Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 
 London, PublisTied ty J. Hate-hard * Son. 187, Piccadjly.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE 
 
 OF THE REVEREND 
 
 CHRISTIAN FREDERICK SWARTZ. 
 
 TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA. 
 
 BY 
 
 HUGH PEARSON, D.D. M.R.A.S. 
 
 DEAN OF SALISBURY. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 J. HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. 
 
 1835.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 IBOTSON AND PALMER, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.
 
 THE RIGHT REVEREND 
 
 DANIEL, 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF CALCUTTA, 
 THE FOLLOWING MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE VENERABLE AND APOSTOLIC SWARTZ, 
 
 THE SCENE OF WHOSE LABOURS 
 FORMS PART OF THE EXTENSIVE DIOCESE 
 
 OVER WHICH 
 
 HIS LORDSHIP HAS BEEN SO HAPPILY CALLED TO PRESIDE, 
 
 ARE, 
 
 IN TESTIMONY OF A LONG AND MOST ENDEARED 
 FRIENDSHIP, 
 
 AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 IT has long been a subject of regret with all who 
 take an interest in the diffusion of Christianity 
 among the heathen, more particularly in our 
 Eastern empire, that a fuller account of the 
 venerable Swartz, the most celebrated missionary 
 of modern times, than has hitherto appeared, 
 should not have been presented to the world. 
 The general outline, and the more prominent 
 events of his history, together with various ex- 
 tracts from his journals and letters, have, indeed, 
 been extensively circulated, both in this country 
 and on the continent ; but his commanding views 
 and principles as a Christian teacher, the interior
 
 vin PREFACE. 
 
 springs and motives of his conduct, together with 
 much both of his public and private correspond- 
 ence, and with many important and interesting 
 particulars of his life, more especially with refer- 
 ence to some of the native princes, and to the 
 government of India, and its grand and instruc- 
 tive impression as a whole, have been as yet but 
 imperfectly and partially communicated. 
 
 One of Mr. Swartz's most eminent fellow- 
 labourers, the late Mr. Gericke, long cherished 
 the intention of thus honouring the memory of his 
 revered predecessor. " I think it my duty," he 
 observes, in a letter to a mutual correspondent 
 in England, " to write the life of our late worthy 
 friend, Mr. Swartz, though he himself was against 
 it, and never would consent to commit to paper 
 any particular passages in his life, which Dr. 
 John and myself often begged him to do ; but 
 my time is too much taken up, both with the 
 business I always had, and with the care which I 
 have, since Mr. Swartz's death, of his congrega- 
 tions between Tanjore and Cape Comorin. I in- 
 tend, however, to do it still, if God spares my 
 life. In the mean time, I have satisfied my Ger-
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 man friends with a narrative of his last days and 
 dying hours. I had only to write what I saw 
 and heard, being then with him at Tanjore." The 
 preceding extract was written about three years 
 after the death of Swartz, and in little more than 
 two years from that time, Mr. Gericke was himself 
 removed from the world, without accomplishing 
 the work for which he was in many respects pecu- 
 liarly qualified. 
 
 The same cause which prevented this excellent 
 man from fulfilling so gratifying a duty, equally 
 precluded Mr. Kohlhoff, the pious coadjutor and 
 successor of Mr. Swartz in the mission at Tan- 
 jore, from doing more than transmitting to the 
 Society, in whose service he was engaged, an en- 
 larged and detailed account of the closing scene 
 in the life of his venerable friend and father. 
 
 The late Dr. Buchanan, when requested, while 
 at Calcutta, to write the life of Swartz, replied, 
 that independently of his want of leisure, the 
 good missionary had left no papers, and had ever 
 deprecated posthumous praise. When, however, 
 a few years afterwards, he visited Tanjore, he was 
 so impressed and animated by what he saw and
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 heard of Mr. Swartz, amidst that flourishing scene 
 of his labours, that he made many inquiries of 
 Mr. Kohlhoff and his brethren respecting their 
 eminent predecessor, and engaged them to trans- 
 mit to him the result of their recollections and re- 
 searches. About three years after his return to 
 Europe, Mr. Kohlhoff and Mr. Horst fulfilled 
 this promise, by sending to Dr. Buchanan some 
 valuable materials for the biography of Swartz, 
 comprising a narrative of his life from his birth 
 in 1726 to the year 1758, compiled chiefly from 
 the missionary accounts published in Germany, 
 together with copies of several of his manu- 
 script sermons. In transmitting these docu- 
 ments, Mr. Horst expressed his hope of send- 
 ing the rest of the narrative in the following 
 year. This design, however, was unhappily 
 frustrated by his own premature decease ; and 
 Mr. Kohlhoff was too much occupied with the 
 labours of the mission to be able to fulfil his in- 
 tention. To the materials thus imperfectly fur- 
 nished from India, Dr. Buchanan added a series 
 of extracts from the Reports of the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge relative to Mr.
 
 PREFACE. xi 
 
 Swartz ; but his various labours in the cause of 
 Christianity in India, and the failure of his health, 
 prevented him from making any further progress 
 in this work. 
 
 From the period when my attention was first 
 directed to the promotion of Christianity in India 
 by the prize Essay, proposed by Dr. Buchanan to 
 the University of Oxford, I have been deeply inter- 
 ested in the character of the apostolic Swartz. 
 Finding, therefore, while preparing the life of Dr. 
 Buchanan, that he had collected some materials 
 for that of the great missionary, I requested the 
 executors of that zealous and munificent friend of 
 missions, to allow me the use of those papers in 
 compiling a fuller memoir of Mr. Swartz. This 
 request having been kindly granted, my next ob- 
 ject was to add to the collection from every 
 quarter. My first application was to the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, conceiving 
 that its manuscript records might contain much 
 that would illustrate the spirit and character of 
 its revered missionary. It was, however, stated 
 in reply, that the Society was not aware of the 
 existence of any such papers ; and that whatever
 
 xu PREFACE. 
 
 it had deemed proper for publication in the letters 
 of Mr. Swartz, had been regularly printed in its 
 annual reports ; a reply, the correctness of which, 
 however it may excite surprise or regret, is con- 
 firmed by the absence of any other incidents than 
 those contained in the published reports, in the 
 sketch of the life of Swartz by another member of 
 the Society, 1 to whom, as it appears from his ac- 
 knowledgments, permission of access to its archives 
 was some years afterwards liberally afforded. 
 
 Failing as to this source of additional materials, 
 I had recourse to my much esteemed friend the 
 Rev. Dr. Steinkopff, at that time foreign secretary 
 to the Bible Society, to procure from the German 
 missionary correspondence, published at Halle, 
 such extracts from the journals and letters of Mr. 
 Swartz, as he might deem best calculated to 
 promote my object in a memoir of his life and 
 character. Dr. Steinkopff most readily undertook 
 this task ; and after making various inquiries of 
 his friends at Halle, engaged the assistance of 
 Mr. Falcke, a native of Hanover, who had been 
 recommended by the Rev. Dr. Knapp, professor 
 
 The Rev. E. \V. Grinfield.
 
 PREFACE. Xiu 
 
 of divinity in that university, to be employed as a 
 missionary by the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, in making the proposed selections. 
 
 This pious young man was detained for several 
 months in England, in the year 1821, by a severe 
 accident, during which time he completed a series 
 of such extracts, the translation of which was 
 superintended by Dr. Steinkopff. He was after- 
 wards admitted to holy orders by the Lord Bishop 
 of London, and embarked for India, where he ar- 
 rived about the middle of the following year, and 
 was stationed at the Society's mission at Vepery, 
 near Madras. There he laboured for some time 
 with Christian simplicity and benevolence ; but, 
 to the great regret of the congregation, died pre- 
 maturely in the year 1824. The selections trans- 
 lated for my use extended from the year 1760, up 
 to which period my previous materials reached, 
 to 179G, and comprised the' short account of the 
 life and death of Mr. Swartz, published by Dr. 
 Knapp at Halle, in 1799, in his "Recent History 
 of the Protestant Missions for the Conversion of 
 the Heathen in the East Indies." 
 
 It is necessary to give the preceding account
 
 xiv PREFACE. 
 
 of these extracts from the German missionary 
 correspondence, in consequence of the appear- 
 ance, a few years afterwards, of a work entitled, 
 " Remains of the Rev. C. F. Schwartz, consisting 
 of his Letters and Journals, with a sketch of his 
 Life." This publication, though deficient in 
 narrative, afforded to the English reader fuller 
 details of the proceedings of that eminent mis- 
 sionary, and particularly of his intercourse with 
 the heathen, than had been previously known. It 
 was, however, restricted to his journals of five 
 years, from 1768 to 1772, with an account of 
 his journey to Hyder AH at Seringapatam in 
 1779, and a few letters to his friends at Halle 
 and in London. The Sketch of Mr. Swartz's 
 life prefixed to the "Remains," was no other 
 than that which has been already mentioned as 
 published by Dr. Knapp, to which were added 
 some extracts from the Reports of the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge, and from the 
 sermon preached by Dr. Kerr at Madras, on 
 occasion of the opening of the monument erected 
 there to the memory of the revered Missionary, by 
 the Court of Directors of the East India Company.
 
 PREFACE. xv 
 
 While, therefore, the volume just referred to 
 partially anticipated the history of the few years 
 which it embraced, it left a wide field, before and 
 after, almost untouched, which it was my anxious 
 wish to occupy. Various circumstances contri- 
 buted to retard the completion of this undertaking ; 
 but it may not be unsatisfactory to observe, that 
 the delay has been the occasion of rendering it more 
 worthy of the subject, and of general reception, 
 than it could have been by an earlier publication. 
 
 To the kindness of the late Mrs. Chambers, 
 widow of William Chambers, Esq., formerly of 
 Madras and Calcutta, and one of the earliest and 
 most esteemed correspondents of Mr. Swartz, by 
 means of my highly valued friend, the Rev. D. 
 Wilson, now so deservedly elevated to the see of 
 Calcutta, I am indebted for a series of letters from 
 the excellent missionary to Mr. and Mrs. Cham- 
 bers, and to one of their near relatives, extending 1 
 
 ' O 
 
 from the year 1769 to 1793, which, written with 
 the confidence and affection of the most endeared 
 and intimate friendship, display in the clearest 
 and most unaffected manner, the genuine senti- 
 ments and feelings of his heart.
 
 xvi PREFACE. 
 
 Another much attached friend of Mr. Swart/, 
 William Duffin, Esq., of York, added consider- 
 ably to this store of his Christian correspondence. 
 Some of the letters to this gentleman appeared in 
 an early volume of the Christian Observer, as 
 did those addressed by the benevolent missionary 
 to the children of the late Colonel Wood. They 
 now appear, with some additions, interwoven into 
 the history of his life, and are thus rendered both 
 more interesting and more instructive. 
 
 My acknowledgments are justly due to the 
 Right Honourable John Sullivan, for the commu- 
 nication of the letters of Mr. Swartz written to 
 him in the years 1784 and 1785, during the 
 eventful period when he was the Resident at 
 Tanjore. I regret that it has not been in my 
 power to obtain from his worthy successor, John 
 Hudleston, Esq., during many years a member 
 of the Court of Directors, his correspondence 
 with the venerable missionary. That gentleman 
 was Resident at Tanjore at the time when one 
 of the most important public incidents of his 
 life occurred. I refer to the adoption of the 
 late Rajah of Tanjore by the reigning prince
 
 PREFACE. xvii 
 
 and the appointment of Mr, Swartz as his guar- 
 dian. 
 
 Though I should gladly have enriched my 
 work with the private letters in the possession of 
 Mr. Hudleston, their loss, so far as the interesting 
 transaction in question is concerned, has been 
 amply compensated by the liberality of the Right 
 Honourable Charles Grant, President of the 
 Board of Controul, and of the Honourable Court 
 of Directors of the East India Company, through 
 the kindness of one of its members, N. B. Edmon- 
 stone, Esq., who allowed me the fullest access to 
 the records of our Indian government. To those 
 distinguished persons I beg to offer my warmest 
 thanks, as well as to B. S. Jones, Esq, under- 
 secretary to the India Board, and to Thomas 
 Fisher, Esq., searcher of the records at the India 
 House, who afforded me the readiest facilities and 
 the most valuable assistance in extracting from 
 those authentic sources of information many very 
 important letters and documents, illustrative at 
 once of the ability, integrity, and eminent useful- 
 ness of the pious missionary, and of the high 
 and honourable principles, and the beneficent 
 VOL. i. b
 
 xvui PREFACE. 
 
 influence, of our East Indian authorities, both at 
 home and abroad. 
 
 To Colonel Blackburne, who in early life was 
 well acquainted with Mr. Swartz, and who dur- 
 ing many years immediately succeeding his death 
 filled, with great ability, the station of resident at 
 the court of Tanjore, similar acknowledgments 
 are due, for his kindness in permitting me to 
 peruse some private memorials of the principal 
 transactions in which Mr. Swartz was engaged 
 during the reigns of the Rajahs Tuljajee and 
 Ameer Sing, as well as for some interesting anec- 
 dotes connected with his history. 
 
 I have deemed it expedient to introduce the 
 following Memoirs by a brief sketch of the history 
 of Christianity in India, from its origin to the 
 period when Swartz arrived. The delay which 
 has unavoidably occurred in the publication of 
 this work, renders it not unnecessary to observe, 
 that this preliminary part of it was written several 
 years before the appearance of Mr. Grinfield's 
 " Sketches of the Danish Mission on the Coast of 
 Coromandel," compiled from the manuscript re- 
 cords which have been already mentioned. My
 
 PREFACE. xix 
 
 own materials for this introductory sketch were 
 derived chiefly from Niecamp, 1 and La Croze. 2 To 
 Mr. Grinfield's little volume I with pleasure refer 
 the reader for a somewhat varied account of the 
 early brethren of that mission. A few inaccuracies 
 occur in it respecting Mr. Swartz ; but in a more 
 recent compilation, in addition to some erroneous 
 statements, a sentimental and romantic air is at- 
 tempted to be thrown around one, the very ele- 
 ments of whose character were truth and sim- 
 plicity. 
 
 While correcting the last sheets of this work 
 another small volume has appeared, entitled, 
 " Memoirs of the Rev. Joseph D. Jcenicke, a fel- 
 low labourer of Schwartz at Tanjore, inter- 
 spersed with many original letters and notices of 
 Schwartz." In this publication also, such is the 
 necessary consequence of protracted preparations, 
 a few of my translations from the German cor- 
 respondence are anticipated. To the merits of 
 the devoted and indefatigable Jcenicke it will le 
 seen that I have borne ample testimony, and cor- 
 
 1 Historia Missionis Evangelicse in India Orientali. Halae, 
 1747. 
 8 Histoire <lu Christianisme des Indes. 
 
 b 2
 
 xx PREFACE. 
 
 dially recommend to the perusal of those who love 
 genuine and exalted piety, this fuller record of his 
 labours, and of his Christian connexion with the 
 admirable Swartz. * 
 
 It only remains for me, in concluding these 
 prefatory observations, to express the heartfelt 
 delight, and, I trust, the edification, which I have 
 derived from my long engagement in compiling 
 the following Memoirs of him, of whom it may be 
 justly said, as of a distinguished Roman of old, 
 " Plurimae consentiunt gentes, primarium fuisse 
 virum" or in language more appropriate to 
 his character, " whose praise is in the gospel 
 throughout all the churches." I can truly 
 add, with one of the editors 2 of Archbishop 
 Leighton's works, " that I have never spent 
 an hour either in transcribing or correcting for 
 the press the letters or journals of this won- 
 derful man, for such I would deliberately call 
 him, without feeling, amidst the interruption 
 
 1 In this edition of these Memoirs, I have inserted a few pas- 
 sages from the letters of Swartz, introduced into this interesting 
 little volume, together with various additional extracts from the 
 German Missionary Correspondence. 
 
 2 The learned and pious Dr. Doddridge.
 
 PREFACE. xxi 
 
 
 
 which such an employment would naturally occa- 
 sion, some impressions which I could always wish 
 to retain." May this record of the excellence of 
 one who, to adopt the glowing expressions of a 
 son 1 of his most intimate friend, " gained the 
 love and veneration of his heathen neighbours, 
 and ensured the grateful admiration of the Chris- 
 tian world," be accompanied by that heavenly 
 blessing, by which alone it can be rendered sub- 
 servient to the great purpose for which he lived ? 
 May many go forth to preach the gospel to the 
 heathen, animated by the same spirit, and be 
 crowned with the same success ! And may the 
 sacred cause to which Swartz was so eminently 
 and so consistently devoted, triumph over the 
 ignorance, superstition, guilt, and misery, which 
 oppress the fairest portions of the earth in which 
 real Christianity is unknown, until that divine 
 and saving truth universally prevail, not only in 
 India, but throughout the world ! 
 
 Deanery, Salisbury, Dec. 2, 1833. 
 
 1 The late Sir C. H. Chambers.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN the preface to the first edition of these Me- 
 moirs, it will be seen that the author expressed 
 his regret at having been unable to procure the 
 Correspondence of the venerable Swartz with 
 Mr. Hudleston. He has now the satisfaction 
 to state, that on the recent demise of that highly 
 respected gentleman, the whole of his papers rela- 
 tive to Mr. Swartz came into the possession of his 
 executor, the Rev. H. H. Hayes, who, with the 
 most obliging liberality and kindness, imme- 
 diately communicated them to the Author. 
 
 On the perusal of these much-desired docu- 
 ments, it was particularly gratifying to him to 
 find, that his own previous researches had antici-
 
 xxiv ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 pated all the leading facts which they contain re- 
 lative to the great Missionary. Mr. Hudleston's 
 papers, as it was natural to suppose, chiefly refer 
 to the two years from March, 1785, to February, 
 1787, during which he was the Company's resi- 
 dent at the court of Tanjore, and at the close of 
 which the remarkable circumstances attending 
 the request of the dying Rajah, Tuljajee, to Mr. 
 Swartz, to become regent of the country, and 
 guardian of his adopted son, took place, as de- 
 tailed in the following Memoirs. 
 
 Various other points connected with Tanjore 
 and its native princes are adverted to in these 
 valuable letters, of which, had they been earlier 
 communicated, the Author would have gladly 
 availed himself in the body of his narrative ; 
 but having from various public and private 
 sources obtained all the substantial information 
 which they contain, it would be superfluous to 
 repeat it. 
 
 It is, at the same time, most satisfactory to him 
 to find his statements in every instance confirmed 
 by the unquestionable authority of Mr. Hudle- 
 ston. The veneration of that estimable servant
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. xxv 
 
 and director of the Company for the character of 
 Mr. Swartz, and his testimony to the high value 
 and importance of his influence and example 
 both to the Government and the natives of 
 India, as displayed in the papers confided to 
 the Author, far exceed the conceptions, exalted 
 as they were, which he had previously formed 
 of that eminent and extraordinary person ; and 
 it is only an act of justice to the memory of 
 Mr. Hudleston to declare, that his correspon- 
 dence with his revered friend contains proofs 
 of his own integrity and disinterestedness as a 
 public servant, and of his benevolent and zea- 
 lous regard to the welfare of the princes and 
 natives of India with whom he was officially con- 
 nected, which are highly honourable to his cha- 
 racter. 
 
 It appears from his papers that Mr. Hudleston 
 was the author of the inscription on the monument 
 erected by the East India Company to the memory 
 of Mr. Swartz at Madras, which comprises, in fact, 
 an epitome of his character and labours ; and that 
 he for some time cherished the intention of writ- 
 ing a Memoir of his life, which he probably at.
 
 xxvi ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 length abandoned, from his failure in obtaining 
 adequate materials for the work. 
 
 The Author has only to add, that he has se- 
 lected some letters and extracts from Mr. Hudle- 
 ston's papers, which, as he is unable to introduce 
 them in chronological order, he has inserted in an 
 Appendix to the second volume of these Memoirs ; 
 and which, like every other part of Mr. Swartz's 
 correspondence with his friends, will tend still 
 farther to illustrate the wisdom, piety, and bene- 
 ficence of that most perfect exemplar of the 
 Christian and the Missionary which has been ex- 
 hibited since the primitive and apostolic age. 
 
 Deanery, Salisbury, April 20, 1835.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 Extensive propagation of the Gospel during the first four cen- 
 turies Subsequent decline Slumber of the middle ages 
 Maritime discoveries of the Portuguese Syrian Chris- 
 tians Armenian Christians Roman Catholic Missions 
 Zeal of the Dutch Danish Mission Ziegenbalg and 
 Grundler Patronage of the Tranquebar Mission by the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge Schultz, and 
 other Danish Missionaries Establishment of a Mission at 
 Madras Introduction of Christianity into Tanjore Mis- 
 sion at Cuddalore Capture of Fort St. George by the French 
 Mr. Fabricius Roman Catholic Churches and Mission 
 Houses at Vepery and Cuddalore, granted to the Protestant 
 Missionaries at the peace, in 1748 State of the Danish 
 Mission previously to the arrival of Swartz Recapitulation. 
 
 Page \
 
 xxvin CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early life and education of Swartz His removal to Halle 
 Proposal to go out as a Danish missionary to Tranquebar 
 He obtains the consent of his father His Ordination De- 
 parture for England, and kind reception by the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge He embarks for India 
 Account of his voyage He arrives at Tranquebar First 
 occupations at the Mission. . . . 55 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Mr. Swartz enters on the Duties of a Missionary His account 
 of these in a Letter to a Friend Careful preparation of 
 Candidates for Baptism Excursions to the Towns and Vil- 
 lages near Tranquebar Specimens of Swartz's Conversa- 
 tions with the Natives Letter to Dr. Struensee Periodical 
 Reports of the Danish Mission Pious Custom of the Mis- 
 sionaries on proceeding upon a Journey Visit of Messrs. 
 Kohlhoff and Swartz to Cuddalore Pastoral and weekly 
 Conferences with their Brethren there Return to Tran- 
 quebar. ... .... 83 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 War in the Carnatic between the French and English Mr. 
 Swartz continues his usual labours and excursions Letter 
 to Professor Francke Expedition of Mr. Poltzenhagen to 
 the Nicobar Islands His death Letter of Swartz to a 
 friend in Europe Visit of Messrs. Kohlhoff and Swartz to 
 Negapatam Conversations with the natives Favourable
 
 CONTENTS. xxix 
 
 results of the journey Second visit to Negapatam Swartz's 
 address to the native catechists Capture of Fort St. David 
 and Cuddalore by the French Kindness of Count Lally to 
 the missionaries They retreat to Tranquebar Mr. Kier- 
 nander removes to Calcutta Mr. Hutteman returns to 
 Cuddalore Death of one of the first five converts of Zie- 
 genbalg at Tranquebar The French army approaches Ma- 
 dras Messrs. Fabricius and Breithaupt protected by Count 
 Lally They leave Vepery, and retire to Pullicat An 
 English fleet relieves Madras The French army retreats 
 and the missionaries return to Vepery. . . .108 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Tranquillity of the Danish missionaries during the late hostili- 
 ties in the Carnatic Visit of Mr. Swartz to Ceylon His 
 various ministerial labours and his illness in that island His 
 faithful admonition to a sceptic His departure from Ceylon 
 His reflections on this visit Journey with Mr. Kohlhoff 
 to Cuddalore and Madras His religious views and feelings 
 in a letter to a friend Enlarged sphere of Mr. Swartz's la- 
 bours Journey to Tanjore and Trichinopoly First proceed- 
 ings in those cities Introduction to the Nabob of Arcot 
 Conversations with natives near Trichinopoly Commence- 
 ment of Divine Service with the English garrison Contagi- 
 ous fever Services of Swartz during the siege of Madura 
 His removal from Tranquebar, and establishment at Trichi- 
 nopoly, as a Missionary of the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge Arrival of Mr. Gericke in India. 133 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sketch of Swartz and his early proceedings at Trichinopoly 
 by the late W. Chambers, Esq. He builds a church at that 
 place Prayer at its dedication Mission-house and schools
 
 xxx CONTENTS. 
 
 at Trichinopoly War between Hyder Ali and the great 
 powers of Southern India Swartz visits his brethren at 
 Tranquebar Incidents on his journey His visits to the 
 sick and wounded at Trichinopoly Conversations with 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans Letters to friends in Europe 
 State of Tanjore at that period The hopes of Swartz as to 
 the diffusion of Christianity Conclusion of his journal for 
 the year 1768. . . . 159 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Continuation of hostilities Zeal and disinterestedness of 
 Swartz His conference with a Romish Padre Peace be- 
 tween Hyder Ali and the English Swartz proceeds to Tan- 
 jore His introduction to the Rajah His character Con- 
 versation at this interview Swartz returns to Trichinopoly 
 His second visit to the Rajah with Colonel Wood 
 Preaches to the natives on the glacis, and in the Fort 
 The Rajah wishes to converse with him, but is prevented by 
 his Ministers Swartz 's message to the King, and his reply 
 He returns to Trichinopoly Mr. Chambers leaves that 
 city First letters of Swartz to that gentleman Conver- 
 sations with the natives, and with the Nabob's son At- 
 tendance on sick Europeans Visit from two Mahomedans, 
 and conversation respecting Mahomet Letter from Mr. 
 Chambers to his brother on a translation of the New Testa- 
 ment into Persian Conversation with a sick soldier, and 
 with natives, heathen and Mahoinedan Reflections of 
 Swartz at the close of the year 1769. . . 197 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Swartz's general occupations during the year 1770 Con- 
 version of a Pandaram Journey to Madras and Cuddalore 
 Letters to Mr. Chambers Devotional service with Eng-
 
 CONTENTS. xxxi 
 
 lish soldiers at Trichinopoly Further letters to Mr. 
 Chambers Visit to Tanjore Extracts from his journal of 
 conversations with natives Return to Trichinopoly Swartz 
 visits the great mosque, and addresses the Mahomedans 
 Letter to Dr. Knapp, with a sketch of the proceedings of 
 the year Excitement of the Roman Catholics in Tanjore 
 His anxiety for a colleague . . . 231 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Letter to Mr. Chambers at the commencement of the year 
 1771 The convert Ny anapracasam Progress of the mission 
 Death of two pious English soldiers Residence at 
 Trichinopoly Letters to Mr. Chambers Attack by the 
 Nabob and the English on Tanjore Peace restored Swartz 's 
 allusion to these events Violence of the Roman Catholics 
 against Nyanapracasam The conduct of Mr. Swartz upon 
 this occasion His preservation from an explosion of the 
 powder magazine in the fort His reflections on the event 
 Conversion of Sattianaden, and of a very aged man Visit 
 to Tanjore Interview with the Rajah Performs the mar- 
 riage ceremony in the palace Account of this, and of the 
 Rajah Letters to Mr. Chambers respecting one of his for- 
 mer servants, a convert to Christianity Swartz declines an 
 invitation from the Rajah for a political object . 259 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Mr. Swartz visits Taiijore Places a Catechist at Vellum 
 Letters to Mr. Chambers and the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge Renewed hostilities against the Rajah 
 of Tanjore Capture of the Fort and City Unfavourable
 
 xxxii CONTENTS. 
 
 effect on the ministry of Swartz Two journies to Madras 
 Progress of the Mission at Trichinopoly Death of Colonel 
 Wood Letters of Swartz to his children Restoration of the 
 Rajah of Tanjore Arrival of a new Missionary His death 
 Mr. Pohle sent from Tranquebar to supply his place Fre" 
 quent visits of Swartz to Tanjore Letter to Professor Frey- 
 linghausen Rajah of Tanjore At his request Swartz learns 
 the Mahratta language Translates his Tamul Dialogue for 
 the Rajah's use Account of that tract State of the Mission 
 at the close of the year 1777 . . . 298 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tanjore, the future residence of Mr. Swartz His Report of the 
 Mission for the year 1778 Letters to friends History of 
 a young Hindoo convert Major Stevens Foundation of a 
 Church at Tanjore Mr. Swartz called hy the governor to 
 Madras His mission to Hyder AH Account of his journey 
 to Seringapatam Reception by Hyder His Palace and Go- 
 vernment Swartz' occupations during his stay His last 
 interview with Hyder His return to Madras His disin- 
 terestedness as to remuneration He obtains a salary for Mr. 
 Pohle, and assistance towards building his Church at Tan- 
 jore Reflections on his Embassy to Hyder . 32f> 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Completion of the church in the little Fort at Tanjore Prepa- 
 ration of another for the Tamul congregation in the garden, 
 presented by the Rajah to Mr. Swartz, in the suburbs 
 Letters to friends Invasion of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali 
 Letters to Mr. and Mrs. Chambers Desolation and dis- 
 tress of the country in consequence of Hyder's attack Be- 
 nevolent exertions of Swartz to relieve it. . . 369
 
 CONTENTS. xxxiii 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Death of Hyder Ali Continuation of the war by Tippoo Sul- 
 tan Return to Madras, and death of Sir Eyre Coote Suc- 
 cesses of Colonel Fullarton in Southern India Negotiation 
 for peace Lord Macartney requests Mr. Swartz to join the 
 Commissioners at Seringapatam He consents, and sets out 
 on the journey Letters to Mr. Sullivan Meets Colonel 
 Fullarton and his army He is stopped by Tippoo's officers, 
 at Sattirnungalum Returns toTanjore Declines attempting 
 a second journey Peace concluded with Tippoo Letters to 
 several friends on the preceding events Journey with Mr. 
 Sullivan to Ramanad Plan of the provincial schools Jour- 
 ney, on account of his health, to the coast Letters to Mr. 
 Sullivan, and Mr. Duffin. . 401 
 
 VOL. 1.
 
