the cause of 
 a great deal of real misery. 
 
 " While correcting the 5th of John, he was not a 
 little surprised at finding such an account as that of an 
 angel coming down and troubling the waters. When 
 he found that I had no way of explaining it, but was 
 obliged to understand it literally, he laughed, as if say- 
 ing, ' there are other fools in the world besides Maho- 
 metans.' I tried to lessen his contempt and incredulity 
 by saying, * that the first inquiry was, is the book from 
 God ? ' ' O, to be sure,' said he ; 'it is written in the 
 Bible ; we must believe it.* I asked him, ' whether 
 there was any thing contrary to reason in the narrative ? 
 
30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 whether it was not even possible that the salubrious 
 powers of other springs were owing to the descent of an 
 angel ? ' Lastly, I observed, ' tliat all natural agents 
 might be called the angels of God.' ' This,' said he, ' is 
 consonant to their opinions, and that, when they spoke 
 of the angels of the winds, the angel of death, &c., no- 
 thing more was meant than the cause of the winds.' " 
 
 Having finished the translation, which was the object 
 of his journey, Mr Martyn set out for Tebriz, with the 
 design of laying the work before the king of Persia ; but 
 finding that, from some informality, he could not obtain 
 an audience, he proceeded to the residence of the British 
 minister, from whom he expected to receive the necessary 
 introduction to the king. After having completed this 
 tedious journey, Mr Martyn was attacked with a severe 
 fever, which compelled him to give up all idea of pre- 
 senting the New Testament in person. The task, how- 
 ever, was handsomely undertaken by Sir Gore Ouseley. 
 It was now becoming every day more evident that a longer 
 residence in the East would prove speedily fatal to our 
 missionary ; and, accordingly, ten days after his recovery 
 from the fever, he set out on his journey homewards. 
 His design was to reach England by way of Constantino- 
 ple ; and, accompanied by a Tartar guide, whose inhuman 
 barbarity seems to have caused Mr Martyn's death, he had 
 reached no farther than Tocat, when, on the 1 6th October 
 1812, he breathed his last. The special circumstances of 
 his death are unknown, but one thing is certain, that, 
 whatever these circumstances were, he has reaped a rich 
 reward of all his labours, toils, and privations in the cause 
 of the Redeemer. " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
 vant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 
 
HENRY MARTYN. 31 
 
 Thus died one of the most eminent missionaries that 
 has ever gone forth to preach Christ among the heathen. 
 He had entered upon his work in the spirit of self-denial 
 and faith. " Even if I should never see a native con- 
 verted," he said, " God may design, by my patience and 
 continuance in the work, to encourage future mission- 
 aries." He was never permitted to see the fruit of his 
 unwearied exertions in the conversion of even one, but 
 the seed which he had so diligently sown, both in India 
 and Persia, appears to have been watered by the refresh- 
 ing dews from above, and long after he was slumbering 
 in the grave, to have grown up in many a heart, produc- 
 ing a copious harvest of fruit to the praise and glory of 
 God. Numerous instances have come to light of natives 
 in different places who owed their first impressions of 
 divine truth to the labours of the apostolic Martyn. He 
 hath gone to his rest, but the odour of his name is sweet 
 to many who love to acknowledge him, not as their in- 
 structor merely, but their spiritual father in Christ Jesus. 
 It hath been well said of him, that he hath kindled a 
 light in Persia which will never be extinguished. 
 
 " And such wert thou then, blessed servant of Jesus, 
 
 When death froze thy life-springs and wither'd thy bloom ; 
 When the tongue that proclaimed once to poor dying sinners 
 The cross of a Saviour, was laid in the tomb. 
 
 " No friend stood beside thee to soothe thy last moments, 
 To soften thy pangs, or to close thy dim eye ; 
 No hand, in that hour, cared to smooth thy sick pillow,— 
 Thy couch was the earth, and thy curtain the sky. 
 
 " No stone marks the spot where thine ashes are resting, — 
 No tear has e'er hallowed thy cold lonely grave, — 
 But the wild warring winds whistle round thy bleak dwelling, 
 And the fierce winfry torrent sweeps o'er't with its wave. 
 
32 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " But the heavenly host sung their requiems o'er thee, 
 And bore thee on high to the mansions above, 
 Where, arrayed all in white, and resplendent in glory, 
 Thou reap'st the reward of thy zeal and thy love. 
 
 " And oh ! may thy friends, as the deep sigh escapes them, 
 
 While they think that their hopes, once so bright, are all fled, 
 
 Remember with joy, thy zeal — thy devotion. 
 
 And press on with ardour, where Martyn has led." 
 
FELIX NEFF. 
 
 Felix Neff was born in the year 1798, and brought 
 up in a small village, near Geneva, under the care of 
 his vridowed mother. His early education appears to 
 have been such as reflected the highest credit upon the 
 wisdom and piety of his kind parental instructor. No 
 pains were spared to impart to his youthful mind a 
 taste for knowledge, and, above all, to impress him Avith 
 a sense of divine things. And it happens rarely, very 
 rarely, indeed, that the feelings awakened, and the prin- 
 ciples imbibed, in the house of a pious parent, are ever 
 entirely lost. On the mind of NeflP, these early impres- 
 sions appear to have been of the most salutary and last- 
 ing description. From childhood, his employments, 
 and even his very amusements, were of a rational kind. 
 With an ardent love of natural scenery, and a taste for 
 the sublime and beautiful, which the surrounding coun- 
 try tended so strongly to gratify, he delighted to wander 
 among the mountains, or along the banks of the peace- 
 ful lake. 
 
 The aspiring dispositions of young Neff led him at an 
 early age to look forward to a life of military entei-prise \ 
 c 
 
34 MEMOIR OP 
 
 and accordingly, although for a time he was employed 
 in the nursery-grounds of a florist, he exchanged his 
 peaceful profession for that of arms, and entered the 
 military service of Geneva in the year 1815. As a 
 soldier, he conducted himself to the entire satisfaction 
 of his superior officers, so that in the course of two years 
 he was promoted to the rank of serjeant of artillery. 
 By the rough discipline of the camp. Providence was 
 preparing Felix Neff for the toils and privations which 
 he was destined to undergo in the service of the Re- 
 deemer. And this fact is in beautiful accordance with 
 the mode in which the people of God are usually fitted 
 for the duties which the Almighty appoints them to 
 discharge. Both in the peaceful occupation of a florist, 
 and in the more active employment of a soldier, Neff 
 w^as gathering up precisely that kind of information, and 
 those peculiar habits, which he afterwards required. 
 
 Neff soon distinguished himself, in the corps to which 
 he belonged, both by his undaunted courage, and his 
 devoted piety. This latter quality appears to have been 
 by no means agreeable to his superior officers, who are 
 represented by his biographer as having wished him out 
 of the service, so much did they feel offended at the 
 scrupulous strictness of his conduct. At length, so 
 decided did his mind become in its preference of divine 
 things, that he was advised to quit the regiment, and 
 dedicate himself to the work of the ministry. Before 
 taking a step so important, however, he spent a consi- 
 derable part of his time in meditation and prayer, that 
 he might experience the direction of a wisdom far higher 
 than his own. And the result was, that he left the 
 army in 1819, and commenced a course of study, with 
 
FELIX NEPF. 35 
 
 a view to the sacred office. He read the Bible with 
 deep and prayerful attention, and so anxious does he 
 appear to have been to render Scripture familiar to his 
 mind, that he made a concordance of his own, and filled 
 the margins of several copies of the Old and New Tes- 
 tament with remarks and memoranda. " Some of 
 these," says Dr Gilly, "are still in the possession of 
 his friends, and are held in most affectionate estimation, 
 and are consulted as the voice of one who, being dead, 
 yet speaketh." 
 
 As a still further preparation for the practical duties 
 of the sacred office, Neff was employed for two years as 
 a catechist, or lay-helper, in the Swiss cantons of Neuf- 
 chatel, Berne, and the Pays de Vaud. This office, 
 which has been long existent in the Protestant churches 
 on the Continent, forms an excellent probationary 
 exercise for candidates for the holy ministry. And 
 we are glad to hail its introduction to a certain ex- 
 tent in our own country; and we trust that, by the 
 blessing of God, it will be the means of raising up in 
 the midst of us a number of active, and energetic, and 
 devoted pastors. Accustomed, before receiving ordina- 
 tion, to visiting families, and catechising the young, and 
 comforting the sick, and, in short, all the duties of a 
 parish, with the exception of those which peculiarly be- 
 long to an ordained ministry — young men are the better 
 prepared to enter upon the work of parochial clergymen 
 with efficiency and success. 
 
 In 1821, Neff removed Irom Switzerland, having been 
 invited to officiate as catechist to a pastor at Grenoble, 
 in France. After labouring faithfully there for six 
 months, his services were requested at Mens, in the 
 
36 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Department of the Isere, to supply, as far as possible, 
 the place of an absent pastor. Here, however, from 
 various circumstances, and, among the rest, from the 
 w^ant of sympathy in religious feeling between him and 
 the people among whom he was labouring, he felt his 
 situation by no means comfortable, so that in one of his 
 letters, written at this time, exhibiting the state of his 
 mind, we find him thus expressing himself : — " I often 
 retire to my chamber, ill at rest, and greatly dissatisfied 
 with myself. I reproach myself, on the one hand, for 
 having betrayed my sacred trust, and, on the other, for 
 being a time-server, and afraid of pressing my opportu- 
 nities." Yet, notwithstanding the complaining style in 
 which this letter is couched, the labours of Neff at this 
 time were unremitting, not confined to Mens, but ex- 
 tending to the whole department, which contained no 
 fewer than 8000 Protestants, scattered over a surface 
 of 80 miles square, with only three regular pastors, one 
 of whom was absent. In these circumstances, Nefi" was 
 employed chiefly in the work of a missionary. 
 
 The followins: case, which occurred during his residence 
 at Mens, shows that he was not labouring without evi- 
 dent tokens of the Divine countenance and approbation. 
 We relate it in his own words. 
 
 " Emilia, one of the most intelligent of my catechu- 
 mens, yet one of the most attached to the theatre, balls 
 and all other amusements, had often expressed a wish to 
 change her manner of life, and by my advice, became 
 earnest in prayer, that she might be convinced of sin, 
 and have repentance given her to everlasting life. On 
 Good Friday, in directing the meditations of my congre- 
 gation to the awful scene on Golgotha, I frequently re- 
 
FELIX NEFF. 37 
 
 peated the words, ' Go to Golgotha, and there you will 
 behold the heinous nature of our sins.' They made a 
 deep impression upon her, and filled her soul with such 
 anguish, that she expressed her regret at having ever 
 prayed to be enlightened. She remained in this state 
 till the Tuesday following, her parents and friends 
 anxiously concerned for her melancholy, but ignorant of 
 its cause. At length on her coming to me for instruc- 
 tion, I persuaded her to read some of the promises of 
 the Scriptures. She opened my Testament, at the text 
 from which I had preached : ' Except your righteousness 
 shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari- 
 sees,' &c. ' It is very true,' she said, ' and our righteous- 
 ness is even less than theirs/ ' But Paul says,' replied 
 I, ' that by the deeds of the law can no flesh be justi- 
 fied.' After showing her other passages in the Bible, 
 and speaking upon the motives for our love and grati- 
 tude ; urging the necessity of obedience, as the fruits of 
 genuine faith ; I added, ' do you think that true believ- 
 ers, who walk in the Spirit, can find pleasure in the 
 trifling allurements of the world ? ' She answered, ' No, 
 but I find pleasure in them.' Still I endeavoured to 
 impress upon her mind, that the truths of the Bible 
 should operate to make us serious, both in mind and 
 conduct. ' They have not that effect on me,' she said, 
 while tears at the same time rolled down her cheeks. 
 On her leaving me, I said to her, ' I thank God for the 
 frame of mind in which we part ; be of good courage, 
 for those who mourn shall be comforted. Our gracious 
 Lord promised to send the Comforter to his disciples in 
 their tribulation ; he may pour the same into your heart 
 also.' 
 
38 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " On the following day she said to me with a deep sigh, 
 ' I am too proud, I cannot surely be saved/ I rejoiced to 
 find she had acquired such a knowledge of her temper^ 
 and again brought to her view all the treasures of mercy 
 which are to be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. I went 
 that afternoon to la Mure, where I preached. In the 
 evening also, I dispensed the word of God to a numerous 
 congregation in la Baume, at some distance from Drac, 
 in the house of the Mayor of the parish. The inhabi- 
 tants of this small village are all Protestants ; not one 
 remained at home, but brought even their little children 
 with them ; and it is remarkable, that in this isolated 
 hamlet no sermon in the memory of man had ever been 
 preached. The day following I went to St Jean, to 
 visit a dying person, and then returned to Mens, in time 
 to give my usual instruction to my catechumens. 
 
 " My thoughts had often turned anxiously towards 
 Emilia, and my delight was unspeakable when, on see- 
 ing me, she exclaimed, ' Oh, I am so happy ! you have 
 not led me to a stern and severe Judge ; how kind and 
 good he is ; how truly he deserves the name of Saviour; 
 but how dreadful have been my convictions ; and Avhat 
 must then have been the sufferings of the Lord, who 
 drank the very dregs of this cup of misery ! Now I can 
 comprehend, in some measure, the import of his words, 
 * My soul is sorrowful even unto death.' " 
 
 But while the heart of this good man was cheered by 
 the occurrence of such cases as that of Emilia, his minis- 
 try had its seasons of discouragement as well as of joy. 
 " If at one time/' he says, " I seem to have reason to re- 
 joice at the success which attends my ministration, yet 
 at another my feelings are harrowed by disappointment, 
 
FELIX NEFF. 89 
 
 and the unconquerable prevalence of cold indifference ; 
 ■while some are enlightened by the voice of truth, others 
 shut their ears to its invitations; and again, the scorch- 
 ing sun of pleasure withers those whose roots have not 
 taken firm hold of Gospel ground. Such has been the 
 
 example of L , who, after having walked for some 
 
 time in its light, has drawn back, by the persuasions of 
 her friends. The last time she attended my instructions, 
 after she had repeated to me the promise of the Holy 
 Spirit, which our Saviour gives to his disciples, I asked 
 her whether we were the recipients of the Spirit for 
 merely an uncertain length of time. She answered, 
 ' For ever.' ' But if,' I continued, ' the Spirit be an 
 irrevocable gift, still can we not grieve Him, so that he 
 depart from us ? ' She hesitated ; and then in a voice 
 stifled by emotion, replied, ' Certainly.' ' Certainly,' I 
 repeated, ' and I fear you present us Avith a melancholy 
 example of this important truth. You have been a 
 partaker of the illumination of the Holy Ghost, you 
 have felt the burden of sin, and dread of the punishment 
 attached to it ; you have found peace and joy in believ- 
 ing, and in loving your crucified Redeemer ; and now 
 you have fallen away ! Oh ! my young friend, consider, 
 I beseech you, the consequences of your present state, 
 and remember our Saviour's words, ' Woe unto him by 
 whom the Son of man is betrayed.' ' Let us,' continued 
 I, addressing my youthful auditory, ' watch and pray, lest 
 we, too, fall into temptation.' Remember Lot's wife ! " 
 After having faithfully discharged the duties of a 
 catechist for four years, and more especially as his la- 
 bours at Mens were brought to a close by the return of 
 the pastor for whom he ofiiciated, Neff was desirous of 
 
40 MEMOIR OP 
 
 obtaining ordination to the office of the holy ministry. 
 In this, however, there was some difficulty. He was 
 unwilling to apply for ordination to the Established 
 Church of Geneva, in consequence of the unscriptural 
 doctrines held by most of its ministers; and being a 
 foreigner, he had no claim upon the Protestant Church 
 of France. In this dilemma he thought of visiting 
 England, where he had become known chiefly through 
 the medium of the Continental Society. Though quite 
 unable to speak the English language, he proceeded to 
 London in the beginning of May 1823, and was ordain- 
 ed, on the 1 9th of that month, in Mr Clayton's chapel 
 in the Poultry. 
 
 During his stay in London, Neff felt himself very 
 uncomfortable and solitary from his ignorance of the 
 language, and accordingly he lost no time in returning to 
 France, and to the scene of his former labours at Mens. 
 His reception was exceedingly gratifying. The people 
 "left their shops and their husbandry work to meet 
 him. They crowded round him, some half-stifled him 
 in their embraces, others kissed his hand, others wept 
 with joy, and all signified the sincerity of their aff'ection 
 and respect." But though urged to remain among them, 
 and to accept the office of pastor in the commune of St. 
 Sebastian, he judged it prudent to decline the request. 
 
 His aff'ections were set upon the section of the High 
 Alps. He thought he would rather be stationed there, 
 than in those places which are situated under the beau- 
 tiful sky of Languedoc. At length his wishes were 
 gratified. The elders of the Protestant Churches of 
 Val Queyras and Yal Fressiniere applied to the Con- 
 sistory in his behalf, and the consent of that body hav- 
 
FELIX NEFF. 11 
 
 ingbeen obtained, he entered, in January 1824, upon nis 
 pastoral duties. The charge assigned to this devoted 
 man of God was such as most men would have shrunk 
 from. It consisted of 1 7 or 1 8 villages, scattered over an 
 extent of nearly 80 miles in the high passes of the Alps, — 
 a region of barrenness and desolation, impassable during 
 a great part of the year from the depth of the snow. 
 Such was the scene of labour which Neif preferred to 
 the cultivated plains and fertile valleys where his lot, 
 had he so wished, might have been cast. 
 
 It was in the midst of a most inclement season that 
 Felix Neff travelled to that inhospitable region which 
 was to be the scene of his future missionary and minis- 
 terial labours. His first employment, on reaching the 
 place, was to become acquainted with every village and 
 hamlet within his extensive parish. Though in the depth 
 of winter, and exposed to the utmost severities of wind 
 and weather, he went forth in the cause of his Master, 
 preaching the glad tidings of salvation from one end of 
 the district to the other. An affecting incident which 
 occurred in one of his excursions is thus related by Dr 
 Gilly, and may give some idea of the simple character 
 of the people among whom Neff laboured. 
 
 "Neff had been performing three services in the 
 church of Dormilleuse, to a congregation which filled 
 the little sanctuary, and he was afterwards proceeding 
 towards Romas, the upper part of this mountain village, 
 followed by many of the inhabitants of that quarter, 
 who had been among his hearers. Suddenly they were 
 alarmed by some loud cries behind them. These were 
 occasioned by the sudden illness of a young woman of 
 the party, who was stretched upon the ground without 
 
42 MEMOIR OF 
 
 any signs of life. In fact, the vital spark had fled, and 
 thus a young person of twenty-six years of age, of a robust 
 frame, who had been present at the three services in 
 the course of the day, and who had been joining in the 
 psalmody with great animation but a few minutes 
 before, was now carried home a breathless corpse. The 
 consternation of her parents was extreme, for she had 
 been the only strong and healthy member of the family, 
 and the principal support of it ; but they bore their loss 
 without a murmur, and what they most lamented, was 
 the suddenness of her death, without having had time 
 to commend her soul to God. The poor mother, in 
 particular, testified the utmost submission to the blow, 
 although she had three children nearly blind, and her 
 husband was feeble and in bad health. During the two 
 nights that the corpse remained unburied, the house 
 was filled with people, who came to ofi*er their condo- 
 lence, and especially with young women. Neff em- 
 braced the opportunity of reading appropriate passages 
 of Scripture, and of pouring in such consolations and 
 admonitions as were most applicable, and exhorted 
 them to watch and pray, and to keep themselves in 
 readiness against the coming of the Lord. When the 
 time came for placing the corpse on the bier, the un- 
 happy mother repeated aloud a prayer, in French, for 
 the dying, and then all of a sudden she burst out in 
 patois — ' Alas ! my poor child had not time to utter 
 these words. Death has seized her, as the eagle snatches 
 up the lamb, as the rock falls and crushes the timid 
 kid of the chamois. Oh ! my dear Mary, the Lord has 
 taken thee at the very gate of his temple. Thy last 
 thoughts were therefore, we hope, directed towards 
 
FELIX NEFF. 43 
 
 HIra. Oil ! may He have made thy peace before the 
 throne of God, and received thee in paradise!' All 
 the inhabitants of Dormilleuse attended the melancholy 
 procession to the grave, and their pastor read the Nine- 
 tieth Psalm, as the earth closed upon the coffin, and 
 then delivered an address, which the mourners are not 
 likely to forget." 
 
 The indefatigable exertions of Neff for the spiritual 
 welfare, and even the temporal comfort of his people, 
 were truly exemplary. No opportunities were lost, no 
 labour spared, to minister to their souls the bread and 
 the water of life. Not on Sabbaths only but every day, 
 and almost every hour of the day, was this unwearied 
 missionary seen wending his way among the villages 
 and hamlets of his extensive district. Wherever he 
 went, the people gladly received him, and welcomed him 
 with the most simple and unfeigned cordiality as their 
 pastor and their friend. The cottagers, as he passed 
 along, vied with each other for the honour of having him 
 under their roof. A table was eagerly spread for him, 
 the small but neat sleeping apartment was fitted up for 
 his reception. The picture as drawn by Dr Gilly is a 
 graphic one. 
 
 " When his arrival was expected in certain hamlets, 
 whose rotation to be visited was supposed to be coming 
 round, it was beautiful to see the cottages send forth 
 their inhabitants, to watch the coming of the beloved 
 minister. ' Come, take your dinner with us,' — ' Let me 
 prepare your supper,' — ' Permit me to give up my bed 
 to you,' — were re-echoed from many a voice ; and though 
 there was nothing in the repast which denoted a feast- 
 day, yet never was festival observed with greater rejoic- 
 
44 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ing than by those, whose rye-bread and pottage were 
 shared by the pastor NeflF. Sometimes, when the old 
 people of one cabin were standing at their doors, and 
 straining their eyes to catch the first view of their ' guide 
 to heaven,' the youngsters of another were perched on 
 the summit of a rock, and stealing a prospect which 
 would afford them an earlier sight of him, and give 
 them the opportunity of offering the first invitation. 
 It was on these occasions that he obtained a perfect 
 knowledge of the people, questioning them about such 
 of their domestic concerns as he might be supposed to 
 take an interest in, as well as about their spiritual con- 
 dition, and finding where he could be useful both as a 
 secular adviser and a religious counsellor. ' Could all 
 their children read ? Did they understand what they 
 read ? Did they offer up morning and evening prayers ? 
 Had they any w\ants that he could relieve ? Any doubts 
 that he could remove ? Any afflictions wherein he could 
 be a comforter ? * 
 
 " It was thus that he was the father of his flock, and 
 master of their affections and their opinions ; and when 
 the seniors asked for his blessing, and the children took 
 hold of his hands or his knees, he felt all the fatigue of 
 his long journeys pass away, and became recruited with 
 new strength. But for the high and holy feelings which 
 sustained him, it is impossible that he could have borne 
 up against his numerous toils and exposures, even for 
 the few months in which he thus put his constitution 
 to the trial. Neither rugged paths, nor the inclement 
 weather of these Alps, which would change suddenly 
 from sunshine to rain, and from rain to sleet, and from 
 sleet to snow ; nor snow deep under foot, and obscur- 
 
FELIX NEFF. 45 
 
 ing the view when dangers lay thick on his road ; no- 
 thing of this sort deterred him from setting out, with 
 his staff in his hand, and his wallet on his back, when 
 he imagined that his duty summoned him. I have been 
 assured by those who have received him Into their 
 houses at such times, that he has come in chilly, wet, 
 and fatigued ; or exhausted by heat, and sudden transi- 
 tions from excessive heat to piercing cold, and that after 
 sitting down a few minutes, his elastic spirits would 
 seem to renovate his sinking frame, and he Avould enter 
 into discourse with all the mental vigour of one who 
 was neither weary nor languid." 
 
 In all respects Neff showed himself the father and 
 the friend of his people. He taught them to improve 
 their houses, to cultivate their lands, and extend their 
 temporal comforts as far as their peculiar circumstances 
 would admit. And the earnestness of his anxiety on 
 their behalf was met with a rich return of gratitude and 
 confidence and affection. In one district of his parish, 
 more especially, which had been in a more destitute 
 condition than the rest, he felt a lively interest. " From 
 the first moment of my arrival," says he, "I took them 
 as it were to my heart, and I ardently desired to be unto 
 them even as another Oberlin." And so he actually 
 proved. Though he found it impossible to devote 
 more than a week in each month to this half-bar- 
 barous district, a change for the better was very soon 
 apparent. Indeed, so extraordinary was the improve- 
 ment of the peasantry of the Yal Fresslnlere in social 
 manners and family comfort, no less than in agriculture, 
 as to attract the peculiar attention of strangers ; and so 
 sensible were the people themselves of the advantage 
 
46 MEMOIR OP 
 
 arising from their improved condition, tliat they looked 
 upon their pastor with the most confiding affection and 
 regard. They had received a counsellor from Heaven, 
 and these simple-hearted people appreciated the blessing. 
 
 To give something like an adequate idea of the ex- 
 tensive and varied labours to which Neff was subjected 
 in this Alpine desert, we may quote from his journal 
 the description which he gives of the country, after hav- 
 ing spent more than a year in it : — 
 
 " 1 must consider the office of pastor in the Alps, to 
 resemble that of a missionary to the heathen ; nay, in 
 some respects, it may even be a situation of greater trial, 
 since the little civilization which is found here tends 
 more to the hindrance, than furtherance of the Gospel. 
 In the whole district which I visit, I find no place so 
 much in need, both of moral and spiritual cultivation, 
 as the valley of Fressiniere. Here I have not only to 
 give them the first rudiments of knowledge, but also to 
 teach them how to build, to sow, to plant ; in short, they 
 want assistance in every thing. Most of the huts have 
 neither chimneys nor windows, and the kitchen is a 
 small, disgusting, dismal hole. The whole family, dur- 
 ing the seven winter months, inhabit one room, where 
 the air resembles a noisome fog, from the filth being 
 allowed to accumulate for a whole year. Their food 
 and clothes correspond with their dwelHngs, being ahke 
 rude and offensive. They subsist chiefly on bread made 
 of coarse, unsifted rye, which they bake only once a 
 year, in autumn ; and should the stock fail before the 
 end of the summer, they make cakes of the same ma- 
 terial, and bake them in the hot ashes, as in some Orien- 
 tal countries. The sick never have medical assistance, 
 
FELIX NEPF. 47 
 
 and they are altogether deficient in domestic remedies, not 
 knowing how to prepare either hroth or gruel. I have 
 seen them give wine and brandy to persons in a high 
 fever, when it would have been a blessing if they had 
 been rather supplied with a pitcher of water. 
 
 "Women are here, as in all uncivilized countries, 
 held in great subordination. They are seldom to be 
 seen in a sitting posture, but kneel or squat upon the 
 ground, and are not allowed either to sit or eat at the 
 same table with the men, but receive their portion of a 
 piece of bread or other coarse food in meek submission. 
 It is generally handed to them by the men over their 
 shoulders, without even deigning to turn round; and 
 the women are expected to accept it, with every sign of 
 gratitude and humility. 
 
 " One part of this valley, which is named la Combe, 
 is so surrounded by towering mountains, that for six 
 months it is never cheered by the rays of the sun. The 
 inhabitants of this hamlet were so wild when I first 
 visited them, that even the appearance of a peasant, 
 were he a stranger, would make them hide themselves 
 in their cabins ; so that I was some time before I could 
 win their confidence, and intercourse with the young 
 people was almost impossible. Notwithstanding this 
 seclusion, however, I found that they followed the mul- 
 titude to do evil, and that, as far as their circumstances 
 would permit, they were in the practice of those sins 
 which draw men down into perdition. Gaming, danc- 
 ing, swearing, disputing, quarrelling, reigned here as in 
 every other community of men. Still we should com- 
 passionate their miserable condition, since it originated 
 in part, from their forefathers having been driven by 
 
48 MEMOIR OF 
 
 persecution, to seek a refuge in these wilds, where their 
 lives were constantly exposed to the falling rocks and 
 overwhelming avalanche, 
 
 " The first winter I spent here, I could make little 
 alteration or improvement, and was obliged to he con- 
 tent with imparting as much instruction as possible to 
 all who seemed desirous of receiving it. I endeavoured 
 to teach them some of the sacred melodies, that they 
 might be able to sing in our meetings ; but they made 
 little progress. I succeeded in persuading them to let 
 me procure a schoolmaster from Cueras for the next 
 winter, who should be better able to impart the necessary 
 instruction ; they also consented to increase the remu- 
 neration ; and in the month of November I brought a 
 schoolmaster with me to Dormilleuse, and also one for 
 la Combe. I gave these young men lessons in French, 
 and in singing, hoping in this way to interest them also 
 in that true knowledge, which might make them mes- 
 sengers of the glad tidings of salvation, on their return 
 home. Another person was sent from the same motives 
 to the brethren in Trieve, and the Lord was pleased to 
 hear my prayers, that they might be made the means of 
 bestowing spiritual, as well as worldly instruction ; for 
 in the spring they all returned to their families, burning 
 with zeal to communicate the blessings of the Gospel to 
 their countrymen." 
 
 The interesting story of Mariette beautifully illustrates 
 the labours of Neff among the Roman Catholics. 
 
 " One day Neff met, at Palons, a little shepherdess of 
 twelve or thirteen years of age, whose air and language 
 struck him with surprise. In answer to his inquiries about 
 her, he was told that her name was Mariette Guyon, and 
 
FELIX NEFF. 49 
 
 that she lived in the adjacent hamlet of Punayer with her 
 grandfather and grandmother, who were Roman Catholics ; 
 that she had expressed great anxiety to be instructed in 
 the true principles of the Gospel ; and that they could 
 not attribute this desire merely to human influence, and 
 to the persuasion of Protestant acquaintances, for she 
 was not permitted to associate with Protestants. He 
 asked the child if she could read ? She burst into tears, 
 and said, ' Oh ! if they would only let me come here to 
 the Sunday school, I should soon learn, but they tell 
 me that I already know too much.' The pastor's in- 
 terest was further excited, by learning that what little 
 she knew of the difference between the religion of th<* 
 two churches, was picked up by accident, and by stealthy 
 conversation with the converts of the neighbourhood. 
 
 " After his tiirst short interview with the poor girl, he 
 remained some time without hearing any thing more of 
 her. In the interval she was deprived of all regular 
 means of improvement, but her zeal made her find out 
 a very ingenious expedient. She often kept her flock 
 near a very rocky path which descended to the valley of 
 Fressiniere, and when she saw a peasant pass, she would 
 accost him in her patois, and ask, " Where do you come 
 from ?" If he named a Catholic village, she said no 
 more, and let him pass on. If he came from a Protes- 
 tant hamlet she approached him, and put questions to 
 him, and if he displayed any zeal and knowledge of 
 the Gospel, she would keep him as long as he would 
 good naturedly remain, and treasure up all that she 
 heard from his lips. At other times she would make 
 friends with Protestant children, who were watching 
 
 D 
 
50 MEMOIR OP 
 
 their sheep or goats near her, and would beg them to 
 bring their Testaments, and read and translate to her. 
 
 " This went on until she saw that she was watched by 
 some of the Roman Catholics, and was obliged to be 
 more cautious. During the long and rigorous winter which 
 followed after NeiF first saw her, the mountains were 
 buried in snow, and the people could not go out of their 
 villages, therefore Mariette had no intercourse with those 
 "whose conversation she so much desired to cultivate. 
 Notwithstanding, her faith was strengthened and her 
 mind enlightened, and on the return of spring she posi- 
 tively refused to go to mass. In vain they attempted to 
 force her by ill-usage. Her father was then appealed 
 to, who first tried rigorous means, and then persuasion, 
 to engage her to declare from whence she obtained what 
 he called " these new ideas." She persisted in declaring 
 that God alone had put these things in her heart, and 
 expressed herself with so much meekness and solemnity, 
 in explanation of the motives by which she was actuated, 
 that her father felt constrained to say to those who 
 urged him to exert his authority, 'Who am I, to op- 
 pose myself to God ? ' But he left her still under the 
 care of her grandfather and grandmother, who continued 
 to ill-treat her, although without success." 
 
 The pastor shall now tell the continuation of the story 
 himself. " Some time after I had learnt all these par- 
 ticulars, I was going to Palons, accompanied by a young 
 man, and Madelaine Pellegrine, a most humble and 
 zealous disciple of Jesus Christ. Whilst stopping near 
 the bridge and cascade of Biaisse, which precipitates 
 itself into a deep abyss, we saw a flock of lambs, which 
 appeared to be hastily driven towards us by a young 
 
FELTX NEFF. 51 
 
 shepherdess. It was Mariette, who had recognised us 
 from a distance, and who ran to us breathless with joy. 
 She expressed in language which it is impossible to de- 
 scribe, how happy she was at meeting me. I requested 
 Madelaine to watch the flock while I conversed with 
 Mariette, She thanked me with affectionate earnest- 
 ness for the visit I had made to her father in her behalf. 
 She spoke of what she had suffered for the Gospel, in 
 a manner so Christian and so touching, that I could 
 hardly believe my eai*s, knowing that the poor child did 
 not know even the letters of the alphabet. ' It is this,' 
 she said, 'that gives me pain; the evil spirit tempts me, 
 by insinuating that I resist in vain, and that I am too 
 young and feeble to persevere ; but when I suffer most, 
 then the good God supports me, and I fear nothing. 
 They want me to make the sign of the cross ; they wish 
 to drag me to mass, and because I refuse, they beat me ; 
 and when they have beaten me for the name of Jesus 
 Christ, and see that I do not cry, but rejoice in his 
 name, then they become furious, and beat me still more; 
 but were they to kill me, I would not cry, since the 
 good God strengthens me.' 
 
 " She uttered many things equally affecting. When 
 she left me, she went to join another young shepherdess, 
 a Protestant, with whom she oftentimes kept her flock, 
 and who attended the Sunday school for both of them, 
 for she repeated to Mariette verses from the Psalms, 
 and passages from the New Testament, which she had 
 learned there. A short time afterwards, I held a re- 
 union near Punayer, which Mariette attended ; it was 
 the first time she had ever been present at Protestant 
 worship. She blessed God who had inspired her with 
 
52 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the courage to do so, and appeared most attentive to the 
 sermon and prayers, which Avere in French, though 
 most probably she was unable to comprehend more than 
 a small part of the service, not understanding any lan- 
 guage but the mountain patois. Not daring to return 
 to Punayer after this, she went to her father and con- 
 fessed to him all that had occurred. He received her 
 kindly, and took her back to her grandfather and grand- 
 mother, and strenuously forbade them to ill-treat her 
 for her religious opinions. This was something gained, 
 but not sufficient for her ; she earnestly entreated him 
 to allow her to attend the public worship ; her constant 
 prayer during the week was, that God would dispose 
 her father to grant her permission. Her prayers were 
 heard, and the Sunday following we had the joy of 
 seeing her come to our temple at Violins, a long way 
 from her home. She was received with every demon- 
 stration of joy, and a poor man of Minsas, who had 
 married an aunt of her's, promised to take her to his 
 own house, if they would trust her with him, during the 
 winter, and that he would there teach her to read, and 
 instruct her more perfectly in the truths of the Gospel. 
 
 " Mariette's perseverance triumphed over the prejudices 
 of her family. She was permitted to receive instruction, 
 and to attend the public services of the Protestant 
 Church, and her singular history having reached the 
 ears of some friends at Mens, they begged her father to 
 be allowed to take the charge of her, and her education 
 was conducted under auspices which give us every 
 reason to believe that she is now a bright ornament of 
 the community whose faith she thus embraced from the 
 strongest conviction of its purity." 
 
FELIX NEFF. 53 
 
 In the course of his labours, Neff found great difficulty 
 from the imperfect education which the young received 
 at school. He therefore resolved to endeavour as much 
 as possible to introduce an improved system of educa- 
 tion. This, however, might appear impracticable, there 
 being no schoolmasters capable of undertaking the task. 
 Every obstacle only tended the more to rouse the ener- 
 gies of Neff. He resolved to take upon himself the office 
 of schoolmaster. 
 
 Assembling the children, accordingly, in a miserable 
 stable, he plied his laborious duties with the most patient 
 and untiring assiduity. Standing in the midst of his 
 pupils he imparted his instructions in the most simple 
 style, admirably suited to the capacities of children, 
 while he himself was regarded by them, in time, with 
 the utmost veneration and respect. To relieve the 
 monotony of the exercises of the schoolroom, and to 
 infuse freshness and vigour into the hearts of the young 
 people, Neff was accustomed to give his pupils lessons 
 in music. This was found to be one of the happiest 
 expedients for breaking in upon the dulness of the or- 
 dinary lessons ; and, exhilarated by the musical interlude, 
 they returned to the graver employments with an ad- 
 ditional impulse and activity. Since the period when 
 the plan was adopted by Neff among the villages of the 
 Cottian Alps, the practice of teaching music as a branch 
 of education in schools has become prevalent in many 
 parts of the Continent, and has begun to be adopted 
 even in our own country. We anticipate no slight 
 benefit to the minds and the morals of our youth from 
 this novel expedient ; and we trust the period is not far 
 distant when a taste for music, instead of the accom- 
 
54 MEMOIR OP 
 
 plishment of a few, shall become a systematic branch of 
 a liberal education in all the academies and schools of 
 our land. 
 
 Encouraged by the success of his exertions in the 
 cause of education, Neff resolved to erect a schoolhouse. 
 The situation chosen for the building was the village of 
 Dormilleuse, and his mode of proceeding was beautiful!}' 
 characteristic of the man. The difficulties of the enter- 
 prise would have been regarded by some as insuperable, 
 and they would have shrunk from the task as one which 
 could never be accomplished. Neff, however, was not 
 to be discouraged or driven from his purpose. He had 
 set his heart upon the work, and therefore he set himself 
 to effect it with all that resolute energy of purpose for 
 which he was so remarkable. Having carefully selected 
 the spot on which the building was to be erected, and 
 having marked it out with line and plummet, he re- 
 quested each family in the village to furnish him with a 
 man who should undertake to labour under his superin- 
 tendence. The call of the devoted missionary was readily 
 responded to. He was speedily joined by a large body 
 of willing assistants, and, marching at their head, he re- 
 paired to the torrent, where they chose stones fit for the 
 projected building. The pastor, bearing one of the 
 heaviest stones upon his shoulders, led the way, and 
 toiling up the hill, followed by his fellow-workmen, they 
 deposited their burdens on the site of the intended 
 schoolhouse. In a short time the materials were pro- 
 cured, and the work went forward witli the utmost 
 alacrity ; so that, in the course of a single week from 
 the commencement of the undertaking, the walls were 
 finished, and the roof put on. The rest of the work was 
 
FELIX NEFF. 55 
 
 carried on with equal rapidity, and, in the course of a 
 very short time, Dormilleuse was provided with a school- 
 house, rivalling in comfort and accommodation buildings 
 of far greater pretensions. 
 
 Having completed the schoolroom, the indefatigable 
 pastor commenced his work as a teacher, dedicating his 
 time chiefly to the normal department of his plan, or 
 the training of schoolmasters, who might afterwards 
 conduct the education of the children on an improved 
 system. The winter of 1826-7 was accordingly spent 
 at Dormilleuse ; and such was the anxiety of Neff to 
 improve the pupils who had put themselves under his 
 care, that fourteen or fifteen hours out of the twenty -four 
 were spent in study. The spot which had been selected 
 for this experiment, was the most secluded and dreary of 
 the whole Alpine districts, and the season was remark- 
 ably severe and stormy. But nothing could chill the 
 efforts of Felix Neff. He persevered in his good work, 
 until the close of winter called for the return of the 
 little party of students to their different communes. 
 The inhabitants of Dormilleuse regretted the breaking 
 up of a society, which, though small, spread a cheerful- 
 ness throughout the secluded village. The account of the 
 parting scene is thus beautifully given by Dr Gilly : — 
 
 " On the evening before they took their leave, the 
 young men of the village prepared a supper for their 
 new friends, and invited them to the parting banquet. 
 It was a simple and a frugal repast, consisting of the 
 productions of the chase. The bold hunter contributed 
 his salted chamois, the less enterprising sportsman of the 
 mountain laid a dried marmot upon the table, and one 
 or two of the most successful rangers of the forest pro- 
 
56 MEMOIR OF 
 
 duced a bear's ham, as a farewell offering, in honour of 
 the last evening on A^aich the conversation of this in- 
 teresting group was to be enjoyed. It was at the same- 
 time a pleasing and a melancholy festival, but I do not 
 find, in the pastor's journal, that either the achievements 
 of their ancestors, who had garrisoned this rocky citadel, 
 and had repulsed numberless attempts to storm it, or the 
 exploits of the chasseurs, who had furnished the festive 
 board, formed the conversation of the evening. It seems 
 to have savoured rather of the object which originally 
 brought them together ; and when one of the party re- 
 marked, — ' What a delightful sight, to behold so many 
 young friends met together, — but it is not likely that we 
 shall ever meet together again!' the pastor took the 
 words up like a text, and enlarged upon the consolatory 
 thought, that though they might see each other's faces 
 no more in this life, they would most assuredly meet 
 again in a joyful state of existence in the world to come, 
 if they would persevere in their Christian course. He 
 then gave them a parting benediction, and, after a long 
 and mournful silence, which each seemed unwilling to 
 interrupt, either by uttering the dreaded good-bye, or 
 moving from his seat, the valedictory words and embraces 
 passed from one to another, and they separated. The 
 next morning, at an early hour, they were seen winding 
 down the mountain path to their several homes ; they 
 of Dormilleuse gazed after them till their figures were 
 lost in the distance, and the village on the rock appeared 
 more dreary and desolate than ever." 
 
 Next year they again assembled, but, through the 
 kindness of friends, in circumstances of greater comfort 
 than before. Neff, however, found that his health was 
 
FELIX NEFF. 57 
 
 gradually declining. The severe labours and privations 
 to which he had been subjected, began to prey upon a 
 constitution never remarkably robust. In the winter of 
 1827, he performed his various duties with gi-eat diffi- 
 culty. A total derangement of the digestive organs 
 had taken place, and the internal pains to which he was 
 in consequence subject, were greatly aggravated by a 
 severe accident which he had sustained in the knee. 
 When his pupils had returned at the end of the second 
 session, if we may so term it, of the normal institution, 
 Neff felt that his disorder had greatly increased, his 
 stomach had entirely lost its tone, and refused to receive 
 any thing but liquids. 
 
 It now became evident that an immediate removal 
 from the severe climate of the Alpine region was abso- 
 lutely necessary. For a time he felt very reluctant to 
 separate himself from a people among whom his labours 
 had been so signally blessed. He had been honoured of 
 God to do much for the cause of his Redeemer in that 
 remote and almost inaccessible district. By preaching, 
 visiting, catechising and instructing the young, he had 
 faithfully discharged his Master's work ; and now that 
 he was called to pause in the midst of his self-denying 
 labours, the visitation appeared to him mysterious and 
 inexplicable. When a Christian minister or missionary, 
 in the midst of youth and extensive usefulness, is sud- 
 denly withdrawn from his work and laid on a bed of 
 sickness, he is apt to feel as if some strange thing had 
 happened, as if the Almighty were deviating from the 
 ordinary course of his providence, and inflicting an 
 uncalled for, nay, he almost thinks, an unrighteous, 
 chastisement. Sucli a view of the Divine procedure, 
 
58 MEMOIR OF 
 
 however, is altogether unworthy of a child of God. It 
 displays a mind not rightly exercised, and not sufficiently 
 impressed with the delightful truth, that " whom the 
 Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son 
 whom he receiveth." True it is painful to be laid aside 
 from active service, but why should we for a moment 
 imagine that our feeble instrumentality is indispensable 
 for the accomplishment of God's work ? He can raise 
 up other instruments far more efficient than we are ; 
 nay, if it seemed right in his sight, he could work with- 
 out human instrumentality at all. And, besides, it ought 
 never to be forgotten, that we may serve God by suffer- 
 ing as well as by doing his will : 
 
 " They also serve who only stand and wait." 
 
 For a time Neff could scarcely enter into such views of 
 affliction as those to which we have now briefly advert- 
 ed ; but his mind was gradually led by the Spirit of 
 God to see that, distressing though the trial might be, 
 which he was now called to endure, still it became him 
 from the heart to say, " The cup which my Father hath 
 given me shall I not drink it ? " " It is the Lord, let 
 him do what seemeth to him good." Accordingly, after 
 travelling over the greater number of the villages to 
 bid an affectionate farewell to his flock, he set out for 
 Geneva, with the view of deriving benefit, if possible, 
 from his native air. The relief from his sufferings, 
 which he rather hoped for than expected, was partially 
 granted. Taking advantage of intervals of apparent res- 
 toration to health, he uniformly exerted himself in some 
 pious work, which most frequently led to a relapse. 
 As a last resource, he was advised to try the effect of 
 
FELIX NEFF. 59 
 
 mineral waters, and accordingly he resided for some 
 time at Plombieres. AYhile there, he preached regularly 
 to the Protestants of the place. Having experienced a 
 considerable revival of his strength, he returned to Ge- 
 neva. On his arrival there, however, he began gradu- 
 ally to droop. His spirits failed him, his body became 
 emaciated, and it was but too evident to his friends that 
 his stay on earth would be short. " It was most heart- 
 rending," said a spectator of his sufferings, " to behold 
 him, thus pale and emaciated, his large eyes beaming 
 with an expression of fortitude and pain ; covered, from 
 head to foot, with four or five woollen garments, which 
 he was obliged to change frequently ; submitting, in 
 silence, and with the greatest calmness, to the applica- 
 tion of the moxas,* a painful operation, which was con- 
 stantly repeated ; suffering the pangs of hunger ; count- 
 ing the hours, and at last venturing to take something, 
 then waiting with anxiety till the food, such as it was, 
 should digest, and thus passing all his days and nights 
 during a long succession of relapses, and of physical pros- 
 tration, which we sometimes looked upon as a relief." 
 
 Even in the utmost extremities of his distress, his 
 Alpine flock dwelt much upon his mind. He was now 
 quite aware that his labours among them were for ever 
 come to a close. Still, even on his death-bed, he press- 
 ed upon them, by letter, the precious truths which he 
 had been privileged to urge upon them from the pulpit. 
 And when unable to write, he employed his mother as 
 amanuensis, to whom he dictated two letters, addressed 
 to his beloved flock. Though unable, for want of room, 
 
 * An Indian or Chinese moss, used in the cure of some disorders, 
 by burning it ou the part affected. 
 
60 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to insert either of these beautiful and impressive letters, 
 we cannot refrain from presenting our readers with an 
 extract of the touching reply of the simple peasants of 
 the Alpine valleys, to a letter which had been sent to 
 prepare them for the mournful tidings which his friends 
 would too soon be called to communicate. 
 
 " It is we, it is we, who are the cause of your long 
 illness. Had we been more ready to listen to you, you 
 would not have had occasion to fatigue yourself in the 
 deep snow, nor to exhaust your lungs, and all the powers 
 of your body. Oh, how much pain has it cost you 
 to teach us : like our good Saviour, you forgot yourself 
 for our sakes. Dear pastor, sensible of the affection 
 you have always manifested towards us, we desire, with 
 all our hearts, to be useful to you. We can say, with 
 truth, that if our lives could be of service to you, we 
 would give them, and then we should not be doing 
 more for you than you have done for us. May the 
 Lord bless you, and grant you patience in this long trial. 
 May He shower upon you a thousand benedictions 
 from on high, and recompense you for all the pains you 
 have taken with us ! Your reward is in heaven : an 
 immortal crown awaits you. We will conclude by en- 
 treating your prayers in our behalf; unworthy as we 
 are, we do not forget you in ours. Every family, with- 
 out exception, from the heights of Romas to the foot 
 of the Influs, salutes you, and you will see the names 
 of some of them in this letter. We are your unworthy, 
 but entirely devoted brothers." 
 
 The closing scene was now fast approaching — it was 
 in complete harmony with the whole course of his life. 
 *' Tell me not how the man died," was once the saying 
 
FELIX NEFF. 6 I 
 
 of a pious minister, " but teH me how he Hved." We 
 have seen " how hohly, and justly, and unblameablj," 
 Fehx Neff spent his laborious and useful life. Let us 
 attend him in his dying moments, and listen with devout 
 eagerness to the latest aspirations of this man of God. 
 
 "' We had the satisfaction," said a narrator of the 
 dying scene, " of being much with him towards the close 
 of his painful career, and we never heard a murmur 
 escape from his lips. He was grateful for the affec- 
 tion shown towards him, and returned it abundantly. 
 Often, after our poor services, he threw his arms round 
 our necks, embraced us, thanked us, and exhorted us 
 with all his soul to devote ourselves to God. ' Believe 
 my experience,' said he, ' He only is your sure trust. 
 He only is truly to be loved. If you should one day be 
 employed in the preaching of the Gospel, take heed not 
 to work to be seen of men. Oh, with how many things 
 of this kind do I reproach myself! My life, which 
 appears to some to have been well employed, has not 
 been a quarter s » nuch so as it might have been ! How 
 much precious time have I lost ! ' He accused himself 
 of unfaithfulness in the employment of his time, and 
 of having been vain-glorious : he, whose labours were 
 scarcely known to a few friends ! who had refused to 
 marry, that his heart might be entirely devoted to his 
 Master, and whose ardent charity for his fellow-creatures 
 had brought him, at the age of thirty-one, to his bed of 
 death ! Knowing his love for sacred music, we fre- 
 quently assembled in a room near his own, and sung, in 
 an under tone, verses of his favourite hymns, and a 
 paraphrase on the thirty-first chapter of Jeremiah, which 
 he had himself composed. This singing filled his soul 
 
62 MEMOIR OF 
 
 with a thousand feelings and recollections, and affected 
 him so much, that we were obliged to discontinue it, 
 though he did not see us, and he heard us hut faintly. 
 
 " About a fortnight before his death, he looked on a 
 mirror, and discovering unequivocal signs of dissolution 
 in his countenance, he gave utterance to his joy : ' Oh, 
 yes ! soon, soon I shall be going to my God ! ' From 
 that time he took no more care of himself: his door 
 was open to all, and the last hours of the missionary 
 became a powerful mission. His chamber was never 
 empty, he had a word for every one, until he was ex- 
 hausted by it. In the full enjoyment of all his mental 
 faculties, every thing was present to his memory : the 
 most trivial circumstances, even conversations which 
 he had held many years previously, and he made use of 
 them with extraordinary energy in his exhortations. 
 On his mother's account only did he show the least in- 
 quietude : old, feeble, and devoted to him, she could 
 not restrain her tears. Before her, he assumed a firm- 
 ness which amounted even to reproach; then, when 
 she left him, no longer able to refrain from weeping 
 himself, his eyes followed her with tenderness, and he 
 would exclaim, ' My poor mother ! ' 
 
 " He made presents to his friends, and set apart some 
 religious books for many persons to whom he still 
 hoped to be useful; after having underlined several 
 passages, he thus wrote the address : — ' Felix Neff, dying, 
 to .' 
 
 " We shall have an indelible recollection of the last 
 letter that he wrote ; it was a few days before his death. 
 He was supported by two persons, and, hardly able to 
 see, he traced at intervals, and in large and irregular 
 
FELIX NEFF. 63 
 
 characters which filled a page, the lines which follow, 
 addressed to some of his beloved friends in the Alps. 
 What must have been the feelings of those who received 
 them, with the persuasion that he who had traced them 
 was no more ! 
 
 " ' Adieu, dear friend, Andre Blanc, Antoine Blanc, 
 all my friends the Pellissiers, whom I love tenderly ; 
 Francis Dumont and his wife ; Isaac and his wife ; be- 
 loved Deslois, Emilie Bonet, &c., &c. ; Alexandrine and 
 her mother ; all, all the brethren and sisters of Mens, 
 adieu, adieu. I ascend to our Father in entire peace ! 
 Victory ! victory ! victory ! through Jesus Christ. 
 
 ' Felix Neff.' 
 
 " The last night of his life, we and some other per- 
 sons remained to sit up with him. Never shall we for- 
 get those hours of anguish, so well called the ' valley of 
 the shadow of death.' It was necessary to attend to 
 him constantly, and to hold him in his convulsive strug- 
 gles ; to support his fainting head in our arms, to wipe 
 the cold drops from his forehead, to bend or to straighten 
 his stiffened limbs ; the centre of his body only retained 
 any warmth. For a short time he seemed to be choking, 
 and we dared not give him any thing. A few words of 
 Scripture were read to him, but he did not appear to 
 hear. Once only, when some one was lamenting to see 
 him suffer so much, and said, ' poor Neff,' he raised his 
 head for an instant, fixed his large eyes full of affection 
 upon his friend, and again closed them. During the 
 long night of agony we could only pray and support him. 
 In the morning, the fresh air having a little revived him, 
 he made a sign that he should be carried to a higher 
 bed ; they placed him on this bed in a sitting posture, 
 
64 MEMOIR OF FELIX NEFF. 
 
 and the struggles of death began. For four hours we 
 saw his eyes raised to heaven ; each breath, that escaped 
 from his panting bosom, seemed accompanied with a 
 prayer ; and at that awful period, when the heaviness of 
 death was upon him, in the ardent expression of his 
 supplication he appeared more animated than any of us. 
 We stood around him weeping, and almost murmuring 
 at the duration of his sufferings, but the power of his 
 faith was so visible in his countenance, that our faith, 
 too, was restored by it ; it seemed as though we could 
 see his soul hovering on his lips, impatient for eternity. 
 At last we so well understood what his vehement desire 
 was, that with one impulse we all exclaimed, — ' Come 
 Lord Jesus, come quickly.' 
 
 "Two days afterwards (his death took place 12th 
 of April 1829) we accompanied his remains to the 
 tomb. Over his resting-place were read some beauti- 
 ful verses of that Word which shall never pass away. 
 We then prayed, and in compliance with his wish, his 
 numerous friends, who were assembled at the grave, 
 sang together those lines of M. Vinet, of which the 
 stanzas conclude thus : — 
 
 ' They are not lost but gone before.' " 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 
 
 Little Is known of the early life of this truly apostolic 
 missionary ; he appears to have been a native of England, 
 born in the year 1 604. The religious education of his 
 infant years must have engaged much of the attention 
 of his parents, who sought to train him up in the fear of 
 the Lord. The obligation which lies upon parents to 
 train up their children in the nurture and admonition of 
 the Lord, is readily admitted by every true Christian. 
 But, however deeply the responsibility is felt, it is often 
 difficult to devise the system of instruction which shall 
 be best adapted for the accomplishment of an object 
 so desirable. And the difficulty is felt to be all the 
 greater, the younger the children are. Thus it too 
 often happens that the earliest years of the child, and 
 those, therefore, in which the heart is most easily 
 reached, and most deeply and lastingly impressed, are 
 permitted to pass away without the communication of 
 religious knowledge, or the infusion of religious prin- 
 ciples. Nor is this culpable neglect to be charged only 
 upon the ignorant and unrenewed. They have never 
 themselves experienced the value of religion, and it is 
 
 E 
 
6G me:moir of 
 
 scarcely to be expected that tliey should be ardently 
 desirous for the relijrious welfare of their children. But 
 even in Christian households, where the Word of God 
 is held in the highest estimation, the younger branches 
 of the family are, in too many instances, permitted to 
 pass several years of their early childhood without the 
 slightest effort being made to impress the heart with the 
 awful realities of God, the soul, and eternity. Should 
 the friendly remonstrance be offered, the reply starts 
 readily to the lips, " Ah ! Sir, these children are too 
 young to learn any thing." Too young I They are not 
 too young to learn many things of which the unthinking 
 parents are little aware. The melancholy truth is, that 
 all the while these very children, though only, perhaps, 
 two or three years of age, are busily engaged in laying 
 in a stock of knowledge, and imbibing a mass of prin- 
 ciples, which go to form the elements of the future 
 character. It is from the habits, and principles, and 
 dispositions of childhood, that the whole aspect of our 
 future history takes its origin. " Men are but children 
 of a larger growth." As they were in their early days, 
 so in the great essentials of character do they continue 
 to extreme old age. Hence the high importance which 
 ought ever to attach to the instruction and the training 
 of even " the puling infant in its nurse's arms." It was 
 the high privilege of John Eliot to be imbued from his 
 early childhood with those pure principles which cha- 
 racterized his future life. 
 
 "When he had finished the elementary branches of 
 education, young Eliot was sent to the University of 
 Cambridge, where he prosecuted his studies with great 
 success. On leaving the University, he obtained a 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 67 
 
 situation as usher of a school at Little Baddow, superin- 
 tended hy Thomas Hooker, who afterwards became one 
 of the most distinguished divines of New England. It 
 was while at Little Baddow that Mr Eliot experienced 
 a decided change in his whole sentiments and feelings. 
 Looking back upon the precious benefits he had enjoyed 
 while residing there, he thus wrote : — " To this place I 
 was called through the infinite riches of God's mercy in 
 Christ Jesus to my poor soul, for here the Lord said 
 unto my dead soul. Live, and through the grace of God 
 I do live, and shall live for ever." An interest in Christ 
 and his salvation was now with him the one thing need- 
 ful ; and so deeply impressed did his mind become with 
 the importance of religion, that he counted it his duty to 
 devote himself to the work of preaching the Gospel to 
 his fellow-men. But as he felt that the views which 
 he entertained were such as would not then be tolerated 
 in the Church of England, he resolved to set out for 
 America ; and, accordingly, he embarked for New 
 England in the summer of 16*31, and arrived at Boston 
 in November of the same year. 
 
 Before leaving his native country, Mr Eliot had 
 agreed vvdth a number of his Christian friends who in- 
 tended to cross the Atlantic, that in the event of their 
 doing so previous to his settlement over any other con- 
 gregation, he would become their pastor. This engage- 
 ment he afterwards fulfilled. On their arrival in New 
 England they planted a colony about a mile from Bos- 
 ton, erected a town which they called Roxbury, and 
 formed themselves into a church, of which Mr Eliot Avas 
 appointed minister. In the discharge of his pastoral 
 duties he was remarkably conscientious and faithful, 
 
6S MEMOIR OF 
 
 SO that he was at once respected and beloved by his 
 people. " He would sound the trumpet of God," says Dr 
 Mather, " against all vice, with a most penetrating liveli- 
 ness, and make his pulpit another Mount Sinai, for the 
 flashes of lightning therein displayed against the breaches 
 of the law given from that burning mountain. There 
 was usually a special fervour in the rebukes which he 
 bestowed on carnality. When he was to brand the 
 earthly-mindedness of church members, and the alloAV- 
 ance and indulgence which they often gave themselves 
 in sensual delights, he was a right Boanerges — he spoke 
 as many thunderbolts as words." 
 
 In the education of the young Mr Eliot took a par- 
 ticular delight, establishing schools, superintending them 
 when formed, and composing catechisms of elementary 
 instruction. When he entered a house, he was accus- 
 tomed to call for the young people, that he might lay his 
 hands on them, and bless them. " I cannot forget the 
 ardour," says Dr Mather, " with which I once heard 
 him pray at a Synod held in Boston, ' Lord, for schools 
 everywhere among us ! That our schools may flourish ! 
 That every member of this assembly may go home to 
 procure a good school to be encouraged in the town 
 where he lives ! That before w^e die we may be happy 
 to see a good school established in every part of the 
 country!'" Such was the benevolent spirit by which 
 this pious man was actuated In his endeavours to bene- 
 fit the community to which he belonged. 
 
 The first settlers in New England were placed in cir- 
 cumstances of peculiar difficulty, which called for their 
 utmost exertions to procure a sufficient temporal sub- 
 sistence, and at the same time to promote their spiritual 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. G9 
 
 improvement and edification. While thus struggling, 
 however, for their own preservation, they were by no 
 means regardless of the poor ignorant savages by whom 
 they were surrounded, and whom they saw perishing for 
 lack of knowledge. In their benevolent endeavours to 
 instruct them, they were not a little encouraged by an 
 act passed by the General Court of Massachusetts in 
 1646, tending to facilitate the propagation of the Gospel 
 among the Indians. It appeared that about the time 
 when this act was passed, Mr Eliot's mind was deeply 
 affected with the deplorable condition of these ignorant 
 heathens ; and at length, after much consultation with 
 his brethren, and earnest prayer for the Divine direction, 
 he resolved to dedicate himself to the work of a mis- 
 sionary among them. To qualify himself for this im- 
 portant task he lost no time in availing himself of every 
 means of acquiring their language ; and such was his 
 success, that in a very short time he was able to address 
 them in their own tongue. The motives by which he 
 was actuated in this work, and the mode in which he 
 commenced his labours, are thus stated by himself: — 
 " God first put into my heart a compassion over their 
 poor souls, and a desire to teach them to know Christ, 
 and to bring them into his kingdom. Then presently I 
 found out, by God's wise providence, a clever-witted 
 young man, who had been a servant in an English 
 house, who pretty well understood our language, better 
 than he could speak it, and well understood his own 
 language, and had a clear pronunciation ; him I made 
 my interpreter. By his help I translated the Command- 
 ments, the Lord's Prayer, and many texts of Scripture ; 
 also I compiled both exhortations and prayers by his 
 
70 MEMOIR OF 
 
 help. I diligently marked the difference of their gram- 
 mar from our's. When I found the way of them, I 
 would pursue a word, a noun, a verb, through all varia- 
 tions I could think of: and thus I came at it." 
 
 The place at which he preached his first sermon to 
 the Indians was situated about four miles from his 
 house, at Roxbury ; and when he approached it, he was 
 met by Waban, " a wise and grave Indian," and several 
 of his friends, who conducted him to a large wigwam, 
 where he had an opportunity of proclaiming the Gospel 
 to a considerable number of poor Indians. The account 
 of this first interview is thus given by Mr Eliot : — 
 
 " Being all assembled, we began with prayer ; which 
 now was in English, we being not so far acquainted with 
 the Indian language, as to express our hearts therein 
 before God or them. We hope to be able to do this 
 ere long ; the Indians desiring it, that they also may 
 know how to pray : but we begun thus in a tongue un- 
 known to them ; partly to let them know that the duty 
 of prayer was serious and sacred ; and partly for our 
 own sakes, that we might the more fully agree together 
 in the same request and heart-sorrows for them, even 
 in that place where God was never wont to be called 
 upon. 
 
 " When prayer was ended, it was an affecting and yet 
 glorious spectacle, to see a company of perishing and 
 forlorn outcasts diligently attending to the blessed word 
 of salvation then delivered, and professing that they un- 
 derstood all that was then taught them in their own 
 tongue. For about an hour and a quarter the sermon 
 continued ; wherein one of our company ran through all 
 the principal matters of religion, beginning first with a 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 71 
 
 repetition of the Ten Commandments, and a brief explica- 
 tion of them ; then showing the curse and dreadful wrath 
 of God against all those who break them, or any one of 
 them, or the least tittle of them ; and so applying the 
 whole unto the condition of the Indians then present, 
 with much affection. He then preached Jesus Christ 
 to them, as the only means of recovery from sin, and 
 wrath, and eternal death : he explained to them who 
 Christ was, and whither he was gone, and how he will 
 one day come again to judge the world. He spake to 
 them of the blessed state of all those who believe in Christ, 
 and know him feelingly ; he spake to them also, observ- 
 ing his own method, as he saw most fit, to edify them, 
 concerning the creation and the fall of man, the greatness 
 of God, the joys of heaven, and the horrors of hell ; and 
 urging them to repentance for several known sins wherein 
 they live. On many things of the like nature he dis- 
 coursed ; not meddling with matters more difficult, until 
 they had tasted more plain and familiar truths. 
 
 " Having thus in a set discourse famiharly opened the 
 principal matters of salvation to them, we next proposed 
 certain questions, to see what they would say to them ; 
 that so we might screw, by variety of means, something 
 or other of God into them. But, before we did this, we 
 asked them if they understood all that which was already 
 spoken ; and whether all of them in the wigwam did 
 understand, or only some few. They answered to this 
 question, with a multitude of voices, that they all of them 
 understood all that which was spoken to them. 
 
 " We then desired to know of them if they would 
 propose any question to us for the more clear under- 
 standing of what was delivered. Whereupon several of 
 
72 MEMOIR OF 
 
 them propounded presently several questions, to which 
 we think some special wisdom of God directed them. 
 
 " One asked, ' How may we come to know Jesus 
 Christ?' 
 
 " We answered, that if they were able to read our 
 Bible, the book of God, therein they would see most 
 clearly who Jesus Christ was. But since they could 
 not yet read that book, we wished them to meditate on 
 what they had now heard out of God's book ; and to do 
 this much and often, both when they lay down on their 
 mats in their wigwams, and when they rose up and went 
 alone into the fields and woods : so God would teach 
 them ; and especially if they used a third help, which 
 was prayer to God. We told them, that, although they 
 could not make long prayers, as we English could, yet if 
 they did but sigh and groan, and say thus — ' Lord, make 
 me to know Jesus Christ, for I know him not,' — and 
 if they did say so again and again with their hearts, that 
 God would teach them to know Jesus Christ: because he 
 is a God that will be found of them that seek him with 
 all their hearts, and hears the prayers of all men, Indian 
 as well as English ; and that Englishmen themselves did 
 by this means come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
 And we advised them, as a farther help, to confess their 
 sins and ignorance unto God ; and to acknowledge how 
 justly God might deny them the knowledge of Christ, 
 because of their sins. 
 
 " These things were spol^en by him who had preached 
 to them in their own language, — borrowing, now and 
 then, some small helps from the interpreter whom we 
 had brought with us, and who could oftentimes express 
 our minds more distinctly than we could ourselves; 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 73 
 
 but this we perceived, that a few words from the 
 preacher were more regarded than many from the In- 
 dian interpreter. 
 
 " One of them, after this answer, replied to us that he 
 was a little while since praying in his wigwam unto 
 God and Jesus Christ, that God would give him a good 
 heart ; and that, while he was praying, one of his fellow 
 Indians interrupted him, and told him, that he prayed 
 in vain, because Jesus Christ understood not what In- 
 dians speak in prayer, because she had been used to hear 
 Englishmen pray, and so could well enough understand 
 them, but with Indian language in prayer he thought he 
 was not acquainted, but was a stranger to it, and there- 
 fore could not understand them. His question therefore 
 w^as, whether Jesus Christ did understand, or God did 
 understand, Indian prayers. 
 
 " This question sounding just like themselves, we 
 studied to give as familiar an answer as we could, and 
 therefore in this, as in all our other answers, w^e en- 
 deavoured to speak nothing without clearing of it up by 
 some familiar similitude. Our answer summarily was 
 therefore this : that Jesus Christ, and God by him, 
 made all things ; and makes all men, not only English 
 but Indian men ; and, if he made them both, then he 
 knew all that was within man and came from man, all 
 his desires, and all his thoughts, and all his speeches, 
 and so all his prayers; and if he made Indian men, 
 then he knows all Indian prayers also. We bade them 
 look upon that Indian basket that was before them ; 
 there were black and white straws, and many other 
 things of which they made it. Now, though others who 
 made not the basket, did not know what those things 
 
7-1 MEMOIR OF 
 
 were, yet he that made it must needs tell all the things 
 in it : so, we said, it was here." 
 