 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA, 
 
 INTRODUCTORY TO THE 
 
 LIFE OF SWARTZ.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 Extensive propagation of the Gospel during the first four cen- 
 turies Subsequent decline Slumber of the middle ages 
 Maritime discoveries of the Portuguese Syrian Chris- 
 tians Armenian Christians Roman Catholic Missions 
 Zeal of the Dutch Danish Mission Ziegenbalg and 
 Grundler Patiwnage of the Tranquebar Mission by the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge Schultz, and 
 other Danish Missionaries Establishment of a Mission at 
 Madras Introduction of Christianity into Taujore Mis- 
 sion at Cuddalore Capture of Fort St. George by the French 
 Mr. Fabricius Roman Catholic Churches and Mission 
 Houses at Vepery and Cuddalore, granted to the Protestant 
 Missionaries at the peace, in 1748 State of the Danish 
 Mission previously to the arrival of Swartz Recapitulation. 
 
 THE propagation of the gospel during the first A. D. 
 four centuries after the Christian era, presents a 
 most important and interesting subject of contem- 
 plation to every reflecting mind. A new and 
 divine religion had revealed to mankind the know- 
 ledge of the will of God, the good tidings of a 
 VOL. i. B
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 A. D. Redeemer, and the promise of immortal life and 
 
 400. . l . ..,.., 
 
 happiness. Opposed as its spiritual principles 
 and its moral precepts were to the prevailing phi- 
 losophy, no less than to the multiplied super- 
 stitions and the corrupt passions of the Gentile 
 world, the miraculous powers which distinguished 
 the primitive ages of Christianity, and the piety 
 and zeal of its early disciples, succeeded, under 
 the guidance and blessing of its divine Author, in 
 diffusing its influence with a rapidity, and to an 
 extent, far exceeding that which has been wit- 
 nessed at any subsequent period. It pervaded 
 every province of the Roman empire, and even 
 penetrated to regions beyond its widely-extended 
 boundaries ; and while it tended to ameliorate the 
 character of polished nations, and to civilize the 
 most barbarous people, it communicated to both 
 blessings infinitely more valuable than any which 
 refer merely to the transient interests of the pre- 
 sent world. 
 
 The progress of the gospel during several suc- 
 ceeding centuries was slow and limited ; while, 
 in too many instances, the pure light of divine 
 truth became gradually obscured, and in others 
 utterly overwhelmed and extinguished, by error, 
 superstition, and barbarism. 
 
 1000. It was not till the tenth century, that Chris 
 tianity made any effectual impression on the 
 eastern and northern states of Europe, nor was
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH, 
 it before the commencement of the fifteenth, that A. D. 
 
 140ft. 
 
 it finally triumphed over Paganism in that quar- 
 ter of the world. In the meantime, the conquests 
 of the Turks and Tartars in Asia and Africa op- 
 posed an invincible barrier to the progress of the 
 gospel in those continents ; while the darkness 
 and slumber of the middle ages paralysed the 
 efforts of European Christians for its extension 
 in any part of the globe. 
 
 The maritime discoveries of the Portuguese 1190. 
 towards the close of the fifteenth century, by 
 opening a new world to the nations of Europe, 
 appeared to rouse their dormant energies in pro- 
 pagating the knowledge of Christianity. On the 
 coast of Africa, in America and its islands, and 
 in the islands and maritime provinces of Asia, the 
 Spaniards and Portuguese, armed by the autho- 
 rity and stimulated by the zeal of the court of 
 Rome, distinguished themselves in this sacred 
 cause. The progress of the Reformation, by 
 giving an effectual check to the ambition of the 
 Roman pontiffs, and by depriving them of a con- 
 siderable part of their spiritual dominion in Eu- 
 rope, might perhaps have tended to increase their 
 ardour in the propagation of their religion in 
 distant quarters of the world. Their efforts were 
 powerfully seconded by the institution of the 
 order of Jesuits in the year 1540 ; a certain num- 
 ber of that celebrated society having been, from 
 
 B 2
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. its commencement, devoted to the purpose of ex- 
 tending the pale of the Romish church in hea- 
 then nations. 
 
 1500. When the Portuguese, at the commencement of 
 the sixteenth century, first established themselves 
 on the coast of Malabar, they found a community 
 of native Christians who welcomed their arrival, 
 and were prepared to receive them as friends and 
 brethren. These were the Syrian, or, as they have 
 been generally called, after the Portuguese de- 
 signation, the St. Thome Christians ; whose uni- 
 form tradition respecting their origin represents 
 them as descended from the converts of the apos- 
 tle St. Thomas in India, during the first century. 
 The correctness of this tradition, notwithstand- 
 ing some remarkable corroborations of its truth, 
 has been generally doubted. 1 Certain, however, 
 it is, from authentic ecclesiastical records, that a 
 Christian church, episcopal in its constitution, 
 and deriving a succession of bishops from the 
 patriarchs of Babylon and Antioch, has existed 
 on the coast, from Cape Comorin to Cranganore, 
 and in the interior of Malabar, more than fifteen 
 hundred years. Every circumstance relative to 
 
 1 Bishop Hebcr aud Archdeacon Robinson incline to favour 
 the claim of the Syro-Malabaric church to this apostolic origin. 
 " Journal," vol. ii. 278, and the " Last Days of Bishop Heber/ 
 p. 317, in which the arguments of Paulinus, from bis " India 
 Orientalis Christiana" in its support are abstracted. For the 
 less ancient traditions, see Tillemont and La Croze.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH, 
 the history of the Syrian Christians indicates their A. D. 
 
 ,.,,... , , 1500. 
 
 remote origin ; while their situation, surrounded 
 by the darkness of Hindoo superstition and 
 idolatry, in the midst of which they have, during 
 so many ages, faithfully, though feebly, preserved 
 the light of heavenly truth, renders them in a 
 high degree interesting. 
 
 Such was the estimation in which they were 
 held, and such the influence which they had ob- 
 tained so early as the ninth century, doubtless 
 from the general superiority of their moral cha- 
 racter, that the native princes of Cochin and Tra- 
 vancore, in whose territory they were principally 
 established, granted them various civil privileges, 
 and their clergy ranked next to the Nairs, or no- 
 bles of the country. For a long period they en- 
 joyed an independent government under their 
 own native princes ; and even when, in process 
 of time, they became again subject to a heathen 
 sovereign, they continued to be governed in civil 
 as well as ecclesiastical concerns by the bishop 
 of Angamala. 1 
 
 It cannot be a subject of surprise that corrup- 
 tions, both in faith and practice, should in the 
 course of ages have crept into this ancient 
 church. We accordingly find that the opposite 
 errors of Nestorius and Eutyches concerning the 
 person and natures of our Lord, together with va- 
 rious superstitious ceremonies and irregular obser- 
 1 Gibbon, vol. viii. p. 347.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A ; ? vances, have prevailed among them. At the pe- 
 riod, however, when the fleets of Portugal first 
 visited the shores of India, the St. Thome Chris- 
 tians, though tainted with the Nestorian heresy, 
 were entirely ignorant of the great western apos- 
 tasy, knew nothing of the usurped supremacy of 
 the Pope, and had never heard of the worship of 
 the Virgin Mary, of transubstantiation, purgatory, 
 or any of the peculiar errors and corruptions of 
 the Church of Rome. A circumstance so fatal 
 to the proud and exclusive pretensions of that 
 See could not but excite the jealousy and alarm 
 of its bigoted adherents, Hence it was, that no 
 sooner had the Portuguese established themselves 
 on the coast of Malabar, than the Romish clergy, 
 and especially the Jesuits, who, with a zeal worthy 
 of a purer faith, had flocked to make converts in 
 this newly discovered territory, instead of em- 
 bracing the Syrian Christians as brethren, and 
 endeavouring by mild and benevolent methods 
 to correct what might have been really erroneous 
 in their creed, to improve their general character, 
 and to protect them from the oppression of the 
 neighbouring heathen princes under which they 
 found them suffering, determined on compelling 
 them to submit to the Papal jurisdiction, and to 
 conform to the tenets and ritual of the Church of 
 Rome. After a long series of intrigues, artifices, 
 and persecutions, Menezes, archbishop of Goa, 
 who presided at a synod convened in the. year
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 1599 at Diamper, near Cochin, succeeded in A. D. 
 
 1599. 
 
 persuading the Syro-Malabaric churches to ac- 
 knowledge the supremacy of the Pope, and to 
 submit to the Romish jurisdiction. The arch- 
 bishop, at the same time, expunged the alleged 
 Nestorian errors from their liturgy, and with the 
 bigotry and intolerance which characterized all 
 his proceedings, committed to the flames the 
 ecclesiastical books and ancient records of the 
 Syrian church. 
 
 The triumph, however, of Menezes was partial 1559. 
 and temporary. The churches in the interior 
 yielded only a forced and apparent compliance 
 with his decrees ; and about sixty years after the 
 synod of Diamper, the conquest of Cochin by the 
 Dutch, and the expulsion of the Portuguese from 
 the greater part of the coast of Malabar, afforded 
 them the opportunity of shaking off the Romish 
 yoke, and of regaining their ancient ecclesiastical 
 independence. This they have ever since main- 
 tained under a metropolitan bishop of their own 
 nation, while the more numerous churches, chiefly 
 on the coast, have continued their connexion with 
 the Papal See ; and except that they have been 
 permitted to retain the Syriac language in their 
 liturgy, are in strict conformity with the Romish 
 church. The numbers of these native Christians, 
 comprising both the purer Syrian and the Syro- 
 Roman churches, have been estimated at about 
 two hundred thousand.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A D. The independent part of the Syrian Christians, 
 who possess about fifty churches among the hills 
 of Malayala, having, upon their emancipation 
 from the Portuguese dominion, acknowledged the 
 jurisdiction of the Jacobite patriarch of Antioch, 
 very naturally admitted the doctrine of that 
 church, in direct opposition to their former Nes- 
 torian error. In either case, however, the tenet 
 seems to have been little more than verbal. The 
 Apostles' Creed was the only one recited in their 
 service ; nor did they, in fact, essentially differ 
 from the Catholic doctrine respecting the divinity 
 of the Son of God. 
 
 Upon the subject of the sacraments, and in 
 their liturgical offices, they doubtless fell into 
 many errors and superstitions; but considering 
 their long seclusion from any more enlightened 
 Christian community, the secession of the larger 
 portion of their brethren to the Romish church, 
 and the incessant persecutions to which they were 
 exposed, the destruction of their books, and their 
 consequent want of education, it is only wonderful 
 that they have retained so much scriptural know- 
 ledge, .and present so striking and favourable a 
 contrast, not only to the heathens around them, 
 but to the Roman Catholics, from whose power 
 they have been so happily extricated. 
 
 Next in antiquity to the Syrian Christians are 
 the members of the Armenian church, who, dis- 
 persed as they are throughout Asia, and engaged
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 in commercial pursuits, are to be found in every A. D. 
 part of India. They differ in various respects 
 both from the Greek and Latin church, and may in 
 general be said to be free from essential error and 
 corruption. They have places of worship at the 
 three presidencies of Calcutta, Madras, and Bom- 
 bay, as well as in the interior of the country, and 
 are supplied with ministers from Persia, and oc- 
 casionally visited by bishops and archdeacons, 
 under the superintendence of the patriarch of 
 Echmiatzin. The numbers of the Armenian 
 Christians in India do not exceed a few thousands, 
 nor have they ever appeared anxious to extend 
 the pale of their communion. 
 
 The zeal of the Portuguese clergy, and of the 
 various missionaries of the Romish church, among; 
 
 > o 
 
 whom the justly celebrated Francis Xavier holds 
 the most distinguished place, effected the conver- 
 sion of thousands of the natives of India to the 
 Roman Catholic faith. The greater number of 
 these converts were at Goa, and Cranganore, and 
 in other stations on the coast of Malabar, under 
 the more immediate influence of the Portuguese 
 government ; but the missions in Madura and 
 Mysore, in Marava and the Island of Ceylon, on 
 the coast of Coromandel and in the Carnatic, 
 were, if we may credit the reports, more parti- 
 cularly of the Jesuit missionaries, eminently and 
 extensively successful. Many deductions must 
 undoubtedly be made with respect to the numbers
 
 10 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. of Hindoo converts thus asserted by the mission- 
 aries of the Romish church. But even admitting 
 to whatever extent the success of their exertions, 
 the Anti-Christian and unworthy methods to 
 which the Jesuits had recourse, and the merely 
 external and nominal profession of Christianity 
 with which they were for the most part contented, 
 tend to reduce to a very low scale the estimate of 
 their labours, in what must otherwise be deemed 
 a noble and most important enterprize. 
 
 The expedient resorted to by Robert di Nobili, 
 chief of the Jesuits College at Madura, in the 
 sixteenth century, and one of the most eminent 
 followers of Xavier, of adopting, together with 
 his clergy, the dress, habits, and manners of the 
 brahmins, is a striking instance of those unwise 
 and equivocal attempts to conciliate the Hindoos, 
 by compromising the truth and simplicity of 
 Christianity. This learned and zealous man, 
 with the same well-intentioned, but mistaken po- 
 licy, composed a work in Sanscrit, consisting of 
 dialogues between a Christian and a Hindoo, in 
 which, though the preponderance of argument is 
 in favour of the Christian, the Hindoo, in order 
 to convince his countrymen of the folly of idolatry, 
 is made to reason powerfully in support of the 
 principles of pure theism. A translation of this 
 work having been transmitted from Pondicherry 
 to the king's library at Paris, Voltaire, presuming 
 it to be the genuine production of a Hindoo,
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 1 1 
 
 triumphantly appealed to it as a decisive proof, 
 that it was unnecessary and superfluous to urge 
 the doctrines of Christianity upon a people who 
 were already so well informed as to the tenets of 
 natural religion. 
 
 The failure of all such worldly expedients on 
 the part of the Romish missionaries in India, is 
 fairly acknowledged by the Abbe Dubois ; who, 
 however, strangely attributes it, not to the refusal 
 of the divine blessing to a method of proceeding 
 so contrary to apostolic principles and practice, 
 but to the effect of the divine predestination ! 
 
 The decline of the Portuguese dominion on the 
 coast of Malabar, naturally diminished the influ- 
 ence and the success of the Roman Catholic mis- 
 sionaries in India ; while the zeal of the Dutch, 
 more especially in Ceylon, though liable in some 
 measure to the objection which has been urged 
 against the missions of the Church of Rome, as 
 to the worldly policy and the culpable facility 
 with which converts to their respective commu- 
 nions were too frequently encouraged, augmented 
 to a very large amount the numbers of professed 
 Christians in that island. 
 
 Though the piety and zeal of Protestants had 
 often excited an anxious desire to propagate the 
 pure and reformed faith of the gospel in heathen 
 countries, its establishment and defence against 
 the hostile attempts of Popish adversaries at 
 home, together with the want of suitable oppor-
 
 12 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. tunities and facilities for so great a work, com- 
 bined during the first century after the Reforma- 
 tion, to prevent them from making any direct or 
 vigorous efforts for this purpose. A regard to 
 sound policy, as well as the sense of duty, had, 
 as we have just seen, prompted the Dutch to ac- 
 company their conquests with laudable endea- 
 vours to promote Christianity in India ; but it 
 was reserved for the Danes to be entitled to the 
 high honour of setting the first example of an 
 institution for the express purpose of communi- 
 cating to its native inhabitants that inestimable 
 blessing, 
 
 The crown of Denmark had, since the year 
 1621, by the cession of the Rajah of Tanjore, 
 been possessed of the town of Tranquebar, and a 
 small adjoining territory, on the coast of Coro- 
 mandel. The Jesuits had long before built a 
 church there, but had done nothing towards the 
 propagation of Christianity among the natives ; 
 while the Danish merchants, occupied only with 
 the interests of commerce, were altogether indif- 
 
 1705. ferent to their religious condition. Such was the 
 state of things when, at the commencement of the 
 eighteenth century, Frederick IV., King of Den- 
 mark, on the suggestion of the Rev. Dr. Lutkens, 
 one of his majesty's chaplains, who had proposed 
 the subject to him when only prince regent, de- 
 termined, notwithstanding the advice of some who 
 thought the design premature -and ill-timed, to
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 13 
 
 establish a mission for the conversion of the hea- A. n. 
 then at Tranquebar. With this view the king 
 directed an application to be made to the cele- 
 brated Dr. Francke, professor of divinity in the 
 University of Halle, in Saxony, whose well known 
 devotion to the cause of religion, and recent es- 
 tablishment of the Oriental College of Divinity 
 in that place, peculiarly qualified him for such a 
 task ; requesting him to recommend from among 
 his pupils those whom he might deem best cal- 
 culated, by their learning and piety, to lay the 
 foundation of this important work. Dr. Francke 
 made choice of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, a young 
 man of eminent talents and religious excellence, 
 who had been educated at Halle under his own 
 immediate superintendence, and who happening 
 to be at Berlin when Dr. Lutkens was inquiring 
 for suitable persons to be employed as mission- 
 aries, joyfully accepted the proposal. He was 
 soon afterwards joined by his friend and fellow 
 student, Henry Plutscho, who was actuated by a 
 similar desire of engaging in the first Protestant 
 mission to India. These pious men, having re- 
 ceived holy orders from the bishop of Zealand, 
 embarked at Copenhagen on the 29th of Novem- 
 ber, 1705, and after a pleasant voyage, arrived at 
 Tranquebar on the 9th of July, 1 706. 
 
 Here, notwithstanding their commission from 
 the king of Denmark, the missionaries, instead of
 
 14 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. being kindly received, were discouraged and op- 
 posed by the Danish authorities. Undismayed, 
 however, by the various difficulties which sur- 
 rounded them, and fortifying themselves by the 
 study of the word of God, particularly of the 
 Acts of the Apostles, and by prayer, these excel- 
 lent men entered without delay on their arduous 
 undertaking. Their first object was to acquire 
 the knowledge of the Portuguese language, which, 
 from its introduction two centuries before, was 
 now generally understood by the natives, and 
 then of the Tamul, the vernacular language of 
 the country from Madras southward, and the 
 greater part of the extremity of the peninsula, 
 and of the north of Ceylon. Such was their 
 zeal and diligence, that in the course of a few 
 months they had acquired a sufficient knowledge 
 of both languages, to enable them to catechise 
 the native children in two schools which they had 
 established, and which they supported out of 
 their own slender funds. 1 Ziegenbalg parti- 
 cularly devoted himself to the study of the 
 Tamul ; and such was his extraordinary profi- 
 ciency, that he not only acquired a very exten- 
 sive acquaintance with the books written in that 
 
 1 The account of the early labours of Ziegenbalg and his 
 brethren of the Danish mission, particularly in the study of the 
 Tamul language, by Niecamp and La Croze, is highly interest- 
 ing and instructive.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 15 
 
 language on Hindoo mythology and history, but A. n. 
 soon began to converse fluently with the natives 
 on moral and religious subjects. 
 
 The first fruits of his labours in this interesting 
 field was the conversion of a young man of high 
 caste, named Modaliapa, who, while assisting 
 Ziegenbalg in acquiring the knowledge of Tamul, 
 became gradually convinced of the errors of ido- 
 latry, and of the truth of the divine religion 
 which he saw so admirably exemplified in him 
 and his fellow-missionary. After much reflec- 
 tion and intercourse with these pious men, he at 
 length delighted them by declaring that he was 
 " willing to live and die with them ; desiring 
 nothing more than a bare maintenance in this 
 world, if he might but partake of the blessings 
 and promises of the gospel." When Dr. Bu- 
 chanan visited Tranquebar, in 1806, precisely a 
 century after this cheering event, he found in an 
 apartment in Ziegenbalg's house the registers of 
 the church, in which the name of this first heathen 
 convert was inscribed. 
 
 The conversion of this young man, and of a 
 native female of rank, appears to have excited 
 considerable attention, and to have been reported 
 to the Rajah of Tanjore, who sent an officer with 
 assurances of friendship, and the offer of a guard 
 to accompany them, if they should be disposed to 
 travel into the interior of his territories. This,
 
 1G INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. however, they did not at that time think it ex- 
 
 1706. 
 
 pedient to accept. 
 
 i7o7. In the month of May, 1707, the missionaries 
 publicly baptized several of their catechumens in 
 the Danish church at Tranquebar, on which in- 
 teresting occasion Ziegenbalg preached in Tamul 
 on the conversion of the heathen, and the best 
 method of diffusing the knowledge of the gospel. 
 A few days afterwards, they conferred on one of 
 their converts the office of a catechist, to assist 
 them in the instruction of his native countrymen ; 
 and on the 14th of June, notwithstanding their 
 slender means for such an undertaking, they 
 commenced the building of a church for the use 
 of the mission. Such was the blessing with 
 which this pious design was attended, that with 
 the assistance of those who were friendly, and 
 even of some who were at first opposed to it, the 
 building was completed in the month of August 
 following, and consecrated in the presence of a 
 large assembly both of Christians, heathens, and 
 Mahomedans. This church was built of stone, 
 and in the midst of the native population, a little 
 out of the town. Here the missionaries regularly 
 preached both in Portuguese and Tamul twice in 
 every week ; and here, after baptizing some ad- 
 ditional catechumens, and administering the holy 
 communion, they laid the foundation of a nume- 
 rous and flourishing church, composed of con-
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 17 
 
 verts well prepared and instructed in the princi- A. n. 
 pies of the gospel, and for the most part duly 
 accrediting the sincerity of their Christian pro- 
 fession. 
 
 Being deeply convinced of the importance of 
 early instruction, the missionaries lost no time in 
 establishing a school for the education of such 
 native Tamul children as they could collect for 
 this purpose, some of whom they contrived to 
 clothe and feed at their own expense. To this 
 they shortly added a Portuguese school. The 
 zeal and diligence of these devoted men were 
 scarcely ever exceeded. In a letter from Ziegen- 
 balg to Dr. Lutkens, he gives a striking sketch of 
 his varied and laborious occupations during each 
 day. Passing from his early devotions to the 
 explanation of Luther's catechism in Portuguese, 
 he proceeded to the study of Tamul, and then to 
 conversation and reading with a native poet, for 
 the purpose of perfecting himself in that lan- 
 guage. After some short refreshment and repose, 
 he catechised the children, then returned to the 
 study of the Tamul, and afterwards joined in an 
 exercise of piety with some German residents at 
 Tranquebar. " All the evenings," he adds, " we 
 converse with each other respecting our work, and 
 the best means of advancing it. After supper, I 
 review the business of the day, and examine my 
 own heart, and conclude with singing and prayer." 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 18 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. Can it be surprising that a man thus piously and 
 ardently engaged should be eminently successful, 
 or that he should too soon be exhausted by such 
 incessant exertions ? 
 
 Amidst the blessing of God which followed 
 their various labours, the faith and patience of 
 these pious missionaries were severely tried by 
 the loss of two considerable remittances from Eu- 
 rope, by the shipwreck of the vessels on board of 
 which the money had been embarked, and still 
 more by the continued opposition of the European 
 inhabitants. To such a height had this arisen, 
 that at one period the excellent Ziegenbalg was 
 even arrested by the Danish governor, and de- 
 tained in prison for four months, during which 
 his firmness and activity of mind were as conspi- 
 cuous as his resignation to this unjust and dis- 
 graceful proceeding. 
 
 1709. The disinterestedness and self-denial of the 
 missionaries, combined with the assistance of some 
 charitable individuals, enabled them to defray 
 their increasing expenses until the month of July, 
 1709, when a most seasonable and important 
 supply reached them from Europe by the arrival 
 of three new missionaries, Messrs. Grundler, 
 Bceving, and Jordan, bringing with them a consi- 
 derable sum of money, together with a variety of 
 stores for the use of the mission. The persecu- 
 tion which the missionaries had so long suffered
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. J 
 
 from the Danish residents was at the same time A. D 
 considerably checked by the authoritative inter- 
 ference of their royal patron, the King of Den- 
 mark, who sent out his positive commands to 
 the governor of Tranquebar, to assist and en- 
 courage their pious labours to the utmost of his 
 power. 
 
 It was in this year that the Danish mission 
 became first known in England, by the translation 
 of some letters from the missionaries, addressed 
 to one of their friends in London. The attention 
 of religious persons was powerfully excited by 
 this interesting publication, particularly that of 
 the Rev. Mr. Boehm, chaplain to Prince George 
 of Denmark, one of the earliest members of 
 the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 which had been then a few years established. A 
 present both of money and books was imme- 
 diately sent by the Society to Tranquebar, and a 
 brief but cordial notice of the mission was insert- 
 ed in the report of its proceedings for that year. 
 Such was the commencement of the disinterested 
 and important patronage afforded to the Danish 
 mission by that venerable Society ; which, while it 
 reflected the highest honour on its members, con- 
 tributed so effectually to the extension and sup- 
 port of Christianity in India. 
 
 In 1710, Ziegenbalg undertook a journey to 1710. 
 Madras, to ascertain what prospect there might 
 
 c 2
 
 20 _: INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. be of gaining access to the heathen, either by 
 the way and in the neighbouring country, or in 
 the town itself, with a view to their conversion to 
 Christianity. The congregation at Tranquebar 
 entreated him with tears not to quit them, or to 
 return as soon as possible. At Chillumbrum, 
 quitting the territory of Tanjore, he entered what 
 were then the dominions of the Great Mogul, and 
 proceeded to Porto Novo and Cuddalore, and 
 from thence to Fort St. David's ; and on the tenth 
 day, having touched at St. Thomas's Mount, ar- 
 rived at Madras in the evening. There he was 
 kindly received by the Rev. Mr. Lewis, chaplain 
 to the factory, with whom the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge were in correspon- 
 dence on the subject of the Danish mission. 
 During his stay at this place, Ziegenbalg made 
 many inquiries respecting the religious wants of 
 its inhabitants. " Madras," he writes, " is ad- 
 vantageously situated for spreading Christianity, 
 if the English who command there would but 
 second our endeavours, or join with us in pro- 
 pagating the gospel in the East. I found here a 
 letter from Mr. Boehm, wherein he gives us some 
 hope that the English might perhaps be prevailed 
 on in time to concern themselves in so promising 
 and worthy a design." 
 
 17 1 1 - In the course of the three following years, in- 
 dependently of a considerable sum collected by a
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 21 
 
 general contribution 1 among its members, and A. D. 
 
 . . .. . 1711. 
 
 transmitted to the missionaries, the bociety 
 printed, principally for their use, an edition of 
 the Portuguese New Testament, and sent out to 
 them a printing-press, a fount of Roman and 
 Italic types, and a large quantity of paper for 
 printing. The fate of the press was remarkable. 
 The vessel in which it was embarked was cap- 
 tured by the French, and carried to the Brazils, 
 where the printer who had charge of it died ; but 
 the press, which lay concealed in the hold of the 
 vessel, having been re -purchased by the Society, 
 was in the following spring safely landed at Ma 
 dras. About the same time, the missionaries re- 
 ceived from Germany a fount of Tamul characters. 
 They afterwards succeeded in casting superior 
 Tamul types at Tranquebar, and attempted the 
 manufacture of paper, and were thus enabled to 
 print a variety of books and tracts, which were 
 eminently useful in the dissemination of Chris- 
 tian knowledge. Of these the most valuable and 
 important was the translation of the New Testa- 
 ment into the Tamul language. Ziegenbalg had 
 early conceived the design of this great under- 
 taking, and commenced it in the year 1708, as 
 soon as he had acquired a sufficient knowledge 
 of the language to write it with correctness and 
 elegance. His translation was completed in 
 
 1 La Croze, torn, ii, liv, 7.
 
 22 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. 1711, but the printing of it was delayed, for the 
 purpose of rendering it more perfect by the most 
 careful revision, till the year 1714, when it issued 
 from the press at Tranquebar. The Romish mis- 
 sionaries had printed various tracts in Tamul, but 
 they were chiefly catechisms, the lives of saints, 
 or other legendary tales of their church. After 
 two hundred years, in which they had professed 
 to preach the gospel, it was reserved to Ziegen- 
 balg to be the first to translate the inspired record 
 into one of the most prevalent languages of India. 
 " May God Almighty," said he, addressing the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge on 
 transmitting a copy of this translation, " prosper 
 our labours by his heavenly blessing, and grant 
 that his Holy Word, like an incorruptible seed, 
 may be scattered among these nations, to pre- 
 serve them from eternal destruction !" 
 
 The King of Denmark had, in the year 1711, 
 granted to the missionaries at Tranquebar a pen- 
 sion of two thousand crowns, and in 1714 his 
 majesty 1 founded a college at Copenhagen, for 
 the purpose of superintending and supporting the 
 interests of the mission. The number of converts 
 now amounted nearly to three hundred, the 
 
 1 An abstract of the King's instructions to the Missionary 
 College is contained in the volume of letters from Ziegenbalg 
 and Plutscho to their friends in Europe. They are highly 
 creditable to the piety of that excellent monarch.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 23 
 
 greater part of whom had been received into the A. D. 
 church by baptism. The schools contained up- 
 wards of eighty children, who were nearly all 
 supported as well as instructed by the mission- 
 aries ; and the number of persons employed in 
 the service of the mission, including school- 
 masters, catechists, and others, exceeded twenty. 
 This increasing charge, and the consequent la- 
 bours and responsibility which resulted to the 
 missionaries, together with the difficulties with 
 which they had long struggled, induced Ziegen- 
 balg to determine on a voyage to Europe, whither 
 his friend Plutscho had already returned, for the 
 purpose of more effectually promoting the im- 
 portant work in which he and his colleagues 
 were engaged. 
 