 The second meeting with the Indians was still more 
 interesting, and during the concluding prayer, an event 
 occurred which is well worth mentioning. " I cast my 
 eye on one," says one of Mr Eliot's friends, " who was 
 hanging down his head weeping. He held up his head 
 for a while, — yet such was the power of the word on his 
 heart, that he hung down his head again, and covered 
 his eyes, and so fell wiping and wiping of them, weeping 
 abundantly, continuing thus till prayer was ended ; after 
 which he presently turns from us, and turns his face to 
 a side and corner of the wigwam, and there falls a weep- 
 ing more abundantly by himself; which one of us per- 
 ceiving, went to him, and spake to him encouraging 
 words, at the hearing of which he fell a weeping more 
 and more ; so leaving of him, he who spake to him came 
 unto me, being newly gone out of the wigwam, and told 
 me of his tears ; so we resolved to go again both of us 
 to him, and speak to him again. We met him coming 
 out of the wigwam, and there we spake again to hira, 
 and he there fell into a more abundant renewed weep- 
 ing, like one deeply and inwardly affected indeed, which 
 forced us also to such bowels of compassion, that we 
 could not forbear weeping over him also, — and so we 
 parted, greatly rejoicing for such sorrowing.' " 
 
 Before the third interview with them, Mr Eliot found 
 that the Powahs or Indian priests had strictly forbidden 
 the people to listen to the instructions of the English. 
 The interference, however, of these wicked impostors 
 was of no avail. The people still flocked to hear the 
 devoted missionary, and many of them expressed a wish 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 7i) 
 
 to have tlieir children put under his care, that they 
 might be educated in the knowledge of Christianity. 
 Encouraged by the success which thus attended his la- 
 bours, Mr Eliot applied to the General Court of the 
 colony in behalf of those who wished to be placed under 
 his tuition. His application was successful : land was 
 granted that they might build a town and enjoy the 
 Christian instruction which they so much desired. From 
 that hour civilization commenced among the Indians. 
 A town was erected, surrounded by a stone wall, and 
 containing a great number of neat comfortable wigwams. 
 The women learned to spin ; the men were instructed 
 in husbandry and the more simple mechanical arts ; and, 
 in short, the wdiole settlement assumed an aspect of 
 industry and activity. 
 
 The following letter exhibits, in a striking light, the 
 self-denying character of this man of God, and his lively 
 faith in the divine promises : — 
 
 " God is greatly to be adored in all his providences, 
 and hath, evermore, wise and holy ends to accomplish, 
 w^hich we are not aware of ; and, therefore, although he 
 may seem to cross our ends with disappointments, after 
 all our pains and expectations, yet he hath farther and 
 better thoughts than we can reach unto, which will 
 cause us to admire his love and wisdom, when we see 
 them accomplished. He is gracious to accept of our 
 sincere labours for his name, though he disappoint them 
 in our way, and frustrate our expectations in our time ; 
 yea, he will fulfil our expectations in his way, and in 
 his time, which shall finally appear, to the eye of faith, 
 a better way than ours, and a fitter time than ours ; — 
 his wisdom is infinite. 
 
76 MEMOIR OP 
 
 " The Lord still smileth on his work among the In- 
 dians. Through his help that strengtheneth me, I cease 
 not, in my poor measure, to instruct them ; and I do 
 see that they profit and grow in the knowledge of the 
 truth, and some of them to the love of it, which ap- 
 peareth by a ready obedience to it. 
 
 " The present work of the Lord that is to be done 
 among them, is to gather them together from their 
 scattered kind of life, — first into civil society, then into 
 ecclesiastical. In the spring that is past, they were very 
 desirous to have been upon that work, and to have 
 planted corn in the place intended ; but I did dissuade 
 them, because I hoped for tools and means from Eng- 
 land, whereby to prosecute the work this summer. 
 When ships came, and no supply, you may easily think 
 what a damping it was ; and truly my heart smote me, 
 that I had looked too much at man and means, in 
 stopping their earnest affections from that bar which 
 proved a blank. I began without any such respect, and 
 I thought that the Lord would have me so to go on, 
 and only look to him whose work it is. When I had 
 thus looked up to the Lord, I advised with our elders, 
 and some others of our church, whose hearts consented 
 with me. Then I advised with divers of the elders at 
 Boston lecture, and Mr Cotton's answer was, ' My 
 heart saith. Go on, and look to the Lord only for help : * 
 the rest also concurred. So I commended it to our 
 church, and we sought God in a day of fasting and 
 prayer, and have been ever since doing according to our 
 abilities. This I account a favour of God, that on that 
 very night, before we came from our place of meeting, 
 we had notice of a ship from England, whereby I re- 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 77 
 
 celved letters and some encouragement in the work from 
 private friends, — a mercy which God had in store, but 
 unknown to some, and so contrived by the Lord that I 
 should receive it as the fruit of prayer. 
 
 " The place also is of God*s providing, as a fruit of 
 prayer ; for when I, with some that went with me, had 
 rode to a place of some hopeful expectation, it was in 
 no wise suitable. I went behind a rock, and looked to 
 the Lord, and committed the matter to him ; and while 
 I was travelling in woods, Christian friends were in 
 prayer at home ; and so it was, that though one of our 
 company fell sick in the woods, and we were forced 
 home with speed, yet, in the way home, the Indians in 
 our company, upon inquiry, describing a place to me, 
 and guiding us over some part of it, the Lord did, both 
 by his providence then, and afterwards, by more dili- 
 gent search of the place, discover that there it was his 
 pleasure we should begin the work. When grass was 
 fit to be cut, I sent some Indians to mow, and others to 
 make some hay at the place. This work was performed 
 well, as I found when I went up with my man to order 
 it. "We must also of necessity have a house in which to 
 lodge, meet, and lay up oiu- provisions and clothes ; I 
 set them therefore to fell and square timber for a house ; 
 when it was ready, I went, and many of them with me, 
 and on their shoulders carried all the timber together, 
 &c. These things they cheerfully do, but I pay them 
 wages carefully for all such works as I set them about, 
 which is a good encouragement to labour. 
 
 " It cannot but appear there is some work of God 
 upon their hearts, which doth carry them through all 
 these snares ; and if, upon some competent time of ex- 
 
/ O MEMOIR OP 
 
 perience, we shall find them to grow in knowledge of 
 the principles of religion, and to love the ways of the 
 Lord the better, according as they come to understand 
 them, and to yield obedience to them, and submit to this 
 great change, to bridle lust by laws of chastity, and to 
 mortify idleness by labour, — and desire to train up their 
 children accordingly ; — I say, if we shall see these things 
 in some measure in them, what should hinder charity 
 from hoping that there is grace in their hearts, — a spark 
 kindled by the word and Spirit of God, which shall 
 never be quenched ; and were these indwelling within 
 them, who could gainsay their gathering together into a 
 holy church covenant and election of officers ; and who 
 can forbid them to be baptized ? And I am persuaded 
 there be sundry such among them, whom the Lord will 
 vouchsafe so far to favour, and to shine upon, that they 
 may become a church and a spouse of Jesus Christ. 
 
 " The blessing of God upon this work doth comfort- 
 ably, hopefully, and successfully appear in the labours of 
 my brother Mayhew, in Martha's vineyard ; insomuch 
 that I hope they will be, after a while, ripe for this work 
 of civilization, and dwelling together, if once they see 
 a successful pattern of it. I doubt not but they will, 
 ere long, desire church-fellowship, and the ordinances of 
 God's worship. The cloud increaseth, and the Lord 
 seemeth to be coming in among them. They are very 
 desirous to have their children taught, which is one 
 argument that they truly love the knowledge of God. 
 I have entreated a woman, living near where they dwell, 
 to do that office for their children, and I pay her for it ; 
 but when they go to their plantation we shall be in a 
 strait for help that Avay. The Indians so well like the 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 79 
 
 persons who perform that service for them, that they 
 entreat them to go with them, Avhich I look at as a 
 linger of God. If the Lord please to prosper our poor 
 heginnings, my purpose is, so far as the Lord shall enable 
 me, to give attendance to the work, to have school 
 exercises for all the men, by daily instructing of them 
 to read and write, &c. Yea, if the Lord afford us fit 
 instruments, my desire is that all the women may be 
 taught to read. I know the matter will be difficult 
 every way, for English people can only teach them to 
 read English, — and for their own language we have no 
 book. My desire, therefore, is to teach them all to write, 
 and read written hand, and thereby, with pains- taking, 
 they may have some of the Scriptures in their own lan- 
 guage. I have one already who can write, so that I can 
 read his writing well, and he can read mine. I hope 
 the Lord will both enlarge his understanding, and enable 
 others to do as he doth. If once I had some of them- 
 selves able to write and read, it might farther the work 
 exceedingly, and will be the speediest way. — Yours, in 
 our Lord Jesus, John Eliot/' 
 
 Mr Eliot's exertions were promptly seconded by the 
 local government, who passed several acts for the fur- 
 ther improvement and civilization of the Indians. The 
 change in consequence soon became apparent, even to 
 the most careless observer. Mr Whitefield, who paid a 
 visit to the town which these Indians had reared, was 
 particularly struck with astonishment at their appear- 
 ance, and declared that, from their correct behaviour 
 and decent clothing, he could scarcely distinguish them 
 from the English people. 
 
 Nor were the beneficial effects of Mr Eliot's labours 
 
80 MEMOIR OP 
 
 limited to the settlements where they were first begun. 
 The Indians in various parts of the country were anxious 
 to enjoy the same advantages. The work of Christiani- 
 zation and civilization went hand in hand, and so rapidly 
 did the desire for instruction spread, that the missionary 
 found it difficult, even with the assistance of some con- 
 verted Indians, to comply with the numerous invitations 
 which poured in upon him from all quarters, to come 
 and communicate the glad tidings to various tribes of 
 Indians. And in scarcely a single instance was the invi- 
 tation mat!e in vain. The indefatigable Eliot wandered 
 from place to place, scattering the seed of divine truth 
 with unsparing hand. " I have not been dry night nor 
 day," he writes, " from the third day of the week to the 
 sixth, but have travelled from place to place in that 
 condition ; and at night I pull off my boots, wring my 
 stockings, and on with them again, and so continue. 
 The rivers also were raised so as that we were wet in 
 riding through. But God steps in and helps me. I 
 have considered the exhortation of Paul to his son 
 Timothy, ' Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ,' with many other such like meditations." 
 
 Animated by the pure motives of the Gospel, he bold- 
 ly encountered the manifold hardships and difficulties, 
 and even dangers to which he was exposed ; but in the 
 spirit of his great Master, he counted not his life dear 
 unto himself that he might accomplish the benevolent 
 mission which he had undertaken. Intelligence of the 
 wonderful success which everywhere attended his exer- 
 tions soon crossed the Atlantic, and attracted considerable 
 attention in England. Parliament was induced to take 
 the matter under consideration, and an act was passed 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 8l 
 
 encouraging the evangelizing of the Indians, and sup- 
 porting those engaged in the work. Large sums of 
 money were in consequence collected in England, under 
 the authority of the Commissioners appointed by Par- 
 liament. For these benevolent exertions on the part of 
 his countrymen, Mr Eliot was particularly grateful, and 
 he conveyed his obligations to them in terms of the 
 warmest affection. 
 
 Encouraged by the kindness and liberality of his 
 friends in England, he made application to them in be- 
 half of the schools which he was anxious to establish. 
 Necessity alone compelled him to take this step. " I 
 have not means of my own," he said ; " I have a family 
 of many children to educate ; and therefore I cannot 
 give over my ministry in our church, whereby my 
 family is sustained, to attend the Indians, to whom I 
 give, and of whom I receive nothing." The instruc- 
 tion of the young, and the translation of the Scriptures 
 into the Indian language, appear to have been the great 
 objects upon which he had set his heart. But he was 
 not inattentive to the temporal comfort of the poor In- 
 dians. Desirous of instructing them in the arts of 
 civihzed life, he submitted to his friends a proposal about 
 sending mechanics from England for that purpose. In 
 suggesting this plan, the ultimate object which Mr Eliot 
 had in view Avas to erect a town, in which the Indians 
 belonging to the settlement might live comfortably. He 
 thus speaks in a letter, dated November 12, 1648, of 
 his success and his discouragements : — 
 
 " The work of preaching to these poor Indians goeth 
 on, not without success. It is the Lord only who doth 
 
82 MEMOIR OP 
 
 speak to the hearts of men, and he can speak to them, 
 and doth so eJBPectually, that one of them I beHeve has 
 verily gone to the Lord : a woman, who was the first of 
 ripe years who hath died since I taught them the way 
 of salvation. Her life was blameless after she submitted 
 to the Gospel. She died of a sickness w^hich she took in 
 childbed. I several times visited her, prayed with her, 
 and asked her about her spiritual estate. She told me 
 that she still loved God, though he made her sick, and 
 was resolved to pray unto him so long as she lived. She 
 said also that she believed God would pardon all her sins, 
 because she believed that Jesus Christ died for her, and 
 that God was well-pleased in him ; and that she was 
 willing to die, and believed that she would go to heaven, 
 and live happy with God and Christ there. Of her own 
 accord she called her children to her, and said to them, 
 ' I shall now die, and when I am dead, your grandfather, 
 and grandmother, and uncles, will send for you to come 
 and live among them, and promise you great matters, 
 and tell you what pleasant living it is amongst them,— 
 for they pray not to God, keep not the Sabbath, and 
 commit all manner of sins, but I charge you to live here 
 all your days.' Soon after she died. 
 
 " For the further progress of the work among them, I 
 perceive a great impediment. Sundry in the country, 
 in different places, would gladly be taught the knowledge 
 of God and Jesus Christ, and would pray unto God, if 
 I could go unto them, and teach them where they dwell ; 
 but to come and live here, among, or near to the English, 
 they are not willing. A place must be found somewhat 
 remote from the English, where they must have the 
 Word constantly taught, and government constantly ex- 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 83 
 
 ercised, means of good subsistence, and encouragements 
 for the industrious provided. Such a project would draw 
 many that are well-minded together. 
 
 " Few of our southern Indians incline this way, only 
 some of Tihtacut ; our western Indians more earnestly 
 embrace the Gospel. Shawanon, the great Sachem of 
 Nashawog, doth embrace the Gospel, and pray unto God. 
 I have been four times there this summer, and there be 
 more people by far than amongst us : sundry of them 
 do gladly hear the Word of God. But the}' are forty 
 miles distant, and I can but seldom go to them. 
 
 " There is a great fishing place upon one of the falls 
 of Merrimack river, called Pantucket, where is a great 
 confluence of Indians ever}'- spring, and thither I have 
 gone these two years in that season, and intend to do so 
 the next spring. Such confluences are like fairs in 
 England, and a fit season it is to come then unto them. 
 At those great meetings there is praying to God, and 
 good conference and observation of the Sabbath, by such 
 as are well-minded ; and my coming among them is 
 very acceptable in outward appearance. This last spring 
 I did there meet old Papassaconnoway, who is a great 
 sagmore.* Last year he and all his sons fled when I 
 came ; but this year it pleased God to bow his heart to 
 hear the Word. I preached from Malachi i. 11, whence 
 I showed them what mercy God had promised to them, 
 and that the time was now come wherein the Lord did 
 begin to call them to repentance, and to believe in Christ 
 for the remission of their sins, and to give them a heart 
 to call upon his name. When I had done speaking they 
 began to propound questions. After a good space, this 
 
 * A great chief. 
 
84 MEMOIR OP 
 
 old Papassaconnoway spake to tills purpose, ' Indeed, I 
 have never prayed unto God as yet, for I have never 
 heard of God before, as now I do. I am purposed in 
 my heart from henceforth to pray unto God, and to 
 persuade all my sons to do the same.' His sons present, 
 especially his eldest son, who is sachem at Wadchaset, 
 gave his willing consent to what his father had promised, 
 and so did the other, who was but a youth." 
 
 When thus unwearied in his labours among the In- 
 dians, Mr Eliot felt that he could scarcely give that at- 
 tention to his own pastoral duties at Roxbury which 
 their circumstances required. For some time his brethren 
 in the ministry had kindly lent him their assistance ; 
 but at length it was judged expedient that a colleague 
 should be appointed ; and accordingly the Rev. Samuel 
 Danforth was chosen to fill that ofl&ce. The connection 
 which ]Mr Eliot thus formed was attended with great 
 advantage to the congregation, and great comfort io 
 himself. 
 
 In the meantime, the Society for Propagating the 
 Gospel in New England, which had been sanctioned by 
 the authority of the British Parliament, gave all the 
 encouragement to the pious missionary which their cir- 
 cumstances would warrant. But they themselves were 
 unhappily in considerable difficulty. Their motives and 
 feelings were misrepresented, and they were assailed by 
 a multitude of objections from many who had even pro- 
 fessed themselves favourable to the scheme. On hearing 
 of this unfortunate opposition, Mr Eliot lost no time in 
 despatching a letter to England, exhibiting a faithful 
 view of his progress, and of the improvements which, by 
 the Divine blessing, were gradually taking place, both in 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 85 
 
 the temporal and spiritual condition of the once savage 
 Indians. 
 
 The change which was effected in the outward aspect 
 of the Indian settlement was soon remarkably striking. 
 A town was built, which they called Natick, consisting 
 of "three fair streets;" two of which stretched along 
 the Boston side of Charles River, and one along the 
 other. They were now constituted into a regular com- 
 munity ; and, by a solemn act of covenanting, they dedi- 
 cated themselves to the Lord. The Indians having thus 
 formed a civil and religious community, the Honourable 
 John Endicott, governor of Massachusetts, resolved to 
 pay a visit to Natick, with the view of inspecting their 
 real condition. The inquiry Avas in the highest degree 
 satisfactory, and he declared, that " he could hardly 
 refrain from tears for very joy, to see the diligent atten- 
 tion of the Indians to the Word of God." 
 
 The following account of the death of a converted 
 Indian chief we give in Mr Eliot's own words : — " One 
 of our principal men, Wamporas, is dead. He made so 
 gracious an end of his life, embraced death with such 
 holy submission to the Lord, and was so little terrified 
 at it, as that he hath greatly strengthened the faith of 
 the living. I think he did more good by his death than 
 he could have done by his life. One of his sayings was, 
 ' God giveth us three mercies in the world ; the first is 
 health and strength — the second is food and clothes — 
 the third is sickness and death ; and when we have had 
 our share in the two first, why should we not be willing 
 to take our part in the third?' His last words were, 
 Jehovah Anninumah Jesus Christ ; that is, ' O Lord, 
 give me Jesus Christ.' When he could speak no more, 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 he continued to lift up his hands to heaven, according 
 as his strength lasted, unto his last hreath. When I 
 visited him the last time I saw him in this world, one 
 of his sayings was this, — ' Four years and a quarter 
 since, I came to your house, and brought some of my 
 children to dwell with the English ; now, when I die, I 
 strongly entreat you, that you would strongly entreat 
 elder Heath, and the rest who have our children, that 
 they may be taught to know God, so that they may 
 teach their countrymen.' His heart was much uj)on our 
 intended work, to gather a church among them. 1 told 
 him that I greatly desired he might live, if it were God's 
 will, to be one in that work ; but that if he should now 
 die, he should go to a better church, where Abraham, 
 and Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and all the dead saints 
 were with Jesus Christ, in the presence of God, in all 
 happiness and glory. Turning to the company who 
 Avere present, he spake unto them thus : — ' I now shall 
 die, but Jesus Christ calleth you that live to go to Natick, 
 that there the Lord might rule over you, that you might 
 make a church, and have the ordinances of God among 
 you, believe his Word, and do as he commandeth you.' 
 His gracious words were acceptable and affecting. The 
 Indians flocked together to hear them. They beheld his 
 death with many tears ; nor am I able to write his story 
 without weeping." 
 
 The next object to which Mr Eliot turned his atten- 
 tion, was the formation of a Christian church among the 
 Indians. For this purpose, he continued to visit them 
 weekly — to catechise their children — and to instruct all, 
 both young and adults, in the elements of divine truth. 
 At first his wish to form a church among them was 
 
• THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 87 
 
 frustrated ; but at length he had the happiness, with 
 the approbation of the New England ministers, of seeing 
 a church formed at Natick. The individuals composing 
 it having first dedicated themselves to the Lord, and then 
 to one another in a holy covenant, were baptized and 
 admitted to the Lord's Supper. About this time, the 
 charter of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in 
 New England having expired, strong exertions were 
 made to prevent its renewal; but by the Divine goodness 
 these unhallowed efforts were frustrated, and a new 
 charter was issued by Charles IL, bearing date the 7th 
 February 1651. At the head of the new corporation 
 thus appointed stands the celebrated name of the Hon- 
 ourable Robert Boyle. 
 
 In September 1661, Mr Eliot had the high pleasure 
 of seeing an edition of the New Testament completed 
 in the Indian language, and printed at the expense of 
 the Society in England. This was followed in two 
 years by an edition of the Old, published under the same 
 benevolent patronage. Thus was at length accom- 
 plished, after much labour and unwearied exertion, an 
 entire version of the Bible, in the language of the North 
 American Indians ; and when we reflect that John Eliot 
 was among the first that ever completed such a work, 
 we cannot but regard it as reflecting the highest honour 
 upon his Christian zeal and diligence, in the cause of 
 missions. "Behold, ye Americans," exclaimed Dr 
 Mathieson, witnessing the completion of this great work, 
 — " behold the greatest honour that ever you were par- 
 takers of! This Bible was printed here, at our Cam- 
 bridge ; and it is the only Bible that ever was printed 
 in all America, from the very foundation of the world." 
 
88 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The translation of the Bible was followed by that of the 
 Psalter, several copies of which were bound up with the 
 Bible, and then by several smaller religious works, which 
 were extensively circulated among the Indians. 
 
 That the great work in which Mr Eliot was engaged 
 might be carried forward with still greater efficiency, he 
 endeavoured, by all possible means, to induce others to 
 embark in the same holy enterprise. He was soon 
 joined, accordingly, by several able and successful mi- 
 nisters ; but what more than all other things tended to 
 strengthen and encourage the heart of the apostolic 
 Eliot, was the high privilege which he enjoyed of seeing 
 his eldest son enter upon the same work. " He bore," 
 says Dr Mather, "his father's name, and he had his 
 father's grace." This young man laboured much, both 
 among the English and the Indians; but his labours 
 were of short duration, for he was cut off in early life, 
 and in the midst of his usefulness. 
 
 About two years before his son's death, Mr Eliot 
 published an Indian Grammar, which he dedicated to 
 the Honourable Robert Boyle as President, and to all 
 the other office-bearers and members, of the Society in 
 England for Propagating Christian Knowledge in New 
 England. With the view of still farther improving the 
 understanding of the Indians in general, and of the 
 teachers and rulers in particular, Mr Eliot, about this 
 time, estabhshed a lecture at Natick, in which he ex- 
 plained the leading doctrines of theology and logic. 
 Keeping ever in view his grand object, the conversion 
 of the Indians to the knowledge, the belief, and the 
 obedience of the truth as it is in Jesus, he made use of 
 all the means which Providence placed in his power to 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 89 
 
 promote the mental cultivation of the converts. On 
 this point, a striking lesson may be learned from the 
 unwearied efforts of this excellent missionary. The de- 
 lusion has been too prevalent in the Christian world, 
 that the work of a missionary must be almost exclu- 
 sively limited to preaching the Gospel. He ought to be 
 a man armed at all points, and ready to adopt expedients 
 of all kinds, as well for the eradication of prejudice and 
 error, as for the communication of truth. 
 
 A question has often been started in reference to the 
 peculiar duties of a missionary, — Whether the work of 
 civilization ought to precede or to follow the work of 
 Christianization ? On this point Eliot seemed to enter- 
 tain not the shadow of a doubt. He knew well that 
 Christianity in its very nature involved the elements of 
 civilization and refinement. No sooner has a soul been 
 brought under the sanctifying and saving influences of 
 divine truth, than the character begins to be adorned 
 with all the graces of the divine life. An obvious and 
 entire change takes place in the outward aspect and 
 bearing of the individual. The fierce, implacable, unre- 
 lenting savage becomes kind, forgiving, and humane. 
 The ignorant, indolent, and debased idolater becomes 
 an enlightened, active, and upright follower of Jesus. 
 Such a change no mere secular instruction has ever been 
 able to efiect. The philosophers, the wise men of other 
 days, inculcated in many instances a pure morality, but 
 their attempts to produce a thorough reformation in the 
 character were found to be utterly unavailing. They 
 might produce an external conformity of conduct with 
 the precepts which they taught, but there is not a single 
 instance upon record of any one having, under their in- 
 
90 MEMOIR OF 
 
 structions, attained to that holiness of heart and life which 
 converts to the Christian doctrine alone exhibit. It is 
 not to be denied that many have openly avowed their 
 belief in the Gospel, and seemed for a time to be in- 
 fluenced by its sanctifying power, who have nevertheless 
 made shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience ; but 
 even deducting from the number of Christian converts 
 all such hypocritical and unworthy professors, there still 
 remain sufficient to show that the belief of the Word of 
 God is productive of a revolution in the whole sentiments, 
 and feelings, and outward conduct, greater far than has 
 ever been accomplished by all the other means which 
 men have employed to humanize, to elevate, and refine 
 their species. The religion of Christ, then, is the gi*and 
 instrument in the hand of the Almighty, not only for 
 saving, but for civilizing men. Firmly impressed with 
 this truth, Mr Eliot, while he eagerly availed himself 
 of all the means wdthin his power for introducing among 
 the Indians the arts of civilized life, directed his chief 
 efforts to point out to them the way of salvation, and 
 urge them to flee from the wrath to come. 
 
 Mr Eliot's labours, however, were considerably re- 
 tarded by a war which the colonists of New England 
 had waged against Philip, the principal chief of the In- 
 dians. The converts naturally attached themselves to 
 their benefactors, and some of them even took up arms 
 against their infidel countrymen. Yet the fact, that a 
 few of the professors of religion had been induced to 
 join Philip's forces, was sufficient to excite the preju- 
 dices of the colonists against the converts. They viewed 
 them with abhorrence and distrust ; they subjected them 
 to severe persecution, and judged them even worthy of 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 01 
 
 death. Mr Eliot exerted himself to protect the persons 
 and interests of his spiritual children ; and in doing so, 
 exposed himself to much calumny and reproach. An 
 event occurred, which showed the malignity which 
 rankled in the bosoms of some of the colonists towards 
 this devoted servant of the Most High. " On a certain 
 occasion, during the war, Mr Eliot went to sea in a 
 small boat, which happened to be upset by a larger 
 vessel. When about to sink, without the expectation 
 of rising again, he exclaimed, ' The will of the Lord be 
 done r He was happily rescued from the imminent 
 danger in which he was placed ; but his deliverance, in- 
 stead of being a matter of joy to all his acquaintances, 
 led one of them to remark, that he wished he had been 
 drowned !" 
 
 At length, after a severe struggle and much loss, the 
 war was terminated by the slaughter of Philip and many 
 of his warriors, on the 12th of August 1676. On its 
 conclusion, Mr Eliot found that several of the towns, 
 inhabited by the Indian converts, had been destroyed ; 
 some of them had perished in the contest, while others 
 had fallen away from their Christian profession. Trust- 
 ing, however, in Him whose ambassador he was, he went 
 forward with alacrity and vigour in his labours among 
 the heathen ; and the Lord was pleased to accompany 
 his exertions with no small success. " The Eastern In- 
 dians," he remarked in a letter dated 4th November 
 1680, and addressed to Mr Boyle, "do offer to submit 
 themselves to be taught to pray unto God. A chief 
 sachem was here about it, a man of grave and discreet 
 countenance. Our praying Indians, both in the islands 
 and on the main, are (considered together) numerous: 
 
92 MEMOIR OF 
 
 thousands of souls, of whom some are true believers, 
 some learners, and some are still infants. All of them 
 beg, cry, and entreat for Bibles, having already enjoyed 
 that blessing, but now are in great want." 
 
 Mr Eliot now directed his efforts towards the publi- 
 cation of a second edition of his translation, first of the 
 New, then of the Old Testament. This important work 
 he was enabled to accomplish by the remittances which 
 from time to time he received from England; and it 
 appears to have been one of the last public employments 
 of this indefatigable missionary. He had now reached 
 the advanced age of fourscore years, and was so weakened 
 by the extent and variety of his labours, that he was 
 unable to preach to the Indians oftener than once in two 
 months. An Indian pastor, named Daniel, presided 
 over the church at Natick, and almost all the other In- 
 dian churches listened studiously to the instructions of 
 pastors from their own tribes. Such a state of matters 
 it had been Mr Eliot's great wish to see, and the time 
 had come when he was ready to say, like Simeon of old, 
 " Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace ; for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 Feeling himself no longer capable of discharging his 
 pastoral duties, Mr Eliot wished to resign his charge at 
 Roxbury. To this, however, his congregation would by 
 no means consent. In suggesting the election of a col- 
 league and successor, his conduct was truly disinterested. 
 — " 'Tis possible," he said, when addressing them on 
 the subject, " you may think the burden of maintaining 
 two ministers may be too heavy for you, but I deliver you 
 from that fear. I do here give back my salary to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ ; and now, brethren, you may fix that 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 93 
 
 upon any man that God shall make a pastor over you." 
 His church, to their immortal honour, assured him, 
 that they would count his very presence among them 
 worth a salary, when he should he altogether unable to 
 do them any farther service. The choice of the congre- 
 gation having fallen upon Mr Nehemiah Walter, a gra- 
 duate of Harvard College, a young man of great piety 
 and worth, the venerable pastor readily received him, 
 and like another Elijah, threw off his robe and gave it 
 to his successor. So completely satisfied was he, in 
 fact, with his youthful brother, that he could scarcely be 
 prevailed upon to perform any public service for a year 
 or two before his death. The last occasion on which 
 he appears to have preached, was on the day of a public 
 fast, when, after expounding with his wonted clearness 
 and simplicity the eighty-third Psalm, he concluded with 
 an apology to his hearers for " the poorness, and mean- 
 ness, and brokenness of his meditations," — adding, " My 
 dear brother here will, by and by, mend all." When 
 at last compelled to abstain from his public duties 
 in the Church, he would say with a tone peculiar to 
 himself, " I wonder for what the Lord Jesus lets me live 
 — he knows that now I can do nothing for him." But 
 even when unable any longer to preach to the English, 
 he still continued once a-week to catechise and instruct 
 the Indians. At length it was evident, that, in the 
 ordinary course of nature, his end could not be far dis- 
 tant. Having been attacked with a somewhat violent 
 fever, he rapidly sunk under his disorder. While he 
 lay in the extremity of his sufferings, seeing Mr Walter 
 come to him, and fearing that by petitioning for his life, 
 he might detain him in the vale of tears, he said, ' Brother, 
 
94 MEMOIR OP 
 
 thou art welcome to mj very soul. Pray retire to thy 
 study for me, and give me leave to be gone." Having 
 been asked how he did, he answered, " Alas ! I have 
 lost every thing; my understanding leaves me, — my 
 memory fails me, — my utterance fails me ; but I thank 
 God my charity holds out still ; — I find that rather grows 
 than fails." When speaking about the propagation of 
 the Gospel among the Indians, he remarked, " There is 
 a cloud, a dark cloud, upon the work of the Gospel 
 among the poor Indians. The Lord revive and prosper 
 that work, and grant that it may live when I am dead. 
 It is a work which I have been doing much and long 
 about. But what was the word I spoke last ? I recall 
 that word, my doings ! Alas ! they have been poor, and 
 small, and lean doings ; and I'll be the man that shall 
 throw the first stone at them all." He used many simi- 
 lar extraordinary and precious expressions in his dying 
 moments. Among the last words he uttered were, 
 " "Welcome joy ;" and his voice for ever failed him in 
 this world, while he repeated, "Pray, Pray, Pray." 
 He departed from this life in the beginning of 1690, and 
 in the eighty-sixth year of his age. 
 
 To the American Indians the death of Eliot was a 
 serious, an irreparable loss. His self-denying, indefati- 
 gable labours in their behalf, the eminent success which 
 had attended his ministry among them, and the holy and 
 consistent character which he had uniformly maintained, 
 left upon the minds even of the unconverted a high re- 
 spect and veneration for his memory and Avorth. They 
 mourned his loss as that of a father, an instructor, and a 
 friend. The moral darkness in which they had so long 
 been involved was, by his instrumentality, to a great 
 
THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 95 
 
 extent dispelled. Christianity and civilization had taken 
 the place of idolatry and barbarism, and many a once 
 poor ignorant savage was now rejoicing in the light and 
 liberty of the Gospel. This all-important change was 
 mainly due, under the blessing of the Spirit, to the apos- 
 tolic labours of the devoted Eliot. Neither discouraged 
 by difficulties, nor dismayed by dangers, he went forth, 
 in the strength of his Divine Master, proclaiming with 
 unwearied energy and zeal, those glorious tidings of 
 mercy and grace which are the power of God and the 
 wisdom of God for salvation. Nor did he go on this 
 noble errand unsanctioned and unsent. His labours were 
 abundantly blessed. Many a tree of righteousness sprung 
 up in the once barren wilderness, and produced much 
 fruit to the praise and the glory of God, long after the 
 venerated missionary of the Cross had gone to his reward. 
 The fall of such a man as Mr Eliot could not fail to 
 excite a strong sensation, not only in New England, but 
 also in Britain, the land of his fathers, and the land, 
 too, which had fostered and encouraged him in his holy 
 labours among the Indians. The language of Dr Mather, 
 who knew him well, shows the feeling prevalent at his 
 death. " Bereaved New England, where are thy tears 
 at this ill-boding funeral ? We had a tradition current 
 among us, that the country would never perish as long 
 as Mr Eliot was alive ! But into whose hands must this 
 Hippo fall, now that the Austin of it is gone ? Our 
 Elisha is gone, and who must next year invade the land ? 
 I am sure that it is a dismal eclipse that has now befallen 
 our New English world. If the dust of dead saints could 
 give us any protection, we are not without it. We 
 cannot see a more terrible prognostic, than tombs filling 
 
96 MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN ELIOT. 
 
 apace with sucli bones as the renowned Eliot's : the 
 whole building trembles at the fall of such a pillar. 
 "We hope that all true Protestants will count it no more 
 than what is equal and proper, that the land which has 
 in it the grave of such a remarkable preacher to the 
 Indians as our Eliot, should be treated with such a 
 love, as a Jerusalem uses to find from them that are to 
 prosper." 
 
 Since the period when Eliot lived and laboured, the 
 tribe of North American Indians, in whose behalf his 
 benevolent efforts were directed, have become entirely 
 extinct. But though they and their families have dis- 
 appeared from this woi'ld's surface, many of these " Pray- 
 ing Indians," as they were termed, are doubtless to be 
 found among the blessed family of the redeemed on 
 high. How delightful must it be to the toil-worn mis- 
 sionary, amid all his discouragements and manifold pri- 
 vations, to reflect that the hour is fast approaching when 
 he shall fully behold the fruit of his labours, — that 
 blessed hour when multitudes " shall come from the east, 
 and from the west, and from the north, and from the 
 south, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and 
 Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Then shall every 
 faithful ambassador of the Cross, who has travailed in 
 soul till Christ should be formed in his people the hope 
 of glory, be able to realize the consummation of all his 
 efforts, and to say, " Behold me and the children whom 
 thou hast given me." 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 
 
 The name of Carey is hallowed in the remembrance of 
 thousands, and few have ever enjoyed a more honour- 
 able reputation for extensive learning, exalted piety, and 
 varied usefulness. Of his early days nothing remark- 
 able is known. His father was a schoolmaster in the 
 village of Paulerspury, in Northamptonshire, having 
 succeeded his grandfather in the same honourable em- 
 ployment. In this obscure locality, William Carey was 
 born on the 17th of August 17G1. He was educated 
 under his father's care ; and his mind being naturally 
 vigorous, he made rapid progress in the acquisition of 
 knowledge. He soon displayed a considerable taste for 
 reading, and spent much of his time in perusing books 
 of science, histor}^, and voyages. In proof of his ardour 
 in the attainment of knowledge, we may quote the fol- 
 lowing statement given by his sister : — 
 
 " I have often heard my mother speak of one circum- 
 stance she had remarked with pleasure in him, even 
 before he was six years old. She has heard him in the 
 night, when the family were asleep, casting accompts, 
 — so intent was he from childhood in the pursuit of 
 
 G 
 
98 MEMOIR OF 
 
 knowledge. Whatever he began he finished ; difficulties 
 never seemed to discourage his mind ; and, as he grew 
 up, his thirst for knowledge still increased. The room 
 that was wholly appropriated to his use was full of 
 insects, stuck in every corner, that he might observe 
 their progress. Drawing and painting he was very fond 
 of, and made considerable progress in those arts, all ac- 
 quired by himself. Birds, and all manner of insects, he 
 had numbers of. When he was from home, the birds 
 were, in general, committed to my care. Being so much 
 younger, T was indulged by him in all his enjoyments. 
 Though I often used to kill his birds by kindness, yet, 
 when he saw my grief for it, he always indulged me 
 with the pleasure of serving them again ; and often took 
 me over the dirtiest roads, to get at a plant or an insect. 
 He never w^alked out, I think, when quite a boy, with- 
 out observation on the hedges as he passed ; and when 
 he took up a plant of any kind, he always observed it 
 with care. Though 1 was but a child, I well remember 
 his pursuits. He always seemed earnest in his recrea- 
 tions, as well as in school. Like the industrious bee, 
 he was always gathering something useful. It seemed 
 as if nature w^as fitting him for something great, — from 
 a child forming him for future usefulness ; while, at the 
 same time, he w^as generally one of the most active in 
 all the amusements and recreations that boys in general 
 pursue." 
 
 Being destitute of religious principle, however, young 
 Carey seems to have exhibited, in his juvenile years, 
 some of tlie w^orst qualities of the unrenewed heart ; and 
 being addicted to the company of wicked associates, he 
 sunk into the most awful profligacy of conduct. In 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 99 
 
 vain did his father warn him of the dangerous course 
 upon which he was entering. To the salutary counsels 
 and affectionate advices of his parent he leant a deaf ear. 
 It pleased God, however, to lay his hand upon the aban- 
 doned youth, and thus to arrest him in his career. From 
 about seven years of age, William was subject to a very 
 painful disease of the skin, which, though it rarely ap- 
 peared in the form of an eruption, yet rendered the rays 
 of the sun intolerable to him. This, of course, made 
 him unable to earn a livelihood by any employment out 
 of doors ; and his parents being poor, they at length, 
 when he had reached the age of fourteen, bound him 
 apprentice to a shoemaker at Hackleton. For a time 
 he continued to display the same indifference to religion, 
 the same immorality of conduct as formerly ; and though 
 he was occasionally exposed to the visi tings of an awak- 
 ened conscience, he strove to repress them ; and for this 
 purpose resolved to adopt an external reformation of 
 character, and to pay a scrupulous attention to all the 
 outward duties of religion. To the vital influence of 
 divine truth he was, as yet, an utter stranger. At this 
 time a circumstance occurred, which shows at once the 
 laxity of his principles, and the complicated stratagems 
 by which Satan endeavours to secure his victims. We 
 present the narrative in the very language of young 
 Carey himself : — 
 
 " It being customary in that part of the country for 
 apprentices to collect Christmas-boxes from the trades- 
 men with whom their masters have dealings, I was per- 
 mitted to collect these little sums. When I applied to 
 an ironmonger, he gave me the choice of a shilling or a 
 sixpence ; T, of course, chose the shilling, and, putting 
 
]00 MEMOIR OF 
 
 it into my pocket, went away. When I had got a few 
 shillings, my next care was to purchase some little ar- 
 ticles for myself, — I have forgotten what. But then, to 
 my sorrow, I found that my shilling was a brass one. 
 I paid for the things which I bought, by using a shilling 
 of my master's. I now found that I had exceeded my 
 stock by a few pence. I expected severe reproaches 
 from my master, and therefore came to the resolution to 
 declare strenuously that the bad money was his. I well 
 remember the struggles of mind which I had on this oc- 
 casion, and that I made this deliberate sin a matter of 
 prayer to God, as I passed over the fields home. I there 
 promised, that if God would but get me clearly over 
 this, or, in other words, help me through with the theft, I 
 w ould certainly, for the future, leave off all evil practices ; 
 but this theft, and consequent lying, appeared to me so 
 necessary, that they could not be dispensed with. 
 
 " A gracious God did not get me safe through. My 
 master sent the other apprentice to investigate the mat- 
 ter. The ironmonger acknowledged the giving me the 
 shilling, and I was therefore exposed to shame, reproach, 
 and inward remorse, which increased and preyed upon 
 my mind for a considerable time. I, at this time, sought 
 the Lord, perhaps much more earnestly than ever, but 
 with shame and fear. T was quite ashamed to go out ; 
 and never, till I was assured that my conduct was not 
 spread over the town, did I attend a place of worship." 
 
 Thus convicted, in the good providence of God, young 
 Carey was deeply impressed with the hoUowness and in- 
 sincerity of his past professions of amendment. He saw 
 clearly that the great enemy of souls had still uncon- 
 trolled authority over him, and he set himself, therefore, 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 101 
 
 to earnest prayer, that Satan's influence might be coun- 
 teracted, and that Christ might take to himself his great 
 power and reign in his heart. Religion now became to 
 him the paramount object of interest. He sought to know 
 and to experience the truth as it is in Jesus. The Bible 
 became his chief companion, and he felt like the Psalmist 
 that it was sweeter to him than honey and the honey- 
 comb. Prayer was his frequent, his delightful employ- 
 ment. He counted the Sabbath of the Lord a delight, 
 and he rejoiced in the public ordinances of the sanc- 
 tuary. He was now not only reformed in his outward 
 character, but he was evidently transformed in the re- 
 newing of his mind : he had become a new creature 
 in Christ Jesus. 
 
 In the course of a short time Mr Carey joined the 
 Baptist communion, and was baptized at Northamp- 
 ton by Mr Ryland, junior. After he had pursued his 
 business with industry, he thought of renouncing the 
 employment of a shoemaker and commencing that of a 
 schoolmaster. For this purpose he removed to Moul- 
 ton, where, besides conducting a school, he regularly 
 officiated as pastor to a small congregation of Baptists. 
 His flock were few in number, and poor in outward 
 circumstances, and as he had married some time before, 
 his family were increasing, so that his pecuniary re- 
 sources were sometimes sufficiently scanty. Under all 
 privations, however, he persevered in acquiring know- 
 ledge of every kind. From his local situation he had 
 an opportunity of profiting by the conversation and ex- 
 perience of some of the most eminent ministers connected 
 with the communion to which he belonged. To Mr 
 Hall of Arnsby, in particular, father of the celebrated 
 
102 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Robert Hall, he professed himself, through life, under 
 the strongest obligation. 
 
 While resident at Moulton, Mr Carey's mind became 
 much impressed with the claims of the heathen abroad 
 to the exertions of Christians at home. He proposed 
 the point for discussion at a meeting of ministers, held 
 at Northampton, but his views met with little counte- 
 nance and sympathy. Instead of being discouraged by 
 the coolness of his brethren, he only directed his mind 
 with greater intensity to the subject, and composed a 
 pamphlet, pointing out the obligations of Christians to 
 make all possible endeavours for the conversion of the 
 heathen. 
 
 In the year 1789 Mr Carey was relieved, to some 
 extent, from his pecuniary embarrassments, by a cordial 
 invitation from a Baptist congregation in Leicester to 
 become their pastor. He accordingly removed from 
 Moulton, but even in Leicester he was under the neces- 
 sity of increasing his income by teaching a school, be- 
 sides receiving assistance from the Baptist fund for the 
 relief of necessitous ministers and churches. Still his 
 labours were incessant, not merely in the multifarious 
 duties of his ministerial office, but in the attainment of 
 useful information. To give an idea of the manner in 
 which he spent his time, we may quote a passage from 
 a letter, which he wrote from Leicester, addressed to 
 his father : — 
 
 " On Monday I confine myself to the study of the 
 learned languages, and oblige myself to translate some- 
 thing. On Tuesday, to the study of science, history, 
 and composition. On Wednesday I preach a lecture, 
 and have been for more than twelve months on the book 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 103 
 
 of Revelation. On Thursday T visit my friends. Fri- 
 day and Saturday are spent in preparing for the Lord's 
 day ; and the Lord's day in preaching the Word of God. 
 Once in a fortnight I preach three times at home ; and 
 once a fortnight I go to a neighhouring village in the 
 evening. Once a month I go to another village on the 
 Tuesday evening. My school hegins at nine o'clock in 
 the morning, and continues till four o'clock in winter, 
 and five in summer. I have acted for this twelvemonth 
 as secretary to the Committee of Dissenters ; and am 
 now to be regularly appointed to that office, with a salary. 
 Add to this, occasional journeys, ministers' meetings, 
 and so forth ; and you will rather wonder that I have 
 any time, than that I have so little." 
 
 Under Mr Carey's ministry the congregation at Leices- 
 ter increased in numbers, and he was much esteemed 
 by the inhabitants of the town, both churchmen and 
 dissenters. Still, however, his mind was bent upon a 
 mission to the heathen. He frequently introduced the 
 subject in conversation with pious friends, and at length 
 succeeded in awakening an interest in the object. So 
 early as 1784, a few devoted ministers formed an asso- 
 ciation at Nottingham, with the view of setting apart 
 an hour on the first Monday evening of every month, 
 " for extraordinary prayer for the revival of religion, 
 and for the extending of Christ's kingdom in the world." 
 This was the origin of the monthly prayer meetings, now 
 held almost universally throughout the Christian world. 
 
 It was not till 1792 that, chiefly in consequence of 
 Mr Carey's exertions, the Baptist Missionary Society 
 was organized, and he himself volunteered to be the 
 first to undertake, under their sanction, the responsible 
 
104 MEMOIR OF 
 
 office of a missionary to the heathen. He thus alludes 
 to his new vocation in a letter to his father : — 
 
 " The importance of spending our time for God alone 
 is the principal theme of the Gospel. ' I beseech you, 
 brethren,' says Paul, ' by the mercies of God, that you 
 present your bodies a living sacrifice ; holy and ac- 
 ceptable, which is your reasonable service.' To be 
 devoted like a sacrifice to holy uses, is the great business 
 of a Christian, pursuant to these requisitions. I consider 
 myself as devoted to the service of God alone, and now 
 I am to reaUze my professions. I am appointed to go 
 to Bengal in the East Indies, a missionary to the Hin- 
 dus. I shall have a colleague who has been there five 
 or six years already, and who understands their language. 
 They are the most mild and inofi*ensive people in all the 
 world, but are enveloped in the greatest superstition, and 
 in the grossest ignorance. My wife and family will stay 
 behind at present, and will have sufficient support in my 
 absence ; or should they choose to follow me, their ex- 
 penses will be borne. We are to leave England on the 
 third of April next. I hope, dear father, you may be 
 enabled to surrender me up to the Lord for the most 
 arduous, honourable, and important work that ever any 
 of the sons of men w^ere called to engage in. I have 
 many sacrifices to make. I must part with a beloved 
 family, and a number of most afi'ectionate friends. Never 
 did I see such sorrow manifested as reigned through our 
 place of worship last Lord's day. But I have set my 
 hand to the plough." 
 
 The congregation at Leicester were very unwilling to 
 part with a pastor who had endeared himself to their 
 hearts by the tenderness and faithfulness of his minis- 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 105 
 
 trations among them ; but so frequently and powerfully 
 had he pleaded the cause of the heathen, that they were 
 fully convinced it was their duty, however reluctantly, 
 to acquiesce. Before setting out to India, Mr Carey's 
 mind was thrown into great perplexities by various cir- 
 cumstances of a most distressing kind. For some time 
 his wife appeared to be resolute in remaining at home, 
 and it was not until her sister consented to accompany 
 her to India that she would be persuaded to yield. Mr 
 Thomas, his colleague, who was engaged to accompany 
 him, was detained, in consequence of the claims of credi- 
 tors, his affairs having previously been in an embarrassed 
 state. And what was most discouraging of all, when 
 at length they had actually embarked at Ryde, the cap- 
 tain of the vessel received an anonymous letter, warning 
 him at his peril against proceeding with persons on 
 board unlicensed by the East India Company. On the 
 receipt of this ominous communication, which had pro- 
 bably been sent by one of Mr Thomas's creditors, the 
 captain required both the missionaries to disembark. 
 Mr Carey and his companion returned to London, dis- 
 appointed by this apparent frustration of all their hopes. 
 In a few days, however, the dark cloud disappeared. 
 An arrangement was obtained with Mr Thomas's credi- 
 tors, a foreign vessel was procured, not subject to the 
 control of the Company, Mrs Carey's scruples were over- 
 come, and the whole party re- embarked and set sail 
 for the East Indies. 
 
 The voyage was somewhat stormy, but, by the bless- 
 ing of Providence, nothing disastrous occurred. The 
 missionaries maintained family worship regularly on 
 boai-d, and preached twice on the Sabbath. At length 
 
106 MEMOIR OF 
 
 they reacnecl the shores of India, in the beginning of 
 November 1793. The missionary party had scarcely 
 landed, when trials of the most distressing kind were 
 appointed them. Their finances were soon exhausted, 
 and Mrs Carey, who had left her native country with 
 reluctance, became still more discontented with her 
 situation ; Mr Thomas, whose dispositions were very 
 different from those of Mr Carey, conducted himself, 
 for some time, in a manner scarcely reconcilable with 
 Christian consistency ; and in short, like the holy 
 Brainerd, whose character he so much admired, Mr 
 Carey, at the outset of his mission, was almost com- 
 pletely discouraged. An extract from his journal will 
 show the perplexity of his mind at this time. 
 
 " This day I feel what it is to have the testimony of 
 a good conscience, even in the smallest matters. My 
 temporal troubles remain just as they were. I have a 
 place, but cannot remove my family to it for want of 
 money. Mr Thomas has now begun to set his face 
 another way. At his motion I went to Calcutta, then 
 to Bandell, at which place all our money was expended. 
 He ordered all the expenses, and lived in his own way, 
 to which I acceded, though sore against my will. He 
 was inclined first, then determined, to practise surgery 
 at Calcutta. I agreed to come and settle as near him 
 as possible, though I had previously intended to go to 
 Gowr, near Malda ; and all this that I might not be first 
 in a breach of our mutual undertaking. Now he is 
 buying and selling, and living at the rate of I know not 
 how much, I suppose two hundred and fifty or three 
 hundred rupees per month, has twelve servants, and 
 this day is talking of keeping his coach. I have remon- 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 10? 
 
 strated Avith liim in vain, and I am almost afraid that 
 be intends to throw up the mission. How all these 
 things can he agreeable to a spiritual mind, I know not. 
 But now all my friends are hut one ; I rejoice, however, 
 that He is all-sufficient, and can supply all my wants, 
 spiritual and temporal. My heart bleeds for him, for 
 my family, for the Society, whose stedfastness must be 
 shaken by this report, and for the success of the mission, 
 which must receive a sad blow from this. But why is 
 my soul disquieted within me ? Things may turn out 
 better than I expect : every thing is known to God, and 
 God cares for the mission. O for contentment, delight 
 in God, and much of his fear before my eyes ! Bless 
 God, I feel peace within, and rejoice in having under- 
 taken the work, and shall, I feel I shall, if I not only 
 labour alone, but even if I should lose my life in the 
 undertaking." 
 
 In a short time, by the kind interposition of that 
 God in whose cause they were anxious to be engaged, 
 the temporal privations of the missionaries were relieved. 
 Mr Udney, an old friend of Mr Thomas, was about to 
 erect two indigo factories in addition to those which he 
 already possessed, and having become acquainted with 
 the destitute condition of the two missionaries, he in- 
 vited them to superintend the new establishments, offer- 
 ing them such a sum of money as would afford competent 
 support to their respective families, and leave a surplus 
 which might be applied to the furtherance of their mis- 
 sionary labours. This invitation both Mr Carey and his 
 colleague readily accepted, and they entered upon their 
 new employment at Malda, about three hundred miles 
 from Calcutta. 
 
1 08 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Mr Carey was now placed in a state of comparative 
 affluence, and althougli his wife's health was so weak 
 that she was utterly unfit to attend to his domestic con- 
 cerns, and he was constantly exposed to the peculation 
 of native servants, yet notwithstanding these disadvan- 
 tages, he spared from one- third to one-fourth of his 
 income for missionary purposes. 
 
 The income which Mr Carey derived from his secular 
 employment, heing thus more than sufficient for his 
 own support and that of his family,— -with a disin- 
 terestedness worthy of his character, he wrote to the 
 Society in England whose missionary he was, to stop 
 the allowance he was accustomed to receive from them. 
 His labours, however, in the good cause, were by no 
 means relaxed. On the contrary, he felt himself bound, 
 now that he had become independent in a pecuniary 
 point of view, to devote his energies, as far as possible, 
 to the great object which had brought him to India. 
 Besides fulfilling the duties of his civil employment Avith 
 the utmost diligence and assiduity, he attempted native 
 education, acquired the dialect of the province in which 
 he lived, daily addressed the idolatrous natives, often 
 travelled considerable distances to preach in English, 
 maintained an extensive correspondence, and mastered 
 the elements of one of the most difficult and classic 
 languages in the world ! 
 
 In the following September (1794), this indefatigable 
 missionary was seized with a severe attack of fever, 
 under which he was suffijring when one of his children 
 was cut off by the same disease. These accumulated 
 trials he was enabled to endure as coming from a 
 gracious and merciful Father. For the improvement 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 109 
 
 of his health, Mr Udney, his kind patron, proposed a 
 journey towards Thibet for him and Mr Thomas. They 
 both set out, accordingly, on the 20th October, and after 
 some changes, arrangement was made that Mr Carey 
 should settle at Mudnabatty, as in all probability likely 
 to be more healthy. 
 
 About this time, both Mr Carey and Mr Thomas 
 were somewhat surprised by the arrival of a letter from 
 home, complaining of the step which they had taken in 
 accepting of a secular employment. The fear which the 
 directors entertained that the missionary spirit might be 
 lost amid the engrossing cares of the world, was natural, 
 though by no means, in his case, well-founded. Both 
 Mr Carey and his colleague Avere ardently devoted to 
 the missionary cause, and though strictly attentive to 
 their secular duties, they embraced every opportunity of 
 promoting the interests of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
 They were indefatigable in preaching the Gospel to 
 the natives, in conversing privately with many of them 
 upon the folly and sinfulness of idolatry, and by the dis- 
 tribution of tracts and portions of the Scriptures, they 
 sought to turn the poor deluded Hindus to the know- 
 ledge of the one living and true God. Often was Mr 
 Carey's spirit, like that of the Apostle Paul, stirred 
 within him, when he saw the people wholly given to 
 idolatry. The costly splendour of their temples, the 
 gorgeous pomp of their ceremonial rites, excited in his 
 mind no other feelings than those of indignation and 
 sorrow. It grieved him to the heart that multitudes of 
 immortal beings should thus bow down before dumb 
 idols, and often and earnestly did he pray that the reign 
 of ignorance and idolatry might come to an end, and 
 
1 1 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that the kingdom of Christ might be established in the 
 earth. 
 
 In one of jMr Carey's letters, the following account 
 occurs of the worship of the sun, as practised in some 
 parts of Bengal : — 
 
 " The sun, called Soorjyo, or Deebahar, is supposed 
 to be the governor of all bodily diseases, and is therefore 
 worshipped, to avert his anger, and to prevent diseases. 
 Some valetudinarians worship him every Sunday, by 
 fasting and offerings ; but he is annually worshipped the 
 first Sunday in the month of May, which was last Lord's 
 day, Jan. 14. The name of this worship is Dhomma 
 Bhau, or Soorjya Bhau. In these parts (for the manner 
 I am informed is different in some circumstances, in 
 different places) women appear to be the principal actors 
 in the worship, though none are excluded, and even 
 Mussulmans have so far Hinduized as to join in the 
 idolatry. It was thus conducted : — At the dawn of the 
 morning a great number of offerings were carried into the 
 open field, and placed in a row. The offerings which I 
 saw consisted of fruits, sweetmeats, pigeons, and kids ; 
 and I suppose other things, as deer, buffaloes, &c., might 
 be offered. By each person's offering is placed a small 
 pitcher-like pot, containing about a pint and a half of 
 water. A device, made of a water plant, a species of 
 phylanthus, made to represent the sun, is placed on the 
 edge of the pot, as people in England place flowers. 
 The pot, with all its appendages, represents the sun, 
 perhaps as the vivifier of nature. By each offering also 
 
 is placed a what shall I call it ? — an incense altar, 
 
 or censer. It resembles a chafing dish, is made of copper, 
 and stands on a pedestal about a foot long. It is called 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 1 ] 1 
 
 a dhoonacliee. It contains coals of fire, and has a kind 
 of incense from time to time thrown into it, principally 
 the pitch of the saul tree, called here dhoona. By each 
 offering also stands a lamp, which is kept burning all 
 day ; and the women who offer take their stations by 
 their offerings. At sunrise, they walk four times round 
 the whole row of offerings, with the smoking dhoonachee 
 placed on their heads, and then resume their stations 
 again, where they continue in an erect posture, fasting 
 the whole day, occasionally throwing a little dhoona into 
 the dhoonachee. Towards evening, the Brahman who 
 attends the ceremony, throws the pigeons up into the 
 air, which, being young, cannot fly far, and are scrambled 
 for and carried away by any one who gets them, for the 
 purpose of eating. The Brahman also perforates the 
 ears of the kids with a pack-needle : after which, the 
 first who touches them gets them. About sunset, the 
 oificers again take up the smoking dhoonachees, and 
 make three more circuits round the row of offerings, 
 making the whole number seven times in the day. I 
 have not learned the reason of this number. After this, 
 each one takes his or her offering home, and eats it, the 
 worship being ended. Then the lamps are extinguished. 
 I had some of these things presented to me ; but in order 
 to bear a testimony against the idolatry, I not only re- 
 fused them, but others also brought on purpose for me 
 by one present, telling them that it was a very wicked 
 thing to eat things sacrificed to idols, which are God's 
 enemies. I preached to them from Rev. i. 1 6, ' His 
 countenance was as the sun shining in his strength,* and 
 told them of the glories of the Lord of the sun, as Crea- 
 tor, Governor, and Saviour. I had a rich Fakir Mus- 
 
1 1 2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sulman come in the morning to hear me ; he came from a 
 distance. I had much talk with him afterwards, in the 
 hearing of the people, who were so credulous as to believe 
 that he had actually that morning turned a pot of water 
 into milk. I asked him to dine with me (this no native 
 would do on any account), and observed to the people, 
 that if he could change water into milk, he could change 
 pork into mutton; pork being never eaten by Mussulmans. 
 
 " Thus I have given you a short account of this re- 
 markable worship. They have a book of directions for 
 the performance of it, which I am trying to get. If I 
 succeed, I may in a future letter send you a translation 
 of its contents." 
 
 Several circumstances now occurred, which, in the 
 course of Providence, led to the transference of Mr Carey 
 to another place, which has since become famous in the 
 annals of missionary operations in India. The indigo 
 works which he and Mr Thomas had been invited by 
 their kind friend, Mr Udney, to superintend, had failed ; 
 and though Mr Carey afterwards commenced in the 
 same line for himself, at Kidderpore, about ten miles 
 distant, this speculation also proved unsuccessful. Thus 
 was he once more reduced to great straits in a pecuniary 
 point of view, and had not Providence kindly interposed, 
 his temporal resources would have ere long been entirely 
 exhausted. 
 
 About this time, towards the close of 1799, four new 
 missionaries arrived from England. As the East India 
 Company prohibited their settling in the British domi- 
 nions, they fled to Serampore, a small Danish settlement, 
 about fourteen miles up the country, on the western 
 bank of the Hoogly. Thus prevented from enjoying 
 
THE REV, WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 113 
 
 the assistance of the newly arrived missionaries, Mr 
 Carey and his colleague resolved to break up the new 
 undertaking at Kidderpore, and to remove to Serampore. 
 And to this they were the more reconciled, as the small 
 factory which Mr Carey had established at Kidderpore 
 was, as has been already remarked, far from being in a 
 flourishing condition, and would, if he did not quit it, 
 plunge him into a state of great worldly embarrassment. 
 He determined, therefore, without delay, to renounce 
 this undertaking, and dedicate himself henoeforth to the 
 peculiar duties of his missionary office. And no sooner 
 had the little band of faithful messengers of the Cross 
 completed their arrangements on first settling at Seram- 
 pore, than Mr Carey employed himself with the utmost 
 diligence in preaching the Gospel to the natives of the 
 villages around, in teaching those who solicited instruc- 
 tion in spiritual things, and in translating the Gospel 
 into the Bengali language. In a short time his industry 
 and learning attracted considerq.ble notice, and he was 
 requested to undertake the Bengali professorship in the 
 college of Fort- William, a college which had been re- 
 cently founded for the instruction of the junior civil 
 servants of the Company. This appointment, besides 
 rendering Mr Carey once more independent of pecuniary 
 assistance from home, afforded him an opportunity of 
 gratifying his taste for the study of languages. In com- 
 mencing the duties of his new situation, he found it 
 necessary to compile a Bengali grammar, for the use of 
 the students intrusted to his care. 
 
 The Serampore missionaries now formed the noble 
 project of translating the Scriptures, if possible, into all 
 the laiig^uages of the East. With this view, after having 
 
 H 
 
1 1 4 MEMOIR OP 
 
 completed the Bengali version, they proceeded to the 
 Hindusthani, Persian, Mahratta, and Oolkul languages. 
 " Perhaps," says Mr Carey, in a letter dated Feb. 27, 
 1804, "so many advantages for translating the Bible 
 into all the languages of the East will never meet in 
 any one situation again, viz., a possibility of obtaining 
 learned natives of all these countries, a sufficiency of 
 worldly good things, with a moderate degree of annual 
 assistance from England to carry us through it, a print- 
 ing office, a good library of critical wTitings, a habit of 
 translating, and disposition to do it." With such ad- 
 vantages as these, Mr Carey and his brethren entered 
 upon, and carried forward, the great work of translating 
 the Scriptures, with such activity and zeal as has laid 
 the Christian world under the deepest obligations to the 
 missionaries at Serampore. Besides the labour connect- 
 ed with this department, Mr Carey took upon himself 
 the task of compiling various grammars and dictionaries, 
 which have been of essential service to oriental scholars. 
 
 In a short time Mr Carey's exertions in the College 
 of Fort- William were rewarded by an increase of his 
 salary from five hundred to one thousand rupees per 
 month. While thus prospering, however, in his worldly 
 affairs, he was not a little discouraged by the spirit of 
 opposition which the Government now displayed to the 
 progress of the missionary operations in which he and 
 his brethren were eno^aged. The circumstances are thus 
 stated in a letter to the Society at home : — 
 
 " Our brethren. Charter and Robinson, who arrived 
 here last week, went, as is customary, to the police- 
 office to report their arrival; on which occasion some 
 demur arose about permitting them to proceed to Se- 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 115 
 
 rampore. Brother Carey, therefore, went to town on 
 Tuesday last, and waited on two of the justices of 
 the peace (Mr Blacquiere and Mr Thoroton) about the 
 matter. As he was leaving the office, Mr Blacquiere 
 called him back, and said that he had been directed by 
 the Governor- General to express to him his desire that 
 he would not interfere with the prejudices of the na- 
 tives by preaching to them, instructing them, or distri- 
 buting books or pamphlets among them ; that he would 
 desire his colleagues to observe the same line of con- 
 duct ; and that we would not permit the converted 
 natives to go into the country to spread Christianity 
 among the people. Brother Carey inquired if this 
 communication had been made in writing, and was 
 answered in the negative. He then assured the magis- 
 trate that we would endeavour to conform to the wishes 
 of Government in all that we conscientiously could. 
 
 " This prohibition is to us extremely distressing ; and 
 is rendered more so, by the encouraging circumstances 
 among the natives, which we have already mentioned. 
 
 " As we have scrupulously refrained from intermed- 
 dling with politics, we are at a loss to assign any ade- 
 quate cause of this sudden change. It is certain that 
 Government had not till now any suspicion that evil 
 would arise from our conduct. Brother Carey, in a 
 public speech, since printed, informed Lord Wellesley 
 that he had for several years been in the habit of preach- 
 ing to the natives. The present Governor-General, in 
 a public speech, also printed, acknowledged with appro- 
 bation ' the Society of Protestant Missionaries at Seram- 
 pore.' No political evil can reasonably be feared from 
 the diffusion of the Gospel now, for it has been pubUcly 
 
116 MEMOIR OF 
 
 preached in different parts of Bengal for about twenty- 
 years past, without the smallest symptom of that nature. 
 At least a million tracts and pamphlets of different sorts 
 have been distributed in every direction, among the 
 natives, without a single instance of disturbance, except 
 the abusive language of a few loose persons may be so 
 called. To this might be added the experience of the 
 missionaries on the coast, who have preached the Gos- 
 pel for a hundred years, and reckon about forty thousand 
 persons who have embraced Christianity. Such long- 
 continued exertions to spread the Gospel, carried on to 
 such an extent, and in such different situations, without 
 producing the smallest inconvenience, may, we presume, 
 furnish a course of experience quite sufficient to remove 
 every suspicion of political evil arising from the intro- 
 duction of Christianity. 
 
 " However great our inclination might be, there is one 
 part of the wish of the Govern or- General with which 
 we are unable to comply, — we mean that which requires 
 us to prevent converted natives from disseminating 
 Christianity. Native Christians are settled in different 
 places throughout the greatest part of Bengal, and we 
 are by law prohibited to go where they reside. Being, 
 therefore, unable to speak to them on the subject, com- 
 pliance is out of our power. 
 
 " It is difficult for us to ascertain the present path of 
 duty. We are much in the situation in which the 
 apostles were when commanded ' not to teach nor 
 preach any more in his name.' They, it is true, replied, 
 ' Whether it be right in the sight of God to obey you 
 rather than God, judge ye ? ' Would it be right or not 
 for us to make the same reply in the first instance ? 
 
TnE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 117 
 
 On the one hand, our prospects of success are obscured, 
 and those opening doors for usefulness, which a few 
 days ago engaged our attention, and animated our exer- 
 tions, are shut by this cruel message ; the consequence 
 is, that souls are perishing on every side, and we are 
 forbidden to administer the remedy which God has put 
 into our hands. To act in open defiance of the wish of 
 the Governor- General, might occasion a positive law 
 against evangelizing the heathen, and at once break up 
 the mission, which has been settled at so great an ex- 
 pense. On the other hand, it is probable that if we 
 yield a little to the present storm, it may soon blow 
 over, and we may not only enjoy our present privilege, 
 but obtain the liberty which we have so long wished 
 for. We, with the advice of our friends, have for the 
 present chosen the latter line of conduct." 
 
 Following up the resolution which they had thus 
 formed, Mr Carey and his colleagues patiently waited for 
 the leadings of Divine Providence, and the storm soon 
 passed away. The Government orders were formally re- 
 voked, and thus light arose amid the darkness. Though 
 cheered, however, by this great deliverance, Mr Carey 
 was visited by a severe domestic bereavement. His wife, 
 who had been in a melancholy state of derangement for 
 twelve years, was cut off by an attack of fever, in about 
 a fortnight's illness. After a short period, he was mar- 
 ried to Lady Charlotte Rumohr, a lady of sincere piety, 
 and warmly attached to the mission. 
 
 The following year (1809), Mr Carey was seized 
 with an alarming attack of fever, which almost proved 
 fatal. He gives the following account of it in a letter 
 written after his recovery : — 
 
1 1 8 MEMOIR OP 
 
 " I have been lately brought to the gates of death by 
 a severe fever. I was first seized with it the last Sab- 
 bath in June, as I was returning from Calcutta with 
 brother Marshman. For the first two or three days I 
 took medicine according to my own judgment ; but get- 
 ting worse, medical aid was called in from Barrackpore, 
 a military station on the opposite side the river from 
 Serampore. For several days I took medicine, which 
 appeared to answer the designed end ; but a delirium, 
 attended with considerable fever, supervened, and for a 
 few weeks together my life was in doubt. One or two 
 days I was supposed to be dying. I believe the medical 
 gentleman (Dr Darling) who attended me well under- 
 stood my case, and treated me with the utmost skill ; 
 but I believe my life was given back in answer to prayer. 
 From all that I can find, there was a remarkable spirit 
 of prayer poured down upon the church and congre- 
 gation at Calcutta on my account ; and I have reason 
 to believe that it was not confined to our congregation, 
 but was pretty general among the serious people in Cal- 
 cutta and its environs. On the Monday, the day after 
 I was taken ill, I put the finishing stroke to the trans- 
 lation of the Scriptures into the Bengali language, which 
 some of my friends considered as the termination of my 
 labours. Now I am raised up, I beg that I may be 
 enabled to go on with more simplicity of heart, and more 
 real despatch and utility, in the work of the Lord." 
 