 Having, therefore, consigned to the care of 
 Grundler the concerns of the mission, and satis- 
 factorily arranged their differences with the Da- 
 nish governor, he embarked in the month of Oc- 
 tober, 1714, and was accompanied by a young 
 native convert. With his assistance, Ziegenbalg 
 occupied his time during the voyage in translat- 
 ing part of the Old Testament into the Tamul, 
 and in composing a grammar of that language in 
 Latin, which was printed at Halle, in 1716, and 
 is still highly esteemed by Oriental scholars. 
 On the 1st of June, 1715, Ziegenbalg arrived at 
 Bergen, in Norway, from whence he repaired to
 
 24 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. Stralsund, in Pomerania, for the purpose of pre- 
 senting himself and his Hindoo companion to the 
 King of Denmark, who was then personally en- 
 gaged at the siege of that place. After a most 
 gracious reception by that monarch, who conferred 
 upon him the title of " Inspector of the Missions," 
 he proceeded to Copenhagen, where he was most 
 cordially welcomed, and made some arrangements 
 with the Danish East India Company of con- 
 siderable importance to the mission at Tranque- 
 bar. His next visit was to Professor Francke, at 
 Halle, who took the liveliest interest in his la- 
 bours, and who, both by his counsels and his 
 contributions, was one of the principal supporters 
 of his mission. While at that place, he married 
 a lady to whom he had been long attached, and 
 then pursued his course to England, where he 
 landed towards the end of the year. Here he was 
 received with the cordiality and respect to which 
 he was so justly entitled. He had the honour of 
 being presented to king George I., who made many 
 inquiries respecting the mission, and assured him 
 of his royal patronage. The Archbishop of Can- 
 terbury, 1 and the Bishop of London, treated him 
 with the highest consideration and kindness. By 
 the former of these prelates he was introduced to 
 the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 and received a congratulatory address in Latin, 
 i Dr. Wake.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 25 
 
 to which he returned an admirable reply in Ta- A. u. 
 
 1715. 
 
 mul, immediately adding a translation of his 
 speech into Latin. The Society made Ziegenbalg 
 a liberal present both of money, paper, and books ; 
 and the Directors of the East India Company 
 having generously given him a free passage on 
 board one of their ships, he embarked at Deal 
 on the 4th of March, and after rather a dangerous 
 voyage, during which he improved his knowledge 
 of the English language, landed at Madras on the 
 10th of August, 1716, where he was most hos- 1715. 
 pitably received by the governor, and the Rev. 
 Mr. Stevenson, Chaplain to that Presidency. 
 This excellent person had much at heart the pro- 
 pagation of the gospel in India, and an admirable 
 letter from him to the Secretary of the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, dated in 
 Dec. 17 1C, occurs in the Society's Reports, on 
 the chief impediments to this important work, the 
 reasons which induced him to hope for success in 
 it, and the methods which he thought most likely 
 to promote it. In this letter, Mr. Stevenson bears 
 a most satisfactory testimony to the labours and 
 the success of the missionaries at Tranquebar ; and 
 though much of his information is now familiar 
 to those who have at all considered the subject, 
 and some of his suggestions have been long since 
 carried into effect, this sensible and pious address 
 may still be rend with interest and advantage.
 
 26 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. After a few days' refreshment at Madras, Zie- 
 
 1 71 f\ 
 
 genbalg rejoined his excellent colleague, Grund- 
 ler, at Tranquebar, and resumed with renewed 
 vigour the arduous work of his mission. They 
 immediately instituted a seminary for the educa- 
 tion of native youths, to be employed as catechists 
 and schoolmasters; and shortly afterwards, at 
 the suggestion of the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, and with the assistance of 
 Mr. Stevenson, and the approbation of the Go- 
 vernor of Madras, they established Tamul and 
 Portuguese schools at Madras and Cuddalore. 
 irir. In the course of the following year, 1717, the 
 church at Tranquebar having been much injured 
 by an inundation, the missionaries built a second, 
 and appropriated the old one to the instruction of 
 catechumens and the burial of the dead. Zie- 
 genbalg was incessantly occupied in the transla- 
 tion of the Bible into Tamul, in journeys to some 
 of the neighbouring districts, and in religious dis- 
 cussions both with Hindoos and Mahomedans. 
 
 Amidst these labours he occasionally corres- 
 ponded with the friends of the mission in Europe, 
 and received from them the warmest assurances 
 of approbation and support. Encouraged by the 
 condescension of King George I., he addressed a 
 letter to that monarch on the duty and expediency 
 of diffusing the gospel in the British colonies in 
 India. In reply to this communication, Ziegen-
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 27 
 
 balg received a letter from his royal patron, A. D. 
 
 1717. 
 
 strongly expressive of his majesty's interest in 
 the success of the sacred cause in which he was 
 engaged. 1 
 
 But the labours of Ziegenbalg were drawing i7is. 
 rapidly to a close. In the autumn of the year 
 1718 the health of this indefatigable man began 
 to fail. He languished for a few months amidst 
 great weakness and pain ; and with a faint hope 
 of relief from travelling, he commenced a journey 
 along the coast. Having reached Cuddalore, he 
 found his end approaching, and sent for his friend 
 Grundler, to whom on his arrival he expressed 
 the most humble yet exalted hope of heavenly 
 happiness ; and having received the holy commu- 
 nion, and requested a favourite Lutheran hymn 
 to be sung, he expired in perfect peace, on the 
 23rd of February, 1719, in the 36th year of his iri9. 
 age, deeply lamented by his excellent colleague 
 and the native converts, and esteemed and re- 
 gretted even by the Pagans themselves. 
 
 The character of Ziegenbalg was indeed truly 
 admirable. His exalted piety, and ardent zeal, 
 were regulated by the soundest judgment, and 
 tempered by dispositions and manners so kind 
 
 1 This, and a subsequent letter from his majesty to the Da- 
 nish missionaries, together with a truly apostolic letter from 
 Archbishop Wake, were introduced by Dr. Buchanan in his 
 Ecclesiastical Memoir, and in his Christian Researches.
 
 28 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. and amiable, that he attracted and conciliated all 
 
 1719. . ... i -i i i 
 
 around nun ; while his unwearied activity, pa- 
 tience, and perseverance, enabled him to over- 
 come difficulties which to many would have 
 proved insuperable, and to establish his mission 
 upon the most solid foundation. His translation 
 of the New Testament into Tamul, is alone suffi- 
 cient to immortalize his name ; and has proved, 
 as he fervently implored, when he commenced 
 this great undertaking, a source of incalculable 
 and endless blessings to succeeding generations 
 in India. 
 
 The loss sustained by the death of Ziegenbalg 
 was in some measure repaired by the arrival, in 
 the month of September following, of three new 
 missionaries, Messrs. Schultz, Dahl, and Keisten- 
 macher, who had embarked on board an English 
 East Indiaman, after a short visit to this country, 
 during which they experienced the usual kind- 
 ness and munificence of the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge. Such an accession to the 
 mission was peculiarly seasonable and critical, 
 the health of Grundler having already suffered 
 a severe shock, and being still extremely feeble 
 and precarious. He exerted himself, however, 
 with almost prophetic diligence and vigour in 
 preparing his new colleagues for their various 
 labours, as if anticipating the approaching con- 
 clusion of his own. This excellent man survived
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 29 
 
 his beloved friend Zieffenbalg little more than a A. n. 
 
 17 1 1). 
 
 year. He had projected a distant journey, for 
 the purpose of preaching the gospel, and in pro- 
 secution of this design had even embarked for 
 Cuddalore ; but finding himself unable to pro- 
 ceed, he returned to Tranquebar, where his illness 
 rapidly increased. On the 15th of March, 1720, 
 Grundler performed his last public service, and 
 three days afterwards resigned his pious spirit 
 into the hands of his Redeemer, and was interred 
 in the Mission Church, near the remains of his 
 departed colleague. 
 
 Schultz now became the superior of the Da- 
 nish mission, and proved himself worthy of fol- 
 lowing his admirable predecessors. The severe 
 losses which it had recently sustained, excited the 
 hopes of its Roman Catholic adversaries in India 
 that it must be abandoned, and awakened the 
 apprehensions of many even of its European 
 friends. 
 
 The piety and energy of Schultz and his fellow 
 missionaries were, however, fully equal to this 
 trying emergency. They laboured diligently in 
 the acquisition of the native languages, in which 
 they were soon able to catechize and preach ; 
 and instead of yielding to despondency, they en- 
 larged the sphere of their labours. Aided by the 
 liberal contributions of the governors of Madras 
 and Fort St. David, and of other friends both in
 
 30 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. India and Europe, they increased the number of 
 their schools, and of their publications from the 
 press, and resumed the visits of their predecessors 
 to the neighbouring towns and villages. Within 
 five years from the death of Ziegenbalg, one 
 hundred and fifty converts were added to the 
 church. 
 
 1724. In the year 1724, three additional missiona- 
 ries, Messrs. Bosse, Pressier, and Walther, who 
 had been selected by Professor Fran eke, and had 
 sailed under the auspices of the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, arrived at Tran- 
 quebar. They were charged with a letter to 
 Mr. Schultz, from Archbishop Wake, in which 
 the venerable primate, after expressing his satis- 
 faction at this augmentation of the mission, re- 
 commended him to select from the native con- 
 verts those who might appear to be the best quali. 
 fied, and to associate them, in case of necessity, in 
 his evangelical labours. Such was the ardour of 
 the new missionaries in the study of the Portu- 
 guese and Tamul languages, which they had com- 
 menced during the voyage to India, that within 
 three months after their arrival, they were able 
 to enter upon their duties both as catechists and 
 preachers. 
 
 Among the objects to which Schultz had di- 
 rected his most earnest attention was the conti- 
 nuation of the translation of the Old Testament
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 31 
 
 into Tamul, which Ziegenbalg had conducted A. D. 
 
 1 79J. 
 
 only as far as the book of Ruth. He commenced 
 this arduous undertaking early in the year 1723, 
 and regularly devoted to it six hours every day. 
 Schultz was well acquainted with the original 
 Hebrew, and consulted most of the European 
 versions. He was assisted by a learned brahmin 
 and other well-informed natives, and the transla- 
 tion underwent a careful revision by his col- 
 leagues. This important work was concluded in 
 1725, and the first part of it was immediately 
 committed to the press. In 1727 the printing 
 was completed, when the delight of presenting 
 to the native converts the whole Bible in their 
 own language, made him forget all the toil and 
 pains which it had cost him ; while, in common 
 with every other labourer in this sacred service, 
 he had been abundantly repaid during its pro- 
 gress by those copious communications of divine 
 wisdom and strength, with which a more intimate 
 acquaintance with the Word of God had enriched 
 his mind. 
 
 Having finished this great undertaking, early 1725. 
 in the year 1726, Schultz, leaving to his col- 
 leagues the care of the mission at Tranquebar, 
 determined on a visit to Madras, and embarked 
 for Cuddalore, where he preached in German, 
 Portuguese, and Tamul. Continuing his journey 
 by land, he omitted no opportunity of instructing
 
 32 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. the natives in the towns and villages on his way, 
 
 1726. 
 
 and arrived at Madras on the 8th of May. Here 
 he was hospitably received by the English chap- 
 lain, and spent some months in zealous endeavours 
 to promote the knowledge of the gospel in that 
 city and its neighbourhood. Amongst other la- 
 bours, Schultz re-established the school founded 
 by Mr. Stevenson, which had been entirely aban- 
 doned, for the instruction of native children. 
 
 i77. At the commencement of the next year died 
 the learned and pious Professor Francke, of Halle, 
 who had contributed materially to the establish- 
 ment of the Danish mission, and who, more than 
 any other person in Europe, had laboured zea- 
 lously and successfully in its support. On the 
 death of this able and excellent man, the Mission 
 College at Copenhagen requested his son, who 
 succeeded him in the professorship at Halle, to 
 continue the correspondence which his father had 
 so beneficially carried on in behalf of the mission. 
 About the same time, his majesty King George I. 
 addressed a second most gracious and encou- 
 raging letter to the missionaries at Tranquebar, 
 who also received a considerable present in 
 money, together with paper for the printing of 
 the Tamul translation of the Bible, from the So- 
 ciety for promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 1728. In the year 1728, the same venerable Society, 
 on the recommendation of Mr. Schultz, under-
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 33 
 
 took the sole patronage and support of a mission A. D. 
 at Madras. With the assistance of the governor 
 and council, a house was purchased in the Black 
 Town for the use of the mission, of which Schultz 
 took charge, and to which he immediately re- 
 moved. There he preached constantly in the 
 Tamul, Telinga, and Portuguese languages ; and 
 besides the superintendence of schools and other 
 zealous labours, translated parts of the Bible, 
 together with various tracts on religion, into 
 Telinga and Hindostanee. The jealousy of the 
 Roman Catholic priests, no less than of some 
 native teachers, as in other places, excited consi- 
 derable opposition, in some instances leading to 
 open violence, against Schultz himself, as well as 
 some of the Madras converts ; but they were pro- 
 tected by the governor, their numbers gradually 
 increased, and under the blessing of God the new 
 mission prospered. 
 
 In the mean time, an opening had been provi- 
 dentially afforded for the introduction of Chris- 
 tianity into the kingdom of Tanjore, by means of 
 a subaltern officer in the service of the rajah of 
 that country, named Rajanaiken. This young 
 man, whose father and grandfather were Roman 
 Catholics, had been baptized in that church ; and 
 being ardently desirous of religious knowledge, he 
 had learned to read when he was about twenty- 
 two years of age. From the Roman Catholic 
 
 VOL. i. i>
 
 34 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. legends, and from the priests themselves, he de- 
 
 1728. . 
 
 rived little or no satisfaction ; but happening to 
 visit a pandaram 1 of his acquaintance, who pos- 
 sessed a copy of Ziegenbalg's Tamul translation 
 of the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, 
 he was so delighted with the discovery, that he 
 read it night and day, and transcribed a consider- 
 able part of the volume before he found that he 
 might be permitted to retain it. About two 
 years afterwards, having been sent on military 
 duty to the neighbourhood of Tranquebar, he met 
 with an address of the missionaries to the natives, 
 which induced him first to open a correspondence 
 with them, and then to visit them. In conse- 
 quence of the instruction which he thus received, 
 Rajanaiken became convinced of the errors of 
 Popery, and cordially embraced the reformed 
 doctrines ; and such was the zeal of the new con- 
 vert, that he immediately began to instruct his 
 countrymen, both Pagan and Roman Catholic. 
 The first fruits of his labours were three of his 
 own soldiers, who were in the course of that year 
 baptized at Tranquebar. 
 
 The example of Rajanaiken was soon followed 
 by that of others. Surappen, a native who had 
 been converted to the Roman Catholic faith, and 
 was at that time employed as a catechist, per- 
 ceiving the errors of the Romish church, sent his 
 1 A Hindoo devotee.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 35 
 
 son Sattianaden to Tranquebar, to be instructed A. D. 
 
 1728 
 
 in the purer principles of the gospel. Surappen 
 was in the mean time actively engaged, notwith- 
 standing the opposition of the Roman Catholic 
 missionaries, in making proselytes to the Pro- 
 testant faith. A few months afterwards Sattia- 
 naden conducted more than fifteen converts to be 
 baptized at Tranquebar; and having offered his 
 services in the propagation of the gospel, the 
 missionaries established him as a catechist in the 
 kingdom of Tanjore. 1 Though no undue means 
 were resorted to by the Danish missionaries or 
 their catechists, in the exercise of their Christian 
 ministry, the jealousy of the Roman Catholics 
 was so much excited by their progress, that they 
 persecuted the father of Sattianaden till they 
 compelled him to return to the communion ot 
 their church, and even refused the rites of sepul- 
 ture to his grandmother, though she died in the 
 Roman Catholic faith. 
 
 Rajanaiken was also exposed to their persecu- 
 tions. He was now in the service of the prince 
 of Marava, and being confirmed in his attachment 
 to Christianity by frequent visits to Tranquebar, 
 he was unwearied in his endeavours to commu- 
 nicate it to his companions. He succeeded in 
 convincing several who had embraced the Roman 
 Catholic doctrines of their errors, and amongst 
 1 Niecamp, vol. ii. p. 197. 
 
 D 2
 
 36 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. others two inferior officers. The Popish cate- 
 
 1728. . . . . 
 
 chists attempted in vain to regain them to their 
 church. In a discussion upon religion, Raja- 
 naiken supported his sentiments by such forcible 
 appeals to the holy Scriptures, that his adversa- 
 ries were unable to reply to them. He then, 
 together with his two friends, determined on 
 quitting the military service, and, though at the 
 sacrifice of his worldly interest, embraced that of 
 the mission. The Roman Catholic priests be- 
 came, in consequence, more bitter than ever in 
 their persecution of the Protestant converts, cir- 
 culated the most calumnious accusations against 
 Luther and the reformed doctrine, and even ex- 
 cited their followers to various acts of personal 
 violence against Rajanaiken and his family. 
 Their opposition, however, not only failed in 
 checking the progress of the mission, but even 
 tended to promote its success. Numbers both of 
 Pagans and Mahomedans, as well as Roman 
 Catholic Christians, resorted to Tranquebar for 
 instruction; the access to the kingdom of Tanjore, 
 which had been closed against Ziegenbalg, was 
 effectually opened, and a journey shortly after- 
 wards undertaken by Mr. Pressier into that 
 country was attended by the happiest effects. 
 At the same time, Mr. Schultz and Messrs. Wal- 
 ther and Bosse preached with success along the 
 coast of Coromandel.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 37 
 
 In the course of the following year died Ma- A. D, 
 lejappen, the schoolmaster who had accompanied 
 Ziegenbalg to Europe. He was an excellent 
 translator, and much attached to the interests of 
 the mission. Several other natives, who died 
 about the same period, gave the most satisfactory 
 evidences of their faith in the gospel. 
 
 The progress of the missions, both at Tran- 
 quebar and Madras, now requiring additional 
 help, two new missionaries, Messrs. Worm and 
 Reichsteig, were appointed to the former, and a 
 third, Mr. Sartorius, was taken under the imme- 
 diate patronage of the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge for the service of the latter 
 station. They arrived at Madras in August, 
 1730, and were received by Mr. Schultz with 173 - 
 cordial delight and joy. Messrs. Worm and 
 Reichsteig, after a stay of three weeks, pursued 
 their journey to Tranquebar ; Mr. Sartorius re- 
 mained at Madras, and applied with such dili- 
 gence to the study both of the Portuguese and 
 Tamul, that he soon acquired a facility in speak- 
 ing those languages, and was able to converse 
 with the natives of the neighbouring villages. 
 
 The Madras mission, which had been supported i?3i. 
 by the late governor, Macrae, was equally fa- 
 voured by the protection of his successor, Mr. 
 Pitt ; and towards the end of the year 1731, Mr. 
 Schultz received a most encouraging letter from
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. the Archbishop of Canterbury, accompanied by a 
 present of four hundred and twenty pagodas, 
 which enabled him to repay a sum which he had 
 borrowed, and to establish a second school for 
 native children. In acknowledging this liberal 
 donation, Schultz took occasion to solicit of the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge still 
 further assistance in the work of the mission. 
 Mr. John Ernest Giesler, of Halle, was in conse- 
 quence recommended to the Society, and together 
 with Mr. Cnoll, who was appointed to act as 
 physician to the mission, embarked at Deal in 
 July, 1732, and safely reached Madras. 
 
 1732. Thus strengthened, the missionaries at that 
 presidency proceeded with fresh vigour in their 
 various labours, and the blessing of God evidently 
 accompanied them. Amongst others, in con- 
 junction with their brethren at Tranquebar, they 
 visited Mr. Engelbert, the chaplain at Negapatam, 
 and assisted him in his zealous endeavours to 
 promote Christianity in the Dutch settlements on 
 that coast. In these attempts Mr. Worm was 
 particularly distinguished by the ability with 
 which he conversed with the natives, convinced 
 them of their errors, and conciliated their confi- 
 dence, and in many instances he was successful in 
 persuading them to embrace the gospel. 1 
 
 The missionaries having long derived essential 
 1 Niecamp, vol. iii. p. 33 35.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 39 
 
 assistance from the labours of the native cate- A. D. 
 
 1732 
 
 chists, and the numbers of converts in the neigh- 
 bouring districts being now very considerable, 
 deemed it highly expedient to provide for the 
 discharge of the higher functions of the ministry 
 by one of their own countrymen. For this im- 
 portant purpose they selected one of the cate- 
 chists named Aaron, a man of respectable family, 
 who had been baptized by Ziegenbalg, and who 
 had for many years been distinguished both by 
 his personal piety and by his talents and useful- 
 ness as a teacher. At the close of the year 1733, 1733. 
 the missionaries from Madras united with their 
 brethren at Tranquebar and the chaplains of the 
 Danish factory, in ordaining him to the work of 
 the ministry, according to the rites of the Lu- 
 theran church. He was at this time about 
 thirty-five years of age, and his long white pas- 
 toral robe, like that of the Syrian clergy, corre- 
 sponded with the mild and amiable character of 
 his appearance and manner. The mother and 
 sister of Aaron had also embraced Christianity. 
 The duty of the new minister was to preach and 
 administer the sacraments alternately in a district 
 of Tanjore, comprising several congregations of 
 Christians ; and such was the success with which 
 he laboured, that in the course of the following 
 year he had been the instrument of converting no 
 less than fifty of his countrymen to the faith of
 
 40 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. the gospel. The services of the catechists, parti- 
 cularly of Rajanaiken, had been at the same time 
 eminently beneficial. 
 
 The translation of the Bible into the Hindos- 
 tanee language, which had been completed in 
 1732 by the learning and diligence of Mr. 
 Schultz, though not printed till some years after- 
 wards, was a work from which the missionaries 
 anticipated much advantage in their labours in 
 1734 that quarter. 
 
 Mr. Sartorius having, in his late journey to 
 Tranquebar, spent some days at Fort St. David, 
 the governor expressed his readiness to assist in 
 forming a mission in that neighbourhood. On 
 communicating this intelligence to the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, Mr. Schultz 
 was directed in the next despatch to take mea- 
 sures for that purpose. That zealous missionary 
 having at the same time reported the want of 
 adequate accommodation for preaching the Word 
 of God in the only house then occupied by the 
 mission at Madras, the Society immediately ob- 
 tained the consent of the Court of Directors to 
 build a church and two schools at that presi- 
 dency, under the superintendence of the governor 
 of Fort St. George and the agents of the Society. 
 Instructions were accordingly sent to their cor- 
 respondents to commence those buildings, in the 
 hope that though their present remittances would
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 41 
 
 not be sufficient for so considerable a work, the A.D. 
 
 1734. 
 
 providence of God would enable them to complete 
 it the following year. 1 
 
 The attention of the missionaries at Tranquebar 1735. 
 was in the year 1735 directed to the practi- 
 cability of extending their Christian labours to 
 Bengal, and they had written to request the as- 
 sistance of their friends in England in carrying 
 this design into execution, and had received their 
 cordial acquiescence, when it was painfully in- 
 terrupted by the premature loss of two of their 
 number, Messrs. Reichsteig and Worm. These 
 excellent men had been companions on the voyage 
 to India, and had during nearly five years been 
 zealous and indefatigable in the discharge of the 
 laborious and self-denying duties of the mission. 
 They died at Tranquebar within three weeks of 
 each other, leaving a very powerful testimony to 
 the truth and value of the principles and promises 
 of the gospel. Mr. Worm, who had been a pupil 
 of the celebrated Buddaeus, professor of divinity 
 at Jena, was a man of superior talents and ac- 
 quirements, and admirably qualified to promote 
 the cause of Christianity in India. His loss was 
 therefore severely felt by his colleagues ; but 
 amidst the regret of being thus early called from 
 the service of his Lord upon earth, and of being 
 separated from an affectionate wife and an infant 
 
 1 Report of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.
 
 42 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. daughter, he expressed in striking terms the 
 peace which he enjoyed, and his lively hope of 
 future happiness. His widow and child, however, 
 survived him only a few weeks. 1 
 
 Among the literary labours of the missionaries 
 at this period, besides the printing of the Portu- 
 guese Bible, were a grammar in Tamul and Ger- 
 man, and a History of the Church, composed by 
 Mr. Walther in Tamul, and printed in 1735. 
 The latter work was occasioned by a request of 
 the catechist Rajanaiken, to be informed as to the 
 origin and progress of the errors of the Church of 
 Rome, in order that he might be better prepared 
 to reply to the objections, and to refute the false 
 opinions of the Roman Catholics. This eccle- 
 siastical history, which overturned the pretended 
 antiquity of the Romish Church, and which was 
 extremely useful to the country catechists, was 
 particularly designed for the instruction of the 
 pupils of the seminary, who were to be educated 
 as catechists and schoolmasters. About the same 
 time, Mr. Sartorius completed the Tamul Dic- 
 tionary which had been commenced by Ziegen- 
 balg. 
 
 1736. The presents sent to the missionaries at Tran- 
 quebar and Madras, from the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, amounted, in the 
 year 1736, to no less a sum than 1,500, and in 
 1 Niecarop, vol. iii. p. 124.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 43 
 
 the following year, to 1,700 sterling; while the A. D. 
 collections in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, 
 on several occasions, exceeded three thousand 
 crowns. The zeal and liberality of professor 
 Francke, of Halle, in promoting these subscrip- 
 tions, are frequently mentioned in their reports. 
 
 The mission which the governor of Fort St. 1737 - 
 George had promised to support, was in the year 
 1737 established by Messrs. Sartorius and Gies- 
 ler, at the neighbouring town of Cuddalore. 
 The missionaries had often preached there ; and 
 though at first the native inhabitants were indis- 
 posed to hear them, great numbers were in pro- 
 cess of time persuaded to embrace the gospel. 
 This branch, however, of the Madras mission did 
 not long enjoy the benefit of Mr. Sartorius' la- 
 bours. That active and valuable missionary died i/se. 
 the next year, and was buried at Cuddalore ; all 
 the English gentlemen there attending his funeral. 
 His loss was particularly felt, on account of his 
 remarkable skill in the Tamul language ; the 
 most learned natives acknowledging that he 
 spoke it like a brahmin. The death of Mr. Sar- 
 torius was followed by that of Mr. Pressier, at 
 Tranquebar, after twelve -years of faithful and 
 effective service in that mission. The loss, how- 
 ever, of these pious men was happily repaired, 
 by the arrival of three new missionaries, viz. Mr. 
 Wiedebrceck,and Messrs. Obuch and Kolhoff, who
 
 44 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. had studied for some years at Halle. The mis- 
 
 1739 
 
 sion was farther strengthened, by the embarka- 
 tion, in the year 1739, of Mr. Kiernander, who 
 had been a teacher in the Orphan House, and 
 was recommended by Professor Francke to suc- 
 ceed Mr. Sartorius in the mission of Cuddalore. 
 He was accompanied by Messrs. Fabricius and 
 Zegler, from the Royal Mission College at Co- 
 penhagen, whose immediate destination was to 
 Tranquebar. By the ship in which these mis- 
 sionaries sailed, thirteen chests, valued at 1,500, 
 including, besides books, and printing and other 
 paper, foreign silver for the use of the mission, 
 were sent as usual, free of freight, by the kind- 
 ness of the Court of Directors of the East India 
 Company. 
 
 1740. In the year 1740, Mr. Schultz, in addition to 
 the preparation of some native youths for the ser- 
 vice of the mission, as catechists and school- 
 masters, accomplished the important point of 
 commencing a Tamul school for the children of 
 heathen parents, under a Christian schoolmaster. 
 He began with eight boys, sons of merchants 
 and tradesmen at Cuddalore, and indulged the 
 hope that this measure would not only lead to a 
 more intimate acquaintance with the inhabitants, 
 but, by the blessing of God, tend to the introduc- 
 tion of Christianity among the natives. In this 
 year the missionaries and catechists at Tranque-
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 45 
 
 bar were remarkably favoured by the numbers A. n. 
 added to their congregations. They also nearly 
 completed their new school buildings ; while at 
 Cuddalore the mission under the care of Mr. 
 Giesler was gradually prospering. 
 
 With the approbation of the Mission College 
 at Copenhagen, they, at the close of the year, or- 
 dained the catechist Diego, who had long been 
 most diligently and faithfully engaged in that 
 humble but useful employment, to assist the na- 
 tive preacher, Aaron, who was now become in- 
 firm, and unable to perform his ministerial duties 
 to a large congregation. 1 
 
 The general cause of the mission sustained a 1742. 
 great loss in the year 1742, by the return to Eu- 
 rope of Mr. Schultz, in consequence of ill health, 
 after more than twenty-years' residence in India. 
 By this event the mission at Madras was deprived 
 of a labourer of great learning,, piety, and zeal, 
 whose services from its establishment had been 
 peculiarly valuable, and who marked his own at- 
 tachment to its interests, by generously presenting 
 the house in which he resided for the use of the 
 mission. His place was immediately supplied by 
 Mr. Fabricius, who entered upon the arduous 
 duties of that station with that deep humility and 
 dependence on the providence and grace of God, 
 
 1 Reports of the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge.
 
 46 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. which formed the best security for the success of 
 his labours. 
 
 The enlargement of their missions had now for 
 some time pressed heavily on the funds of the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge ; and 
 they even began to fear that they should not be 
 able to meet its increasing expenditure. They 
 were, however, encouraged by " a most friendly 
 and Christian letter from professor Francke, full 
 of good- will towards the missions at Madras and 
 Cuddalore," and remitting 250 towards their 
 support. Animated by this seasonable aid, they 
 requested that excellent man to provide two ad- 
 ditional missionaries for those stations, trusting, 
 as they piously declared, 1 " that the same wise 
 and good providence of God which had hitherto 
 blessed them in all their undertakings to spread 
 the pure gospel of his Son Christ Jesus in all 
 parts of the world, would raise up benefactors to 
 contribute whatever might be wanted towards 
 1743. h" Accordingly, in the following year professor 
 Francke sent out, at his own charge, the Rev. 
 Messrs. Breithaupt and Klein, to Tranquebar ; 
 and out of his affectionate regard to the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, he remitted 
 a further sum of 300 towards the support of 
 the two missions at Madras and Cuddalore. Two 
 years afterwards, the same liberal and zealous 
 1 Reports of the Society.
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 47 
 
 benefactor sent an additional donation of 200; A. D. 
 on which occasion the Society expressed its ear- 
 nest wishes for the general diffusion of the tri*ly 
 Christian spirit which animated that distinguished 
 friend to the cause of missions. 
 