 The Almighty had work in store for Dr Carey, and 
 therefore he was raised up again from the bed of sickness 
 and apparent death. lie was now more than ever anxious 
 to discharge, with all fidelity, his important duties ; and 
 while he embraced every opportunity of storing his 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 1 lO 
 
 mind with useful knowledge, his labours in the acqui- 
 sition of languages, and in the great work of transla- 
 tion, were almost unprecedented. A slight sketch of 
 his exertions in this department may be given in his 
 own words : — 
 
 " The necessity which lies upon me of acquiring so 
 many languages, obliges me to study and write out the 
 grammar of each of them, and to attend closely to all 
 their irregularities and peculiarities. I have therefore 
 published grammars of three of them, — the Sanscrit, the 
 Bengali, and the Mahratta. I intend, also, to publish 
 grammars of the others, and have now in the press a 
 grammar of the Telinga language, and another of that 
 of the Seiks, and have begun one of the Orissa language. 
 To these I intend, in time, to add those of the Kurnata, 
 the Kashmeera, and Nepala, and perhaps the Assam lan- 
 guages. I am now printing a dictionary of the Bengali, 
 which will be pretty large, for I have got to two hundred 
 and fifty-six pages quarto, and am not nearly through 
 the first letter. That letter, however, begins more words 
 than any two others. I am contemplating, and indeed 
 have been long collecting materials for, a universal dic- 
 tionary of the oriental languages, derived from the Sans- 
 crit, of which that language is to be the groundwork, 
 and to give the corresponding Greek and Hebrew words. 
 I wish much to do this, for the sake of assisting biblical 
 students to correct the translation of the Bible in the 
 oriental languages, after we are dead, but which can 
 scarcely be done without something of this kind ; and 
 perhaps another person may not, in the space of a cen- 
 tury, have the advantages for a work of this nature that 
 I now have. I, therefore, think it would be criminal in 
 
120 MEMOIR OP 
 
 me to neglect the little that I am able to do while I 
 enjoy them." 
 
 In 1812, the mission at Serampore suffered a dreadful 
 loss, which threatened, for a time at least, to put a check 
 to their operations. The printing office connected with 
 the mission premises was totally consumed by fire, and 
 all the property, amounting to sixty or seventy thousand 
 rupees, was destroyed ; nothing was saved but the print- 
 ing presses. This calamity excited a lively interest in 
 behalf of the mission, and a subscription was commenced 
 among its friends in India, which speedily amounted to 
 a considerable sum. Thus encouraged by the kindness 
 of Christian friends, Dr Carey and his brethren prose- 
 cuted, with renewed ardour, the high and holy duties of 
 their mission. To his individual labours Dr Carey thus 
 alludes, in a letter dated March 20, 1813, addressed to 
 Mr Fuller : — 
 
 " I was never so closely employed as at present. I 
 have just finished for the press my Telinga grammar ; 
 the last sheet of the Punjabi grammar is in the press. I 
 am getting forward with my Kurnata grammar ; indeed 
 it is nearly ready for the press. T am also preparing 
 materials for grammars of the Kashmeer, Pushto, and 
 Billochi languages, and have begun digesting those for 
 the Orissa. The care of publishing and correcting Felix's 
 Burman grammar lies on me, besides learning all these 
 languages, correcting the translations in them, writing a 
 Bengali dictionary, and all my pastoral and collegiate 
 duties. I therefore can scarcely call an hour my own 
 in a week. I, however, rejoice in my work, and delight 
 in it. It is clearing the way, and providing materials 
 for those who succeed us to work upon. I have much 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 1 2 1 
 
 for which to bless the Lord. I trust all my children 
 know the Lord in truth. I have every family and 
 domestic blessing I can wish ; and more than I could 
 have exjDected. The work of the Lord prospers. The 
 Church at Calcutta is now become very large, and still 
 increases. The mission, notwithstanding its heavy losses, 
 has been supported, and we have been enabled, Avithin 
 one year from a very desolating calamity, to carry on our 
 printing to a greater extent than before it took place. I 
 wish we could have communicated to you our real situa- 
 tion on the day you received the news of the fire. It 
 would have greatly raised your drooping spirits could 
 you have looked forward, or could you have known how 
 we had been supported till then." 
 
 The following year, Dr Carey states, in a letter to the 
 same correspondent, that the number of languages into 
 which the Scriptures were either then translated or were 
 still under translation, by the Serampore missionaries, 
 was twenty-six. And when we consider, that the labour 
 of correcting and revising all of these translations de- 
 volved upon Carey himself, we may readily conceive that 
 his exertions must have been truly astonishing. 
 
 In 1817, a misunderstanding arose between the Seram- 
 pore missionaries and the Parent Society in England, 
 which ultimately, after ten years, led to the dissolution 
 of the connection which had hitherto subsisted between 
 them. It is impossible, within the limits allotted to this 
 Memoir, to enter fully into the nature of this dispute ; 
 suffice it to state that the Society recommended a new, 
 and, as they imagined, a more satisfactory investment of 
 the mission property, and that a number of gentlemen 
 in England should be associated in the trust with the 
 
1 22 MEMOIR OF 
 
 missionaries themselves. To this arrangement Dr Carey 
 and his brethren dedined to accede ; and, backed by the 
 Danish Government, to which Serampore belonged, they 
 invested the property in a way more agreeable to their 
 own wishes. This disagreement, however, did not, in 
 the slightest degree, interrupt the labours of the mis- 
 sionaries. They continued instant in prayer, and in every 
 good work. And, accordingly, actuated by the most 
 benevolent and philanthropic views, we find Dr Carey 
 instituting, in 1820, an Agricultural Society in India, 
 under the patronage of the Governor-General, Lord 
 Hastings. 
 
 While thus engaged in promoting the temporal as 
 w^ell as spiritual wellbeing of the people among whom 
 his lot was cast, this devoted servant of Christ was again 
 visited with a most afflictive calamity, in the death of 
 his second wife. This was a bereavement of no ordinary 
 kind. " My loss," says he, " is irreparable. If there 
 ever was a true Christian in this world, she was one." 
 To be thus deprived of one who was so admirably quali- 
 fied, from her Christian character and attainments, to 
 sympathize with him in all his joys and sorrows as a 
 missionary of the Cross, was a severe trial of his faith 
 and patience. The stroke was a painful one ; but he 
 bore it with Christian resignation, feeling that she whom 
 he loved and revered upon the earth had gone to be for 
 ever with her Lord. How many are there, even of 
 God's own people, who, when the desire of their eyes 
 has been taken away from them, have been ready to 
 weep as if they had lost their all! Such was not the 
 feeling of the excellent Carey. He prized the precious 
 gift of God while it was in his possession, and at the 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. ] 23 
 
 command of God he calmly surrendered it. " The Lord 
 had given, and the Lord now took away;" and he felt 
 that he could say from the heart, " Blessed be the name 
 of the Lord." 
 
 Dr Carey had now attained a very high eminence as 
 an oriental scholar, and every day was adding fresh 
 stores to his philological knowledge. For many years 
 he had held the office of a Professor in the College of 
 Fort- William. With his labours in this department 
 Government were completely satisfied, and in 1823 he 
 received the additional appointment of translator of the 
 regulations of the Governor- General in council, into the 
 Bengali language. Nor were his high literary attain- 
 ments unappreciated in his own country. At the same 
 time when the Government of India were rewarding 
 his faithful services, various learned societies in England 
 were enrolling his name among their honorary members. 
 Amid all these well-earned distinctions, however, he 
 continued the same simple, humble Christian as before. 
 Trials are the invariable lot of the true believer, and 
 more especially when, as in the case of Dr Carey, he is 
 held in high estimation among men. We have already 
 recorded various instances in which the All-Wise saw 
 meet to subject his honoured servant to painful disci- 
 pline ; and in his latter days he was by no means ex- 
 empted from salutary chastisement, which, under the 
 Divine blessing, tended to promote his advancement in 
 holiness and meetness for heaven. On one occasion, 
 more particularly, in 1823, his life was endangered by 
 an accident which happened to him, while on his way 
 to officiate at Calcutta. It pleased God, however, to 
 restore him, after some months' confinement, to his 
 
124 MEMOIR OF 
 
 wonted health and activity, with the exception of a 
 partial lameness, which continued till his death. Dur- 
 ing this illness he had the gratification of learning that 
 he had heen unanimously elected to the presidentship of 
 the Agricultural Society of India, — an institution which 
 he had been mainly instrumental in forming. 
 
 After Dr Carey's recovery from the severe accident 
 to which we have referred, though his general health 
 was good, he was subject to occasional attacks of fever 
 and other ailments, which convinced him that his end 
 was approaching. Under this impression he directed 
 his whole energies to the completion of the Bengali ver- 
 sion of the Scriptures. With the New Testament, in 
 that language, his labours as a translator commenced, 
 and with the final revision of it they were brought to a 
 close. The faith and holiness of this eminent mission- 
 ary became more conspicuous as death drew near. Of 
 this his son Jonathan has given strong proof in his brief 
 account of the last days of his illustrious parent. 
 
 " He had just finished a new edition of his transla- 
 tion, in the Bengali language, of the New Testament, 
 and then remarked that his work was done, that he 
 had nothing more to do but to wait the will of his 
 Lord. Often would he recur to missionary work in 
 India, and say, ' What hath the Lord wrought ! ' But 
 of his own labours he spoke with much modesty ; and 
 viewed himself as an unprofitable servant, needing con- 
 tinually the grace of his Saviour. Notwithstanding his 
 weakness, he would still sit up at his desk, where he 
 was accustomed to labour ; and though he could not do 
 much, he corrected a few proofs for the press, and spent 
 much time in reading. Often, during his illness, he 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. [25 
 
 lamented his unprofitableness, and was fearful he should 
 prove a burden to others. "While in this helpless situa- 
 tion, he was visited by many of his friends, who knew 
 and esteemed his character, and came to condole with 
 him. On one occasion, a minister of his acquaintance 
 called to see him ; and, asking him how he felt as to his 
 hopes regarding a future world, his reply was, ' I cannot 
 say I have any very rapturous feelings ; but I am confident 
 in the promises of the Lord, and wish to leave my eter- 
 nal interests in his hands, — to place my hands in his, 
 as a child would in his father's, to be led where and how 
 he please.' In this frame of mind he continued during 
 the whole of his illness. He suffered from extreme 
 debility, but was free from pain, more or less, for six 
 months ; but such was his complaint, that it was neces- 
 sary to keep him very quiet. On more than one occa- 
 sion his approaching end was immediately expected, but 
 he revived. So much was he at length reduced, that he 
 could not turn himself on his bed. For several weeks 
 all that he could articulate was. Yes, or No, to questions 
 put to him. On the night before his death he breathed 
 hard, and was restless ; but there were no particular 
 symptoms of dissolution. In the morning, very early, 
 he continued the same, but as the day dawned, it was 
 evident he was sinking. He remained in this state till 
 about seven o'clock, when his spirit took its flight to the 
 regions of eternal bliss, where sin, sorrow, and suffering 
 can no more affect him. The next morning his remains 
 were followed to the Serampore mission burial-ground 
 by a large train of mourners. Notwithstanding it was 
 a wet morning, several gentlemen from Calcutta at- 
 tended; so did also tw^o officers, and the chaplain of 
 
126 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the Governor-General, sent from Barrackpore bj the 
 lady of the Governor, to pay the last tribute of respect 
 to his memory ; and about seven o'clock the body was 
 committed to the earth, in the certain hope of a resur- 
 rection on the last day." 
 
 Thus died, on the 9th of June 1834, one of the most 
 eminent scholars and devoted missionaries that has ever 
 set foot on the shores of India. In, talents, erudition 
 and piety, Dr Carey has had few equals, and if we con- 
 sider the adverse influences with which, at the outset 
 of his career, he was called to contend, we may well 
 admire the splendour of that genius, and the force of 
 that Christian principle, by which he was enabled to 
 surmount all difficulties, and to accomplish the great 
 and glorious work for which, in the providence of God, 
 he had been raised up. 
 
 God was pleased to spare him until he lived to see 
 more than two hundred and thirteen thousand volumes 
 of the Divine Word, in forty different languages, issue 
 from the Serampore press. The benefit, which thus 
 accrued to India from the labours of Carey and his 
 associates, it is impossible to calculate. How many 
 souls may have thus, by the extensive circulation 
 of the Word of God, been brought from the kingdom 
 of Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son ! The 
 great day alone will reveal the vast numbers who may 
 have thus been rescued from eternal ruin and invested 
 with the exalted privilege of God's redeemed children. 
 By the blessing of God's Spirit upon the simple reading 
 of the Bible, many a sinner has been made wise unto 
 salvation ; and if this be, in some cases, the dealing of 
 the Spirit by means of the Word, independently alto- 
 
THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 127 
 
 gether of the living preacher, how shall we estimate the 
 importance of the labours of the Serampore brethren, in 
 translating, printing, and circulating the Bible in so 
 many different languages, and to so large an extent ! 
 It ought to be a subject of heartfelt thanksgiving on the 
 part of every child of God, that men such as Carey, and 
 Marshman, and Ward, have been raised up to diffuse so 
 widely that blessed Book which is " as a two-edged 
 sword in the hand of the Spirit, piercing even to the 
 dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a discerner 
 of the thoughts and intents of the heart." These men 
 of God, honoured so highly to advance the cause of their 
 Lord, have now finished their course, they have kept 
 the faith, and there has assuredly been bestowed upon 
 them a crown of glory that fadeth not away. " They 
 that be wise shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of 
 their Father, and they that turn many to righteousness 
 as the stars for ever and ever." To be the means, under 
 the blessing of God, of turning one soul from the error 
 of his way, is a privilege which even angels might covet ; 
 but what language can describe the honour which is 
 conferred by a redeeming God upon the single-hearted, 
 laborious missionary, when he is made instrumental in 
 rescuing, not one soul, but many, from the deep pit and 
 miry clay of sin, and in planting their feet upon the 
 Rock of everlasting ages ! These will be to him precious 
 seals of his ministry on the great day of the Lord, — 
 most convincing and joyful evidences that he has not 
 laboured in vain, nor spent his strength for nought ; but 
 that his arduous and self-denying exertions to sow the 
 good seed of the Word have been followed Avith a copi- 
 ous outpouring of the former and latter rain of the Spirit's 
 
128 MEMOIR OF THE REV. WILLIAM CAREY, D.D. 
 
 influences, and have at length been crowned with a 
 plentiful harvest of souls eternally redeemed unto God. 
 Then shall the Saviour " see of the travail of his soul, 
 and be satisfied;" for "many shall come from the east 
 and from the west, and from the north and the south, 
 and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 
 in the kingdom of heaven." 
 
THE RE 7. JOHN CAMPBELL. 
 
 This truly excellent man was born at Edinburgli In 
 1766. His father, who was a native of Killin, and an 
 individual of great piet}^ died when John, the youngest 
 son, was only two years old. Thus deprived of the 
 care of one parent, the children, three sons, were thrown 
 upon the sole charge of their widowed mother, who, 
 however, survived her husband only four years. On 
 the death of their mother, the three orphan children 
 went as boarders into the house of their uncle, Mr 
 Bowers of Edinburgh, "a pious and judicious Chris- 
 tian, who was an elder or deacon of the Relief Church." 
 Placed under such guardianship, the utmost attention 
 was paid not merely to the domestic comfort, but to 
 the religious training of the young Campbells. John 
 was educated along with his brothers at the High School, 
 then under the rectorship of Dr Adams, and he appears 
 to have made considerable proficiency in the acquisition 
 of classical knowledge, though, from failing to pursue 
 such studies, in after years his acquaintance with the 
 languages of antiquity was by no means such as might 
 have been expected from his early advantages. From 
 I 
 
 1934 
 
]30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 his childhood he was characterised by habits of enter- 
 prise, and he was often accustomed to tell that his uncle 
 thought him an unpromising scholar, because he was 
 fonder of rambling about the Salisbury Crags, or of 
 building turf huts, like the Africans, in the garden, 
 than of attending to his lessons. The same disposition 
 continued with him through life. He delighted in tra- 
 velling, and the ample scope which he afterwards found 
 for this propensity in the wilds of Africa, seemed to give 
 fresh vigour and force to his active mind. 
 
 Under his uncle's roof, young Campbell was reared 
 with a peculiar view to the formation of a decidedly 
 religious character. The following graphic sketch, 
 written in his seventy-fourth year, gives an interesting 
 description of this period of his life : — 
 
 " We regularly attended IMr Baine's ministry on the 
 Lord's day, and the following was the manner in which 
 every Sabbath evening was spent at home : — Immedi- 
 ately after tea, the whole family were assembled in 
 uncle's room, viz., we three brothers, the female servant, 
 and an apprentice. Each was asked to tell the texts, 
 and what they remembered of the sermons they had 
 heard during the day ; then a third part of the questions 
 in the Shorter Catechism were asked, to which we re- 
 peated the answers in rotation. He then took one of 
 the questions as it came in course, from which, off hand, 
 he asked us a number of questions, for the trial of our 
 knowledge, and informing our judgments. The service 
 was concluded by singing two verses of a psalm, and 
 uncle offering a most pious prayer for a blessing on the 
 evening exercises. From the variety that we attended 
 to, we did not weary in the service ; indeed, I do not 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 1 3 1 
 
 recollect one of us ever yaAvning during it. This way 
 of keeping the Sabbath deeply impressed us with its 
 sanctity. Had I heard a boy whistle, or a man laugh 
 loud, or overheard the sound of an instrument of music 
 from a house, I was actually shocked. AVe were never 
 permitted to cross the threshold of the door on the 
 Lord's day, except when going to worship. Some 
 might conclude, from all this, that we must have been 
 a gloomy, morose family ; but the fact was the reverse. 
 Uncle was a cheerful man, — possessed peace of mind, 
 and the prospect of a happy eternity. He was a long 
 time ill before he died, and for weeks before he expired 
 his agony was almost intolerable ; his moanings were 
 incessant night and day. For years after his death, I 
 never heard the mourning of a dove but I w^as reminded 
 of him. I do not know what his disease was, but I 
 recollect hearing people call it ' A burning of the heart.' 
 In the course of a few years," he goes on to say, " after 
 uncle's death, we all made a profession of faith in Jesus 
 Christ, by becoming members of a Presbyterian Chris- 
 tian Church, and by establishing regular worship in the 
 family, morning and evening ; each of the brothers tak- 
 ing his turn to officiate by rotation. On afterwards 
 comparing notes together, we found that, reflecting on 
 the uniform, consistent, and upright conduct of our 
 uncle, led each of us to think seriously about the salva- 
 tion of his own soul." 
 
 At this time Mr Campbell was an apprentice to a 
 goldsmith and jeweller in Edinburgh, and in this situa- 
 tion he conducted himself with the most exemplary 
 fidelity and conscientiousness. Still, by his own con- 
 fession, though he had enjoyed many rehgious ad van- 
 
132 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tages in his uncle's house, he was addicted in his hoyish 
 days to profane swearing. This, however, never settled 
 into a habit ; and, by the blessing of God upon the 
 pious instructions and example of Mr Bowers, he was 
 led to forsake the company and the practices of those 
 wicked associates who strove to ensnare him. The 
 death of his uncle appears to have made a deep impres- 
 sion upon his mind. He began to be more in earnest 
 upon the subject of religion, and he strenuously endea- 
 voured to acquire such a state of holiness as would re- 
 commend him to the Divine favour. In all this, he was 
 seeking to establish a righteousness of his own, while 
 he was neglecting to submit himself to the righteousness 
 of God. He now set himself to study Dr Doddridge's 
 " Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul." At the 
 same time, he read Bunyan's " Grace Abounding to the 
 Chief of Sinners." Neither of these well known trea- 
 tises produced the desired effect upon his mind. He 
 imbibed erroneous conceptions of the salvation of God, 
 and he was kept in a most unhappy state of mind for 
 nearly two years. As he advanced in the knowledge of 
 the Scriptures his views became clearer and more com- 
 pletely in accordance with Divine truth. For a long 
 period, however, he was unwilling to recognise a cruci- 
 fied Saviour, as the onhj ground of his hope. From this 
 condition of legal bondage, he was gradually delivered, 
 chiefly by a careful and prayerful study of the Bible, and 
 intercourse with pious acquaintances. A graphic de- 
 scription of one of these worthy men is thus given in 
 Mr Campbell's own language : — 
 
 " I never met with two persons exactly alike, whether 
 Christians or not ; shades of difference are perceptible, 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL- 1 33 
 
 even where there is the nearest approach to resemblance. 
 I have taken the pen to tell you a few things concern- 
 ing a venerable man of God, the outlines of whose cha- 
 racter differed from all I ever knew ; and perhaps you 
 will be surprised to hear that he was a gauger (or ex- 
 cise officer), an employment as much despised, in those 
 days, in the north, as that of the publicans, or tax- 
 gatherers, by the Jews in the days of our Lord. When 
 his piety became generally known in the town where 
 he lived, he had the honour of being distinguished by 
 the appellation of ' The Praying Gauger ! ' In refer- 
 ence to his being a man of prayer, perhaps you will be 
 startled at a remark I heard made by one of his most 
 intimate and oldest acquaintances, — ' That he believed 
 Duncan Clark (for that was his name) had not for the 
 last forty years slept two hours without engaging in 
 prayer. This was the nearest approach to literal obe- 
 dience to the apostolic injunction, ' Pray without ceas- 
 ing,' that I ever read or heard of. Was not such an 
 one in downright earnest to obtain the blessings of sal- 
 vation ? 
 
 " He was the first person to whom I opened my case, 
 when I was greatly alarmed about the state of my soul 
 before God. I wrote to him a very simple letter, which 
 lie first showed to some of his intimates, for their 
 opinion, and then wrote a cautious, brief answer, Avhich 
 he did not send off by post, but actually brought him- 
 self, and delivered into my hands in Edinburgh. He 
 explained his doing so, by telling me that he had been 
 at Dunfermline sacrament, to which place he carried 
 it ; and while there, he thought that, being within fif- 
 teen miles of Edinburgh, he would just walk to it, and 
 
134 MEMOIR OF 
 
 have a little conversation, as well as deliver the letter. 
 He had walked more than twenty miles to the sacra- 
 ment. He walked thus to save his money for the poor. 
 He was accustomed to gather together the smallest 
 crumbs on the table, opposite to where he sat, and to 
 put them into his mouth ; very probably in obedience 
 to our Lord's orders, ' Gather up the fragments, that 
 nothing may be lost.' 
 
 " I remember a friend asking IMr Clark how old he 
 was. He returned an answer like the following : — ' I 
 am twenty-seven thousand, three hundred and seventy- 
 five days,* and, taking out his watch, told also the num- 
 ber of hours and minutes. No doubt he did this as 
 literally conforming to Psalm xc. 12, 'So teach us to 
 number our days^ that Ave may apply our hearts unto 
 wisdom.' He had a great reverence for those ancient 
 writers, who are frequently called fathers of the Church, 
 and often quoted them as such. I remember one day 
 when he had done so frequently, Dr Wright, another 
 friend of mine, said to him, ' Mr Clark, these fathers 
 of yours prove nothing to me ; I must appeal to the 
 grandfathers^ the apostles ; a saying of theirs settles a 
 point at once.' Duncan was the son of a clergyman, 
 and had thus obtained his knowledge of the fathers. 
 I remember," says Mr Campbell, " he told me he had 
 called upon Dr Macknight, to whom he had been long 
 known as a Christian. He was also an acute critic. 
 ' We talked,' said he, ' on various subjects, but my 
 views did not please him. I therefore said, Doctor, do 
 you know any subject upon which we are agreed ? — I 
 should like to talk with you on that.' I heard him 
 once say, that from the worst sermons he ever heard 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. ] 35 
 
 he could suck some honey out ; and if any of them were 
 scanty of the Gospel, he took it as a rehuke to himself." 
 
 Amid the severe conflict to which Mr Campbell was 
 subjected, he was held in high esteem by many eminent 
 Christians, and spent most of his leisure hours in visit- 
 ing the sick and dying poor. At length, in 1789, he 
 began to think of dedicating himself to the service of 
 God, in the work of the ministry. On this subject he 
 consulted the Rev. Thomas Scott, the commentator, who 
 was not unfavourable to the proposal. 
 
 Mr Campbell did not act upon this advice for several 
 years subsequent to the date of this letter ; but he still 
 continued to do all the good in his power. About this 
 time he became acquainted with the Rev. John Newton, 
 with whom he regularly corresponded for a long period. 
 On all the stirring points of the day, whether ecclesias- 
 tical or political, he communicated his views to this 
 excellent man ; and the advices and judicious counsels 
 which he received in return, he felt to be peculiarly 
 valuable. From one of the letters which formed a part 
 of this correspondence, we quote a passage, descriptive 
 of the great change which, at length, after many years 
 hard contest with conflicting doubts and fears, took place 
 in Mr Campbell's views of the Gospel scheme of salva- 
 tion : — 
 
 " Upon the evening of the 26th day of January 1795, 
 the Lord appeared as my Deliverer. He commanded, 
 and darkness was turned into light. The cloud which 
 covered the mercy-seat fled away ! Jesus appeared as he 
 is ! My eyes were not turned inward, but outward ! The 
 Gospel was the glass in which I beheld him. When 
 our Lord first visited Saul upon the highway, he knew 
 
] 36 MEMOIR OF 
 
 in a moment that it was the Lord. So did I : such a 
 change of views, feelings, and desires, suddenly took 
 place in my mind, as none but the hand of an infinite 
 Operator could produce. Formerly I had a secret fear 
 that it was presumption in me to receive the great truths 
 of the Gospel ; now there appeared no impediment — I 
 beheld Jesus as the speaker in his Word, and speaking 
 to me. When he said, * Come,' I found no difficulty in 
 replying, * Yes, Lord ! thy pardoned rebel comes.' If 
 not the grace of God, what else could effect such a mar- 
 vellous change? I chiefly viewed the atonement of 
 Jesus as of infinite value, as a price paid for my redemp- 
 tion, and cheerfully accepted by the Father. I saw love 
 in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all harmonizing in 
 pardoning and justifying me. The sight humbled and 
 melted my soul. Looking to what I felt was no help to 
 my comfort; it came directly from God, through his 
 Word." 
 
 The suddenness of this gracious deliverance may 
 appear startling to many readers ; but we ought ever to 
 remember, that the Spirit is regulated by no certain and 
 definite modes of acting. He gives no account of any of 
 his matters. Some, as in the case of the Philippian jailor, 
 are suddenly, and in a moment, called out of darkness 
 into God's marvellous light ; while others are gradually 
 and imperceptibly led to see and to embrace the truth as 
 it is in Jesus. Mr Campbell from this period felt that 
 he had become a partaker of that glorious liberty where- 
 with Christ makes his people free. He had now received 
 the Spirit of adoption, whereby he could cry, Abba, 
 Father. 
 
 Mr Campbell was naturally of a humane and bene- 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAIVIPBELL. 137 
 
 volent disposition. He delighted to search out, and, 
 as far as possible, to relieve, cases of distress ; and, for 
 this purpose, often did he repair to the dark and dirty 
 hovels of the poor, warning, reproving, exhorting, or 
 consoling, as the circumstances seemed to warrant. That 
 he might be the means of doing good more extensively, 
 he published and distributed tracts, thus diffusing the 
 truth as widely as possible. 
 
 His next scheme for the advancement of religion was 
 the establishment of Sabbath schools, of which very few 
 then existed in Scotland. He accordingly opened one 
 of these schools in the old Archer's Hall, on the south 
 skirts of Edinburgh, and, as the plan succeeded to a 
 "wish, giving the highest satisfaction to all concerned, he 
 opened another in the hall belonging to the Edinburgh 
 Dispensary. The teachers selected by Mr Campbell 
 were, in both these cases, plain, sensible, pious men, who 
 understood their Bible well, and instructed the children 
 in the essential truths of the Gospel. Encouraged by his 
 success, Mr Campbell established a Sabbath school in 
 Loanhead, a village a few miles distant from Edinburgh. 
 This school, which was attended by about 200 scholars, 
 he taught himself The example soon spread. Schools 
 were opened in the village of Bonnyriggs, in Dalkeith, 
 Penicuick, and other places. In all these exertions to 
 do good, Mr Campbell received both counsel and en- 
 couragement from the venerable Countess of Leven, and 
 indeed the whole Balgownie family, and others of the 
 Scotch nobility. But while Sabbath schools were thus 
 beginning to be planted, and to prosper in and around 
 Edinburgh, they were almost entirely unknown every 
 where else in Scotland. To suggest the idea in other 
 
138 MEMOIR OF 
 
 places, Mr Campbell set out on a week's tour, accom- 
 panied by bis friend and coadjutor, Mr J. A. Haldane. 
 Setting out one Monday morning, tbey travelled to Glas- 
 gow, distributing tracts to rich and poor as they pro- 
 ceeded along the road. In Glasgow, Paisley, Greenock, 
 and other towns in the w^est, they succeeded in calling 
 public attention to the peculiar importance of the insti- 
 tution of Sabbath schools ; and they had the high grati- 
 fication of learning, in three months afterwards, that the 
 result of one week's exertion in itinerating for this great 
 object, had been the formation of sixty Sabbath schools. 
 
 The next philanthropic plan to which Mr Campbell 
 devoted his energies, was the introduction of the preach- 
 ing of the Gospel into villages and districts which had 
 long been destitute of Divine ordinances. The first 
 place of this description which attracted his notice, was 
 the village of Gilmerton, in the neighbourhood of Edin- 
 burgh. Here he succeeded in establishing a regular 
 Sabbath evening service, which was supplied by students 
 of divinity and lay- preachers. Mr Joseph Rate led the 
 way in this good work, and was followed by JMessrs 
 Aikman, Haldane, and Campbell, Avho commenced their 
 exertions as lay-preachers in Gilmerton. From this 
 small beginning arose very important results, which, in 
 fact, gave rise to a new era in the religious history of 
 Scotland. We quote Mr Campbell's account of what 
 followed the selection of Gilmerton as a preaching- 
 station : — 
 
 " By and by this sphere of usefulness became too 
 confined for them ; they began to think of making a 
 preaching tour over the whole of Scotland, north of 
 Edinburgh. In the view of it, they commenced print- 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. ] 39 
 
 mg large editions of tracts for distribution on the journey. 
 They also purchased a strong horse, and a roomy chaise, 
 capable of containing the three preachers, and portions 
 of their tracts. Those which they could not take, were 
 sent on before them to different towns by carriers, &c. 
 Meetings, to pray for their success, were not neglected ; 
 for without the Divine blessing, all connected with the 
 journey were fully convinced that no real permanent 
 good would be effected. The novelty of it excited very 
 general attention ; for nothing of the kind had occurred 
 in that country in the memory of man ; for the short 
 visits of George Whitefield, more than a quarter of a 
 century before, only extended to Edinburgh, Glasgow, 
 and a few other towns in their vicinity. They preached 
 in the open air in every town and large village to the 
 extreme north end of Scotland; and, crossing over to 
 the Orkney Islands, they proclaimed the glorious Gospel 
 over them all. As a full account of this journey was 
 afterwards published, it is unnecessary for me to enter 
 more minutely into it. On their return, they found their 
 bishoprick at Gilmerton not much fallen off, as meetings 
 had been kept up by a few friends during the whole of 
 their absence." 
 
 That such varied and exciting labours should have 
 affected Mr Campbell's health, is not at all surprising. 
 Besides attending to his business as a hardware mer- 
 chant — visiting the poor, the sick and the dying — 
 preaching in the surrounding villages — teaching and 
 superintending Sabbath schools — he carried on, at the 
 same time, an extensive correspondence with the lead- 
 ing religious men and philanthropists of the day. In. 
 vain did his venerated friend, the Countess of Leven, 
 
140 MEMOIR OF 
 
 warn him to beware of overtasking his mind and body. 
 He was young, ardent, and zealous in the good work, 
 and he could scarcely be persuaded to spare himself. 
 At length, however, painful necessity compelled him 
 to pause in his exertions for a time ; but no sooner did 
 he regain his strength, than he set out anew, with re- 
 doubled efforts, on his work and labour of love. He 
 soon saw the itinerating system, which he had been the 
 first to introduce, assume a promine?ice in the public 
 eye which he had not anticipated ; and he never failed 
 to speak in the warmest terms, even in his old age, of 
 the unwearied labours of the Messrs Haldane in preach- 
 ing the everlasting Gospel throughout the whole extent 
 of Scotland. 
 
 Interested as Mr Campbell felt in all that concerned 
 the progress of Christ's cause, his sympathies were 
 strongly drawn forth by the accounts which he had 
 accidentally heard of the revivals of religion in Wales, 
 under the ministry of the truly apostolic Mr Charles of 
 Bala. He opened a correspondence with IVIr Charles 
 upon the subject, and the letters received, as well as the 
 narrative of the "Welsh revivals, Mr Campbell circulated 
 throughout Scotland, and awakened a spirit, in many 
 places, which led to great searchings of heart, and eager 
 inquiry after the way of salvation. 
 
 But while Mr Campbell was thus evincing a lively 
 concern about the progress of religion in other places, 
 he did not relax his eflforts in endeavouring to do good 
 at home. About this time, indeed, he was mainly in- 
 strumental in forming the Philanthropic Society ; which 
 was the commencement of what is now known as the 
 Magdalene Asylum of Edinburgh. To this highly use- 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 141 
 
 ful and benevolent institution Mr Campbell acted as 
 secretary; being the first who occupied that office in 
 connection with the Society. In a few years, however, 
 he resigned the office, and removed to Glasgow. While 
 there, he was again honoured of God to be one of the 
 first originators of the Magdalene Asylum in that city. 
 
 It was at this stirring period that the subject of mis- 
 sions to the heathen began to occupy a prominent place 
 in the attention of the religious world. The formation 
 of the London Missionary Society, composed, as it was, 
 of Christians of all denominations, seemed a new era in 
 the religious history of Britain. Mr Campbell tells us, 
 in his usually happy and homely manner, — 
 
 " It had a most electrifying effect on the Christians of 
 the north. ' We were like men who dreamed.' From 
 the days of George Whitefield till then, the Christians on 
 both sides of the Tweed had been fast asleep. The Chris- 
 tians of different names were busy repairing and adding 
 to their walls of separation, and now and then throwing 
 squibs at each other from their battlements; but the 
 news of the above Society was like the bursting forth of 
 a bright meteor in a dark night, — it attracted every eye, 
 and became a text at every tea-table ; and those who 
 had not heard of it for a week were looked at as persons 
 who had been living in a coal-pit : many of which pits 
 are in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh." 
 
 The example of London was speedily followed by the 
 northern metropolis ; and, on the formation of a similar 
 institution in Edinburgh, Mr Campbell was chosen one 
 of the Directors. Sierra Leone, in Africa, was selected 
 as the first scene of their operations, but the unhealthi- 
 ness of the climate put an end to the mission. This 
 
142 MEMOIR OP 
 
 disastrous result led to the following plan, which we 
 explain in Mr Campbell's language : — 
 
 " Musing on the unhealthiness of the climate to Euro- 
 pean constitutions, one morning, when stepping out of 
 bed, this thought occurred, — Might we not bring over 
 Africa to England; educate her; when some, through 
 grace and gospel, might be conyerted and sent back to 
 Africa; if not any converted, yet they might help to 
 spread civilization : so all would not be lost. The 
 amount of which was, — To try to bring over twenty or 
 thirty or more boys and girls from the coast of Guinea, 
 through the influence of Governor Macauley ; educate 
 them in Edinburgh, and send them back to their own 
 country, to spread knowledge, especially Scripture know- 
 ledge." 
 
 This plan he communicated to several friends, and 
 among others, to the Countess of Leven, — through whose 
 kindness he procured an interview with the late Charles 
 Grant, Esq., chairman of the East India Company, who 
 had just before returned from India. Mr Grant ap- 
 proved of the scheme, and also Mr "Wilberforce, but the 
 London Anti-slavery coterie, who were consulted on the 
 subject, advised that the execution of the scheme should 
 be postponed till peace with France, which they hoped 
 would not be far oif ; and because the war-taxes pressed 
 hard upon the people, they urged that it would be difficult 
 to obtain subscriptions to defray the expenses. Mr Camp- 
 bell yielded with reluctance to the proposal for delay. 
 About a year and a-half after this, however, having 
 mentioned the subject to Mr Haldane, the scheme took 
 strong hold of that benevolent and devotedly Christian 
 man, and after revolving the matter in his mind, he sent 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 143 
 
 for Mr Campbell, when the following conversation took 
 place ; — 
 
 " ' What is the real reason why you were advised to 
 defer commencing the Institution ? * 'Entirely the dreaded 
 difficulty of ohtammg funds to defray the expense of the 
 Institution.' ' Have you calculated the probable amount 
 of those expenses?' 'Yes; the probable expense of 
 bringing over thirty children, lodging, supporting, and 
 educating them for five years, and their passage back to 
 Africa, will cost from six to seven thousand pounds.' 
 ' Supposing you were to write to the Governor of Sierra 
 Leone, stating that you had sufficient funds for support- 
 ing such an institution, and requesting him to collect 
 thirty or forty of the sons and daughters of the African 
 chiefs over whom he had influence, and send them over 
 to you ; do you think he would have sufficient confidence 
 in you to fulfil your commission?' ' I think he would.' 
 ' On what do you ground that expectation ? ' ' When the 
 French destroyed the settlement or free-town, Governor 
 Macauley came to London to lay the state of things 
 before the Company. After finishing the business there, 
 he visited Scotland to see his relations. On coming to 
 Edinburgh, he called upon me with a letter of introduc- 
 tion from the Rev. John Newton (which would be a 
 sufficient passport to any Christian in Scotland, so highly 
 were his works prized). The Governor had four sisters 
 in Edinburgh, living together, and as they had no par- 
 ticular friend to advise with, he requested me to engage 
 to be their adviser; to which proposal I readily consented. 
 In the course of a year after they came under my wing, 
 I was bridegroom's man to three out of the four.' On 
 hearing this statement Mr Haldane was satisfied, and 
 
144 MEMOIR OF 
 
 volunteered to be responsible for the Avhole expense of 
 the scheme, and gave me a letter to that effect. Accord- 
 ingly I wrote by that day's post to Governor Macauley, 
 Sierra Leone, requesting him to obtain thirty or thirty- 
 five African boys and girls, and send them to Edinburgh, 
 as I had obtained funds to defray all expenses. I sent 
 it to the care of Henry Thornton, M.P., Treasurer to the 
 Sierra Leone Company ; and that day-week sent a dupli- 
 cate to the care of the Messrs Anderson of Phi Ipot- lane, 
 who had a large slave establishment on Blanc Island, in 
 the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone." 
 
 Two years elapsed without receiving intelligence from 
 Africa. At length a letter arrived from Governor Macau- 
 ley, dated Portsmouth, stating that he had brought over 
 twenty boys and four girls. Mr Campbell hastened to 
 London to receive his young charge ; but before taking 
 them to Scotland, it was judged prudent that they 
 should be vaccinated ; and for that purpose, they were all 
 received into the Small-Pox Hospital at St Pancras. 
 While waiting for their recovery, Mr Campbell was 
 asked to supply Kingsland Chapel, which was then 
 vacant. He did so for a few Sabbaths, a circumstance 
 which, in the mysterious arrangements of Providence, 
 led to his appointment as minister of that chapel. 
 Whilst the African children were still in the hospital, 
 some difference of opinion arose among the patrons about 
 their education. This annoyed Mr Campbell much, but 
 a society was formed in London, which took them off 
 his hands, and he returned to Edinburgh without them. 
 Thus failed an experiment which he had much at heart, 
 and which promised, by the Divine blessing, to prove a 
 signal benefit to poor, enslaved, degraded Africa. 
 
 During his residence in Edinburgh Mr Campbell was 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 145 
 
 indefatigable in his efforts to promote the cause of the 
 Redeemer. He visited the sick — examined into and 
 reheved, as far as he possibly could, the destitute and 
 friendless — established and superintended Sabbath schools 
 — preached in the surrounding villages — distributed tracts 
 — wrote small books, for the instruction of the young. 
 " Soldiers and sailors," says his biographer, " wrote 
 to him for advice ; the needy and greedy, for money ; 
 the reclaimed outcasts, for prayer and counsel ; dark 
 villages, for itinerants ; and chapel builders, for help ; 
 besides those who ordered their missionary magazines, 
 books, and Scott's Commentary, and paid their accounts 
 through him." While thus actively employed in advanc- 
 ing the interests of true religion, Mr Haldane having 
 projected the formation, at his own expense, of a mis- 
 sion to Bengal, applied to Mr Campbell to accompany 
 them on their Christian enterprise. At first his de- 
 cided conviction was, that it was his duty to go ; but 
 the arguments of his friends, particularly Mr Newton 
 and the Countess of Leven, were effectual in leading 
 liira to abandon the design. " I have no doubt," said 
 the former, with his characteristic naivete, " but Satan 
 would be glad to see you shipped off to India, or any 
 where, so he might get rid of you ; for you stand in 
 his -w^ay where you are." Mr Haldane was not con - 
 vinced by Mr Newton's reasonings, and urged the mat- 
 ter upon Mr Campbell with increasing earnestness, but 
 without success. This decision, however, though opposed 
 to Mr Haldane's wishes, did not alienate the two friends 
 from each other in the slightest degree, — they still moved 
 with the utmost harmony in all their schemes for the pro- 
 motion of the cause of the Redeemer. 
 
146 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The acceptance which Mr Campbell met with as a 
 village preacher, led him to think of devoting himself 
 wholly to the good work, lie had been accustomed 
 to associate with the godly ministers of every evangelical 
 denomination in Edinburgh, and he was in intimate 
 correspondence with the leading ministers both in Eng- 
 land and Scotland. At the table of the late accomplished 
 and excellent Rev. Dr Buchanan, one of the ministers 
 of the Canongate, he met with many distinguished men ; 
 in reference to one of whom, the late Lord Hailes, we 
 fi'nd him narrating the following striking anecdote : — 
 
 " I remember distinctly an interesting anecdote re- 
 ferring to the late Sir David Dalrymple (better known 
 to literary men abroad by his title of Lord Hailes), a 
 Scotch judge. I had it from the late Rev. Walter 
 Buchanan, one of the ministers of Edinburgh. I took 
 such interest in it, that though it must be about fifty 
 years ago since he told it, I think I can almost relate it 
 in Mr Buchanan's own words : — 
 
 " ' I was dining some time ago with a literary party 
 at old Mr Abercrombie's (father of General Abercrombie 
 who was slain in Egypt, at the head of the British 
 army), and we were spending the evening together. A 
 gentleman present put a question which puzzled the 
 whole company. It was this : Supposing all the Ncw^ 
 Testaments in the world had been destroyed at the end 
 of the third century, could their contents have been 
 recovered from the writings of the three first centuries ? 
 The question was novel to all, and no one even hazarded 
 a guess in answer to the inquiry. 
 
 " ' About two months after this meeting, I received 
 a note from Lord Hailes. invitin^f me to breakfast with 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 147 
 
 him next morning. He had been of the party. During 
 breakfast he asked me if I recollected the cm-ious ques- 
 tion about the possibility of recovering the contents of 
 the New Testament from the writings of the three first 
 centuries ? ' I remember it well, and have thought of 
 it often without being able to form any opinion or con- 
 jecture on the subject.' 
 
 " ' Well,' said Lord Hailes, ' that question quite ac- 
 corded with the turn or taste of my antiquarian mind. 
 On returning home, as I knew I had all the writers of 
 those centuries, I began immediately to collect them, 
 that I might set to work on the arduous task as soon 
 as possible.' Pointing to a table covered with papers, 
 he said, ' There have I been busy for these two months, 
 searching for chapters, half chapters, and sentences of 
 the New Testament, and have marked down what I 
 have found, and where I have found it ; so that any 
 person may examine and see for themselves. I have 
 actually discovered the whole New Testament from 
 those writings, except seven or eleven verses (I forget 
 which), which satisfies me that I could discover them 
 also. Now,' said he, ' here was a way in which God 
 concealed, or hid the treasure of his Word, that Julian, 
 the apostate emperor, and other enemies of Christ who 
 wished to extirpate the Gospel from the world, never 
 would have thought of; and though they had, they 
 never could have etiected their destruction.' " 
 
 When Mr Campbell had at length formed his reso- 
 lution to serve God in the work of the ministry, he 
 repaired to Glasgow, where he studied under the Rev. 
 Greville Ewing, who had shortly before left the Estab- 
 lished Church and joined the Independents. Here IMr 
 
148 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Campbeirs mind found ample scope for Its exertion. 
 Not only did he diligently prosecute his theological and 
 classical studies, but "during all the time he was at 
 Glasgow," Ave are informed by his biographer, "he 
 was absorbed with the cause of Home and Foreign 
 Missions, and keeping up his extensive correspondence, 
 as well as preaching or teaching almost every day." 
 
 His desire to do good was unbounded ; and, as an 
 instance, we may quote the following statement in his 
 own language : — 
 
 " I remember a young woman calling on me, that I 
 might answer a letter her mother had just received from 
 her son, ' At the time of my father's death,' said she, 
 ' my brother was a very thoughtless young man. In- 
 stead of helping her, he sold every thing he could lay 
 his hands on ; after which, he left us, and became a 
 sailor. He tells us, that afterwards he was pressed, 
 and put on board the Barfleur, of ninety-eight guns : 
 that some society had furnished him and others with a 
 copy of the Scriptures, — which he had carefully read, 
 and had thereby been brought to a conviction of the 
 sinfulness of his past conduct, and repentance for it; 
 that he had besought, and hoped he had obtained God's 
 forgiveness, but he could not have peace till he had 
 obtained his mother's also, for the great wrongs he had 
 done her. He also solicited her advice.' It was that 
 I might fulfil this last request, that she brought his 
 letter to me. I wrote a letter, containing the best 
 counsels I could offer, and sent it off to him, on board 
 the Barfleur, at that time lying in Causand Bay. In 
 about a fortnight I received a letter from eight sailors, 
 including himself, who had all been affected in the same 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 149 
 
 way, by reading the Word of God, and who often met 
 together for reading and prayer ; and they requested I 
 shoukl write a letter addressed to them all, as a united 
 band, which I soon did, and sent off; but as the fleet 
 had sailed on a cruize off the coast of France, I heard 
 no more from them for perhaps three months, when a 
 letter did come, from twenty-four sailors, to which num- 
 ber the little band had increased during the interval ; 
 and these expressed a desire that I should address a 
 general letter to the whole ; and if there was any parti- 
 cular book I w^ould wish them to have,^ that I would 
 mention it in the letter. They also informed me that a 
 similar work had taken place on board the Thunderer, 
 and the Terrible, of seventy-four guns. I did address a 
 letter to twenty-four, and said, that if the fleet should 
 happen to put into Portsmouth, if any of them would 
 call on the Rev. Dr Bogue, with my compliments, he 
 would most readily do what he could for them ; and 
 knew of none more capable of giving advice. 
 
 "The peace with France in 1802 took place a short 
 time after sending ofi" this, and a great part of the navy 
 was paid off, and the seamen scattered in every direc- 
 tion ; and I left Glasgow, so I never heard any more 
 of the fruits of that charming display of the grace of 
 God towards those poor sailors." 
 
 In the course of his studies at Glasgow, Mr Camp- 
 bell occasionally itinerated, along with Mr Haldane, for 
 the purpose of preaching the Gospel in destitute parts 
 of the country. He was requested, in 1802, by some 
 of his attached friends in London, to visit the metro- 
 polis during the summer, that he might supply at Kings- 
 land Chapel. It will be remembered that, several years 
 
150 MEMOIR OF 
 
 before, Avhen in London, he had preached in that chapel, 
 and the impression which he then made had not been 
 eiFaced. Many of the congregation looked forward to 
 him as their spiritual guide. While at Glasgow in 1799, 
 Thomas Reyner, Esq., had written to him in these terms : 
 — " We have been expecting and waiting for a minister 
 to watch over us. Several have been proposed, but our 
 way has never been clear hitherto. We are now of one 
 heart and mind, and believe that the Lord has work for 
 you here. We therefore say, ' Come and help us ; and 
 may the Spirit and presence of the Lord come with you ! '" 
 
 In prosecuting his journey to London, to gratify the 
 congregation of Kingsland Chapel, he spent a month in 
 preaching the Gospel in different counties of England. 
 As soon as he reached the metropolis, he renewed his 
 acquaintance with his friends and correspondents, Mr 
 Newton and Rowland Hill. He preached frequently 
 for the latter, and helped him to correct some of the 
 proof-sheets of his " Village Dialogues." The religious 
 society in London he enjoyed much, more particularly 
 during the May meetings, which afforded him an oppor- 
 tunity of becoming acquainted with many of the most 
 eminent ministers from all parts of the country. On 
 the 1st of June, he left London and returned to Glasgow, 
 spending some time by the way in investigating the reli- 
 gious state of Cumberland and Westmoreland. 
 
 After his return from the excitement of London in 
 May, Mr Campbell resumed his studies under Mr Ewing, 
 his teaching in Sabbath schools, and occasional preach- 
 ing in the suburbs, particularly at Rutherglen. In the 
 spring of 1803, he set out on a long preaching tour in 
 the Highlands with Mr James Haldane ; and in the 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 151 
 
 autumn of the following 3^ear he prevailed on Mr Hal- 
 dane to visit, along v^^ith him, the northern counties of 
 England. Whilst the one preached in the large towns, 
 the other went to the large villages, alternately. Their 
 labours were accompanied with an evident blessing. 
 A few months after this tour, Mr Campbell again visited 
 London, and after supplying Kingsland Chapel for two 
 months, a call was presented to him, to take the pas- 
 toral charge of the congregation. He was ordained in 
 the beginning of 1804, and soon after, he returned to 
 Scotland, to settle his affairs before taking up his resi- 
 dence finally in the metropolis. 
 
 No sooner had Mr Campbell entered upon the new 
 sphere of duty to which he was now called, than he 
 set himself to devise plans for the spiritual benefit of 
 his people. His attention was first directed to the in- 
 struction of the young. For their improvement, he set 
 on foot " The Youth's Magazine;" a publication which 
 has been blessed to the diffusion of much useful know- 
 ledge among a large mass of juvenile readers. Mr 
 Campbell was editor of the first ten volumes; it was 
 then committed to the charge of a small committee, 
 who still continue to superintend it. 
 
 In the year 1805, though he had only been a few 
 months in his new charge at Kingsland, Mr Campbell 
 spent four months in a preaching tour throughout various 
 parts of Scotland. Long as this journey was, he made 
 another into the Western Highlands in the summer of 
 the next year. 
 
 The period at which Mr Campbell settled in London 
 was one of peculiar activity in the religious world, and 
 he was therefore called upon to take a part in the for- 
 
152 MEMOIR OF 
 
 mation of various associations for Christian and philan- 
 thropic purposes, which were then formed. He was 
 one of the favoured few who were privileged to be the 
 founders of the British and Foreign Bible Society, of 
 ^he London Hibernian Society, and of the Female 
 Penitentiary. In every one of the religious movements 
 of the time he took an active part. But while thus 
 busily employed in promoting the best interests of his 
 fellow- men, he had to betake himself to the drudgery 
 of keeping a school at Kingsland, in order to procure a 
 subsistence for his own support. The income derived 
 from his congregation was small, and he found it neces- 
 sary to resort to this expedient for the purpose of en- 
 larging his income. 
 
 While thus discharging, at one and the same time, 
 two laborious offices — those of a pastor and an instruc- 
 tor of youth — he was suddenly, and almost unexpected- 
 ly, called upon to occupy a very important work in 
 connection with the London Missionary Society. That 
 useful institution had been deprived, in the mysterious 
 arrangements of Providence, of one of their most effi- 
 cient agents in South Africa, the laborious and devoted 
 Vanderkemp ; and, in consequence of this melancholy 
 event, both the Hottentot and Caffre Mission had been 
 reduced to a very critical state. In these circumstances, 
 the Society resolved to send out a representative to in- 
 spect the actual condition of their missions in South 
 Africa, and make such arrangements as might be deemed 
 most prudent. Mr Campbell was fixed upon to dis- 
 charge this responsible office ; and, after mature deli- 
 beration and earnest prayer for Divine direction and 
 counsel, he consented to undertake the mission. Sup- 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. J 53 
 
 ply having been procured for his church at Kiiigsland, 
 and for his school, he was set apart to his new ministry 
 in Miles' Lane Chapel. The venerable Dr Waugh 
 presided on the occasion, and the charge which he de- 
 livered produced a most electrifying effect upon the 
 audience. The closing sentences of the discourse were 
 singularly beautiful. They ran thus : — 
 
 " Could I place the prophet Isaiah at the base of one 
 of the lofty mountains in Africa, which you, my brother, 
 are about to visit ; and if, whilst gazing on its varied 
 scenery, an earthquake were to rock it upon its deep 
 foundations, until, like the Numidian lion shaking the 
 dew-drops of the land of Ham from his mane in the 
 morning, it threw off from its hoary and heaving sides 
 the forests, and flocks, and hamlets of huts, and cliffs 
 crowned with lichens and lign-aloes ; and were a whirl- 
 wind to rush in at that moment, scattering the broken 
 and falling masses in mid air, as if playing with the 
 *anf/-clouds and columns of the desert ; still, the voice 
 of the prophet, could it be heard amidst the convulsive 
 war of elements, would exclaim, ' Though the everlast- 
 ing mountains bow, and the perpetual hills be scattered, 
 yet will I rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of my 
 salvation !' Go, my brother, and do thou the same, 
 whatever dangers you may meet in Africa. As God 
 was with Yanderkemp, so will he be with thee, 
 Campbell." 
 
 On uttering these words, the aged minister of Christ 
 suddenly sat down, and buried his face in his hands. 
 Under the influence of this striking appeal, Mr Camp- 
 bell set sail for Africa on the 24th June 1812, in a ship 
 bound for Calcutta. After a somewhat tedious voyage, 
 he arrived at Cape-Town, Cape of Good Hope. It is 
 
] 54 MEMOIR OF 
 
 unnecessary for us to detail the particulars of this visit 
 to Africa, a narrative of which has been long in the 
 hanfls of the public. Suffice it to say, that he minutely 
 examined the various mission stations in South Africa, 
 travelling about three thousand miles, in a savage country, 
 amid dangers and difficulties of every kind. In the good 
 providence of God, Mr Campbell w^as preserved in per- 
 fect health and safety, and arrived in London in the 
 beginning of May 1814, after an absence from England 
 of scarcely two years. 
 
 No sooner had he returned to London, than he re- 
 sumed his labours both in the chapel and in the school. 
 In all the public societies he took a warm interest, 
 striving by his exertions and his prayers to advance the 
 great cause in which he so much delighted. Little 
 more than four years elapsed, however, when he again 
 set sail for Africa on a similar errand as his former, 
 accompanied by Dr Philip, an active and influential 
 Independent minister from Aberdeen. This second 
 visit to Africa seems to have been peculiarly gratifying 
 to the mind of our traveller. The influence of missions 
 in promoting the progress of civilization and refinement 
 had become quite apparent. Where he had formerly 
 found ignorance, and immorality, and savage cruelty, 
 he was now refreshed with the sight of an educated, 
 industrious, and happy people. 
 
 After an absence from England of about two years 
 and a-half, Mr Campbell reached London in time for 
 the May meetings of 1821. He Avas quite the liun of 
 the day, and both in the metropolis and throughout the 
 provinces his presence at missionary meetings created a 
 great sensation. Multitudes flocked to hear his racy, 
 humorous anecdotes of the Hottentots and Bushmen in 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 155 
 
 Soutli Africa. Even in his sermons, occasional allusions 
 were made throughout the whole of his future life to his 
 African travels. His popularity, however, produced no 
 injurious effect upon him ; he still continued the same 
 modest, unpretending man he had always been. 
 
 Shortly after he had resumed his duties at Kingsland 
 Chapel, he entered into the married state. This step, 
 to all his friends, afforded much gratification, promising 
 as it did to enhance his domestic happiness. He had 
 hitherto lived with an aunt and a niece, Avho had been 
 both of them remarkably attentive and kind. His 
 aunt, however, having died, and his niece been com- 
 fortably married, he felt himself compelled to take re- 
 fuge in the matrimonial state. AV'hen Mr Campbell 
 had gratified the country at large by his African visits, 
 he was applied to by the Missionary Society to visit in 
 the same way their Polynesian Missions. This pro- 
 posal, however, he declined, at least for the present. 
 Now settled at home, he set himself to an abridgement 
 of his African Travels, in two small volumes, for the 
 Tract Society, adding to them a similar volume, giving 
 an account of his voyages. A small unpretending, but 
 useful, little book followed, entitled " African Light ;" the 
 object of which was to illustrate passages of Scripture, 
 by a reference to his own observations in South Africa. 
 The work is in small compass, but it illustrates no fewer 
 ihsLTiJive hundred passages in the Sacred Volume. 
 
 Notwithstanding the laborious life through which he 
 passed, Mr Campbell enjoyed remarkably good health 
 until he was nearly seventy years of age. At that period, 
 however, he began to decline. His medical attendant 
 recommended a visit to Scotland. This was productive 
 of much good ; and he returned so improved in health, 
 
156 MEMOIR OP 
 
 as to resume his usual duties. A change ^Yas now per- 
 ceptible in his pulpit discourses as well as in his private 
 conversation. He was evidently ripening for heaven. 
 An account of his last days is thus given by his colleague 
 and successor, the Rev. T. Aveling :— 
 
 " From 1821, up to the time of his removal from 
 earth, he remained with his people, gathering around 
 him a band of friends who loved him, and now mourn 
 his departure from their midst. Their attachment to- 
 wards him was evinced by the institution of an evening 
 lecture, to relieve him from a third service, which con- 
 tinued until within the last two years. Some time before 
 that, a proposition was made that permanent help should 
 be afforded him by a co-pastor. To this he most cheer- 
 fully assented, desiring to see his people fixed with a 
 successor before he died. Arrangements to that effect 
 were made, and a co-pastor was obtained. When this 
 had been done, he seemed to turn his thoughts more 
 than ever towards his Father's home, and the language 
 of his heart was, ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
 depart in peace.' He saw a prosperous Church, and a 
 united people ; and was permitted to witness the accom- 
 plishment of an object which of late had much engaged 
 his thoughts — the choice of three additional deacons, to 
 assist the venerable and esteemed brethren who had 
 grown grey in their Master's service. 
 
 " It now remains for me to give you a very brief 
 account of the last few days of his life : — 
 
 " For six months past he had been visibly declining, 
 and his whole deportment evinced increasing spirituality 
 of mind in an eminent degree. During that time he had 
 been much engaged in writing the memorials of the chief 
 events of his life; and the exorcise of en cheered him, 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 157 
 
 as it carried Iiim back in memory to the scenes of his 
 childhood, and the friends of his youth and riper years. 
 
 " The declining state of his health, to which I have 
 alluded as visible during the last six months, did not 
 assume any alarming appearance until the second week 
 in March. He was present at the united sacrament of 
 the three Churches, when he presided. This was his 
 last public service. There was an unction about his 
 address, which struck most of his people, as did the last 
 discourse he delivered, on the first Sabbath evening in 
 the month ; but there were also indications of extreme 
 debility, which were remarked by many, and a fear ex- 
 pressed that they should see his face no more. 
 
 " On Thursday, March 12th, he felt very ill, and 
 wrote for advice to his medical friend, Dr Conquest, 
 who kindly and promptly attended to his request. He 
 rallied a little before Sunday, and although much pressed 
 to remain at home, he attended public worship in the 
 morning, fearing, he said, ' lest his flock should be 
 alarmed about him.' That service was the last at which 
 he was present. 
 
 " The following week his debility again returned, and 
 gradually increased ; and I believe he had then a kind 
 of presentiment that he would not recover. I enjoyed 
 many conversations with him during his illness, and 
 noted down some of his expressions as he gave them 
 utterance. They were indicative of extreme self-abase- 
 ment, and humble reliance on the Saviour of sinners. 
 
 " I told him his people prayed very earnestly and 
 affectionately for him. The tears came into his eyes, 
 and he said, ' O sir ! I need it, I need it ; I am a poor 
 creature.' He said his mind was much harassed by 
 Satan, Avho told him he had not done half what he ought 
 
158 MEMOIR OF 
 
 for his Master ; and when I said, Depend upon it, sir, 
 he would have been very glad if you had not done half 
 what you have, he replied, ' Ah ! but I have not done 
 what I could.' Such were the low views he entertained 
 of his labours in the service of Christ. This harass- 
 ment, however, which, in a great measure, was attribut- 
 able to his infirm state of body, speedily ceased. 
 
 " On one occasion, speaking of the preciousness of the 
 Saviour, he said, ' Oh ! I love to be near the blood of 
 sprinkling;' and talked in an animated manner of the 
 happiness drawn from the consideration of the unchange- 
 ableness of Christ. ' All I want,* said he, after we had 
 been speaking of the Saviour's atonement, ' is to feel my 
 arm round the cross.' I told him I doubted not it was, 
 and asked him if his heart was not there. He smiled, 
 and said, ' Yes.' I told him, then, that I believed his 
 arm was too, although a little benumbed with grasping 
 hard. He smiled again, and then spoke of the wonder- 
 ful love of God, in saving sinners by such a sacrifice as 
 that of his Son. 
 
 " On Wednesday, April 1st, he took to his bed ; and 
 on my saying to him, when I visited him, that I hoped 
 he was happy, he turned to me, and said, *• The debt is 
 all paid ; the suiferings of Christ have discharged it, and 
 therefore I am free, and have peace with God.' From 
 this time not a cloud obscured his mind. He steadily 
 declined towards the grave, but nothing hung around 
 his setting sun, or cast a shadow upon his hopes for the 
 future. 
 
 " On his death-bed he was not forgetful of his minis- 
 terial character; for, addressing a beloved friend who 
 stood by his side, he said, calling her by name, ' Oh ! 
 mind your soul.' 
 
THE REV. JOHN CAMPBELL. 159 
 
 " When asked if he believed he should go to heaven, 
 he said, ' I have no doubt of it.' Broken sentences 
 repeatedly fell from his lips, such as, ' A full and free 
 salvation,' — ' How softly the waters flow ;' most probably 
 referring to his departure from earth, of which he was 
 at intervals, during the last two days, quite conscious. 
 When his mind a little wandered, he talked of Africa, 
 and missionary meetings, and friends with whom he had 
 been associated in them. 
 
 "April 3d, when I stood by his bed, he recognised me, 
 and said affectionately, alluding to our association in the 
 ministry, " We have served as a father and a son in the 
 Gospel. Now God will be a Father to you.' 
 
 " The following day, on which he died, I saw him in 
 the morning, and leaning over him, I heard him whis- 
 per, ' You see me in peace.' These were the last words 
 I heard from his lips. During the day, while his 
 beloved wife was standing by his side, for a short time 
 consciousness returned, and recognising her, he said, 
 ' Don't grieve ; there's nothing melancholy in dying and 
 going to glory.' 
 
 " In the course of the day he was heard exclaiming, 
 ' Let it fly ! let the Gospel fly ! ' — the spirit of the 
 minister and the missionary of Christ remaining to the 
 last. Among his last coherent sentences was a prayer 
 for his people and their junior pastor, ' Lord bless the 
 Church,' he exclaimed, ' and poor Mr Aveling.' 
 
 "■ At a quarter past six in the evening of Saturday, 
 it was evident that life was ebbing fast, and his friends 
 were summoned to his bed-side to witness his departure. 
 It was a sacred scene ; the spirit of a good and truly 
 great man was about to bid farewell to its earthly abode, 
 and return to the God who gave it. To all, such an 
 
160 MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN CAMPBKLL. 
 
 hour must be one of deep solemnity and momentous 
 interest; to him it was the hour of triumphant joy. 
 The sun had just set, and the last gleams of hght, strug- 
 gling through the window, fell upon his bed. There 
 was a sweet smile passing over his countenance as the 
 curtain was removed ; and as the attendant bent down 
 over him, he drew two or three short and rapid breaths, 
 and then lay motionless and silent. Again he breathed 
 quickly and smiled ; then heaved a gentle sigh, and all 
 was still once more. It was the stillness of death. In 
 the hush of the evening his happy spirit had passed 
 away. ' Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death 
 of his saints.' " 
 
 Thus died this excellent and useful minister of Christ 
 on the 4th April 1840, at the advanced age of seventy- 
 four. His loss was deeply felt by his congregation, his 
 friends and family. Few men have been honoured to 
 be more extensively useful in their day and generation. 
 Most disinterested and generous, he kept his eye singly 
 fixed on the promotion of his Redeemer's glory. To 
 accomplish this grand object, he counted no sacrifice too 
 great to be made — no trials too heavy to be endured — 
 no expense of time, of money, or of personal exertion, 
 too costly to be surrendered. He lived ^or Christ, and 
 having finished his work, he sweetly fell asleep in 
 Jesus. 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 
 
 Robert Morrison, the celebrated Chinese scholar and 
 missionary, was a native of Morpeth in Northumber- 
 land, having been born there on the 5th January 1782. 
 When two years of age, his parents removed to New- 
 castle-upon-Tyne, where his early life was spent. His 
 elementary instruction was received in the school of his 
 maternal uncle, Mr John Nicholson, who occupied a very 
 respectable station in society as a teacher in Newcastle. 
 Under the tuition of his friend, Robert made slow but 
 steady progress. He evinced, no doubt, an intense love 
 of knowledge, but his talents were by no means regarded 
 as of a high character. In spiritual matters, his educa- 
 tion was conducted with very great care. In addition 
 to the instructions Avhich he received from his parents, 
 who were both of them decidedly pious, he attended the 
 catechetical exercises conducted by the Rev. John Hut- 
 ton, minister of the High-bridge Chapel, of which place 
 of worship his father was an elder. 
 
 At an early age, Robert was apprenticed to his father, 
 who followed the trade of a last and boot-tree maker. 
 He was remarkably diligent and attentive to business, and 
 
 L 
 
] G2 MEMOIR OP 
 
 indeed, in all respects, his conduct was singularly correct 
 and exemplary. His mind, however, though always fav- 
 ourably disposed towards religion, underwent no saving 
 change till towards his sixteenth year. Nor was there 
 even then any circumstance to which his conversion could 
 be distinctly traced. Under the secret and gradual ope- 
 ration of the Spirit of God, his regular attendance on 
 divine ordinances was blessed in leading him to reflect 
 upon his lost condition as a sinner, and awakening in 
 his soul an anxious desire after salvation. His own ac- 
 count of this all-important change in his views and feel- 
 ings is characterised by that simplicity and ingenuousness 
 which he uniformly displayed throughout life. 
 
 " It was, perhaps, about five years ago," says he, "that 
 I was much awakened to a sense of sin, though I cannot 
 recollect any particular circumstance which led to it ; 
 unless it were, that at that time I grew somewhat loose 
 and profane ; and more than once being drawn aside by 
 wicked company (even at that early time of life), I be- 
 came intoxicated. Reflection upon my conduct became 
 a source of much uneasiness to me, and I was brought 
 to a serious concern about my soul. I felt the dread 
 of eternal damnation. The fear of death compassed me 
 about, and I was led to cry mightily to God, that he 
 would pardon my sin ; that he would grant me an in- 
 terest in the Saviour ; and that he would renew me in 
 the spirit of my mind. Sin became a burden. It was 
 then that I experienced a change of life, and, I trust, 
 a change of heart too. I broke off from my former 
 careless companions, and gave myself to reading, to 
 meditation, and to prayer. It pleased God to reveal his 
 Son in me, and at that time I experienced much of ' the 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 1G3 
 
 kindness of youth, and the love of espousals ;' and though 
 the first flash of affection wore off, I trust my lore to, 
 and knowledge of, the Saviour have increased." 
 
 A short time after Mr Morrison had begun to set his 
 face Zionward, he joined, in communion with the Pres- 
 byterian Church to which his parents belonged, and he 
 also became a member of a fellowship meeting for prayer 
 and religious converse. The Bible now became the chief 
 subject of his careful study, and while he was advancing 
 in acquaintance with divine things, he acquired a taste 
 for knowledge in general. In the exercises of the fellow- 
 ship meeting, which was held every Monday evening in 
 his father's workshop, he took peculiar delight. He 
 began now to evince a readiness and an intelligence in 
 speaking of religion, which showed clearly that to him 
 it was a subject of frequent and delightful meditation, 
 and at his leisure hours his favourite employment was 
 to visit the sick poor. The bent of his mind towards 
 study was every day becoming more obvious. Even 
 when engaged in the workshop, his Bible or some other 
 book was placed open before him, that his mind might 
 be acquiring knowledge, while his hands were busy at 
 work. The books which he had at command were few, 
 but those were carefully read and pondered, and extracts 
 taken of such as appeared to him peculiarly valuable. 
 At this time he was in the habit of reading regularly the 
 Evangelical Magazine, and the missionary intelligence 
 more especially attracted his attention, and tended pro- 
 bably to encourage, if not entirely to originate, his strong 
 predilection for missionary labour. He burned with zeal 
 to promote the best interests of all within the sphere of 
 his influence, instructing the ignorant, visiting and com- 
 
164 MEMOIR OF 
 
 forting the sick, and warning the careless. Referring to 
 this period of his life, his sister thus remarks : — 
 
 " He never heheld sin without the deepest sorrow, and 
 a wish to reclaim the sinner. We had a relative who 
 gave him much pain on this account. He reasoned, he 
 expostulated with him ; and at last made this solemn 
 appeal — ' Can you dwell with eternal fire ? Can you 
 endure everlasting burnings ? ' The young man was a 
 sailor. He has since told me that these words were ever 
 in his ears, and were ultimately the means of his conver- 
 sion. Thus did my beloved, my lamented brother, go 
 about doing good, and dispensing happiness to all around 
 him, from his youth upwards. Oh that w^e w^ere, like 
 him, following the example of our blessed Saviour, 
 through whom we have life and immortality ! " 
 
 Mr Morrison now began to entertain serious thoughts 
 of the ministry, probably in connection with the mission- 
 ary cause. With this view, he commenced the study 
 of Latin, in which he made such proficiency that he 
 was encouraged to begin also the Greek and Hebrew 
 languages. After having prosecuted these preliminary 
 pursuits for eighteen months, he made application to be 
 received as a student at Hoxton Academy, now Highbury 
 College, a seminary under the superintendence of the 
 English Evangelical Dissenters. His application was 
 accepted, and he repaired to London in the commence- 
 ment of 1803. His feelings in enterinof on a new era 
 of his life were far from being of that romantic cast, to 
 which an unsanctified spirit might have given rise. They 
 were of a chastened and sober description. In the course 
 of the previous year he had been deprived of his mother, 
 over whose dying bed he watched with the utmost assi- 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. ] Q5 
 
 duity and affection. His father was now in a declining 
 state of health, and the business on which the family 
 depended for subsistence was likely to be seriously af- 
 fected by the loss of Robert's exertions. Accordingly, 
 scarcely had the young student been settled at Hoxton, 
 when he was earnestly urged to return home. He had 
 formed his resolution, and he was determined to perse- 
 vere. The reply which he gave to the entreaties of his 
 family is delicate and touching. 
 
 " Honoured Father, Brother, and Sisters, — I 
 received your letter of the 19th ult. The account of 
 my father's leg growing worse and worse concerns me : 
 but what can I do ? I look to my God, and my fathers 
 God. ' He doeth all things well,' and He will make all 
 things work together for good to those who love him. 
 My father, my brother, my sisters, I resign you all, and 
 myself, to His care, who, I trust, careth for us. Are 
 not our days few ? yet I desire, if the Lord will, that he 
 may grant you wherewithal to provide things honest in 
 the sight of all men during the few days of your pilgrim- 
 age. I trust He will ; and may the Lord bless you with 
 rich communications of saving grace and knowledge. 
 You advise me to return home. I thank you for your 
 kind intentions : may the Lord bless you for them. But 
 I have no inclination to do so ; having set my hand to 
 the plough, I would not look back. It hath pleased 
 the Lord to prosper me so far, and grant me favour in 
 the eyes of this people." 
 
 During his attendance at Hoxton, JMr Morrison car- 
 ried on his studies, both in classical and sacred litera- 
 ture, with the most indefatigable ardour, and he soon 
 rose to distinction among his fellow-students. But his 
 
16G MEMOIR OF 
 
 chief reliance for success was on the Divine blessing. 
 Hence he entered fully into Luther's maxim, " To pray 
 well is to study well." Prayer was the element in which 
 he delighted to breathe. On the Sabbath-days he regu- 
 larly attended the ministry of the Rev. Dr Waugh, de- 
 riving much benefit from the faithful and aifectionate 
 instructions of that eminent servant of Christ. In a 
 short time, according to the rules of the seminary, he was 
 called upon to engage in conducting the services of the 
 sanctuary. He preached his first sermon in St Luke's 
 workhouse ; and in referring to it afterwards, he speaks 
 of having " shed, in secret, tears of joy when, with feel- 
 ings of deep responsibility, he was sent, for the first 
 time, to preach concerning Jesus to the poor people." 
 After this he preached frequently in the villages around 
 London, and was occasionally sent to more stated con- 
 gregations in town and country. 
 
 Mr Morrison now began to turn his thoughts to that 
 department of ministerial duty which had been so long 
 uppermost in his mind, — that of preaching the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ to the heathen. He stated the 
 matter to his friends at Newcastle, expressing his de- 
 cided preference for missionary service, and at length 
 he obtained their reluctant consent. Early in 1804 he 
 resolved to offer himself to the Directors of the London 
 Missionary Societ3^ His letter of application was ad- 
 dressed to the Rev. Dr Waugh, then chairman of the 
 committee of examinators. His first interview with the 
 Directors was so satisfactory, that, without farther delay, 
 Mr Morrison was sent to the Missionary Academy at 
 Gosport, under the superintendence of the Rev. Dr 
 Bogue. Here he studied with his usual prayerful de- 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, I). D. 167 
 
 votedness. In the course of a few montlis it was ar- 
 ranged that China should be the scene of his missionary 
 operations. In this arrangement he cordially acquiesced, 
 and he set himself, with the greatest enthusiasm, to the 
 study of the Chinese language. The importance of the 
 station to which he was appointed he felt that it was 
 impossible to overrate. The population of that vast 
 empire has been estimated to amount to, at least, one- 
 third of the entire population of the globe. Popery had, 
 no doubt, sent its emissaries thither, but, as yet. Pro- 
 testantism had never landed a single missionary on the 
 shores of that idolatrous country. Its teeming popu- 
 lation w^ere sunk in the grossest and most degrading 
 superstition. The language it w^as supposed to be diffi- 
 cult, if not impossible, for a European to acquire ; and 
 even though it should be acquired, there seemed to be 
 little, if any, probability of ever finding access to the 
 Chinese people, so as to communicate to them the words 
 of eternal life. In the first instance, the Directors of the 
 Missionary Society contented themselves with the single 
 design of translating the Scriptures into the language of 
 China. For the accomplishment of this important ob- 
 ject, they proposed, at first, to send out three or four 
 missionaries, but this part of the plan was abandoned, 
 and Mr Morrison was ultimately appointed alone to 
 that extensive field of missionary exertion. 
 
 In the meantime, the intended missionary continued 
 to prosecute his studies at Gosport until the month of 
 August 1805, when he returned to London, to obtain 
 some knowledge of medicine and astronomy, which were 
 thought likely to be of service to him in his mission ; 
 and also to study the Chinese language, as far as it 
 
168 MEMOIR OF 
 
 could be studied in England. These various pursuits 
 occupied his attention till his departure for China in 
 1807. Previous to his leaving England, the Missionary 
 Society addressed to him a letter of instructions as to 
 his future conduct in the sacred work in which he was 
 about to engage ; and the Directors also employed Dr 
 Waugli to write him, in their name, a letter of Chris- 
 tian counsel suited to his position and circumstances. 
 The spirit in which he took leave of his affectionate 
 friends was in beautiful harmony with the whole of hi& 
 deportment. " I shall have no tender mother's care," 
 he writes in a letter to one of his sisters, " no sister, no 
 wife, no brother near me, to assist, or counsel, or console 
 me ; but my hope is in the sure words of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that, leaving all for his sake, I shall have 
 manifold more in this present life, and in the world to 
 come, life everlasting." In such a frame of mind did 
 the first Protestant missionary to China quit his native 
 shores. It was arranged that he should sail for China by 
 America. The voyage from Gravesend to New York 
 was very stormy and tedious, but Mr Morrison embraced 
 every opportunity for instructing the sailors, and making 
 known to them the way of eternal life. In the good 
 providence of God, the ship reached New York in safety 
 on the 20th April 1807. After a short stay in America, 
 during which he enjoyed sweet intercourse with some 
 devout Christians, who welcomed him to their shores as 
 a beloved brother in the Lord, he embarked for the 
 scene of his future labours. 
 
 On his arrival at Canton, IMr Morrison was received 
 Avith the utmost kindness by the European and Ameri- 
 can residents. Through the polite attention of Sir 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 1G9 
 
 George Staunton, he succeeded iu procuring a teacher 
 to instruct him in the Chinese language. The indivi- 
 dual selected for this office was Abel Yun, a Roman 
 Catholic Chinese from Pekin, under whose tuition, 
 though by no means intimately versant in the language, 
 Mr Morrison made considerable progress. He set him- 
 self to encounter, wdth enthusiasm, the almost insuper- 
 able difficulties attendant on the acquisition of that 
 strangely complicated language, and with such success, 
 that, in a few months, he drew up a Chinese vocabu- 
 lary. From his arrival he had resided at the American 
 Factory, and to gain, if possible, the confidence of the 
 natives, he associated with them almost exclusively, 
 adopting their habits, and even their dress. " At first," 
 asDr Milne observes in his "Retrospect of the First 
 Ten Years of the Chinese Mission," " he ate in the 
 Chinese manner, and dined with the person who taught 
 him the language. His mode of living w^as most rigidly 
 economical. A lamp made of earthenware supplied him 
 with light, and a folio volume of Matthew Henry's Com- 
 mentary, set up on its edge, affiarded a shade to prevent 
 the wind from blowing out the light. His nails were suf- 
 fered to grow, that they might be like those of the 
 Chinese. He had a tail (i. e., a tress of hair) of some 
 length, and became an adept with the chop-sticks. He 
 walked about the Hong with a Chinese frock on, and 
 with thick Chinese shoes." In all these respects, how- 
 ever, Mr Morrison soon saw reason to make a complete 
 change, returning, both in style of living, and mode of 
 dress, to the ordinary European fashions. His unre- 
 mitting attention to study, and the enervating influence 
 of the climate, were not long in taking effi:;ct upon his 
 
170 MEMOIR OP 
 
 health. lie sunk into such a state of debility, that he 
 was unable to walk across his room. His medical ad- 
 viser recommended his immediate removal to Macao. 
 Thither, accordingly, he proceeded under great depression 
 of mind, and remained for three months. He was ac- 
 companied by the Chinese assistants who had been with 
 him at Canton, and he continued to labour at the lan- 
 guage with unwearied diligence and remarkable success. 
 His health improved, and he returned to Canton. Cir- 
 cumstances, however, of a political nature arose, which 
 compelled all Englishmen to leave Canton ; and after 
 remaining some time on board ship for shelter, he went 
 back to Macao, to the house which he had previously oc- 
 cupied. While resident at Macao, Mr Morrison was mar- 
 ried to Miss Morton, an amiable and pious young lady, 
 who appears to have acknowledged him, under God, as 
 her spiritual father. This union was productive of great 
 mutual happiness and comfort. On the very day of his 
 marriage he was requested to accept of the situation of 
 Chinese secretary and translator to the British Factory 
 in China. This office he gladly undertook, feeling and 
 expressing his thankfulness to the Almighty, that he 
 was thus rendered in a great measure, if not wholly, 
 independent of pecuniary assistance from his native 
 country. In accepting this appointment, he had the 
 entire concurrence of the Directors of the Missionary 
 Society. The new duties which now devolved upon 
 him required his residence at Canton for nearly one 
 half of the year. Mrs Morrison was seized, not long 
 after her marriage, with a painful and trying illness, 
 which assumed not so much of a bodily as a mental 
 character. For a considerable time she " walked in 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 171 
 
 darkness and had no light." AYhile suffering under this 
 severe nervous disorder she gave hirth to a son, which 
 expired, however, on the very day of its birth. It was 
 feared that the afflicted mother would soon follow, but 
 in a few days she rallied and in some degree recovered. 
 In the midst of these domestic trials, Mr Morrison pro- 
 secuted his official duties and missionary labours. He 
 finished a translation of the Acts of the Apostles into 
 Chinese, of which he printed a thousand copies ; and 
 he also prepared a tract called Shin-taou, that is, the 
 Divine Doctrine concerning the Redemption of the 
 World. He next applied his mind to the preparation 
 of a Chinese Grammar, which was afterwards printed 
 at Serampore, at the expense of the East India Com- 
 pany. On the Sabbath he was wont to assemble the 
 few Chinese in his service, and to preach and pray with 
 them in their vulgar Canton dialect. 
 
 While thus busily employed in promoting the cause of 
 the Redeemer, tidings reached him of the death of his 
 affectionate and pious father. About the same time 
 his domestic exile was cheered by the birth of a daughter, 
 after which Mrs Morrison's health appeared to improve. 
 By the departure of Sir George Staunton from China, 
 the official duties of the factory's translator became much 
 more arduous, and Mr Morrison's salary, accordingly, was 
 raised to a thousand pounds a-year. The importance of 
 his services was highly appreciated by the Directors of 
 the East India Company, but no slight hostility Avas 
 evinced to his labours as a missionary. By his prudence, 
 however, he succeeded in disarming all opposition, and 
 in making himself at once respected and beloved. 
 Meanwhile he continued diligently to prosecute the frvput 
 
172 MEMOIR OF 
 
 work In which he was engaged. He spent all the time 
 which he could spare from his official duties as interpre- 
 ter, in translating the New Testament into Chinese, and 
 compiling a Chinese and English Dictionary, hesides 
 communicating religious instruction on the Sahhaths to 
 such of the natives as came within his reach. While thus 
 actively engaged in his Divine Master's work, he began 
 to entertain serious apprehensions that his labours would 
 be interrupted, in consequence of an edict issued by 
 order of the Emperor, declaring that to print books on 
 the Christian religion in Chinese was to be treated as a 
 capital crime. This edict he forwarded to the Directors 
 of the Missionary Society, stating, at the same time, that 
 he intended to proceed in the fulfilment of his mission, 
 undiscouraged and undismayed. 
 
 The spirit by which Mr Morrison was actuated, was 
 of a truly noble and Christian character. With the view 
 of increasing his salary, the office of chaplain was offered 
 him by the authorities at Macao. The only duty re- 
 quired of him, should he accept the appointment, would 
 be to read the service of the Church of England, not 
 to preach. To a man of less disinterested motives the 
 offer was a tempting one ; but instead of taking upon 
 himself an office merely to augment his income, he 
 generously offered to conduct worship on the Lord's da}', 
 but declined the salary. His great anxiety was to be 
 allowed to preach the glorious Gospel of the grace of 
 God. To such an arrangement, however, the authorities 
 would not consent, and the negotiation accordingly 
 failed. 
 
 About this time the opposition of the Chinese was 
 again manifested. A proclamation was issued at Macao, 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 173 
 
 by tlie Chinese magistrate of the district, prohibiting 
 Chinese from adopting the Christian rehgion. It does not 
 appear, however, that any prosecutions followed upon this 
 proclamation. In the midst of these discouraging circum- 
 stances, Mr ]\Iorrison's heart was refreshed by the arrival 
 of a fellow-labourer, Mr Milne, who, accompanied by his 
 wife, had been sent out from England to China. For 
 six long years our missionary had laboured unaided and 
 alone, and he felt cheered by the thought that his anxieties 
 and toils would henceforth be shared by an able and 
 efficient coadjutor. While indulging in these pleasing 
 anticipations, the Chinese authorities of the district met, 
 and in fall council decreed that Mr Milne should not be 
 permitted to remain. In vain did Mr Morrison plead 
 with the Governor to have the decree revoked ; he was 
 inexorable, and Mr Milne was compelled to quit Macao 
 without delay, and set sail for Canton. The opposition 
 thus manifested by the Government to the mission pro- 
 duced a chilling effect upon Mr Morrison's mind. " It 
 is my heart's wish," he writes in his diary, " to go away 
 to a more comfortable residence, where freedom may be 
 given to communicate fully and publicly the good tidings! 
 I have a strong impression on my mind that Java would 
 be a better place than this for our mission. Direct us, 
 O Lord, and help us to put our trust in thee." From 
 this extract, it is evident that Mr Morrison had begun 
 to entertain the idea of ultimately quitting Macao and 
 Canton, and selecting, along with Mr Milne, another 
 spot in the Malay Archipelago as the chief seat of the 
 Chinese Mission. With the view of preparing for this 
 contemplated step, Mr Milne set out on a tour of in- 
 quiry, availing himself, at the same time, of the oppor- 
 
174 MEMOIR OP 
 
 tunlty of circulating the New Testament and religious 
 tracts. 
 
 During the absence of Mr Milne, Mr Morrison pub- 
 lished a small pamphlet, in which he traced a concise 
 and general outline of the Old Testament. He also 
 published a small collection of hymns, to be used in 
 Divine worship. He had circulated in the islands of 
 the Archipelago, and on the borders of China, a con- 
 siderable portion of an octavo edition of the New Tes- 
 tament, and he resolved now to print an edition in the 
 duodecimo form, as being at once cheaper and more 
 convenient. The Dictionary of the Chinese Language, 
 which had occupied much of his attention from the 
 moment of his arrival in China, was now completed, and 
 the East India Company, having undertaken to print 
 the work at their own expense, sent out a printer with 
 presses, types, and the other necessary materials. To- 
 wards the end of 1814, Mr Morrison received a legacy 
 of a thousand Spanish dollars, for missionary purposes, 
 from one of the British residents at Canton. A portion 
 of this sum was devoted to the publication of the duo- 
 decimo edition of the New Testament. He now com- 
 menced the translation of the Old Testament, the first 
 book of which he printed in the beginning of the fol- 
 lowing year. 
 
 On Mr Milne's return from the tour in which he had 
 engaged, Mr Morrison and he, after maturely considering 
 all the information which had been procm-ed, as to the 
 best place for a missionary establishment, fixed upon 
 Malacca, and thither, accordingly, Mr and Mrs Milne set 
 out. Lone: had Mr Morrison laboured Avithout havlncf 
 the privilege of seeing one convert to the Christian faith. 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 175 
 
 He had laboured, however, with patient and unwearied 
 assiduity, knowing that duty is ours, results are the 
 Lord's. His heart was gladdened, at length, by the ap- 
 plication of one native, named Isae-Ako, for admission 
 into the Christian Church. Mr Morrison acted with 
 great caution. He delayed the baptism for a time, but 
 at length he yielded. " His knowledge," he remarks 
 in his diary, " of course, is very limited, and his views 
 perhaps obscure, but I hope that his faith in Jesus is 
 sincere. I took for my guide what Philip said to the 
 eunuch, ' If thou believest with all thine heart, thou 
 mayest be baptized.' " This man appears to have been 
 the first-fruits of China unto Christ. 
 
 Mr Morrison had been long subjected to severe do- 
 mestic trials, from the illness of his wife. She had been 
 labouring under continued indisposition, almost from the 
 period of her marriage, and a sea voyage and change ot 
 climate were recommended as indispensable for the re- 
 covery of her health. It was resolved, accordingly, that 
 she should proceed to England. The importance and 
 urgent nature of her husband's labours prevented him 
 from accompanying her, and painful though the separa- 
 tion w'as, it w^as viewed by both as the will of their 
 heavenly Father. Mrs Morrison, therefore, embarked, 
 on the 21st June 1815, for England, where, by the kind- 
 ness of Providence, she arrived in safety. 
 
 A few months after his wife's departure, ]\Ir Morrison 
 received an official announcement that the Directors of 
 the East India Company had come to the resolution of 
 discontinuing his connection with them, as Secretary and 
 Translator to the Factory at Canton. This determina- 
 tion, on the part of the Court of Directors, arose from 
 
170 MEMOIR OF 
 
 an apprehension that his missionary lahours, and more 
 especially the printing and publishing of the New Testa- 
 ment in the Chinese language, might seriously endanger 
 the British trade in China. Mr Morrison's name was 
 accordingly erased from the official list, hut as a mark 
 of the high estimation in which his character and services 
 were held, the Company authorised him to be presented 
 with four thousand dollars. Though he was thus disowned 
 by the Directors at home, their representatives in China 
 felt themselves unable to dispense with his services. His 
 intimate acquaintance with the language and manners 
 of the people, his benevolent and conciliatory manners, 
 and perhaps more than all, his prudence and firmness 
 of character, rendered him admirably fitted to act as the 
 medium of communication with the Government of the 
 Celestial Empire. 
 
 For a long period, it had been a favourite project 
 with Mr Morrison to establish a college at Malacca, for 
 the cultivation of European and Chinese literature and 
 science, but chiefly for the diffusion of Christianity in 
 the islands of the Eastern Archipelago. No sooner had 
 he begun to take active measures for the accomplish- 
 ment of an object so desirable, than his exertions were 
 suspended for a time, by a sudden call to accompany 
 the British embassy to Pekin, as Chinese Secretary and 
 Interpreter. In this office he acquitted himself with 
 the greatest honour, and after an absence of a few months, 
 he returned to Canton in January 1816, and resumed 
 his duties as a missionary. The journey had been very 
 favourable to his health, he had acquired much addi- 
 tional information, and he had obtained an acquaintance 
 with the various spoken dialects prevailing through the 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 1/7 
 
 country. During his absence from Canton, a gentleman 
 connected with the Factory had pubhshed a volume of 
 Dialogues, Chinese and English, prepared by Mr Mor- 
 rison. Several other works were printed and published 
 from his pen, after returning from Pekin ; among others, 
 a " Retrospect of the First Ten Years of the Protes- 
 tant Mission to China," a work which was enlarged by 
 Mr Milne, and printed at Malacca. A monthly maga- 
 zine also w^as commenced, under the joint editorship 
 of Messrs Morrison and Milne. The essays and papers 
 were chiefly of a religious and moral kind. This pub- 
 lication met with considerable encouragement. Subse- 
 quently, there was issued also a quarterly magazine in 
 English, entitled " The Indo-Chinese Gleaner," which, 
 from the varied information it contained in reference to 
 China, w^as highly prized among the literati of Europe. 
 The Anglo-Chinese College Avas now opened at Malacca, 
 and soon attracted marked attention among the Chinese. 
 Messrs Morrison and IMilne drew up a set of resolutions 
 for their guidance in conducting the mission, and formed 
 themselves into a committee, under the name of " The 
 Provisional Committee of the Ultra- Ganges Mission," 
 intending, as soon as possible, that a third or fourth 
 person should be added to their number. 
 
 Mr Morrison's labours were highly appreciated in 
 Britain, and in token of the estimation in which he was 
 held, he received, from the University of Glasgow, the 
 degree of D.D. He set apart, out of his small property, 
 a thousand pounds towards the erection of the college 
 at Malacca, and a hundred pounds a- year, for five years, 
 towards its fund, besides several valuable donations of 
 books for its library. Liberal subscriptions were raised in 
 
178 MEMOIR OP 
 
 India, America, and Britain, and Dr Morrison had the 
 satisfaction of seeing his long-projected design carried 
 into effect. Under the auspices of Dr Mihie, the Anglo- 
 Chinese College was begun and completed. But a still 
 nobler work even than this was now brought to a happy 
 termination, — the translation of the whole of the Old 
 and New Testaments into the Chinese language. It 
 was certainly no small triumph to the Christian cause, 
 that the entire Bible was thus rendered into the native 
 tongue of three hundred millions of the human family. 
 Nor was the indefatigable missionary, Avho is destined, 
 we doubt not, to benefit ages yet unborn by his Chinese 
 translation of the Bible, inattentive to the temporal 
 miseries of his fellow-men. He instituted a Dispensary, 
 to supply advice and medicines gratuitously to the poor. 
 He purchased a Chinese medical library, consisting of 
 upwards of eight hundred volumes, with a complete 
 assortment of Chinese medicines, and engaged a respec- 
 table Chinese Physician and Apothecary to dispense 
 them. 
 
 On the 23d of August 1820, Dr Morrison, after a 
 separation of nearly six years, had the happiness of being 
 rejoined by his wife and children. In his missionary 
 labours also he was not left altogether without encour- 
 agement, occasional instances of conversion manifesting 
 themselves under the Divine blessing upon his faithful 
 endeavours to serve God in the Gospel of his Son. In 
 accordance with the request of Drs Morrison and Milne, 
 several missionaries were sent out, by the London Mis- 
 sionary Society, to Malacca and the surrounding stations. 
 For the maintenance of order and co-operation among 
 the members of the mission, they formed a Union, in 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 1 79 
 
 which certain principles of government were agreed to 
 and signed by each. 
 
 It has been the invariable lot of true believers, espe- 
 cially if they are designed for eminent services in the 
 cause of the Redeemer, to be trained in the school of 
 affliction. At the period of Dr Morrison's history which 
 we have now reached, he was destined to feel, in his 
 painful experience, the truth of this remark. His be- 
 loved wife, who had only returned to India a few short 
 months before, was suddenly cut off In childbirth. The 
 bereavement was to him and his children a sorrowful 
 calamity, but he enjoyed the high privilege of enter- 
 taining the assured hope, that her departed spirit had 
 entered into that rest which remaineth for the people of 
 God. Many a tear did he shed of affectionate remem- 
 brance, but, by the grace of God, he was remarkably 
 sustained under the severe trial, and enabled to say in 
 sincerity, " Thy will be done." It was now his solemn 
 purpose to be more and more devoted to the good cause. 
 For some time, however, his health and spirits were 
 considerably affected by the sore domestic affliction. 
 The English families resident in Macao showed him the 
 utmost kindness and attention. He resolved to send his 
 son and daughter to England ; and, after a few months, 
 the separation from them took place, leaving him once 
 more to labour alone in a strange land. An event 
 occurred, however, which tended, in some measure, to 
 call his thoughts aw^ay from personal matters. An 
 affray had taken place between a party of English sailors 
 and some Chinamen, in the course of which one of the 
 latter was killed. The Chinese Government instantly 
 demanded that the alleged murderers should be given 
 
ISO MEMOIR OF 
 
 up to them for trial. A long correspondence, of nearly 
 two months, was maintained on both sides, and Dr 
 Morrison, acting as Chinese interpreter, was busily em- 
 ployed in endeavouring to adjust the affair in an ami- 
 cable manner. His services on this occasion were emi- 
 nently successful, and they were highly appreciated both 
 at Canton and in England. 
 
 On the 14th of June 1822 the melancholy tidings 
 reached Dr Morrison of the decease of his valued fellow- 
 labourer, Dr Milne. They had wrought together in 
 the same quarter of the missionary field, and, by their 
 united exertions for ten years, much had, under the 
 Divine blessing, been effected. They had been jointly 
 engaged in translating the Scriptures into the language 
 of China, and by their joint efforts, the Anglo- Chinese 
 College at Malacca had been built, and was in actual 
 and efficient operation. To Dr Morrison this additional 
 trial was rendered, by God, a powerful stimulus to work 
 w^hile it is day, for the night is fast approaching when 
 no man can work. He had, for some time, been in- 
 dulging the hope of visiting Europe, but he now changed 
 his plans, and resolved to set out for Malacca, to arrange 
 the affairs of the mission, which the lamented death of 
 his colleague had thrown into confusion. In the mean- 
 time, before leaving Canton, he endeavoured to call the 
 attention of his countrymen and other foreign residents 
 to a plan for " bettering the Morals and Condition of 
 Sailors in China." One great object which he had 
 in view, was to afford that important and interesting 
 class of men an opportunity of hearing the Gospel. 
 His design was frustrated for a time, by a destruc- 
 tive fire which took place at Canton. However, in 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 181 
 
 a few weeks, he commenced preacliing to the sailors 
 at Wham-poa. This employment, congenial though it 
 was to his own mind, he was unable to continue for a 
 long period, as he felt it his duty to visit Malacca. 
 Leaving Canton, accordingly, on the 17 th of January 
 1823, he landed on the 29th at Singapore, an English 
 settlement at that time, recently formed on the Malayan 
 Archipelago. Here he enjoyed a very pleasing confer- 
 ence with Sir Stamford Raffles, the result of which was, 
 that they agreed to have the Anglo- Chinese College re- 
 moved from Malacca to Singapore, and to combine with 
 it a Malayan College, under the general title of the 
 " Singapore Institution." A public meeting was held 
 on the subject, and arrangements finally completed. 
 Dr Morrison obtained a grant of land from the Govern- 
 ment, and besides laying out a considerable sum in 
 clearing it, he subscribed for the Institution more than 
 fifteen hundred dollars. The foundation was laid, and 
 every thing seemed to promise well, but unfortunately 
 Sir Stamford Raffles returned to England, and the pro- 
 ject of the Institution was abandoned. But the Anglo- 
 Chinese College at Malacca still continued to prosper. 
 The Rev. David Collie was appointed Principal in place 
 of Dr Milne, and the general superintendence of the 
 afiairs of the College was intrusted to Mr Humphreys. 
 
 Dr Morrison had now been sixteen years in China, 
 and subjected as he had been to such multiplied and 
 arduous labours, it is not surprising that his constitution 
 had begun to be affected. He resolved, therefore, to 
 quit his post for a short period, and pay a visit to his 
 native land. It was a source of serious regret to him, 
 that he was leaving no European missionary to occupy 
 
182 MEMOIR OF 
 
 his place ; but that Christian ordinances might still be 
 continued among the few who professed to be converts, 
 he set apart Leang-Afa, a convert of eight years' stand- 
 ing, to the office of evangelist. It had often been the 
 earnest wish of his heart that a more ardent desire for 
 the spiritual welfare of the Chinese were awakened in 
 the bosoms of British Christians. With the view of 
 contributing to this object, he carried with him to Eng- 
 land ten thousand volumes of Chinese books, which he 
 proposed offering as a gift to either of the then existing 
 Universities, on condition of their instituting a pro- 
 fessorship of the Chinese language and literature. These 
 books, through the kindness of the Government of the 
 day, were permitted to pass free of duty. 
 
 Dr Morrison's reception in England was in the high- 
 est degree gratifying. The great work which, by God's 
 grace, he had been enabled to accomplish, the transla- 
 tion of the Bible into Chinese, rendered him an object 
 of peculiar interest among Christians of all denomina- 
 tions. He was treated with marked respect by the 
 Directors of the East India Company, who handsomely 
 allowed him to receive half of his annual salary during 
 his absence from China. He was introduced to His 
 Majesty George the Fourth, and presented him with a 
 copy of the Bible in Chinese. At the May meetings 
 in London in 1824, no one attracted more public atten- 
 tion than the Chinese missionary. It must have been 
 a singularly impressive sight to witness his presentation 
 of the Bible in Chinese at the Anniversary Meeting of 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society. " Never shall 
 I forget," says Mr Grimshaw, " the deep interest of that 
 occasion. Dr Morrison appeared in the front of the 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 183 
 
 platform, holding the precious volume in his hand. Be- 
 side him stood his youthful son, brought forward, as it 
 were, like another Hannibal, not indeed to stand pledged 
 against his country's foes, but to be consecrated, on the 
 altar of the Bible Society, against those of his Redeemer, 
 and to share with his father in the honour of extending 
 his everlasting kingdom. There was a sublime feeling of 
 Christian thankfulness and joy, mingled with many an 
 aspiration of prayer, that the God of all power and grace 
 would largely bless so noble a lal)Our of love. The con- 
 versation afterwards naturally turned on this interesting 
 subject. Mr Butterworth then stated the following 
 fact : — ' It is now many years ago,' he observed, ' that 
 in visiting the Library of the British Museum, I fre- 
 quently saw a young man, who appeared to be deeply 
 occupied in his studies. The book he was reading was 
 in a language and character totally unknown to me. 
 My curiosity was awakened, and apologizing to him for 
 the liberty I was taking, I ventured to ask what was 
 the language that engaged so much of his attention ? 
 * The Chinese,' he modestly replied. And do you un- 
 derstand the language ? I said. ' I am trying to under- 
 stand it,' he added, ' but it is attended with singular 
 difficulty.' And what may be your ol)ject, continued 
 Mr Butterworth, in studying a language so proverbially 
 difficult of attainment, and considered to be even in- 
 superable to European talent and industry ? ' I can 
 scarcely define my motives,' he remarked ; ' all that I 
 know is, that my mind is powerfully wrought upon by 
 some strong and indescribable impulse ; and if the 
 language be capable of being surmounted by human 
 zeal and perseverance, I mean to make the experiment. 
 
18-i MOIOIR OF 
 
 AVhat may be the final result, time only can develope. 
 I have, as yet, no determinate object in contemplation, 
 beyond the acquisition of the language itself.'" 
 
 The rest of the year -was spent by Dr 3Iorrison in 
 visiting France, Ireland, Scotland, and the chief to^^TlS 
 of England, endeavouring to awaken a stronger desire 
 among Christians for the salvation of the poor benighted 
 heathen. Everywhere he was listened to with attention 
 and respect ; and his powerful appeals were the means, 
 under God, of exciting, in many places, the liveliest in- 
 terest in the missionary' cause. Several young men 
 offered themselves as labourers in China ; and an Asso- 
 ciation was formed at Manchester in aid of the Anglo- 
 Chinese College at ]Malacca. 
 
 During his stay in England, Dr 3Iorrison employed 
 himself, in every possible way, in promoting his great 
 object, the diffusion of the Gospel throughout the world. 
 Among other means which had often occurred to his 
 fertile and active mind, was the establishment of a So- 
 ciety which should have in view to advance the culti- 
 vation of all the languages of mankind. The project 
 was vast, but he entertained not the slightest apprehen- 
 sion of its impracticability. Aided, accordingly, by the 
 Rev. Henry Townley, who had just returned from India, 
 he succeeded in the formation of an association, which 
 he termed the " Language Institution." Funds were 
 raised, a suitable building was procured, and Dr Morri- 
 son, besides granting the Society the use of his Chinese 
 Library and Museum, opened the Chinese department 
 himself, by giving a course of lectures for three months, 
 which were attended by thirteen students. Mr Town- 
 ley gave instructions in the Bengali language ; and Mr 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 185 
 
 Johnson, of the East India Company's College at Hailey- 
 bury, in the Sanscrit. The proceedings of this useful 
 Society were thus commenced with spirit, but no sooner 
 was it deprived of the fostering care of Dr Morrison, 
 by his return to China, than it gradually languished, 
 and in three years from its commencement was finally 
 dissolved. 
 
 Besides the numerous other engagements which 
 occupied Dr Morrison's time while in England, he found 
 leisure to prepare and publish a philological treatise, 
 entitled " The Chinese Miscellany," and to write several 
 papers on Chinese literature, which appeared in the 
 Evangelical Magazine. Such was the high estimation 
 in which his labours as a man of learning were held, 
 that he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. The 
 London Missionary Society also showed the respect 
 which they entertained for him, by electing him a mem^ 
 her of the Board of Directors during his stay in England. 
 
 The time was now approaching when Dr Morrison 
 had arranged to return to the scene of his missionary 
 labours. He intended to take along Avith him Mrs 
 Morrison, to whom he had been married since his 
 arrival in England, and his two children. This design 
 he communicated to the East India Company, who, in 
 return, notified to him that his appointment was to be 
 understood as limited to three years, and that permission 
 was not granted to his two elder children to accompany 
 him. This announcement, particularly the latter part 
 of it, surprised Dr Morrison not a little, but he calmly 
 submitted with that singular equanimity and childlike 
 confidence in God which characterised him through life. 
 Permission was at length obtained to take the children 
 
186 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to China, and although appointed only for three years, 
 his official connection with the Company continued 
 uninterrupted till the expiry of their charter, when he 
 consented to accept office under Government. 
 
 In the course of the voyage back to China, Dr Mor- 
 rison and his family were -safely preserved, by the good 
 hand of God, amid a threatened mutiny of the sailors on 
 board ship, and, on the 20th August 1826, they reached 
 Singapore. Here he was distressed on perceiving that 
 the benevolent plans which he himself, in conjunction 
 with Sir Stamford Raffles, had set on foot, were entirely 
 frustrated. The Institution building was only half 
 finished, and while the Malay professor was receiving 
 his salary, he had not yet entered upon the duties of his 
 office. Dr Morrison instantly made arrangements for 
 carrying forward the plans of Sir Stamford Raffles, and, 
 aided by the Rev. Robert Burn, the English chaplain, 
 he succeeded in arousing an interest in the colony in 
 behalf of his object. He then left for Macao, and on 
 reaching it, he was surprised to find that his property in 
 that place had been entirely neglected. His house was 
 in a state of complete dilapidation, his furniture required 
 to be wholly renewed, and his books were nearly de- 
 stroyed by white ants and other insects. The higher 
 objects of the mission, he was gratified to find, had not 
 been neglected in his absence. Public worship had been 
 carefully maintained, and Leang-Afa, the convert to 
 whom he had intrusted the charge of the mission, had 
 endeavoured, to the uttermost, to fulfil the important 
 duties committed to him. 
 
 In resuming the work of the mission, Dr Morrison 
 entered, with his wonted ardour, upon the varied em- 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 187 
 
 ployments, secular and sacred, which belonged to him. 
 Both at Macao and Canton he maintained worship on 
 the Sabbath in English and Chinese, he conversed with 
 the natives on matters of religion, and availed himself 
 of every opportunity of imparting instruction to the poor 
 ignorant heathen around him. But as the pagan and 
 popish despotisms, under which he lived, prevented him 
 from openly preaching the Gospel to the people, and 
 limited his oral instructions to the Chinese who hap- 
 pened to be in his own employment, or those who occa- 
 sionally ventured to join them, he endeavoured chiefly 
 to operate by means of the press. With the view of 
 assisting the converts in acquiring a knowledge of the 
 Scriptures, he prepared a short familiar Commentary, 
 under the name of " The Domestic Instructor," and also 
 a system of reference for the Bible. The circulation of 
 the Scriptures occupied much of his attention, and, by 
 means of the native traders, he succeeded in introducing 
 copies, in considerable numbers, into the very heart of 
 the empire. In the midst of his apostolic labours, how- 
 ever, he was not a little discouraged by the announce- 
 ment from Singapore, of the entire failure of the Insti- 
 tution which had been founded by Sir Stamford Raffles 
 and himself. 
 
 The activity with which Dr Morrison was issuing 
 religious works from his press at Macao, w^as viewed 
 with great jealousy by the Roman Catholic clergy, w^ho 
 at length prevailed upon the local Government to pro- 
 hibit him from this his favourite mode of disseminating 
 divine truth. This was no doubt felt to be a serious 
 obstacle to his usefulness as a missionary, but he availed 
 himself, all the more readily, of other means, such as 
 
1 88 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the distribution of works already prepared, Avliich could 
 now be effected by the native Christians, three of whom 
 "were residing under his roof. 
 
 Though Dr Morrison's constitution was naturally 
 vigorous, and he was capable of undergoing much 
 physical as w^ell as mental exertion, it was scarcely to 
 be wondered at, that a twenty-six years' residence in 
 China should begin to make inroads upon his health. 
 For some time he was sensible only of a shght diminu- 
 tion of strength, accompanied by a distressing restlessness 
 dm-ing the night. These symptoms appeared in the winter 
 of 1833, and were followed, in the succeeding summer, 
 by loss of appetite, pain in the right side, and great 
 prostration of strength. He recovered, however, so far 
 as to resume his civil and missionary duties. In conse- 
 quence of Mrs Morrison having seriously declined in 
 health, she and the children, with the exception of John, 
 who had received the appointment of Translator to the 
 British Merchants in Canton, found it necessary to sail 
 for England. The separation was felt by Dr Morrison 
 to be peculiarly painful, but with calm resignation he 
 yielded to the will of his heavenly Father, and con- 
 tinued to prosecute his work with undiminished ardour. 
 The charter of the East India Company about this 
 time expired, and the British Parliament not having 
 consented to its renewal, he was deprived of the 
 situation which he had so long filled with credit to 
 himself and advantage to his country. His valuable 
 services, .as a Chinese Translator and Interpreter, could 
 not be dispensed with, and he was accordingly ap- 
 pointed to the same office under Government, which 
 he had held under the Company. His residence was 
 
TPIE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D, 189 
 
 now changed from Macao to Canton, where Lord Napier, 
 the King's representative, held his seat. On the first 
 arrival of his Lordship from England, an altercation 
 took place with the local authorities at Canton, partly 
 on account of no permission having been asked or ob- 
 tained from the supreme Government for his appearance 
 in China, and partly from his Lordship's refusing to treat 
 with the officers of Government, througb the medium 
 of native commercial agents. In the discussions which 
 ensued Dr Morrison acted as interpreter, and in the 
 delicate state of his health, the anxiety and fatigue 
 which he thus underwent produced a recurrence of the 
 distressing symptoms, which had first manifested them- 
 selves on the previous summer. He rapidly sunk, and 
 in three days, his mortal body put on immortality, and 
 his corruptible body put on incorruption, and death was 
 swallowed up of life. 
 
 The following account of his last moments is given in 
 a letter from a very intimate friend, addressed to Mrs 
 Morrison : — 
 
 " Yourself and your lovely family had very often been 
 in my thoughts during the past months of your absence, 
 before the late overwhelming event, which has made 
 jou chief mourner. We often used to pray that the 
 gracious Lord would take care of you, and bless you and 
 yours, before we knew how much you would need His 
 blessing and consolation. And now, on the removal of 
 dear Dr Morrison from suffering, permit me, as a friend, 
 to sympathize in your sorrows, and weep with those that 
 weep. He was a man beloved of God, and beloved of good 
 men ; and greatly honoured in the Divine Providence in 
 this world. You looked forward, Madam, to meeting 
 
190 MEMOIR OF 
 
 again witli your dearest earthly friend, clothed with the 
 garments of sorrow and suffering — the trials and weak- 
 ness of humanity. But God has graciously permitted 
 you to look only to a happier meeting, where the habi- 
 liments of woe are seen no more ; where the faithful 
 servant has met his gracious Master, and the missionary 
 his Lord. His works will now keep following him, till 
 all China shall be offered up unto God. 
 
 " Our departed friend fell suddenly from our sight. 
 In the afternoon of his death I was with him some- 
 time ; and though weak, he could walk into another 
 room, talk feebly, and unite in supplicating the Divine 
 mercy. He said, that he thought his life in danger; 
 but I did not, and I think he did not, anticipate so 
 speedy a change. I sat down by him, and he repeated 
 many passages of Scripture, which he revolved in his 
 mind continually : ' I will never leave thee, nor forsake 
 thee,' — ' We have a house not made with hands, eternal 
 in the heavens ;' and such like. He then prayed aloud 
 for all of us, if he should be taken away ; that ' God 
 w^ould be merciful to Eliza and the dear children, and 
 bless them with his protection, and guardian care.' He 
 prayed that the Lord would sustain him, and forsake 
 him not now in his feebleness. He prayed for the 
 Chinese Mission, — that grace and peace might rest on 
 all the labourers. And, having said these things, he 
 lay down to rest. He was to have a sick certificate, 
 and I was going with him to JMacao ; but, how affect- 
 ing ! that night he was released from sickness and suffer- 
 ing, and we went with him to Macao indeed : but it 
 was only his dead body that went, for God had taken 
 the spirit. 
 
THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 191 
 
 " We buried him beside bis former wife. There ^Yill 
 the Lord's beloved sleep, till the day of resurrection. 
 Dear John R. was with us, and felt the supporting hand 
 of his father's God in all these trying scenes. Sad as 
 the first shock of the news will be to you, his partner, 
 and his dear children, yet, I trust, the same gracious 
 hand will protect and console you. It is rather a mat- 
 ter of joy than otherwise to us, that you were all spared 
 the pain of being eye-witnesses, and then of crossing the 
 ocean, with the loss pressing heavily on your minds. 
 
 " He had finished his work, and had well done it ; 
 and the Lord would no longer withhold his infinite re- 
 ward from the servant worn out in his service. Oh ! 
 may our end be alike peaceful, and our reward equally 
 sure. I rejoice for him, but mourn for you, and for 
 ourselves ; for if he was a husband and father to his 
 family, so was he truly to this Mission. Be consoled 
 then, dear friend, by the remembrance of what he was ; 
 be cheered by the assurance of what he is ; and be joy- 
 ful in the hope of what you both will be." 
 
 He died on the 1st of August 1834. The death of 
 this honoured missionary of the Cross produced a deep 
 feeling of regret, not in China and England only, but 
 throughout the whole world. His exertions, more 
 especially in connection with the translation of the Bible 
 into Chinese, have given to the name of Morrison a 
 distinguished place in the annals of the missionary cause. 
 And the additional interest which recent events have 
 thrown around the Chinese empire, enhance the value 
 of his labours a thousandfold. One of the greatest 
 obstacles to the diffusion of the Gospel in that densely 
 peopled country has been overcome. Its language has 
 
102 MEMOIR OF THE REV. ROBERT MORRISON, D.D. 
 
 been fully mastered. The Bible now exists in the 
 Chinese tongue. Now, therefore, that, in the good 
 Providence of God, a closer commercial intercourse is 
 likely to subsist between Britain and China, the time, 
 we trust, is fast approaching when the sainted spirit of 
 the missionary Morrison shall be refreshed with the con- 
 templation of multitudes in that idolatrous land turning 
 from the worship of idols to -the service of the living 
 and the true God. 
 
THE RIGHT KEY. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 
 
 This devoted and truly Christian labourer in the Lord's 
 vineyard was born April 21, 1783, at Malpas, in the 
 county of Chester. In early life his constitution was 
 delicate, and it was severely tried by several successive 
 attacks of disease. It pleased God, however, in answer 
 to the prayers of his affectionate and pious parents, to 
 raise him up from his bed of sickness, and to protract a 
 life destined to be so eminently useful in the cause of the 
 Redeemer. The utmost attention was paid in his child- 
 hood to the cultivation of his mind, and more especially 
 to the inculcation of pious sentiments and feelings. And 
 the result was in the highest degree gratifying. At five 
 years of age he could read the Bible with ease ; and so 
 extensive was his knowledge of its contents, that he 
 could in most cases tell with the utmost readiness where 
 any passage was to be found. Nor was his knowledge 
 unattended with serious impressions. In the course of 
 one of those attacks of sickness, to which he was so 
 frequently subject in his tender years, he remarked, on 
 seeing his mother in a state of much alarm, " Do not 
 be afraid, mother, God will take care of us." 
 
 At the age of eight, Reginald was sent to Whitchurch 
 
 N 
 
1 94 MEMOIR or 
 
 Grammar School, where he remained for five years, and 
 was subsequently placed under the care of the Rev. Mr 
 Bristow at Neasdon, near London. While at school, a 
 circumstance occurred which showed how intently he 
 could apply his mind to any subject in which he felt 
 interested. On one occasion a new book having been 
 presented to him by a friend, he began to peruse it just 
 as they were closing the school for the night ; and so 
 absorbed was he in its contents, that he was locked up 
 in the school, and did not discover his situation till the 
 darkness of the evening coming on, roused him from his 
 abstraction. 
 
 The influence of parental example produced a most 
 salutary effect upon the amiable and susceptible mind of 
 young Heber. He was remarked at school as a boy of 
 intelligence and reflection far beyond his years. Though 
 naturally timid and reserved, perhaps to a fault, he was 
 beloved by his companions ; and when at any time con- 
 trary feelings were manifested towards him, he speedily 
 disarmed the rising enmity, by the meekness and kind- 
 ness of heart which he uniformly displayed. Disposi- 
 tions so attractive were by no means the spontaneous 
 manifestations of a naturally gentle constitution ; they 
 were evidently the result of a divine operation in the 
 soul. And hence we find the same ardent piety, the 
 same attachment to the Sacred Volume, the same scru- 
 pulous attention to the duties of devotion at Neasdon as 
 when under his father's roof. The Bible was his daily 
 and constant companion ; and though strictly conscien- 
 tious in his preparation for the employments of the school, 
 he never neglected to consult that precious book, which 
 alone could make him " wise to salvation." 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 195 
 
 Anxious to embrace every opportunity of making pro- 
 gi-ess in religious knowledge, he eagerly perused those 
 works on devotional and practical divinity, in which his 
 father s library so liberally abounded. An interesting 
 incident, connected with this subject, is thus stated in 
 the concise and well written life of Heber, by Mr Tay- 
 lor: — 
 
 " One day, when Reginald was at the age of fourteen, 
 his mother missed her ' Companion to the Altar ;' search 
 was made for it among all the servants, but it was no- 
 where to be found. After three weeks' fruitless inquiry, 
 it was given up as lost, till at length she happened to 
 mention it to Reginald, who immediately brought it to 
 her, stating that it had deeply interested him, — that he 
 had made himself perfectly acquainted with its contents ; 
 and he earnestly begged permission to accompany his 
 mother to the altar, when the sacrament was next admi- 
 nistered. Penetrated with gratitude to God for giving 
 her so pious a son, Mrs Heber burst into tears of joy, 
 and, as w^e may well be assured, cheerfully assented to 
 his request." 
 
 Toward the close of 1800, Reginald left school, and 
 was entered at Brazen-Nose College, Oxford, where his 
 father had been, and his eldest brother w^as then, a fel- 
 low. His eminent talents and fine taste soon attracted 
 notice, and the very first year he gained the university 
 prize for Latin verse. His fame, however, rose still 
 higher, by the splendid specimen of his poetic powers, 
 which he gave in his English prize poem, entitled " Pales- 
 tine." About the time when young Heber produced this 
 noble effort of his genius. Sir Walter Scott happened to 
 be on a visit to Oxford. Beino; invited to take break- 
 
196 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fast in the college, the conversation naturally turned 
 upon the prize poem, and on Sir Walter's expressing a 
 wish to hear it, it was read. Sir "Walter paid its author 
 some very high compliments, remarking, however, with 
 the utmost kindness, that Heber had omitted one strik- 
 ing fact in describing the building of the temple, — that 
 no tools were used in its erection. Reginald instantly 
 availed himself of the hint, and retiring to a corner of 
 the room, produced, in a short time, those beautiful 
 lines : — 
 
 " No hammer fell, no ponderous axes rung ; 
 
 Like some tall palm the mystic fabric sprung. 
 
 Majestic silence ! " 
 
 When called upon to recite his poem in the presence 
 of the whole University, his friends were afraid that, 
 from his natural timidity, he would scarcely do justice 
 to it in the delivery. In this, however, they were agree- 
 ably disappointed. 
 
 " Never was a poem recited," says Mr Taylor, " more 
 impressively, nor with more striking effect. His youth- 
 ful, but most interesting appearance, none who had the 
 happiness to be present could ever forget. His unaffected 
 simplicity, associated, as it evidently w^as, with a suitable 
 portion of manly dignity, rivetted the attention of all ; 
 while the rich tones of his musical voice, modulated as 
 they were with exquisite skill, so as to give the most 
 effect to the different parts of the poem, excited a univer- 
 sal burst of admiration, and left an impression on the 
 minds of his auditors never to be effaced. 
 
 " ' Hush'd was the busy hum, nor voice nor sound. 
 
 Through the vast concourse, marked the moment near ; 
 A deep and holy silence breathed around, 
 And mute attention fixM the lisfning ear. 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 197 
 
 When from the rostrum hurst the hallowed strain, 
 
 And Heber, kindling with poetic fire. 
 
 Stood 'mid the gazing and expectant train, 
 
 And woke to eloquence his sacred lyre. 
 
 The youthful student, with emphatic tone 
 
 (His lofty subject on his mind impressM), 
 
 With grace and energy unrivalFd shone. 
 
 And roused devotion in each thoughtless breast. 
 
 He sang of Palestine — that holy land. 
 
 Where saints and martyrs, and the warrior brave, 
 
 The cross in triumph planting on its strand. 
 
 Beneath its banners sought a glorious grave. 
 
 He sang of Calvary, of his Saviour sang. 
 
 Of the rich mercies of redeeming love ; 
 
 When through the crowd spontaneous plaudits rang. 
 
 Breathing a foretaste of rewards above.' 
 
 " Among the auditors who listened to this splendid 
 exhibition of Reginald's poAvers was his aged father, then 
 in his seventy-fifth year ; who, though he had been suffer- 
 ing under a severe illness, which had greatly debilitated 
 his whole frame, determined to gratify himself by witness- 
 ing this literary effort of his darling boy. To describe his 
 feelings on this occasion with any degree of accuracy, 
 would be impossible ; they can be much better conceived 
 than expressed. Tremblingly alive, as he, of course, must 
 have been, to his son's reputation, his emotions, when 
 he saw him ascend the rostrum, were almost overpower- 
 ing. He well knew the sensibility of which Reginald 
 was the subject, and his apprehensions, lest it should 
 prove injurious to him on this occasion, were not a little 
 distressing. When, however, the youthful poet com- 
 menced, they gradually subsided, disappearing entirely 
 as he proceeded ; and producing, amidst the deafening 
 shouts of applause that rose from the delighted audience, 
 a rush of feelings so highly gratifying as to be almost 
 
1.98 MEMOIR OP 
 
 too much for his feeble power to sustain. Indeed, it has 
 been stated, though certainly not with truth, that the 
 venerable parent's days were shortened by the intensity 
 of his sensations on the occasion." 
 
 What wonder would it have been though the youthful 
 victor had retired from the theatre of the university, on 
 such an occasion, with a heart elated with pride ! Far 
 different. Indeed, was the effect produced upon the 
 mind of Heber. He hastened to his room to pour out 
 his heart in thanksgiving to God, who had given him 
 success; and when his mother, who had come along 
 •with his father to Oxford, sought for her son to mingle 
 her congratulations with those of others, she found him 
 on his knees, praising God for the degree of enjoyment 
 which his beloved parents had that day experienced. 
 
 In a few months after the intellectual triumph which 
 Heber had thus obtained, he was visited w^ith a most 
 severe trial in the death of his aged father. The peace- 
 ful serenity, however, and holy resignation of the good 
 old man on his death-bed, tended, in a great measure, 
 to mitigate the anguish which he would otherwise have 
 felt. It is painful, inexpressibly painful, to witness the 
 expiring agonies of an unconverted sinner ; but " pre- 
 cious in the sight of the Lord," and it may be added, 
 beautiful, even in the sight of angels and of men, is 
 "the death of" the Almighty's "saints." Such a one 
 was the father of the apostolic Heber. His last mo- 
 ments are thus described by Mr Taylor : — 
 
 " Whenever his strength would permit, he took great 
 pleasure in conversing with his family on the great sub- 
 jects of religion. He spoke of the world as a den of 
 wild beasts, and affectionately cautioned his children to 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 199 
 
 beware of its dangers, earnestly praying that God would 
 graciously preserve them from all its entanglements. 
 On seeing Mrs Heber, whose kind and unremitting at- 
 tentions to him had been such, that she had not ex- 
 changed her clothes for some weeks, overwhelmed with 
 grief at the evident symptoms that now appeared of his 
 approaching end, he kindly, and with great feeling, ad- 
 monished her for sorrowing as one without hope, assur- 
 ing her that he stood upon the Rock of Ages, and had 
 no doubt of obtaining, through the merits of the Re- 
 deemer, a crown of immortality and glory. The next 
 day he received the sacrament, in which he was joined 
 by his family. This most interesting service, and the 
 closing scene of his father's life, Mr Heber thus de- 
 scribes : — ' On the arrival of Mr Bridge, we all partook 
 of the most solemn communion that we can ever expect 
 to join in in this world, to which indeed my father 
 seemed scarcely to belong. A smile sat on his pale 
 countenance, and his eyes sparkled brighter than I ever 
 saw them. From this time he spoke but little; his 
 lips moved, and his eyes were raised upwards. He 
 blessed us again ; we kissed him, and found his cheeks 
 cold, and breathless.' " 
 
 Shortly after the death of his father, which occurred 
 in 1804, Heber returned to college, and pursued his 
 studies with unremitting diligence. On the 2d Novem- 
 ber of that year, he was elected a fellow of All-Souls 
 College — a situation in which he enjoyed increased op- 
 portunities of making progress in literary acquirements. 
 In the following year he carried off the prize for an 
 English Essay on " The Sense of Honour." 
 
 Though as yet only in his twenty-second year, he 
 
200 MEMOIR OP 
 
 had seen but little of the world, and his relatives judged 
 it expedient that he should accompany his esteemed 
 friend, John Thornton, Esq., on a tour through different 
 parts of Europe. He accordingly, in July 1 805, set sail 
 ■with his companion for Norway. They then travelled 
 through Sweden, Russia, Austria, and part of Germany. 
 After an absence of little more than a year, he returned 
 to England, where he was gladly welcomed by his affec- 
 tionate relatives and friends. He now repaired to Ox- 
 ford, and applied himself, with his accustomed diligence, 
 to his studies. 
 
 In the summer of 1807, after mature deliberation, 
 and much prayer for the Divine direction, Mr Heber 
 took orders, and was presented by his brother to the 
 rectory of Hodnet, which had been reserved for him 
 from the time of his fathers death. Shortly after his 
 induction, he returned to Oxford, and took his degree 
 of Master of Arts ; and from this period he finally quit- 
 ted the university, and dedicated himself, with unwea- 
 ried assiduity and zeal, to the duties of his ministerial 
 charge. He was, indeed, " a workman that needeth 
 not to be ashamed." In all the varied employments of 
 a faithful pastor, he was diligent, active, conscientious, 
 visiting the sick, counselHng the perplexed, ministering 
 to the wants of the poor, and pouring the balm of con- 
 solation into the wounded spirit. To the poorest of his 
 flock he was at all times accessible, sympathizing with 
 them in their sorrows, and with all the tenderness of an 
 affectionate friend, relieving their temporal necessities, 
 and taking occasion, at the same time, to point out to 
 them the way to happiness and heaven. 
 
 Shortly after Mr Heber was settled at Hodnet, he 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 201 
 
 married Amelia, the youngest daughter of the late Dr 
 Shipley, dean of St Asaph — a lady who entered warmly 
 into all his plans for the benefit of his parish. He 
 now opened a school in the village for the instruction of 
 the young, and devoted a considerable time to its per- 
 sonal superintendence. The following instance of good 
 resulting from his labours is exceedingly interesting, 
 and shows Mr Heber in a very beautiful and striking 
 light:— 
 
 " An old man resided in the parish, who had been a 
 notorious poacher nearly all his life, and who, through 
 the combined influence of his irregular mode of life, 
 drunken habits, and depraved associates, had settled 
 down into an irreligious old age. He was a widower, 
 had survived his children, shunned all society, and was 
 rarely seen abroad. The sole inmate of his lonely 
 cottage was a little grandchild, on whom w^re bound 
 up all the sympathies of his rugged nature, and on whom 
 he lavished the warmest caresses. It was considered an 
 unaccountable departure from his usual line of conduct, 
 when he permitted little Philip to attend the rector's 
 school, and some one expressed to him surprise that such 
 should be the case : — ' Why not ? ' was the old man's 
 reply. ' Do you think I wish Philip to be as bad as 
 myself ? I am black enough, God knows ! * The old 
 man was taken ill and confined to his room. It was 
 winter ; he was unable to divert his mind. His com- 
 plaint was a painful one, and there was every probability 
 that his illness might be of long continuance. A neigh- 
 bour suggested that his little grandson should read to 
 him. He listened at first languidly and carelessly ; by 
 and bye, however, with some interest, till at length he 
 
202 MEMOIR OF 
 
 became deeply concerned for his soul ; convictions of 
 guilt flashed upon his mind, and he expressed an earnest 
 desire to see Mr Heber. Immediately on its being made 
 known to the rector, he paid him a visit. The old man lay 
 upon his bed in a corner of the room, near a trellised 
 window. His features were naturally hard and coarse, 
 and the marked lines of his countenance were distinctly 
 developed by the strong light which fell upon them. Aged 
 and enfeebled as he was, he seemed fully alive to what 
 was passing around him ; ' and I had,' says the narrator 
 of this anecdote, ' leisure to mark the searching of his 
 eye, while he gazed with the most intense anxiety on his 
 spiritual comforter, and weighed every word that fell 
 from his lips. The simple phraseology in which Heber 
 clothed every idea, the facility with which he descended 
 to the old man's comprehension, the earnestness with 
 which he strove not to be misunderstood, and the manner 
 in which, in spite of himself, his voice occasionally fal- 
 tered, as he adverted delicately, but faithfully and most 
 affectionately, to the fundamental points of our holy 
 religion, struck me forcibly ; while Philip stood on the 
 other side of the bed, his hand locked in his grandfather's, 
 his bright blue eyes dimmed with tears, as he looked 
 sadly and anxiously from one face to another, evidently 
 aware that some misfortune awaited him, though uncon- 
 scious to what extent. Not long afterwards the old man 
 died, in a state of mind so calm, so subdued, so penitent, 
 and resigned, that ' I feel myself cheered in my labours,' 
 said Heber, ' whenever I reflect upon it.' Heber ofii- 
 ciated at the funeral ; and, says our narrator, ' I shall 
 never forget, I never wish to forget, — if I were cast to- 
 morrow on a desert island, it is one of the few things I 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 203 
 
 should Avish to remember of the world I had left behind 
 me, — the air, the manner, the look, the expression of 
 hope and holy joy, and stedfast confidence, which lit up 
 Heber's countenance, as he pronounced the passage in 
 the ritual, ' O Father, raise us from the death of sin 
 into the life of righteousness, that when we shall depart 
 this life we may rest in thee, as our hope is this our 
 brother doth.' " 
 
 While thus indefatigable in his labours as a parish 
 minister, Mr Heber did not lay aside his ardent attach- 
 ment to the pursuits of literature. About this time he 
 published his poem, entitled " Europe," and commenced 
 occasional contributions to the Quarterly Review, which 
 had recently started. He also composed various hymns, 
 which are still much admired ; and about the year 1811, 
 he was prevailed upon by his friends to publish a volume 
 of poems, including " Palestine," which had been set to 
 music by Dr Crotch. After committing this book to 
 the press, his engagements of every kind were suspended 
 by the return of a severe and irritating disease of the 
 skin, which had been originally brought on by exposure 
 to the night air in an open carriage during a part of 
 his continental tour. This affliction he bore with Chris- 
 tian patience and resignation, — lamenting chiefly that 
 it compelled him to be absent from his flock. After 
 some time, by the Divine blessing, the medicines used 
 proved successful, and he was restored to his wonted 
 health and usefulness. He now pursued his ministerial 
 and his literary labours with increasing ardour; yet 
 such were the high views which he entertained of the 
 responsibility of a Christian minister, that, amid all his 
 exertions, he was often oppressed with the thought that 
 
204 MEMOIR OF 
 
 he was an unfaithful servant of his Lord and Master. 
 Thus, on one occasion, he says, — 
 
 " I write sermons, and have moderately good congre- 
 gations ; but not better than I had on first commencing 
 my career. The schools, &c., which I projected, are 
 all comparatively at a stand-still ; and I am disposed to 
 think, that a man cannot attend to two pursuits at once ; 
 and that it will be, at length, necessary to burn my books, 
 like the early converts to Christianity ; and since Pro- 
 vidence has called me to a station which so many men 
 regard with envy, to give my undivided attention to the 
 duties which it requires. Possibly, for I will own that 
 I am in a gloomy humour, I exaggerate circumstances ; 
 but a day seldom passes without my being more or less 
 affected by them. On the whole, perhaps, such repin- 
 ings at the imperfect manner in which our duties are 
 performed, are necessary parts of our discipline, and such 
 as we can never hope to get rid of." 
 
 In 1815, Mr Heber, by appointment, delivered the 
 Bampton Lectures. The subject which he selected for 
 discussion on the occasion was one of great importance, 
 — the Divinity, Personality, and Office of the Holy 
 Spirit; and on the publication of these Lectures, he 
 dedicated them to Lord Grenville, Chancellor of the 
 University. 
 
 Early in the following year he was seized with a 
 severe attack of erysipelas, from which, however, he 
 soon recovered. He had scarcely regained strength, 
 Avhen he was called to lament the loss of his youngest 
 brother, Thomas Cuthbert Heber. The sudden re- 
 moval of this excellent young man produced a deep 
 impression upon the mind of Mr Heber, and it may be 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 205 
 
 interesting to peruse the following brief sketch of his 
 character, which he has left on record : — 
 
 " To his brothers, his singular disinterestedness, his 
 warmth of attachment, and devotion to their service and 
 prospects, can never be replaced. He had himself ex- 
 perienced several vexations and disappointments, which, 
 though of a hasty temper, he bore w4th calmness, and 
 almost indifference ; but where the happiness of a 
 friend was concerned, his whole heart was engaged ; 
 and there was no labour or inconvenience which he 
 would not incur, almost without knowing that he made 
 a sacrifice. I never knew so warm a heart which felt so 
 little for itself ; or one whose few faults w ere, apparently, 
 in so fair a way of being corrected, when He, who in 
 all things determines best, thought fit to remove him." 
 
 The fame of Mr Heber was not likely to be long in 
 leading to his promotion ; and, accordingly, we find him, 
 soon after his brother's death, appointed by Dr Lux- 
 more, the late Bishop of St Asaph, to a stall in that 
 cathedral. About the same time he was called to sus- 
 tain the responsible character of a parent, by tlie birth 
 of his first child, which took place in the summer of 
 1818. This event afforded him high gratification. In 
 the short space, however, of six months, his joy was 
 turned into mourning. The child was snatched away 
 after a very short illness ; and so much was the tender 
 heart of the father affected by his loss, that for weeks 
 after he never mentioned the child's name, or heard it 
 mentioned, without tears. The excess of his grief, as 
 might well be expected in so eminent a Christian, at 
 length gave way to a spirit of calm resignation and sub- 
 mission to the Divine will. 
 
206 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Mr Heber, both as a scholar and a divine, was held 
 in high estimation. Besides having been appointed one 
 of the preachers before the University of Oxford, he 
 was proposed as a candidate for the preachership of 
 Lincoln's Inn, the appointment to which has always 
 been considered a post of high honour. And though 
 unsuccessful in his application for this latter office, far 
 from being dispirited, he exerted himself with, if pos- 
 sible, increased ardour in the discharge of those impor- 
 tant duties with which Providence had intrusted him. 
 Hitherto he had published but little in his own name, 
 his literary exertions being chiefly directed to the pre- 
 paration of articles for the Quarterly Review and other 
 leading periodicals. His papers, however, were so 
 highly valued, that he was universally acknowledged to 
 have established his reputation as a writer of eminence. 
 In these circumstances, he received an application from 
 a respectable publisher in London to furnish a life of 
 Jeremy Taylor, along with a critical essay on his writ- 
 ings. This task he readily undertook, and more espe- 
 cially, as he himself was a devoted admirer of the works 
 of Bishop Taylor ; but, in its accomplishment, such 
 were the difficulties with which he had to grapple, that 
 it displayed talent of a very high order to produce a 
 biography so interesting, from materials so scanty and 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
 In the spring of 1820, putrid sore throat prevailed to 
 an alarming extent in Hodnet, and many of Mr Heber's 
 parishioners were cut off by the disease. The worthy 
 rector embraced every opportunity of benefiting his 
 people in this season of calamity. He entered their 
 houses, to administer the instructions and the consola- 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 207 
 
 tions of religion, stood by the bed-sides of the sick and 
 the dying, exposing himself fearlessly to infection ; and 
 when warned by a friend of the danger he was running, 
 he replied, with devout confidence in the care and the 
 kindness of his heavenly Father, " Am I not as much 
 in God's keeping in the sick man's chamber as in my 
 own ? " It pleased God to preserve him from danger 
 for a considerable time ; and when, at length, he and 
 his whole household were attacked with the malignant 
 disease, they were all of them mercifully preserved, and 
 raised up again as monuments of the love and long- 
 suffering goodness of the Almighty. 
 
 Impressed with this striking manifestation of Divine 
 mei-cy to himself and all that were dear to him, Mr 
 Heber felt that he was laid under stronger obligations 
 than ever to dedicate his whole energies to the service 
 of his Lord and Master. In attention to his parochial 
 duties, few equalled, none excelled him. His active 
 mind sought to spend every moment of time in a man- 
 ner fitted to improve either his parishioners or him- 
 self. For some years he employed the intervals of more 
 serious study in forming a Collection of Hymns, which, 
 however, did not appear till after his decease. 
 