 The annual reports of the Society at this 
 period contain many gratifying statements of the 
 successful labours of the missionaries. The two 
 native preachers, Aaron and Diego, in their tra- 
 vels through the villages of the district which 
 had been assigned to them, were eminently use- 
 ful ; and so numerous were their converts in 
 some of them, that it became necessary, accord- 
 ing to the custom of the country, to appoint a 
 Christian warden or superintendent over them. 
 The former of these pious men finished his course 
 in June 1745, after eleven years of diligent ser- 
 vice as an itinerant pastor and teacher, having, 
 during that period, been the means of converting 
 many hundred souls. His end appears to have 
 been hastened by his journeyings and fatigues ; 
 and such was his amiable character, and his holy 
 and exemplary conduct, that he was almost 
 equally lamented by the missionaries and by his 
 native countrymen. 
 
 The death of Mr. Obuch, one of the mission- 
 aries at Tranquebar, followed shortly after that 
 of the pastor Aaron. He was, according to the 
 testimony of his colleagues, a most faithful and
 
 48 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. affectionate brother, conscientious in the dis- 
 
 1745. . n, , -, 
 
 charge of his duty, and persevering in it even to 
 the disregard of life, so that he might fulfil the 
 ministry which he had received, and finish his 
 course with joy. 
 
 1746. The war between France and England, which 
 commenced in 1744, having extended to India, 
 in September 1746 a French fleet appeared 
 off Madras ; and having landed a body of 
 troops, after a bombardment of five days, Fort 
 St. George was compelled to capitulate. The 
 French commander at first promised to protect 
 the mission ; but soon afterwards, having ordered 
 a great part of the Black, or native Town, to be 
 levelled with the ground, for the purpose of im- 
 proving the defence of Madras, the Mission 
 House was destroyed, and the church converted 
 into a magazine. Upon this unexpected cala- 
 mity, Mr. Fabricius retired with the children of 
 the mission school to Pulicat, a Dutch settle- 
 ment in the neighbourhood, where the governor 
 gave them a kind and hospitable reception. 
 Here, with the assistance of a catechist and two 
 schoolmasters, he took charge not only of the 
 Christians who were with him, but of the con- 
 verts near Madras, constantly visiting the vil- 
 lages around him to disseminate the principles of 
 
 1748. the gospel. On the restoration of peace in 1748, 
 Mr. Fabricius returned to Madras, and through
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 49 
 
 the pood offices of Admiral Boscawen, the Ens;- A. n. 
 
 ,. , . . , i 1749 - 
 
 lish mission, atter some delay, obtained possession 
 
 of a spacious church at Vepery near the town, 
 with the houses and gardens attached to it, which 
 had belonged to the Roman Catholic mission- 
 aries, but from which they had been expelled, 
 on account of their treasonable communications 
 with the French during the war. It is due to the 
 memory of Mr. Fabricius, to notice his zeal and 
 charity during this critical period, in abating 
 nearly one third of his salary, and living him- 
 self in the simplest manner, carrying the fruits of 
 his self-denying economy to the account of the 
 mission fund. The Romish church at Cuddalore 
 was at the same time transferred by the governor 
 of Fort St. David to Mr. Kiernander, by the 
 name of Christ's Church, for the use of the mis- 
 sionaries of the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, and as a place of public worship for 
 the increase of the Protestant religion. 
 
 Having thus reviewed the origin and progress of 
 the missions at Tranquebar and Madras, up to the 
 year in which the venerable subject of the follow- 
 ing Memoirs embarked for India, a brief recapitu- 
 lation of the actual state of the missions at that 
 period, and "of the success which had attended 
 their various labours, may properly close this 
 preliminary sketch. 
 
 VOL. i. E
 
 50 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A. D. It appears by the returns regularly made to 
 the Mission College at Copenhagen, and to the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, that 
 from the arrival of Ziegenbalg in 1706, to the year 
 1 750, the numbers of the converts at Tranquebar, 
 and in the towns and villages of the neighbour- 
 ing districts, to which the missionaries and their 
 catechists and teachers had access, amounted to 
 nearly eight thousand ; and that from the year 
 1 728 to the same period, the converts at Madras 
 and Cuddalore, and along the coast of Coro- 
 na andel, might be estimated at more than one 
 thousand. Of these a very small proportion were 
 proselytes from the Roman Catholic faith ; though 
 such is the general ignorance of the converts from 
 heathenism by the missionaries of that church, 
 that, with the exception of a few unmeaning 
 forms, they could scarcely be considered as dif- 
 fering from their pagan countrymen. A few in- 
 stances occurred of conversion from the Maho- 
 medans, but their well-known prejudice and bigo- 
 try rendered these extremely rare. The great ma- 
 jority of the Protestant converts were native Hin- 
 doos or their children, chiefly, as might be expect- 
 ed, though by no means exclusively, even at that 
 period, of the lower castes of the inhabitants. 
 
 It is not intended to be asserted that all these 
 converts were well-informed and consistent Chris- 
 tians ; but one of the principal features in the
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 51 
 
 history of these Protestant missions is. the un- A. D. 
 
 1750. 
 
 wearied diligence and the scrupulous care and 
 conscientious fidelity, with which the missionaries 
 and other teachers laboured to prepare their cate- 
 chumens for baptism, and to instruct their con- 
 gregations in the doctrines and precepts of the 
 gospel, and the primitive discipline which they 
 exercised over them. Their periodical reports 
 afford many unquestionable proofs and most 
 interesting memorials of the faith and piety of 
 their converts, many examples of Christian virtue, 
 and many instances of opposition and persecution, 
 " for righteousness* sake," sustained with a sted- 
 fastness, meekness, and patience, well worthy of 
 the purest ages of the church, the genuineness 
 and authenticity of which cannot fairly be doubt- 
 ed. Many a death-bed scene also is recorded in 
 these reports, 1 in which the dying Hindoo, and 
 not unfrequently the female convert, expressed 
 with intelligence, humility, and ardent gratitude, 
 the heartfelt penitence, the holy dispositions, 
 and the heavenly hopes of the true Christian. 
 Even where the instructions and exhortations 
 of the missionaries failed of producing any effec- 
 tual change of religious profession, there was 
 1 Upon all these points the original acts of the Danish mis- 
 sion in German, or the admirable abridgment of them by Nie- 
 camp, either in Latin in two volumes quarto, or in the French 
 translation of M. Gaudard, with a preface by professor Francke, 
 may be advantageously consulted. 
 
 E 2
 
 52 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 
 
 A - D - often a strong conviction on the native mind of the 
 
 1750. g 
 
 folly of idolatry, and the truth of Christianity as a 
 divine revelation ; and a very general impression 
 was evident in its favour from the unwearied and 
 disinterested labours, and the holy and exemplary 
 lives of the Christian teachers. Nor was this all. 
 The dispersion of the various translations of the 
 holy scriptures, and the distribution of numer- 
 ous tracts and treatises, printed at the Tranquebar 
 press, tended to disseminate Christian knowledge 
 and Christian principles, far beyond the narrow 
 limits of the Protestant missions and their imme- 
 diate vicinity, and to prepare the way for that 
 more extensive diffusion of the gospel in India, 
 which we have happily lived to witness. 
 
 It was under a deep sense of the important 
 effects already produced by these establishments, 
 that the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, when recording the grants from the go- 
 vernors of Madras and Fort St. David, of the Ro- 
 man Catholic churches at Vepery and Cuddalore, 
 added its anxious expectation, that the directors 
 of the East India Company would be disposed 
 voluntarily to take the Protestant missions under 
 their more immediate protection and favour, and 
 to show some special marks of encouragement to 
 that zeal and fidelity which the missionaries had 
 manifested, not only for the Protestant religion, 
 but likewise for the interest and service of the
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH. 53 
 
 Company, particularly during the late war ; con- A. n. 
 eluding with an earnest hope, that all of this 
 church and nation would enlarge their contribu- 
 tions to this fund, till it became sufficient to main- 
 tain such a number of missionaries and schools as 
 might, by the grace of God, once more spread 
 throughout the East the gospel of Christ in its 
 original simplicity and purity, reformed from all 
 the corruptions and abominations of popery. 
 
 These pious aspirations were, indeed, but faintly 
 echoed by the feelings of the nation at large. 
 Something may, doubtless, be attributed to the 
 imperfect dissemination at that period of religious 
 information, and still more to the little interest 
 excited in behalf of the inhabitants of a country 
 so distant, and comparatively so unknown, as 
 India, at a time when the English possessions con- 
 sisted of but little beyond a few commercial facto- 
 ries on its coasts. The Society, however, laudably 
 persevered in its zealous endeavours to promote 
 Christianity in the East ; and in the eminent 
 missionary, whose elevated character and im- 
 portant labours are to be developed in the follow- 
 ing pages, the providence of God raised up an 
 instrument admirably qualified to carry on its 
 benevolent designs, during the eventful period in 
 which Great Britain was pursuing her triumphant 
 career towards the vast empire which she now 
 possesses in Oriental India.
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
 THE REV. C. F. S W A R T Z. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early life and education of Swartz His removal to Halle 
 Proposal to go out as a Danish missionary to Tranquebar 
 He obtains the consent of his father His Ordination De- 
 parture for England, and kind reception by the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge He embarks for India 
 Account of his voyage He arrives at Tranquebar First 
 occupations at the Mission. 
 
 THOUGH the honour of originating the first Pro- CHAP. 
 
 testant mission to India belongs, as we have seen, '_, 
 
 to Denmark, it is remarkable that, from its com- 
 mencement, the majority of those who have been 
 engaged in its service, have been natives of Ger- 
 many. Of this number was the distinguished 
 subject of these Memoirs.
 
 56 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Christian Frederick Schwartz 1 was born at Son- 
 nenburg, a small town in the Electorate of Bran- 
 denburgh, now the kingdom of Prussia, on the 
 26th of October, 1726. 2 His father's name was 
 George, and his station in life appears to have 
 been respectable. The family name of his mo- 
 ther was Gruner. This pious woman died during 
 his infancy ; but on her death-bed, she in the 
 most solemn manner informed her husband and 
 the pastor who attended her, that she had dedi- 
 cated her son to the Lord, and obtained a pro- 
 mise from them both, that he should be trained 
 up in the remembrance of this sacred destination; 
 and that if he should in due time express a de- 
 sire to be educated for the ministry, they would 
 cherish and promote it to the utmost of their 
 power. 
 
 1734- At the age of eight years young Swartz was 
 sent to the principal grammar school at Sonnen- 
 burg, where, together with the elements of clas- 
 
 1 This, it is scarcely necessary to observe, is the correct or- 
 thography of his name, and that which he used in the earlier 
 period of his life j hut as, during the greater part of it, he in- 
 variahly adopted, both in corresponding with his friends, and in 
 public documents, the simpler form, probably from its more 
 easy pronunciation, and is by this generally known, he will be 
 thus designated in the following Memoirs. 
 
 2 This is the date invariably assigned in every preceding 
 Memoir, but the author has recently ascertained that the real 
 day of Swartz 's birth was the 8th, and not the 26th of October.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 57 
 
 sical learning, he received many good impres- CHAP. 
 sions from the moral and religious instructions of 
 its rector, Mr. Helm. This excellent person par- 
 ticularly enforced upon his pupils the importance 
 of private devotion, and encouraged them to offer 
 up their petitions in language suggested by their 
 own feelings. Swartz afterwards declared. 1 that 
 even at that early age he used frequently to re- 
 tire from his youthful companions into solitude, 
 and there pour out his heart before God ; that he 
 found this practice highly beneficial, and that 
 when conscious especially of having acted wrong, 
 he could never regain tranquillity of mind, until 
 he had earnestly implored the divine forgiveness. 
 
 On the removal of Mr. Helm by his entrance 1740. 
 on ministerial duty, his successor neglected the 
 religious improvement of his scholars, and Swartz 
 became comparatively indifferent. He was about 
 this time confirmed according to the rites of the 
 Lutheran church ; but the clergyman who exa- 
 mined him, was too easily satisfied with the mere 
 verbal replies of the catechumens to his questions 
 on the catechism, without impressing upon them 
 the necessity of giving up the heart to God. 
 
 1 In Dr. Knapp's and other biographical sketches, it is said 
 that Swartz made this declaration in a memoir written by him- 
 self; but it is well known that he never wrote or published any. 
 thing of this kind. It was probably, therefore, in some letter to 
 a friend that this circumstance was mentioned.
 
 58 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Hence, though on partaking, for the first time, of 
 - the holy communion, Swartz was considerably 
 affected, these pious emotions, for want of being 
 suitably cherished, quickly subsided. 
 
 Having now acquired as much knowledge of 
 Latin and Greek as the school of his native place 
 could afford him, together with the rudiments of 
 Hebrew, he was sent to an academy at the neigh- 
 bouring town of Custrin, to pursue his studies, 
 and to be qualified for the university. The father 
 of Swartz, who was evidently a man of sense and 
 piety, had always accustomed him to much 
 simplicity and self-denial. He walked on foot 
 with him to Custrin, where he consigned him to 
 the care of his new master, and, unlike the pa- 
 rents of two of his young friends from the same 
 town, allowed him no more money than was re- 
 quired for his necessary expenses. Here, by as- 
 sociating with some thoughtless companions, his 
 heart became still more alienated from God, 
 though he endeavoured to preserve a correct de- 
 portment. Occasionally, his good impressions 
 were revived by the animated discourses of the 
 Rev. Mr. Stegmann, one of the parochial ministers 
 of Custrin ; but he imagined that it was not pos- 
 sible for him, while he remained there, to lead a 
 religious life, having no just conception at that 
 time of the nature of genuine piety, and not per- 
 ceiving the necessity of divine strength to enable
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 5 
 
 him to persevere in a Christian course. While CHAP. 
 at this place, happily for his future improvement, 
 he became acquainted with one of the Syndics, 
 who had formerly been a student at Halle, and 
 who retained great respect for the professors of 
 that university. The daughter of this gentleman, 
 who appears to have taken a lively interest in the 
 young scholar, endeavoured to point out to him 
 his previous errors, and to convince him of the 
 importance of greater decision of character. She 
 lent him several books, among which was the re- 
 markable narrative of the rise and progress of the 
 Orphan House at Glaucha, near Halle, entitled, 
 " Demonstrations of the Footsteps of a Divine 
 Being yet in the World," by the celebrated Au- 
 gustus Hermann Francke. This extraordinary 
 work made a deep impression upon his mind. It 
 first inspired him with a wish to visit Halle, and 
 proved, in fact, the turning point of his future 
 destination. When reviewing, however, this pe- 
 riod of his life, Swartz afterwards observed that 
 he was diligent in study, but chiefly from worldly 
 motives ; and that twice in seasons of dangerous 
 illness he had resolved to devote himself entirely 
 to God, but that he soon forgot his good resolutions. 
 On his return from Custrin, well prepared by 
 his progress in learning for the university, and 
 having exhibited in his general conduct a striking 
 contrast to that of his two companions from
 
 00 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Sonnenburg, his father, referring to the strict 
 
 economy which he had exercised with respect to 
 
 his expenses, thus addressed him : " My dear 
 Frederick, you may, perhaps, have sometimes re- 
 pined on comparing your homely food and cloth- 
 ing with that of others : and possibly you may 
 have thought that your father did not love you so 
 much as the parents of some of your friends ; but 
 I trust that your own good sense, and the painful 
 example of their failure, will have led you to per- 
 ceive my reasons for inuring you to hardships, and 
 never encouraging you in self-indulgence. I may 
 now justly hope that in whatever situation it may 
 please God to place you, you will be qualified to 
 sustain it :" a sentiment which was virtually pro- 
 phetic of his future arduous and self-deny ing career. 
 1746. In the year 1746 Swartz proceeded to Halle, 
 with a view of attending the Grammar School of 
 the Orphan House ; but his distinguished coun- 
 tryman, Schultz, who, as we have seen, had 
 returned from the Madras mission three years be- 
 fore, and was then residing at Halle, advised him 
 to enter the university at once, as he had attained 
 his twentieth year, and was already sufficiently 
 grounded in elementary knowledge. He accord- 
 ingly followed this advice, and diligently at- 
 tended the lectures of the professors Baumgarten> 
 Michaelis, Knapp, and Freylinghausen, boarding 
 and lodging in the mean time at the Orphan
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 House. While pursuing his studies there, he 
 was chosen to be preceptor to the Latin classes, 
 
 r 1747. 
 
 and to assist in the evening assemblies for prayer, 
 appointed by the venerable founder to be held 
 with the attendants and servants of the institu- 
 tion. These pious employments were highly be- 
 neficial to him ; and, together with the instruc- 
 tion which he received at the devotional meetings, 
 under the direction of the Rev. G. F. Weiss, 
 Inspector of the German School, and his inter- 
 course with the learned and pious professor 
 Francke, confirmed him in the determination of 
 devoting himself to God, and established him in 
 that truly Christian course, the excellence of which 
 his subsequent life so strikingly displayed. 
 
 It was at this time in contemplation to print a 
 new edition of the Bible, in Tamul, at Halle, un- 
 der the superintendence of the late missionary 
 Schultz, who was also carrying through the press 
 a devotional tract, which he had translated into 
 the same language, for the purpose of distribution 
 in India. In connexion with another of the stu- 
 dents, Swartz was recommended to acquire some 
 knowledge of Tamul, in order to qualify him to 
 assist in correcting the printing of these works ; 
 but though the intended edition of the Bible was 
 
 o 
 
 not eventually carried into execution, this study 
 occupied him for several months, and probably 
 first directed his mind towards the sphere of his
 
 62 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, future labours. While thus engaged, professor 
 Francke, who was making inquiries for new mis- 
 1748 ' sionaries to India, proposed to Swartz to engage in 
 this sacred and important work ; and though 
 the idea of such an employment was altogether 
 new to him, he determined, if he could obtain his 
 father's approbation, to accept the call. 
 
 For this purpose he made a journey to his na- 
 tive place. But here every thing seemed unfa- 
 vourable ; for, being the eldest son, he was con- 
 sidered the chief prop of the family, and no 
 member of it would believe that his father could 
 be brought to consent to such a project. Swartz 
 however, stated his wishes, together with the mo- 
 tives which influenced him, with great seriousness 
 and solemnity, to his father; who, instead of put- 
 ting an immediate negative upon the proposal, as 
 had been expected, replied, that he would take 
 two or three days to consider of it, and fixed a time 
 for declaring his determination. The important 
 day arrived ; and the family waited with divided 
 anxiety for the decision; the young candidate for 
 this arduous undertaking afraid of a refusal, the rest 
 equally fearing of a consent. At length, his father 
 came down from his chamber, gave him his bless- 
 ing, and bade him depart in God's name ; charging 
 him to forget his native country and his father's 
 house, and to go and win many souls to Christ. 
 Having thus obtained his dismission, he has-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 63 
 
 tened his departure ; and, generously resigning CHAP. 
 his patrimony to his brothers and sisters, he re- 
 turned to Halle. A few days afterwards, an ad- 
 vantageous offer was made to him of entering upon 
 the ministry at home ; but he felt that the die was 
 cast, and that having deliberately put his hand 
 to the plough, it did not become him to look 
 back. How manifestly this determination origi- 
 nated in the superintending providence of God, 
 and was crowned with his blessing, the subsequent 
 history of this eminent missionary has abundantly 
 proved. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1749, Swartz set out for 
 Copenhagen, for the purpose of receiving holy 
 orders, accompanied by two other new mission- 
 aries to India, Messrs. Poltzenhagen, and Hutte- 
 man. They reached that city on the 23rd, were 
 examined on the 6th of September by Dr. Hersleb, 
 Bishop of Zealand and Primate of Denmark, and 
 ordained to the sacred ministry by Bishop Hor- 
 reboa; and on the 19th they left Copenhagen on 
 their return to Halle. 
 
 Every necessary preparation having been made 
 for their intended voyage, the three missiona- 
 ries took leave of their pious and excellent 
 friends in that university ; and it being intended 
 that they should proceed to India by way of 
 England, they repaired to Helvoetsluys, where 
 they embarked, and reached Harwich on the 6th
 
 64 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. O f December; the next day they pursued their 
 
 journey to Colchester, and on the 8th arrived in 
 
 London. There they remained six weeks, during 
 which time they were diligently employed in 
 learning the English language, and in preparing 
 for their important destination. Though they 
 were not formally presented at any public meet- 
 ing of the board, the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge most kindly received and pro- 
 vided for them during their stay in this country. 
 The following extracts translated from two letters 
 of Swartz in German, to the Rev. Dr. Francke, 
 contain some interesting particulars of their feel- 
 ings and occupations from the time of their de- 
 parture from Halle. The commencement of the 
 first is very characteristic of his mind, and is dated 
 from Kensington, 18th of December, 1749. 
 
 " God hath ordered all things well on the 
 voyage. Our hearts (more especially mine) were 
 very cheerful during the storming and raging of the 
 sea ; and I have frequently reminded myself of 
 the 46th psalm with great joy. Praised be God ! 
 This ought to be the beginning, middle, and end 
 of my letter. If God maketh this only to resound 
 in our hearts, that he, Jehovah, our sun and 
 shield, is with us, we can then not only be tran- 
 quil, but cheerful. 
 
 " Our occupations here have been of singular 
 use, and a great refreshment to us. In every dif-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 65 
 
 ficulty we could have recourse to the Rev. Mr. CHAP - 
 Ziegenhagen, the venerable chaplain of his Ma- 
 jesty, who has behaved to us with paternal kind- 
 ness, and has given us such plain directions as 
 we, like inexperienced children, stood in need of. 
 This was our daily occupation, to take lessons and 
 receive instruction. Then we had also to preach 
 a few sermons ; I twice, namely, once in the 
 royal chapel on the first day of the Nativity, and 
 afterwards for the Rev. Mr. Pittius at the Savoy ; 
 Mr. Poltzenhagen four times, and Mr. Hutteman 
 three. May God bless what has been spoken in 
 great weakness !" 
 
 The directors of the East India Company 
 having, at the request of the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, kindly granted the 
 three missionaries a free passage on board the 
 Lynn, Captain Egerton, they proceeded to Deal 
 to embark in that ship. The second letter referred 
 to is dated from that port, January 24th, 1750, in 
 which Swartz thus writes. 
 
 "The 10th of January, according to the old 17.50. 
 style, which is yet used here, on the 21st accord- 
 ing to the new, was the day on which we left 
 dear Kensington, where God bestowed so much 
 grace upon us. On the preceding evening we 
 were from seven till ten with his Majesty's 
 
 VOL. i. F
 
 66 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, chaplain, who said many things to the awakening 
 - of our hearts. He gave us the 12 1st Psalm for 
 
 1750. T , n -..(, 
 
 meditation on our voyage : * 1 will lilt up mine 
 eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.' 
 Whatever could in any way contribute to our 
 comfort and encouragement, that he did. On new 
 year's day also he addressed us publicly from the 
 pulpit from these words, ' Be not afraid, only 
 believe.' (Mark v. 36.) At the same time he 
 exhorted the congregation to pray for us. On 
 the same evening he prayed again with us, com- 
 mended us to the mercy of our God, and gave us 
 some copies of his lately published Exposition of 
 the Lord's Prayer. He then dismissed us with 
 the cordial admonition, not to allow our brotherly 
 love to cool. May God write all that we have 
 heard deeply in our hearts ! 
 
 "Thus we departed on the 21st of January, 
 N.S., in the name of Jesus, accompanied by that 
 trusty German, Matthieson, who has conducted 
 all the missionaries from Mr. Walther 1 until now, 
 On the 23rd we arrived at Deal, in perfect health 
 and spirits. Here we lodge in a house which is 
 only a few paces from the shore, so that from our 
 windows we see nothing but the sea. My heart is 
 filled with cheerful confidence, beino- convinced 
 
 ' O 
 
 that as God has taken us under his paternal care 
 during our late travels, so will he likewise continue 
 
 4 In the year 1725.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 67 
 
 to be our Protector. If we will only cleave sted- CHAP. 
 fastly to him, he will also most certainly be with 
 us, and be our faithful God. And he will gra- 
 ciously hear the prayers with which we know so 
 many of his children and servants accompany us. 
 Now, therefore, we go forth in the name of the 
 Lord, who hath called us to be his servants and 
 messengers among the heathen ; who will also 
 guide and bring us to the destined place." 
 
 The next letter, which was addressed to the 
 Rev. Mr. Ziegenhagen, announces his actual em- 
 barkation. 
 
 " From on board the Lynn, off the Isle of Wight, 
 near Portsmouth, Feb. 1, 1750. 
 
 " There comes a ship to bring us provisions, by 
 which I send you a few lines. On the 29th of 
 January we left Deal. God hath given us a 
 favourable wind, with which we have already 
 sailed past Portsmouth. Praised be his name, we 
 are all well. Our cabin is below that of the cap- 
 tain. We are alone, for which we have thank- 
 fully to acknowledge the goodness of God. We 
 are as conveniently accommodated as can be ex- 
 pected on board ship. God be praised for it ! 
 The captain is a good, plain-dealing man, and the 
 other passengers show us much kindness. We 
 talk English as yet very badly, but they all en- 
 courage us to speak, and no one laughs at our 
 
 F 2
 
 68 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, blunders. Several of them know a little Latin, 
 and use their utmost endeavours to explain to us 
 
 1750. 
 
 whatever we do not understand. We return 
 hearty thanks to God for having brought us to 
 this ship. Hitherto he hath graciously preserved 
 us, that no one has sustained any hurt, except that 
 last night a sailor fell into the water ; however, he 
 was saved. The number of persons on board is 
 about an hundred, and a few passengers. We 
 pass our time in reading the holy Scriptures in 
 the original languages, and other good books, and 
 practise reading and writing English, according 
 to your kind instruction. There are persons on 
 board who go to India for pleasure. One of 
 
 O JT 
 
 them goes for the fifth time, and says it is a very 
 pleasant voyage. There are also many children 
 on board who learn navigation. Now this I have 
 written in haste. May Jesus bless you abund- 
 antly, and hear your prayers, and those of other 
 children and servants of God for us ! O, the 
 Lord is faithful, and never yet forsook his people. 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The ship did not, however, proceed on its 
 voyage so quickly as was expected. On the 3rd 
 of February, Swartz wrote to Mr. Ziegenhagen 
 as follows : 
 
 " Filial love requires us to make use of this op-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 69 
 
 portunity of informing you of our circumstances. CHAP. 
 When we last wrote to you, we were off the Isle '- 
 of Wight, and had a most favourable wind; but 
 we were obliged to lay to for more than half a 
 day, before the things which the ship brought us 
 from Deal were taken on board. Towards even- 
 ing we sailed, and by Monday had come already 
 close to the Bay of Biscay. In the morning the 
 wind veered about, and the captain found him- 
 self compelled to return to some harbour. Here 
 the motion of the ship was so violent, that I ex- 
 perienced something of the sea sickness, but only 
 for a few minutes. That day, about four, we 
 arrived off Falmouth. We were met by two 
 pilots, and the captain engaged him who came 
 first to the ship ; but the other, on coming up, 
 expressed his great dissatisfaction, not so much 
 because he had not been engaged, as because the 
 other had not conducted us aright. He disputed 
 so long, that the first was obliged to go away. This 
 morning we found that the man had just grounds 
 for his displeasure. For when it was ebb tide, 
 our ship had not sufficient water, but struck fre- 
 quently against the ground with such a crash, as 
 if a gun was fired. At the same time there was a 
 great storm, so that we might have sustained 
 much injury, if God had not preserved us. Now 
 we praise him that we were forced to return ; for 
 in this storm we should have been in the greatest
 
 70 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, danger off the Spanish coast. Thus we daily 
 *' perceive that his goodness preserves us. O that 
 1750 ' we might always look only to him, rest in his 
 will, and filially resign ourselves to it ! Our cap- 
 tain shows us great kindness. For the rest, I pray 
 God daily, that he would purify my heart more 
 and more from all dross, and by his Spirit fit me 
 for the important office for which, unworthy as I 
 am, he has, out of mere grace, ordained me. I 
 rest assured that you also will daily beg this grace 
 for myself, and my dear brethren. 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The ship was detained at Falmouth by con- 
 trary winds rather more than a month ; but this 
 delay was amply compensated by its escape from 
 the storms which, as it afterwards appeared, some 
 others had encountered ; in noticing which circum- 
 stance, many years afterwards, one of the brethren 
 at Tranquebar took occasion to observe, that during 
 the century which had elapsed since the com- 
 mencement of the Danish mission, and in the 
 course of which about fifty missionaries had sailed 
 to India, no vessel which contained any one of 
 them had perished. 
 
 In the following letter addressed to professor 
 Francke, Swartz, with a fervour and simplicity of 
 expression peculiar to the German language, gives 
 a detailed account of the continuance of their
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 71 
 
 voyage, and their safe arrival in India. It is CHAP. 
 dated from Tranquebar, October 8, 1750. 
 
 " We can now joyfully relate how graciously 
 God hath heard your supplications to his good- 
 ness for us. With undeserved grace and mercy 
 he hath brought us, hath graciously averted all 
 perils on our long voyage, mightily refreshed us 
 during the course of it both in soul and body, and 
 caused us to reach the end of it speedily and 
 happily, in four months and four days. We could 
 scarcely have imagined, that he would so pater- 
 nally and graciously guide us. His name be 
 humbly praised and glorified now and in eternity ! 
 
 u In order to give you, reverend sir, a some- 
 what detailed account of this gracious guidance 
 of our God, that you may magnify his name with 
 us, I shall briefly relate the most important par- 
 ticulars from our diary, not having yet found time 
 to copy the diary itself, which your Reverence 
 will kindly excuse. 
 
 " How God conducted us into Falmouth har- 
 bour, and what we there noticed to his praise, 
 you will have observed from the short letter 
 which we wrote on the day of our departure. 
 On the 12th of March 1750, God gave us a good 
 wind, and every thing was prepared for sailing. 
 But the tide being then at ebb, we were obliged 
 to wait till the evening, as we could not otherwise 
 
 1750.
 
 72 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. g e t safely out of the harbour. In the afternoon, 
 an inhabitant of the town came on board, who had 
 
 1750. 
 
 been powerfully awakened by Mr. Whitefield. 
 This man related to us many things, particularly 
 of the minister of Falmouth how zealous he was 
 in the discharge of his duty. We regretted that 
 we had not visited him ; and as the stranger inti- 
 mated that he would salute him from us, we sent 
 the minister professor Zimmermann's Treatise on 
 the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ, trans- 
 lated into Latin, in which we wrote a few lines. 
 
 " About seven in the evening we sailed, in the 
 name of God, out of the harbour, with a man of 
 war, which we thought was to escort us ; but the 
 next day we learned that she was to escort the 
 Norfolk. With this divine dispensation, we were 
 well satisfied, believing that we should not need 
 that convoy, if we could only say with David, 
 (Ps. xlvi. 7,) * The Lord of Hosts is with us, the 
 God of Jacob is our refuge.' If the Lord be for 
 us, who or what can be against us ? We met a 
 Dutch ship, from Smyrna to Rotterdam, the cap- 
 tain of which informed us, that he had suffered 
 much from the late severe storms, whilst we were 
 quietly in the harbour. On the 16th, we were 
 met by two ships, which exhibited a sad spectacle. 
 One of them had sprung a large leak, and drew 
 several feet of water, so that she lay very deep, 
 and rolled from side to side. Our captain backed
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 73 
 
 the sails, and sent the carpenter, with an officer, CHAP. 
 and some others, to see whether they could assist ; 
 but on their return, they declared that the vessel 
 must sink. The other ship, therefore, kept quite 
 close to the damaged one, that the people might 
 save themselves. 
 
 " On the 21st of March, I had a fever, which 
 continued till the 10th of April. As I fell away 
 so much, the doctor was alarmed ; but God helped 
 me graciously, and soon restored to me my bodily 
 strength. I must also confess, to his praise, that 
 this sickness has been of great service to me. 
 On the 22nd of March, we had, for the first time, 
 divine service on board our ship, which afforded 
 us great pleasure. On the 29th, we passed the 
 tropic of Cancer; and on the 18th of April, we 
 crossed the line, for the first time. There was 
 great joy on board, that we had not been detained 
 longer. On the 22nd, we were in the height of 
 Ascension. The 30th, God visibly preserved a 
 youth from death, who had entered on board to 
 learn navigation. A thick cable fell down from 
 above, exactly on the spot where he was standing ; 
 but before it reached him, he perceived it, and 
 narrowly escaped. Towards evening, a ship was 
 seen. We rejoiced at first, hoping for an oppor- 
 tunity of sending letters ; but our joy had nearly 
 been changed to fear, as our people began to think 
 they might be enemies, and made preparations for
 
 74 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, defence. Early the next morning we looked out 
 for her, but in vain. On the 5th of May. we 
 
 1750. < . J 
 
 passed the tropic of Capricorn, and thus left 
 the torrid zone. As soon as the trade wind 
 ceased, we were favoured with a delightful breeze 
 from E. N. E. If we attend to the different 
 changes of winds, we may observe agreeable 
 traces of the admirable wisdom of God. On the 
 7th, we saw a French vessel, and, on our captain 
 firing a signal gun, to desire them to wait, they 
 did so, and we came up with her towards evening. 
 The captains conversed with each other on their 
 observations, and ours agreed pretty well with 
 theirs. It was a great advantage that we could 
 observe so well in our ship ; for even in hazy 
 weather, the sun appeared a little about noon. 
 The chief mate requested us to communicate the 
 observations contained in our diaries, particularly 
 with regard to the variation of the compass. We 
 did so, and he gratefully acknowledged it, by 
 giving us a fine large Cheshire cheese. 1 The 
 llth of May we had a very high wind, and the 
 next day a calm. While we spoke of it in the 
 evening, and sighed to God that he would have 
 pity on us, as before, suddenly there arose a very 
 favourable breeze. Thus God fulfilled to us 
 
 1 This is always an acceptable present in India, and was fre- 
 quently among the gratuities sent out by the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge to their missionaries.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 75 
 
 what he has promised * Before they call, I will CHAP. 
 answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will 
 hear.' So that we could praise God with joyful 
 hearts. On the 17th of May, we celebrated the 
 Feast of Pentecost, and heartily besought God 
 that, by his Spirit, whom Jesus has obtained, he 
 would fit us for the important office to which he 
 has called us. The ] 9th of May, our dear bro- 
 ther Hutteman was seized with alarming sickness ; 
 but God most graciously blessed the use of the 
 medicines out of the travelling chest which you 
 gave us, so that he was fully restored to us in a few 
 days. On the 23rd we had an unusually brisk 
 gale ; the ship inclined so much, that it shipped 
 water, which we had not hitherto seen. However, 
 it passed over without damage. On the 27th, we 
 had a complete calm, so that the captain and the 
 chief mate went out in a boat, to shoot birds ; but 
 in the following night arose a real storm, which, 
 as it came unexpectedly, tore all the sails. When 
 we came upon deck in the morning, they all hung 
 in rags, and we had only one small sail hoisted. 
 We did not, however, yield to anxious or de- 
 sponding thoughts. So faithful is God ! In need 
 he refresheth, and comforteth abundantly. The 
 30th of May, we had very pleasant weather, which 
 was a great relief after the storm. On the 31st, 
 we saw a Dutch ship. We all wished that it 
 might approach us, but were disappointed, as it
 
 76 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, passed us at a considerable distance ; but in the 
 afternoon our joy was the greater, as we got a 
 sight of the Cape. The mountains presented 
 themselves at a distance, like clouds ; but as we 
 came nearer, we could see them distinctly. We 
 praised God heartily, the more so, as we had on 
 this very day been powerfully impressed in me- 
 ditating on the words, (1 Cor. xv. 58,) ' There- 
 fore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, un- 
 moveable, always abounding in the work of the 
 Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour shall 
 not be in vain in the Lord.' 
 
 " From this time, we began to look out for 
 India, and thought we had now left the worst be- 
 hind. But on the 17th of June, in the night, we 
 had a most furious storm, in which all declared 
 we were in great danger. Even the next day it 
 was frightful to behold, and it was much height- 
 ened by the heavy rain which accompanied the 
 wind. Meanwhile, when the tempest was at the 
 highest, we slept in peace and quiet : a gracious 
 God had hidden the danger from us. On the 
 
 o 
 
 19th, there was a pretty strong breeze. A rope, 
 with which a sail was belayed, happened to breakj 
 which caused the ship to heel a little, and all at 
 once we lay on our side. The captain called out 
 to the men at the helm to put the ship about ; 
 but they could not accomplish it. The vessel had 
 inclined altogether to one side, and was, more-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 77 
 
 over, quite wet from the rain, so that the people CHAP. 
 fell as they attempted to walk on the deck. How- 
 ever, the storm at length subsided, and we sustain- 
 ed no material injury. In how many distresses 
 hath not our gracious God covered us, as it were, 
 with his wings ! On the 30th of June, we passed 
 the tropic of Capricorn a second time. Now we 
 came again into a pleasant climate ; hitherto we 
 had sometimes very cold weather. The 4th of 
 July the rope at the helm broke, and, as the wind 
 happened to blow fresh, the ship fell into some 
 disorder. On the 10th, we again crossed the 
 line. The 13th was a most agreeable day; for 
 we then came in sight of Ceylon. The chief 
 mate discovered it about nine in the morning. 
 The joy which this produced on board is hardly 
 to be described, since the greater number scarcely 
 expected that we should make it so directly. We 
 said, ' This hath God done !' O, how great is 
 his goodness, and how graciously doth he hear 
 our prayers ! May the kindness which he hath 
 showed us in this instance, serve to strengthen us 
 in filial confidence ! 
 
 " This day and the following, we enjoyed the 
 delightful smell of cinnamon. At the same time, 
 we had a most favourable wind, so that, during 
 the day, we passed at a good distance by the 
 rocks of Ceylon. On the 16th of July we were 
 approaching the coast of Coromandel : every one,
 
 *8 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, therefore, looked out eagerly for land ; but the 
 night drew on, and we could see none. About 
 
 1750. 
 
 nine, we found a bottom at fifteen fathoms ; and 
 it was remarkable that, as soon as it was found, 
 the wind ceased. We therefore dropped the an- 
 chor. In the morning, when we looked out, we 
 not only beheld the coast, but found ourselves 
 right opposite to Cuddalore. We praised the 
 name of the Lord for this paternal guidance : and 
 whosoever delights in the traces of his gracious 
 providence will, on hearing it, exalt his name 
 together. 
 
 " After we had cast anchor, the natives imme- 
 diately came on board. The sight of these poor 
 people, who sit in darkness and in the shadow 
 of death, deeply affected our hearts ; and we 
 awakened ourselves cheerfully to work at their 
 conversion, and to recommend to them the salva- 
 tion of the gospel. Now, the Lord vouchsafe to 
 give us wisdom, grace, and strength, to accom- 
 plish this purpose, since we are most unworthy to 
 be unto them ' a savour of life unto life.' We in- 
 formed the Rev. Mr. Kiernander 1 of our arrival, 
 and he sent in the afternoon a country boat to fetch 
 us. There we took our leave of the officers and 
 passengers, who had showed us every kindness. 
 They were much moved at parting, and wished 
 
 1 The Society's missionary at Cuddalore. See Introductory 
 Sketch, p. 44.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 79 
 
 us every blessing in our future ministry. May CHAP. 
 the Lord do good abundantly to them all ! In 
 the evening, dear Mr. Kiernander received us, 
 and praised the name of the Lord for all the 
 mercy he had shown us. 
 
 " I should now give an account of our occupa- 
 tions during the voyage. But as they were sub- 
 stantially the same as those of our predecessors, 
 that is, preparing ourselves for our duty in the 
 best manner we were able, I shall be brief. Every 
 morning and evening, and frequently during the 
 day, we stirred up ourselves by joint prayer and 
 meditation on the holy Scriptures, by which God 
 graciously refreshed us. Afterwards, each of us, 
 apart, used either to meditate on some passage of 
 Scripture, or read some other devotional book. 
 From eleven to twelve, we practised reading 
 English together, besides what each afterwards 
 read for himself. The German Mission Accounts 
 hitherto edited, five volumes and a half, we have 
 partially perused. Mr. Niecamp's Abridgment, 
 and the first volume, we have nearly read through. 
 This occupation we have found to be of great 
 advantage. We also kept a diary ; but as in 
 many places it is rather illegibly written, in con- 
 sequence of the rolling of the vessel, and we do 
 not wish to send it so, we shall by the first ships 
 send one fair copy of it to your Reverence, and 
 one to the Mission College.
 
 80 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. On the 24th of July, the Rev. Senior of the 
 Danish missionaries, Mr. Wiedebroeck, came from 
 
 1750. 
 
 Tranquebar to fetch us. He joined us in hearty 
 praises to God for all his mercies. After having 
 therefore visited several English gentlemen, we 
 departed on the 28th from Cuddalore. Dear 
 Mr. Kiernander accompanied us as far as the 
 first river, and there took leave of us. On the 
 30th we arrived at Tranquebar in perfect health, 
 and were most fraternally received by our dear 
 brethren. Now hitherto the Lord hath helped 
 us. To him be glory for ever and ever ! 
 
 " Our present occupation can be described in 
 a few words. At seven in the morning we begin, 
 and practise Tamul almost the whole forenoon. 
 Three days in every week Mr. Maderup comes to 
 us at ten, and gives us a lesson in Portuguese. 
 From two to three in the afternoon we again 
 read Tamul. Afterwards every one remains alone 
 till five. From five to six, I and dear bro- 
 ther Hutteman practise speaking Tamul. We 
 have Christopher with us, who affords us won- 
 derful help in that language, because he talks 
 German fluently ; and where we make mistakes, 
 he corrects us. The Rev. Mr. Zeglin is holding 
 at this time a preparation for baptism with some 
 heathen, at which we also attend, as we begin 
 already to understand a little. We perceive that 
 God helps us on from day to day. Dear brother
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 81 
 
 Poltzenhagen and I live together. We do not, CHAP. 
 however, provide for our diet, as Mr. Kohlhoff - 
 has taken us to his table. In the morning and 
 evening we excite each other by joint prayer and 
 reading the word of God. 
 
 " This is the principal intelligence which I can 
 at present impart to your Reverence. 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The providential escape of Swartz and his bre- 
 thren from shipwreck, though not noticed in the 
 preceding letter, crowned the mercies of their 
 voyage. The vessel in which they sailed was lost 
 in the river soon after their landing at Cudda- 
 lore. 
 
 Such was the diligence with which Swartz pur- 
 sued the study of Tamul, that, on the 23rd of 
 November, that is, in less than four months after 
 his arrival in India, he preached his first sermon 
 in Ziegenbalg's Church, called New Jerusalem, 
 from Matthew xi. 25 30. Having pointed out 
 the invitation of Christ to all to come to him 
 for the blessings of heavenly rest and peace, and 
 observed that they could only be obtained in 
 the order here prescribed by the Redeemer, he 
 earnestly exhorted all who were present not to 
 think lightly of this gracious offer ; thus exhi- 
 biting, in his first address to the heathen, the 
 very spirit of that gospel which he was com- 
 
 VOL. i. G
 
 82 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, missioned to proclaim, and which he continued 
 unceasingly to recommend and to exemplify 
 
 1750 . " 
 
 during his long and honourable career as a mis- 
 sionary in India.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 83 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Mr. Swartz enters on the Duties of a Missionary His account 
 of these in a Letter to a Friend Careful preparation of 
 Candidates for Baptism Excursions to the Towns and Vil- 
 lages near Tranquebar Specimens of Swartz's Conversa- 
 tions with the Natives Letter to Dr. Struensee Periodical 
 Reports of the Danish Mission Pious Custom of the Mis- 
 sionaries on proceeding upon a Journey Visit of Messrs. 
 Kohlhoff and Swartz to Cuddalore Pastoral and weekly 
 Conferences with their Brethren there Return to Tran- 
 quebar. 
 
 No sooner had Mr. Swartz attained some know- CHAP. 
 
 ledge of the native language, than he entered vi- '__ 
 
 gorously upon the discharge of the various duties 
 of the Mission. Early in the year 1751, he com- 
 menced a daily catechetical exercise with the 
 youngest children of the Tamul school, which 
 consisted not merely in questioning them, and 
 receiving their answers, but in explaining the 
 principles of Christianity, in the order pre- 
 scribed by the catechism, in the simplest manner, 
 and in familiar dialogues by examples taken 
 from common life. He also catechised the 
 children of the Portuguese school alternately 
 
 c 2
 
 84 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, with Mr. Poltzenhagen, and preached in Por- 
 
 tuo;uese alternately with him and Mr. Made- 
 mi. . . , i , 
 
 rup, another missionary, who had the super- 
 intendence of the Portuguese congregation. In 
 addition to these stated occupations, Mr. Swartz 
 held in this year two preparations for baptism 
 with natives, and afterwards baptized many of 
 the candidates. These, with other interesting- 
 particulars, are related with great simplicity and 
 piety in his second letter from India, dated Sept. 
 28, 1751, and addressed to a clergyman at Halle, 
 of which the following is an extract. 
 
 " The manifold kindness which you showed me 
 in my university years, induces me to address a 
 letter to you from this country ; the more so, as it 
 was you who first gave me a hint that I should, 
 perhaps, be asked to go to India. When I think of 
 this, and of the first distant preparations made by 
 the divine providence, I praise and humbly thank 
 the only wise God. It is also a sweet comfort to 
 my heart, that I am enabled to say, ' It is thou, 
 O my God, who hast conducted me to these 
 parts ; I have not run hither of my own accord, 
 but would rather have declined the call, if thy 
 unseen hand had not retained me. O therefore 
 help, and bestow upon me all necessary wisdom, 
 grace, and strength, for this office ! ' 
 
 " My gracious God has already manifested so
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 85 
 
 many proofs of his paternal love towards me, that CHAP. 
 I cannot but remember the word of the Lord 
 Jesus, which he spake to upright Nathanael, 
 (John i. 50,) ' Thou shalt see greater things than 
 these.' May the Lord give me grace, that, like 
 Nathanael, I may use the proofs of divine good- 
 ness and mercy which I have hitherto experienced, 
 as a solid foundation, strengthening, and confirm- 
 ation of my faith. If henceforth I do not behold 
 the glory of God, then verily unbelief will be the 
 cause of it. At Nazareth, my Saviour did not 
 many mighty works, because of their unbelief. 
 Now, Lord, grant faith, and that lively faith ! 
 
 " But that you may know this from more spe- 
 cial circumstances, and adore the name of the 
 Lord with me, I shall mention some particulars. 
 First, I humbly praise God that, during the year 
 I have been here, he, notwithstanding all my im- 
 perfections, hath borne with me with great pa- 
 tience and forbearance, hath been daily nigh unto 
 my soul, and hath kindly refreshed me. If I have 
 not had the same enjoyments daily, the fault was 
 on my own side. Now this goodness, long-suf- 
 fering, and patience of our Lord, I shall account 
 my salvation, according to St. Peter's exhorta- 
 tion. 
 
 " As to external things, God has given me life 
 and health, and has made the climate and the 
 heat supportable ; so that, though my breathing
 
 8G MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, was sometimes oppressive, yet I have not been 
 induced to complain. Praised be his name also 
 
 1751. 
 
 for his gracious help ! Whoever always reposes 
 in the good and holy will of God, saves himself 
 much trouble, and makes that supportable which 
 an impatient and unsubdued self-will renders into- 
 lerable. May the Lord subdue this self-will more 
 and more by the power of the cross of Christ ! 
 
 " Concerning the language of this country, I 
 frequently thought during the voyage ' Behold, 
 at Halle I learned Tamul three months, and I 
 made but little progress ; how much time will be 
 required to learn that language, even though it be 
 only so much as to be able to express myself in- 
 telligibly !' But God has graciously removed 
 this difficulty, which appeared to me so great ; 
 for after we had once preached, it became more 
 and more easy. 
 
 " Soon after the commencement of the new 
 year, I began a catechetical hour in the Tamul, or 
 Malabar School, with the youngest lambs ; and 
 thus I learned to stammer with them. At the 
 same time, I made almost daily excursions, and 
 spoke with Christians and heathens, though, as 
 may be easily conceived, poorly and falteringly. 
 However, God helped me on from day to day. 
 
 " After I had thus practised reading and speak- 
 ing for nine months, I began the first preparation 
 on the 26th of May, 1751, and finished it on the 2nd
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 87 
 
 of July, when I baptized most of the converts. CHAP. 
 Each of my brethren was occupied with preparing 
 a small number for holy baptism. When, there- 
 fore, ten days afterwards, another party came, I 
 began the second preparation on the 12th of July, 
 and ended it in six weeks. With these souls I 
 hope the Lord has not permitted me to labour in 
 vain. How they now conduct themselves, I can- 
 not say, as the far greater part of them were from 
 the country. 
 
 " The increase this year is very pleasing, con- 
 sisting of four hundred in the Tamul congregation, 
 including a hundred and fifty-nine children, partly 
 of Christian, and partly of converted heathen, pa- 
 rents ; though the real blessing does not amount 
 to the whole of that number. God send forth 
 faithful labourers, for the harvest is indeed great ! 
 Therefore help us, dear sir, to implore the divine 
 assistance. 
 
 " This short account I have given you, in 
 humble praise of our gracious God. To him 
 alone belongeth glory, but to us shame ; and if 
 we should even suffer ignominy and disgrace for 
 the sake of Jesus, we "are unworthy of so great an 
 honour." 
 
 The preparation of candidates for baptism, 
 mentioned in the preceding letter, was frequent
 
 88 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, at stated periods in every year. Several of the 
 
 missionaries were occasionally employed with 
 
 different parties of the natives at the same time, 
 which was the case in the year 1751, in the 
 course of which, twenty of these preparatory lec- 
 tures and instructions took place. In general, the 
 greater proportion of such labours devolved on 
 the junior missionaries, as soon as they were suf- 
 ficiently conversant with the native language, 
 both for the purpose of rendering them familiar 
 with this important employment, and of affording 
 to the seniors more leisure for correspondence, 
 and other laborious duties of the mission. 
 
 The utmost care was taken during these exer- 
 cises to ascertain, not only the religious know- 
 ledge, but the Christian dispositions of the pro- 
 fessed converts. Those who were slow of appre- 
 hension, or the sincerity of whose views in em- 
 bracing Christianity appeared doubtful, were de- 
 ferred to the next preparation. This occurred 
 with respect to two candidates on one of the oc- 
 casions just mentioned, of whom one was found 
 to be deficient in knowledge, and the other of too 
 
 O ' 
 
 worldly a mind to be admitted into the Christian 
 church. The period of probation for baptism was 
 sometimes extended to several months, that the 
 missionaries might have a better opportunity of 
 observing the moral character of the converts,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 89 
 
 and with respect to those who came from distant CHAP. 
 
 n. 
 places, of obtainirie* information as to their pre- 
 
 . 1751. 
 
 vious conduct. 
 
 Agreeably to the practice of that comparatively 
 early period, when there were seven or eight 
 missionaries at Tranquebar, Mr. Swartz, as he 
 informed his friend in the preceding letter, was 
 accustomed to make excursions almost daily 
 among both the Christians and the unconverted 
 natives, generally in company with one of the 
 elder brethren. Four or five missionaries occa- 
 sionally went out, attended by one or both of the 
 country priests, and each missionary followed by 
 a catechist or an assistant, and some of the school- 
 boys of the first class. They divided themselves, 
 either singly or in parties of two, among the 
 neighbouring towns and villages, conversing with 
 the natives, endeavouring to convince them of 
 their errors, and to persuade them to embrace the 
 religion of the gospel. Various specimens will 
 be given in these memoirs of the wisdom and 
 ability, as well as the kindness, evinced by Mr. 
 Swartz in such conversations. A few shall here 
 be inserted, which may serve to show his early 
 proficiency in the exercise of a talent peculiarly 
 important to a missionary, and in which he after- 
 wards so eminently excelled. 
 
 A Hindoo merchant said to him, " God has 
 created us to the end that we should know and
 
 90 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, serve him." This Swartz confirmed, and then 
 
 1 added with regret, that although God had given 
 
 him and many of his countrymen a knowledge of 
 the end of their creation, yet they remained in 
 idolatry, and thus unhappily never attained it. 
 He then declared the doctrine of Christ, and 
 pointed Him out as the only way to the true and 
 saving knowledge of God. 
 
 Another wealthy old merchant, who understood 
 Danish, English, and French, said to him, " Sir, 
 be not displeased ; I wish to ask you a ques- 
 tion. Do all Europeans speak like you ?" Swartz 
 replied, that all Europeans were not true Chris- 
 tians ; but that there were many who were really 
 so, and who sincerely prayed for the Hindoos, that 
 they might become acquainted with Jesus Christ. 
 " You astonish me," said he ; " for, from what we 
 daily observe and experience, we cannot but 
 think Europeans, with but few exceptions, to be 
 self-interested, incontinent, proud, full of illiberal 
 contempt and prejudice against us Hindoos, and 
 even against their own religion, especially the 
 higher classes. So at least I have found it with 
 the majority of those with whom I have had any 
 intercourse." 
 
 This is a reproach which has been but too 
 justly thrown upon Europeans by the unenlight- 
 ened natives of India, and has ever formed one of 
 the most powerful obstacles to their conversion
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 91 
 
 to Christianity. It is, however, a reproach which, CHAP. 
 though still too frequently deserved, has of late 
 years been considerably removed by the improved 
 character and conduct of our own countrymen ; 
 more particularly in stations of influence and au- 
 thority. May it daily become less merited ! 
 
 Swartz one day met a Hindoo dancing-master, 
 with his female pupil, and told them, that no unholy 
 persons shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
 " Alas, sir!" said the poor girl, "in thatcase hardly 
 any European will ever enter it ;" and passed on. 
 
 Having asked a Pandaram, or Hindoo devotee, 
 who carried about an idol, why he did so ; " For 
 my support," said he. Swartz reproved him for 
 his baseness, and inquired the name of his idol. 
 He replied by a Tamul word, signifying, " He 
 that removes evil." Upon this, the missionary 
 spoke to him of Jesus, as the only Saviour who 
 took away the sins of the world. 
 
 A Hindoo pretended that he and his country- 
 men worshipped the same God as the Christians 
 did, only under other names. Swartz replied, 
 " The true God must possess divine perfections ; 
 such as supreme wisdom, omniscience, omnipo- 
 tence, holiness, justice. Now, nothing of this is 
 found in your divinities ; but, by your own re- 
 cords, ignorance, impurity, cruelty. How can it 
 be said of such that they are gods ? F ou have 
 a proverb, that where sin is, there is no excel-
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, lence. Now you acknowledge the practices as- 
 
 cribed to your gods to be sinful ; consequently, 
 
 by your own confession, they are unworthy of the 
 name." " That is very true," said the Hindoo ; 
 " but if we receive even what is false, and think it 
 to be true in our heart, it is done to us according 
 to our faith." " How can you adopt," answered 
 Swartz, " a sophism, which you yourselves, on 
 other occasions, reject ? You are accustomed to 
 say, ' If one write the word sugar, and then lick 
 his ringer, it will not on that account become 
 sweet, though he believe it ever so firmly.' ' 
 
 A native objected, " Show us any one who has 
 embraced your religion, and has been actually 
 saved, and we will believe you." Swartz an- 
 swered, in the spirit of Abraham's reply in the 
 parable of the rich man and Lazarus, " God has 
 given you his word prove and examine it. Such 
 an evidence as you require is not the appointed 
 way of becoming convinced of the truth ; for the 
 devil can transform himself into an angel of light." 
 
 Another observed, " I am surprised to hear 
 you say, that if we forsake Paganism, our souls 
 will be happy, and that if we do not, God will 
 punish us. What is the soul ? A breath, which, 
 when it has left the body, is blown away with 
 other winds. You may perceive this by our hold- 
 ing the hand to a dying person's mouth, to feel 
 whether there is yet breath. If there be, life is
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 93 
 
 still in him. Thus breath and the soul are one CHAP. 
 and the same thing. Who then can say that 
 wind shall be punished ? What is God ? Can 
 he be seen ? He is the universe. I die : that 
 means nothing more than that my body is resolved 
 into its original elements water, fire, earth, air. 
 But the existence of such a spirit within me as 
 you speak of, I believe not. Where is it when I 
 sleep, when I see no one, or though one touch 
 me, I do not feel it ?" Swartz replied to each 
 point. He reminded the objector of the opera- 
 tions of the soul, such as thinking, judging, deter- 
 mining; and asked, whether wind was capable 
 of these ? whether he could not by this perceive 
 that he had a soul, which is a real being, endowed 
 with understanding and will, and which is therefore 
 susceptible of sorrow, anxiety, and pain. He 
 next explained the doctrine of the resurrection. 
 This man expressed, without reserve, the doubts 
 which other heathens entertain ; from which it ap- 
 pears that the errors of Spinoza are not unknown 
 in India. Indeed they are not new, having been 
 long since noticed and refuted in Eccles. hi. 19 
 21, and in the book of Wisdom, ii. 1 3. 
 
 A heathen said to Swartz, " If I become a 
 Christian, how shall I be maintained ?" He re- 
 plied, " Work and pray." The Gospel of St. Mat- 
 thew was given to him, and on his first opening 
 it, he lighted on the passage, chap. vi. 31 33.
 
 94 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " Take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, 
 IL &c. for after all these things do the Gentiles seek : 
 1751 ' for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
 need of all these things. But seek ye first the 
 kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all 
 these things shall be added unto you." This sin- 
 gular coincidence made a deep impression. 
 
 A Hindoo inquired whether there were any 
 worldly advantages, such as money or rice, to be 
 gained by embracing our religion. Swartz la- 
 mented his earthly mind, and informed him that 
 the missionaries were not come to support the 
 idle, but to show to all the way to obtain incor- 
 ruptible blessings. Another said, u If I become 
 a Christian, I shall be called an apostate, who has 
 crept into another caste." Swartz told him, that 
 heathens and unbelievers belonged to the caste 
 of the devil ; but that the family of God, into 
 which those are adopted who believe the gospel, 
 is " a chosen generation, a royal priesthood ; a 
 peculiar people." The following incidents afford 
 a pleasing proof of the superior moral feeling of 
 the converted Hindoo. 
 
 During an artificial scarcity, occasioned by the 
 closing of the magazines of grain, a Christian wo- 
 man said, " I have a Fanaam, but could get no 
 rice to day ; I had no other food therefore than 
 water ; but I have spiritual food which has com- 
 forted my heart.''
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 95 
 
 A Hindoo came with his wife to be instructed ci-iAr. 
 by the missionaries, being induced by the meek- 
 ness and patience with which his mother, who 
 was a believer, had endured their reproaches. On 
 Mr. Swartz visiting her, she told him that she 
 prayed night and day, and put her trust in God 
 alone; that He provided her with work, and that 
 she was well contented, if she could sometimes 
 only gather a few herbs, as she was then doing, 
 for her support. 
 
 Another poor convert being exhorted not to 
 care anxiously for the body, answered, " He 
 that planted the tree, will he not water it ? 
 Whether he gives us life or death, we will not for- 
 sake him." 
 
 In the year 1752, Mr. Swartz conducted three 17 5 2 . 
 numerous preparations for baptism, and con- 
 tinued his excursions among the neighbouring vil- 
 lages. No letters from him during this year are 
 recorded in the missionary journals ; and in ge- 
 neral it may be observed, that he was averse to 
 any extensive correspondence which might divert 
 him from his studies and labours among the na- 
 tives. From the moment that he rose in the 
 morning, till he retired to rest, he was unremit- 
 tingly employed. 
 
 In the next year, however, a letter occurs 
 to the Rev. Dr. Struensee, then professor of divi- 
 nity at Halle, afterwards superintendent-general,
 
 96 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, that is, bishop and metropolitan of the Duchy of 
 
 L Sleswig, and father of the unfortunate Count 
 
 3 ' Struensee, prime minister of Denmark, of which 
 the following is an extract. It is dated Oct. 8, 
 1753. 
 