 Early in 1822, a vacancy again occurred in the 
 preachership of Lincoln's Inn ; and Mr Heber being 
 persuaded to become a candidate, through the kind ex- 
 ertions of his friends he obtained the situation. It was 
 certainly a serious disadvantage, that, to fulfil the im- 
 portant duties of his new appointment, it was necessary 
 to be absent for three months in the year from his be- 
 loved flock at Hodnet. He had the consolation, how- 
 ever, of thinking, that, besides enjoying the society of 
 
208 MEMOIR OP 
 
 literary men, which was so congenial to his taste, he 
 had now an opportunity of declaring the truths of the 
 Gospel to a class of men whose talents and attain- 
 ments, not to speak of their wealth, were likely to give 
 them a commanding influence in the country. In his 
 ministrations at Lincoln's Inn, accordingly, Mr Heber 
 endeavoured to speak, with all boldness, as a faithful 
 minister of Christ. He composed his sermons with 
 the greatest care and attention to elegance of diction, as 
 became him in addressing an audience of intelligent and 
 accomplished men ; but he unfolded to them, with all 
 plainness, the whole counsel of God, in regard to the 
 naturally lost condition of man, and the plan of salva- 
 tion, through the free grace and mercy of God, as mani- 
 fested in Christ Jesus. 
 
 It has often been remarked, in reference to those who, 
 in the course of Providence, have been called to occupy 
 conspicuous stations in the missionary field, that, from 
 early days, the desire of engaging in such employment 
 is generally strong and urgent. As soon as they have 
 been brought under the power of divine grace, and 
 have been led to feel the importance of salvation for 
 their own souls, they feel a longing anxiety to be in- 
 strumental in proclaiming the same glorious salvation to 
 the uttermost ends of the earth. At first, and for many 
 years, perhaps, the feeling exists simply in the form of 
 a secret desire ; but let circumstances occur to call forth 
 the desire into practical operation, and straightway the 
 private Christian, who had been endeavouring actively 
 and energetically to discharge the work of a missionary 
 in his own limited sphere, hastens to occupy the high 
 and honourable post of an ambassador of Christ to the 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 209 
 
 heathen, feeling that in doing so, he is fulfilling the 
 ohject of his early ambition, of his warmest and fondest 
 desire. Mr Ileber had for many years taken a lively 
 interest in the cause of missions ; and he had often ex- 
 pressed an ardent wish, without the remotest prospect 
 of ever seeing it realized, that the scene of his labours 
 had been among the unnumbered millions of India. In 
 the mysterious providence of God, his desire was at 
 length fulfilled. On the death of the lamented Dr 
 Middleton, Bishop of Calcutta, Mr Heber was fixed 
 upon as a person in all respects suited to occupy a situa- 
 tion of such high responsibility. For some time he was 
 doubtful whether it was his duty to accept of the office ; 
 but at last, after much deliberation and earnest prayer, 
 he came to the resolution of undertaking the arduous 
 duties which were so unexpectedly devolved upon him. 
 To a heart so tender, the thought of separation from his 
 numerous friends was truly painful ; and feelingly alive 
 to the harrowing thought, he thus expresses himself in 
 a letter to an early and intimate friend : — 
 
 " I often feel my heart sick, when I recollect the 
 sacrifices I must make of friends, such as few, very few, 
 have been blessed with. Yet it is a comfort to me to 
 think, that most of them are younger than myself; and 
 that, if I live through my fifteen years* service, and 
 should then think myself justified in returning, we may 
 hope to spend the evening of our lives together. But 
 be this as it may, I am persuaded that prayer can tra- 
 verse sea and land, and not only keep affection alive 
 between absent friends, but send blessings from one to 
 the other. Pray for me, my dear Thornton, that my 
 life and doctrine may be such as they ought to be ; that 
 
210 MEMOIR OP 
 
 I may be content in my station, active in my duty, and 
 firm in ray faith ; and that, when I have preached to 
 others, I may not myself be a cast-away." 
 
 And again, — 
 
 " I indeed give up a good deal, both of present com- 
 fort, and, as 1 am assured, of future possible expecta- 
 tion ; and, above all, I give up the enjoyment of Eng- 
 lish society, and a list of most kind friends, such as few 
 men, in my situation, have possessed. Still, I do not 
 repent the line which I have taken. I trust I shall be 
 useful where I am going ; and I hope and believe I am 
 actuated by a zeal for God's service. I yet trust to re- 
 tain the good wishes and the prayers of my friends, and 
 if I ever return to England, to find that they have not 
 forgotten me. After all, I hope I am not enthusiastic 
 in thinking, that a clergyman is like a soldier or a 
 sailor, bound to go on any service, however remote or 
 undesirable, where the course of his duty leads him ; and 
 my destiny (though there are some circumstances at- 
 tending it which make my heart ache) has many advan- 
 tages, in an extended sphere of professional activity." 
 
 As a gratifying token of the respect and admiration 
 which the University of Oxford entertained for him, 
 they bestowed upon him the well-merited title of D.D., 
 and the members of his own college, anxious to per- 
 petuate the recollection of one so great and so good, re- 
 quested him to sit for his portrait, that it might take its 
 place among the distinguished men who adorn its hall. 
 
 Of all the affecting considerations connected with his 
 departure for India, none produced so deep an impres- 
 sion on the mind of Ileber as the idea of being finally 
 separated from his dear parishioners at ITodnet. They 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 211 
 
 aJmlred, they loved, they revered him ; and, in token 
 of the high estimation in which they held him, they 
 presented him, before parting, with an elegant piece of 
 plate, bearing an appropriate inscription. The following 
 brief but affecting description of his last visit to Hodnet 
 is given by Mr Taylor : — 
 
 "The Doctor took his final leave of his favourite 
 Hodnet, on the 22d of April 1823. In passing over 
 the high ground near Newport, he turned round to take 
 the last view of that endeared spot, where dwelt num- 
 bers, whose hearts he knew were filled with sadness at 
 his departure, and who, he was assured, prayed earnest- 
 ly for a blessing on the work in which he had engaged. 
 His feelings, which up to this time he had restrained, 
 now burst forth ; and, after many most fervent prayers 
 that God would bless the people, and more than supply 
 the loss they might sustain by his departure, with deep 
 emotion, he prophetically, as it afterwards proved, ex- 
 claimed, ' I shall never again see my Hodnet ! It is, 
 however, an encouragement of no common value, that 
 I carry out with me such good wishes, and such prayers, 
 as I know are offered up on my behalf by many there 
 and elsewhere. Heaven grant that I may do nothing 
 to forfeit the one, or to render the other ineffectual ; 
 but that I may be able, at least, to imitate the diligence, 
 the piet}^, and the admirable disinterestedness of my 
 excellent predecessor V" 
 
 A short time before leaving England, he preached his 
 farewell sermon at Lincoln's Inn. The discourse pro- 
 duced a most powerful effect upon his auditors. Among 
 the persons present on that occasion was the late Joseph 
 Butterworth, Esq., whose benevolence and Cliristian 
 
212 MEMOIR OF 
 
 wortli are still remembered. On being asked b}' a friend, 
 as they retired from the chapel, how he had been pleased 
 with Dr Heber, he replied with the warmest enthusiasm, 
 " Oh, Sir, thank God for that man ! thank God for that 
 man." 
 
 Having been consecrated to his high and holy office. 
 Bishop Heber set sail for India on the 16th June 1823. 
 During the voyage he devoted a considerable share of 
 his time to the Hindustani language, and on the Sab- 
 bath he regularly performed divine service, either on deck 
 or in the cabin, according to the state of the weather. 
 
 On his arrival in India, he was introduced to the 
 Governor-General, Lord Amherst, who received him 
 with the utmost courtesy and kindness. The business 
 which now devolved upon him from the first day of his 
 entrance upon his duties was almost overwhelming ; but 
 he appHed himself to it with the utmost dihgence and 
 perseverance. His zeal in the Redeemer's cause found 
 ample scope in India ; and he lost no opportunity of 
 promoting the spiritual interests both of Europeans 
 and natives. To the education of the young he paid 
 especial attention. On Sabbath he preached twice, and 
 often three times ; and in the multifarious duties of the 
 week no persuasion could prevail upon him to relax his 
 exertions. 
 
 " Often have I," says Mrs Heber, " earnestly re- 
 quested him to spare himself, when, on descending from 
 the pulpit, I have sometimes seen him almost unable 
 to speak from exhaustion ; or when, after a few hours* 
 rest at night, he would rise at four the next morning, 
 to attend a meeting, or visit a school, and then pass the 
 whole of the day, till sun-set, in mental labour, without 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD llEBER, D.D. 213 
 
 allowing himself the hour's mid-day sleep, in which the 
 most active generally indulge. To these remonstrances 
 he would answer, that these things were necessary to be 
 done ; and that the more zealous he was in the discharge 
 of his duties, he could with the greater justice urge 
 activity on such of his clergy as he might deem defi- 
 cient." 
 
 Bishop Heber had not been long in India before he 
 resolved, after having brought the aifairs of his diocese 
 in and around Calcutta into a manageable compass, to 
 visit the upper provinces, and more especially, as they 
 had not been visited before. He set out, accordingly, 
 on the 15th June 1824. His wife's health being deli- 
 cate, she was unable to accompany him, as had been 
 originally intended. He had not proceeded far on his 
 journey, when his chaplain, Mr Stowe, fell sick and 
 died. This event was very distressing, and retarded the 
 bishop's progress for a short time. At length, after a 
 residence of eighteen days at Dacca, " marked by great 
 and most unusual anxiety and sorrow," he set forward, 
 visiting the most important places as he passed along, 
 baptizing the children, instructing and confirming the 
 catechumens, and overseeing the various cliurches, which 
 had been formed at different stations. Nor did the state 
 of the natives escape his notice. He examined with 
 peculiar interest the manners and customs, religious and 
 secular, of the numerous sects of idolaters which came 
 within the sphere of his observation. As a specimen of 
 the accuracy and minuteness with which he investigated 
 the opinions and habits of the people, we quote from his 
 published Journal an account which he gives of the 
 Puharrecs : — 
 
2 1 4 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " The Illll-people offer up frequent prayers to one 
 Supreme Being, whom they call ' Budo Gosaee,' which 
 in their language means ' Supreme God/ Prayer to 
 God is strictly enjoined morning and evening. They 
 also offer up propitiatory sacrifices of buffaloes, goats, 
 fowls, and eggs to several inferior, and some evil deities. 
 
 " ' Malnad ' is the tutelary genius of each village ; 
 * Dewannee ' the household god. ' Pow ' is sacrificed 
 to before undertaking a journey. They appear to believe 
 in a future state of rewards and punishments chiefly 
 carried on by means of transmigration, the souls of the 
 good being sent back to earth in the bodies of firrcat men, 
 and those of the wicked in brutes and even trees. 
 
 " The great God made every thing. Seven brothers 
 were sent to possess the earth ; they give themselves the 
 credit of being descended from the eldest, and say that 
 the sixth was the father of the Europeans. Each brother 
 was presented, on setting out, with a portion of the 
 particular kind of food which he and his descendants 
 were to eat. But the eldest had a portion of every 
 kind of food, and in a dirty disk. This legend they 
 allege as their reason for observing no restriction of 
 meats, and for eating with or after any body. They say 
 they are strictly forbidden by God to beat, abuse or in- 
 jure their neighbours, and that a lie is the greatest of all 
 crimes. Hog's blood appears to answer with them all 
 the purposes which holy water does with some other 
 nations. If a person is killed by a tiger, it is the duty 
 of his relations to avenge his death by killing one of 
 those animals in return, on which occasion they resort 
 to many strange ceremonies. They are great believers 
 in witchcraft ; every ache which the old commandant 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 2 I 5 
 
 feels in his bones, and every disappointment or calamity 
 Avhicli befalls him or any of his friends, he imputes to 
 this cause, and menaces or bribes some old woman or 
 other. They have also many interpreters of dreams 
 among them, whom they call ' Damauns,' and believe 
 to be possessed by a familiar spirit. When any of these 
 die, they place his body, without burial, in the jungle. 
 They also suppose certain diseases to be inflicted by evil 
 spirits, to whom they expose the bodies of such as die of 
 them ; those who die of small-pox are cast out into the 
 woods, those who die of dropsy into the water. 
 
 " They have no idols or images of any kind ; a black 
 stone found in the hills, is, by some ceremonies, conse- 
 crated and used as an altar. They have several festivals, 
 which are held in high reverence. The Chitturia is the 
 greatest, but seldom celebrated on account of its expense. 
 It lasts five days, during which buffaloes, hogs, fruits, 
 fowls, grains, and spirits are offered up to the gods, and 
 afterwards feasted on. This is the only festival in which 
 females are permitted to join. During its continuance 
 they salute nobody, all honour being then appropriated 
 to the gods. Polygamy is not forbidden, but seldom 
 practised. The bridegroom gives a feast on occasion of 
 the marriage ; the bride's father addresses a speech to 
 him, exhorting him to use his daughter well ; the bride- 
 groom then marks her forehead with red paint, links his 
 little finger in hers, and leads her to his house. The 
 usual mode of making oath is to plant two arrows in the 
 ground, the person swearing taking the blade of one 
 and the feather of the other between his finger and 
 thumb. On solemn occasions, however, salt is put on 
 the blade of a sabre, and after the words of the oath 
 
216 MEMOIR OF 
 
 are repeated, the blade being placed on tlie under Up 
 of the person sworn, the salt is washed into his mouth 
 by him who administers it." 
 
 On his arrival at Delhi, the bishop had the honour 
 of being introduced to the Emperor. The account which 
 he gives of this pompous ceremony is interesting : — 
 
 "The 31st December was fixed for my presentation 
 to the Emperor, which was appointed for half-past eight 
 in the morning. Lushington and a Captain Wade also 
 chose to take the same opportunity. At eight I went, 
 accompanied by Mr Elliott, with nearly the same for- 
 malities as at Lucknow, except that we were on elephants 
 instead of in palanquins, and that the procession was, 
 perhaps, less splendid, and the beggars both less nume- 
 rous and far less vociferous and importunate. We were 
 received with presented arms by the troops of the palace 
 drawn up within the barbican, and proceeded, still on 
 our elephants, through the noblest gateway and vestibule 
 which I ever saw. It consists, not merely of a splendid 
 gothic arch in the centre of the great gate-tower, — but, 
 after that, of a long vaulted aisle, like that of a gothic 
 cathedral, with a small, open, octagonal court in its 
 centre, all of granite, and all finely carved with inscrip- 
 tions from the Koran, and with flowers. This ended 
 in a ruinous and exceedingly dirty stable-yard ! where 
 we were received by Captain Grant, as the Mogul's 
 officer on guard, and by a number of elderly men with 
 large gold-headed canes, the usual ensign of office here, 
 and one of which Mr Elliott also carried. We were 
 now told to dismount and proceed on foot, a task which 
 the late rain made inconvenient to my gown and cassock 
 and thin shoes, and during which Ave were pestered b t 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D- 217 
 
 a fresh swarm of miserable beggars, the wives and chil- 
 dren of the stable servants. After this we passed another 
 richly carved, but ruinous and dirty gateway, where our 
 guides, withdrawing a canvass screen, called out, in a 
 sort of harsh chaunt, " Lo, the ornament of the world I 
 Lo, the asylum of the nations ! King of Kings ! The 
 Emperor Acbar Shah ! Just, fortunate, victorious ! " 
 "We saw, in fact, a very handsome and striking court, 
 about as big as that at All- Souls, with low, but richly- 
 ornamental buildings. Opposite to us was a beautiful 
 open pavilion of white marble, richly carved, flanked by 
 rose-bushes and fountains, and some tapestry and striped 
 curtains hanging in festoons about it, within which was 
 a crowd of people, and the poor old descendant of Tamer- 
 lane seated in the midst of them. Mr Elliott here 
 bowed three times very low, in which we followed his 
 example. This ceremony was repeated twice as we ad- 
 vanced up the steps of the pavilion, the heralds each 
 time repeating the same expressions about their master's 
 greatness. We then stood in a row on the right-hand 
 side of the throne, which is a sort of marble bedstead, 
 richly ornamented with gilding, and raised on two or 
 three steps. Mr Elliott then stepped forwards, and, 
 with joined hands, in the usual eastern way, announced, 
 in a low voice, to the Emperor who I was. I then ad- 
 vanced, bowed three times again, and offered a nuzzur 
 of fifty-one gold mohurs in an embroidered purse, laid 
 on my handkerchief, in the way practised by the Baboos 
 in Calcutta. This was received and laid on one side, and 
 I remained standing for a few minutes, while the usual 
 court questions about my health, my travels, when I 
 left Calcutta, &c.^were asked I had thus an opportu- 
 
2 I 8 MEMOIR OP 
 
 nity of seeing the old gentleman more plainly. He has 
 a pale, thin, but handsome face, with an acquiline nose, 
 and a long white beard. His complexion is little if at 
 all darker than that of an European. His hands are 
 very fair and delicate, and he had some valuable-looking 
 rings on them. His hands and face were all I saw of 
 him, for the morning being cold, he was so wrapped up 
 in shawls, that he reminded me extremely of the Druid's 
 head on a Welch halfpenny. I then stepped back to 
 my former place, and returned again with five more 
 mohurs to make my offering to the heir apparent, who 
 stood at his father's left hand, the right being occupied 
 by the Resident. Next, my two companions were in- 
 troduced with nearly the same forms, except that their 
 offerings were less, and that the Emperor did not speak 
 to them. 
 
 " The Emperor then beckoned to me to come forwards, 
 and Mr Elliott told me to take off my hat, which had 
 till now remained on my head, on which the Emperor 
 tied a flimsy turban of brocade round my head with his 
 own hands, for which, however, I paid four gold mohurs 
 more. We were then directed to retire to receive the 
 ' Khelats ' (honorary dresses) which the bounty of 
 ' the Asylum of the World' had provided for us. I 
 was accordingly taken into a small private room, adjoin- 
 ing the Zennanah, where I found a handsome flowered 
 caftan edged with fur, and a pair of common-looking 
 shawls, which my servants, who had the delight of wit- 
 nessing all this fine show, put on instead of my go^vn, 
 my cassock remaining as before. In this strange dress 
 I had to walk back again, having my name announced 
 by the criers (something in the same way that Lord 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D, 219 
 
 Marmion's was) 'as Bahadur, Boozoony, Dowlut-inund,' 
 &c., to the presence, where I found my two companions, 
 who had not been honoured by a private dressing-room, 
 but had their Khelats put on them in the gateway of 
 the court. They were, I apprehend, still queerer figures 
 than I was, having their hats wrapped with scarfs of 
 flowered gauze, and a strange garment of gauze, tinsel, 
 and faded ribbands flung over their shoulders above their 
 coats. I noAv again came forward and off'ered my third 
 present to the Emperor, being a copy of the Arabic 
 Bible and the Hindustani Common Prayer, handsomely 
 bound in blue velvet laced with gold, and wrapped up 
 in a piece of brocade. He then motioned to me to stoop, 
 and put a string of pearls round my neck, and two 
 glittering but not costly ornaments in the front of my 
 turban, for which I again ofi"ered five gold mohurs. It 
 was, lastly, announced that a horse was waiting for my ac- 
 ceptance, at which fresh instance of imperial munificence 
 the heralds again made a proclamation of largesse, and 
 I again paid five gold mohurs. It ended by my taking 
 leave with three times three salams, making up, I think, 
 the sum of about threescore, and I retired with Mr Elliott 
 to my dressing-room." 
 
 Throughout several months Bishop Heber pursued his 
 journey with an anxious desire to understand the actual 
 state of matters at every station to which he came. 
 Many were the places he visited, examining the schools, 
 encouraging the missionaries, arranging the afikirs of 
 churches, and in every way fulfilling the trust reposed 
 in him as the Christian bishop of so large a diocese. 
 
 In 1826, the bishop undertook a similar journey to 
 Madras, and the southern provinces. From this tour he 
 
220 MEMOIR OF 
 
 was destined, alas ! never to return. The overwhelming 
 fatigue and labour to which he was subjected in the 
 course of this journey, combined with the debilitating 
 influence of a tropical climate upon his constitution, 
 tended to shorten the life of this truly valuable Christian 
 minister. Though frequently reminded by his friends 
 and attendants that it was his duty to spare himself, he 
 persisted in his endeavour to accomplish the great object 
 he had in view. Providence, however, had otherwise 
 decreed. At Trichinopoly he was suddenly summoned, 
 in the midst of his labours, to receive the rich reward 
 which awaited him in heaven. 
 
 The circumstances of his death are very distressing. 
 On the 3d of April 1826, after dedicating a considerable 
 time to the ecclesiastical affairs of the station, he re- 
 turned home, deeply impressed with the necessity of 
 having a missionary placed among them without delay. 
 He spoke in strong terms upon this subject to Mr 
 Robinson, the clerical friend who accompanied him 
 during part of his journey. After this interview, the 
 bishop proceeded to make preparations for entering a 
 bath distant a few yards from the house. 
 
 ''He sat," says Mr Robinson, "a few minutes ap- 
 parently absorbed in thought, before he went to the bath, 
 which is a separate building, filled from a spring con- 
 siderably beyond his depth ; and then entered it, and, 
 taking off his clothes, plunged in. After an interval of 
 half an hour, his lordship's servant, becoming alarmed at 
 his staying beyond his usual time, and hearing no sound, 
 ventured to open the door, and saw his body, apparently 
 lifeless, below the surface of the water. He ran im- 
 mediately to my room, and gave the alarm, with a bitter 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 221 
 
 cry, that lils master was dead ! On reaching the bath, 
 I plunged in, and assisted a bearer, who was already 
 there, to lift the body from the water, and Mr Doran 
 and I carried it in our arms into the next room. Every 
 possible means were instantly used to restore suspended 
 animation, but in vain. The garrison and superintend- 
 ing surgeons, who Avere on the spot almost immediately, 
 continued their efforts to promote resuscitation for a 
 considerable time, without the least success. All was 
 gone ! The blessed spirit was fled, and was, without 
 doubt, already before the throne of God ! " 
 
 It is impossible to describe the sensations excited by 
 this sudden and melancholy event. The universal ad- 
 miration felt for the character and Christian worth of 
 the apostolic Heber ; his unwearied exertions in the 
 cause of the Redeemer, and his extensive usefulness, 
 had attracted towards him the eyes of Christians with 
 the most intense anxiety. Many were the prayers 
 which had ascended in his behalf from British Chris- 
 tians, both at home and in India, and ardent were their 
 wishes that his valuable life might be long spared. But 
 his work was done, and he went to receive his reward. 
 " Even so. Father, for so it seemeth good in thy 
 sight." 
 
 Mr Robinson thus expresses his sensations on this 
 melancholy occasion : " How shall I record my feelings 
 on this sad and miserable day ? I am writing by the 
 lifeless body of my dear departed master ! Oh what is 
 man ! what is his best estate, when most gifted with all 
 that is truly great and admirable ! Here lies one whom 
 all loved, whom every heart admired and cherished! 
 One to whom the eyes of all in India, and of thousands 
 
222 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ill England, were turned with high-raised expectations 
 of usef uhiess in the Church of Christ ; — and how justly ! 
 for his whole soul Avas filled with intense desire for the 
 glory of his divine Master. Here lies one who has been 
 the tenderest and the most affectionate friend, the most 
 condescending and confidential ; one whom I have 
 always loved most dearly, but till now knew not how 
 much I loved him," 
 
 Immediately on his lordship's decease becoming 
 known in the town, consternation and grief were de- 
 picted on every countenance. " The venerable and ex- 
 cellent Mr Kohlhoff visited me," says Mr Robinson ; 
 " and his almost passionate burst of sorrow was deeply 
 affecting. He threw himself into my arms, weeping 
 aloud : — ' We have lost our dear father ; we have lost 
 our second Swartz, who loved our mission and laboured 
 for it. He had all the energy and all the benevolence 
 of Swartz, and greater condescension. Why has God 
 bereaved us thus ? ' It was long before the good man's 
 grief was moderated ; I cannot wonder at its violence, 
 and I dare not blame it. His hopes had been raised to 
 the utmost height by the labours of unwearied love 
 which he witnessed at Taiijore, and which he thus de- 
 scribed to a friend yesterday : ' If St Paul had visited 
 the missions, he could not have done more, excepting 
 only his power of working miracles.' And now, alas ! 
 all these hopes, and a thousand more, which he and 
 others fondly cherished, are gone for ever ! So sudden 
 has been the event, and so serene and heavenly is the 
 expression of his lordship's features, that I can scarcely 
 yet believe the reality of our loss ; but this is the last 
 hour I shall pass by his dear side in this world. May 
 
THE RIGHT REV. REGINALD HEBER, D.D. 223 
 
 grace be given to me, that we may meet again in 
 glory!'" 
 
 On the following morning the remains of Bishop 
 Heber were carried to the house appointed for all liv- 
 ing. Mr Robinson attended as chief mourner, and com- 
 mitted his body to the earth. The occasion was solemn 
 and deeply impressive. 
 
 " It required the strongest effort," says Mr Robinson, 
 " to enable me to fulfil this last service to my beloved 
 master ; frequently was I interrupted by the tears and 
 sobs of those around me ; and when I had closed the 
 book, hundreds of the poor native Christians, whose 
 hearts he won, yesterday, by his kindness and conde- 
 scension, crowded around, entreating to be allowed to 
 throw the earth upon his coffin. I can never forget the 
 awful solemnity of that hour. I cannot yet believe the 
 event. It is like the warning of a disturbed and feverish 
 dream ; but we must soon awake to the conviction of 
 its reality ; and not we alone, who enjoyed his confidence 
 and affection, but a thousand hearts who trusted to him 
 as the bulwark of Christianity in India." 
 
 The death of so eminent a Christian minister and 
 missionary was calculated to awaken feelings of the 
 deepest sorrow ; but though his departure was a serious 
 loss to the Church on earth, to him it was unspeakable 
 and everlasting gain. He hath rested from his labours, 
 and his works shall follow him. 
 
 ' Grief for the dead, what heart can e'er reprove, 
 The dead that die in righteousness and peace ! 
 For oh ! fond hearts will bleed for those they love : 
 Yet let not sorrow rob thv soul of ease : 
 
224 
 
 For he whom death so suddenly cut down, 
 Was ripe for heaven, in grace's fullest bloom; 
 Ah ! think that now he wears the golden crowm, 
 And soon shall rise triumphant o'er the tomb. 
 
 His course was glorious as the summer's sun, 
 When travelling in the greatness of his might ; 
 A burning and a shining light he shone, 
 Then set, to rise in everlasting light. 
 
 And now he beams amid the stars above, 
 A radiant Orb, no more to fade away ; 
 But, circling, roll around the throne of love. 
 His burning course, through heaven's eternal day. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 
 
 This illustrious martyr in the cause of Missions was 
 born at Tottenham High Cross, London, on the 29tli of 
 June 1796. His early education was far from being 
 what is usually termed liberal, being limited, almost ex- 
 clusively, to the mere elementary branches of reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic. When at school, he displayed 
 no remarkable talent, but he was naturally of an active 
 and observant disposition, more active indeed than stu- 
 dious. Blessed with a pious mother, he was taught, 
 from childhood, to know the Scriptures. Every oppor- 
 tunity was embraced for impressing upon his infant 
 heart that fear of the Lord which is the beginning of 
 wisdom. Every morning and evening the children were 
 in the habit of retiring with their mother to her cham- 
 ber, that they might receive from her lips religious in- 
 struction, and engage with her in exercises of devotion. 
 The natural result of such a mode of training was, that 
 the family grew up with a high reverence and respect 
 for a parent who had thus affectionately and faithfully 
 led them in the paths of righteousness and peace. The 
 high privilege of a pious mother can only be fully ap- 
 p 
 
226 MEMOIR OF 
 
 preciated by those who have enjoyed such a peculiar 
 advantage. It is impossible to calculate the multitudes 
 of God's own people who will be found on the great 
 day to owe their salvation, under God, to the unwearied 
 instructions and prayers of a godly mother. Among 
 those who enjoyed this inestimable benefit was John 
 WilHams. Often, in after years, did he think and 
 speak, with heartfelt gratitude to God, of the precious 
 hours which, in early days, he had spent listening to a 
 mother's counsels and a mother's prayers. And this ex- 
 cellent woman w^as honoured of God to see that she had 
 not prayed or laboured in vain. John seemed to be, 
 from a child, devoted to God. Regular in his obser- 
 vance of private prayer, strict in his adherence to truth, 
 and circumspect in his whole deportment, he gave no 
 doubtful or uncertain evidence that, even in his boyish 
 days, he had become a subject of saving and sanctify- 
 ing grace. 
 
 In his fourteenth year John Williams was bound ap- 
 prentice, for seven years, to Mr Enoch Tonkin, a fur- 
 nishing ironmonger in the City Road, London. By the 
 arrangements made in his indenture, he was to be em- 
 ployed in the sale-room rather than in the work-shop. 
 In a short time, however, his taste for mechanical pur- 
 suits began to appear. He acquired rapidly a know- 
 ledge of the different processes, and a dexterous use of 
 the different implements belonging to his trade. In 
 this way he became, at length, completely skilled in the 
 manufacture of metals, and was thus prepared, in the 
 mysterious workings of Providence, for that important 
 sphere which he was afterwards destined to occupy, in 
 introducing, among an uncivilized people, a knowledge 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 227 
 
 of the arts of civilized life. But, ^liile thus diligent in 
 business, and conducting himself with such prudence 
 and integrity, that he won the entire confidence of his 
 master, the religious impressions which he had received 
 at home were fast dying away. Allured away by some 
 ungodly companions, he neglected secret devotion, and 
 profaned the Sabbath. The watchful eye of his affec- 
 tionate mother Avas not long in observing this melancholy 
 change in the conduct of her child. Earnestly did she 
 remonstrate with him, but in vain. " I often scoffed," 
 he says, " at the name of Christ and his religion, and to- 
 tally neglected those things which alone can afford solid 
 consolation." His heart was every day becoming harder 
 and more averse to divine things. How must his mother 
 have sighed and prayed over her degenerate son. The 
 fair promise of his youth appeared to be for ever blasted. 
 There was too much reason to fear that he was one of those 
 who had " drawn back unto perdition," rather than " of 
 those who believe unto the saving of the soul." " God's 
 ways," however, " are not as our ways." He who says of 
 his own people, " I will heal their backslidings," gra- 
 ciously' interposed to bring back the wandering sheep 
 to the fold of the Redeemer. It may be, that John 
 "Williams had never, up to this period, been a child of 
 God ; it may be, that his amiable dispositions, his cor- 
 rect deportment, his uprightness and integrity of charac- 
 ter, had been constitutional excellencies rather than 
 graces of the Spirit of God. We think otherwise. On 
 this point we are disposed to differ from his excellent 
 biographer, Mr Prout. But whether his conversion 
 took place at one period or another, it is certain, at all 
 events, that He who leadeth the blind by a way that 
 
228 MEMOIR OP 
 
 they know not, mercifully Interposed to rescue young 
 Williams from the sink of iniquity into which he was 
 rapidly plunging. 
 
 The circumstances attendant upon the change which, 
 at this period of Mr Williams' life, took place in his 
 character and deportment, are too remarkable to pass 
 unnoticed. He had agreed to meet with some ungodly 
 companions at a tavern, on a Sabhath evening, in the 
 month of January 1814. While sauntering near the 
 place, waiting the arrival of his associates, Mrs Tonkin 
 passed, and observing him, she kindly urged him to 
 accompany her to evening service in the Tabernacle. 
 Though reluctant, he at length consented. The Rev. 
 Timothy East of Birmingham preached from the pas- 
 sage, "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the 
 whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a 
 man give in exchange for his soul ? " The blessing of 
 God accompanied the word preached to the heart of 
 the young Sabbath-breaker, who had been brought, 
 that evening, against his will, into the house of God. 
 The value of the soul was now felt by him with a force 
 which he had never known before. " From that hour," 
 to use his own expression, " my blind eyes were opened, 
 and I beheld wondrous things out of God's law." 
 
 The change now effected in the soul of John Williams 
 was cheering to the heart of his mother. Often had she 
 longed and prayed that he might yet be rescued from the 
 snare of the fowler, and her prayers and sighs entered into 
 the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. He heard and answered, 
 and the good woman beheld her son once more walking 
 in the truth. He regularly on the Sabbath attended the 
 worship of God In the Tabernacle, and, towards the end 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 220 
 
 of that memorable year on which he had been plucked 
 as a brand from the burning, he solemnly joined himself 
 to the Lord's people at the communion table. What a 
 happy season for his honoured mother ! She sat down 
 at the Lord's table with that son, who was once lost but 
 now found again, breaking along with him the bread of 
 life, and taking the cup of salvation, calling upon the 
 name of the Lord. Mr Williams no sooner became 
 united in communion with the Lord's people, than he 
 set himself, with the utmost activity and perseverance, 
 to promote the cause of the Redeemer. He became a 
 most efficient teacher in a Sabbath-school connected 
 with the Tabernacle. Here he acquired that readiness 
 in public address, which afterwards so remarkably cha- 
 racterised him. Not contented with labouring in the 
 Sabbath-school, he was often accustomed on week-days 
 to spend a portion of his time in visiting the sick, in 
 instiiicting the poor, and distributing tracts. Thus assi- 
 duous in doing good at home, Mr Williams had his 
 attention drawn, in the Providence of God, to foreign 
 missions. The venerable pastor of the Tabernacle, the 
 Rev. Matthew Wilks, anxious to arouse his people to a 
 greater ardour in the missionary cause, instituted a 
 quarterly missionary meeting for this important purpose. 
 It was at one of these meetings that, by the powerful 
 appeals of Mr Wilks, the heart of John WilHams was 
 touched with a desire to carry the Gospel to the heathen. 
 For some time his mind was much occupied with the 
 subject. He made it a matter of earnest prayer to God 
 that, if the desire were not in accordance with the Divine 
 will, it might be banished from his mind. At length, 
 after conversing with some of his more intimate friends. 
 
230 MEMOIR OF 
 
 he held an interview with his pastor. Mr Wilks did 
 not discourage the young man, but, on the contrary, in- 
 vited him to join a class of young men preparing for 
 the ministry, who met at his house. The improvement 
 which Mr Williams made was so gratifying, that after 
 a few months' attendance on the class, Mr Wilks ad- 
 vised him to tender his services to the London Mission- 
 ary Society. 
 
 Mr Williams applied to the Directors in July 181 G, 
 and was readily accepted. The demand for missionaries 
 from all quarters was that year more than usually great. 
 But the cry was peculiarly urgent from the South Sea 
 Islands. Missionaries had been labouring there, for 
 many years, without the slightest symptoms of success. 
 It had pleased God, however, at length to pour out his 
 Spirit from on high, and to the astonishment of the whole 
 Christian world, a nation was, as it were, born in a day. 
 Island after island renounced their idols, and the num- 
 ber of missionaries was found to be painfully inadequate 
 to reap the plentiful harvest which had so suddenly sprung 
 up. In these circumstances, the Directors of the Society 
 at home felt that they had no alternative but to dispense, 
 in the urgency of the case, with the usual preparatory 
 studies. Mr Williams, accordingly, having been ac- 
 cepted as a missionary to the South Seas, spent the few 
 months which intervened between his appointment and 
 his departure, in studying theology, and in visiting 
 manufactories, and acquiring a knowledge of various 
 arts, resolved, on reaching his destination, to devote 
 himself at once to the christianization and the civiliza- 
 tion of the heathen. As it was desirable that he should 
 be united to a suitable partner, he was privileged of God 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 'Jo J 
 
 to find one in Miss Mary Chausser, to whom he Avas 
 married in October 1816, and who proved herself to be 
 a most efficient coadjutor to her devoted husband in the 
 holy enterprise m which he was engaged. 
 
 In prospect of the departure of Mr Williams and his 
 brethren for the South Seas, a public service was held 
 at Surrey Chapel. The attendance on the occasion was 
 very large, and the scene was peculiarly impressive. 
 Five of the missionaries were set apart for South Africa, 
 and four for Tahiti and the adjacent islands. Mv Wil- 
 liams was the youngest of the brethren destined for the 
 South Seas, and in allusion to his youthful appearance, 
 the venerable Dr Waugh, addressing him, said, " Go, 
 my dear young brother, and if your tongue cleave to the 
 roof of your mouth, let it be with telling poor sinners of 
 the love of Jesus Christ ; and if your arms drop from 
 your shoulders, let it be with knocking at men's hearts 
 to gain admittance for him there." The few weeks 
 which intervened between this meeting and his depar- 
 ture were spent in active preparation for the voyage. 
 As the parting hour approached, the thought of separa- 
 tion from his friends, and more especially from his be- 
 loved mother, was inexpressibly painful. But animated 
 by the prospect of being useful in the Lord's work, he 
 stedfastly set his face to go forward in the great cause 
 to which he had dedicated himself. As no direct pas- 
 sage could be obtained to the South Seas, the mission- 
 aries embarked in a vessel bound for Sydney, New South 
 Wales. The voyage was not unpleasant, though some- 
 what tedious ; and the various scenes and objects of inte- 
 rest which met his view, awakened in Mr Williams emo- 
 tions of wonder and delight. His mind was well fitted 
 
232 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to relish the beautiful or the grand in nature ; but such 
 was the religious character of all his impressions, that he 
 invariably rose from nature up to nature's God. 
 
 From Sydney the missionary band sailed for New 
 Zealand, where they spent nineteen days, and after a 
 favourable passage they landed at Eimeo, on the 17th 
 November 1817? being exactly twelve months from their 
 embarkation. The lovely and luxuriant scenery IMr 
 Williams and his companions could not survey without 
 the most intense delight; but how much more were 
 their hearts cheered by the moral beauty which presented 
 itself on reaching the favoured shores. On the evening 
 of the day on which they landed, their ears were greeted 
 with the sound of the praises of God ascending from 
 various families around their residence. We can scarcely 
 conceive any thing more refreshing to the spirit than to 
 hear the melodious notes of family praise in a once ido- 
 latrous and savage land. It was evident to Mr Williams 
 that a great and glorious change had taken place. He 
 had heard tidings of the change before he left England, 
 but now that his eyes beheld it, he felt as if the work 
 for which he had been sent out had been already accom- 
 plished. His first impressions, however, were soon cor- 
 rected ; and by still further acquaintance with the people, 
 he became convinced that the work of God, far from 
 being completed, had only been begun. And yet there 
 was enough in the general aspect of things to stimulate 
 Mr Williams and his brethren to enter with holy enthu- 
 siasm upon their interesting mission. They thanked 
 God, therefore, and took courage. 
 
 The few months which Mr Williams spent at Eimeo, 
 were chiefly occupied in acquiring the language and as- 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 233 
 
 sisting the missionaries. A day or two after his arrival 
 it was proposed to build a ship for the purpose of com- 
 raunicating with the surrounding islands. In the accom- 
 plishment of this object he took an active share, and had 
 the happiness of seeing it completed, and launched amid 
 the shouts of the astonished and delighted people. Dur- 
 ing their stay at Eimeo, Mrs Williams gave birth to her 
 first child, who was named John Canner. How re- 
 sponsible the situation, under any circumstances, of a 
 human being, to whose care the training of a young 
 immortal is intrusted ; but how much more deeply must 
 such a responsibility be felt, when the Christian parent 
 has his lot cast in a heathen land. The fearful conta- 
 mination and adverse influences of every kind which 
 beset him on every side, lead him to dread that his in- 
 structions and example may prove unavailing, and the 
 child of his fondest hopes and his most earnest prayers 
 may become an outcast, for ever, from the presence of his 
 God. The thought is agonizing ; but JVIr and Mrs 
 Williams were spared to see their first-born son en- 
 gaging in the high and honourable work of diffusing 
 the Gospel of Christ among the heathen. 
 
 During Mr Williams' stay at Eimeo, the island was 
 visited by some chiefs from the Leeward group, who were 
 led to take a deep interest in the truths of the Gospel. 
 It was at length resolved, in accordance with the wishes 
 of these chiefs, that a new mission should be commenced 
 among their people. Among the number selected for 
 this important work was Mr Williams, who set sail, 
 accompanied by his wife and several of the missionary 
 brethren, along with the chiefs already referred to, and 
 an interpreter. The interesting company reached Ilua- 
 
234 MEMOIR OF 
 
 hine, the most windward of the Society Islands, on the 
 20th of June 1818 ; and their arrival was hailed by the 
 people with the utmost joy. A residence was prepared 
 for them, and provisions of every kind were brought to 
 them by the natives. And not only in Iluahine was 
 the coming of the missionaries viewed with heartfelt 
 satisfaction ; throughout the whole of the group to 
 which that island belongs the most intense interest was 
 awakened. Numbers flocked from all quarters to see 
 and to hear the teachers. Among those who visited 
 Huahine for this purpose was an individual of great 
 authority and influence, Tamatoa, King of Raiatea. 
 This high personage, accompanied by a number of his 
 chiefs, came not so much to gratify his curiosity by a 
 sight of the missionaries, as to obtain teachers, if pos- 
 sible, for the instruction of his own people. His appli- 
 cation was readily entertained by the brethren, and Mr 
 Williams undertook to occupy this important station. 
 Raiatea, the largest of the Society Islands, though 
 limited in population to about thirteen hundred, is 
 possessed of great political influence, the authority of 
 its king being acknowledged throughout both the 
 Georgian and Society Islands. The people, at this 
 period, were not altogether ignorant of Christianity, 
 some converted Tahitians, along with a missionary, hav- 
 ing been providentially cast upon their island about two 
 years before. The missionary, encouraged by the kind 
 reception he had experienced, had embraced the oppor- 
 tunity of preaching the Gospel ; and, by the blessing of 
 God, the seed thus sown had begun to spring up. 
 Tamatoa had resolved to build a church ; the people had, 
 many of them, been accustomed to observe the Sabbath, 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 235 
 
 and to meet together for mutual instruction. Sucli was 
 the state of matters when the King of Raiatea left his 
 island for the purpose of procuring teachers ; and it 
 rejoiced the heart of Mr Williams not a little, when, by 
 the unanimous choice of the brethren, this post of 
 honour was assigned to him and Mr Threlkeld. Their 
 reception, on landing, was cordial and sincere, such as 
 might have been expected from a people prepared to 
 welcome the messengers of the Cross. But, pleasing as 
 were the appearances which presented themselves to the 
 missionaries on their first arrival in Raiatea, they were 
 not long in perceiving that the moral condition of the 
 people was degraded in the extreme. Indolence and 
 immorality were their prevailing characteristics ; and, 
 scattered as the population w^ere, in separate and often 
 remote settlements, over the whole island, Mr Williams 
 felt that his labours could only be conducted amid serious 
 discouragements and disadvantages. After much deli- 
 beration and earnest prayer, the missionaries at length 
 resolved to make a bold effort to remedy the evils of 
 which they complained, by assembling the people in 
 one general settlement. A general meeting of the in- 
 habitants, accordingly, was summoned, and the whole 
 matter having been laid before them, they unanimously 
 agreed to the proposal of the missionaries. In the 
 meantime, Mr Williams, from the knowledge of the 
 language which he had acquired at Tahiti and Huahine, 
 was able to preach the Gospel publicly as soon as he 
 had set foot on the island. His mode of acquiring 
 languages was peculiarly his own. Instead of studying 
 in private the grammar and idiom of the language, he 
 mingled with the natives, and hearing them speak and 
 
23G MEMOIR OF 
 
 asking them questions, lie acquired rapidly an intimate 
 acquaintance with the spoken language in its pronuncia- 
 tion, and meaning, and correct accentuation. What- 
 ever may be thought of this mode of learning languages, 
 generally speaking, there can be no doubt that it was 
 completely successful in the case of Mr Williams, who, 
 at the expiry of only ten months from his first landing 
 at Eiraeo, preached his first sermon in the Tahitian 
 tongue. Fully prepared, therefore, from his knowledge 
 of the native language, he preached thrice every week 
 at Raiatea from the commencement of his sojourn on 
 the island. 
 
 Following up the resolution to which they had come, 
 of establishing a settlement near the missionaries, the 
 chiefs and people fixed upon a locality for this purpose, 
 called Vavaara, on the leeward side of the island. 
 Here a temporary chapel and school-house were soon 
 built, and the ground cleared for the erection of native 
 houses. With the view of raising the standard of 
 building, Mr Williams resolved to erect a dwelling-house 
 in the English style. The natives assisted him as far 
 as they could, by procuring the materials and arranging 
 them under his direction, but the chief burden of the 
 work devolved upon himself. He wrought with his 
 own hands, and executed the building with so much 
 skill and elegance, as to excite the admiration and as- 
 tonishment of the natives. Nor did the interior of the 
 house excite less surprise than the exterior, the furniture 
 being entirely in the English style, and every portion of 
 it being the handiwork of the missionary himself. Mr 
 Williams felt persuaded that, by thus leading the way, 
 the natives would, in all probability, follow his example. 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 237 
 
 Nor was he disappointed. Their almost invincible in- 
 dolence gave way before the desire of imitation. They 
 narrowly watched his proceedings ; and asking frequent 
 explanations, they made gradual improvement in their 
 knowledge of the arts. 
 
 While thus employed in imparting to the inhabitants 
 of Raiatea the rudiments of civilization, Mr Williams 
 was not the less assiduous in discharging the more spe- 
 cial objects of his mission. He preached twice every 
 Sabbath in the Tahitian, and again on Wednesday after- 
 noon. Every evening the natives resorted to his house 
 for information and advice on spiritual and divine 
 things. " My work," said he, referring to this period 
 of his missionary life, " is ray delight. In it I desire 
 to spend and to be spent. I think and hope that I 
 have no other desire in ray soul than to be the means 
 of winning sinners to Christ. My anxiety is that my 
 tongue may be ever engaged in proclaiming his salva- 
 tion, and that my hands and actions may be always 
 pointing to his cross." 
 
 The result of these laborious endeavours to promote 
 both the spiritual and temporal interests of the natives 
 of Raiatea was very gratifying. The whole island 
 speedily assumed an improved aspect. Industry and 
 activity were combined with enlightened and consistent 
 piety. The benefits of such a change were felt through- 
 out the whole community, and a very general desire 
 prevailed that some improvement should take place in 
 the government of the island. Hitherto the people had 
 been subjected to an arbitrary and despotic rule ; but, 
 before a year had elapsed from the period of Mr Wil- 
 liams' arrival, he had the high satisfaction of perceiving 
 
238 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that, through the salutary influence and advice of the 
 missionaries, the chiefs had been induced to adopt some 
 important improvements both in the administration of 
 the laws, and in the laws themselves. It has been 
 doubted, indeed, whether the missionary ought, in any 
 case, to interfere with the political arrangements of the 
 country in which he is called to labour. But when we 
 reflect on the very nature and bearing of Christianity, 
 as affecting the operations not only of the individual 
 but of the whole community, it is impossible to deny 
 that, although he ought sedulously to avoid interfer- 
 ing with the minute details and practical working of 
 government, he may nevertheless legitimately exert any 
 influence he may have acquired in bringing the prin- 
 ciples of government into an accordance with the Word 
 of God. It is incumbent upon him, and ought to be his 
 constant aim, to enforce the Bible as the rule of duty both 
 to individuals and to societies ; and while he may not 
 control the ruler's actings, he ought undoubtedly to endea- 
 vour to the uttermost to enlighten the ruler's conscience. 
 On this principle Mr Williams uniformly acted. The 
 political improvements which took place were mainly 
 due to his suggestions and influence ; but in no case 
 was a single law passed without the entire concurrence 
 of the people as well as of the chiefs. Every class of 
 the community were eagerly desirous to receive instruc- 
 tion. Old men and children, masters and servants, the 
 priests and the people, nay, even the king and queen, 
 repaired to the school that they might learn from the 
 missionaries the first elements of education. And in 
 such a state of matters, is it at all surprising that men 
 Avlio were held in the highest veneration for their wis- 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 239 
 
 dom and knowledge, should have been consulted by the 
 authorities of the island as to the principles and mode 
 of government ? It would have been still more astonish- 
 ing if the fact had been the reverse. 
 
 The fame of the wonderful change which had so 
 rapidly been effected in Raiatea soon spread to the sur- 
 rounding islands. Urgent calls for teachers were made 
 to the missionaries. Nor did the Raiateans, who now 
 felt the benefit of the Gospel themselves, neglect their 
 perishing neighbours. An Auxiliary Missionary Society 
 was formed among them, with King Tamatoa as its 
 President. Who, even the most sanguine, could have 
 anticipated such a result after only one year's residence 
 among a barbarous and savage people ? But nothing is 
 impossible with God. When He works, who can hin- 
 der it ? Mr Williams had gone forth, firmly believing 
 in the power and faithfulness of the Almighty, and ac- 
 cording to his faith, so was it. He expected great 
 things, and he found great things. And every step 
 which he was privileged successfully to take towards the 
 demolition of Satan's kingdom, only encouraged him to 
 take a further and a further step. 
 
 In the commencement of his second year's residence 
 at Raiatea, Mr Williams and his brethren laid the 
 foundation of a larger and more commodious chapel 
 than that which they had hitherto occupied. The work 
 was carried forward with the utmost activity. Chiefs 
 and people not only gave the materials, but wrought 
 with their own hands. In a few months, accordingly, 
 the building was completed. The erection of such a 
 large and handsome edifice was quite an era in the his- 
 tory of Raiatea; and when the finely- wrought chandeliers, 
 
240 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the entire workmansli'ip of Mr Williams, were suspended 
 from the roof, the astonishment and admiration of the 
 natives knew no bounds. The chapel was opened on the 
 11th of May 1S20, when no fewer than two thousand 
 four hundred people assembled within its walls. Such 
 an event, as might have been anticipated, excited the 
 most intense interest throughout the whole island. 
 
 Having thus made arrangements, on a large scale, for 
 the maintenance of public worship on the island, the next 
 point to which the attention of the chiefs and people 
 was directed, was the establishment of a code of laws, 
 for the administration of civil government. The laws 
 were few and simple. Capital punishments were abo- 
 lished except in cases of murder and treason. Trial by 
 jury was introduced. Tamatoa entered into the pro- 
 posed changes with the utmost i-eadiness, and through his 
 influence the new code was publicly adopted without 
 the slightest opposition on the part either of chiefs or 
 people. Magistrates were chosen for the execution of 
 the laws, and these, at the suggestion of the missionaries, 
 were selected by the people themselves. 
 
 In the midst of his strenuous exertions for the civil 
 and spiritual interests of the Raiateans, the melancholy 
 tidings reached him that a plot had been formed by 
 some disaffected persons to take away his life. Self- 
 denied and disinterested as his labours were, it might 
 have been imagined that a benevolence so pure in its 
 origin and unwearied in its efforts would have disarmed 
 the hostility of his most virulent opponents. Bat such 
 is the depth of depravity which dwells in the human 
 bosom, that the very elevation of a man's piety and 
 worth is often the secret reason why he is viewed with 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 241 
 
 all the deeper and deadlier malignity. And so it was 
 with the amiable and excellent missionary to Raiatea. 
 On two different occasions was the barbarous purpose 
 entertained to murder him and his flimily. But by the 
 merciful arrangements of God, the designs of the wicked 
 were frustrated, and his life was graciously prolonged, 
 that he might still further promote that great cause 
 which was dearer to him than life itself. " We must 
 expect," he says, in reference to their painful disclosures, 
 "that the strong man armed will not yield up his 
 ancient and large possessions without a struggle ; and 
 such occurrences only supply additional proof, that his 
 territories are in danger, and his strongholds nearly over- 
 thrown. Let us remember that Christ's kingdom must 
 rise, and Satan's kingdom must fall, and Jesus, we may 
 be assured, will protect those who are faithful in his 
 cause." But although Mr Williams viewed thus calmly 
 the attempts made upon his life, the effect upon his 
 wife's health threatened to be serious. She was pre- 
 maturely delivered of her second child, which died on 
 the day following that of its birth. Through the kind- 
 ness of Providence, Mrs Williams was, after a few weeks' 
 severe illness, restored again to health. 
 
 Soon after the opening of the new chapel, the first 
 anniversary meeting was held of the Raiatean Auxiliary 
 Missionary Society. The contributions for the year 
 amounted to no fewer than eleven thousand bamboos of 
 cocoa-nut oil, which, deducting all expenses, were worth, 
 to the Society, £500. The reception of so splendid an 
 offering from the recently idolatrous Island of Raiatea, 
 was in the highest degree gratifying to the Direct^^rs in 
 London. It was rightly viewed as indicating that the 
 Q 
 
242 MEMOIR OP 
 
 knowledge of Christ was felt by the natives to be a pre- 
 cious boon, and that, having experienced its benefits in 
 their own case, they were anxious to communicate them 
 to their fellow-men. And while thus employed in 
 giving of their substance for the advancement of the 
 Redeemer's cause, the missionaries had the comfort of 
 perceiving that the work of the Lord was prospering iu 
 the souls of the contributors. The very same month 
 which witnessed the first meeting of the Auxiliary Mis- 
 sionary Society, saw a goodly number of the once savage 
 Raiateans publicly avow themselves to be the Lord's 
 people. For the first time w^as the ordinance of Chris- 
 tian baptism administered in the island ; and how re- 
 freshing must it have been to Mr WiUiams and his 
 brethren, to receive no fewer than seventy individuals, 
 including some of the principal chiefs, into the visible 
 outward profession of their belief in the Christian faith. 
 The occasion was solemn and deeply interesting. It 
 might have been supposed that the events which had 
 thus occurred almost simultaneously, — the opening of 
 the new chapel, the prosperous commencement of the 
 Missionary Society, and the admission of so large a 
 number of natives into the visible Church of Christ by 
 the ordinance of baptism, — would have been regarded 
 by the missionaries as sufficient encouragement to pro- 
 secute their labours with ardency and perseverance in 
 the sphere to which they had been appointed. And 
 yet scarcely had a few weeks elapsed, after the concur- 
 rence of so many favourable circumstances, when we 
 find j\Ir Williams writing home to the Directors a letter 
 containing the urgent request that he might be removed 
 to some other station. The grounds on which he rested 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 243 
 
 his plea "svere, the small population of the island, afford- 
 ing, as he painfully felt, too little scope for his energies 
 hoth of mind and body. He was young, being only 
 twenty-four years of age, and having a great readiness 
 in acquiring languages, he was filled with an anxious 
 desire to be sent to another station where he might be 
 more extensively useful than he imagined he could even 
 be in Raiatea. It might be true that three missionaries 
 were more than sufficient labourers for an island so 
 limited in extent ; yet we conceive the evident tokens 
 of the Divine goodness which Mr Williams had experi- 
 enced since he settled, ought to have deterred him from 
 making a proposal so rash and unwise as to abandon the 
 post which Providence had so obviously assigned him. 
 In a short time he changed his opinion. One of his 
 fellow-labourers, Mr Orsmond, left the island for Bora- 
 bora, and in consequence the whole duties of the mis- 
 sion devolved upon the two who remained, himself and 
 Mr Threlkeld. 
 
 The increase of his labours, and the rapidly ad- 
 vancing prosperity of the mission, had the happy effect 
 of reconciling Mr Williams to his circumstances. The 
 people manifested a growing interest in the ordinances 
 of religion, and, at the same time, they were making 
 most encouraging progress in their knowledge of the 
 arts of civilized life. So great was the improvement 
 which had taken place in the whole aspect of the island, 
 and in the manners and habits of the islanders, that the 
 missionaries felt themselves to be occupying, as it were, a 
 well-Avatered garden which the Lord himself had blessed. 
 A providential circumstance, however, occurred about 
 this time, which impressed Mr WiUiams still more 
 
244 MEMOIR OF 
 
 deeply with the importance of the station he was now 
 occupying. A chief of Rurutu, along with thirty of his 
 people, had fled from his island to escape from the deso- 
 lating ravages of a fatal pestilence, and had been driven 
 upon the shores of Raiatea. These interesting strangers 
 remained for three months on the island, and during 
 that time they obtained an acquaintance with the ele- 
 ments of divine truth. On their return home some 
 Raiateans and two native teachers accompanied them, 
 and such was the success which attended their efforts, 
 that in a few weeks the inhabitants of Rurutu aban- 
 doned their idols, and openly professed the worship of 
 the true God. This remarkable event led Mr Williams 
 to entertain a new view of matters. He began to think 
 of Raiatea as a central point from which the light of the 
 Gospel m.ight emanate to the almost numberless islands 
 of the South Sea. The idea of a missionary ship sug- 
 gested itself for the first time to his mind, and in a com- 
 munication to the Directors at home, he made the pro- 
 posal, which was subsequently adopted. 
 
 While thus extending his views and designs to other 
 islands, Mr Williams was every day becoming more 
 attached to Raiatea. The settlement was rapidly ad- 
 vancing in prosperity. The people, animated by a fine 
 missionary spirit, had contributed, for the propagation 
 of the Gospel, the munificent sum of £1800. And 
 the same spirit pervaded the whole Leeward groups. 
 At this period, a Christian church was formed at 
 Raiatea, on Independent principles. At its origin, the 
 number of communicants was small, but as Christi- 
 anity made progress in the islands, the number in- 
 creased ; and, while the utmost vigilance was exercised 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 245 
 
 in reference to the character and deportment of the 
 members, the high respectabiHty and moral influence of 
 the chmch soon attracted the notice of all ranks among 
 the people. But amid the various causes of rejoicing 
 which presented themselves to the mind of Mr Williams, 
 and when planning further schemes of usefulness, it 
 pleased the Almighty to lay his chastening hand upon 
 him so severely, that for a short season his life was de- 
 spaired of. The utmost exertions were used to abate the 
 violence of the disease, but all the resources of the medi- 
 cal art proved unavailing ; and it was deemed absolutely 
 indispensable to his recovery, or even to the prolongation 
 of his days, that he should return to his native land. 
 The idea was indescribably painful of being separated, 
 it might be for ever, from a sphere of usefulness so ex- 
 tensive and encouraging, and at a period, too, when his 
 prospects had become so remarkably bright and pleasing. 
 Such, however, was the will of his heavenly Father, 
 and to that will he felt that it was alike his privilege 
 and his duty to bow. Having formed his resolution to 
 depart, he summoned together the little church at 
 Raiatea, and informed them of his intention. The 
 people, on receiving the intelligence, were deeply afl'ected. 
 Many of them burst into tears. For days the house of 
 the missionary was tlironged with visitors, weeping and 
 imploring him to remain with them. Such strong and 
 unequivocal evidence of the people's attachment, and 
 cheir high appreciation of his labours, bound him all the 
 more firmly to the Raiateans. He prayed earnestly that, 
 if it was consistent with the Divine will, he might be 
 permitted to continue in the missionary field. No less 
 urgent were the prayers of his flock. God hearkened 
 
240 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and heard the petitions poured forth with faith and 
 fervency. He rebuked the disorder, and, contrary to all 
 human expectation, Mr Williams recovered so rapidly, 
 that he gave up all thoughts of quitting the station. No 
 sooner, however, had he regained his wonted health and 
 cheerfulness, than he was visited with a sore trial in the 
 death of his mother. The intelligence of this sad event 
 preyed upon his naturally tender and affectionate heart. 
 " Oh that I could have been at her bed-side," he writes, 
 " to receive her parting blessing ! My heart is filled 
 with grief, and my eyes with tears. Our poor, dear, 
 dear, and precious mother is now no more ! . . . . 
 . . O mother ! mother ! where art thou ? Methinks 
 I hear thee say, ' I am happy, I am happy, I am with 
 Jesus ! Cease, my children, cease to weep.' " The 
 letter which contains these strong expressions of a deeply 
 agitated bosom, was accompanied by another letter 
 specially addressed on the same melancholy occasion to 
 his afflicted father. Taking advantage of the oppor- 
 tunity, he urged strenuously upon his surviving parent 
 the acceptance of those blessings which had ever been 
 so dear to the heart of the deceased. Old Mr Williams 
 had never, up to this period, been a pious man ; but, by 
 the blessinof of the Spirit, the exhortations and warnings 
 of his son were carried home to his conscience, and from 
 that hour he was led to embrace his Saviour, and to 
 commence a life of faith upon the Son of God. This 
 aged Christian survived his conversion only a few years, 
 and on liis death-bed, nearly his last words were, speak- 
 ing of his son, " Tell him, oh tell him, that the father 
 is saved through the son's instrumentality." How pre- 
 cious the encouragement to the young believer ! Let 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 247 
 
 him persevere in recommending Christ to ungodly rela- 
 tives, both in conversation and by letter, remembering 
 that we are called upon to sow the seed beside all 
 waters, and to look up to Him who alone can give the 
 increase. 
 
 While lamenting the loss of his beloved mother, to 
 M'hose counsel and prayers he owed much, Mr Williams 
 received no small comfort from the marked success which 
 attended his missionary labours. The congregation was 
 now large, and daily becoming more numerous. It was 
 very painful, in these circumstances, to be again com- 
 pelled, by a return of his former disease, to entertain the 
 idea of leaving Raiatea and returning to England. Pro- 
 videntially, however, when engaged in making prepara- 
 tions for his homeward voyage, the arrival of a vessel 
 bound for Sydney put it in his power to visit that colony 
 instead of prosecuting his former design. He and Mrs 
 Williams, accordingly, set sail. They were accompa- 
 nied by two native teachers, whom they landed at Aitu- 
 taki, for the purpose of instructing the unenlightened 
 savages of that heathen island. 
 
 Mr Williams had no sooner reached Sydney than he 
 set himself to accomplish one great object which he had 
 in view, — the purchase of a vessel. To some of his 
 friends the proposal appeared imprudent and chimerical ; 
 but with that indomitable firmness of purpose, which 
 was a striking characteristic of his mind, he effected the 
 purchase of a schooner called the " Endeavour," a name 
 which was changed by the natives to what they regarded 
 as a still more appropriate one, — the •"' Beginning." In 
 following out his benevolent projects for the civilization 
 and temporal prosperity of the South Sea Islands, Mr 
 
248 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Williams received the utmost encouragement and assis- 
 tance from tlie excellent and philanthropic Sir Thomas 
 Brisbane, who Avas then Governor of New South Wales. 
 After spending a few months in the colony, in the course 
 of which both his own health and that of his beloved 
 partner was greatly improved, they embarked with the 
 view of returning to the scene of his mission. The voyage 
 was short, and on arriving at their home, Mr and Mrs 
 Williams were received by the chiefs and people with 
 the warmest expressions of regard. The confidence of 
 the natives was also much confirmed by the arrival of 
 the schooner, which their kind and devoted teacher had 
 purchased for the encouragement of trade in the island. 
 The spiritual progress which the Christian natives had 
 made during the absence of their teacher, afibrded much 
 gratification to his mind, and he commenced his labours 
 with renewed vigour and alacrity. In the course of a 
 few months his heart was much refreshed, and his 
 hands strengthened, by the arrival of Messrs Tyerman 
 and Bennet, who had been sent out as a deputation from 
 England, to visit the different stations belonging to the 
 London Missionary Society. These two excellent per- 
 sons carefully examined the state of the mission in all 
 its departments, and the report which they gave to the 
 Directors was in the highest degree gratifying. The 
 natives were advancing with amazing rapidity, not only 
 in the knowledge of Christianity, but in the various arts 
 of civilized life. In the midst of the prosperity which 
 prevailed in the island, Mr and Mrs Williams were again 
 visited with severe affliction. For a time it seemed 
 likely that they would be under the necessity of remov- 
 ing to a colder climate; but it pleased their gracious 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 249 
 
 heavenly Father to restore them again to health, and 
 thus to prolong their opportunities of usefulness. 
 
 The increased energy and impulse which Mr Williams 
 received from the visit of the deputation, led him to 
 devise still more extended plans of usefulness than those 
 in which he had hitherto heen engaged. He now 
 bethought himself of visiting some of the other islands of 
 the South Pacific, with the view of conveying to them 
 the light of Gospel truth. Setting out, accordingly, in the 
 " Endeavour," with six native teachers who had heen 
 solemnly ordained to the work, he directed his course in 
 the first instance to Aitutaki. For eighteen months 
 before, native teachers had been labouring there, and Mr 
 "Williams was agreeably surprised to find, on landing, that 
 instead of being surrounded, as he expected, by savages, 
 he beheld a race of civilized, and comparatively Chris- 
 tian people. He spent only two days on the island, but 
 in the course of that brief period he " witnessed," as he 
 himself tells us, " the most joyful scenes that could pre- 
 sent themselves to the eye of a Christian missionary." 
 Encouraged by the change which had taken place by 
 the labours of native teachers alone, he set sail in search 
 of Rarotonga, the most important island in the Hervey 
 group. For some days his search was unsuccessful ; but 
 at length he was cheered by the unexpected discovery 
 of the island. It had long been the object of his ardent 
 desire to set foot on the shores of an isle which had often 
 been described to him as a spot of remarkable beauty 
 and interest : but it had long been his still more ardent 
 prayer, that Rarotonga might be won to Christ. It was 
 a moment, therefore, of peculiar delight, when he first 
 cast his eye upon that lovely land. Its natives had been 
 
250 Memoir of 
 
 described to him as savage and ferocious cannibals. 
 It was with no shght fear, therefore, that Mr WilHams, 
 and the native teachers "svho accompanied him, effected 
 a landing. At that period the natives of Rarotonga 
 were the most cruel and blood-thirsty savages. Still Mr 
 "Williams hoped that he and his little party would be 
 unmolested. In this hope, however, he was wofully 
 disappointed. The night which they spent upon the 
 island was one of danger and distress ; and next morning 
 they hurried back to the ship, thankful to the Almighty 
 that their lives had been preserved in such perilous cir- 
 cumstances. Papeiha, one of the native teachers, remained 
 behind, but the " Endeavour" set sail on its return to 
 Raiatea. 
 
 Mr Williams now engaged in his wonted labours, but, 
 encouraged by the success of his recent voyage, his mind 
 was often directed to the thought of visiting the sur- 
 rounding Islands. " He could not," to use his own ex- 
 pression in a letter to the Directors, " content himself 
 within the narrow limits of a single reef." His anxiety 
 was to plant native teachers, if possible, in every island 
 of the South Pacific, and having now secured a vessel 
 in which he could easily sail from place to place, he felt 
 sanguine, if his life was spared, that he might yet see his 
 darling object accomplished. Actuated by such feelings, 
 he set out, soon after his return from Rarotonga, to 
 visit the Islands of Rurutu and Rimatara. He was 
 much delighted in witnessing the marked improvement 
 which had taken place in the former island. The native 
 teachers had laboured indefatigably, and their labours 
 had not been in vain. Mr Williams administered the 
 Lord's Supper, for the first time, on the island. The 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 251 
 
 little church consisted of sixteen members, and the extent 
 of their knowledge of divine truth, as well as the ap- 
 parent sincerity of their whole deportment, obviously 
 indicated that theirs was somewhat more than a mere 
 nominal Christianity. Rimatara, the next island which 
 Mr Williams visited, presented an equally pleasing aspect. 
 The people had embraced the Gospel, and built a large 
 and commodious chapel, in which Mr Williams preached 
 for the first time. 
 
 These voyages to the different islands seemed to open 
 up a bright prospect to the missionaries in the South 
 Seas. They looked forward to the time when, from the 
 facility of communication, not only Avould a prosperous 
 commercial intercourse be effected among the numerous 
 islands, but Christianity would be rapidly and widely 
 diffused. Just as these hopes, however, began to be 
 entertained, Mr Williams was compelled, by adverse 
 circumstances, to part with the vessel which he had 
 brought from Sydney, and from the possession of which 
 he had expected such remarkable advantages to accrue. 
 The Governor of New South Wales had imposed a pro- 
 hibitory duty upon South Sea tobacco, and by this, as 
 well as by other regulations, had shut out the natives of 
 the Polynesian Islands from all commerce with the colony. 
 This unexpected check to the industry of the people 
 proved a source of extreme distress to the mind of our 
 missionary, and more especially as, at the very period 
 when this unhappy turn of events occurred, a letter 
 arrived from the Directors, complaining of the step which 
 he had taken in purchasing the vessel, and involving 
 himself, as they imagined, to an improper extent in mere 
 secular affairs. He felt the reproof deeply, but he re- 
 
252 MEMOIR OF 
 
 plied to it witli the utmost calmness and candour, declar- 
 ing his readiness to ahstain henceforth from entangling 
 himself ^vith the affairs of this life. 
 