 " Concerning my poor labours, I usually 
 employ myself in the morning with the school 
 children ; and when I am preparing a small 
 party for baptism, that is also done in the fore- 
 noon. In the afternoon, Mondays excepted, I 
 commonly go out to the villages, to visit the 
 Christians in their cottages, and to converse with 
 heathens. 
 
 " The enclosed annual report will exhibit to 
 you the present external state of the mission. 
 This year Satan, by his raging, endeavoured to 
 excite the fears of the Christians, by which many 
 heathens were no doubt deterred from embracing 
 the gospel. For towards the end of April last, a 
 dissension arose between the papists and hea- 
 thens in Tanjore, on account of some usages. 
 The Rajah having been informed of it, treated the 
 Roman Catholics with great severity ; upon which 
 many of them renounced Christianity, both ver- 
 bally and in writing. Since that time, the Romish 
 Christians in the Tanjore country have been 
 roughly handled : in which sufferings our Chris- 
 tians have also been made to share in several 
 places, though not so severely as the papists in
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 97 
 
 Tanjore. May our faithful God arm us with CHAP. 
 
 grace, resolution, and strength ! _ 
 
 " In July a captain of the Danish navy was sent 
 as an envoy to Tanjore, on which occasion Mr. 
 Wiedebroeck, at the captain's earnest request, ac- 
 companied him, and had an opportunity of an- 
 nouncing the gospel of Christ, both in the country 
 and in the residence itself, without hindrance- 
 May God grant a permanent blessing upon it!" 
 
 The report alluded to by Mr. Swartz in the 
 preceding letter, was a short account in German, 
 on one quarto sheet printed on the 5th of October 
 in every year at Tranquebar, comprising the 
 number of native Christians belonging to the 
 three congregations constituting the Danish mis- 
 sion, viz. the Portuguese, and the two Tamul for 
 the town and the country, which last, pre- 
 vious to the establishment of the missions of the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, was 
 divided into five districts, named after their cen- 
 tral places ; the district of Mahaburam, that of 
 Tanjore, including the kingdom of Madura, that 
 of Madhewipatnam, comprising the country of 
 Marava, and that of Cumbagonam. 1 
 
 1 The increase of eacli congregation, the missionaries, cate- 
 chists, and assistants, the number of schools, schoolmasters, mis- 
 tresses, and children, the printing press and its productions, the 
 country priests and native teachers, with various other parti- 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C J IAP - It may here be proper to observe, that the 
 brethren at Tranquebar, having soon discovered 
 the extraordinary talents of Swartz, gave him the 
 superintendence of all the Christian schools and 
 churches south of the river Caveri. 
 
 At this period, whenever the missionaries pro- 
 ceeded on a journey, or returned from one, when 
 they arrived at another missionary station, or de- 
 parted from it, their first and last employment 
 was to bend their knees in prayer to Almighty 
 God with all their brethren. In this apostolical 
 manner Messrs. Kohlhoffand Swartz, on the 18th 
 of February 1754, set out on foot on a visit to 
 Cuddalore. Two other missionaries accompanied 
 them a few miles on their way, and united with 
 them in prayer at parting. They supped and 
 slept at the house of a Hindoo merchant, who 
 civilly received their exhortations to himself and 
 his family. 
 
 The persecution of Christians in Tanjore still 
 continuing, these pious men encouraged them- 
 selves by reading in Hebrew, according to their 
 general custom of studying the Holy Scriptures 
 in the original languages, the 74th Psalm. 
 After their morning devotions, first with each 
 
 culars, were also inserted in this statement. On the same day 
 the missionaries wrote their annual reports to the king of Den- 
 mark, and to each branch of the royal family, which were trans- 
 mitted directly to those illustrious personages.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 99 
 
 other, and then with their servants and coolies, 
 they proceeded on their journey, and delivered - 
 a lecture on the atonement at a place where 
 several Christians were assembled, with a con- 
 cluding address to the surrounding heathen. On 
 the next day, they represented to the Brahmins 
 and others, in front of a pagoda at Sembankudi, 
 the absurdity and fatal consequences of idolatry, 
 and in the evening reached Tirucottah, where 
 they lodged at the commanding officer's, who was 
 very kind to them, and accommodated them with a 
 boat to carry them down the river and across the 
 Coleroon, and afterwards a catamaran over another 
 river, which saved them from passing through a 
 desert and swampy forest. The boatmen refused 
 to hear anything of Christianity ; but stopping 
 for refreshment in a wood, several Hindoos, and 
 Mahomedans, and a Roman Catholic native, came 
 round them, to whom they announced the only 
 true God, and Jesus the only Mediator and Re- 
 deemer. A robber, one of whose feet had been 
 struck off by the headsman of Chillumbrum, begged 
 a plaister, which the missionaries gave him, with 
 a direction to the only Physician of the soul for 
 the healing of his spiritual wounds. The Romish 
 Christian made himself known in private, but was 
 admonished of the duty of openly confessing 
 Christ before men ; and when he urged the diffi- 
 culty of doing this in India, he was reminded of 
 
 H 2
 
 100 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, our Lord's words, Matthew x. 32, 33. On their 
 
 1 way many were exhorted, and tracts were distri- 
 
 *" buted. One man said, " We follow our rulers." 
 " Then/' replied the missionaries, " follow God. 
 He is the Supreme Ruler of us all." 
 
 At the Porto Novo river, they were met by Mr. 
 Hutteman, and by Mr. Vaneck, the Dutch superior, 
 who took them to his house. On the 23rd, they 
 travelled the whole way to Cuddalore along the 
 sea shore. A merchant of high rank in his caste, 
 but reduced in circumstances, followed them from 
 Porto Novo, and offered to become a Christian ; 
 but his views appearing to be interested, he was 
 admonished to be sincere. At noon they ad- 
 dressed some Hindoos at a choultry, particularly 
 some Byragees, a caste of professed and importu- 
 nate beggars, and pointed out to some fisher- 
 men, how they were entangled in the net of Satan, 
 and by whom they might be rescued. Towards 
 evening, Mr. Kiernander met them near Chetty- 
 Cupam. Having strengthened each other in the 
 Lord at the choultry, they proceeded up the river 
 in a boat, and arrived safely at the mission house 
 at Cuddalore. There they united in prayer to 
 Almighty God, their reconciled Father in Christ, 
 laid their own wants and the general distress, 
 humbly yet confidently before him, and implored 
 a blessing upon themselves, their brethren, and 
 their work. They then visited the sick Portu-
 
 11. 
 
 1754. 
 
 THE REV. C. F. SVVARTZ. 101 
 
 guese schoolmaster, and conversed with the cate- CHAP. 
 chists, and several members of the congregation. 
 A number of Christians having come from the 
 country for the succeeding day's service, they 
 explained to them the Lord's Prayer, and the form 
 of general confession, by way of question and 
 answer. They closed this busy day by visiting 
 the school, and some of the mission servants. 
 
 On the 24th, being Quinquagesima Sunday, 
 Mr. Swartz preached in the morning in Tamul, on 
 Luke xviii. 31, on the necessity of Christ's suffer- 
 ings, and Mr. Kohlhoff in the afternoon in Portu- 
 guese, during which service, the morning sermon 
 was repeated in the Tamul school. 
 
 The next day they conversed with the native 
 Christians who were returning into the country ; 
 and exhorted them to " keep the word of God " 
 which they had heard, and to walk worthy of it. 
 They again visited the sick schoolmaster, and re- 
 minded him how necessary it was to be well as- 
 sured of one's state, in order to be peaceful in 
 death. 
 
 It had been usual from the commencement of 
 the mission at Tranquebar, for the missionaries 
 to hold, on Tuesday in every week, a pastoral 
 conference on some passage of Scripture for 
 mutual edification and encouragement. This 
 pious custom, Messrs. Kohlhoff and Swartz did
 
 102 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, not omit during their present excursion, but from 
 - ten to twelve on the 26th, held what they called 
 a colloquium biblicum with their brethren at Cud- 
 dalore, on Acts x. 36, 37 ; taking occasion, from 
 that animating passage, to exhort each other to 
 courage and perseverance in the great work of 
 " preaching peace " to the Gentiles by Jesus 
 Christ. In the afternoon, they visited by water 
 two villages of fishermen, situated to the east of 
 Cuddalore, between the river and the sea, and ob- 
 serving that the hours struck at the mission church 
 were distinctly heard on their island, they repre- 
 sented to them the duty of listening to the word 
 of salvation, which the goodness of God had thus 
 brought so near to them. 
 
 The next day, the two missionaries, accom- 
 panied by their brethren of Cuddalore, proceeded 
 to a small neighbouring town, and sitting down in 
 a choultry, conversed with the natives who col- 
 lected round them, on the acknowledged earthly 
 origin, and base and unworthy character of their 
 pretended divinities, and urged the unprofitable 
 nature of their idolatry, and the peace, purity, 
 and immortal hope resulting from the faith of the 
 gospel. Several succeeding days were thus oc- 
 cupied either in exhortations to the heathen, or to 
 the native Christians, the catechists, the school- 
 children, and their teachers.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 103 
 
 Having, at the request of their brethren, con- CHAP. 
 sented to remain two days longer at (Juddalore, - 
 they assisted at the weekly conference, the ob- 
 ject of which was thus stated by the founder 
 of the mission, Ziegenbalg. 
 
 " The weekly conference which we hold every 
 Friday with all the labourers, is of the greatest 
 utility in keeping the mission work in order. For 
 on that day in the forenoon, we pray to God for 
 wisdom and counsel, and each relates how he has 
 been employed, or what has occurred in the con- 
 gregations and schools, and in the printing and 
 bookbinding offices, and in the private houses. 
 Here every thing which might occasion disorder 
 or detriment is adjusted, and those means are 
 adopted which may best promote the general 
 good. The conference being ended, the Portu- 
 guese and Tamul assistants make a report of their 
 labours, and of whatever may be wanting, that as 
 far as possible it may be supplied." 
 
 This useful practice was regularly observed 
 during nearly the first century of the mission, 
 when, for some reasons which do not appear, it 
 was discontinued. 
 
 After the conference thus referred to, Messrs. 
 Kohlhoff and Swartz went down the river to a 
 Tirkera, or Moorish hermitage, where, amongst 
 others, they addressed a Fakir, or Mahomedan 
 mendicant, to whom the nabob had given the
 
 104 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, place and the surrounding grounds. He acknow- 
 1 ledged that he had three wives and four-and- 
 twenty children, and that he was much addicted 
 to the use of intoxicating drugs. With this man 
 they urged the base and licentious character of 
 Mahomedanism, and the superiority of Christian 
 principles ; he admitted the truth of their repre- 
 sentations, and promised to visit them at Cud- 
 dalore. 
 
 On the 5th of March, the four missionaries 
 again held a biblical conference on Acts x. 38, in 
 which they encouraged each other humbly and 
 earnestly to implore the communication of the 
 Holy Spirit, that in the power of that divine 
 grace they might, after the example of their 
 heavenly Master, " go about doing good." Swartz 
 concluded with an impressive prayer, that the 
 Lord would vouchsafe to them a permanent 
 blessing from that hour ; that according to his 
 promise he would fill them, their brethren, and 
 all their fellow-labourers, with his Spirit, for the 
 sake of the great Mediator and Saviour ; that he 
 
 o * 
 
 would preserve them from venturing on any ser- 
 vice relying on their own strength, but that they 
 might go forth in his power, that thus labouring 
 they might never want all necessary light, 
 strength, and blessing. 
 
 Early the next day, the four missionaries again 
 united in thanksgiving and prayer ; and in the
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 105 
 
 strength of their Redeemer, entered into a cove- CHAP. 
 nant to be his, to serve him with all their heart, 
 and thenceforward with renewed energy to preach 
 the gospel to the poor Gentiles around them. 
 " Now," said Swartz, " the Lord has heard what 
 we have spoken before him. May he give us 
 light, life, strength, and prosperity !" The Cud- 
 dalore brethren accompanied him and Mr. Kohl- 
 hoff a few miles, and then separated after a cor- 
 dial farewell, and wishing them abundant grace 
 and blessing. 
 
 On their return to Tranquebar they had fre- 
 quent opportunities of scattering the good seed 
 of the word of God among Peons in the Dutch 
 service, and Hindoos and Mahomedans from the 
 neighbouring towns. Most of these were fisher- 
 men, of which class of natives, though there are 
 
 * ' O 
 
 many Roman Catholics in the south of the penin- 
 sula, few have ever been converted by the Pro- 
 testants. The two missionaries, sometimes in 
 brief, and at others in longer addresses, declared 
 the nature of the true God, and the vanity of 
 idols, the misery of sin, the inefficiency of Pagan 
 ceremonies, and particularly of bathing in the 
 sea, to which many whom they met were resort- 
 ing, and the only effectual atonement of the cross. 
 To those who made inquiries or urged objections, 
 they gave suitable and often satisfactory replies, 
 and received promises of farther attention to their
 
 106 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 CHAP, instructions. To some Romish Christians they 
 
 1 pointed out the errors of image-worship and of 
 
 4 ' purgatory, and exhorted them to repentance, 
 faith, and true godliness; and finding at one 
 place at which they rested some Protestant con- 
 verts, they preached to them, inquired as to their 
 domestic devotions, and reproved the negligent. 
 
 On the 9th they were met by one of their 
 Tranquebar brethren, and on approaching the 
 mission house, the Tamul school children wel- 
 comed them by singing a metrical version of Ec- 
 clesiasticus, i. 22 24, " Now let us praise the 
 Lord," which is in universal use among Protes- 
 tants on the continent. The missionaries blessed 
 the children, and shortly afterwards their remain- 
 ing brethren met them, and united with them and 
 with several officers of the Danish troops at Tran- 
 quebar, in the following devout and fervent thanks- 
 giving and prayer offered up by Mr. Swartz. 
 
 " Praised be thy name, O Lord, in profound 
 humility, for all the grace, protection, and bless- 
 ing which, during the whole of our journey thou 
 hast graciously bestowed upon us of thine unde- 
 served mercy, for the sake of Christ our Media- 
 tor ! May the seed of thy word, which we thy 
 poor servants have sowed on our journey, spring 
 up and produce, abundant fruit, that we, and 
 those who have received the word into their 
 hearts, may praise and adore thy goodness to all
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 107 
 
 eternity ! May the union with our brethren at CHAP. 
 Cuddalore, which has been renewed afresh in thy 
 sacred presence, be productive of abundant bless- 
 ing ! Our supplications, which we have jointly 
 brought before thy footstool, with regard to our- 
 selves and the flock entrusted to us, vouchsafe 
 graciously to hear, and to let us perceive it, for 
 the strengthening of our faith. And thus begin 
 anew to bless us, and to prosper the work of our 
 hands. Yea, prosper thou our handy-work, O 
 Lord, for the sake of Christ, and of his bitter 
 sufferings and death ! Amen."
 
 108 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 War in the Carnatic between the French and English Mr. 
 Swartz continues his usual labours and excursions Letter 
 to Professor Francke Expedition of Mr. Poltzenhagen to 
 the Nicobar Islands His death Letter of Swartz to a 
 friend in Europe Visit of Messrs Kohlhoff and Swartz to 
 Negapatana Conversations with the natives Favourable 
 results of the journey Second visit to Negapatam Swartz's 
 address to the native catechists Capture of Fort St. David 
 and Cuddalore by the French Kindness of Count Lally to 
 the missionaries They retreat to Tranquebar Mr. Kier- 
 nander removes to Calcutta Mr. Hutteman returns to 
 Cuddalore Death of one of the first five converts of Zie- 
 genbalg at Tranqnebar The French army approaches Ma- 
 il i as Messrs. Fabricius and Breithaupt protected by Count 
 Lally They leave Vepery, and retire to Pullicat An 
 English fleet relieves Madras The French army retreats, 
 and the missionaries return to Vepery. 
 
 CHAP. HOSTILITIES were now raging in the Carnatic be- 
 tween the French and English, who were con- 
 
 1754. 
 
 tending for the superiority in India, in which 
 several of the native princes were involved. The 
 interior of the country was in consequence much 
 disturbed, particularly by the incursions of the 
 Mahrattas, who supported the French interest. 
 The ravages of these predatory troops spread de-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 109 
 
 solation and alarm wherever they appeared, and CHAP. 
 
 the poor native Christians participated in the '_ 
 
 general distress ; but though the operations of 
 the missionaries were occasionally impeded, and 
 eventually those who were stationed at Madras 
 and Cuddalore suffered considerably, Mr. Swartz 
 continued his usual labours and excursions. 
 
 On the 8th of July he accompanied Mr. Fabri- 
 cius, who had been for some time at Tranquebar, 
 a few miles on his return to Madras, and on 
 leaving him he directed his course into the inte- 
 rior, to visit several places inhabited by some 
 Christian families. He was attended by the as- 
 sistant Martin, and while instructing the native 
 converts, he took the opportunity of allaying the 
 prejudices and fears of some of their unconverted 
 neighbours, as to the education of the Hindoo 
 children by the missionaries, and of convincing 
 them that they could only be desirous of promot- 
 ing their happiness. 
 
 In this year a captain in the Danish navy ar- 
 rived as governor of Tranquebar, and shortly 
 afterwards gave a pleasing proof of his sincere 
 regard for religion, by redeeming a poor child 
 whom her mother, while a heathen, had sold 
 as a dancing girl to a neighbouring pagoda, 
 but who having subsequently embraced Chris- 
 tianity, was anxious to rescue her from that 
 wretched slavery. The Danish governor paid
 
 HO MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, much more than had been given for the child, sent 
 in. 
 her to the mission school, and defrayed the ex- 
 
 1754. 
 
 penses of her education. She was afterwards 
 baptized, and in process of time married to a re- 
 spectable native Christian. 
 
 1755. On the 17th of October, 1755, Swartz wrote to 
 professor Francke as follows. 
 
 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the God of all true consolation, 
 salvation and life, who mercifully and gloriously 
 helpeth us in all trouble ! He is a God that de- 
 lighteth in our life, a God that humbleth that he 
 may exalt us, that maketh us to feel our wretch- 
 edness that he may thoroughly save us from it. 
 My soul, magnify the Lord ! 
 
 " The distress of the Christian congregation, 
 and the insensibility of the heathen to the word 
 of God, often grievously afflict my soul, which 
 is not yet experienced in the ways of truth. 
 However, I strive as well as I am enabled by the 
 Spirit of Jesus Christ, to cast this burden upon 
 him that is mighty to help, and delights to bow 
 down to us in mercy, that we may not remain 
 and sink in trouble. The words of Christ from 
 Isaiah xlix. 4, often occur to my mind. ' Then 
 I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my 
 strength for nought and in vain : yet surely my 
 judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my
 
 THU REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 1 1 1 
 
 God.' But indeed, the following verse ought to CHAP. 
 
 HI. 
 allay all grief, and to bind the sorrowful heart to 
 
 the word of the divine promise. The unwearied 
 patience and mercy of God in working upon my 
 own soul also greatly comforts me, when he saith 
 within me, ' Tell it once more go, announce it 
 both to Christians and heathens; for thou thy- 
 self also wert sometime foolish, disobedient, de- 
 ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures ; and 
 yet in that most corrupt condition deserving 
 wrath and death, a merciful God hath wrought 
 in thee for Christ's sake, and waited for thy con- 
 version, not a few, but many years now learn 
 thou also to wait patiently in hope. Now, my 
 heart, mind, thoughts, desires, designs, and all 
 my will be altogether offered up to the will of 
 my heavenly father. Not my will, but thine be 
 done ! Yet, let thy kingdom come, in India also, 
 to myself and to others !' 
 
 " As to outward circumstances, a gracious God 
 hath paternally preserved me, and amidst bodily 
 weakness mightily supported me. Let my God 
 only give me that which Paul was enabled cheer- 
 fully to say, 2 Cor. v. 1 , * We know that if our 
 earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 
 we have a building of God, an house not made 
 with hands, eternal in the heavens !' 
 
 " I shall waive a particular account of the cir- 
 cumstances and concerns of the mission, since the
 
 112 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, most important points are contained in our com- 
 
 mon letter. I only mention my heartfelt joy on 
 
 account of the wonderfully kind providence of 
 God, that he blessed us on the 1st of July last 
 with a new fellow labourer and brother, Mr. 
 Peter Dame, in whom the mind of Christ is so 
 pleasingly conspicuous. As we little expected 
 this, it hath caused us the greater joy. In the 
 Christmas holidays he will, by the divine bless- 
 ing, deliver a testimony to Christ before the con- 
 gregation. Now, may a gracious God grant that 
 he may prove abundantly successful. 
 
 C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 1756. It is observable, that the reports and joint 
 letters of the 31st of December 1755, and 30th 
 of June 1756, were signed by eight missionaries, 
 the largest number ever residing at one time at 
 Tranquebar. 
 
 In September 1756, Mr. Poltzenhagen, at 
 the request of the Danish government, accom- 
 panied the new colonists to the Nicobar Islands, 
 both to act as their chaplain, and to promote 
 the civilization and conversion of the natives. 
 He collected much information, and began to 
 converse in the language of the Islands, when a 
 short illness terminated his valuable life on the 
 28th of November following, in the flower of his 
 age. His labours in the Portuguese congrega-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 113 
 
 tion and school at Tranquebar fell to the share of CHAP. 
 
 ill, 
 Mr. Swartz, till Mr. Dame was qualified to un- 
 
 1756. 
 
 dertake them, and in the mean time Swartz con- 
 tinued to officiate in Tamul. 
 
 The French, in consequence of the success of 
 some of their military enterprises in this and the 
 two following years, were now indulging the hope 
 of becoming masters of the greater part of India. 
 This encouraged the Roman Catholic priests to 
 reproach and threaten the native Protestant con- 
 verts, and even stimulated them to some acts of 
 open violence. In addition to this source of un- 
 easiness, a dispute between the Danish govern- 
 ment and the Rajah of Tanjore, led to an incur- 
 sion into the Danish territory, in which the poor 
 Christians suffered depredation, and the mission 
 church at Poreiar was considerably injured. 
 These adverse circumstances did not, however, 
 prevent the missionaries from celebrating the 9th 
 of July 1756 as a jubilee, that being the anni- 
 versary of the day on which fifty years before, 
 the first Protestant preachers landed on the shores 
 of India. 
 
 The missionaries mention in their journal 
 of this year, a remarkable acknowledgment of 
 the principal minister of the Rajah of Tan- 
 jore, that there is but one true God, and that 
 the images of their idols ought to be broken and 
 thrown into the sea ; and that such was the ty- 
 
 VOL. i. i
 
 114 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, ranny and injustice of the government, that many 
 - of the natives wished the English to take posses- 
 sion of the country. The Brahmins, however, not 
 knowing the cautious policy, or rather the indif- 
 ference of most Europeans, feared that they would 
 favour the introduction of Christianity, and there- 
 fore dreaded their influence. 
 
 The missionaries also relate that the Rajah 
 having been informed of a considerable sub- 
 terranean treasure, which was guarded by de- 
 mons, who would not permit it to be removed 
 without the sacrifice of five hundred human 
 beings, had dispersed fifty kidnappers through 
 the country, who, by throwing a magical powder 
 upon their victims, pretended to deprive them of 
 their senses, and thus obtained possession of them. 
 This so much alarmed the superstitious Hindoos, 
 that scarcely any but Christians ventured for 
 some time to travel from one place to another. 
 
 They add the more interesting fact, that three 
 Mahomedans were in the course of this year 
 baptized at Vepery, and formed the first fruits of 
 the conversion to Protestant Christianity, of that 
 class of the natives on the coast of Coromandel. 
 1757. The Tranquebar journal of 1757, notices a 
 visit of Mr. Kohlhoff to Seringham, at the request 
 cf a sick German officer, in the French service. 
 While there, he had several opportunities of ad- 
 dressing the Brahmins within the great pagoda,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 11 
 
 as well as at Trichinopoly, then garrisoned by CHAP. 
 the English. He mentions having observed at 
 the latter place the simple method adopted by 
 the natives to convey immense stones to the top 
 of the highest buildings without machinery ; 
 namely, by throwing up a sloping mound of earth 
 against the building, and forcing the stone up the 
 inclined plane. From Trichinopoly Mr. Kohlhoff 
 proceeded to Tanjore, where he preached both to 
 European and native Christians, and was invited 
 to a conference with one of the Rajah's ministers, 
 to whom he declared the truths of the Gospel. 
 
 Towards the close of this year a letter occurs 
 from Mr. Swartz to a friend in Europe, of which 
 the following is an interesting extract. 
 
 " In my ministerial functions, no variation has 
 taken place, except that I have been upwards of 
 nine months in the late Mr. Poltzenhagen's house, 
 and have had the instruction of the Portuguese 
 school and congregation. The Lord lay his bless- 
 ing on it ! This is certain, and I learn it daily, 
 that neither is he that planteth any thing, neither 
 he that watereth, but God that giveth the in- 
 crease. He who altogether despairing of himself 
 and his own strength, goes out in all humility 
 with prayer and supplication, seeks that which is 
 lost, and then waits for the former and the latter 
 rain from the Lord, he receiveth blessing of 
 
 i 2
 
 1 16 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. God, and is preserved from much disquietude. 
 L And although the blessing is not instantly visible, 
 yet God awakeneth the heart, and enableth us to 
 say, ' At thy word I will let down the net. And 
 when they had this done, they enclosed a great 
 multitude of fishes.' This text I remember fre- 
 quently, especially as it is that on which I 
 preached my first sermon at the University ; and 
 by means of which God has produced in me po- 
 verty of spirit, and at the same time a filial re- 
 liance on his word. May he teach it me more 
 and more, and inculcate it by his Spirit ! It was 
 only yesterday, as Mr. Dame and I were observ- 
 ing the obstinacy of the poor pagans, we spoke 
 n this subject, and excited each other to look off 
 from ourselves to God." 
 
 1758. Early in 1758, Messrs. Kohlhoff and Swartz 
 set out on a visit to Negapatam, which is about 
 twenty miles south of Tranquebar. They pro- 
 ceeded by a circuitous route through the country, 
 in order that they might have more frequent op- 
 portunities of addressing both Christians and un- 
 believers. In the evening they repeated to some 
 native Christians at the village where they rested, 
 the sermon which had been preached that morn- 
 ing at the mission church, on the gospel for the 
 day ; and very early the next morning they ex- 
 plained to them the Lord's Prayer, addressing at
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 117 
 
 the same time some suitable instruction and ad- CHAP. 
 
 monition to several Roman Catholics and hea- '- 
 
 thens who were present. At their next station 
 they lectured on the Creed ; and here it may be 
 observed, that their converts being- universally 
 taught to repeat the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the 
 Ten Commandments, and the words of the institu- 
 tion of both the sacraments a lecture on any of 
 these subjects peculiarly fixes their attention. 
 At another choultry in which the missionaries 
 found a party of Mahomedans, who readily ac- 
 knowledged Jesus to be a prophet, they dis- 
 coursed on his importance as a Mediator, and on 
 the inestimable work of redemption ; and drawing 
 a parallel between Christ and Mahomet, they 
 proved the infinite superiority of the former, and 
 urged the duty of an exclusive faith in him. 
 
 At three o'clock on the following morning the 
 assistant who accompanied them collected a small 
 party of Christians, whom the missionaries in- 
 structed in the scriptural method of salvation, and 
 with whom, as was their constant custom, they 
 prayed. In this manner they pursued their journey. 
 
 On the way, seeing a number of natives pass- 
 ing them hastily, and inquiring the cause, they 
 were told that a Brahmin had drowned himself 
 under the pressure of pain ; upon which they 
 took occasion to point out the wretched condition 
 of their guides, and exhorted them to seek the
 
 118 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, grace and peace of God in their hearts, which 
 would enable them patiently to endure calami- 
 ties. Some of them insinuated that God had 
 predestinated the Brahmin to his miserable end ; 
 but the missionaries testified, that God was not 
 the author of evil,, but was a lover of our tem- 
 poral and eternal happiness. 
 
 On their arrival at Negapatam, they paid their 
 respects to the Dutch governor, and were hospit- 
 ably received by one of the gentlemen of that 
 settlement. During the week that they continued 
 there, the missionaries were incessantly engaged 
 in various religious services with the native and 
 European Christians. 
 
 They preached in Tamul and Portuguese, and 
 more than once in their own language, to about 
 two hundred Germans of different ranks, who 
 were earnestly desirous of Christian instruction. 
 They visited the Lazaretto, where a number of 
 lepers were supported at the expense of the 
 Dutch East India Company, and gave those un- 
 happy persons a suitable exhortation. On their 
 return they had various conversations with na- 
 tives, one of whom observed with great simplicity, 
 " We have books wherein the solar and lunar 
 eclipses are accurately calculated, and according 
 to those calculations the events happen. Now," 
 said he, " as these prove true, so we believe that 
 other points contained in these books, which
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 119 
 
 concern the divine laws and heavenly things, are CHAP. 
 true also." The missionaries replied by explain- 1 
 ing- the difference between physical and religious 
 truths, and pointed out the fallacy of arguing 
 from the results of natural science, to the know- 
 ledge which can only be derived from divine re- 
 velation. It need scarcely be added, that on 
 many occasions they had to lament the inefficacy 
 of their instructions, but on others they met with 
 willing and attentive hearers ; and in general the 
 missionaries observed that their reception was 
 more favourable in places under Dutch authority 
 than elsewhere, the official servants of that go- 
 vernment being free from the prejudice commonly 
 entertained against natives professing Chris- 
 tianity, and often even employing them in pre- 
 ference to others. 
 