 Thus defeated, for a time at least, in one of his favourite 
 objects, he set himself with redoubled ardour to promote 
 the good cause in Raiatea. And the success of his ex- 
 ertions was soon apparent. Not a week passed with- 
 out several applications for baptism from individuals 
 who had been led to embrace the truth. The members 
 of the church were daily advancing in knowledge, 
 holiness, and comfort. But while, in the experience of 
 many, their spiritual peace had begun to flow like a 
 river, the temporal prosperity of the natives suffered no 
 slight injury from the peculiar position of the settlement 
 which they had selected, exposed as it was to heavy 
 blasts of wind, and to desolating torrents from the 
 mountains. Feeling strongly the disadvantage of their 
 situation, they at length resolved, with the concurrence 
 of the missionaries, to abandon that settlement and 
 remove to the windward side of the island. Having 
 made a careful survey of the coast, the chiefs and mis- 
 sionaries fixed upon a spot at the northern extremity of 
 the island, called Utumaoro. The change was attended 
 with the happiest effects upon the minds of the people. 
 New life and energy seemed to be infused into them. 
 All was excitement and vigorous toil. And the result 
 was in the highest degree gratifying to the benevolent 
 heart of Mr Williams. But, amid the bright prospects of 
 the mission, an event occurred which cast a gloom over 
 the scene, — the death of Mrs Threlkeld. She had been 
 held in high esteem by the Christian natives, and de- 
 servedly, for she had laboured to promote the spiritual 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 253 
 
 and temporal interests, particularly of the female natives, 
 with an ardour and unwearied diligence the most ex- 
 emplary. As soon as her death had become known, the 
 king, chiefs, and members of the church, hastened to 
 mingle their tears with those of her bereaved partner, 
 and her now motherless children. Soon after this sad 
 event, Mr Threlkeld sailed for England. Thus was the 
 whole burden of the station devolved upon Mr Williams 
 alone. And assuredly he showed that he was not un- 
 equal to the task. From morning till night he was 
 incessantly engaged in doing good. In multifarious 
 duties, which would have borne down any other man, 
 he seemed to feel his greatest happiness. 
 
 Not contented, however, with the encouraging state of 
 his own limited sphere of action, Mr Williams still en- 
 tertained an ardent wish to evangelize the other islands 
 around him. With this view he urged strongly upon 
 the deputation, Messrs Tyerman and Bennet, before their 
 departure from Raiatea, that they should apply to the 
 Directors for a missionary ship. On their recommenda- 
 tion, accordingly, Mr Williams was allowed to hire a 
 vessel for a limited period every year. Availing himself 
 gladly of this permission, he chartered the "Haweis" in 
 1825, and Mr Bourne, a brother missionary, paid a visit 
 to the Hervey Islands. Meanwhile Mr Williams con- 
 tinued to prosecute his work at Raiatea. Not only did 
 he encourage the people at the new station to build their 
 houses and lay out their gardens in a superior style, but 
 he erected a splendid place of worship, at once elegant 
 and commodious. To the execution of this work a 
 whole year was devoted, and on the 8th of February 
 1826 this noble building was opened for divine worship. 
 
254 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Numbers, from the surrounding islands, came to be 
 present on this interesting occasion, and were delighted 
 and edified with two impressive sermons from Messrs 
 Bourne and Williams. 
 
 For some time after the completion of the church, our 
 missionary received almost daily accession to the number 
 of his church members. Still his enlarged heart was 
 ever longing to occupy a more extended sphere of use- 
 fulness. He gladly embraced an opportunity, accordingly, 
 which presented itself of visiting Rarotonga, where his 
 labours were accompanied with an evident blessing from 
 above. For several months he was detained on that 
 island, and as no vessel touched on its shores by which 
 he could return toRaiatea, he built a vessel for himself, 
 styling her " The Messenger of Peace." This astonish- 
 ing effort of enterprise and mechanical skill he accom- 
 plished in about three months. After an absence of a 
 year, he arrived in his own vessel at Raiatea, where he 
 was met, on landing, by the melancholy intelligence 
 which had reached the island of the death of his beloved 
 father. His grief, on hearing of this mournful event, 
 was not a little mitigated by the refreshing information, 
 that the old man had died in the Lord. In addition to 
 this trial, Mr Williams was visited, at this time, with a 
 sore domestic calamity in the death of an infant child, 
 and the subsequent illness of his afflicted wife. In the 
 midst of these trials, however, he never lost sight of the 
 great work in which he was engaged. How effectively 
 did he discharge the work of an evangelist ! 
 
 Being now possessed of a vessel, he resolved on a 
 voyage to the islands to the westward. On the 24th 
 May 1830, he set sail on this interesting expedition, the 
 
THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 255 
 
 details of which are familiar to the numerous readers of 
 that most fascinating and romantic of all missionary ^vorks, 
 " The Narrative of Missionary Enterprises to the South 
 Seas." The four years which were spent in these hal- 
 lowed excursions, he felt to be the happiest of his life. 
 He passed from island to island, carrying everywhere 
 the glad tidings of salvation. But while thus diif using 
 the light of divine truth all around him, his heart often 
 turned to his native land, and more especially as Mrs 
 Williams' health seemed to call for a change of climate. 
 At length, in 1834, after eighteen years' absence, he 
 enjoyed the high satisfaction of once more setting foot on 
 the shores of Britain. There, both in England and Scot- 
 land, his short visit was the means of awakening a still 
 stronger interest than ever in the cause of missions. Be- 
 sides revising his translation of the Rarotongan New 
 Testament, he composed and published his " ]\Iissionary 
 Enterprises," a w^ork which has done more for the cause 
 of missions, than any other work which has appeared in 
 modern times. It was eagerlyreadby the public, and re- 
 garded universally as a production full of the most in- 
 tense interest. Mr "Williams gladly availed himself of the 
 opportunity which his being in England afforded, to urge 
 upon the Directors the importance of a missionary 
 ship. And it was in consequence of his appeal, that the 
 "Camden" was purchased. In this vessel, Mr Williams 
 set sail from England, with a noble band of fellow- 
 labourers destined for the South Seas. The voyage was 
 a prosperous one, and after calling at the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and at Sydney, they passed on to the interesting 
 islands which he proposed successively to visit. The 
 brethren were left at the different stations for which they 
 
256 MEMOIR OF THE REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. 
 
 were destined, and our missionary remained for some 
 time at the Samoas, and directed his course to Rarotonga. 
 Everywhere his reception was most gratifying. At each 
 of the islands he landed native teachers, and their 
 coming was welcomed by the natives. At length on 
 attempting to land on the shores of the Island of Erro- 
 manga, one of the New Hebrides, this eminent servant 
 of the Most High fell a martyr to the cause of Christ, 
 having been cruelly massacred by the barbarous natives. 
 The intelligence of this mournful event was not more 
 painful to his friends in Britain, than it was to the in- 
 habitants of the Islands of the South Pacific which he 
 had so often visited. The people, on hearing of his death, 
 wept like children. All felt that he had run his race, 
 and he had won the prize, a martyr's crown, a crown of 
 glory that fadeth not away. 
 
THE REY. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 
 
 This eminent and devoted missionary was a native of 
 AVest Prussia, having been born at the fortress of Grau- 
 dens on the 5th November 1790. His father, who was 
 an officer in the Prussian army, was cut off in the flower 
 of his age, and thus the care of the family devolved en- 
 tirely upon the mother. Till his fourteenth year, Charles, 
 the subject of our present Memoir, was educated at the 
 Cathedral School of Marienwerder. The next three 
 years he was employed at Balga, near Konigsberg, in the 
 office of an uncle, who held a civil appointment under 
 Government; and in the spring of 1807 he removed to 
 the neighbourhood of Memel, where he lived in the 
 house of another uncle, who was advanced in life, and 
 had no family of his own. At the latter place he first 
 became the subject of deep religious impressions, and 
 made open avowal of his adherence to the cause of the 
 Redeemer. At an after period he refers, in the follow- 
 ing words, to this important era of his life : — 
 
 "The year 1807 was memorable to me, as being that 
 in which I was directed to the knowledge of divine 
 things. It would be too long to relate fully the circum- 
 
258 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Stances. One word of our Saviour I found verified 
 again in my own experience, viz., ' the Son of Man is 
 come to seek and to save that which was lost.' This 
 word, together with the command, ' follow me,' was the 
 means of producing a saving change in ray soul. The 
 grace of God in Christ Jesus began now to dwell in my 
 heart, and enlightened me with tlie pure light of the 
 Gospel ; after which the sweet truth penetrated me — 
 God became man, and died for man. It was then I 
 could fully appreciate the word in John iii., ' God so 
 loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
 have everlasting life.' The Spirit of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, who had manifested himself to me as the true 
 God and life eternal, found a free entrance into my 
 heart, and impressed me with a firm resolution to ' fol- 
 low him.' Daily I improved in knowledge of myself, 
 seeing my extreme sinfulness ; I improved in the know- 
 ledge of the love of God towards poor sinners, and of the 
 redemption which had been effected through Christ. 
 And thus was I confirmed in my resolution, by that 
 blessed Spirit to whom I committed myself, to follow 
 Jesus, and in future to depart from iniquity, and to 
 dedicate to him my soul and body, with all their facul- 
 ties, for the practice of righteousness. To sum up all 
 in a few word's, a lively faith in Christ Jesus was begun 
 to be wrought within me." 
 
 In the outset of his career as a Christian, Mr Rhenius 
 was subjected to seasons of doubt and perplexity ; but 
 by the blessing of the Spirit he gradually emerged from 
 darkness into the light and life of the Gospel. Thus 
 established, not only in the knowledge, but in the firm 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 250 
 
 belief of the truth, he devoted much of his time to the 
 perusal of religious works ; and of these he felt a pecu- 
 liar interest in missionary publications. Very soon his 
 mind became deeply imbued with a missionary spirit, 
 and he began to entertain doubts whether it was not 
 his duty to go and preach the unsearchable riches of 
 Christ among the heathen. The desire at length became 
 deeper and stronger, and he came to the final resolution 
 of abandoning his friends and the land of his fathers, to 
 advance the work of Christ among the idolaters of the 
 East. At first, his friends were opposed to the plan, but 
 in his uncle he found a kind friend and a judicious ad- 
 viser; and through his prudent interposition the way 
 was smoothed for the accomplishment of his pious and 
 benevolent design. 
 
 The principal impediments being removed, Mr E,he- 
 nius entered, in 1810, a seminary which had been re- 
 cently established in Berlin, under the superintendence 
 of the Rev. John Janicke. Having studied here about 
 fifteen months, he was ordained, on the 7th of August 
 1812, as a minister of the Lutheran Church of Prussia, 
 to be a missionary to the heathen. A fortnight after 
 his ordination he set out for England, where he spent 
 another year and a-half, chiefly under the roof of the 
 Rev. Thomas Scott ; and at the end of that time, the 
 Church Missionary Society having obtained leave to 
 send missionaries to India, Mr Rhenius, and his friend 
 and fellow-student, Mr Schnarre, were appointed to 
 labour in that interesting and important field. On the 
 4th of February 1814, accordingly, they left London for 
 Portsmouth, where, after a fortnight's dela}^ they em- 
 barked in the " Marquis of Huntly," bound for IMadras. 
 
260 MEMOIR OF 
 
 During tlie voyage, the missionaries endeavoured to 
 make themselves useful to the sailors ; and regularly 
 every Sabbath, when the weather permitted, divine ser- 
 vice was held on deck. Bibles and tracts were also 
 distributed among the crew. In such employments, and 
 in study, the time passed pleasantly away, and at length 
 the vessel anchored before Madras, on the 4th July. On 
 their arrival, the missionaries were received with the 
 utmost kindness, by the Rev. Marmaduke Thompson, 
 then one of the Honourable Company's chaplains at 
 Madras ; and having spent a fortnight in inspecting the 
 schools and missionary operations at the Presidency, they 
 set out for Tranquebar, the field of their future labours. 
 
 The sphere to which Mr Rhenius had been appointed 
 by the Church Missionary Society, was one of great 
 importance and responsibility. It was the scene of the 
 first Protestant missions in India — the spot on which, 
 in the beginning of last century, Ziegenbalg and Plut- 
 scho commenced their labours for the evangelization of 
 India; and where Grundler, Schwartz, Gericke, and 
 other honoured missionaries of the Cross, were privi- 
 leged to turn many from the worship of idols to the 
 service of the living and the true God. At this station 
 Mr Rhenius resided for a few months, wliich he chiefly 
 employed in acquiring the language ; and at the end of 
 that time, from what cause we are not informed, he re- 
 moved to Madras, where the Rev. Dr Rottler was then 
 labouring with great usefulness and success. Here Mr 
 Rhenius remained for five years, during which he was 
 indefatigable in discharging the great trust which had 
 been reposed in him. The first object to which he 
 directed his attention was the acquisition of the Tamul 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 201 
 
 language, which he completely mastered, so as not only 
 to converse and preach in it with the utmost fluency, 
 but to compose a grammar of the language, besides a 
 translation of the New and part of the Old Testament — 
 Avorks which are held in high estimation by Oriental 
 scholars. As soon as he was able to speak the language, 
 he embraced every opportunity of conversing with the 
 natives on the concerns of their souls. An interesting 
 interview of this nature he thus relates in his diary : — 
 
 " A heathen came, apparently wishing to become a 
 Christian, but it appeared that his bodily wants were 
 the chief reason. An interesting conversation took place ; 
 he fancying himself to be a very good man. On his say- 
 ing this, I asked, Have you never told a lie ? ' No.' 
 Have you never stolen ? ' No/ Have you never spoken 
 ill of your neighbour ? 'No.' Have you never thought 
 evil ? ' No.' Have you never quarrelled ? ' No.' Whom 
 have you hitherto worshipped ? ' I worship in the pa- 
 goda.' What god is that ? ' It is of gold.' Who 
 made it ? ' The Brahmans.' Can that god speak ? 
 ' No.' Can it hear ? ' No.' Can it walk ? ' No ; we 
 carry it on our shoulders when he removes.* Then you 
 have worshipped a god that can neither hear nor walk : 
 ought you to do so ? ' Yes.' Then you have worshipped 
 a thing that is poorer than yourself; can that be right? 
 ' No.' Well, then, you have done wrong. Do you still 
 think that you are a very good man ? ' No ; I am a bad 
 man ? ' AYho, then, has made all things ? ' I do not 
 know. You have made them ! ' I cannot make a fea- 
 ther or a hair ; much less all things. There is One Avho 
 has made all things ; but He dwells not in places made 
 with hands. He fills all in all. He is almighty. He 
 
262 MEMOIR OF 
 
 is a Spirit. He liears, he knows, he sees all. Him we 
 must worship. Have you ever considered this ? ' No ; 
 as the Brahmans teach, I do. After we have worshipped 
 the golden god, the pagoda is closed ; whether it walks 
 then, I know not. If I get my rice, that is enough.' 
 This the beasts do also ; are you, then, a beast ? ' Yes.' 
 Have you no soul ? ' I do not know what it is/ — I 
 then explained the subject to him shortly, and said, I 
 have told you wdio the God is whom you ought to wor- 
 ship ; now, if you worship not Him, but a thing which 
 He has made, is this not a grievous wrong and sin ? He 
 seemed not to understand, and I therefore put to him 
 this parable : If a king's servant were to take a stone, or 
 piece of wood, and say of it, This is my king ; would 
 such a servant do right, and w^ould the king not punish 
 him ? ' Yes ; that is not right.' So is it with the great 
 God who has made all things. If you take a stone, or 
 a tree, or gold in his place, you commit a great crime. 
 ' I am ignorant. I am now in the Roman Catholic 
 Church, and worship the mother Mary.' Bat what is 
 she ? Do you not worship her image ? ' Yes.* Is it 
 not the same whether you worship an image or a figure 
 of gold, which are both made by hands ? ' What, then, 
 shall I do ? ' — I then told him plainly, that he and all 
 men are sinners. He admitted that God could not make 
 had men ; and attended to all I said to him. I asked 
 him, if he really wished to know more of the way of sal- 
 vation, to come again whenever he pleased. The poor 
 man expected that I would give him some money ; but 
 I had no inclination to do this, remarking to him, that 
 with me all must work, and that idleness is destructive 
 both to body and soul. He did not speak nor under- 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 2G3 
 
 stand much Tamul, but Gentu ; and our English school- 
 master interpreted." 
 
 The first two years which Mr Rhenius spent at Madras 
 he confined himself almost entirely to the establishment 
 of schools in the town, and to the study of the Tamul 
 and Telugu languages. At length, in the beginning of 
 1817, a regular congregation was formed, consisting of 
 nineteen souls, or five families. He now directed much 
 of his attention to the establishment of schools in the 
 surrounding villages. For this purpose he made fre- 
 quent excursions, not, however, neglecting his little flock 
 in Madras, which in 1818 had increased to twenty-one; 
 besides eight catechumens, who were under instruction, 
 with the view of being received into Church fellowship. 
 His Journal at this period contains some interesting 
 notices in reference to the superstitions of the heathen. 
 
 On the general character of the natives, Mr Rhenius 
 thus writes : — 
 
 " They will contemplate any thing above them, whilst 
 they forget that which lies near them ; they will strive 
 to reach the skies, whilst they forget that their hand is 
 only just long enough to take up a stone from the earth. 
 Miserable is the general understanding of these people, 
 even the learned class not excepted. It cannot but ap- 
 pear madness to us ; and probably we may appear mad 
 to them. They imagine that they cannot reach heaven, 
 unless they discover what God did before he created the 
 world ; they think they can have no knowledge, unless 
 they know how sin came into the world. They search 
 after the nature of God; they will find him in their 
 breast, in their brain, in a straw, in a pillar, and think 
 they have nothing of him unless they are absorbed in 
 
264 MEMOIR OP 
 
 him — unless they are no more what they are. They 
 see, hear, speak, walk, act ; yet this is all nothing — it 
 has nothing to do with the soul — has no reference to it 
 — is no effect of it. When they have arrived at doing 
 nothing, they imagine they have reached their destined 
 or fitting condition. In this world, they say, it cannot 
 be otherwise than it is — it belongs to this age to be full 
 of such things as there are, even all wickedness. They 
 walk about and transact business nearly as nonentities ; 
 and they fancy themselves, in all their wickedness and 
 deceitfulness, to be so many little gods. The whole mass 
 of the Hindus may well be compared to a theatre, where 
 men appear and are not — where all is play, and a cheat 
 to the eye. How necessary is it for a missionary to 
 become a Hindu himself, in a certain sense, in order to 
 bring his preaching into contact, as it were, with the 
 ideas of Hindus ? He must learn their ideas, the pecu- 
 liar turn of their ideas, and then adapt his conversation 
 with the people accordingly. If he do not, there is no 
 probability of his being understood by them." 
 
 Early in the year 1819 Mr Rhenius's heart was re- 
 joiced by the arrival of several missionaries, one of whom 
 was stationed at Madras, as colleague to him and Mr 
 Schmid. In the course of this year, although with con- 
 siderable infirmity of body, he made several tours into 
 the country, particularly among the Jainas — a sect of 
 which we find a very interesting, and to us a novel 
 description, in the published Memoir. 
 
 From various remarks which occur in Mr Rhenius's 
 Journal, it would appear that, in the course of his com- 
 munications with the Committees of the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society, both in Madras and in London, there 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 265 
 
 had arisen various points of difference and discussion. 
 Some of these points were of no great moment, but one 
 or two of them were so important, both in their nature 
 and consequences, that neither party was wilUng to 
 yield. Rather than compromise his principles, Mr 
 llhenius was preparing to return to Europe ; but the 
 Madras Committee proposed to him a change of station 
 — supposing, probably, that at a distance the causes of 
 disagreement might disappear. In accordance with this 
 suggestion he left Madras, and removed to Pallamcotta, 
 four hundred miles to the south of that place, where he 
 arrived in the beginning of July 1820. At first he felt 
 very uneasy under the change of situation. " I am as a 
 tree," he says, " torn out of its soil, and put into a strange 
 one." But without delay he entered with energy upon 
 his work, — superintending the schools ; preaching to, 
 and conversing with, the heathen; revising, or rather 
 translating, the Scriptures into Tamul ; and preparing a 
 pamphlet, entitled, " The Essence of the True Vedam." 
 A few months after he was joined by Mr Schmid, who 
 had been his colleague at Madras. This event was to 
 him a source of peculiar comfort ; more especially, as he 
 was exposed to diflficulties of a very unpleasant nature. 
 An officer of the corps, stationed at Pallamcotta, had 
 received from him a number of Tamul and Telugu tracts, 
 for distribution among the sepoys of his company. This 
 gave offence to the commanding officer, who recalled the 
 tracts, and returned them to Mr Rhenius, with an official 
 note, requesting him henceforth to discontinue the dis- 
 tribution of tracts among the soldiers, as being contrary 
 to the regulations of the service. Not being aware of 
 any such regulations, Mr Rhenius requested a sight of 
 
266 MEMOIR OF 
 
 them, but was refused. Thus was he excluded from a 
 field of usefulness which seemed to be very promising. 
 Another difficulty soon arose, connected with the ques- 
 tion of caste. This has at all times proved one of the 
 most powerful obstacles to the progress of Christianity 
 in India. The form in which it presented itself to Mr 
 Rhenius and his colleague is thus detailed by his son : — 
 " The missionaries had early formed the plan of a semi- 
 nary under their immediate superintendence, in which 
 youths might be prepared for employment as catechists 
 or evangelists to their countrymen ; and most of the lads 
 chosen for this new seminary were the children of mem- 
 bers of congreg»itions belonging to the Gospel Propaga- 
 tion Society. After commencing with six or seven of the 
 Sudra caste two or three months before, there came, on 
 the 21st of June, thirteen boys from the country, (J 
 whom two were Sudras, and eight were Shanars, the 
 lowest grade of the Sudras, and three Parias, or no-caste 
 boys. Mr Rhenius was present at the first meal they 
 were all to partake of, and grace being said, they sat 
 down, with the exception of the Sudras. When these 
 were asked the reason for not seating themselves, they 
 could not sit down because the other boys were there. 
 As there was no time for disputing, Mr Rhenius simply 
 said, that whoever wished not to be considered a heathen, 
 should sit down forthwith and commence. The eldest 
 sat, the rest followed his example, and the meal was 
 discussed. In the evening, after prayers, the boys were 
 particularly addressed on the subject of caste, when the 
 Sudras said, with tears, that if they were to eat with the 
 Shanars and Parias, that is to say, in sight of them, 
 they would be cast out by their relations. The next 
 
THE REV. C. T. E, RHENIUS. 20? 
 
 rnorning the Sudra boys did not breakfast, and they 
 went also without dinner, because they were not allowed 
 to dine at a different hour. Again Mr Rhenius expos- 
 tulated with them, but to no purpose. The parents, too, 
 were inflexible. They pleaded that a w^all might be 
 made to separate the one caste from the other ; and when 
 so much was yielded to them as to allow the caste boys 
 " to hide themselves from view, as much as they pleased, 
 by mats," even this would not suffice. At length, Mr 
 Rhenius declared the boys could not remain in the 
 seminary, for here the distinctions of caste could not be 
 observed. They therefore dispersed, and for the present 
 the seminary was discontinued." 
 
 This event was painful to Mr Rhenius, and he lost no 
 time in giving a statement of the whole details to the 
 Corresponding Committee at Madras. While engaged 
 in this conflict about caste, however, he received some 
 very gratifying letters from Prussia ; and among others, 
 a letter from his Majesty Frederic William III., to whom 
 he had forwarded a brief account of the progress of 
 missionary operations in South India. The king's letter 
 is as follows : — 
 
 " I was peculiarly pleased on receiving, together with 
 your letter dated Sept. 21st, 1818, the copies of the New 
 Testament in the Tamul and Telugu languages, and the 
 interesting account of missions ; from which I perceive 
 that, in your endeavours to obey the command of the 
 Saviour to spread the Gospel, you find yourself rewarded 
 by a blessed success. With pleasure, therefore, do I 
 substantiate the interest I take in it, by informing you 
 that I have assigned a continual contribution for the 
 support of the missionary seminary in this place ; and 
 
2G8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 I have caused the accompanying medal to he transmitted 
 to you as a memento of rae." 
 
 (Signed) " Frederic William." 
 
 The seminary, which had been broken up on account 
 of caste, was gradually re-established, and within fifteen 
 months it contained twenty-four young men of different 
 castes, who were carefully trained by Messrs Schmid and 
 Rhenius, as schoolmasters and catechists. For many 
 years Mr Rhenius spent two hours every day in the 
 seminary, giving instruction on various branches of 
 knowledge. This, however, was only one of the many 
 avocations which engaged the time and attention of this 
 apostolic missionary. Besides preaching and teaching, 
 writing tracts and books, and making missionary tours 
 in the district, he devoted his energies to the great work 
 of translating the Scriptures into Tamul. This was a 
 work which required much time and patient study ; and 
 it is scarcely to be wondered at, that, although he finished 
 the New Testament, he should have left the Old incom- 
 plete at his death. 
 
 It is well known that the late King of Prussia in- 
 dulged the earnest desire of uniting the two Protestant 
 Churches established by law in that country. Had it 
 been possible to have effected an amicable adjustment of 
 the differences which exist between the Lutheran and 
 the Reformed Churches, the project was, no doubt, in 
 every point of view desirable. The question, of course, 
 excited great interest in Prussia ; and, as might naturally 
 be expected, from the love which he bore to his father- 
 land, Mr Rhenius felt a lively concern in a matter which 
 so deeply involved the interests of religion among his 
 countrymen. He accordingly ventured to address a 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 200 
 
 letter to the king, giving, at full length, the views Avhich 
 he entertained on the agitated question, and urging rather 
 a unity of heart than a uniformity in external worship. 
 It was with great regret, therefore, that in later j-ears he 
 learned the painful circumstances connected with the 
 attempt to force the desired uniformity. 
 
 As the number of converts from heathenism to Chris- 
 tianity increased, the missionaries considered it necessary 
 to form separate Christian settlements. At first the plan 
 met with great opposition ; but, in process of time, these 
 villages or congregations spread themselves over the 
 Tinnevelly district. By an arrangement of this kind, 
 the converted natives were collected together in one 
 place, and could thus be more readily instructed ; while 
 they enjoyed the additional advantage of being separated 
 from the evil example and influence of their heathen 
 neighbours. 
 
 In the beginning of 1824, Mr Rhenius, wdth part of 
 his family, left Pallamcotta, on a visit to Madras ; and 
 he took occasion, at the same time, to pass over to Ceylon, 
 where he felt much interested in the proceedings of the 
 missionaries, who, though belonging to three different 
 sects, were labouring with the utmost harmony in the 
 Redeemer's cause. To a large and liberal mind such a 
 sight was singularly pleasing. He returned home re- 
 freshed and invigorated, resolved to cherish more and 
 more that truly catholic spirit which breathes in the 
 prayer of the Redeemer, " That they all may be one." 
 When he reached Madras, on his way to Pallamcotta, 
 he had several meetings with the Translation Commit- 
 tee, in reference to his translation of Matthew's Gospel 
 into Tamul. The General Committee, however, found 
 
270 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fault with some passages, as being dijfferent from the 
 English version. Both Mr Rhenius and the Translation 
 Committee agreed in thinking that the originals ought 
 to be the standards by which a translation was to be 
 tested, and not any mere modern version, however ex- 
 cellent. This opinion is undoubtedly correct, and it is 
 surprising that any body of men should ever have main- 
 tained a contrary doctrine. Unwilling, however, to re- 
 tard the publication, Mr Rhenius left the matter entirely 
 in the hands of the Committee. 
 
 We have already mentioned, that the King of Prussia, 
 in consequence of a letter from Mr Rhenius, had been 
 led to take a warm interest in the progress of the Gos- 
 pel in foreign lands ; and, to show the interest which he 
 took in the good cause, he gave a sum of money for the 
 support of a missionary student at the institution in 
 Berlin. The individual whom his Majesty selected was 
 one who has since distinguished himself as a most labo- 
 rious and successful missionary to the Chinese. It is 
 almost unnecessary to mention the name of the Rev. 
 Charles Gutzlaff. For several years he maintained a 
 correspondence with Mr Rhenius, whom he ever looked 
 upon as the instrument, in the hand of God, of fulfilling 
 his wish to become a missionary to the heathen. 
 
 It has long been a subject of lamentation among 
 Christians, that the British Government should openly 
 and avowedly countenance idolatry in India. Of late 
 years, matters, in this respect, have been decidedly im- 
 proving; and Mr Rhenius rejoiced in the step which 
 Mr Munro, the collector of the Tinnevelly district, had 
 taken in advance of the Government at home, by dis- 
 continuing the practice of forcing men to draw the idol- 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIITS. 271 
 
 car at the great festivals. This local regulation had a 
 beneficial tendency, in leading the natives more readily 
 to consider the claims of Christianity. 
 
 Early in the year 1826, the foundation of a church 
 within the mission-premises was laid. This erection 
 was found to be necessary, in consequence of the in- 
 crease of the congregation ; and subscriptions were 
 readily obtained from all quarters. While Mr Rhenius 
 was rejoicing in the success with which the great Head 
 of the Church was thus crowning his labours, his heart 
 was saddened by the melancholy intelligence of the 
 death of Bishop Heber. The excellent and devoted 
 prelate was expected to arrive at Tinnevelly, but in the 
 inscrutable dealings of Divine Providence, he was not 
 permitted to come further than Trichinopoly, where he 
 was cut off in the midst of his usefulness. The remarks 
 of Mr Rhenius on this event are well worth trans- 
 cribing, as displaying the fine spirit by which he was 
 animated : — 
 
 " In reflecting on the death of this good man, I could 
 not help thinking, in addition to the usual thoughts on 
 similar occasions, that we put too much confidence in 
 men, in those principally who are of high station in the 
 world, as if by them, and not by meaner instruments, 
 the Lord's cause could prosper. But the Scripture and 
 this event both say, ' Cease ye from man, whose breath 
 is in his nostrils.' Many have so expressed themselves 
 as if the prosperity of the Gospel cause centred in the 
 bishop. This ought not to be. I humbly think, that 
 we should not be visited by such heavy strokes did 
 we but give up the spirit of party, and embrace every 
 servant of Christ, of whatever denomination, as our 
 
272 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fellow-labourer, and mutually exchange our services, 
 according to the spirit of the Gospel ; allowing others to 
 differ without putting them, either privately or publicly, 
 at a distance from us. In this I think we, as Church- 
 men, have hitherto failed. We have looked on Dissen- 
 ters as not belonging to us, — as persons with whom we 
 could not unite : we have thouj^ht that our Church ought 
 to be chief in the land, our form should be everywhere 
 adopted ; and with all our profession, by way of com- 
 pliment, that we have no objection to the labours of the 
 Dissenting brethren, we still secretly wished they were 
 not here at all, or at least that they should submit to us 
 in our various opinions. Now, all this is not the spirit 
 of Christ. Even supposing them to be really the weaker 
 party, if we acknowledge them to be Christ's servants, 
 why not embrace them as such, and labour together with 
 them ? Why stand on ceremony Avith them ? Why 
 hesitate to let them preach in our churches, and to 
 preach in theirs ? The Lord, I think, by passing events 
 such as this, when he removes our most promising 
 fellow-labourers, one after another, would teach us to 
 get wiser, and yield more freely to the liberal, loving, 
 humble spirit of the Gospel. May I improve it thus \" 
 We have already adverted to Mr Rhenius's views in 
 regard to the principles on which a translation should 
 be made, and differing, as these did, from the views of 
 the General Committee, to whom his Tamul version of 
 the New Testament had been referred, he thought it 
 right to give his opinions to the world. He published, 
 accordingly, a pamphlet, entitled, " An Essay on the 
 Principles of Translating the Holy Scriptures ; with 
 Critical Remarks on Various Passages, particularly in 
 
THE REV. C, T. E. RIIENIUS. 273 
 
 reference to the Tamul Language." The principles laid 
 down in this little tract are so excellent that we quote 
 them readily, as forming admirable hints to all who are 
 engaged in translating the Scriptures : — 
 
 *' 1. That the translation ought to be made from the 
 original languages, and not merely from another version. 
 
 " 2. The translation ought to be literal ; but the idiom, 
 both of the originals, and of the language into which they 
 are translated, should be carefully attended to. 
 
 "3. In countries where there is so great a difference 
 between the language of the learned and of the unlearned, 
 as among the Hindus, the translation of the Bible ought 
 to be made neither according to the style of the one, nor 
 to that of the other ; but the middle path should be 
 kept between the two. 
 
 " 4. Passages which have been obscurely or incorrectly 
 rendered in former translations, should not be so ren- 
 dered in new versions, if their sense can be more clearly 
 made out upon just evidence." 
 
 The progress of the Tinnevelly mission, under j\Lr 
 Rhenius and his colleagues, was a source of heartfelt 
 joy to Christians, both in India and at home. Indivi- 
 duals, however, were not wanting who attempted to 
 throw out the most ungenerous aspersions upon the 
 labours of these single-hearted missionaries. The edi- 
 tors of certain periodicals in Bengal, more especially, 
 busied themselves in publishing unfounded statements 
 in reference to the affairs of the mission. At length Mr 
 Rhenius drew up a paper in reply to these calumnies, 
 addressed to the Rev. Deocar Sclimid, Calcutta. The 
 paper was transmitted to Calcutta, to be published in 
 
274 MEMOIR OP 
 
 one or other of the religious periodicals; and, shortly 
 after, Mr Rhenius wrote to the Corresponding Commit- 
 tee at Madras, stating the fact of his having prepared 
 such a statement, and announcing that the manuscript 
 would be sent for the perusal of the Committee. To 
 his surprise, a letter arrived from the Committee, ex- 
 pressing their decided disapproval of what the mission- 
 aries had done, and requesting that, if it were possible, 
 the publication of the document might be stopped. To 
 this unexpected letter of rebuke the missionaries made a 
 firm but respectful reply. It was, no doubt, true that a 
 regulation had been passed by the Committee, to the 
 effect that no tract or pamphlet should be published by 
 the missionaries, without the previous sanction of the 
 Committee. But it ought to have been borne in mind, 
 that against that regulation Mr Rhenius and his colleagues 
 had from the beginning protested, for reasons which they 
 had fully stated. As no objection had been offered to 
 this protest, the missionaries were under the impression 
 that the old rule was given up. In these circumstances, 
 it is not at all surprising that Mr Rhenius, and his col- 
 league Mr Schmid, conscious that they had acted from 
 the best motives, should have felt deeply the haughty 
 and imperious language in which the letter of the Com- 
 mittee was couch crl. 
 
 The success which, by the Divine blessing, attended 
 the labours of Mr Rhenius, was truly refreshing to his 
 heart. Much opposition was, no doubt, manifested by 
 the heathen, but the instances of conversion, which were 
 occasionally occurring, tended to strengthen his hands, 
 and encourage him in the good work. In his Journal 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RIIENIUS. 275 
 
 for August 1828, the folloAving interesting account is 
 given of the last hours of a heathen convert : — 
 
 " This week, received information of the death of 
 Stephen, who has for eight or nine years walked con- 
 sistently as a Christian, labouring in his humble sphere 
 to do all the good in his power. Though an adult he 
 was unable to read, but learned by degrees, and recom- 
 mended Christianity to others, both by his conduct and 
 good conversation, enduring many afflictions from the 
 heathen for Christ's sake. He was appointed, jjvo tem- 
 pore^ to go to a distant village in the north, to teach a 
 number of heathens mIio had asked for instruction. 
 There he caught the fever, which never left him. Many 
 means were tried, but in vain. A few weeks ago he 
 
 went to T , and on the morning of the 2 2d he was 
 
 called to join the blessed above. His brother, Titus, 
 writes thus concerning the event : — ' This day my elder 
 brother, Stephen, died joyfully, believing in the Lord. 
 When, before his death, his wife and friends were 
 very sorrowful and weeping, he said, " You need not 
 sorrow and weep for me. Neither my place nor rest is 
 in this world. God has not made us for this world. 
 Will you send me away, not with joy but with grief? 
 Will you be the occasion of hindering and grieving me ? 
 and will you not leave me to pray to my Saviour, in 
 whom I trust in this hour of death ? Oh, let me alone !" 
 and then he lifted up his eyes and prayed. He spoke 
 often in similar language. On the day of his death, I 
 asked him whether he would not take the medicine. 
 He replied, " I shall shortly depart hence, therefore I 
 need no medicine." AVhen the last hour drew near, he 
 called the people who were occupied about the house, 
 
276 MEMOIR OF 
 
 saying, " Are you still busy ? Come, I am going. Be 
 you in readiness. Oh, my brother, my brother, my 
 brother !" Then folding his hands, he lifted up his eyes 
 to heaven, and thus fell asleep.'" 
 
 In the absence of a regular chaplain at Pallamcotta, 
 Messrs Rhenius and Schmid were requested by the Arch- 
 deacon of Madras to undertake the duties of that office. 
 This speedily involved them in considerable difficulties. 
 An officer of the corps stationed at the place applied to 
 Mr Rhenius to baptize his illegitimate child, born of a 
 Roman Catholic woman. This, of course, the conscien- 
 tious missionary declined doing, until the father of the 
 child should either express his contrition, and marry the 
 w^retched woman, or ceased to live in wickedness. The 
 officer persisted in demanding baptism for his child. 
 Mr Rhenius wrote to the Archdeacon for advice, when 
 he was informed, in reply, that " except the father be 
 excommunicated under the higher excommunication, 
 the Church does not consider him a heathen man ; and 
 even then, his child does not forfeit the privileges of his 
 descent, but himself alone." Such being the doctrine of 
 the Church of England, in connection with which Mr 
 Rhenius was officiating as acting chaplain, he had no 
 alternative but to resign the office, which he accordingly 
 did in the most respectful terms; and his resignation 
 was accepted. Thus freed from the discharge of duties 
 that involved much that was irksome, and, in fact, un- 
 profitable, he found ample scope for his energies in the 
 increased work of the mission. In the statement which 
 he and his colleague drew up at the close of 1829, the 
 number of baptized converts is represented as no fewer 
 than nine hundred and eighty- four; and all those " under 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 277 
 
 Clirlstian instruction," as upwards of six thousand ; and 
 the number of the pupils attending their forty-three 
 schools, as one thousand and eighty-four. When we take 
 into account the persecutions from the heathen, the diffi- 
 culties of caste, and many other obstacles to the progress 
 of the Truth, we feel that this result was truly encouraging, 
 and the missionaries had good reason to " thank God, 
 and take courage." It is interesting to peruse the 
 language in which Mr Robinson, then Archdeacon of 
 Madras, expresses the effect which the labours of Mr 
 Rhenius produced upon his mind. In describing a tour 
 through a part of the Presidency, he thus writes : — 
 
 " While the people were assembling in the chapel, I 
 had an opportunity of witnessing Mr Rhenius's method 
 of addressing the heathen. We were walking round the 
 splendid cloisters of the great pagoda of Yarunnen, and 
 were followed by many hundreds. His lively and per- 
 fectly native mode of address, as well as the fluency of 
 his language, attracts them wonderfully. The Brahmans 
 crowded around him with eagerness, and, as we stopped 
 occasionally at an angle of the building, a question led 
 to a remonstrance upon the folly of this stupendous ido- 
 latry, thus convicted and exposed by their own replies ; 
 till his remarks assumed gradually the form of a more 
 general discourse, addressed to the multitude around, 
 while the pillars, the sides of the tank, and the pavement 
 of the cloister, ^vere covered with eager listeners, who 
 were hushed into the most breathless silence. He is 
 bold, impressive, vivid, cheerful in his whole appearance, 
 happy in his illustrations, and a master not only of their 
 language, but of their feelings and views." 
 
 And not only did Mr Rhenius exert himself, with the 
 
278 MEMOIR OP 
 
 most indefatigable industry and zeal, for the spiritual 
 interests of the natives, — wherever he could promote 
 their temporal comfort, he spared no labour. In 1832, 
 accordingly, when the district was visited with the accu- 
 mulated calamities of drought and famine, and the pre- 
 valence of cholera, we find him doing his utmost to 
 alleviate the common distress. Under the severe pres- 
 sure of duties to which he was thus subjected, it was no 
 small relief to his mind that, although he had been for 
 a time deprived of the assistance of Mr Schmid, who 
 had removed for his health to the Nilgherries, he was 
 now somewhat relieved by the arrival of two colleagues 
 from Europe, and the addition of an ordained native 
 missionary from a northern mission. 
 
 For some time previous to the period at which we 
 have now arrived in the history of this devoted mission- 
 ary, the reader cannot fail to have perceived that dis- 
 cordant feelings and opinions were entertained, on various 
 points, by the Committee of the Church Missionary 
 Society on the one hand, and Mr Rhenius and his col- 
 league, Mr Schmid, on the other. The smouldering 
 flame at length burst forth. A letter was received from 
 the Committee, complaining that their missionaries 
 were forming their converts into communities on the 
 Lutheran model. The accusation might yveW have been 
 spared. The missionaries, though employed by the 
 Church Missionary Society, were themselves ministers 
 of the Lutheran Church of Prussia, and it was not 
 surely to be expected that, if their catechists objected to 
 English ordination, as they actually did, they were to 
 press it upon them. Nor indeed, did the Committee, in 
 their first communication on the subject, profess to have 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RHENIUS. 279 
 
 formed any such expectation. But the demands which 
 they made seemed to involve them in a charge of prose- 
 lytism, not to Christianity, but to a sect. We quote 
 from the spirited reply of Mr Rhenius to the Commit- 
 tee's accusation : — 
 
 " I cannot agree with your sentiment, that mission- 
 aries who have been the instruments, in the hand of God, 
 to raise up congregations from among the heathen, should 
 thenceforth have nothing more to say respecting the for- 
 mal settlement of them as Christian communities. I do 
 not maintain that the Society should have no share in 
 this matter ; but I think they should regard it as a con- 
 cern of minor importance, and trust that those who have 
 been enabled by Divine grace to do the one, will also be 
 enabled to do the other, and provide the people with 
 the means necessary for tlieir further instruction and 
 edification. This is not my opinion only ; but several 
 bishops of the Church of England herself have expressed 
 themselves to the same effect. Bishop Burnet, for in- 
 stance, says, ' Since I look upon the sacramental actions 
 as the highest of sacred performances, I cannot but ac- 
 knowledge those who are empowered for them, must be 
 of the highest office in the Church.' I think, therefore, 
 that the Committee need not be so much opposed to 
 our ordaining the native catechists, as if the Church of 
 Christ would suffer thereby, or as if we had no scrip- 
 tural right to do so. By their opposition, they plainly 
 show that they have another interest besides that of the 
 Church of Christ, contrary to their own frequent decla- 
 rations in their publications. IIow different this from 
 the apostle's catholic spirit, when he said, ' Notwith- 
 standing, every way, whether in pretence or in truth, 
 
280 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Christ is preached ; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and 
 will rejoice ! ' 
 
 " I am grieved to write to you thus, because nothing 
 is further from my thoughts than a desire to hurt your 
 feelings, or to appear disrespectful to the Society. I 
 trust they will receive what I have said as coming from 
 a heart that sincerely endeavours to love the simple truth 
 as it is in Jesus. This Word of Truth is my foundation ; 
 its promotion my design ; and its maintenance my duty." 
 
 In the close of this letter, Mr Rhenius proposed three 
 things : — that he should he allowed to return to Europe ; 
 that he should retire to Madras, where he might devote 
 himself exclusively to the work of translation, in con- 
 nection with the mission ; or that, without quitting his 
 station, he should attach himself at once to another 
 missionary society. The concluding paragraph is as 
 follows : — 
 
 " That you may be fully informed of my sentiments 
 on the subject of the Church (as I have always dealt 
 frankly and unreservedly with the Committee), I beg 
 leave herewith to send a copy of my review of a small 
 book, entitled ' The Church, her Daughters and Hand- 
 maidens,' &c., which the Rev. Mr Harper lately pub- 
 lished, and of which he requested me to write a review." 
 
 Of the three proposals made to the Committee, they 
 seem to have assented to the first ; and Mr Rhenius, 
 accordingly, resolved to go to England. He was pre- 
 vented, however, from carrying this resolution into efifect, 
 by a letter from the Committee, stating that, from the 
 change which had taken place in their members and 
 constitution, his voyage to England would be unneces- 
 sary. In the midst of this disagreeable correspondence, 
 
THE REV. C, T. E. RHENIUS. 281 
 
 he was unexpectedly refreshed by a visit from the cele- 
 brated Mr (now Dr) Wolff, who was travelling through 
 India. This zealous missionary to the Jews made a 
 short stay at Pallamcotta, but he remained long enough 
 to form a very high opinion of Mr Rhenius's character 
 as a Christian and a missionary. In his Journal, ac- 
 cordingly, we find him speaking of Mr Rlienius thus : — 
 "The greatest missionaTy, I believe, who has ever ap- 
 peared since the time of the apostles ; more enterprising, 
 more bold, and more talented than even Schwartz him- 
 self." Such a testimony from such a quarter is no mean 
 tribute to the excellence of the man who is the subject 
 of it ; and w^e can only regret, that the Society by whom 
 he was employed should have been so far led away by a 
 narrow spirit of sectarianism, as to have dispensed with 
 his invaluable services. But to proceed with the his- 
 tory of this unhappy dispute. Mr Rhenius, we have 
 seen, entertained serious thoughts of visiting England, 
 with the view of laying the whole circumstances of his 
 case before the Committee in London. But as the 
 Madras Committee dissuaded him from leaving India, 
 and seemed not very anxious to press the ordination 
 question upon him, he thought it was his duty to go on 
 with his work, without insisting on an immediate ad- 
 justment of that question. For a time, accordingly, 
 peace was restored, and our missionary set himself to his 
 laborious duties, with his wonted devotedness and apos- 
 tolic singleness of heart. Scarcely had a few months 
 elapsed, however, when annoyances arose from a differ- 
 ent quarter. Bishop Wilson had made a tour to the 
 south, and in a Charge to the clergy, which he published 
 soon after, the following strange passage occurs : — " I 
 
282 MEMOIR OP 
 
 discovered a system at work in the extreme south (pro- 
 vince of Tinnevelly), in direct opposition to our Protes- 
 tant Episcopal Church — a system so ruinous, in my 
 judgment, to the holiness and peace of the new converts, 
 as to threaten a subversion among them of Christianity 
 itself." The burden of this grave accusation was, that 
 the missionaries were not adhering strictly and in all 
 points to the forms of the Church of England — an 
 offence which, in the eyes of the worthy Bishop, was 
 of no light nature. Mr Tucker, the Secretary of the 
 Madras Corresponding Committee, on the other hand, 
 having inspected the affairs of the mission at Tinnevelly, 
 was quite delighted with what he saw and heard ; and 
 in the introduction to a report, which soon after appear- 
 ed in a religious periodical in Madras, he expresses 
 himself in the strongest terms in speaking of the manner 
 in which the mission was conducted. At this juncture, 
 the Madras Committee resolved to address a letter to 
 Bishop Wilson, vindicating their missionary from the 
 charges so rashly made. This resolution is dated 22d 
 April 1835; and, on the 18th of May, Mr Rhenius 
 received from Mr Tucker the resolution of the Home 
 Committee, by which his connection with the Church 
 Missionary Society was dissolved, on the ground of his 
 having published a pamphlet, which they considered as 
 inconsistent with the principles and constitution of the 
 Church of England. The following is the resolution : — 
 " The Committee learn, with the deepest regret and 
 distress, the publication in India by Mr Rhenius of his 
 tract, entitled a ' Review,' &c., impugning, as it does, 
 the government, ritual, formularies, and discipline of 
 that Church with which he stood connected as a mis- 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RIIENIUS. 283 
 
 slonary of this Society ; and that, afflicting as it is to them 
 to dissolve their connection with one whom, on many 
 grounds, they highly honour and esteem, yet they feel 
 bound, in consistency, as attached members of the Church 
 of England, to take this very painful step, and to de- 
 clare that the missionary relation Avhich has hitherto 
 subsisted between the Society and Mr Rhenius is at an 
 end." 
 
 On receiving this announcement, Mr Rhenius sent 
 for all the catechists, and acquainted them with the 
 Committee's resolution, at the same time putting the 
 question, Whether they were willing to adhere to the 
 Society or to him ? After some discussion and expla- 
 nation, they declared their resolution to abide with 
 him as hitherto, and to live in faith on the Lord's care. 
 Mr Rhenius and his colleagues, accordingly, were now 
 separated from the Society under Avhose auspices they 
 had laboured since their arrival in India. Mr Tucker 
 came to Pallamcotta, for the purpose of holding a con- 
 ference on the subject; and Mr Rhenius addressed a 
 letter to him, as Secretary to the Madras Committee, 
 explaining at full length the views which he entertained. 
 
 In accordance with the views stated in his letter, Mr 
 Rhenium left Tinnevelly, and thus broke up his connec- 
 tion with the people among whom he had laboured with 
 such efficiency and success. The catechists, native con- 
 verts, and all who chose to abide by Mr Rhenius, had 
 it in their power to do so if they chose. But, to avoid 
 any altercation or misconstruction of his motives, he 
 resolved to leave his post and set out for Madras. He 
 took his departure, accordingly, on the 19th of June; 
 and was speedily followed by his colleagues, Messrs 
 
284 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Schaffter, sillier, and Lecliler, along with several cate- 
 chists. On their arrival at the Presidency, they re- 
 solved to form a new mission ; and Arcot, about sixty 
 miles west from Madras, was fixed upon as their head- 
 quarters. Before proceeding thither, Tamul letters, 
 signed by forty-three catechists, arrived from Tinnevelly, 
 calling upon them to return. On holding a consultation 
 with their friends, they decided to decline the invitation 
 in the meantime. They set out, therefore, for Arcot, 
 where they commenced their missionary proceedings. 
 But, in a few weeks, another letter came from Pallam- 
 cotta, signed by seventy-seven catechists and others, re- 
 questing Mr Rhenius to return. He set out for Madras, 
 to consult with his Christian friends and brethren on 
 the subject ; and, after much prayer and deliberation, 
 ^ve find him giving rent to his feelings in these word^ 
 in his Journal : — 
 
 " It strikes me more and more, that I did wrong in 
 leaving Tinnevelly. We, in a manner, sanctioned the 
 injustice of the act of the Society. The separating me 
 from my churches for no proper cause, was an unjust 
 act. In Tinnevelly the Lord gave us, in various ways, 
 to understand that we ought not to leave it. We left, 
 however, in order to avoid strife and contention between 
 opposition missions. But peace has not been obtained ; 
 and the confrref^ations and catechists have called on us 
 to return : they have written the same to the Committee, 
 and openly declared their dissatisfaction. All things con- 
 sidered, it appears to me my duty to proceed to Pal- 
 lamcotta immediately. 
 
 " My three brethren hesitate as to the propriety of 
 their returning with me. They will, therefore, wait 
 
THE REV. C. T. E. RnENIUS. 285 
 
 here till tliey hear from me from Pallamcotta. Great 
 has been the conflict in my mind. But the Lord has 
 heard my prayer in reheving me from my doubts, and 
 giving me a feehng of assurance that I ought to go." 
 
 Mr Rhenius, entertaining such sentiments and feel- 
 ings, returned to Pallamcotta ; and his colleagues re- 
 mained at Arcot for a time, but at length joined him in 
 originating and conducting the '• German Evangelical 
 Mission." The return of ]\Ir Rhenius to Tinnevelly was 
 the signal for a renewal of the conflict. The Madras 
 Corresponding Committee put forth a pamphlet, entreat- 
 ing his friends to persuade him to remove to Arcot, or 
 any where else. A paper warfare now commenced, 
 which continued for some time. Pamphlets and news- 
 paper paragi-aphs appeared in abundance, and every at- 
 tempt was made to prevail upon him to leave Tinnevelly. 
 But all was in vain. He and his colleagues remained? 
 and dedicated themselves to the great work which they 
 had undertaken. 
 
 The footing on which the German missionaries at 
 Tinnevelly were now placed, was one which required the 
 exercise of much faith, and a simple dependence upon the 
 Almighty. Xor was their confidence fruitless. Contri- 
 butions poured in from all quarters ; and although a sum 
 amounting to between £2000 and £3000 was required 
 for the support of the mission, their resources were always 
 sufficiently ample. The mission soon assumed a very 
 flourishing aspect. In the close of 1836, we find it stated 
 that no fewer than seventy-six schools were in operation, 
 containino- two thousand five hundred and eiirht^•-three 
 scholars. His harassing toils and exertions, as might 
 have been expected, were not long in affecting his bodily 
 
286 MEMOIR OF 
 
 constitution. The mental anxiety and physical exertion to 
 which he was subjected, suddenly and prematurely brought 
 his labours to a close. In May 1838 he laboured under 
 a severe indisposition, which, however, excited no alarm 
 in the minds of his family and friends ; and it was not 
 until three weeks before his death, that he was under the 
 necessity of laying aside his labours, and betaking himself 
 to quiet and rest. Just before his illness, he had finished 
 " The Summary of Divinity in Tamul," a book intended 
 particularly for the use of the catechists. Till within ten 
 days of his death he sat with his family as usual, and 
 only a few hours before it he was busy about his Master s 
 work. The following brief sketch of his illness and 
 death, as given by his son, may be interesting : — 
 
 " On the 12th May he commenced a letter to a friend 
 in Europe, but did not live to conclude it. He now 
 ceased from his regular occupation, and although he sat 
 up every day, even till that of his death, he contented 
 himself with occasionally giving some unimportant 
 directions in the mission. His last act in the service of 
 his Lord was signing some notes to the residents of the 
 station, asking for subscriptions to the Madras Auxiliary 
 Bible Society. This he did on the morning of the day 
 of his death. During his illness, he frequently had the 
 I4th chapter of John read to him, and portions of 
 the epistles to Timothy and the Colossiana. Four or 
 five days before his death, he admitted into his room all 
 the seminary boys, desired them to pray that if it were 
 the will of God he might be restored to health, and 
 reminded them of the words, ' Jesus Christ, the same 
 yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.' There was during 
 the three weeks preceding his death a constant dry heat 
 
TUE REV. C. T. E. RIIENIUS. 2S7 
 
 about his head and neck. The whole time of his ilhiess 
 he suffered no pain : he complained only of a drowsy- 
 feeling, and a kind of heaviness in the head. For some 
 time the remedies employed appeared to he useful ; but 
 on Sunday, the 3d of June, the symptoms of determi- 
 nation of blood became worse. On that day and the 
 folloATing bleeding by leeches was resorted to as before, 
 and all A^as done to induce moisture and coolness about 
 the head and neck ; but in vain. On the morning of 
 the 5th he appeared, indeed, to feel better ; but about 
 half-past two in the afternoon the symptoms suddenly 
 became very urgent. He was quite restless, and already 
 it seemed as though his last moments were come. It 
 Avas a mercy that during these trying hours, and for a 
 week preceding his death, there was a medical friend in 
 the house, a surgeon attached to the Travancore mission ; 
 and it was a consolation to us to think that all the means 
 possible would be used. The medical aid of the station 
 was also obtained ; but all in vain. A little after five 
 the apoplectic fit came on, and about half-past seven 
 o'clock he ceased to breathe. 
 
 " The nature of the attack did not admit of his speak- 
 ing much, during the last hours, to any around him. 
 The evening before his departure he derived great com- 
 fort from the 23d Psalm, which he desired to be read to 
 him ; and, on the afternoon of the 5th, before he became 
 insensible, when asked whether he felt the presence of 
 God, he faintly said, ' Yes,' and already joy indescribable 
 brightened his countenance. Several words and sen- 
 tences escaped his lips while he was in the delirious 
 state. He was heard to say the German for the words, 
 ' my beloved Lord,' and to speak of ' the remainder of 
 
288 MEMOIR OF THE RflV. C. T. E. RHENfflTS. 
 
 life/ Also, wliile in the state of restlessness, he sat upon 
 the bed for a few minutes, when the fear was expressed 
 to him that he was going to leave us, he replied, ' We 
 must have patience — patience.' He expired amid the 
 sobs and tears, not only of his family and friends, but of 
 many natives. Christian and heathen, who collected at 
 the doors as soon as they heard of his dangerous con- 
 dition. 
 
 " While in health, he is remembered several times to 
 have expressed a wish that, when his end drew near, he 
 might be taken away unexpectedly. It was but natural 
 that a man of his accustomed health and activity should 
 recoil at the thought of lingering pain or comparative 
 idleness. And the event has been according to his de- 
 sires. Suddenly was he deprived of sensibiHty, and it 
 was solemn to witness the gradual sinking of his earthly 
 frame. He quietly fell asleep in Jesus." 
 
 Thus died one of the most devoted and successful of 
 modern missionaries ; and although attempts have been 
 made, in various quarters, to speak disparagingly of this 
 eminent servant of God, the hour is fast approaching 
 when " Wisdom shall be justified of all her children." 
 
REV. PLINY FISK. 
 
 From the earliest period at which the attention of 
 the Christian world was directed to the subject of 
 missions, it has been an object of ambition to occupy 
 Palestine, as a fitting field on which to rear anew the 
 standard of the Cross. From the melancholy hour when 
 the inhabitants of that once sacred soil crucified the 
 Lord of Glory, nailing him to the accursed tree, the land 
 has been peculiarly suff'ering under the weight of that 
 fearful sin ; and although the Redeemer, in his infinite 
 compassion, issued forth to his apostles the merciful 
 decree to go forth and preach the Gospel, beginning at 
 Jerusalem, the Jews still continued to stumble on the 
 same stumbling-stone, until at length it broke them to 
 pieces. The cup of their iniquity became full to the 
 brim, the Spirit of God ceased to strive with that re- 
 bellious and stiff'-necked people, and they were scattered 
 to all the ends of the earth, a proverb and a bye- word 
 among all nations. Palestine thenceforward became 
 the scene first of heathen idolatry, then of Mussalman 
 superstition, and down to the present time it has been 
 emphatically the country where Satan's seat is, the chief 
 
 T 
 
290 MEMOIR OF 
 
 province of his empire, the most impregnable of his 
 strongholds. The very associations connected with its 
 scenery have been converted into sources of the most 
 unhallowed will- worship and idolatry. Nowhere have 
 the finest feelings which God hath implanted in our 
 bosoms been turned into instruments of greater rebellion 
 against him. The ground on which the Saviour trode, 
 the well on whose mouth he sat, the scene of his agony, 
 his crucifixion, his burial, — all have been perverted into 
 objects of superstitious reverence, in utter opposition to 
 the very spirit which He himself inculcated ; and yet, 
 the very love which the Christian entertains for his Lord, 
 leads him to wish that the scene of his journeyings 
 while on earth, should once more become the scene of 
 the sacred triumphs of his Gospel. Accordingly, the 
 Christian Church, when awakened to a desire for the 
 propagation of divine truth, has often had its attention 
 directed to the Holy Land. It was not until the year 
 1818, that the American Church came to the resolution 
 of establishing a mission in that interesting country. 
 Pliny Fisk, the subject of our present memoir, was one 
 of the first missionaries selected to occupy that important 
 station. His high qualifications pointed him out as 
 admirably fitted for the arduous duties which were to 
 devolve upon him. He had not undertaken the office 
 rashly, or w^ithout due deliberation ; but strong in faith 
 and firm of purpose, he had devoted himself, soul and 
 body, to the service of his God ; and though called upon 
 to stand forward in one of the high places of the field, 
 he felt that the post of danger was a post of honour, and 
 with unshrinking fortitude, therefore, he advanced to the 
 very front of the battle ; and having fallen in his Master's 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 291 
 
 service, he is now in possession of his everlasting reward. 
 " To him that overcometh," says our now glorified Re- 
 deemer, " will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even 
 as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
 on his throne." 
 
 Pliny Fisk was born at Shelhurne, in Massachusetts, 
 United States, North America, on the 24th June 1792. 
 His parents, who were both of them marked by simple 
 and unostentatious piety, trained up their children in 
 the fear and love of Him who hath said, " They that 
 seek me early shall find me." In early life Pliny 
 exhibited a mild, and amiable, and cheerful disposi- 
 tion. To his parents he was affectionate, dutiful and 
 kind, while to his companions he Avas remarkably 
 friendly and obliging. He was diligent in acquiring 
 knowledge; and the quality which peculiarly charac- 
 terised his youthful years was unwearied application. 
 Whatever em,ployment engaged his attention, he per- 
 mitted no difficulties to slacken his exertions, but con- 
 tinued perseveringly to labour until he had accomplished 
 his object. And this was the feature of character which, 
 more than any other, shone conspicuous in all the actions 
 of his future life. Undeterred by the many discourage- 
 ments which beset his path, he never shrunk from 
 carrying out the plans which he had been led to form. 
 Where other men would have hesitated, he was firm and 
 decided. Where other men would have been overcome 
 by the force of opposing obstacles, he rose above all 
 difficulties, strong in the Lord and in the power of his 
 might. 
 
 The instructions and example of his pious parents were 
 not lost upon young Fisk. Even in childhood it was 
 
292 MEMOIR OF 
 
 evident that his tender heart was not insensible to the 
 impressions of religion. It was not, however, till his 
 sixteenth year that he began to realize the power of 
 divine truth as bearing upon his own personal character 
 and condition. At that period he was seized with deep 
 convictions of sin, and intense anxiety to find a solution 
 to that all-important question, — " What shall I do to be 
 saved?" This season of inward struggle and searching 
 of heart lasted for several weeks, during which he prayed 
 often, read much, and frequently attended religious 
 meetings. At length the Lord was pleased to speak the 
 word, and his servant was healed. " And 0," says he, 
 " how sweet the joys of believing in Jesus ! what plea- 
 sure didst thou, my soul, realize, when the light of God's 
 countenance first shone upon thee ! What can com- 
 pare with the joy and peace of believing in Jesus? 
 When compared with this, how mean are all the plea- 
 sures which honour, wealth, power and sensual gratifi- 
 cation can afford 1 
 
 ' Could I command the spacious earth, 
 
 And the more boundless sea, 
 
 For one blest hour at Thy right hand, 
 
 I'd give them both away.'" 
 
 The mind of young Fisk being now brought to a firm 
 and decided acceptance of the offer of mercy held forth 
 in the Gospel, he made an open profession of faith, being 
 received as a communicant in the church of his native 
 town, under the pastoral care of the Rev. Dr Packard. 
 He was from this period desirous to be useful in convey- 
 ing the truth to others, and he very soon determined on 
 devoting himself to the work of the ministry. From the 
 commencement of his studies he took a lively interest 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 293 
 
 in the cause of missions. The subject was new to the 
 American churches, and from the moment that PHny 
 Fisk had set his heart on being a missionary to the 
 heathen, he kept this object in view with undeviating 
 constancy. Having completed his preparatory studies, 
 he offered himself, in 1811, for admission to Middlebury 
 College, Vermont, and, after undergoing an examination, 
 he was admitted. 
 
 His college career was passed amid much poverty and 
 many difficulties, but the progress which he made in his 
 studies was highly creditable to himself and gratifying to 
 his teachers. Though in classical acquirements he was 
 rather deficient, he made great proficiency in his mathe- 
 matical pursuits. On completing his academical course, 
 he was licensed to preach the Gospel in January 1815 
 by the Franklin Association of Congregational ministers. 
 He was first called to labour in Wilmington, Vermont. 
 Here he remained for eight months, discharging the 
 duties of a faithful minister of the Lord Jesus. His 
 pastoral visits to the families of his flock were peculiarly 
 acceptable. Instead of wasting his time on such occa- 
 sions in desultory and unprofitable talk, he directed the 
 whole conversation into the channel of religion, leading 
 his hearers to reflect seriously upon their eternal interests. 
 He strove habitually to convince them that religion was 
 a personal matter, in which every one was individually 
 and deeply interested. 
 
 Though thus diligent and acceptable in his pastoral 
 labours among the people of Wilmington, he resolved 
 to carry forward his original purpose of devoting himself 
 to missionary work among the heathen. He accordingly 
 resumed his studies, entering the Theological Seminary 
 
294 MEMOIR OF 
 
 at Andover. Here the pursuits in M'hich lie was called 
 to engage were peculiarly congenial to liis feelings, and 
 he combined, with a diligent and close attention to study, 
 the maintenance of habits of active piety. During the 
 whole of the three years which he spent at Andover, his 
 soul burned to enter the missionary field. He was not 
 without temptations of a worldly nature to induce him 
 to give up his design of preaching the Gospel to the 
 heathen. But all these he stedfastly resisted, declaring, 
 that " if a man has devoted himself to the service of 
 Christ among the heathen, and is accepted in this ser- 
 vice, no church, no college, no body of men, ought to ask 
 him to stay in this country." In this spirit he instituted 
 a strict examination into his duty in connection with the 
 wish which he had entertained since he was eighteen 
 years of age ; and after a solemn heart-searching inquiry, 
 he wrote a communication to the American Board of 
 Missions, offering himself to be employed under their 
 direction in some part of the heathen world. This offer 
 was accepted, the Palestine Mission was established, and 
 Messrs Fisk and Parsons were appointed to that station. 
 Before setting out, it was judged expedient that Mr 
 risk should make a tour through the southern section 
 of the States, for the purpose of collecting funds for 
 missionary objects, and interesting the people in the 
 good cause. In this work he spent a full year, during 
 which time he was instrumental in awakening, in many 
 different places, a lively concern in the advancement of 
 the Redeemer's kingdom. At the close of his itinerancy 
 in the Southern States, an opportunity presented itself 
 of sailing for Smyrna, on his way to the scene of his 
 labours. In the prospect of his departure, he went to 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 29.) 
 
 Shelburne, for the purpose of paying a visit to his aged 
 father, and his other friends. The scene was deeply 
 affecting, but he was strengthened to bear up under the 
 painful trial. The feelings which he experienced in 
 prospect of leaving his native shores, are thus beauti- 
 fully expressed in the concluding passage of a sermon 
 which he preached in the South Church, Boston : — 
 " Whether we shall be buried in a watery tomb ; whether 
 disease shall bring us to an early grave ; whether the 
 suspicion of Government or the bigotry of false religion 
 shall shut the door against us ; or whether a great and 
 effectual door shall be opened before us, and the word 
 of the Lord have free course and be glorified, as it is 
 with you ; whether Ave shall spend a long life in labours, 
 and die having only sown the seed from which others 
 may reap the harvest ; or whether we shall see the truth 
 prevail, and die surrounded by converts from error, who 
 may soothe the bed of death and weep over our tomb ; 
 — these are points to be decided, not by human saga- 
 city, but by Him whose Providence calls us, whom we 
 would cheerfully obey, and in whom we would trust 
 the future. The time has arrived when we are called, 
 by the Providence of God, if its language is not alto- 
 gether misunderstood, to leave the scenes of our child- 
 hood, and the country that is blessed, beyond any other 
 country under heaven, with civil and religious privileges, 
 not to find other privileges and friends like them in an- 
 other land, but to meet the uncertainties and difficulties 
 attendant on a Christian mission among Turks and Jews. 
 If any circumstances can affect the mind in health, as it 
 is affected by a near prospect of death, it is perhaps thus 
 affected with the prospect of leaving for life all who have 
 
29 G MEMOIR OF 
 
 ever been known, and all that has ever been seen. This 
 2)rospect brings eternity near. It excites solicitude re- 
 specting that meeting which shall be an eternal meeting, 
 or a prelude to eternal separation." 
 