 In the course of their visit to Negapatam, 
 Messrs. Kohlhoff and Swartz reminded their Euro- 
 pean friends, that it was their duty to promote 
 the kingdom of Christ ; and that the higher the 
 station in which God had placed them, the more 
 responsible they would be, if they neglected to 
 acquit themselves of the obligations incumbent 
 on Christian rulers, to be nursing fathers of 
 the church. The governor assured them of his 
 readiness to favour the advancement of Christi- 
 anity ; and in proof of it, promised that as soon 
 as their chaplain returned, he would begin to
 
 120 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, build a church for the use of the native Chris- 
 - tians a promise which, in less than a year after- 
 wards, was faithfully fulfilled, when a building 
 for this purpose was dedicated in the presence of 
 two of the Tranquebar missionaries. 
 
 Not long afterwards, Mr. Swartz made an- 
 other excursion into the interior of the country, 
 accompanied by one of the native assist- 
 ants, during which, several Hindoos of high 
 caste listened to him with great attention, and 
 said on parting from him, " You are an uni- 
 versal priest ;" intimating, that he was worthy 
 not only of being the religious instructor of Eu- 
 ropeans, but of themselves also. While on this 
 short tour, he experienced from many of the 
 natives marked respect and kindness, one of them, 
 in a place where he could purchase nothing, vo- 
 luntarily bringing hot water and milk for his tea, 
 and providing him and his attendants with a 
 supper. 
 
 The good effects of his and Mr. KohlhofFs 
 visit to Negapatam, were soon so apparent in the 
 awakening of a concern for religion in the minds 
 of many of the German Protestants, that at their 
 urgent request, after much deliberation and 
 prayer, Swartz, accompanied by Mr. Klein, 
 another of his brethren, made a second journey 
 to that station in the month of April following. 
 They were met by the two native catechists, and
 
 THE REiV. C. F. SWARTZ. 121 
 
 by several European gentlemen, and conducted CHAP. 
 
 to Negapatam. There they spent another week, 1 
 
 preaching on the most important and impressive 
 subjects, chiefly in German, but two or three 
 times also in Portuguese and Tamul, to the native 
 converts. They administered the sacrament, dis- 
 tributed books and tracts of piety and devotion, 
 and departed, rejoicing at the evident proofs 
 afforded by many of every class, of their cordial 
 reception of the word of God. At the close of 
 their farewell discourses, the Europeans present- 
 ed the missionaries with a collection for the poor 
 at Tranquebar, amounting to upwards of thirty- 
 two pagodas, great part of which was contributed 
 by the Dutch soldiers. 
 
 It had been customary since the year 1741, 
 after the arrival of Messrs. Kohlhoff, Fabricius, 
 and Zegler, when the country catechists and the 
 teachers in and near Tranquebar assembled once 
 a month to read the report of their proceedings, 
 for one of the missionaries to give an exhortation 
 on some text of Scripture, to stir them up 
 to the faithful discharge of their important 
 duties. Lectures in divinity were also given 
 to the most able and intelligent among them, 
 and an admonition to the poor on distribut- 
 ing the monthly alms. On his return from Ne- 
 gapatam, Mr. Swartz addressed the catechists 
 who had brought their reports, from 1 Cor. 
 xv. 10, " By the grace of God I am what I am,"
 
 122 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, from which striking example of the apostle, he re- 
 '- presented to them humility as an essential and 
 most important quality in every Christian teacher, 
 leading him to entertain the lowliest thoughts of 
 himself, and at the same time to value and de- 
 pend on the grace of God in Christ Jesus, above 
 all things. 
 
 This was a critical year to the British power in 
 India, and to the missions at Cuddalore and 
 Madras. During the night of the 28th of April, 
 the French landed a body of troops near Fort St. 
 David, which, being joined by others from Pondi- 
 cherry, ravaged and plundered the neighbouring 
 towns and villages in a most cruel manner. 
 Many of the Roman Catholic Christians fled to 
 their adjacent church near the governor's garden- 
 house, where they trusted that, as brethren in the 
 faith with the French, they should be safe. 
 Some one, however, among the invading party, 
 having reported that these were the English Pro- 
 testant missionaries, and that it was their church, 
 the poor Roman Catholics who had taken refuge 
 in it were inhumanly massacred, and the church 
 rased to the foundation. In the mean time, the 
 Protestant misssionaries were by the good pro- 
 vidence of God safe within the walls of Cudda- 
 lore. It was remarkable that a person at Tran- 
 quebar, who was known to be connected with 
 the French, when the news of their attack 
 reached that place, expressed his conviction, that
 
 THE REV*. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 Messrs. Kiernander and Hutteman had been put CHAP. 
 to death. 
 
 1758. 
 
 On the 1st of May, the French troops ap- 
 proached Cuddalore, and the walls being very 
 low and weak, it was apprehended that at the 
 rising of the moon at midnight, they would storm 
 the town. The alarm of the native inhabitants 
 was in consequence extreme ; and they came by 
 hundreds to the missionaries, with their most 
 valuable effects, with which they filled the mission 
 houses. They were, however, spared the horrors 
 of an assault, and early the next morning a 
 French officer brought a summons to the garrison 
 to surrender the place on capitulation. The 
 English commander of the Fort soon afterwards 
 kindly sent a note to the missionaries, advising 
 them to accompany his messenger to the enemy's 
 camp, in order to request the French general to 
 take them under his protection. This advice they 
 thankfully adopted, and followed the flag of truce 
 by a circuitous route through the country, which 
 had been laid waste in every direction by the 
 French cavalry. At length they reached the 
 choultry where the commander-in-chief, the unfor- 
 tunate Count Lally, 1 had fixed his head-quarters. 
 He immediately assured them that they had no- 
 thing to fear, and that he would afford them every 
 
 1 See Onne's History, vol. ii. ; and Mill's British India, 
 vol. iii.
 
 124 ' MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, protection. His own regiment being nearly all 
 Irish, the officers spoke English, and Colonel Ken- 
 nedy accompanied the missionaries some distance 
 on their return. 
 
 Cuddalore being quite unequal to a defence 
 against so considerable a force, and being entirely 
 open towards the river, the governor of Fort St. 
 David agreed to the proposed capitulation, and 
 the town was in consequence delivered up to the 
 French. The captain of the grenadier company 
 of the regiment Lorraine, which had taken pos- 
 session of the Porto Novo gate, received orders 
 from his general to send a guard to the mission- 
 aries to protect their houses, and they expressed 
 their gratitude by affording refreshments both to 
 the officers and soldiers. They discovered also, 
 that the German captain, Baron Heidemann, 
 whom Mr. Kohlhoifhad visited at Seringham, had 
 given orders to his hussars to protect them. 1 
 
 As soon as the capitulation was signed, the 
 missionaries sent a messenger to their brethren 
 at Tranquebar, informing them of their melan- 
 choly situation, and requesting some country 
 boats for transporting the mission property, as it 
 was supposed that all the inhabitants would be 
 required to take an oath of fidelity to the French 
 
 1 This pious officer, about two years afterwards, quitted the 
 French service, and retired to the mission at Vepery, where he 
 died in 1761.
 
 THE ItEV. C. F. SWARTZ. 125 
 
 government, and it was no longer expedient to CHAP. 
 remain at their present station. The next day the 
 English garrison marched out of Cuddalore, and 
 some French officers took up their quarters at 
 the mission houses. In the course of the day, 
 Count Lally himself visited the missionaries and 
 conversed with them in English, inquiring what 
 countrymen they were, whether Lutherans or Cal- 
 vinists, wherein their functions consisted, and how 
 far they had succeeded in making converts. He 
 kindly gave them passports, and granted two 
 country boats, which had arrived from Porto Novo 
 with provisions for the French troops, to trans- 
 port their goods. With much difficulty they con- 
 trived, amidst the confusion around them, to get 
 their property on board. The missionaries then 
 assembled their little Christian flock, and kneel- 
 ing down, commended them to the Lord, praying 
 that he would guide and protect them. 
 
 Many Christians and other natives, with their 
 families, were allowed to accompany the mission- 
 aries on leaving Cuddalore. In the evening they 
 arrived at Porto Novo, where they were cordially 
 received by the Dutch resident; and at noon the 
 next day at Devi-Cottah, where the English gave 
 them a most hospitable welcome. On the 8th 
 they reached Tranquebar, where houses were as- 
 signed to them by their kind brethren: the native 
 Christians were lodged for the present in the
 
 126 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. p a p er m \\\ a t Poreiar, and the Cuddalore children 
 were received into the Tamul school. The two 
 
 1758. 
 
 missionaries insisting on taking a share in the 
 labours at Tranquebar, Mr. Kiernander assisted 
 in the Portuguese, and Mr. Hutteman in the 
 Malabar congregations. 
 
 The early departure of the missionaries and 
 their converts from Cuddalore, appears to have 
 been highly providential. Several Jesuits from 
 Pondicherry, with a party of their followers, 
 arrived the next day ; and on finding they had 
 escaped, expressed their disappointment, as well 
 as great displeasure against Count Lally for 
 having granted them a safe dismissal. 
 
 Most of the native converts having left Cudda- 
 lore, some having retired to Tranquebar, and others 
 to Madras, Mr. Kiernander perceived no immediate 
 prospect of being able to return to his former sta- 
 tion, and in consequence felt it to be his duty to 
 engage in some new sphere of labour. After mature 
 reflection and consultation with his brethren, it was 
 resolved that he should endeavour to establish a 
 mission in Bengal. For this purpose he proceed- 
 ed to Calcutta in September, 1758; and notwith- 
 standing many difficulties and discouragements, 
 he laboured there for some years with exemplary 
 piety and diligence, and with considerable suc- 
 cess. Mr. Hutteman remained at Tranquebar 
 till September 1760, when he returned and re-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 127 
 
 sumecl his labours at Cuddalore, which had been 
 retaken by the British army. There, among other 
 instances of the divine blessing upon his ministry, 
 he was the instrument of converting a Pandaram 
 of the highest caste, and of great respectability 
 and learning, in Tanjore. The account of this 
 distinguished convert, written by himself, together 
 with the remonstrance of his brethren of the col- 
 lege of Pandarams of which he had been a mem- 
 ber, and his energetic and truly Christian reply, 
 are contained in the reports of the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge for the year 1 765. 
 By one of the biographers of Swartz, this conver- 
 sion has been erroneously attributed to him, in- 
 stead of his excellent friend Mr. Hutteman, to 
 whom, under God, this honour is due. 
 
 Notwithstanding the disturbed and critical state 
 of the surrounding country, the missionaries at 
 Tranquebar, which, as belonging to a neutral 
 state, had suffered none of the calamities of 
 war, celebrated, as they were accustomed on the 
 31st of October, the anniversary of the German 
 Reformation, by singing hymns of praise to its 
 divine Author. 
 
 On the 21st of November in this year, died at 
 Tranquebar, an aged woman, who was one of the 
 first five converts to Christianity by Ziegenbalg 
 and Plutscho, having been baptized on the 12th of 
 May 1707. She was born and educated a Ma-
 
 128 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, homedan, and was already of adult age when 
 1 she became a Christian. Her life had been irre- 
 proachable, and she had regularly attended the 
 public services of the mission. At her funeral, 
 which was numerously attended, a short address, 
 appropriate to the interesting occasion, was deli- 
 vered in the old mission church. 
 
 The French army approached Madras in No- 
 vember, availing itself of the monsoon, during 
 which the English fleet could not remain on that 
 station. The missionaries at Vepery, Messrs. 
 Fabricius and Breithaupt, observed, in conse- 
 quence, a day of penitence and prayer; humbly 
 deprecating the approaching visitation, and im- 
 ploring the divine protection in behalf of the 
 English government, and the army, the country, 
 and the mission. It was a remarkable and impres- 
 sive circumstance, that even the youngest children 
 in their schools, contrary to their usual custom, 
 joined in the amen at the conclusion of their prayer. 
 
 On the 6th of December, the French began to 
 invest Madras, to the disappointment of numbers 
 who had intended to retire, among whom were 
 the missionaries, who had made every prepara- 
 tion for transporting themselves and their pro- 
 perty to Pulicat. The French army being un- 
 provided with artillery, no one anticipated so 
 sudden an approach; but the roads both to the 
 south and the north being occupied by the enemy,
 
 TtlK REV, C. F. SWARTZ. 129 
 
 and the missionaries being unwilling; to retreat CHAP. 
 
 into the Fort or White town, with their numerous 1 
 
 families, aged persons, women and children, they 
 had no other resource than, in the event of the 
 English army retiring into the city, to endeavour 
 to obtain the protection of the French general, 
 Count Lally, as Mr. Fabricius had done in the 
 year 1746, on the capture of Madras by M. La- 
 bourdonnais. They felt, however, that it would 
 not become them to seek such protection from the 
 French general before he had rendered himself 
 master of the country. On the 12th the French 
 army advanced, and after firing a few rounds the 
 English retreated into the fort. Scarcely had this 
 movement taken place, when the Mahomedan 
 irregular cavalry of the French army galloped 
 over the plains, and listening to no representa- 
 tions of the missionaries, forced their way into 
 their houses, and robbed and plundered them of 
 every thing. At length they approached the 
 church, in which great numbers of men, women, 
 and children had taken refuge. Here they com- 
 pelled the native men to give up their clothes and 
 turbans, and the women their necklaces and ear- 
 rings. " Our gracious God, however," observe 
 the missionaries, " without whose permission not 
 a hair falls from our heads, mercifully preserved 
 his servants, so that their persons were not touch- 
 ed, and, with the exception of being plundered, 
 VOL. i. K
 
 130 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, no one sustained the slightest injury." The na- 
 tive Christians fled across the river into Madras, 
 
 17 58 
 
 whither Mr. Breithaupt and his family also es- 
 caped, while Mr. Fabricius, escorted by a friendly 
 Roman Catholic trooper whom he met among the 
 plunderers, proceeded to the French camp. 
 
 It was late in the evening before Mr. Fabricius 
 could obtain from Count Lally the desired pro- 
 tection. The French officers expressed their re- 
 gret that he had not sooner applied for it, adding, 
 that on such occasions, it was not in their power 
 to restrain the excesses of the Mahomedan troops. 
 The missionaries, however, humbly resigning 
 themselves to the will of God, felt comparatively 
 little for their own losses, but deeply lamented 
 that the property of many persons, particularly 
 that of some widows and orphans, which had been 
 entrusted to their care, should have been thus 
 plundered -a circumstance which led them after- 
 wards to be cautious in becoming such deposito- 
 ries, except in behalf of each other. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Fabricius had obtained a soldier 
 to protect him, he returned to Vepery, where he 
 found every thing in the utmost confusion ; most 
 of the mission furniture, their provisions, books, 
 clothes, and utensils, had disappeared. Their 
 manuscripts and correspondence, though scattered 
 in every direction, were happily preserved ; and 
 some of their more useful books were afterwards
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 131 
 
 discovered. Some benevolent friends at Fort St. CHAP. 
 George kindly sent Messrs. Fabricius and Breit- 
 haupt a present of money, linen, and clothing ; 
 and thus the providence of God watched over 
 them and supplied their wants. 
 
 Very early on the 14th of December, the French 
 army defiled past the mission-house towards the 
 northern suburb of Madras, compelling two 
 youths of the Christian congregation to accom- 
 pany them as guides. A strong detachment from 
 the fort here attacked the French, but the English 
 were repulsed with considerable loss. The French 
 plundered the Black Town, and commenced the 
 siege of Fort St. George. To avoid the difficul- 
 ties and dangers attending such a scene, the mis- 
 sionaries, about Christmas, together with many of 
 their converts, left Madras, and proceeded to 
 Pulicat, where they were hospitably received by 
 the Dutch authorities. In the mean time, Count 
 Lally urged the siege of Madras with the feeble 
 means which he possessed, and about the middle 
 of February 1759, a breach having been made in 
 the walls, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of 
 Governor Pigot and the English commander, 
 the veteran Major Lawrence, preparations were 
 making for the assault; when, on the 16th, the 
 very day which had been fixed for the purpose, 
 an English fleet unexpectedly arrived off Madras, 
 and in two hours the French officer commanding 
 
 K 2
 
 132 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, in the trenches received orders to abandon the 
 siege. The next day the French army retreated 
 from Madras, and in the course of a few weeks, 
 the missionaries returned to their peaceful and 
 beneficent labours. The victory of Colonel Coote 
 at Wandewash, and the subsequent capture of 
 Pondicherry, defeated the last hopes of the French 
 in that quarter, and established the British ascen- 
 dancy in the Carnatic,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 133 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Tranquillity of the Danish missionaries during the late hostili- 
 ties in the Carnatic Visit of Mr. Swartz to Ceylon His 
 various ministerial labours and hi illness in that island His 
 faithful admonition to a sceptic His departure from Ceylon 
 His reflections on this visit Journey with Mr. Kohlhoff 
 to Cuddalore and Madras His religious views and feelings 
 in a letter to a friend Enlarged sphere of Mr. Swartz 's la- 
 hours Journey to Tanjore and Trichinopoly First proceed- 
 ings in those cities Introduction to the Nabob of Arcot 
 Conversations with natives near Trichinopoly Commence- 
 ment of Divine Service with the English garrison Contagi- 
 ous fever Services of Swartz during the siege of Madura 
 His removal from Tranquebar, and establishment at Trichi- 
 nopoly, as a Missionary of the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge Arrival of Mr. Gericke in India. 
 
 WHILE the operations of the missionaries at Cud- CHAP. 
 dalore and Madras had been thus painfully in- 
 
 r 1759. 
 
 terrupted and suspended by the hostilities be- 
 tween the French and English, Mr. Svvartz and 
 his colleagues at Tranquebar were pursuing their 
 accustomed labours in comparative tranquillity, 
 and aifording, as we have seen, hospitality and
 
 134 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, comfort to many of their Christian brethren, both 
 
 native and European. 
 
 From an early period of the Danish mission, 
 some correspondence had been carried on with 
 the Dutch ministers in Ceylon, whom the mis- 
 sionaries at Tranquebar had occasionally supplied 
 with copies of the holy Scriptures in Tamul, that 
 language being 1 spoken in the north of the island. 
 Early in the year 1760, some Christians at Co- 
 lombo and Jaffnapatnam having expressed an 
 earnest desire for a visit from some of the Danish 
 missionaries, for the purpose of spiritual instruc- 
 tion and edification, Mr. Swartz determined to 
 comply with their request, and on the 25th of 
 April proceeded on his journey accompanied by 
 two of his brethren. The first evening they 
 reached the fortress of Karikal, where they passed 
 the night, being received in the most friendly man- 
 ner by the English commandant. On the road they 
 met several natives, to whom the excellent mis- 
 sionary, ever on the watch to improve opportuni- 
 ties of usefulness, represented the majesty of the 
 supreme Being, his glorious works, and his num- 
 berless mercies, and exhorted them faithfully to 
 acknowledge and reverentially to worship him, 
 the only true God. They approved of what he 
 said, and two of them accompanied him as far 
 as Neur, with whom he had much conversation. 
 Near this place he was met by a very pious Chris-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 135 
 
 tian, whose conversation greatly refreshed him. CHAP. 
 At noon he reached Negapatam, and in the even- 
 ing waited on the governor, Baron D'Eck, from 
 whom he learned that the sloop in which he was 
 to proceed to Jaflfnapatnam, was ready to sail. 
 During the voyage, on the 28th, being within 
 sight of the port, a waterspout rose so close to 
 the vessel, that all on board were under the most 
 painful apprehensions ; but on the guns being 
 fired, it soon dispersed. 
 
 On landing in the island of Ceylon, Mr. Swartz 
 was kindly received by the Dutch resident ; and 
 on the 30th of April he arrived at Jaffnapat^ 
 nam, where Captain de Dohren invited him to 
 be his guest. Here he commenced a series of 
 Christian labours which proved most acceptable 
 and beneficial to the inhabitants of the different 
 stations which he visited, and which were long after- 
 wards remembered with gratitude by many who 
 appeared to be thirsting for divine instruction. 
 
 The two Dutch ministers, then residing at Jaff- 
 napatnam, were native Tamuls. After address- 
 ing the company's interpreter in the presence of 
 many who were assembled, on the characteristics 
 of a true Christian, Mr. Swartz explained in 
 the evening to the two ministers, in their na- 
 tive language, the great design of missions, the 
 duties of missionaries, their behaviour towards 
 the heathen, and the best method of conducting
 
 too MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, schools. On the 2nd of May, he preached to a 
 1 Christian congregation from Luke xix. 10 " The 
 Son of man is come to seek and to save that 
 which was lost." On the I Oth, from John xvi. 
 5, on the Holy Spirit, and the grounds on which 
 we may now hope to become partakers of that 
 inestimable gift. On the 5th he visited the hos- 
 pital with the physician, and addressed both the 
 sick and those in health, from the words of St. 
 John i. 29, " Behold the Lamb of God which 
 taketh away the sin of the world." The next 
 day he set out for Colombo to request permission 
 of the govenor to administer the holy sacrament 
 at Jaffnapatnam. This tedious journey occupied 
 twelve days, and he arrived at Colombo on the 
 18th, just as divine service was commencing. In 
 the afternoon he was introduced to the Governor 
 Schreuder, who inquired into the design of his 
 visit, and then very kindly giving him his advice 
 how best to proceed, opened a field of usefulness 
 far more extensive than he had anticipated. The 
 day following he devoted to a visit to the Dutch 
 clergymen, conversing with them on the state of 
 the mission, and the exertions of the -Dutch, in 
 behalf of the heathen, in the island of Ceylon. 
 On the 20th he dined with the governor, to whom 
 he related the most important occurrences at the 
 several missionary stations, and the active opera- 
 tions which were in progress, both among Chris-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 137 
 
 tians and heathen. From the 21st to the 26th CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 he was engaged in preparing those who intended 
 
 to receive the holy sacrament. But about this 
 time he was interrupted in the midst of his pious 
 labours by a severe illness, probably brought on 
 by his long and fatiguing journey in the hot sea- 
 son, which continued during the whole month, 
 but of which it is to be regretted that no other re- 
 cord remains than his thankful acknowledgment, 
 which afterwards appears, of its beneficial effect 
 upon his own mind. 
 
 On recovering from this indisposition, on the 
 17th of July, the anniversary of his arrival in 
 India, ten years before, Swartz preached a ser- 
 mon preparatory to the holy communion, on Mat- 
 thew iii. 2, in which he dwelt much on the nature 
 of the motives to true repentance. The next 
 day, after a discourse on 1 Cor. xi. 28, in which 
 he expatiated on the happy effects of worthily ap- 
 proaching the table of the Lord, the bread and 
 cup of blessing were received by four hundred 
 persons, many of whom afterwards acknowledged 
 the powerful impression produced on their minds 
 by their participation in that sacred ordinance. 
 
 On the following day Mr. Swartz received 
 an invitation to preach the word of God to the 
 Christians at Point de Galle, to which place he 
 proceeded on the 22nd, and arrived on the 24th. 
 Several members of the congregations met him
 
 138 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 on the road with tears of joy. On the 26th he 
 commenced preparatory instructions for the holy 
 sacrament, which he continued till the 30th, 
 when he preached on Luke xv., explaining 
 the nature of true conversion ; and on the next 
 day one hundred and twenty-six persons were 
 admitted to the holy communion, after he had ex- 
 horted them, in many private conversations, to 
 choose that narrow way which leadeth unto life 
 eternal. 
 
 On the 1st of August he left Point de Galle for 
 Colombo, where he again arrived on the 4th, after 
 having administered the sacrament at Caleture. 
 The road to the latter place, planted on both 
 sides with cocoa trees, he described as particularly 
 pleasant. Having now spent more than three 
 months in Ceylon, he commenced his return to 
 Tranquebar. For this purpose he embarked on 
 board a Moorish vessel, much enjoying the fine 
 view of Colombo from the sea, and commending 
 its inhabitants to the divine mercy. Towards even- 
 ing, having lost sight of land, the Mahomedan sea- 
 men requested him to relate to them the history 
 of Christ, with which he gladly complied, calling 
 their attention to the difference between the Chris- 
 tian and Mahomedan religion. They would not 
 admit that Mahomet was a false prophet, but be- 
 haved with great mildness and modesty. 
 
 On the 29th of August he arrived at Jaffna-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 139 
 
 patnam, and after preaching from Matt. xxvi. 26, CHAP. 
 he administered the holy sacrament to thirty-nine 
 persons. In the afternoon he addressed the sick 
 at the hospital, on Luke xv. 2, " This man re- 
 ceiveth sinners." He visited the hospital again 
 on the following day, and preached in the morn- 
 ing from 1 Cor. xi. 23, when eleven persons re- 
 ceived the holy communion. In the afternoon he 
 selected for his text the words of the Psalmist, 
 " Teach me to do thy will." Ps. cxliii. 10, ex- 
 horting his hearers to make this one of their chief 
 prayers to God. 
 
 Amongst others with whom he conversed at 
 Jaffna, on religion, a well informed man, who 
 was of a scientific turn of mind, told him of the 
 distress which his unbelief caused him, mention- 
 ing several of the doubts which he entertained on 
 the subject of revelation. Mr. Swartz having 
 dispelled them, concluded his conversation with 
 the following important admonition. " It is very 
 right to endeavour, by sound reasoning and argu- 
 ment, to become convinced of the truth of divine 
 revelation : but this is not sufficient. The chief 
 cause of your unbelief is your own perverse will and 
 inclination. You wish that the word of God may 
 prove untrue for no other reason than this, that 
 you may be allowed to live undisturbed in sin ; 
 but I declare to you, it is not enough that your 
 understanding is convinced of the truth your
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, heart and will must be changed. Turn, there- 
 fore, with full purpose of heart, to the living God, 
 and endeavour to obtain grace and pardon, through 
 the blood of the atonement ; and watch and pray, 
 and you will find help. You must enter upon 
 this most important business with great zeal, and 
 with a holy importunity." The gentleman to 
 whom this faithful appeal was addressed, appear- 
 ed to be deeply affected by it ; and, as one proof 
 of its efficacy, he immediately sent for a neigh- 
 bour, with whom he had lived at enmity, and re- 
 conciled himself to him. 
 
 On the 5th of September, prior to his depar- 
 ture, Mr. Swartz went to Point Pedro for the 
 purpose of seeing the large tree, under which the 
 celebrated BaldaBus, who accompanied the Dutch 
 expedition which took possession of Ceylon, in 
 the seventeenth century, addressed his first dis- 
 course to the natives. He conversed with some 
 Malabar people whom he met on the spot, and 
 preached the Gospel to them. On his return, he 
 again embarked on board his vessel, impressed 
 with gratitude to God for the help which he had 
 experienced in visiting and addressing so many 
 different congregations; and after a short and 
 pleasant voyage, he arrived on the 9th of Septem- 
 ber in the port of Negapatam, and concluded his 
 journal of his visit to Ceylon in the following 
 modest terms. " With a humble heart I bless
 
 THE RF<V. C. F. SWARTZ. 141 
 
 the name of the Lord for the grace, help, and CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 protection, he has vouchsafed to me. May he 1 
 pardon, for Christ's sake, all my sins of omission 
 and commission ; and may a lasting blessing rest 
 on all I have done and spoken in my infirmity, 
 agreeably to his word! Amen." 
 
 In a letter to his excellent friend Dr. Francke, 
 dated Oct. 16th, 1760, Swartz thus piously refers 
 to his late voyage to Ceylon : 
 
 " May I never forget the good I have received 
 at the hands of God ; and may the remembrance 
 of his great and unmerited kindness strengthen 
 me to do his will, and to walk in the way of his 
 commandments! I know, indeed, from experience, 
 that after God has comforted the heart with the 
 assurance of his grace and pardoning love, there 
 will be also found readiness and strength faith- 
 fully to discharge our general and relative duties. 
 May a merciful God glorify Christ in my soul, as 
 my adorable Mediator and Redeemer, that I may 
 taste and see how gracious he is! 
 
 " I was much troubled, and even somewhat 
 impeded in the discharge of my duty, by a dry 
 cough in January and February last, which al- 
 ways greatly increased whenever I attempted to 
 remain for any length of time in the open air, 
 during the prevalence of northerly winds; on 
 which account an opportunity of undertaking a
 
 142 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, voyage to Ceylon was particularly welcome to 
 1 me. When I reflect how God has condescended 
 to humble and purify me by means of an illness 
 with which I was visited at Colombo, I am con- 
 strained to praise him in silence. ' All the paths 
 of the Lord are mercy and truth,' even when it 
 would seem as if he had visited us in anger, and 
 contrary to the assurance which his word contains. 
 I have reason to think that the seed of the word 
 sown at Colombo, has been productive, in some 
 instances, of real and lasting good. The com- 
 manding officer at Galle, a member of the re- 
 formed Church, appeared much affected, and said 
 to the Lutherans : ' I suppose you would be glad 
 to receive a similar visit once a year.' And on my 
 taking leave, he thanked me most feelingly for 
 the edification he had received, and begged me to 
 come again. The word of God being so scarce 
 in that island, I assure you that the divine service 
 was conducted in a very solemn and edifying- 
 manner. Indeed my inmost soul was moved 
 by it." 
 
 i76i. Early in 1761 some circumstances, communi- 
 cated to Mr. Swartz by Mr. Hutteman, induced 
 him, in conjunction with his friend Mr. Kohlhoff, 
 .to undertake a journey northwards to Cuddalore 
 and Madras. Meeting some fishermen on their 
 way, they exhorted them to turn to the living
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 143 
 
 God, through Jesus Christ. One of them replied, CHAP 
 " You are not in want, and are therefore not pre- 
 
 1 "7f\ 1 
 
 vented from serving God." The missionaries 
 
 o 
 
 pointed to the sea, as to an inexhaustible treasury, 
 from which they might every day derive enough 
 to satisfy their own wants, as well as those of 
 many others. In Wanagiri, a Brahmin and some 
 natives that were with him, inquired from whence 
 they came. " We replied," says Mr. Swartz, 
 " from Tranquebar, for the purpose of addressing 
 to you the tidings of salvation." " We have no 
 time," said they, " to hear you, as we are going 
 to the magistrate." Being, however, prevailed 
 upon to listen for a few moments, the missionary 
 told them, that the Lord of heaven called them to 
 enjoy bliss and happiness in another world. 
 " What would you have us to do ?" was the 
 reply. " We earnestly exhort you," he said, " to 
 repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus 
 Christ." They observed, " We do worship God, 
 and he being omnipresent, we may as well wor- 
 ship him under .the form of a stone." The mis- 
 sionary replied, that there was no likeness of the 
 living God, either in heaven above or in the earth 
 beneath ; and therefore that it was dishonouring 
 him to worship him in the form of any thing 
 corruptible. 
 