 On Wednesday morning, November 3, 1819, Mr Fisk, 
 and his colleague, Mr Parsons, bade a last farewell to 
 the land of their birth. For some weeks he suffered 
 much from sea- sickness, but as soon as he recovered, he 
 devoted himself to study, in preparation for the great 
 work in which he was about to be engaged. The ship 
 touched at Malta in the course of the voyage, and the 
 missionaries were treated with the utmost kindness by 
 the Rev. Mr Jowett, from whom they received letters 
 of introduction to influential gentlemen in Smyrna and 
 Scio. These they found to be particularly useful on 
 their arrival at Smyrna, where they resided for a few 
 months, after which they passed to Scio, for the purpose 
 of studying modern Greek, and making inquiries and 
 researches into the state of the surrounding countries, 
 and the facilities which existed for the dissemination of 
 scriptural knowledge. After spending about five months 
 in that island, Messrs Fisk and Parsons returned to 
 Smyrna. They now set out on a circuit of 300 miles, 
 for the purpose of visiting the places where once stood 
 the seven churches of Asia, and everywhere distri- 
 buting Bibles and tracts. The spirit in which this 
 journey was conducted may appear from the following 
 remarks, extracted ftom Mr Fisk's journal, in speaking 
 of Ephesus : — 
 
 " I found on the plains of Ephesus some Greek pea- 
 sants, men and women, employed in pulling up tares and 
 weeds from the wheat. It reminded me of Matt. xiii. 28. 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 297 
 
 I addressed them in Romaic, but found they understood 
 very little of it, as they usually answered me in Turkish. 
 I ascertained, however, that they all belonged to villages 
 at a distance, and came there to labour. Not one of 
 them could read, but they said there were priests and a 
 schoolmaster in the village to which they belonged, who 
 could read. I gave them some tracts, which they pro- 
 mised to give to their priests and schoolmaster. Tour- 
 nefort says, that when he was at Ephesus there were 
 thirty or forty Greek families there. Chandler found 
 only ten or twelve individuals. Now no human being 
 lives in Ephesus ; and in Aiasaluck, which may be con- 
 sidered as Ephesus under another name, though not on 
 precisely the same spot of ground, there are merely a 
 few miserable Turkish huts. The candlestick is removed 
 out of his place. ' How doth the city sit solitary that 
 was full of people.' 
 
 " While wandering among the ruins, it was impossible 
 not to think, with deep interest, of the events which 
 have transpired on this spot. Here has been displayed, 
 from time to time, all the skill of the architect, the 
 musician, the tragedian, and the orator. Here some of 
 the most splendid works of man have been seen in all 
 their glory, and here the event has sbown their transi- 
 tory nature. How interesting would it be to stand 
 among these walls, and have before the mind a full view 
 of the history of Ephesus from its first foundation till 
 now ! We might observe the idolatrous and impure 
 rites, and the cruel and bloody sports of Pagans, suc- 
 ceeded by the preaching, the prayers, the holy and 
 peaceable lives of the first Christians — these Christians 
 martyred, but their religion still triumphing, — pagan 
 
208 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Tites and pagan sports abolished, and the simple worship 
 of Christ instituted in their room. We might see the 
 city conquered and reconquered, destroyed and rebuilt, 
 till finally Christianity, arts, learning, and prosperity, all 
 vanish before the pestiferous breath of ' the only people 
 whose sole occupation has been to destroy.' " 
 
 After much deliberation and prayer it was resolved, 
 that, with the view of still further advancing the in- 
 terests of the mission, the two colleagues should separate 
 for a time, Mr Fisk remaining at Smyrna, pursuing 
 study, and making researches in the neighbourhood, and 
 Mr Parsons travelling in Judea, visiting Jerusalem, and 
 making inquiries as to the most eligible place for a 
 permanent missionary establishment. It was, no doubt, 
 a severe trial to part with his only Christian brother, 
 but as duty seemed to call for such a trial, he received 
 grace to endure as seeing Him who is invisible. Now 
 that the whole burden of missionary labour in Smyrna 
 devolved upon him alone, he redoubled his exertions, 
 distributing tracts, visiting the schools, and in every way 
 seeking to promote the cause of the Redeemer. In the 
 seamen in the port of Smyrna he took a deep interest, 
 visiting every vessel, for the purpose of religious conver- 
 sation with the sailors. 
 
 The depression of mind to which he was occasionally 
 subject on seeing so little fruit of his labours, is apparent 
 from the following remarks, which occur in a letter to a 
 friend in America : — " ' Woe is me, that I sojourn in 
 Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.' Oh, my 
 brother, it is dreadful to be shut out from the Divine 
 favour. I know that God is ready to grant the light of 
 his countenance to all his faithful servants ; and I trust 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 299 
 
 that I sometimes enjoy it. I find indeed some moments 
 of precious comfort. But they are short ; and I gene- 
 rally live at a miserable rate. I hope it is not so with 
 you. I hope you go to your closet, and find the Re- 
 deemer there. I hope your soul is sometimes greatly 
 enlarged with a spirit of intercession for others. When 
 it is so, I know you do not forget us, and the mission in 
 which we are engaged. I think there must be a great 
 deal of earnest prayer for this country, before missions 
 will be attended with general success. There are difii- 
 culties in the way, toward the removal of which we can 
 at present do little or nothing but pray. When God 
 exerts his power, the strong man will be disarmed. 
 
 " I love to be a missionary — love to labour in this 
 country. Still I am seldom able to exercise that faith 
 which is necessary, so that I can look over the moun- 
 tains and through the clouds which surround us. I am 
 often full of fear and trembling. I anticipate but little 
 good to be accomplished at present. Perhaps it may be 
 seen at some distant day, that these feeble and imperfect 
 beginnings were important parts of that general system 
 of means, by which the world is to be converted This 
 hope sometimes comforts and animates me." 
 
 And again he adopts a similar strain in the following 
 letter, written about the same period : — " The events 
 of the past summer have made me think often of an early 
 death. There is something which touches the mind in 
 a most tender and afi'ecting manner in the thought of 
 leaving a mission, concerning which so much has been 
 said and done, and in which so little has been effected. 
 It must be hard to give up plans and hopes to which we 
 have devoted ourselves, and on which we have medi- 
 
300 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tated, till they have engrossed our whole mind. There 
 is something very solemn, too, in the thought of dying, 
 of leaving this world for ever, and all who are in it, and 
 all the privileges of probation ; of having the soul depart 
 for a new, untried residence ; and of becoming at once 
 acquainted with the full import of that awful word, 
 etevnitif. In anticipating such an event, we need firm 
 faith, and the consciousness of having committed our 
 soul most sincerely and. unreservedly into the hands of 
 our Redeemer. 
 
 " Sometimes I hope that, should I be called, I should 
 be able to meet death as a Christian ought. At other 
 times I tremble at the thought of dying. But I think 
 we do not honour our Saviour as we ought, unless we 
 receive his promises with such cordial confidence, that 
 we can think of death at all times with composure, and 
 triumph when it approaches. To feel, and speak, and 
 act aright, in respect to death, while in health, when 
 sick, and at the hour of dissolution, is a great part of 
 the Christian s duty, and one important method of ex- 
 hibiting the excellence and value of true rehgion. Dear 
 sister, may we be prepared, so that the approach of the 
 last enemy may not alarm us, and so that we may honour 
 God by our dying behaviour. 
 
 " I perceive that I am filling up my sheet with re- 
 flections on a gloomy subject, and one which, to the gay 
 and merry, would seem very unsuitable to a letter. But 
 to you, I trust, it will seem neither unsuitable nor gloomy. 
 With all its terrors, death to a Christian is but deliver- 
 ance from prison, and admittance to his Father's house. 
 Let us then be diligent in our work, and wait with 
 holy expectation for the moment which shall free us 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 301 
 
 from sin, and admit us to the immediate presence of our 
 God." 
 
 The health of Mr Parsons having suffered from his 
 residence in Judea, Mr Fisk had the satisfaction, after 
 a year's separation, of welcoming his brother back to 
 Smyrna. It was recommended that Mr Parsons should 
 proceed to a warmer climate. Mr Fisk accordingly eet 
 out along with him to Egypt. They left Smyrna on 
 the 9th January 1822. After a stormy voyage of five 
 days, they arrived at Alexandria. While here, beside 
 watching by the bed of his beloved friend, he took a 
 particular interest in the spiritual welfare of the Jews. 
 He distributed among them Hebrew tracts and Bibles, 
 and wrote to America urging that a missionary should 
 be sent without delay to labour chiefly among the Jews. 
 He had not been many weeks in Alexandria, when the 
 event took place, which for some time he had dreaded, 
 and the Lord was pleased to deprive him of his beloved 
 colleague and companion. The stroke, for some time, 
 depressed and discouraged him. " For the present, at 
 least," he says, " my expectations of earthly happiness 
 seem to be destroyed." The following account of this 
 melancholy event he gave in a letter to a friend in 
 America : — " His symptoms continued favourable till 
 the day before yesterday ; and our hopes were rather 
 brightened. Yesterday he was weaker than I had ever 
 seen him. My apprehensions respecting a fatal termi- 
 nation of his disorder, were greatly excited. He con- 
 versed on the subject with his usual serenity, referring 
 the event continually to the will of God, as he has al- 
 ways been accustomed to do. Last evening we spent 
 a most precious hour in reading the Scriptures, prayer. 
 
so 2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 and conversation. We read John xiv., and conversed 
 some time about the 27th verse, ' Peace I leave,' &c. 
 After conversing about an hour, I told him it was 
 necessary that he should stop and take some rest. He 
 replied, ' I feel as though I could converse two hours 
 longer. You don't know how refreshing these seasons 
 are to me.' He then fell asleep, and I sat down 
 to write. I soon heard him saying in his sleep, ' The 
 goodness of God — growth in grace — fulfilment of the 
 promises — so God is all in heaven, and all on earth.' 
 — After sleeping a while, he awoke ; and seemed about 
 as usual at that hour. I proposed sitting by his side 
 through the night, but he insisted on my going to bed ; 
 said he felt as though he should have a quiet night ; and 
 as his attendant always slept near him, and awoke at 
 the least word or motion, he urged me to retire to rest. 
 About 1 1 o'clock I bid him good night, and wished that 
 God might put underneath him the arms of everlasting 
 mercy. He replied, ' The angel of the Lord encampeth 
 round about them that fear him.' 
 
 " These, my dear Sir, were the last words that I ever 
 heard that beloved brother speak, — the last that I shall 
 hear him, until I hear him speak in the language of 
 immortality. Twice, while I slept, he awoke, and told 
 Antonio, his servant, that he had slept very quietly, and 
 felt easy and well. At half-past three, Antonio heard 
 him speak or groan, and started up. He saw something 
 was the matter, and called me. I was by the bedside 
 in a moment. O what a heart-rending moment was 
 that ! He was gasping for breath, unable to speak, and 
 apparently insensible to all around him. I stood by his 
 side, and attempted to revive him, but in vain. I sent 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 803 
 
 in haste for the physician, but did not obtain him. Nor 
 do I suppose it would have been of any use whatever, 
 if he had come. It was evident that he was dying. I 
 attempted to commend his departing spirit to that Re- 
 deemer on whom he had believed. I pressed his hand, 
 kissed his quivering lips, and spoke to him, but he gave 
 me no answer, not even a look or a motion. He took 
 no notice of me or of any thing around him. His ap- 
 pointed time had arrived. He continued to breathe till 
 a quarter past four. Then the muscles of his face were 
 knit together, as if he was in pain. It was the dying 
 struggle, — it was the dissolution of the last ties that 
 united soul and body, — it was the soul breaking off its 
 last fetters. His features then became placid again : 
 his breath stopped : his pulse ceased to beat : his soul 
 took its immortal flight." 
 
 After remaining a few weeks longer in Alexandria, 
 Mr Fisk proceeded up the Nile to Cairo, having in con- 
 templation a journey through the Desert to Judea or to 
 Damietta and Jaffa. When he had reached Cairo, 
 having heard of the arrival of Mr Temple at Malta, he 
 directed his course for that island and arrived on the 
 13th April 1822. After remaining for some months on 
 that island, he was joined by Mr King, an American 
 missionary, with whom he sailed for Egypt. They were 
 also accompanied by the Rev. Joseph Wolff, and they 
 carried w4th them two thousand copies of the Bible or 
 portions of it, and a large quantity of tracts. Here, at 
 Alexandria and Cairo, they employed themselves in dis- 
 tributing the Scriptures and tracts, and in conversing 
 with the Jews. The following account of a Jewish 
 wedding, at which Mr Fisk was present, is deeply in- 
 
304 MEMOIR OF 
 
 teresting, and may afford a specimen of the marriage 
 ceremonial among the modern Israelites in the East : — 
 
 " The gentlemen assembled in a large apartment, in 
 reality the court, but now used as a parlour. We were 
 seated on a divan at one end of the court, where the 
 ceremony was to be performed. Near us stood a large 
 wax candle, and from the ceiling were suspended seven 
 chandeliers. Some of the candles were burning, though 
 it was not dark. All the Orientals have a great fond- 
 ness for burning lamps and candles in their places of 
 worship, and on all religious occasions. At the opposite 
 end of the court was a kind of gallery, where the bride 
 was making preparation for the ceremony, and in front 
 of which hung stripes of different coloured paper, red, 
 pale red, and yellow, some of them covered with gold 
 leaf. Now and then the bride showed herself through 
 the lattice or wooden net-work, which stood in front of 
 the gallery. It reminded us of Solomon's Song, ii. 9, — 
 ' My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart ; behold he 
 standeth behind our wall, he looketh forth at the win- 
 dows, showing himself through the lattice.' 
 
 " About five o'clock the high priest (Rabbi Mercado) 
 and five other Rabbles came in, and took their seats on 
 the divan, and the service soon commenced. First, the 
 clerk and people repeated, in Hebrew, the eighteen bene- 
 dictions of the name of God. Then the high priest 
 arose, and said, ' Blessed are they who dwell in thy 
 house; they shall praise thee for ever.' The people 
 responded, * Blessed people whose God is the Lord.* 
 After this the evening prayer was said, in which the 
 name of God occurs eighteen times. Each time this 
 name was repeated, the Rabbles shook and trembled. 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 305 
 
 After this prayer the nuptial torch was lighted. It was 
 a large wax candle, dividing itself into nine branches, 
 all of which were burning. This was carried up to the 
 gallery of the ladies, where the bride was waiting, the 
 bridegroom being all the time among the gentlemen 
 below. Boys then began to beat on cymbals, and the 
 bride was conducted down stairs, covered with a long 
 white veil, preceded by three women Avith cymbals, and 
 led by two others. Several women also followed her, 
 one of whom occasionally uttered a shriek, which we at 
 first supposed a shriek of distress, but were afterwards 
 told it was an expression of joy. The whole court now 
 rung with cries, shouts, and the noise of the cymbals. 
 The bride being led to the divan, the bridegroom took 
 his place by her side, and both continued standing, while 
 Rabbi Mercado, accompanied by the people, repeated 
 the 45th Psalm, — ' My heart is inditing a good matter,' 
 &c. The Rabbi then took a cup of wine, and said, 
 ' Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the world, 
 who hast created the fruit of the vine.' The people 
 responded, ' Blessed be he, and blessed be his name.' 
 Rabbi : ' Blessed be thou, Lord, who sanctifiest thy 
 people by wedding and by marriage.' Peojjle : 'Blessed 
 be he, and blessed be his name.' 
 
 " One of the Rabbies then took a ring and put it on 
 the finger of the bridegroom, and then on the finger of 
 the bride, and then gave it to the bridegroom, who 
 placed it on the finger of his bride, saying, ' Verily, thou 
 art espoused to me by this ring, according to the law of 
 Moses and of Israel.' A large shawl was then thrown 
 over the new married couple, and the Rabbi, twice 
 giving them wine to drink, said, ' Blessed art thou, O 
 
306 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Lord our God, King of tlie world, who hast created all 
 things for thy glory. Blessed art thou, Lord our God, 
 King of the world, who hast created man in thy like- 
 ness, and hast prepared ybr him sm^from him a house 
 for ever and ever.' At the end of each sentence, the 
 people responded, ' Blessed be he, and blessed be his 
 name.' JRabbi : ' Rejoice, shout and be merry, thou 
 barren. Thou wilt soon gather thy children about thee 
 in joy. Blessed art thou, Lord, thou that makest 
 joyful Zion's children. Thou makest joyful with joy a 
 lovely pair, as thou didst make joyful thy creature ac- 
 cording to thy image in the garden of Eden of old. 
 Blessed art thou, Lord, who rejoicest bridegroom and 
 bride ! Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the 
 world, who hast created rejoicing and joy, and also 
 bridegroom and bride. The voice of love and affection, 
 cordiality, peace and friendship, shall be speedily heard 
 in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ; 
 the voice of rejoicing, and the voice of joy; the voice of 
 the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride ; the voice of 
 shouting, and of wedding-days, and of marriage, and of 
 feasting -days, and the voice of the music of the youth. 
 Blessed art thou, O Lord, who makest joyful the bride- 
 groom with the bride, and makest them prosper.* 
 
 " After this the bridegroom took the cup of wine and 
 tasted it, and then gave to his spouse. Both of them 
 continued standing during the whole service. Then the 
 Rabbi said, ' Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth 
 for ever. Joy shall increase in Israel, and sorrows shall 
 flee away, and it shall be for a good sign.' As the Jews 
 present offered their congratulations to the bridegroom, 
 they said, ' A good sign.' The nuptial torch was then 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 307 
 
 extingiilslied, but immediately lighted again, and the 
 bride was reconducted to her chamber by the -women 
 with the sound of cymbals. 
 
 " While the Rabbies were performing the service, some 
 of the people attended to it with great devotion, but 
 others were talking, laughing, and walking about the 
 room. The Rabbies went through the service in the 
 hurried, indistinct manner, which seems to pervade all 
 religious services in the East." 
 
 Mr Fisk remained in Egypt about three months, at 
 the end of which he set out in company with Mr King 
 and Mr Wolff, from Cairo to Jerusalem. In the course 
 of his journey he passed through the same Desert which 
 the ancient Israelites had traversed under the immediate 
 protection of their covenant God, who was unto them 
 a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night. 
 After a laborious and perilous journey through the 
 wilderness, Mr Fisk and his brethren arrived safely at 
 the Holy City, where he hoped to be permanently 
 settled as a missionary of the Cross. His feelings on 
 entering Jerusalem he thus briefly notices: — "With feel- 
 ings not easily described, about four o'clock Ave entered 
 Jerusalem. The scenes and events of four thousand 
 years rushed upon our minds ; events in which heaven, 
 and earth, and hell, have felt the deepest interest. This 
 was the place selected by the Almighty for his dwelling, 
 and here his glory was rendered visible. This was the 
 ' perfection of beauty,' and the ' glory of all lands.' 
 Here David sat and tuned his harp, and sang the praises 
 of Jehovah. Hither the tribes came up to worship. 
 Here enraptured prophets saw bright visions of the 
 world above, and received messages from on high for 
 
808 MEMOIR OP 
 
 guilty man. Here our Lord and Saviour came In the 
 form of a servant, and groaned, and wept, and poured 
 out his soul unto death, to redeem us from sin, and save 
 us from hell. Here, too, the wrath of an incensed God 
 has been poured out upon his chosen people, and has 
 laid waste his heritage." 
 
 Mr Fisk was naturally anxious to visit scenes hallowed 
 by so many sacred associations, but still he did not fail 
 to embrace every opportunity of rendering himself useful. 
 A considerable portion of his time was spent in distri- 
 buting the Scriptures and tracts, and in discussing re- 
 ligious subjects with Jews, Turks, Roman Catholics, 
 and Greeks. Before finally establishing himself in 
 Jerusalem, Mr Fisk thought of visiting some of the 
 most interesting parts of Syria. He accordingly re- 
 solved to pass the hot season on Mount Lebanon, and to 
 improve this period of retirement for the study of Arabic, 
 a language the knowledge of which would be of essential 
 service to him as a missionary in Palestine. During his 
 stay in that cool and healthful region he made frequent 
 excursions in company with Messrs King and Wolff, for 
 the purpose of becoming acquainted with some of the 
 most important places in the neighbourhood. INIr Fisk 
 gives an interesting description of the far-famed cedars 
 of Lebanon : — 
 
 " Taking a guide, we set out for the cedars ; in about 
 two hours we came in sight of them, and in another 
 hour reached them. Instead of being on the highest 
 summit of Lebanon, as has sometimes been said, they 
 are situated at the foot of a high mountain in what may 
 be considered as the arena of a vast amphitheatre open- 
 ing to the Avest, with high mountains on the north, south, 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. S09 
 
 and east. The cedars stand on five or six gentle eleva- 
 tions, and occupy a spot of ground about three-fourths 
 of a mile in circumference. I walked around it in fifteen 
 minutes. We measured a number of the trees. The 
 largest is upwards of forty feet in circumference. Six 
 or eight others are also very large, several of them 
 nearly the size of the largest. But each of these 
 was manifestly two trees or more, which have grown 
 together, and now form one. They generally separate 
 a few feet from the ground into the original trees. 
 The handsomest and tallest are those of two or three 
 feet in diameter, the body straight, the branches 
 almost horizontal, forming a beautiful cone, and cast- 
 ing a goodly shade. We measured the length of two 
 by the shade, and found each about ninety feet. The 
 largest are not so high, but some of the others, I 
 think, are a little higher. They produce a conical fruit, 
 in shape and size like that of the pine. I counted them, 
 and made the whole number three hundred and eighty- 
 nine. Mr King counted them, omitting the small sap- 
 lings, and made the number three hundred and twenty- 
 one. I know not why travellers and authors have so 
 long and so generally given twenty- eight, twenty, fifteen, 
 five, as the number of the cedars. It is true, that of 
 those of superior size and antiquity, there are not a 
 great number ; but then there is a regular gradation in 
 size, from the largest down to the merest sapling. 
 
 " Before seeing the cedars, I had met with a European 
 traveller who had just visited them. He gave a short 
 account of them, and concluded with saying, ' It is as 
 with miracles, — the wonder all vanishes when you reach 
 the spot. What is there at which an infidel cannot 
 
310 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sneer ? Yet let even an infidel put himself in the place 
 of an Asiatic passing from barren desert to barren desert, 
 traversing oceans of sand and mountains of naked rock, 
 accustomed to countries like Egvpt, Arabia, Judea, and 
 Asia Minor, abounding in the ]x;st places only with 
 shrubbery and fruit trees ; let him, with the feelings of 
 such a man, climb the ragged rocks, and pass the open 
 ravines of Lebanon, and suddenly descry among the hills, 
 a grove of three hundred trees, such as the cedars actually 
 are even at the present day, and he will confess that to be 
 a fine comparison in Amos ii. 9, — ' Whose height was 
 like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the 
 oaks/ Let him, after a long ride in the heat of the sun, 
 sit down under the shade of a cedar, and contemplate the 
 exact conical form of its top, and the beautiful symmetry 
 of its branches, and he will no longer M'onder that David 
 compared the people of Israel, in the days of their pros- 
 perity, to the 'goodly cedars.' Psalm Ixxx. 10. 
 
 " A traveller, who had just left the forests of America, 
 might think this little grove of cedars not worthy of so 
 much notice ; but the man who knows how rare large 
 trees are in Asia, and how difiicult it is to find timber 
 for building, Avill feel at once that what is said in Scrip- 
 ture of these trees is perfectly natural. It is probable 
 that in the days of Solomon and Hiram there were ex- 
 tensive forests of cedars in Lebanon. A variety of causes 
 may have contributed to their diminution and almost 
 total extinction. Yet, in comparison with all the other 
 trees that I have seen on the mountain, the few that 
 remain may still be called, ' the glory of Lebanon.'" 
 
 In his return to Jerusalem, IMr Fisk was accompanied 
 by the Rev. Mr Jowett, and on their route thither they 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 311 
 
 took occasion to visit Nazareth and Nain and Tiberias, 
 and many of the other places which were the scenes of 
 our Lord's personal and public ministry. On arriving 
 at the end of his journey, Mr Fisk resided in Jerusalem 
 five months, during which he was occupied with his 
 missionary labours. The interest which he felt in the 
 Holy City is apparent from the language in which he 
 expresses himself in writing to a missionary brother : — 
 " How my soul would rejoice, my dear brother, if in- 
 stead of writing you, I could have you here this evening 
 in my room. We would kneel together on mount Cal- 
 vary, and adore that Saviour who here shed his blood to 
 redeem us from sin. O what amazing events have taken 
 place on this ground. But now the daughter of Zion 
 sits solitary — the wrath of God burns hot against Jeru- 
 salem. It seems to me that if there is a city on earth 
 that is peculiarly abandoned, and devoted to sin, it is 
 this very city, where the blood of redemption flowed. 
 True, there is no Juggernaut here, but there is idolatry 
 almost as gross as that of India. TVhy does not the earth 
 again quake, and the rocks again rend, and mount Cal- 
 vary open to swallow up those who dare thus profane 
 this sacred spot ? We have wept and prayed, as we have 
 cast our eyes over the desolations of Zion. I think I 
 never felt so strongly in any situation before, the neces- 
 sity of trusting directly and entirely in God. I hope and 
 trust He will cause our work to prosper. 
 
 " I wish, dear brother, you could go with us once to 
 mount Zion and to Gethsemane — take a few turns with 
 me on the flat roof of the convent, and survey the places 
 around us. But you are engaged in your work. And 
 I must study Italian and Greek, and Arabic with its 
 
312 MEMOIR OF 
 
 thirteen conjugations, and twenty ways of forming the 
 plural, and thirty-three ways of forming the infinitive ; 
 with its consonants, without vowels, and its unnumbered 
 dialects. And then I must sell Bibles, give away tracts, 
 translate tracts to be printed, preach the Gospel to a 
 Greek to-day, a Roman Catholic to-morrow, an Armen- 
 ian the third day, and a Jew the day after, and the next 
 day give a Testament to some learned Turk who calls to 
 see me. Then I must pack up my baggage, and mount 
 a camel, or a dromedary, or a horse or a mule, or an 
 ass, as the case may be, and make a journey to Hebron, 
 or to Jordan, or to mount Lebanon. 
 
 " I am glad, that amidst all your cares, you find time 
 to think of me, and that I have a quiet moment this 
 evening to write to you. All is dark and silent around 
 me. I am in ray little room alone. The holy Sabbath 
 is approaching. On Calvary it seems to have more than 
 an ordinary sacredness. It was here that Christ made 
 the first day of the w^eek holy, by triumphing, on that 
 eventful morning, over death and the grave. O that 
 many on the morrow may rise to newness of life in Ilim." 
 
 The following account of the modern Samaritans is 
 at once curious and interesting : — " After taking some 
 refreshment, went to visit the Samaritans, having first 
 sent to the kohen or priest, to know if a visit would be 
 agreeable. His name is Shalmar ben Tabiah. His first 
 name he sometimes pronounces Salome. I believe it 
 is the same as Solomon, which the Jews in Jerusalem 
 now pronounce Shloma. He received us in a neat apart- 
 ment, and we immediately entered into conversation. 
 Ten or twelve other members of the sect soon came in. 
 Our conversation was in Arabic. They represent the 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 313 
 
 number of their houses to be twenty or thirty, — about 
 sixty pay the capitation tax. They say there are no 
 other Samaritans in this country, but they are quite dis- 
 posed to think they are numerous in other parts of the 
 world. In Paris they suppose they were very numerous, 
 until, in a time of war between the French and some 
 other nation, tjje Samaritans were dispersed. They 
 inquired whether there are any Samaritans in England, 
 and seemed not at all gratified when we told them, no. 
 On learning that I was from America, they inquired if 
 there are Samaritans there. I told them no ; but they 
 confidently asserted the contrary, and that there are also 
 many in India. 
 
 " They maintain that they are the lineal descendants 
 of Jacob ; the kohen and his sons only, of the tribe of 
 Levi ; one family from the tribe of Benjamin ; four or 
 five from Manasseh, and the rest from Ephraim. We 
 asked what they would do for a priest, if the kohen and 
 his sons should die, and thus the tribe of Levi become 
 extinct. They replied (hazah ma beseer), this does ' not 
 happen.* They all speak Arabic, but their books and 
 public prayers are in Samaritan. They call their lan- 
 guage Hebrew, and that we call Hebrew they call Jew- 
 ish ; for they say their language is the true Hebrew in 
 which the law was given. The difference consists in the 
 use of a different alphabet and different pronunciation. 
 They go three times a-year to mount Gerizim to wor- 
 ship, but do not offer sacrifices there now, as they did 
 formerly, lest they should be molested by the Turks. But 
 they offer their sacrifices in a more private way in the 
 city. We understood them to say that they have no 
 daily sacrifice. We visited their synagogue. It is a 
 
3 1 1- MEMOIR OP 
 
 small, dark, but neat room, with an altar, but without 
 seats. We were obliged, before entering, to pull off, 
 not only our over-shoes, but also our slippers, which are 
 not prohibited even in mosques ; and Mr Jowett was 
 obliged to take off an outer garment which he wears, 
 that is lined with fur. No person can approach the 
 altar, except the kohen and his sons. *' 
 
 " They expect a Messiah, who is to be a prophet and 
 king, but a mere man, to live one hundred and twenty 
 years as Moses did, and to reign at Naploos over all the 
 world. Those who do not receive him, are to be de- 
 stroyed with the sword. The promise concerning the 
 woman's seed, does not, they believe, refer to the Mes- 
 siah ; but that concerning a prophet like unto Moses, 
 does refer to him, as does also that concerning Shiloh. 
 Gen. xlix. 10. They admit the sense of this passage as 
 given in our translation, and try to show that there is 
 still a sceptre somewhere in the lands of Judah. The 
 Messiah will come when Israel repents. They say the 
 story of the separation between Israel and Judah, under 
 Jeroboam and Rehoboam, is a lie of the Jews. The 
 city of Luz or Bethel, they say, was on mount Gerizim. 
 Gen. xxviii. 19. Jebus, they say, was also on this 
 mount; and that Judges xix. 10, as it stands in our 
 copies, is not true. 
 
 " 20th, Renewed our visit to the Samaritans. We 
 had yesterday requested to see their ancient copy of the 
 law. The kohen objected, but after much persuading, 
 and indirectly presenting the motive which generally 
 prevails in this country, that is, the offer of money, he 
 at last consented to show it to us this morning. In order 
 to do it, he said he must first bathe, and then put on a 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. o\0 
 
 particular dress for the occasion. On our arrival at the 
 synagogue, we waited a short time, and he appeared, 
 entered the synagogue, approached the altar, kneeled, 
 and put his face to the floor, then opened the little closet 
 which contained the holy book, kneeled and put his face 
 to the floor again, then brought out the brass case which 
 contained the roll, and opened it so as to show us the 
 manuscript, but we were not allowed to touch it. It is 
 in the Samaritan character, and the kohen says it was 
 written by Abishua, the grandson of Aaron, thirteen 
 years after the death of Moses, and three thousand 
 two hundred and sixty years ago. See 1 Chron. vi. 
 4. Another brass case stood near this, containing an 
 exact copy of the original manuscript, said to have been 
 made eight hundred years ago. On a shelf in the 
 synagogue were a considerable number of copies of the 
 Samaritan Pentateuch. We saw also the relic of the 
 Polyglott Bible mentioned by Maundrell. The Bible of 
 the Samaritans contains only the five books of jMoses. 
 They have Joshua and Judges, but in separate books. 
 They say that since Joshua, there has been no prophet. 
 He was the disciple of Moses, and inferior to him. 
 David was king in Jerusalem, but not a prophet. We 
 inquired whether the Samaritans held it lawful to read 
 the books of Christians. They said there was no law 
 against it, and yye left with them one Testament in 
 Arabic, and another in Hebrew." 
 
 For some time he was permitted to prosecute his 
 benevolent schemes in Jerusalem undisturbed b}'- the 
 interference of the public authorities. At length, how- 
 ever, the distribution of Bibles attracted the notice of 
 the jealous Mussalmans. The Turkish governor caused 
 
316 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the missionary to be apprehended and dragged before 
 the judges. The devout servant of Christ was supported 
 under the trial. He remembered the word, " It is enough 
 for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant 
 as his Lord." After a brief examination he was set at 
 liberty, the governor professing that it was wholly an 
 affair of the judge, and undertaken without his know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Having laboured for a considerable time in the capital 
 of the country, Mr Fisk undertook a journey to some of 
 the principal cities in the north of Syria. In this tour 
 he was accompanied by his friend and brother Mr King. 
 They visited Damascus, and then proceeded to Aleppo, 
 where they took up their residence for a few weeks, Mr 
 risk devoting himself to the study of Arabic. Thence 
 they passed on to Beyroot, where they rested a short 
 time and travelled to Jaffa, at which city they took up 
 their abode for a season. 
 
 On returning to Jerusalem we found that the pasha's 
 soldiers had been plundering the city, breaking open 
 houses, taking men prisoners, binding them, beating 
 them, and casting them into prison. The whole city 
 was in confusion and in alarm, and in these circum- 
 stances it was judged advisable that the missionaries 
 should leave Jerusalem and retire to Beyroot. There 
 was some danger in encountering the journey at that 
 time, but after due consultation and prayer they set out. 
 The road was very perilous, being much infested with 
 robbers, but by the Divine protection they reached the 
 place of their destination in safety. 
 
 The first object which engaged Mr Fisk's attention on 
 reaching Beyroot, was the establishment of a school in 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 31? 
 
 that place for teaching Arabic grammatically. lie had 
 various plans in contemplation for the diifusion of a 
 knowledge of the Gospel all around. But that God, 
 whose Avays are not as our ways, was pleased to cut 
 short the labours and the life of his servant. The season 
 was unhealthy, and fever was prevailing in the town 
 w^hen Mr Fisk arrived. He was soon afterwards attacked 
 with symptoms of fever, at first in a very mild form, but 
 gradually becoming more severe. The last scene, which 
 was deeply aifecting, is thus described by Messrs Bird 
 and Goodell, American missionaries, who were then 
 stationed at Bey root. 
 
 " At times he lay in a state of stupor, and seemed near 
 death. In such a state he was, when the hour of our 
 usual Thursday prayer-meeting arrived. "We proposed 
 to observe the season by his bed-side, supposing him to 
 be too insensible to be either gratified or disturbed by 
 it. On asking him, however, if we should once more 
 pray with him, to our surprise he answered, ' Yes, but 
 first I wish you to read me some portions of IMrs 
 Graham's "Provision for passing over Jordan."' We 
 read, and he made suitable remarks. Where it is said, 
 * To be where thou art, to see thee as thou art, to be 
 made like thee, the last sinful motion for ever past,* — 
 he anticipated the conclusion, and said, with an expres- 
 sive emphasis, ' That's heaven.' We then each of us 
 prayed with him, and he subjoined his hearty ' Amen.' 
 We had asked, what we should pray for, as it concerned 
 his case. ' Pray,' said he, ' that, if it be the Lord's will, 
 I may yet get well, to pray with you, and labour with 
 you a little longer ; if not, that I may die in possession 
 of my reason, and not dishonour God by my dying be- 
 
3 1 8 MEMOIR OP 
 
 haviour.' ITe afterwards begged to hear the hymn which 
 he had formerly sung at the grave of Mr Parsons. 
 
 " ' Brother, thou art gone before us, 
 And thy saintly soul is flown 
 Where tears are "wiped from every eye, 
 And sorrow is unknown.' 
 
 " As the evening approached, and before the appear- 
 ance of the fever fit, he was very cahn and quiet. In 
 the midst of the stillness that reigned within him and 
 around him, he spoke out, saying, ' I know not what 
 this is, but it seems to me like the silence that precedes 
 a dissolution of nature.* His fever began to creep upon 
 him. We saw again the spasmodic affection of his 
 muscles. ' "What the Lord intends to do with me,' said 
 he, ' I cannot tell, but my impression is that this is my 
 last night.' We hoped not. ' Perhaps not,' said he, 
 ' but these are my impressions.' 
 
 " The devotions of the evening were attended in his 
 room. He united in them with evident enjoyment. 
 Afterwards he begged one of the sisters to go and try to 
 get some rest, bade her good night, intimated it might 
 be their final parting, commended her ' to Him that was 
 able to keep her.' Similar expressions of concern for 
 us, and of gratitude to God, frequently fell from his lips ; 
 such as, ' The Lord bless you for all your kindness.' ' I 
 shall wear you all out.' ' Were it not for these kind 
 friends, I should already have been in my grave.' ' How 
 different is this from poor B. (an English traveller who 
 lately died) ; how different from Martyn ; how different 
 from brother Parsons in Syria!' 
 
 " The fever fit proved much milder than the night 
 preceding — scarcely any appearance of delirium. He 
 
THE REV. PLINY FISK. 319 
 
 repeatedly said, ' The Lord is more merciful to me than 
 I expected/ ' Perhaps there may be some hope of my 
 recovery, — the Lord's name be praised.' He often 
 checked himself for sighing, and speaking of his pains, 
 saying, ' I know it is weak, and foolish, and wicked.' 
 Once, after a draught of water, he said, ' Thanks be to 
 God for so much mercy, and let his name be trusted in 
 for that which is future.' On two or three occasions, he 
 exclaimed, ' God is good, his mercy endureth for ever.' 
 
 " At midnight he asked the time, hoped it had been 
 later, and at three a.m. (Friday 21) his fever gave way 
 to a little quiet sleep. During the whole forenoon he re- 
 mained so quiet that we hoped his disease might be 
 breaking away. In the afternoon, however, it was dis- 
 covered returning with all its alarming symptoms. He 
 was asked if he had been able during the day to fix his 
 thoughts on Christ. ' Not so much as I could wish — I 
 am extremely weak.' But when you have been able to 
 do so, has the Saviour appeared precious to you ? ' O 
 yes, yes, O yes ! One of the sisters,' continued he, 
 ' has been reading to me some precious hymns respecting 
 Christ and his glory;' then fi^xing his eye stedfastly 
 towards heaven, he repeated the words, ' Christ and his 
 glory.'" 
 
 The following day he appeared to rally, and as even- 
 ing came on the symptoms became milder, but towards 
 midnight he sunk rapidly, and at three o'clock on the 
 Lord's day morning, 23d October 1825, he quietly and. 
 peacefully fell asleep in Jesus. 
 
 The loss of this excellent man and devoted missionary 
 was deeply felt. He had gained upon the aifections of 
 the people among whom he sojourned as in a land of 
 
320 MEMOIR OF THE REV. PLINY FISK. 
 
 strangers. " Some of the Arabs," says Mr Goodell, 
 " were deeply affected, as they stood around his dying 
 bed. They were amazed at his peace of mind, and could 
 not conceive it possible how any one could be so willing 
 to die. They wept. We explained to them the cause of 
 his tranquillity and joy, related to them much of his 
 religious views and experience, and told them of Christ 
 and heaven. Indeed we sometimes felt that Christ and 
 heaven were present. It seemed but one step ' to Him 
 that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb,' w^here 
 God himself wipes away all tears. 
 
 " ' The chamber where the good man meets his fate, 
 Is privileged beyond the common walks 
 Of virtuous life, — quite on the verge of heaven.'" 
 
REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 
 
 This eminent and highly gifted raan, -whose lahours in 
 the cause of the Redeemer have scarcely ever been 
 equalled since the days of the Apostles, was born in 1 71 4, 
 in the town of Gloucester, where his parents kept the 
 Bell Inn. At the early age of two }ears he was left, by 
 the death of his father, to the sole care of his widowed 
 mother, of whose kindness and attention he was often 
 accustomed in after-life to speak in terms of the warmest 
 gratitude. The account, however, which he has left of 
 his conduct in his early days is by no means flattering, 
 and if the picture be not too highly coloured, the tender 
 heart of his parent must have been often wounded by 
 the waywardness and follies of his youth. 
 
 At the age of twelve, George was placed at a school 
 called St Mary de Crypt, in Gloucester. Here he ac- 
 quired a peculiar taste for theatrical acting and display, 
 and here, too, he seems, by his own account, to have been 
 very unhappy in the choice of his associates. The com- 
 pany into which young Whitefield was thrown soon 
 destroyed all relish for education, and his mother's cir- 
 cumstances being now on the decline, he began to assist 
 
322 MEMOIR OF 
 
 her in the puhllc-house, "till at length," to quote his own 
 words, " I put on my blue apron and my snuffers, washed 
 mops, cleaned rooms, and in one w^ord, became professed 
 and common drawer for nigh a year and a-half." While 
 thus employed he was not altogether inattentive to the 
 duties of religion. He frequently read the Word of God, 
 and although his mind was very slightly impressed with 
 the importance and reality of divine things, he still main- 
 tained to a considerable extent an outward profession of 
 Christianity. After he had continued about a year in 
 the servile employment to which he had voluntarily 
 surrendered himself, his mother was obliged to leave 
 the inn, devolving the business upon his brother, while 
 it was agreed that George should still continue there as 
 an assistant. Matters, however, did not proceed so 
 comfortably as was anticipated, and having disagreed 
 with his sister-in-law, he left Gloucester to pay a visit 
 to his elder brother, then settled in Bristol. 
 
 It was during this temporary stay in Bristol that the 
 mind of George Whitefield was seriously aroused to the 
 necessity of seeking to be a Christian indeed. He began 
 to feel a pleasure in reading religious works. ' Thomas 
 A'Kempis' was his chief delight ; " and I was always 
 impatient," says he, " till the bell rang to call me to tread 
 the courts of the Lord's house." But amid all this ap- 
 parent fervour he w^as constantly visited with the im- 
 pression that his present religious feelings would speedily 
 evaporate. And indeed his fears in this respect were 
 too speedily realized. On his return to Gloucester the 
 warmth of his ardour soon abated. He felt little inch- 
 nation for either the public exercises of the sanctuary, 
 or the private devotions of the closet. But though his 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WniTEFIELD, A.M. 323 
 
 spiritual affections were thus deadened, he had lost all 
 relish for the bustle and turmoil of an inn. He there- 
 fore gave up all connection with his former employment, 
 and took up his residence under his mother's roof, until 
 an eligible situation of some kind or other could be 
 obtained. 
 
 Tired at length of an idle life, George was exceedingly 
 anxious to resume his studies, if there could be any hope 
 of his finding admission to Oxford. A prospect of this 
 kind proA^dentially opened up, and he was put for a 
 time under the care of his old master, that he might 
 prepare for entering college. During- his attendance at 
 school he began to be more and more serious, and the 
 change which now displayed itself in his whole deport- 
 ment was peculiarly gratifying to his friends. 
 
 At the age of eighteen, it was judged proper that he 
 should be sent to the university. By the recommenda- 
 tion and assistance of some kind friends, accordingly, he 
 was entered at Pembroke College, Oxford. Here he found 
 a spirit of irreligion and speculative scepticism prevailing 
 to a great extent amonoj his fellow- students, and with 
 the exception of the Wesleys, and the few who adhered 
 to their principles and habits, Mr Whitefield stood al- 
 most alone in his desire to maintain a Christian charac- 
 ter and deportment. He was happily kept from walk- 
 ing in the steps of the ungodly around him, and to the 
 conversation of Mr Charles Wesley he owed much. 
 This good man, anxious to promote the spiritual welfare 
 of such a promising youth as George Whitefield then 
 was, put into his hands various books, chiefly of a prac- 
 tical nature ; and in reference to one of these, Scougall's 
 'Life of God in the Soul of Man,' he says, "I never 
 
324 MEMOIR OP 
 
 knew what true religion was, till God sent me that ex- 
 cellent treatise by the hands of my never-to-be-forgotten 
 friend." 
 
 During his residence at Oxford, Mr Whitefield was 
 not contented with a careful assiduity in his college 
 studies ; he spent his leisure hours in visiting the poor 
 at their own houses, and in conversing and praying with 
 the prisoners in the town goal. 
 
 The state of his health compelled Mr "Whitefield to 
 quit Oxford and return for a time to Gloucester. Here 
 he felt himself very uncomfortable. His friends viewed 
 him with pity as a fanatic and a fool. He had no asso- 
 ciates, as at Oxford, with whom he could converse on 
 the things of eternity. All around him was spiritual 
 desolation and death. The very thought of this, however, 
 instead of discouraging him, only roused his ardent and 
 energetic mind. He set himself with redoubled zeal to 
 the study of the Bible and to prayer. 
 
 His friends now became anxious that he should be 
 ordained to the ministry without delay ; but so deep 
 was his feeling of the responsibility which attaches to 
 the sacred office, that for some time he declined. Being 
 as yet only twenty-one years of age, he was afraid that, 
 by rushing precipitately into the ministry, he might incur 
 the reprehension of the apostle, "Not a novice, lest 
 being puffed up with pride, he fall into the condemnation 
 of the devil." At length his scruples were overcome, 
 and he resolved to offer himself to Bishop Benson for 
 ordination. Soon after his ordination, ]Mr Whitefield 
 returned to Oxford to take out his bachelor's degTce. 
 He had not been long there, when he received and ac- 
 cepted an invitation to officiate for two months in the 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. S25 
 
 chapel of tlie Tower of London. From that period his 
 popularity began to increase. Flocks of people crowded 
 to hear him, and multitudes who "went to scoff, remained 
 to pray." The fickle breath of popular applause, how- 
 ever, was not what Mr Whitefield sought. Though ad- 
 mired and courted in London, he felt no desire to con- 
 tinue his labours there ; his heart was set upon preaching 
 the Gospel in a foreign land. Some time previous, the 
 attention of the religious public in England had been 
 awakened to send the Gospel to the British Colonies in 
 America, and the Wesleys had located themselves in 
 Georgia. The melancholy accounts sent home in re- 
 ference to the moral condition of the people in these 
 quarters deeply affected the heart of Mr AYliitefield, and 
 he was strongly inclined to emigrate thither. Before 
 his resolution had been fully formed, however, his two 
 months' engagement in London expired, and he retired 
 to Oxford. There he chiefly devoted his time to the 
 study of ' Henry's Commentary.' This employment he 
 found to be exceedingly profitable ; but it was speedily 
 interrupted by an invitation to officiate for a short time 
 at Dummer in Hampshire. The place was obscure, the 
 people were poor and illiterate, and the young minister, 
 with the utmost zeal and energy, so laboured among 
 them, that both he and they were much benefited. 
 While here he rigidly economized his time, dividing the 
 day into three equal parts ; eight hours for sleep and 
 meals ; eight for public prayers, catechising, and visiting; 
 and eight for study and devotional retirement. During 
 his residence in Dummer, a curacy in the metropolis, 
 with a large salary, was offered to him ; but being still 
 bent on going abroad, he decHned the offer. At length, 
 
326 MEMOIR OP 
 
 being Invited and urged by the Wesleys to join them 
 in Georgia, he gladly consented to engage in the bene- 
 volent and Christian enterprise. Several months, how- 
 ever, elapsed, before he had it in his power to leave 
 England. He therefore undertook to officiate for a 
 short time for one of his friends at Stonehouse. While 
 in this retired situation he spent much of his time in 
 prayer and meditation. 
 
 From Stonehouse he proceeded to Bristol, where the 
 utmost excitement prevailed among all classes to hean 
 him. He preached while there to overflowing audiences ; 
 and when he was about to leave the town, the house 
 where he lodged was besieged by multitudes of people, 
 beseeching him to remain in England. Mr Whitefield 
 remained firm to his purpose, unmoved by the tears and 
 entreaties of his friends and admirers. He next repaired 
 to London, where his services were called into requisi- 
 tion to such an extent, that he was in the habit of preach- 
 ing four times on the Sabbath, had often to walk ten or 
 twelve miles in going from one church to another, and 
 to preach five times in the week besides. Nor did he 
 intermit his exertions until he embarked for America. 
 
 It was in December 1737 that Mr Whitefield em- 
 barked for Georgia, but the vessel did not set sail till 
 towards the end of the following month. At first he 
 was treated, both by the officers and crew, as an impos- 
 tor, and although he instituted regular service on the 
 Sabbath, they lent the utmost opposition to his exertions 
 for their religious instruction. Undeterred by difficulties, 
 however, he persevered in the discharge of his duty. 
 Wherever there was sickness in the ship, he visited, 
 counselled, and prayed. When he could not assemble 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 327 
 
 the crew to prayers on deck, he read prayers and ex- 
 pounded anywhere between decks. When the sokliers, 
 a large company of whom were on board, couki not or 
 woukl not attend, he devoted himself to the religious 
 instruction of their children. The weather being occa- 
 sionally stormy, he endeavoured to minister to the com- 
 fort of those who were sea-sick, and so gained upon 
 all classes in the ship, that he was permitted to prose- 
 cute his pious labours, both among the officers and men, 
 without the slightest annoyance. 
 
 At length, on the 5th of May 1738, they came in 
 sight of Savannah river. Though still weak, he preach- 
 ed a farewell sermon to his " red-coated and blue- 
 jacketed parishioners," as he termed his military and 
 naval congregation. On landing at the place of his 
 destination, he was received with the utmost cordiality. 
 The magistrates of Savannah agreed to build a tabernacle 
 and house for him at Frederica. Soon after his arrival, 
 however, he was laid aside again by another attack of 
 fever, which terminated in ague. As soon as he had 
 recovered strength sufficient to resume his duties, he 
 directed his attention to the state of the children in the 
 colony. He was anxious to raise an orphan-house for 
 them, but as a considerable interval must necessarily 
 elapse before funds could be raised, he opened schools 
 in the meantime in Savannah and the neighbouring vil- 
 lages of Highgate and Hampstead. 
 
 On his return to London, he proceeded to fulfil the 
 double object for which he had left Georgia — to obtain 
 priest's orders, and to make arrangements for having an 
 orphan-house built at Savannah. He was favourably 
 received by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the 
 
328 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Bishop of London. After labouring for some time in 
 the metropolis, he went to Oxford to be ordained a 
 priest. Bishop Benson presided at his ordination. 
 Shortly after he returned to London, and such was his 
 popularity as a preacher, that no church was large 
 enough to contain the multitudes that flocked to hear 
 him. He now commenced preaching in the open air. 
 This was quite a new thing, and incredible numbers 
 assembled. On one occasion he mentions that, at Ken- 
 nington Common, upwards of twenty thousand people 
 were supposed to be present. For several months he 
 continued to preach in the fields around London to im- 
 mense auditories. During all this time, however, he 
 was not forgetful of his little flock in Georgia. He was 
 much disappointed and grieved that he was not allowed 
 to collect for his proposed orphan-house, except in a few 
 churches. He therefore made various collections for 
 this darling object in the open air, and he had the gra- 
 tification, on applying to the honourable trustees for 
 Georgia, to obtain the grant of five hundred acres of 
 land for himself and his successors for ever, for the use of 
 the orphan-house. His desire to accomplish this bene- 
 volent undertaking acted as a powerful impulse to him 
 in his field-preaching. Wherever he went he collected 
 money for it. The proclamation of the Gospel having 
 never before been attempted in this mode in England, 
 both Churchmen and Dissenters were indignant at what 
 they considered a practice derogatory to the dignity of 
 the sacred ofiice. Nothing, however, could quench the 
 ardour of his zeal, and for several months he itinerated 
 through various counties, and through the greater part 
 of the Welsh principality, declaring the glad tidings of 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 329 
 
 great joy, and calling upon men everywhere to repent. 
 The opposition to his efforts was sometimes of an alarm- 
 ing character, and once or twice he narrowly escaped 
 wdth his life ; but none of these things moved him. He 
 went forth striving to win souls to Christ, and regardless 
 of the consequences, in so far as he himself was concerned. 
 
 While thus indefatigably labouring in England, Mr 
 Whitefield did not permit his mind to be drawn aAvay 
 from his charge in a foreign land. Unallured by the 
 incense of popular flattery which was heaped upon him, 
 he set sail for his adopted country, resolving to visit 
 New England on his way to Georgia. His labours in 
 the churches of New England were attended with a rich 
 outpouring of the Spirit's blessings. Many were con- 
 verted, and the hands of God's people were strengthened. 
 There was an evident shaking among the dry bones ; and 
 as Mr Whitefield could not remain in New England, he 
 pressed into the field as his successor, Gilbert Tennent, 
 a man of a similar spirit with himself, and one whose 
 23reaching was blessed to the spiritual benefit of multi- 
 tudes. 
 
 In the course of his tour towards Georgia from New 
 England, Mr Whitefield had to endure considerable 
 privations and dangers in riding through the woods. 
 On reaching Charleston, in South Carolina, he was de- 
 lighted to find that, since he had formerly visited that 
 place, £600 had been contributed for the projected 
 orphan-house. With a light heart, accordingly, he set 
 sail in an open canoe with five negro rowers, and reach- 
 ed Savannah in safety. On the 24th of January 1740 
 he took possession of the land allotted to him, and called 
 it Bethesda, or the House of Mercy. Next week he laid 
 
8o0 MEMOIR OP 
 
 out the ground-plan of the building and commenced the 
 work. In the meantime he hired a large house, and 
 took in twenty-four orphans, and in a very short time 
 they increased to forty. He now set out on an itinerat- 
 inof tour through the States to collect funds. Wherever 
 he went he preached both in the churches and in the 
 open air. Money poured in upon him from all quarters, 
 and the work which was begun in faith met with re 
 markable success. He returned to Savannah after a 
 short absence, with collections for Bethesda to the amount 
 of £500 in goods and money. 
 
 His family had now increased to a hundred and fifty 
 persons, and he found it necessary to set out on his 
 travels again, that he might make collections for their 
 support. After itinerating for some time in South Caro- 
 lina, where he met with considerable opposition, he pro- 
 ceeded to New England. 
 
 This tour through New England was one of the most 
 useful in which Mr Whitefield had ever been engaged. 
 Wherever he went he was received and welcomed with 
 a cordiality and enthusiasm which encouraged his heart. 
 His ministrations, whether in the churches or in the 
 fields, were accompanied with evident tokens of the 
 Divine presence and blessing. Sinners were awakened, 
 backsliders were reclaimed, formalists were roused, and 
 believers were refreshed and strengthened. Both minis- 
 ters and people felt it to be a time of quickening and 
 revival. The Churches were watered as with the dew 
 of heaven, and multitudes of all classes in New England 
 dated their first impressions of the value and importance 
 of religion from this visit of Mr Whitefield. 
 
 Shortly after his return to Bethesda, he made arrange- 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 3Sl 
 
 ments for paying another visit to his native land. Be- 
 fore setting sail, however, he received several very en- 
 couraging letters from Boston in reference to the evident 
 blessinof which had attended his New England excursion. 
 And lest, perhaps, he should be puffed up by such tokens 
 of the Divine approbation, false accusers were permitted 
 to harass and annoy him. They laid to his charge things 
 which he knew not. The enemies of the truth were of 
 course his determined foes ; and a complaint having been 
 made to the magistrates of Charleston that he had mali- 
 ciously libelled the clergy of the province, a warrant was 
 issued for his apprehension. As soon as the proclama- 
 tion appeared, Mr Whitefield Avent before the magistrate, 
 and gave security for his appearance when summoned. 
 He presented himself on the day appointed ; and such 
 was the effect of his bold and masterly defence, that he 
 was triumphantly acquitted. Public opinion now rose 
 against his persecutors ; and he himself, overloaded with 
 presents and sea-stores for his voyage, embarked for 
 England ; feeling, in all its force, the truth and empha- 
 tic meaninsr of the Divine declaration, " AVhen a man's 
 ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be 
 at peace with him." 
 
 On reaching his native shore, Mr "Whitefield found 
 matters in a very different state from that in which they 
 ■were during his former visit to England. The tide of 
 popular sentiment no longer ran in his favour. When 
 in America, he had written and published two letters 
 against England's two great favourites, ' The whole 
 Duty of Man,' and Archbishop Tillotson, whom he de- 
 clared to have known no more about religion than Ma- 
 homet did. The violent invectives which these letters 
 
832 MEMOIR OP 
 
 contained, had awakened a feeling of hostilit}^ to bim in 
 many minds. Mr John Wesley, too, "vvho now began 
 to avow Arminian sentiments, bad violently attacked 
 the doctrine of election, — a doctrine which it was well 
 known Mr AVhitefield held, and, when occasion offered, 
 openly avowed. The consequence of all this, which had 
 taken place in his absence, was, that the warm attach- 
 ment of many of Mr Whitefield's former friends was 
 cooled ; and when he appeared on Kennington Common 
 the Sabbath immediately after his arrival, his audience, 
 instead of twenty thousand, as it had formerly been, 
 consisted of not more than a hundred persons. 
 
 It is interesting to notice that the very circumstances 
 which had lowered Mr Whitefield in the estimation of 
 his English friends and admirers, were of such a nature 
 as enhanced his reputation in Scotland. He was not 
 unwilling, therefore, to accept of the invitation which 
 was now pressed upon him by the Erskines, both Ralph 
 and Ebenezer. His visit to the churches of North 
 Britain was blessed as the source of much <Tood. It 
 
 o 
 
 happened at a period of great interest and excitement. 
 The secession from the Church of Scotland had but 
 recently taken place, and the Associate Presbytery, yet 
 small in number, were naturally anxious to strengthen 
 the hands and encourage the hearts of their adherents 
 by the assistance of such a man as Whitefield. But his 
 large and expansive soul could not be fettered by the 
 narrow limits of party. It must not be supposed, 
 however, that Mr Whitefield was prejudiced against the 
 excellent men with whom the Secession originated. He 
 maintained, on the contrary, a very close correspondence 
 with both Messrs Ralph and Ebenezer Erskine, and, on 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WIIITEFIELD, A.M. 303 
 
 reaching Scotland, the first offer of his ministrations was 
 made to Mr Ralph Erskine at Dunfermline. The meet- 
 ing-house was crowded on the occasion, and minister 
 and people were alike delighted v/ith their gifted visitor. 
 During a short visit which he paid about this time to 
 Edinburgh, he preached twice or thrice every day in the 
 churches, besides frequently proclaiming the Gospel to 
 vast multitudes in the park connected with the Orphan 
 Hospital. He obtained also £500 in money or goods 
 for his orphans in Georgia. 
 
 A very pleasing circumstance occurred in Edinburgh, 
 which deserves to be noticed, as illustrative of the fine 
 effect which followed the sermons of Mr Whitefield. 
 One day, after preaching in the Orphan Hospital Park, 
 a large company came forward to salute him. Amongst 
 the rest a quaker advanced, and taking him by the hand, 
 said, " Friend George, I am as thou art. I am for 
 bringing all to the life and power of the ever-living 
 God ; and, therefore, if thou wilt not quarrel with me 
 about my hat^ I will not quarrel with thee about thy 
 goivn." 
 
 After paying a short visit to Aberdeen, Mr Whitefield 
 returned to London in February 1742. The prejudices 
 which had formerly been entertained against him had 
 now given way, and thousands flocked to hear him dur- 
 ing the Easter holidays. AVhit-Monday being a day of 
 peculiar festivity and rejoicing, he resolved to preach the 
 Gospel in the midst of the crowds who are accustomed 
 to assemble at the fair in Moorfiekls on that day. On 
 this occasion his labours were accompanied with an 
 evident blessing from on high. " We retired," he says, 
 " to the Tabernacle, with my pockets full of notes from 
 
334 MExMOIR OF 
 
 persons brought under concern, and read them amidst 
 the praises and spiritual acclamations of thousands, who 
 joined with the holy angels in rejoicing that so many 
 sinners were snatched, in such an unexpected, unlikely 
 place and manner, out of the very jaws of the devil. 
 This was the beginning of the Tabernacle Society. Three 
 hundred and fifty awakened souls were received in one 
 day, and I believe the number of notes exceeded a 
 thousand. But I must have done, believing you want to 
 retire, to join in mutual praise and thanksgiving to God 
 and the Lamb." 
 
 Shortly before this remarkable exhibition in Moor- 
 fields, Mr Whitefield had entered into the marriage state 
 with a widow lady ; and such was his poverty, that he 
 had to borrow furniture for his house. The first child 
 which was the ofi'spring of this marriage being a son, 
 the fond parents looked forward with high anticipations 
 to the future usefulness of the child, should Providence 
 spare him. In the inscrutable dealings of God, how- 
 ever, he was snatched away when only four months old. 
 This was a severe, a painful stroke ; but both JMr White- 
 field and his beloved partner were enabled, Avith calm 
 resignation, to say, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath 
 taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." 
 
 The attention of Mr Whitefield was happily diverted 
 from this sore domestic bereavement by the public mat- 
 ters in which he was called to engage. For a long time 
 he had borne much persecution from some ungodly per- 
 sons, who took advantage of the large assemblies which 
 crowded round him in his field-preachings, to raise a 
 riot for the single purpose of disturbing and annoying 
 him. This he endured patiently for some time ; but at 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 335 
 
 length, thinking it his duty to prosecute them, he caused 
 the ringleaders in one of these riots to be seized, and 
 succeeded in bringing them to punishment. Besides the 
 Tiolent opposition thus made to his preaching by the 
 avowed enemies of the truth, he was subjected to secret 
 attacks in anonymous pamphlets, issued, he had reason 
 to think, under the express sanction of some of the highest 
 dio-nitaries of the Church of England. In one of these 
 publications, more especially, the whole Methodist party 
 were represented as dangerous to both Church and State. 
 JVIr Whitefield replied to these malicious slanders with 
 the utmost dignity and calmness, conscious that the cause 
 in ^^hicll he was enpaged was the cause of truth and 
 righteousness. He now set out again for Scotland. 
 
 The period of this visit to Scotland was one of 
 peculiar interest. An awakening had begun to manifest 
 itself in several parishes, particularly in the West. In 
 Cambuslang, more especially, a village about four miles 
 from Glasgow, under the faithful and zealous ministry 
 of Mr M'CuUoch, there was an evident revival of reli- 
 gion, and it was while this holy excitement prevailed 
 among the people, that the invitation was given to Mr 
 AVhitefield to assist at the dispensation of the Sacrament. 
 This opportunity of labouring in his Master's cause he 
 gladly embraced. On the day of his arrival at Cambus- 
 lang he preached no fewer than three times to an im- 
 mense concourse of people, although he had preached 
 the same morning at Glasgow. The last of these exer- 
 cises he began at nine at night and continued till eleven. 
 Mr M'CuUoch preached after him till past one in the 
 morning, and even then they could hardly persuade the 
 people to depart. " All night in the fields," says Dr 
 
826 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Gillies, " might be heard the voice of praise and prayer." 
 Mr Whitefield's own account of the sacramental occasion 
 at Cambuslang is too interesting to be withheld from 
 our readers. 
 
 " On Saturday," he says, " I preached to above twenty 
 thousand people. In my prayer the power of God came 
 down and was greatly felt. In my two sermons there 
 was yet more power. On Sabbath, scarce ever was such 
 a sight seen in Scotland. There were undoubtedly up- 
 wards of twenty thousand people. A brae, or hill, near 
 the manse of Cambuslang, seemed formed by Providence 
 for containing a large congregation. Two tents were 
 set up, and the holy Sacrament was administered in the 
 fields. The communion table was in the field. Many 
 ministers attended to preach and assist, all enlivening 
 and enlivened by one another. 
 
 " When I began to serve a table, the power of God 
 was felt by numbers ; but the people crowded so upon 
 me, that I was obliged to desist, and go to preach at one 
 of the tents, whilst the ministers served the rest of the 
 tables. God was with them and with his people. On 
 Monday morning I preached to near as many as before : 
 but such a universal stir I never saw before ! The 
 motion flew as swift as hghtning, from one end of the 
 auditory to another. You might have seen thousands 
 bathed in tears. Some at the same time were Avrinnfing 
 their hands, others almost swooning, and others crying 
 out, and mourning over a pierced Saviour." 
 
 Before the next Sacrament was dispensed, Mr White- 
 field was taken suddenly ill. Some of his friends were 
 alarmed. It pleased the Lord, however, to restore him 
 to his wonted health. On the second sacramental occa- 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WIIITEFIELP, A.M. 037 
 
 sion the revival was, if possible, more striking than be- 
 fore. When at Cambuslang, he wrote his well-known 
 ' Vindication of the Remarkable "Work of God in New 
 England.' A very interesting revival also took place 
 about this time at Kilsyth, which Mr Whitefield visited. 
 A very minute account of this awakening was afterwards 
 published by Mr Robe, the faithful and honoured man 
 under whose ministry it took place. 
 
 On his return to London from his refreshing labours 
 in Scotland, Mr Whitefield found a spirit prevailing 
 there, similar, in some respects, to that which he had 
 witnessed north of the Tweed. The Wesleys and he 
 now became more reconciled to one another, and pursued 
 the glorious work in which they were engaged with the 
 utmost harmony and zeal. After remaining a short 
 time in the metropolis, Mr Whitefield set out on an 
 itinerant tour through Wales. In his own account of 
 the journey he says he travelled " four hundred miles 
 in three weeks, spent three days in attending two asso- 
 ciations, preached about forty times, visited about thir- 
 teen towns, and passed through seven counties." This 
 tour ended, he spent a few weeks in London, preach- 
 ing to immense multitudes in Moorfields, after which he 
 set out for Gloucestershire, where the Methodists were 
 at that time undergoing severe persecution. He did not 
 confine his labours, however, to this disturbed county, 
 where his presence had been so anxiously sought by his 
 followers ; he passed from place to place through various 
 counties boldly proclaiming the Gospel of the grace of 
 God. 
 
 In August 1 744 he set sail again for America, though 
 in a weak state of health, and after a tedious passage 
 
338 MEMOIR OP 
 
 of eleven ^veeks, arrived at York, where he was kindly 
 welcomed by a physician, once a notorious deist, who 
 had been converted under his ministry. While living 
 in the house of this hospitable friend he was seized 
 with a violent illness, the result of which was an ex- 
 treme prostration of strength. Before he had com- 
 pletely recovered he preached in one of the churches of 
 York, and immediately after crossed the ferry to Ports- 
 mouth. As might have been anticipated, he caught 
 cold. A relapse of his former disease took place, and 
 he was brought to the gates of death. Three physicians 
 attended him during the night. 
 
 In three weeks after he was able to go to Boston, 
 though still very weak. Thence he proceeded south- 
 wards. His reception at Philadelphia was very flatter- 
 ing. The managers of the place of worship which had 
 been erected for him on his former visit offered him 
 ii^SOO a-year, with liberty to travel six months a-year 
 whenever he chose, if he would become their pastor. 
 This pleased him, though he declined the offer at once. 
 As he proceeded onward on his journey, his heart was 
 frequently cheered by meeting with instances of his for- 
 mer usefulness, and on reaching Virginia he was most 
 agreeably surprised to find that many individuals had 
 been much benefited by a volume of his sermons which 
 had been taken down in short-hand and published at 
 Glasgow. A copy of the book had fallen into the hands 
 of Samuel Morris at Hanover. The result was, that in 
 1747, four chapels in and around Hanover had sprung 
 from this single volume of Mr Whitefield's Sermons. 
 
 Amid all his wanderings, it must not be imagined 
 that Mr AVhiteficld had forgotten his orphan-house in 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WIIITEFIELD, A.M. 339 
 
 Georgia. He made collections for it wherever he went ; 
 and during a visit wliich he paid to it, he added a Latin 
 school to the establishment. By the liberality of his 
 friends in South Carolina he was enabled to purchase a 
 permanent endowment for his favourite Bethesda, in the 
 form of a plantation of " six hundred and forty acres of 
 ground, ready cleared, fenced, and fit for corn, rice, and 
 every thing necessary for provisions." 
 
 Mr Whitefield continued to itinerate in different parts 
 of America, although the state of his health was far from 
 satisfactory. Even he himself was somewhat apprehen- 
 sive that his end could not be far distant ; and accord- 
 ingly we find him thus writing to a friend from North 
 Carolina ; — 
 
 " I am here," he says, " hunting in the woods, these 
 ungospelized ^vilds, for sinners. It is pleasant work, 
 though my body is weak and crazy. But after a short 
 fermentation in the grave, it will be fashioned like unto 
 Christ's glorious body. The thought of this rejoices my 
 soul, and makes me long to leap my seventy years ! I 
 sometimes think all will go to heaven before me. Pray 
 for me as a dying man ; but oh, pray that I may not 
 go ofif as a snuff. I w^ould fain die blazing — not with 
 human glory, but with the love of Jesus." 
 
 In the autumn of 174-7 he sailed for Georgia ; but his 
 health still continuing precarious, he went in the course 
 of the following year to Bermudas for a change of climate. 
 Here he experienced great kindness, and preached gene- 
 rally twice a-day, traversing the island from one end to 
 the other. After remaining a month in Bermudas, he 
 set sail for England, and arrived safe in twenty-eight 
 days at Deal, and the next evening he reached London. 
 
34 MEMOIR OP 
 
 It was gratifying to Mr WhitefielJ, that, after an 
 absence of four years, he was welcomed back to his 
 native land with the utmost enthusiasm. At St Bar- 
 tholomew's, on the first Sabbath, he had a thousand 
 communicants, besides multitudes flocking to hear. At 
 this time he became acquainted with the Countess of 
 Huntingdon. She had engaged Howel Harris to bring 
 him to Chelsea " as soon as he came ashore." He went 
 and preached twice in her drawing-room, and she re- 
 solved to countenance and encourage him. His intro- 
 duction to this distinguished person was the means of 
 bringing him under the notice of Lord Chesterfield, 
 Lord Bolingbroke, and others of the nobility. But, 
 though admired and applauded by the great, his mind 
 w^as not seduced from its true Christian simplicity. He 
 preached the Gospel with all his wonted fearlessness and 
 fidelity. 
 
 Mr Whitefield had not been long in England before 
 he resolved to pay another visit to Scotland. On his 
 arrival at Edinburgh, he was listened to by crowds of 
 people belonging to all classes of society. In Glasgow, 
 also, he was gladly welcomed. There were not wanting 
 individuals, however, among the ministers of the Estab- 
 lished Church, who sought to malign his character ; and 
 a motion was made at a meeting of the Synod of Glas- 
 gow and Ayr, having for its object to prohibit ministers 
 from employing Mr Whitefield. The motion was lost 
 by a considerable majority; and in the course of the 
 debate, Dr Erskine vindicated the character of ]Mr White- 
 field from the unwarrantable aspersions which had been 
 cast upon it. Notwithstanding all these attacks, his old 
 friends in Scotland stood by him, and encouraged him 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 341 
 
 in his endeavours to advance the cause of his Divine 
 Master. 
 
 On his return to London, Mr "VVhitefield resumed his 
 lectures at Lady Huntingdon's to the nobility. Thirty, 
 forty, and sometimes sixty persons of rank attended on 
 these occasions, and some were converted to God at this 
 time. Among his hearers in this interesting party was 
 the infidel Bolingbroke. Mr Whitefield felt a deep in- 
 terest in him, and at one time had much hope of him. 
 " Who knows," he says, " what God may do ? " But 
 we have no evidence that any saving change was effected. 
 The great day alone will reveal it. 
 
 Instead of limiting his labours to the select party in 
 Lady Huntingdon's drawing-room, he set out on occa- 
 sional preaching tours through different parts of Eng- 
 land ; and, in the course of one of these excursions, he 
 found his way again into Scotland. This visit he highly 
 appreciated as an occasion of much usefulness. " I shall 
 have reason," he says, " to all eternity to bless God for 
 it. I have reason to think that many are under convic- 
 tions, and am assured of hundreds having received great 
 benefit and consolation. Not a dog moved his tongue 
 all the while I was there, and many enemies were glad 
 to be at peace with me. Oh that I may spring afresh ! " 
 He seems to have always felt a peculiar pleasure in 
 treading on Scottish ground. The warm sympathy 
 which he met with from such men as Drs Erskine and 
 Gillies, and Mr M'Laurin, gratified him much ; and the 
 security with which he was permitted to preach the 
 Gospel contrasted strongly with the dangers which sur- 
 rounded him when itinerating in Ireland, or even in 
 some of the counties of England. 
 
342 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In 1751, Mr Whitefield made a tour through several 
 places in Ireland, after which he again returned to Scot- 
 land. Referring to this visit, he says, " I now preach 
 twice daily to many thousands. Many of the best rank 
 attend. 0, Edinburgh ! Edinburgh ! surely thou wult 
 never be forgotten by me ! The longer I stay, the more 
 eagerly both rich and poor attend on the word preached. 
 Perhaps for near twenty-eight days together, in Glasgow 
 and Edinburgh, I preached to near ten thousand saints 
 every day." In the autumn he left Scotland to revisit 
 Georgia. When in Edinburgh he had been seized with 
 vomitings of blood ; and though he was somewhat bene- 
 fited by his journey to London, he embarked in the 
 Antelope in a very weak state. The voyage was short, 
 and he reached Georgia much improved in health. The 
 orphan-house he found in a flourishing condition, and 
 he received a tract of land for a college. But amid all 
 these gratifying circumstances, intelligence reached him 
 of the death of Dr Doddridge at Lisbon. Quickened in 
 spirit by the melancholy tidings, he set out on a preach- 
 ing tour through South Carolina. Afraid to risk the 
 heat of the summer in America, he returned to England 
 in the spring. Shortly after his arrival in London, he 
 started on an itineracy through Wales, preaching in the 
 course of a fortnight twenty times, besides travelling 
 three hundred miles on horseback. He then revisited 
 Scotland, and was received both at Edinburgh and Glas- 
 gow with as much enthusiasm as ever. Leaving the 
 North, he went over several of his old stations in York- 
 shire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, in a state of mind so 
 heavenly and absorbed, that he scarcely knew at times, 
 he says, " whether he had been in heaven or on earth." 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 343 
 
 It Avas now winter, and he returned to London. Here 
 he was called to interpose, to prevent a rupture between 
 Charles and John Wesley. They had differed about 
 some point or other, but a letter of Mr Whitefield's 
 healed, or rather prevented, the breach. A new taber- 
 nacle was opened for him in the metropolis ; and after 
 preaching a short time in it with his usual success, he 
 set out again in the spring of 1753 for Yorkshire, where 
 his labours the year before had been so remarkably 
 blessed. Here he found in various places, particularly 
 at York and Leeds, that a spirit of revival had been 
 awakened, which warmed and refreshed his heart. It 
 was with difficulty, therefore, that he could leave the 
 scene ; but a previous engagement to visit Scotland com- 
 pelled him to direct his course northwards. At Edin- 
 burgh he preached twice a-day to vast multitudes ; and 
 at Glasgow, such was the effect produced by a sermon 
 which he preached against theatrical amusements, that 
 the owner of the temporary building then used as a 
 theatre, unroofed it, that it might be rendered useless for 
 all such purposes. 
 
 On leaving Scotland, Mr Whitefield returned to York 
 and Leeds ; and in his own account of this tour through- 
 out various counties, particularly in the North of England, 
 he tells us, that in the space of three months he travelled 
 " about twelve hundred miles, and preached a hundred 
 and eighty sermons, to many, very many thousands of 
 souls." Having rested a few days in London, he started 
 again on a tour through Northamptonshire, Staffordshire, 
 Cheshire, and several other counties. He was suddenly 
 recalled, however, to the metropolis, by the unexpected 
 intelligence that John Wesley was in a dying state. 
 
344 MEMOIR OP 
 
 From this severe and dangerous illness Wesley hap- 
 pily recovered, and was spared nearly forty years longer. 
 Amid the suspense which Mr Whitefield felt on ac- 
 count of his dear friend's illness, his heart was refreshed 
 by a visit from two of his esteemed American fellow- 
 labourers, Messrs Tennent and Davies, who had come to 
 England to collect money for the College of New Jersey. 
 Their unexpected arrival awakened all his old associa- 
 tions ; and having collected twenty-two orphans, he 
 prepared to set sail for Georgia. He reached Georgia in 
 safety with his orphans, and found his establishment 
 there in a flourishing state, consisting of one hundred 
 and six members, " black and white." Having arranged 
 his household in Bethesda, he set out on a tour through 
 Carolina, from which he passed to New York and 
 Philadelphia. On his way to the latter place he was 
 seized with cholera morbus so severely, that it almost 
 proved fatal. It pleased the Lord to raise him up again, 
 though for some time he was able to preach only once 
 a-day. When he recovered his strength, he visited New 
 England, and returned through Virginia southwards. 
 
 On reaching Charleston, his health began to fail again. 
 The vomitings, to which he had formerly been subject, 
 returned, and his spirits sunk with his strength. He 
 therefore set sail for England, hoping that the voyage 
 would restore him to his wonted health and vigour; 
 and in this he was not altogether disappointed. He was 
 sufficiently strong, on his arrival in his native land, to 
 resume his itinerating tours through various counties of 
 England. During two months he preached twice or 
 thrice a-day to still greater numbers than before. The 
 consequence of this violent exertion was an attack of 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 345 
 
 inflammation, and sore throat. Silence was prescribed, 
 and he promised obedience. For a few days he kept 
 his promise most rigidly. During this period of restraint, 
 the tidings reached England of the disastrous earthquake 
 at Lisbon. Having formerly seen the place, he felt a 
 peculiar interest in the awful event. Though himself 
 in a very critical state, he forgot his own sufferings, and 
 exclaimed, " Blessed be God, I am ready ! I know that 
 my Redeemer liveth. that all in Portugal had known 
 this ! Then, an earthquake would only be a rumbling 
 chariot, to carry the soul to God. Poor Lisbon ! how 
 soon are thy riches and superstitious pageantry swal- 
 lowed up ! " 
 
 In the winter of 1755, Mr Whitefield was applied to 
 by some friends who resided near the theatre, to preach 
 regularly at a chapel they had licensed in Long Acre. 
 He engaged to preach twice a- week, and to read prayers. 
 Crowds attended, and hundreds w^ent away who could 
 not get in. The enemies of the truth were enraged, 
 and rioters were hired to annoy and insult him. He 
 appealed for protection to the Bishop of the diocese, but 
 in vain. His Lordship excused himself by a reference 
 to the Church canons. In the meantime, the outrages 
 went on. Mr Whitefield's life was threatened ; and he 
 found it necessary, though most reluctantly, to commence 
 a prosecution against the rioters. Perceiving that the 
 strong arm of law was to be lifted up against them, the 
 secret promoters of the disturbances ceased to exert 
 themselves, and the evil came to an end. 
 
 The annoyances at Long Acre led to the erection of 
 Tottenham Court Chapel, which was opened in Novem- 
 ber 1756. Matters being now established on a better 
 
346 MEMOIR OF 
 
 footing in London, Mr AYhitefield set out on another 
 preaching excursion through different places in England, 
 and also in Scotland. On his return to London he 
 preached no fewer than^fteen times a-week, and was 
 daily occupied besides in conversing with inquirers. 
 Some of the nobility now took seats in Tottenham Court 
 Chapel, and became stated hearers. 
 
 During the sitting of the General Assembly 1757, Mr 
 Whitefield visited Edinburgh ; and Dr Gillies says, that 
 " perhaps a hundred ministers at a time attended his 
 sermons." Thirty of the ministers honoured him with 
 a public entertainment; and Lord Cathcart, his Ma- 
 jesty's Commissioner, invited him to his own table. 
 From Edinburgh Mr Whitefield went to Glasgow, and 
 preached in the High Churchyard with great success. 
 Thence he passed to Ireland, where he laboured for a 
 short time amid much persecution and reproach. On 
 his return to London, his health was found to be con- 
 siderably impaired. He was not allowed, therefore, to 
 preach more than once a-day, and thrice on Sabbath. 
 This restriction was painful to his active and energetic 
 mind ; but he submitted to the will of Providence, and 
 employed his leisure time in planting an alms-house for 
 twelve " godly widows ; " and he succeeded in erecting 
 a building for this purpose in connection with his new 
 chapel. 
 
 In the spring of 1758 he went into the west of Eng- 
 land, and visited Wales ; but his health was so feeble, 
 that a friend kindly purchased for him a close chaise, 
 advancing the money until he could conveniently repay 
 it. During all this tour he was unable to sit up in 
 company ; yet he often preached to ten or fifteen thou- 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 347 
 
 sand people. In the summer he went North again, 
 amid much weakness. At Edinburgh he preached 
 twice a-day to immense auditories. On one occasion, 
 he collected £200 for the Orphan Hospital. He pro- 
 ceeded to Glasgow, and laboured harder than ever. The 
 state of his health on the one hand, and the enthu- 
 siastic attachment which many good men in Scotland 
 had formed for him on the other, rendered the parting 
 from them at this time peculiarly painful. He called 
 the day of his farewell to Scotland the "■ execution-day ;" 
 and it was not until he found himself among his ardent 
 fellow-Christians in Yorkshire that he regained his 
 wonted composure of mind. 
 
 The following year Mr "Whitefield had the satisfac- 
 tion of clearing ofif all his debts for the orphan-house. 
 " Bethesda's God," he said, " lives for ever, and is faith- 
 ful and all-sufficient." He wished much to pay another 
 visit to America, but as this was for several reasons 
 inconvenient, he returned to Scotland. So improved 
 was his appearance, that his friends flattered themselves 
 that his health was now fully established. During this 
 visit to Edin])urgh, he collected £215 for the Orphan 
 Hospital, and the Governors of that benevolent institu- 
 tion had his likeness taken, and hung up in the hall, as 
 a memorial of one of their warmest friends and bene- 
 factors. At this time he had an opportunity of showing 
 his disinterestedness. A Miss Hunter, a young lady of 
 considerable fortune, made him a full offer of her estate, 
 both in money and lands, amounting to about £7090. 
 This munificent offer he declined. It was pressed upon 
 him, not for his own use, but for his orphan-house in 
 America. Still he absolutely refused it. 
 
348 MEMOIR OP 
 
 On liis return to London, Mr Wlntefield spent a con- 
 siderable part of tlie ^vinter in editing a new edition of 
 Samuel Clark's Bible, which, next to Henry, was his 
 favourite commentary. The following spring he en- 
 larged his new chapel, and celebrated the event by col- 
 lecting upwards of £400 for the Prussian Protestants, 
 who had recently suffered from the Russians at Costein 
 and Niewmark. While engaged in these labours of 
 love, a comedy Avas produced at Drury Lane, in which 
 Mr "Whitefield was held up to ridicule, for the purpose 
 of destroying his influence. The same experiment was 
 afterwards tried in Edinburgh, but it failed. On the 
 second night of the performance, only ten women were 
 present. These attacks of the theatre did not annoy 
 Mr Whitefield in the least. " Satan is angry," said he. 
 " All hail such contempt ! " 
 
 In autumn he set out on a tour through Yorkshire. 
 In the course of it he caught a severe cold, which did 
 not quit him during the whole winter. Still he exerted 
 himself, so that he became daily worse, and, in April 
 1 7<^* 1 , he was again brought almost to the gates of death. 
 He was very anxious to return to Scotland, not with the 
 hope of thereby recovering his health, but thinking it 
 " a desirable place to go to heaven from." He was 
 quite unlit for the journey, however ; he therefore tried 
 the effect of bathing at Plymouth, and then of a resi- 
 dence at Bristol. He rallied a little, and immediately 
 returned to London. His first sermon caused a relapse. 
 He now became exceedingly nervous. In the autumn 
 he went into Yorkshire by gentle stages, and gradually 
 gathering strength, he ventured into Scotland. On 
 reaching Edinburgh he became much worse, and was 
 
THE REV. GEORGE "WIIITEFIELD, A.M. 3411 
 
 debarred from preaching for a month. At length he 
 was permitted to preach once on new-year's day. En- 
 couraged by this, he would have gladly resumed his 
 former labours, but by the advice of his physicians he 
 returned to London. Though very weak, he soon found 
 himself immersed again in cares and labour, and he was 
 obliged to spend a month in Holland, from which he 
 returned greatly recruited. Finding that travelling was 
 indispensable for his health, he devolved the management 
 of his London chapels on trustees, and started again for 
 Scotland. On his way he wrote, in the intervals of 
 preaching, a spirited reply to Bishop Warburton's attack 
 on Methodism. At Edinburgh his disease returned, and 
 he was laid aside for six weeks. At the end of that 
 time he made preparations for another visit to America. 
 In June 1763, accordingly, he set sail for Virginia. 
 After a voyage of twelve weeks, he landed improved, no 
 doubt, in general health, but suffering much from diffi- 
 culty of breathing. He was anxious to go into Georgia, 
 but his physicians prevented him until he should become 
 a little stronger. He itinerated, therefore, throughout 
 New England, and the winter of the following year he 
 was permitted to spend at Bethesda. 
 
 In the spring of 1765 Mr Whitefield again set out on 
 an excursion, for the purpose of preaching the Gospel 
 in those places which were the most urgent for his visits. 
 On reaching Philadelphia, however, he felt himself so 
 weakened, that he resolved to embark for England 
 without delay. He accordingly did so, and reached his 
 native shore in twenty-eight days. Shortly after his 
 arrival he opened the Countess of Huntingdon's chapel 
 at Bath, and for some months he laboured as earnestly 
 
350 MEMOIR OF 
 
 i 
 
 as his strength would allow in his own chapels in Lon- | 
 don. He then paid occasional visits to Bath and Bris- 
 tol for the benefit of the waters. Still, however, he was 
 quite unable to take his usual preaching excursions. 
 His heart was refreshed at this time by the conversation 
 and friendship of Mr Fletcher of Madely, and the well- 
 known Rowland Hill. 
 
 The spring of 1767 was employed by Mr Whitefield 
 in visiting Cambridge and Norwich, and though he was 
 checked for a little by an attack of illness, he soon 
 rallied, and ventured into Wales, where he preached to 
 " thousands on thousands " in the open air. In sum- 
 mer he returned to London, and almost immediately set 
 out on a tour to Yorkshire, which was of essential 
 benefit to his health, notwithstanding the fatigue which 
 he underwent in travelling and preaching. His attention, 
 on returning to London, was chiefly directed to the pro- 
 curing of a charter for his proposed college in Georgia. 
 In this, however, he was unsuccessful, and he resolved 
 in the meantime, according to Dr Gillies, " to add a 
 public academy to the orphan-house, and wait for a 
 more favourable opportunity for making a fresh appli- 
 cation for a charter on a broad bottom." This oppor- 
 tunity never occurred during his life. Having failed to 
 obtain a charter for a college abroad, he opened an un- 
 endowed one at home — Trevecca, in AVales. This college 
 was endowed during the lifetime of the Countess of 
 Huntingdon, and the place of this institution has since 
 been supplied by Cheshunt College. About this time 
 Mr Whitefield was visited with a severe afflictive dis- 
 pensation in the loss of his wife ; and from this period 
 may be dated the gradual decline of his health and spirits. 
 
THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. S.31 
 
 He Still preached, but the exertion on such occasions 
 was often followed by vomiting of blood. 
 
 Mr Whitefield now thought of paying another visit to 
 America. Little did he or his friends imagine that they 
 should see his face no more. Still, in his weak state of 
 health, the parting scene, when he preached his farewell 
 sermons at the Tabernacle and Tottenham Court, was 
 deeply affecting, and he left his attached people with 
 great regret. The voyage was long and dangerous, but he 
 so far recovered his health as to preach on the very 
 day he landed at Charleston. The establishment at 
 Bethesda he found in a very prosperous state ; but after 
 spending a short time there, he set out on a preaching 
 tour through the States. 
 
 Commencing with Savannah, where he preached the 
 Gospel for some time, he next repaired to Philadelphia, 
 where all the churches and chapels were freely opened 
 for him, and all ranks and denominations flocked to hear 
 him. He preached twice every Sabbath, and three or 
 four times a- week. The next scene of his labours was 
 New York, from which he sailed along the Hudson to 
 Albany. On his return to New York in about a month, 
 he went to Boston, where he laboured zealously and 
 with great satisfaction. He next visited Newbury, but 
 was obliged to return to Boston, in consequence of an 
 attack of cholera in the night. He rallied, and set off 
 for New Hampshire. At Portsmouth, in that district, 
 he preached daily from the 23d to the 29th of Septem- 
 ber, when he started for Boston, but before he came to 
 Newbury Port, where he had engaged to preach next 
 morning, he was prevailed upon to preach at Exeter. 
 Here the service, which was two hours in length, was 
 
852 MEMOIR OF THE REV. GEORGE WHITEFIELD, A.M. 
 
 in the open air. He complained of fatigue, but in the 
 afternoon he set off for Newbury Port, where he arrived 
 that evening, and retired to rest, fully intending to preach 
 next day, being Sabbath. During the night he com- 
 plained much of difftculty of breathing, and his rest 
 was very disturbed ; and at length, about six o'clock in 
 the morning, he was carried off in a severe asthmatic 
 paroxysm. 
 
 Thus died one of the most honoured ministers of 
 Christ with whom Britain has ever been blessed, a man 
 of unwearied zeal, of matchless eloquence and apostolic 
 fervour. His was the enviable pre-eminence of " turn- 
 ing many to righteousness," and we may rest assured, 
 therefore, that in heaven " he shall shine as the stars 
 for ever and ever." In few, but most appropriate words, 
 Cowper has delineated his most prominent qualities : — 
 
 " He loved the world that hated him ; the tear 
 That dropped upon his Bible was sincere ; 
 Assailed by scandal, and the tongue of strife, 
 His only answer was — a blameless life ; 
 And he that forged, and he that threw, the dart, 
 Had each a brother's interest in his heart. 
 Paul's love of Christ, and steadiness unbribed. 
 Were copied close in him, and well transcribed. 
 He followed Paul — ^liis zeal a kindred flame, 
 His apostolic charity the same ; 
 Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas, 
 Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease ; 
 Like him he laboured, and like him, content 
 To bear it, suffered shame where'er he went." 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 
 
 The Rev. Dr Marshman was born of humble but pious 
 parents, in the village of Westbury Leigh, in Wiltshire, 
 on the 20th of April 1768. His father, who had spent 
 the early part of his life at sea, and had latterly engaged 
 in the weaving trade, was remarkable for vigour of 
 mind and resolute integrity of purpose. Though unable 
 to afford his son more than the ordinary education of 
 the village, which was of course sufficiently limited, he 
 endeavoured to instil into his mind those principles of 
 ardent and devoted piety, by which he himself had been 
 long characterised. From a very early period the young 
 man displayed an ardent thirst for knowledge ; eagerly 
 availing himself of every opportunity which occurred to 
 peruse books of any kind w^hich fell in his way. So in- 
 satiable was his love of reading, that, according to his 
 own calculation, he had read, between the ages of ten and 
 eighteen, more than five hundred volumes. The effects 
 of such laudable industry in his youth was apparent in 
 his after years, for the ample and varied stores of infor- 
 mation which he possessed on almost every subject, 
 gave a richness to his conversation, which attracted and 
 
854 MEMOIR OP 
 
 favourably impressed all -who came in contact with him. 
 It was impossible to spend half an hour in his company 
 without forming a very high opinion of his intelligence 
 and intellectual resources. He had read much, and 
 his reading, though desultory — for he had no person to 
 direct him in his literary pursuits — was not unaccom- 
 panied with careful reflection. It was to biography, 
 however, and more particularly to history, that the 
 studies of his youth were chiefly directed. And while 
 his reading was extensive, his memory was singularly 
 retentive. The minute and often dry details of histori- 
 cal facts and incidents, nay, even the names of long lists 
 of successive kings, whether in ancient or in modern 
 history, were remembered by him with the most astonish- 
 ing accuracy. 
 
 At the age of fifteen his father apprenticed him to a 
 bookseller in London. This was just the position in 
 which he felt that he would have ample scope for the 
 indulgence of his favourite propensity. Every leisure 
 moment, accordingly, was spent in reading. Often Avhen 
 charged to carry books to a purchaser, was he found 
 loitering by the way, busily engaged in perusing the 
 books for his own advantage. His master was not long 
 in expressing his growing dissatisfaction with his young 
 apprentice, declaring plainly that he never would succeed 
 as a bookseller. Nor was young Marshman pleased with 
 the situation in which he was placed. He felt it to be 
 an irksome, disagreeable, unintellectual employment. 
 On one occasion, having been sent to the Duke of 
 Grafton with three volumes of Clarendon's Ilistor}^ and 
 several other books, he w^as overcome Avith fatigue, and 
 walking into Westminster Hall, he laid down his load, 
 
THE REV. J. MARSBMAN, D.D. 3.^5 
 
 and began to weep. This, however, was only a mo- 
 mentary burst of feeling ; he thought of the place in 
 ■which he stood, and the spirit-stirring associations con- 
 nected with it, and speedily his courage revived. From 
 that time he resolved to go forward, storing his mind 
 with useful knowledge, and seeking to discharge the 
 duties of his station until it should please the Almighty 
 to call him to another. For a short time he persevered, 
 but so deeply impressed had his master become with the 
 unfitness of the yomig man for the employment of a 
 bookseller, that, by his advdce, John left the shop, and 
 returned to the paternal roof. Thus relieved from the 
 painful restraint to which for some time he had been sub- 
 jected, young Marshman indulged anew his irrepressible 
 thirst for reading. He turned his attention to the study 
 of divinity, and he made himself master, as far as his 
 opportunities permitted, of the writings of the most 
 celebrated divines of every denomination. While thus 
 engaged at his leisure hours in the acquisition of theolo- 
 gical knowledge, he was earning his bread by assiduously 
 working at the loom. In this way he continued for 
 several years to combine diligence in business with ardour 
 in study, indicating a strength of mind and an energy 
 of purpose which formed perhaps the most remarkable 
 traits of his character. 
 
 Mr Marshman, at the age of twenty-three, married 
 the grand- daughter of the Rev. Mr Clarke, the Baptist 
 minister at Frome. This change in his domestic cir- 
 cumstances led him to desire a change in his employ- 
 ment. At length another situation presented itself. 
 The situation of teacher in a school in Bristol became 
 vacant, and, by the advice of his friends, he made appli- 
 
356 MEMOIR OF 
 
 cation for it. He was examined, according] }-, bj the 
 committee of management, and so highly were they 
 satisfied, that he was unanimously accepted. The 
 salary was small, being only £40 a-year, but, with the 
 leave of the directors, besides teaching in the public 
 school, he opened a seminary on his own account. This 
 last speculation was eminently successful. The number 
 of his pupils rapidly increased, and his fame as a teacher 
 spread widely. Among his pupils was numbered the 
 late excellent resident at Bagdad, Mr Rich, whose work 
 on Babylon is deservedly held in high estimation. Mr 
 Marshman, however, took advantage of his position at 
 Bristol to prosecute his studies in theology. He entered 
 the Baptist Academy, then under the able superinten- 
 dence of Dr Ryland, at whose suggestion he thought of 
 preparing for the ministry. During the six years which 
 he spent in Bristol he employed himself in acquiring a 
 thorough knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew lan- 
 guages, to which he subsequently added the Arabic and 
 Syriac. 
 
 The extensive store of learning which Mr Marshman 
 had thus amassed was destined to be of immense advan- 
 tage to him in his future career. In the course of Pro- 
 vidence a field of usefulness opened up before him, to the 
 due cultivation of which all his previous course of study 
 was admirably subservient. His preceptor, Dr Ryland, 
 as one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society, 
 took a deep interest in the cause of missions, and having 
 a high admiration of the remarkable gifts and qualifica- 
 tions of his pupil, proposed to him to engage in mis- 
 sionary work. Tlie subject was not new to ^Tr IMarsh- 
 man. He had often revolved the matter in his thoughts, 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 357 
 
 and he had formed an ardent wish to assist Dr Carey, 
 who had for six years previous been labouring in India. 
 He oifered his services to the Society, and was accepted. 
 Having been ordained to the honourable office of a 
 missionary, he set sail for India, in an American vessel, 
 along with Mr Grant, one of his own pupils, Mr Ward, 
 and Mr Brandon. On entering the Ganges they were 
 advised, instead of joining Dr Carey, to take up their 
 abode for a time at Serampore. Thither, accordingly, 
 they w^ent, and landed on the 13th October 1799. 
 
 At this period there unhappily existed, in the British 
 dominions in India, a most unwarranted jealousy of 
 missionaries, and to such an extent did this feeling exist, 
 not in one, but in every part under British sway, that it 
 was deemed expedient that Dr Carey, along with Messrs 
 Marshman and Ward, should reside at Serampore, which 
 was a Danish settlement about fourteen miles above 
 Calcutta, on the opposite side of the Hoogly, a branch 
 of the Ganges, Here these distinguished servants of the 
 Lord Jesus commenced their operations with an ardour 
 and a holy zeal worthy of the enterprise in which they 
 were engaged. The Society by which they had been 
 sent out was yet in its infancy, and its resources were 
 far from adequate to the demands made upon it. It 
 was fully expected, therefore, that the missionaries should 
 make every possible effort to support themselves and 
 their families. This object they were soon able to ac- 
 complish. Dr Carey became a Professor in the College 
 of Fort- William. Dr and Mrs Marshman opened a 
 boarding-school, and Mr AYard established a printing- 
 office. In this way these noble-minded men rendered 
 themselves entirely independent of all support from the 
 
358 MEMOIR OP 
 
 Society at home. They wrought as it were with their 
 own hands, that they might be burdensome to no man. 
 Anxious to advance to the uttermost the sacred cause to 
 which they had dedicated themselves, they resolved to 
 live together as one family, and to throw their united 
 incomes into one common stock ; and, conducting their 
 household expenses in the most economical manner, to 
 save as much as possible for the peculiar objects of the 
 mission. By this arrangement, under the blessing of 
 that God whose they were, and whom they served, they 
 were enabled to devote a large sum of money to the 
 extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. The opposition 
 which they were called to encounter was great and often 
 formidable, not only from the hostility of individuals, 
 but of the British Government ; and yet, such was the 
 prudence and energy which they manifested, that they 
 succeeded at length in securing the countenance and 
 respect of those by whom they had been most violently 
 opposed. Of them it might be said as of their Lord, 
 " When reviled, they reviled not again ; when they suf- 
 fered, they threatened not ; but committed themselves to 
 Him that judgeth righteously." Few men were ever 
 more calumniated than the truly self-denied missionaries 
 of Serampore. They stood in the front of the battle of 
 India Missions, and though compelled to occupy an out- 
 post for many years, so meekly and yet so firmly and 
 perseveringly did they maintain their ground, amid all 
 discouragement, that even their bitterest enemies were 
 compelled to award them the praise of pure benevolence, 
 of disinterested integrity. It is painful to think that 
 such is the injustice of ungodly men, that the very virtues 
 of Christians are too often misrepresented, and evil spoken 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 359 
 
 of. But the hour is fast coming -when " Wisdom shall he 
 justified of all her children." In reference to the charges 
 of worldliness and grasping cupidity which have so fre- 
 quently and so falsely been brought against Dr Marsh- 
 man and his colleagues, it may be well to cite the- testi- 
 mony of one who had ample opportunities of becoming 
 acquainted with the real facts of the case, — the devoted, 
 the apostolic Duff. In his valuable work, entitled, 
 'India and India Missions,' he thus remarks on this 
 subject, — " And what shall he (the author) say as to 
 the senior fraternity at Serampore now no more ? Often 
 since his return to Britain has he been pained to hear 
 these devoted men accused of worldly extravagance, 
 oriental pomp, princely grandeur, and sundry other 
 foibles, errors, and inconsistencies ! Knowing, from 
 ocular evidence, that these and such like charges were, 
 to say the least, most grossly exaggerated, he has ever 
 felt it a special privilege to have ha4 it in his power to 
 vindicate the name and memory of these venerated 
 labourers. What ! — men who, for thirty ov fortij years, 
 braved the noxious influences of a tropical clime, — taught 
 and preached the Gospel to thousands, and tens of 
 thousands, — gave versions of the Bible in whole or in 
 part, and more or less perfect, into the majority of the 
 Indian dialects ! — men who, besides supporting their own 
 family establishments, actually expended, for the pro- 
 motion of Christianity in India, from their own earnings^ 
 more than i^GO,000 ! — Talk of flaws and imperfections 
 in the multitudinous sayings and doings of such men ! — 
 would it not be miraculous, if none such could be de- 
 tected ? Owing to man's fallibility, errors in judgment 
 may lead to the projection of inadequate measures ; 
 
360 MEMOIR OF 
 
 owing to man's frailty, there may often be feebleness in 
 the execution of good ones. But in all Christendom, 
 let any three men be pointed out, who have done more 
 than Ward, Marshman, and Carey, to earn new trophies 
 for the Redeemer in the hitherto unconquered realms 
 of Paganism, — and then, but not till then, would the 
 author consent to remain silent when the first stone 
 was thrown at the noble, the immortal triumvirate of 
 Serampore ! " 
 
 It is impossible to enumerate within the narrow limits 
 of a brief memoir all the diversified plans to which the 
 Serampore missionaries resorted in carrying out the 
 important objects of the mission. Before the arrival of 
 Dr Marshman, his colleague, Dr Carey, had been em- 
 ployed in translating the Scriptures into Bengali ; and 
 besides this, the brethren set themselves to translate the 
 Scriptures into various languages spoken in India, as, for 
 example, the Hindu, the Orissa, the Mahratta, and the 
 Sanskrit. In addition to the dialects of India, Dr Marsh- 
 man entered upon the study of the Chinese language in 
 180G, and by dint of persevering and laborious application, 
 he succeeded in mastering that difficult and complicated 
 tongue. Besides publishing a Chinese Grammar, he 
 translated the Scriptures into that language, and in 1815 
 the New Testament was printed off, and in 1822 the 
 whole Bible was completed at press. The care and atten- 
 tion with which the translations executed by the Seram- 
 pore brethren were effected, may be perceived from the 
 following remarks penned by Dr Carey in 1805 : — " We 
 never print any translation until every word has been 
 revised and re-revised. Whatever helps we employ, I 
 have never yet suffered a single word, or a single mode 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 361 
 
 of construction, to pass, without examining it and seeing 
 through it. I read every proof-sheet twice or thrice 
 myself, and correct every letter with my own hand. 
 The Hindustani and Sanskrit I translate with my own 
 hand immediately from the Greek, and the Hebrew 
 Bible is before me while I translate from the Bengali. 
 Whatever helps I use, I commit my judgment to none 
 of them. Some mistakes may have escaped observation . 
 indeed, I never yet thought any thing perfect that I have 
 done. I have no scruple, however, in saying that I 
 believe every translation we have printed to be a good 
 one." In the printing of these translations, nothing 
 could exceed the caution which the brethren exercised. 
 Each version occupied from seven to twelve years in its 
 formation, and its passage through the press. Dr 
 Marshman and his companions persevered in the work 
 of translation from day to day, in the firm conviction 
 that eventually their labour would not be in vain. In 
 circulating the Sacred Volume, whether in whole or in 
 parts, the missionaries met with the utmost encourage- 
 ment. Everywhere tracts and portions of the Scriptures 
 were sought with the greatest avidity. The establish- 
 ment of native schools was another department of use- 
 fulness to which Dr Marshman and the brethren directed 
 much of their attention. It was not for several years 
 that this part of missionary work was commenced, but 
 the beneficial result of the schools, when instituted, soon 
 became apparent. The children not only acquired much 
 useful knowledge, but many of them became intimately 
 acquainted with the truth as it is in Jesus. One single 
 instance may be given as narrated by Dr JMarshman 
 himself: — 
 
oC2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " This boy wrote a beautiful hand, could read any 
 author in the English lanfjuajxe, was far advanced in the 
 higher rules of arithmetic, and, from the strength of his 
 memory, there was scarcely a chapter in the New Tes- 
 tament, and in great part of the Old, of which he had 
 not some knowledge. He could read, write, and speak 
 fluently the Hindu, Bengali, and Persian languages ; 
 but in the latter he excelled ; and so fond was he of im- 
 provement, with the view, it was to be hoped, of devoting 
 his talents to the service of Christ, that he prevailed upon 
 his father to relinquish his services as a writer, and to 
 use his interest to have him received upon the founda- 
 tion of Serampore College. His father consulting me, 
 I wrote to the Committee, who, on hearing of the youth's 
 pious wishes and his abilities, kindly came to the re- 
 solution to admit him as though he had been a mis- 
 sionary brother's child. I lost no time in communicat- 
 ing this welcome news to the youth, who appeared quite 
 overcome with feelings of joy and gratitude. But the 
 All- wise Disposer of events, whose ways are unsearch- 
 able and past finding out, had ordered things otherwise ; 
 a disordered spleen and liver, issuing in a consuming 
 dysentery, that baffled all the powers of medicine, soon 
 confined him to his bed, where he suffered much during 
 fourteen months, at the close of which he was removed 
 to those happy regions, where * sickness and sorrow, 
 pain and death, are felt and feared no more.' 
 
 " At the request of himself and his parents, I held a 
 meeting for prayer twice a-week at their quarters in the 
 military lines, nearly two miles from my residence, 
 where a small number of pious friends united with us 
 at those periods, which proved truly refreshing to the 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 303 
 
 youth's mind. Before worship commenced, he regularly- 
 caused his little couch to he removed to the hall in which 
 the meeting was held ; and, however restless at other 
 times, he then seemed to forget his sorrows, and showed 
 the most patient attention to the exhortations then de- 
 livered. I generally spent half an hour in private with 
 him after worship, and often heard him utter bitter com- 
 plaints respecting the obduracy and deceitfulness of his 
 own heart, and the sins of his past life, especially those 
 evils into which he had been drawn by profligate boys. 
 He also complained that now his memory, once so 
 powerful, seemed to fail him as it regarded many en- 
 couraging scriptures that were formerly engraven there- 
 on ; and although he had sufficient penetration to see 
 that this defect arose from physical causes, yet he felt 
 pungent grief that he had not made better use of the 
 inestimable gift when in his possession. However, he 
 endeavoured to supply this want, by getting his father, 
 and often some of his school-fellows, to read the Scrip- 
 tures to him. His patience, under such a long and 
 painful conflict, was truly astonishing. He ascribed it 
 to the tender mercy of God, that the rod was thus laid 
 on him by the Father of mercies, where the sword might 
 have been justly applied ; and although his pains often 
 deprived him of his recollection, he deemed them un- 
 worthy of notice when he recollected the torments 
 endured by the blessed Redeemer in dying to save a 
 guilty world. 
 
 " On the night of his departure, a meeting for prayer 
 was held at his father's, and by his own request he was 
 carried out in his couch, and joined in singing the 
 praises of God, until he became too weak to proceed. 
 
364 MEMOIR OF 
 
 But although in the cold embraces of death, he seemed 
 to drink in the sweet consolations of the Gospel with 
 avidity. When about to take leave of the family, I 
 asked the dying child how he felt, to which he replied, 
 ' Very comfortable.' I then, for the last time, inquired 
 if his views of Christ's boundless love and all-sufficient 
 grace were so clear as to support him under this his last 
 conflict. Upon this he clasped his hands together upon 
 his breast, looked towards heaven, and with strong em- 
 phasis replied, ' Yes ; the Lord Jesus Christ promises 
 that he will cast out none that come to the Father 
 through him.' He departed about an hour after I left 
 him without a groan or a struggle. He was laid in the 
 same grave with his brother, and his funeral afforded a 
 solemn season for an exhortation to the youths who at- 
 tended, that they would prepare to meet death, since 
 they could not tell at what hour the Son of man might 
 come to call them to account for the deeds done in the 
 body." 
 
 During a long period, as we have seen, the whole 
 ■weight of the Government influence, both in England 
 and India, was opposed to the missionary enterprise. 
 The period at length came, however, when, in conse- 
 quence of the proposal in 1813 to renew the charter of 
 the East India Company, the question as to the toleration 
 of missionaries in the British dominions in India was to 
 undergo a thorough discussion. Truth was triumphant, 
 and mainly, as Lord Hastings remarked in a conversa- 
 tion with the Serampore missionaries, owing to the 
 prudence, the zeal, and wisdom, which these devoted 
 men had manifested. They had studiously avoided in- 
 terfering in the remotest degree with political questions. 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. SC)5 
 
 and had sedulously, and Avith singleness of heart, prose- 
 cuted the high and holy objects of their mission. Their 
 conduct was therefore frequently pointed to as an evi- 
 dence that missionaries might labour for the conversion 
 of the heathen, without relaxing the ties which bound 
 the people to their rulers. Nay, as was well argued by 
 one of the ablest writers on the subject, the very circum- 
 stance that they were brought to the possession of the 
 same faith would knit the natives of India more closely 
 than ever to their British fellow-subjects. The passage 
 in which the Rev. Robert Hall urged upon the G overn- 
 ment the duty and even policy of authorising the labours 
 of missionaries in India is one of singular power and 
 beauty. " On that improvement of character," he pleads, 
 " which the cordial reception of revealed truth cannot 
 fail to operate, it will be easy to graft some of the best 
 habits and institutions of European nations, advancing 
 gradually through an interminable series of social order 
 and happiness. Under the fostering hand of religion, 
 reason Avill develope her resources, and philosophy mature 
 her fruits. Nor will the advantages accruing to the 
 British interests, from a change so salutary, be less 
 certain, or less important. The possession of the same 
 faith will occasion such an approximation of the habits 
 and sentiments of the natives to our own, as Avill render 
 the union firm, by rendering it cordial. While a total 
 opposition in their views on the most important points 
 subsists betwixt the sovereign and the subjects, — while 
 objects adored by the one are held in contempt and 
 abhorrence by the other, — they may be artificially con- 
 nected, but it is impossible they should be united ; it is 
 rather a juxtaposition of inanimate parts, than a union 
 
8GG MEMOIR OF 
 
 of minds. In such a situation the social tie wants that 
 cementing principle which is requisite to give it strength 
 and stability ; it is a strained and unnatural position, in 
 which things are held contrary to their native hent ; in 
 which authority is upheld merely by force, without deriv- 
 ing support from that sympathy of congenial sentiment 
 which forms its truest basis. Hence the precarious tenure 
 by which European states have successively held dominion 
 in India, where all has been submitted to the arbitration 
 of the sword ; where the moment force has been with- 
 drawn or relaxed, authority has ceased, and each, in its 
 turn, has gained a transient ascendency, none a firm and 
 tranquil possession. In order to obviate the mischiefs 
 arising from such a state of things, it Is extremely de- 
 sirable, providing it be practicable, to impart to our sub- 
 jects In the East some principle which shall draw them 
 into closer contact with the ruling power ; and what 
 principle equally operative and efiicient with the posses- 
 sion of a common religion? Though the universal 
 diifusion of Christianity over India will probably be a 
 work of time, its influence in strengthening the social 
 compact, by augmenting the attachment of the natives, 
 will be uniformly progressive ; and while external tran- 
 quillity is secured, by the superiority of our policy and our 
 arms, we shall every year be making our way Into their 
 hearts ; we shall be establishing an interior dominion, 
 and may confidently reckon on the unshaken fidelity of 
 every Christian convert. This is not mere conjecture ; 
 for in all the trying vicissitudes experienced by the 
 British interests in India, the Hindoo Christians have 
 invariably approved themselves our firmest friends and 
 abettors." 
 
THE REV. J. MARSIIMAN, D.D. SG7 
 
 The object for which Mr Hall and many other pious 
 men so earnestly pleaded was accomplished, at least as 
 to its practical results. Into the act which passed the 
 British Parliament in 1813, for the renewal of the 
 charter of the East India Company, four clauses were 
 introduced, giving the sanction of the Legislature to 
 missionary efforts in India. 
 
 The obstacles being now removed which had so lonjj 
 prevented effectual steps being taken for the Christiani- 
 zation of India, the attention of the frienels of true 
 religion began to be directed to the best means for 
 accomplishing an object so desirable. Native schools 
 for Hindoo boys were opened in 1816, and the Seram- 
 pore missionaries, as a body, began by subscribing three 
 thousand rupees, or £300. Elementary schools, how- 
 ever, it was soon felt, could do little towards furnishing 
 the natives wdth the knowledge requisite for so great a 
 work as propagating Christianity in a country like India. 
 An institution of a higher kind appeared to be absolute- 
 ly necessary to the accomplishment of the grand design, 
 that of rearing native preachers to go forth and commu- 
 nicate the Gospel to their idolatrous fellow-countrymen. 
 Hence originated the Serarapore College, a prospectus 
 of which was submitted by the missionaries, in 1818, to 
 the Marquis of Hastings, and to the Indian public in 
 general. The plan was approved by his Lordship, as 
 well as by the warmest friends of Christianity of various 
 denominations. Thus encouraged, the missionaries pro- 
 cured suitable ground, and in ]820 commenced the 
 buildings with the proceeds of their own labours, hoping 
 that with God's blessing they might be enabled to com- 
 plete the whole by degrees. In the beginning of the 
 
8G8 MEMOIR OP 
 
 following year, liis Danish Majesty, to whom a prospectus 
 of the college had been submitted, sent a letter to the 
 governor of Serampore, approving of the institution, and 
 directing the governor to present to the Serampore mis- 
 sionaries, in trust for it, a house and garden contiguous 
 to their dwellings, to be applied to the support of the 
 college. This donation, though comparatively trifling 
 in amount, was nevertheless regarded by the mission- 
 aries as a token of Divine goodness, encouraging them 
 to proceed in their arduous undertaking. In a few 
 months the cheerinp: intelligence reached them that 
 upwards of £2000 had been subscribed in England 
 tow\^rds the support of the college, and as much in 
 America. In Scotland no less than £l300 were raised 
 for the same object, five hundred of which was given by 
 James Douglas, Esq. of Cavers, to be applied to the 
 purchase of philosophical apparatus. The Serampore 
 brethren had taken on themselves the pecuniary respon- 
 sibility of erecting the buildings ; and accordingly, the 
 money which had been contributed was vested in trus- 
 tees for the annual support of the college. 
 
 Towards the close of 1825, it was proposed that Dr 
 Marshman should revisit his native land, for the pur- 
 pose of laying before the friends of religion in Britain 
 the actual state and prospects of the college, in its bear- 
 ing upon the propagation of the Gospel in India. He 
 had been absent twenty-seven years from England, and 
 he was naturally not unwilling to comply with the re- 
 quest of his colleagues. In the course of this visit to 
 the land of his birth he travelled through the United 
 Kingdom, and by his public addresses, as well as his 
 private conversation, he gave a great impulse to the 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 3G9 
 
 cause of Missions. He visited Denmark with the view 
 of procuring from the king of that country a charter of 
 incorporation for the college at Serampore. He was 
 received with the utmost kindness, and his majesty 
 having expressed the warm interest which he felt in an 
 institution calculated to prove of inestimable advan- 
 tage to the natives of India, readily granted a charter of 
 incorporation, giving the college power to hold lands, 
 to sue and he sued at law, and to confer degrees in the 
 various branches of learning which might be cultivated 
 there. 
 
 Dr Marshman availed himself of the opportunity 
 which his visit to England afforded, to lay before the 
 committee of the Baptist Missionary Society an earnest 
 application from himself and his colleagues, for pecu- 
 niary aid, to enable them to support the missionary 
 stations which they had succeeded in establishing. After 
 full discussion it was agreed, on the proposal of Dr 
 Marshman, that one-tenth of the general receipts of the 
 Society should be remitted to Serampore, — it being 
 stipulated, at the same time, on the part of the commit- 
 tee, that regular information should be given of the 
 mode in which the money so voted was expended. In 
 less than three months, Dr IMarshman, in consequence 
 of letters which he had received from Dr Carey and Mr 
 J. Marshman, informed the committee that the expenses 
 of the Serampore stations had materially increased, and 
 proposed that a sixth part of the Society's income should 
 be dedicated to their support. This proposal gave rise 
 to a very keen and angry discussion in the committee; 
 and the Rev. Robert Hall, who took a deep interest in 
 the proceedings of the Baptist Society, addressed a letter 
 2 A 
 
370 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to the committee, In which he animadverted in strong 
 language on the attempt, as he imagined it, to concuss the 
 Society into the adoption of a measure the most unrea- 
 sonable and absurd. The following short paragraph from 
 his letter embodies the chief burden of his charge : — 
 
 " Dr Marshman, it seems, as the representative of 
 the brethren at Serampore, has instituted a demand of 
 one-sixth of all the money collected or subscribed towards 
 the Society, to be paid annually in aid of the missionary 
 operations going on there. It must strike every one as 
 strange, that this demand should almost immediately 
 follow a preceding one which was acceded to, which he 
 then professed to consider as perfectly satisfactory, and 
 as putting a final termination to all dispute or discussion 
 on the subject of pecuniary claims — that, notwithstand- 
 ing this, he should now bring forward a fresh requisi- 
 tion of one-sixth of the same amount, accompanied, as 
 I am informed, by an intimation, that it is possible this 
 may not be his ultimatum. This proceeding has all the 
 appearance of a tentative process, designed to ascertain 
 how far our anxiety to avoid a breach will prompt us to 
 submit to his encroachments. What security have we 
 against future requisitions if we yield to the present ? 
 What reason to suppose our ready compliance in this 
 instance will not encourage him to embrace an early 
 opportunity of making further demands ? It has all the 
 appearance of the commencement of a series of un- 
 founded pretensions and endless exactions." 
 
 Had Mr Hall been aware of the true state of matters, 
 he would never have penned such an unqualified invec- 
 tive against a class of men characterised by the most 
 noble generosity and disinterestedness. The applica- 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 371 
 
 tion in question was made by Dr Marshman at a time 
 when the Serampore brethren, having expended so much 
 money on the buildings of the college, felt themselves 
 in circumstances of peculiar difficulty, and were afraid 
 that they might be compelled to abandon some of the 
 stations they had begun to occupy with high prospect 
 of success. The consequence, however, of so large a 
 demand being made upon their funds, was, that a com- 
 plete misunderstanding took place between the Society 
 and Dr Marshman, which ended in the Serampore mis- 
 sionaries being declared completely independent, and 
 invested vnih the sole charge and responsibility of the 
 college, and the mission stations connected with it. 
 
 In these altered circumstances did Dr Marshman 
 return to India, and join Dr Carey and his associates in 
 superintending the mission. The brethren were firmly 
 united to one another, and with one heart they carried 
 forward the great work in which they were engaged. 
 Whatever differences might subsist between them and 
 the Society at home, no differences subsisted among 
 themselves. In every department of missionary opera- 
 tion, in preaching the glorious Gospel of the Son of God, 
 in translating the Scriptures into the various languages 
 and dialects of India, in establishing and superintending 
 stations and schools, and in discharging the laborious 
 duties of the College, they employed themselves with an 
 ardour and enthusiasm which no difficulties could either 
 damp or discourage. They suffered much, no doubt, 
 from the reproach and unjust aspersions of the slanderer, 
 but feeling that theirs was a work which God himself 
 had owned with many marked tokens of his approval, 
 they felt it to be a very small thing to be judged of 
 
372 MEMOIR OF 
 
 mail's judgment, but humbly, yet confidently, committed 
 themselves to Him that judgeth righteously. It has 
 been the lot of God's faithful servants in every age to 
 have their motives misrepresented and their characters 
 calumniated, but in this there is no ground for discour- 
 agement or alarm. " If they called the Master of the 
 house Beelzebub," the very prince of devils, " how much 
 more will they call those of his household ? " " The dis- 
 ciple cannot expect to be better treated than his Master, 
 nor the servant than his Lord," but it is enough surely 
 for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant 
 as his Lord. Such was the experience of the Serampore 
 missionaries, and accordingly they continued stedfast and 
 immoveable in the work of the Lord, knowing that 
 their labour in the Lord would not be in vain. In the 
 world they had tribulation, but their trials were far 
 more than counterbalanced by the thought that in Christ 
 they had peace. 
 
 While thus busily engaged in the service of their 
 Master, and in the patient endurance of that obloquy 
 which was cast upon them by an ungodly world, the 
 little band of faithful brethren were called to suffer a 
 very painful bereavement, in the loss of one to whom 
 they had been accustomed to look for counsel amid all 
 their difficulties, — the venerable Carey. Summoned 
 from his labours in a good old age, death was no doubt 
 to him an unspeakable gain ; but the loss was deeply 
 felt by all the brethren, and more especially by Dr 
 Marshman, who had been associated with him for thirty- 
 five years. During the whole of that long period they 
 had laboured together with such perseverance and suc- 
 cess, that, by the Divine blessing oa their exertions and 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 373 
 
 those of their colleagues, they had printed and circu- 
 lated the New Testament, previously to the death of Dr 
 Carey, in no fewer than twenty-four different dialects. 
 Besides this wonderful achievement, they had carried 
 forward all the other departments of the missionary 
 work, with a harmony of feeling and unity of purpose, 
 which were throughout unbroken and uninterrupted. 
 They had one common purse, and from their united 
 fund they had expended several thousand pounds every 
 year in the promotion of the Redeemer's cause, and the 
 advancement of his kingdom. They have been repre- 
 sented as rapacious of money, as possessed of large 
 pecuniary resources ; and it has been alleged, that though 
 they had performed deeds which deserve a place in the 
 records of religious history, the merit of their perfor- 
 mances was spoiled by a grasping selfishness and an 
 exorbitant arrogance. This charge, unfounded though 
 it be, is sometimes even yet made against Marshman 
 and Carey, men who, for more than twenty years, nether 
 received nor asked the slightest assistance from the So- 
 ciety with which they were connected, and who not only 
 gave their valuable services in every department of the 
 mission gratuitously, but actually contributed from their 
 own resources the greater part of the funds by which the 
 whole establishment at Serampore was maintained. To 
 accuse such men of avarice and selfishness, betrays, we 
 fear, a heart which can ill appreciate the high Christian 
 generosity and disinterestedness by which these men of 
 God were actuated. 
 
 Dr Marshman bore the loss which he sustained in the 
 death of his venerable colleague with more firmness than 
 was expected, but still it was obvious to his friends and 
 
d i 4 MEMOIR OP 
 
 family that the painful event had made a deep impres- 
 sion upon his mind. A perceptible sadness and thought- 
 ful melancholy settled down upon his countenance. He 
 appeared very frequently silent and abstracted, as if his 
 mind were engaged in musing upon some object of en- 
 grossing contemplation. 
 
 " When Heaven would kindly set us free, 
 And earth's enchantment end ; 
 It takes the most effectual way, 
 And robs us of a friend." 
 
 It was plain to all around him that Dr Marshman's 
 attachment to earth was every day diminishing. He 
 felt more and more that he was a pilgrim and a stranger, 
 and as one of the strongest ties which bound him to 
 earth had been broken, he longed to flee away and be 
 at rest 
 
 " In that bright world above, 
 Where parting is unknown ; 
 A long eternity of love, 
 
 Formed for the good alone." 
 
 But though his heart and his hopes were obviously 
 in heaven, Dr Marshman continued to engage with un- 
 diminished interest in the affairs of the mission. His 
 mind still displayed its wonted activity, until a severe 
 domestic calamity, which befell him in the October of 
 that year on which he died, produced so severe a shock 
 on his feelings, that his constitution, already shattered 
 by advancing infirmities, seemed in danger of giving 
 way. His kind medical friends endeavoured, by the 
 utmost care and attention, to strengthen and support his 
 daily weakening frame. For a time he seemed to rally, 
 and his wonted energy to return, but it was only for a 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 375 
 
 iDrief season. His strength diminished, and he gradually 
 sunk, until on Tuesday, the 5th of December 1837, the 
 earthly house of this tabernacle was at length dissolved, 
 and he entered into full possession of his heavenly rest. 
 Few men could be pointed out who have ever entered 
 the missionary field, that were more fully qualified in all 
 respects for the exalted and arduous ofiice of an ambas- 
 sador of Christ to the heathen. Both in respect of his 
 bodily and mental qualities, he was eminently fitted to 
 discharge the work of a Christian soldier called to oc- 
 cupy the high places of the field. His frame was tall, 
 well built, and athletic. Though exposed to all the 
 severities of an Indian climate for nearly forty years, he 
 retained a strong healthy constitution, capable of en- 
 during great fatigue, and of undergoing an extent of 
 labour almost incredible. When the pressure of busi- 
 ness called for extraordinary exertion, or a diminution of 
 his usual quantity of repose often for days together, he 
 appeared to suffer little or no inconvenience. "Whether 
 employed in the sedentary work of translating, or in 
 the more active work of preaching the Gospel, he per- 
 severed in long continued exertions, without appar- 
 ently experiencing the slightest abatement of his mental 
 energy, or of his bodily vigour. He seemed to live for 
 his work. The spirit by which he was actuated was 
 akin to that of Him who declared, " My meat is to do 
 the will of Him that sent me, and to finish his work." 
 And even at his latest moments, when enfeebled by a 
 severe disease, and the lamp of life was about to be ex- 
 tinguished, we find him engrossed with the thought of 
 that noble cause to which his whole living energies had 
 been devoted, and asking at those around him, as if 
 
87 G MEMOIR OF 
 
 with a holy Impatience to advance by one effort more 
 the kingdom of his risen and exalted Redeemer, "' Can 
 you think of any thing I can yet do for it ? " This was 
 indeed the ruling passion strong in death. It was the 
 bright and glorious setting of a sun which had shone 
 with unwonted brilliance through a long series of years. 
 A Christian is truly the highest style of man ; but a 
 Christian missionary who has lived and laboured for 
 forty long years in the service of his Lord, and who, 
 worn out with the hardships and the trials to which he 
 has been exposed, lies down in calm tranquillity to heave 
 his latest sigh, and to breathe out his latest prayer, that 
 the kingdom of Christ may come, — we know not a 
 finer picture that could meet the eye of either man or 
 angel. And such was the death-bed of Dr Marshman. 
 He had fought the good fight, he had finished his course, 
 and he felt that there was laid up for him a crown of 
 glory that fadeth not away. 
 
 On the mental and spiritual characteristics of the 
 subject of our present memoir, it is scarcely necessary 
 to dilate. These are suf&ciently prominent to attract 
 the notice of even the most careless reader of Dr Marsh- 
 man's history. His mind was naturally acute, vigorous 
 and discriminating in no ordinary degree. His strength 
 of memory was one of the most remarkable features of 
 his intellectual character. He recalled facts, with all 
 their minute associations, with the utmost facility. Nor 
 did this faculty become weakened by the advance of years : 
 it continued in all its vigour to the last. In the course 
 of his last illness, though unable to turn himself upon his 
 couch, he dictated to his daughter, Mrs Voigt, his recollec- 
 tions of the early establishment of the mission at Seram- 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 377 
 
 pore with a clearness and minuteness truly astonishing. 
 The vast stores of knowledge which he had laid up in 
 early life, and to which he was constantly making addi- 
 tions, rendered intercourse with him peculiarly pleasing 
 and instructive. His conversation was rich, varied and 
 entertaining. He spoke upon almost any subject with a 
 fluency and extent of information, which stamped him 
 at once as an intelligent and a learned man. It Avas im- 
 possible to be in his company even for a short period 
 without recognising in him a man of strong judgment 
 as well as of extensive and varied attainments. These 
 talents and accj[uirements, which might have done honour 
 to any station or employment, he readily consecrated to 
 the service of his Lord and Master. Piety, indeed, was 
 the predominant feature of his character, and while, 
 therefore, from the peculiar arrangements of the mission 
 in which he was engaged, much of his time was neces- 
 sarily devoted to the literary department of the work, he 
 delighted much in preaching the glorious Gospel of Christ 
 to the poor benighted heathen. After all, it must be 
 admitted, whatever other means are judged expedient in 
 carrying forward the conversion of the world, it is by 
 the foolishness of preaching that the great work will be 
 chiefly accomplished. "Of all methods for diffusing 
 religion," says Mr Douglas of Cavers, " preaching is the 
 most efficient. Other methods are indirect and prepa- 
 ratory ; but the simple proclaiming of the Gospel has, 
 in all ages, been attended with the most transforming 
 efficacy, elevating the few who have cordially accepted 
 it into a higher and happier state of being, and even 
 raising the many who have rejected it, to a better system 
 of moral opinions. It is to preaching that Christianity 
 
878 MEMOIR OP 
 
 owes its origin, its continuance, and its progress ; and it 
 is to itinerant preaching that we owe the conversion of 
 the Roman world from Paganism to primitive Christi- 
 anity, our own freedom from the thraldom of Popery, in 
 the success of the Reformation, and the revival of Chris- 
 tianity in the present day from the depression which it 
 had undergone owing to the prevalence of infidelity and 
 of indifference." In the early ages of Christianity this 
 was the only means to which the missionaries of the 
 Cross resorted. And thus has it ever been where the 
 truth has won an entrance into the hearts of men. It has 
 been chiefly, if not almost entirely, when ministers and 
 missionaries were active and energetic in their obedience 
 to the command of Christ, " Go ye into all the world, 
 and preach the Gospel to every creature." It was in 
 fulfilment of this divine injunction that Dr Marshman 
 had become an exile from the land of his fathers, and, 
 animated by the same spirit, he embraced every oppor- 
 tunity of preaching Jesus to the ignorant idolaters among 
 ■whom the greater part of his life was spent. 
 
 There cannot be a doubt that the Serampore mission- 
 aries, commencing their operations at an early period in 
 the history of missions, felt that they must necessarily 
 devote their attention to many objects which are apt to 
 be considered as of a merely collateral and subsidiary 
 kind, such as the translation of the Scriptures, the pre- 
 paration and distribution of tracts in various languages, 
 and the establishment and superintendence of native 
 schools. But whatever may be the comparative value 
 of these objects, when viewed side by side with the 
 preaching of the Word, they are nevertheless objects 
 which cannot be neglected without involving the 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 379 
 
 missionary in a solemn and weighty charge of guilt. 
 Dr Marshman deeply felt this, and while, therefore, he 
 preached the Gospel laboriously and with fervour, he 
 sought also assiduously to avail himself of all the means 
 within his reach for diffusing the truth among the ido- 
 latrous heathen. No man was more deeply impressed 
 than he with the pre-eminent importance of preaching, 
 and that 
 
 " 'Tis when the Cross is preached, and only then, 
 That from the pulpit a mysterious power 
 Goes forth to renovate the moral man. 
 
 He that without it wields 
 The sacred sword, at best in mock display 
 A useless weapon flourishes in its sheath ; 
 None feel its edge — none fear it." 
 
 But while such a view of the scriptural efficacy and 
 power of preaching, as the divinely appointed ordinance 
 for saving men's souls, was ever present to his mind, he 
 saw what every missionary cannot fail to see, — that the 
 press is a powerful auxiliary to the pulpit. The Bible 
 and the tract are silent, but, by the blessing of the 
 Spirit, often the most effective, instruments in the work 
 of conversion. How often have missionaries met with 
 individuals in heathen lands, who seemed evidently to 
 have arrived at a saving knowledge of the truth, although 
 they had never been privileged to hear a single sermon 
 from the lips of a living instructor. The New Testa- 
 ment, perhaps, or a faithful, well written exposition of 
 the Gospel in the form of a tract, had providentially 
 come into their hands, been perused by them with care, 
 and rendered instrumental, by the blessing of God, in 
 enlightening the darkened understanding, and turning 
 the soul effectually to God. In this way lights have 
 
380 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sometimes been unexpectedly found to have been shining 
 for months and even years in districts where the foot of 
 a missionary had never trod. It were unwise, therefore, 
 to undervalue the other means besides preaching which 
 those who are engaged in the missionary field judge it 
 their duty to adopt. The Spirit is sovereign in his 
 operations, and it is often the very instrument which we, 
 in our ignorance, may deem most unlikely to convert the 
 ungodly sinner, that is honoured of God to accomplish 
 this great work. The great Apostle of the Gentiles has 
 stated, that " God has chosen the weak things of the 
 world to confound the things which are mighty ; and 
 base things of the world, and things which are despised, 
 hath God chosen; yea, and things which are not, to 
 bring to nought things which are, — that no flesh should 
 glory in his presence." This inspired declaration has 
 been often fulfilled in the annals of missions, and it 
 ought to impress us habitually with the thought, that 
 " the excellency of the power is of God, and not of man." 
 Unassisted human agency is as completely inadequate to 
 the conversion of the soul as it is to the creation of a 
 world. " It is not by might, nor by power, but by my 
 Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts." Under the habitual 
 conviction of this great truth, the Serampore brethren 
 lived and laboured. In the midst of unwearied zeal, 
 indomitable energy, and the most encouraging success, 
 all the glory was ever ascribed to Him to whom alone 
 it was due. Humble and self-denying, Dr Marshman 
 had consecrated all that he had and all that he was to 
 the service of his Lord ; and after devoting the greater 
 part of a long life to the glorious work of a missionary 
 among the heathen, he left behind him, of all his own 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 381 
 
 earnings for thirty-eight years, no more than the amount 
 of a single year's income of his seminary in its palmy 
 days. Not that Dr Marshman had neglected the oppor- 
 tunities -which his position afforded of providing for 
 himself and his family. So far from this being the case, 
 he and the other Serampore brethren earned by their 
 industry sufficient pecuniary resources to enable them to 
 labour without burdening the Society at home, and they 
 were enabled besides to spend a very handsome sum 
 yearly in the advancement of the good cause. The 
 spirit, indeed, by which they were animated was that 
 of the apostle, — " I seek not yours, but you." Often 
 have their motives been maligned and their characters 
 traduced, as if they had been actuated by no higher 
 motive than a sordid desire of amassing wealth. Such 
 a charge has been brought, in many different forms, 
 against the Serampore missionaries ; and although the 
 uniform testimony of their fellow-labourers in India has 
 been in their favour, the accusation has been preferred 
 with a pertinacity which is exceedingly painful. In vain 
 have the circumstances been detailed which led them to 
 adopt a more independent course than is usually followed 
 by missionaries in heathen lands. In vain has it been 
 pleaded, that in the infancy of the Baptist Society, with 
 which they were connected, the funds were unable to 
 bear the pressure, without an effort on the part of their 
 missionaries towards their own maintenance. In vain 
 has it been urged that more extensive good was accom- 
 plished, — the great purposes of the mission were more 
 effectually subserved by the plans to which the brethren 
 resorted, than they could have been by the scanty re- 
 sources which the home Society could have afforded. 
 
8S2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 All such defences, all such explanations, have been un- 
 availing, and the enemies of missions have persisted in 
 vilifying Dr Marshman and the other brethren. But 
 their record is on high. God is not unrighteous to for- 
 get their work and labour of love ; and though the world 
 may be unable to understand or to appreciate the high 
 Christian principle by which they w^ere influenced, theirs 
 has long ere now been the welcome invitation, — " Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world." "Well 
 done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of 
 your Lord." 
 
 Even in this life there is not a trial which the faith- 
 ful missionary can be called to endure, nor a sacrifice 
 which he can be called to make, which is not attended 
 with a corresponding degree of support and consolation. 
 No one experiences more intensely, in all its refreshing 
 influence, the luxury of doing good. Every new token 
 of success which his Divine Master is pleased to impart, 
 every new proof which he receives that his labours are 
 owned by the Spirit of God, affords to him an indescribable 
 satisfaction. His very afflictions are made the blessed 
 instruments of carrying forward the work of grace in his 
 soul. " We offer you," said the Rev. Melville Home, 
 when encouraging ministers to become missionaries 
 abroad, " the first honours of the Church, — your Master's 
 cup, his baptism, the fellowship of his sufferings, a con- 
 formity to His life who had not where to lay his head, 
 and a conformity to His death who expired on a cross. 
 What more can you covet, than to fight conspicuous 
 on the sharpest edge of war, under the immediate eye 
 of the Captain of our salvation, and sheltered under 
 
THE REV. J. MARSHMAN, D.D. 383 
 
 his arm until you die at his feet, and, it may be, have 
 your pale brows graced with a martyr's crown ? Is 
 not this the consummation of all Christian ambition ? 
 enough to satiate the infinite thirst of glory, which Christ 
 excites in the soldiers of the Cross. In comparison of 
 this, how poor is it to fall like Nelson, in the arms of 
 victory, crowned with stars, and laurels, and honourable 
 wounds, and to be embalmed with a nation's tears ! " 
 
 And if the missionary's reward in this life be glorious 
 and exalted, what language shall describe the reward 
 which awaits him at the resurrection of the just, when 
 he shall have finished his earthly course, accomplished 
 the work committed to him, and gone to give an account 
 of his labours to the great Judge of all. Who can con- 
 ceive the blessedness of that hour to the faithful and 
 devoted missionary of the Cross ! Many a sigh did he 
 heave while on earth over his weakness and unprofit- 
 ableness, but now shall he stand surrounded with those 
 whom he had the happiness of recognising as his chil- 
 dren in the faith, and ready along ^vith them to celebrate 
 the praises of Him that sitteth on the throne, and of the 
 Lamb for ever and ever. Both the missionary and his 
 converts will then acknowledge their obligation to the 
 free unmerited grace of God, and casting their crowns 
 before the throne, will exclaim, Worthy the Lamb that 
 was slain, for He was slain for us. But the honoured 
 minister and missionary whose life has been spent in 
 seeking to win souls to the Redeemer, who has been in 
 labours abundant, in trials manifold, and by whose un- 
 ceasing exertions many brands have been plucked from 
 the burning, many weary souls refreshed, many discon- 
 solate souls comforted, and many nourished with that 
 
884 MEMOIR OP THE REV. J. MARSIlMAxV, D.D. 
 
 bread which endureth unto everlasting life, he and he 
 alone shall experience in all its inexhaustible fulness the 
 truth of the divine declaration, "They that be Avise 
 shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they 
 that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever 
 and ever."\ 
 
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