 Near a river the two travellers' met with a 
 Mahomedan chief, and some of his people entered
 
 144 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, j n t conversation with them. Mr. Swartz ob- 
 served, that all men were strangers and pilgrims 
 on the earth, who should desire a better, even a 
 heavenly country, which it was impossible to 
 reach by any works or merits of their own, but 
 only by faith in Jesus Christ. They listened with 
 great attention, and as often as the name of 
 Jesus was mentioned the chief added that of 
 Messiah. On parting, he requested the friend- 
 ship of the missionaries, and wished them pros- 
 perity. 
 
 On the 30th of January, Mr. Swartz and his 
 companion arrived at the mission-house in Cud- 
 dalore, admiring the goodness of God, by which 
 the town was preserved during the tumults of the 
 late war. Having stayed a day or two and preached 
 there, they pursued their journey; and near Pon- 
 dicherry a native Roman Catholic, with his wife, 
 joined them, to whom they pointed out the hap- 
 piness to be derived from the pure Gospel of 
 Christ. At Pondicherry they were kindly received 
 by a French inhabitant, who related to them the 
 great distress they had suffered during the late 
 siege of that place. To a young Brahmin whom 
 they met near Mareikanam, carrying a bench on 
 which the idol Ramen is usually placed, and who 
 accompanied them as far as the river Kartiel, 
 Swartz related the history of the creation, and 
 fall of man, and the redemption by Jesus Christ,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 145 
 
 and testified against the deplorable practice of CHAP. 
 idol worship. 1 
 
 On the evening of the 6th they reached Sadras, 
 where they were received in a very friendly man- 
 ner by the Dutch commander of the Fort, and 
 distributed some German tracts among the sol- 
 diers ; and on the 8th they arrived at Vepery, 
 from which their brethren had been compelled to 
 retreat two years before. They visited the various 
 institutions at this station, conversed with some 
 Mahomedans, and exhorted the native Tamul 
 Christians to walk worthy of the Gospel. On 
 the 10th a conference of the missionary brethren 
 was held, at which the native assistants were 
 present. On the 15th Mr. Swartz preached in 
 Tamul, from Luke xxii. 3946. He was de- 
 tained at Vepery till the 10th of March, by a 
 contusion which he had received at Sadras, and 
 which had brought on inflammation ; but on the 
 18th he returned safely to Tranquebar, where he 
 continued during the remainder of the year, 
 actively engaged in the ordinary labours of the 
 mission. 
 
 At the commencement of the year 1762, we i 7 ^ 2 . 
 find him, in a letter from Tranquebar to a friend 
 at Halle, giving the following pious and interest- 
 ing sketch of his religious views and feelings. 
 
 " With respect to my present circumstances, I 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 14C MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, feel constrained to bless God for the manifold 
 
 IV. ii.i 
 
 mercies showered down in the past year upon me, 
 
 the least of his servants, through Christ's atone- 
 ment and intercession. He has supported me 
 day by day in the most gracious manner ; he has 
 instructed and reproved me by his Spirit ; he has 
 never left me without consolation therefore my 
 soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath 
 rejoiced in God my Saviour. Indeed I have the 
 greatest cause for gratitude ; for the Lord has 
 regarded the low estate of his servant. My joy 
 is not extravagant, but calm and abiding, and my 
 great aim is to know that I am the Lord's, through 
 Christ, that I have found grace in his sight, that 
 his peace rests upon me, that I can confidently 
 approach him in prayer, and have a certain hope 
 of eternal life ; so that even days of sickness can- 
 not deprive me of these consolations. 
 
 " Many of the Roman Catholics in this place 
 acknowledge the superior advantages which the 
 pure Gospel has over the confused doctrines and 
 traditions of men ; which, instead of relieving, 
 only oppress the conscience. When I visit them 
 in their houses they listen to me giadly, and I 
 affectionately invite them to convince themselves 
 of the full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, obla- 
 tion, and satisfaction, made by Christ for the sins 
 of the whole world, as the foundation of their 
 faith; and that believing this, they may enjoy
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 147 
 
 peace of conscience, and become partakers of the CHAP. 
 precious blessings obtained for them by his suffer- - 
 
 T J . 1762. 
 
 ings and death upon the cross. 1 point out to 
 them what Jesus Christ himself has taught re- 
 specting the way which leadeth unto life, and 
 how much the Romish Church has deviated from 
 the pure doctrine of the Gospel. Father, let thy 
 kingdom come ! O send forth faithful labourers 
 into thy harvest!" 
 
 Various and important as the services of Swartz 
 had already been, it must be evident that he pos- 
 sessed talents and acquirements which qualified 
 him for a sphere of more extensive usefulness than 
 the narrow limits of the Danish territory and its 
 immediate neighbourhood afforded. An opportu- 
 nity for thus enlarging the scene of his labours 
 shortly afterwards occurred. 
 
 In the month of May, 1762, accompanied by 
 another missionary, 1 he went on foot to Tanjore 
 and Trichinopoly, preaching both to Christians 
 and heathens. At Tanjore he was permitted to 
 explain the doctrines of the Gospel, not only in 
 the city, but even in the rajah's palace, where he 
 took occasion, from questions which the officers of 
 the court asked him concerning worldly affairs* 
 to turn the conversation to religious subjects. 
 
 1 Reports of the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge. 
 
 L2
 
 148 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP.- The rajah was present, and heard him. but was 
 iv. . . 
 not visible. 
 
 At Trichinopoly, where he remained till July, 
 he was treated with great kindness by the Eng- 
 lish ; and with the assistance of Major Preston and 
 Mr. Newton, 1 a room was built for the purpose 
 of divine worship, and as a school for children. 
 In September, on his return from Tanjore, he 
 baptized several Hindoo converts, and received 
 some Roman Catholics into the congregation, 
 after having previously instructed them in the 
 Protestant faith. 
 
 Though Tranquebar continued for some time to 
 be nominally the place of his residence, Trichi- 
 nopoly and Tanjore began, from this period, to be 
 the chief objects of his attention, as they were 
 ultimately the principal sphere of his missionary 
 labours. The former of these two cities con- 
 tained, at this period, from twenty to thirty thou- 
 sand inhabitants, several handsome mosques, and 
 a palace and gardens of the nabob, and is cele- 
 brated for its stupendous rock of granite, rising 
 within the fort to the height of four hundred and 
 fifty feet, and commanding, from that eminence, 
 an extensive view of the surrounding country. 
 In one direction, the island of Seringham, en- 
 circled by the diverging branches of the fertilis- 
 ing Cavery, and conspicuous from its gigantic 
 1 Brother to the learned Bishop Newton.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 149 
 
 pyramids and vast and venerated pagoda, forms a CHAP. 
 rich and magnificent object; while the whole 
 
 11 11 i 
 
 scene is scarcely less memorable as the principal 
 
 seat of the struggle between the French and Eng- 
 lish, which has been already adverted to, for the 
 empire of India, and the signal triumphs of 
 British talents and valour. Such was the spot 
 which was about to be rendered doubly interest- 
 ing by the Christian labours of Swartz. 
 
 " On my return to Trichinopoly," he observes 1753. 
 in his journal, "early in the year 1763, I found 
 that the powder magazine had blown up. Among 
 other Europeans who lost their lives on this oc- 
 casion, were three very pious men, by whose 
 society and conversation I had often been re- 
 freshed." With reference to this calamitous event 
 he addressed a small congregation of Germans 
 from the admonition of our Lord on the fall of 
 the tower in Siloam, Luke xiii. 4, the number of 
 those who perished having been in each case the 
 same. " This event," he adds, " produced a bene- 
 ficial change in the sentiments and conduct of 
 many of the inhabitants." Mr. Swartz made a 
 collection in behalf of the children of those who 
 had suffered by this melancholy catastrophe, which 
 amounted to three hundred and thirty pagodas. 
 This sum he applied to the establishment of an 
 English orphan school, and the necessary books 
 were obtained from Madras and Calcutta.
 
 150 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. In the same journal he mentions, that after 
 - preaching from Gal. iii. 23, on the different effects 
 produced by the dispensation of the law and that 
 of the Gospel, he administered the sacrament to 
 thirteen individuals, among whom was a family 
 which some months before had attached itself to 
 his congregation from the Roman Catholic church, 
 the members of which, as they increased in the 
 knowledge of divine truth, exerted themselves in 
 communicating it to others of their acquaintance. 
 During the following month he was engaged in 
 preparing several native converts for baptism, in 
 teaching the children of Europeans to read, and 
 instructing them in the Christian religion. He 
 visited the sick in the hospital, and devoted his 
 evenings to friendly conversation with heathens 
 and Roman Catholics, who frequently collected 
 round him in great numbers, listening with plea- 
 sure to his instructions. 
 
 While he was one day reading an English tract, 
 on the fifteenth chapter of St. Luke, under a 
 shady tree, an old Hindoo, who had often en- 
 treated him not to trouble him with his Christian 
 tenets, approached him, in company with several 
 others, and begged to know what he was reading. 
 Mr. Swartz told him that it was a narrative of the 
 truly paternal conduct of God towards us, and of 
 our refusal to render due obedience to his kind 
 and gentle government ; thus abusing his mer-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 151 
 
 cies, and bringing- upon ourselves distress and c ^ p> 
 misery. Notwithstanding this, there was, he said, 
 
 1 1 63. 
 
 a way opened by which we might return to our 
 justly offended Maker, and become partakers of 
 his grace and benediction. The old man being 
 pleased with this parable, Swartz proceeded to 
 relate to him that of the sower, telling him why 
 the seed did not every where bring forth good 
 fruit. He comprehended this also perfectly, and 
 asked whether God is not omnipresent. " Yes," 
 Swartz replied ; " he sees every thing that passes 
 on earth, whether it be good or evil ; but his omni- 
 presence is formidable to the wicked." The Hin- 
 doo said, " In my heart, inwardly, I worship 
 God." "If that is the case," rejoined Mr. 
 Swartz, " your outward conduct must prove the 
 reverence which you profess to entertain in your 
 heart towards the Almighty. What would you 
 think of a man, who reproached and even struck 
 you, while he pretended that he had cordial 
 love for you in his heart ?" The Hindoo con- 
 fessed that he could not value such love. " Nei- 
 ther," he concluded, " can God accept the ho- 
 mage which you profess to feel inwardly for him, 
 while in your words and conduct you deny and 
 dishonour him." 
 
 It was during this visit to Trichinopoly, that 
 Mr. Swartz became known to Mahommed Ali, 
 nabob of the Carnatic. He was walking in his
 
 152 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C iv! P ' highness's garden, when the Mahomedan prince 
 1763 himself happened to enter it, and sitting down 
 near a piece of water, he desired him to ap- 
 proach, and offered him some refreshment, which, 
 however, he declined. A few days afterwards, 
 on seeing him again, the nabob accosted and con- 
 versed with him in a very friendly manner. His 
 chief minister always behaved with much kindness 
 to the missionary, and often said, " You have no 
 regard for me ; for you seldom come to my 
 house." Mr. Swartz had much conversation with 
 this Mahomedan ; who when he found himself 
 closely pressed, and appeared much affected, al- 
 ways broke off the visit abruptly. 
 
 About this time a festival of a Hindoo goddess 
 was celebrated by the natives, in the immediate 
 neighbourhood of the fortress, which was accom- 
 panied with much noise and many strange cere- 
 monies. The moment Swartz approached, they 
 became silent. He availed himself of this inter- 
 val to direct their attention to the true God, who 
 had created and preserved them, and to whom 
 alone those divine honours and that adoration 
 were due, which they were now paying to a 
 woman, who neither had nor could have done the 
 things which they attributed to her. They lis- 
 tened to his admonition, but when he left them, 
 recommenced their idolatrous ceremonies. 
 
 On the 4lh of May, in this year, Mr. Swartz
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 153 
 
 went to Caroor, twelve miles west from Trichi- CHAP. 
 
 IV. 
 
 nopoly, for the purpose of instructing some Hin- 
 doos of bigh rank in the Christian religion. 
 "They listened," he observes, "with great atten- 
 tion to all that I told them of the supreme excel- 
 lence of the true God, and of the redemption of 
 mankind from their fallen state, by his Son 
 Jesus Christ. The next day I assembled a 
 number of the natives under a tree and ex- 
 plained to them the Christian doctrine. They 
 felt how vain and irrational it was to worship 
 their numerous deities, and fully approved the 
 doctrine of one God, the Creator of heaven and 
 earth. I also visited a Brahmin, who was con- 
 sidered the richest inhabitant of the place, who 
 allowed me, without interruption, to expose the 
 folly of idolatry, and then said, ' I also worship 
 God/ We were interrupted by the arrival of a 
 Hindoo who fell on his face before him. The 
 Brahmin took some ashes, which he spread over 
 the poor man. I told him how wrong he acted 
 in accepting honours which were due to God 
 alone. Enraged at this reproof, he exclaimed, 
 'Prove that there is only one God.' This I did 
 by directing his attention to the great works of 
 creation. He dismissed me by saying, ' In the 
 same way that we bow before the body of a man, 
 and yet mean to pay respect to his soul, we bow 
 before images, and intend to worship God' a
 
 154 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, plausible excuse which has been urged in favour 
 
 IV. 
 
 1 of idolatry in all ages, but which is at once dero- 
 gatory from the majesty of the supreme Being, 
 and destructive of all true and acceptable wor- 
 ship. 
 
 " Among the Europeans at this place, there 
 were some," says Mr. Swartz, " who were very 
 desirous of instruction; I therefore solicited the 
 commanding officer to allow prayers and a sermon 
 to be read to the soldiers every Sunday. To this 
 he willingly consented, requesting me to make a 
 beginning. I gladly complied, and he publicly re- 
 peated his promise, that he would have divine ser- 
 vice regularly performed." Swartz was evidently 
 an admirer of fine natural scenery, and observes 
 of that part of the country, and particularly near 
 the river, that it was rich and beautiful, every 
 where well watered, even as the garden of the 
 Lord. The neighbouring hills afforded a de- 
 lightful prospect, and most of their summits were 
 surmounted by a pagoda. 
 
 On his return to Trichinopoly on the 15th, he 
 met a Roman Catholic monk clothed in a yellow 
 habit, similar to those worn by the Pagan priests, 
 attended by a man who carried his golden fan, as 
 well as by a drummer and fifer. He had a long 
 conversation with him on the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity, to which the Roman Catholic assented, 
 but paid no further regard to his observations.
 
 TFIE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 155 
 
 In the course of this month an infectious fever CHAP. 
 
 iv. 
 
 carried off many people, but the pious missionary 
 
 was mercifully preserved. The Hindoos employed 
 idolatrous incantations for the cure of the sick; but 
 he earnestly admonished them to apply for help 
 to that omnipotent Being, who is alone able to 
 deliver, and who designed, he said, by such dis- 
 pensations, to draw them to himself. 
 
 The only notice which occurs of his proceed- ire-i. 
 ings during the interval which elapsed from this 
 period to the time of his removal from Tran- 
 quebar, is in the Report of the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge for the year 1766. 
 In an extract from a letter of Mr. Hutteman it 
 is stated, that Mr. Swartz " had been of infinite 
 service to the English army during the bloody 
 siege of Madura." The event thus referred to, 
 was occasioned by the attempt of the unfortunate 
 Mahomed Issoof to establish his independence in 
 that district. 1 He had been in the Company's 
 service as commandant of the English Sepoys 
 at Trichinopoly, and had been vigorously em- 
 ployed, from the relief of Madras to the fall of 
 Pondicherry, in reducing the refractory Poly gars, 
 and other local chiefs in the south of the penin- 
 sula. Having proposed to become responsible for 
 the revenue of that part of the country, which, 
 not being as yet in a state of tranquillity and 
 1 Mill's India, vol. iii. p. 344.
 
 156 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, order, was in reality unproductive, and failing in 
 - the payment of the stipulated sum, the nabob of 
 the Carnatic and the Madras government pro- 
 ceeded to enforce their claims ; and for this pur- 
 pose, in the month of August 1763, a combined 
 army of natives and British troops marched to 
 Madura. Mahomed Issoof endeavoured by nego- 
 ciation, and by the influence of his friends among 
 the English, to ward off the blow; but finding 
 these efforts unavailing, he resolved on hazarding 
 a struggle in his own defence. Brave and en- 
 
 Do 
 
 terprizing as he was, his subjugation was by no 
 means easy. He successfully resisted several as- 
 saults on the fort, in one of which Major Preston, 
 the commander of the English troops, whom Ma- 
 homed had intimately known, and who had assist- 
 ed Swartz on his first visit to Trichinopoly, 1 un- 
 happily fell in the breach. After honourably re- 
 storing the dead body of his former military friend 
 to the British camp, and baffling all the efforts of 
 the besieging army till the month of October 
 1764, Mahomed Issoof was betrayed by one of 
 his own people into the hands of his enemies, and 
 Madura surrendered to the combined forces. 
 
 It was during this destructive siege that Swartz 
 
 is reported to have been signally useful to the 
 
 English army. The precise nature of his services 
 
 is not stated ; but judging from his subsequent 
 
 i See p. 148.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 157 
 
 conduct, it is probable that they were not con- CHAP. 
 fined to his pious attendance on the sick and 1 
 wounded, but extended to some substantial bene- 
 fits, which his growing influence among the na- 
 tives might have enabled him to render in faci- 
 litating the supplies of the army in a desolated 
 country during a long and protracted contest. 
 
 It was in the year 1766, that the Society for 1766. 
 promoting Christian Knowledge, anxious to ex- 
 tend their influence in India, resolved, in conse- 
 quence of representations from Tranquebar, on 
 establishing a mission at Trichinopoly. The fre- 
 quent visits of Swartz to that city, and the favour- 
 able manner in which his labours had been re- 
 ceived, encouraged the proposal of a settlement 
 there, and, independently of his eminent qualifi- 
 cations for usefulness, evidently pointed him out 
 as the most eligible person to be placed in that 
 important station. Deeply as his brethren at 
 Tranquebar regretted the removal of so able and 
 excellent a colleague, they readily acquiesced in 
 this arrangement, which was also sanctioned by 
 the approbation of the Royal Mission College 
 at Copenhagen. He accordingly quitted Tran- 
 quebar, and fixed his residence at Trichinopoly. 
 Towards the close of the same year, the Rev. 
 Christian William Gericke, who had been recom- 
 mended to the Society by professor Francke, and 
 who afterwards proved so faithful and zealous a
 
 158 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, fellow-labourer, arrived in India as an associate 
 
 with Mr. Hutteman at Cuddalore. 
 
 An early communication from Swartz to the 
 venerable Society with which he was connected, 
 acknowledges " the goodness of God to the poor 
 Hindoos in directing their hearts to establish a 
 mission at Trichinopoly," and expresses " his par- 
 ticular obligations to them for choosing him as 
 their missionary ; the duty of which office he 
 humbly hoped God would enable him to perform, 
 to the honour of his holy name." How fully and 
 delightfully this pious hope was realized, will ap- 
 pear in the sequel of these Memoirs.
 
 THE REV C. F. SWARTZ. 159 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Sketch of Swartz and bis early proceedings at Trichinopoly, 
 by tbe late W. Chambers, Esq. He builds a church at that 
 place Prayer at its dedication Mission-house and schools 
 at Trichinopoly War between Hyder AH and the great 
 powers of Southern India Swartz visits his brethren at 
 Tranquebar Incidents on his journey His visits to the 
 sick and wounded at Trichinopoly Conversations with 
 Hindoos and Mahomedans Letters to friends in Europe 
 State of Tanjore at that period The hope of Swartz as to 
 the diffusion of Christianity Conclusion of his journal for 
 the year 1768. 
 
 OF the settlement and early labours of Swartz at CHAP. 
 Trichinopoly, as well as of his talents, disposition, - 
 
 , , . . 1766. 
 
 and character, a most interesting and authentic 
 account is contained in the following extracts 
 from a letter to a friend by the late William 
 Chambers, Esq., brother of Sir Robert Chambers, 
 formerly chief justice of Bengal. Mr. Chambers 
 was engaged in the civil service of the East India 
 Company at Madras, but afterwards removed to 
 Calcutta, on being appointed a Master in Chancery 
 by his brother the Chief Justice ; and was emi-
 
 1GO MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP- nently distinguished by his talents and acquire- 
 ments. both as a public servant, and as an Oriental 
 
 1766. 
 
 scholar, as well as for the superior excellence of 
 his moral and religious character. He was for 
 some years a corresponding member of the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, and took a 
 lively interest in the propagation of Christianity 
 in India, of which his translation of the greater 
 part of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Persian, 
 and the share which he took in the establishment 
 of the mission church at Calcutta, were substantial 
 and important proofs. 
 
 The letter from which the following extracts 
 are given, appears to have been written towards 
 the close of Mr. Chambers' life, and to have been 
 intended to comprise a more extensive account of 
 Mr. Swartz's character and labours. It is, un- 
 happily, only a fragment, and was probably in- 
 terrupted by the premature death, which deprived 
 the public and his family of this able and excellent 
 man. Short, however, as it is, it will be found highly 
 valuable and interesting, particularly as contain- 
 ing a most graphic description of the person, 
 habits, and manners of Swartz, by one who en- 
 joyed during many years the high privilege of his 
 intimate friendship, and who was well qualified to 
 appreciate the peculiar excellencies of his cha- 
 racter. Mr. Chambers' letter, which is in his own 
 hand-writing, without any mention of place or
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 1G1 
 
 date, and evidently rough and unfinished, com- CHAP. 
 
 v. 
 
 1766. 
 
 mences as follows ; _L 
 
 " MY DEAR SIR ; 
 
 " As you wish me to give you some account of 
 Mr. Swartz and his evangelical labours on the 
 coast of Coromandel, I sit down to satisfy you, 
 though with a deep conviction of my own unfit- 
 ness to do justice to such a subject 
 
 " In the year 1767 I made a journey from 
 Madras to Trichinopoly, where Mr. Swartz then 
 resided, which first introduced me to his acquaint- 
 ance. I undertook that journey for the purpose 
 of attaining the Malabar (Tamul) and Persian 
 tongues ; and as he was a master of the former, 
 and was studying the latter of these languages, 
 I was naturally desirous to contract an intimacy 
 with him during my stay there, which lasted 
 about two years. In that period, however, it 
 must be confessed 1 had more opportunities of 
 viewing the evidence of his character than the 
 detail of his work ; for being myself engrossed 
 at one time by a long series of ill health, and at 
 others by a course of arduous study, it is not to 
 be supposed that I could have such views of his 
 success as a clerical character might have had 
 who had accompanied him in his labours and ex- 
 cursions. I must also add, that as the study of 
 the Malabar tongue was to me a subordinate 
 
 VOL. i. >i
 
 162 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, pursuit, my proficiency in that language was not, 
 
 - during my stay at Trichinopoly, such as might 
 
 enable me to converse largely with those people, 
 
 so as to judge of their sincerity in the faith which 
 
 they professed. 
 
 "Having premised thus much to shew the dis- 
 advantages under which I write, I proceed to 
 state to you all that my memory presents to me, 
 of what I then learned, and was witness to, and 
 this I shall endeavour to do with plainness and 
 simplicity. 
 
 " I had often heard mention of Mr. Swartz 
 before I went thither, as a man of great zeal and 
 piety, and of considerable attainments in the 
 languages of the country ; but as these accounts 
 were in general given me by those who viewed 
 the excellence of a religious character through 
 the medium of popular prejudice, my ideas of 
 him were very imperfect ; and as I myself had then 
 scarcely any better rule of judging, a preconceived 
 notion of great strictness and austerity had mixed 
 itself with every thing I had heard in his praise. 
 The first sight of him, however, made a complete 
 revolution in my mind as to this point. His garb, 
 indeed, which was pretty well worn, seemed 
 foreign and old-fashioned ; but in every other 
 respect his appearance was the reverse of all 
 that could be called forbidding or morose. Figure 
 to yourself a stout well-made man, somewhat
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 163 
 
 above the middle size, erect in his carriage and CHIP. 
 address, with a complexion rather dark, though L 
 healthy, black curled hair, and a manly engaging 
 countenance expressive of unaffected candour, 
 ingenuousness, and benevolence ; and you will 
 have an idea of what Mr. Swartz appeared to be 
 at first sight. During the intimacy which I had 
 afterwards the happiness to contract with him, I 
 learnt the following particulars of his past 
 history." 
 
 Here Mr. Chambers briefly details the account 
 which has been already more fully given of the 
 birth and education of Swartz, of his employment 
 as a tutor in the orphan house at Halle, and of the 
 proposal made to him to become a missionary ; of 
 the interesting deliberation of his father upon this 
 important subject, his consent to the plan, and the 
 departure of his son to England for the purpose of 
 embarking for the East Indies. Mr. Chambers 
 then proceeds as follows. 
 
 " His first residence in India was at the Danish 
 mission at Tranquebar, where he was initiated 
 into the Tamul (improperly called the Malabar) 
 language, which is the vernacular tongue of 
 almost all the countries that are governed by the 
 nabob of Arcot. As this is the language of an 
 ancient, wealthy, and sagacious people, who have 
 cultivated their own learning assiduously, and 
 have abounded in the arts of life from a remote 
 
 M 2
 
 164 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, antiquity, it is of course of great extent, and its 
 
 1_ pronunciation is at the same time exceedingly 
 
 I7t>6> difficult to Europeans. Mr. Swartz deeming it 
 necessary, in order to converse with advantage 
 with these people, to be well acquainted with their 
 system of theology, whatever it was, spent Jive 
 years, after he had attained some proficiency in 
 their language, in reading their mythological 
 books only. Hard and irksome as this task must 
 have been to a devout mind, he has reaped this 
 benefit from it, that he can at any time command 
 the attention of the Malabars by allusions to their 
 favourite books and histories, which he never fails 
 to make subservient to the truth. He also learnt 
 at Tranquebar the Portuguese tongue, particu- 
 larly that dialect of it which is used by the Por- 
 tuguese who are natives of India. The mission- 
 aries have found great numbers of these, in every 
 place at which they have settled, ready to em- 
 brace the Protestant faith, or who having already 
 embraced it, or been brought up in it as servants 
 to Protestant masters, were in need of instruction 
 and of pastors. Willing, therefore, to seek souls 
 wherever they were to be found, they have all 
 voluntarily added the study of Portuguese to that 
 of Malabar, and preach and instruct in that lan- 
 guage also. 
 
 " Mr. Swartz, however, while engaged in these 
 pursuits at Tranquebar, found his province there
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 somewhat confined, and therefore sought and ob- CHAP 
 tained permission to go and establish an English 1 
 mission at Trichinopoly, where the Gospel had 
 not hitherto been preached, at least not for a con- 
 tinuance. He was there happy in a correspond- 
 ence and frequent intercourse with another young 
 missionary named Dame, 1 who was settled at 
 Tanjore, and was as fervent and zealous as him- 
 self. The same spirit and the same pursuit soon 
 drew them into the strictest bond of Christian 
 friendship the sublimest of all earthly affections. 
 Their prayers, their labours, and their souls, were 
 united in the same glorious and never-dying cause, 
 for which they had both resigned all temporal 
 prospects. But Mr. Swartz did not long enjoy 
 this source of comfort ; for being called once sud- 
 denly to see his friend, he hastened to Tanjore* 
 and found him dead. 
 
 " At Trichinopoly he had much to do, with very 
 narrow means. His whole income was ten pago- 
 das per month, or about 48/. per annum ; and he 
 had no other fund for making a new establish- 
 ment. I must here, however, observe, that 
 though, computing at the usual rate of exchange, 
 one hundred and twenty pagodas must be allowed 
 to be equivalent to 48/., yet if we estimate it ac- 
 cording to the effective value of money in India 
 nnd in England, it will not be equal to half that 
 1 See page 112.
 
 166 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. sum. I mean, that a European may live much 
 ' better in England on 24/. per annum than he 
 could in India for one hundred and twenty pago- 
 das. Let us see, then, how he managed with this 
 income. He obtained of the commanding officer, 
 who, perhaps, was ordered to furnish him with 
 quarters, a room in an old Gentoo building, which 
 was just large enough to hold his bed and himself, 
 and in which few men could stand upright. With 
 this apartment he was contented. A dish of rice 
 and vegetables dressed after the manner of the 
 natives was what he could always sit cheerfully 
 down to ; and a piece of dimity dyed black, and 
 other materials of the same homely sort, sufficed 
 him for an annual supply of clothing. Thus easily 
 provided as to temporalities, his only care was to 
 ' do the work of an evangelist/ He preached to 
 the natives incessantly, both in the town and in 
 the villages around, and was not long without a 
 congregation of converted Hindoos ; and among 
 them three or four who were capable of instruct- 
 ing others, whom he therefore entertained as 
 catechists, and contrived to maintain out of his 
 little income. 
 
 " But these were not his only labours at Trichi- 
 nopoly. He found there a large English garrison 
 without a chaplain ; to these, also, he sought to 
 be of service by every means in his power. The 
 kindness of his heart and the unaffected simpli-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 1C 7 
 
 city of his manners, soon procured him a CHAP. 
 civil reception among them, and he improved 
 this into an opportunity of gaining a knowledge 
 of the English language, with which he was un- 
 acquainted at his first coming. After he had made, 
 however, but a small proficiency in English, he 
 undertook to read the service to the garrison 
 on Sundays, and at the same time read them ser- 
 mons from those of our English divines in whose 
 writings he discovered an evangelical spirit. But 
 since he has attained a more perfect acquaintance 
 with our language, he has proceeded to preach 
 extempore, which I am told he still continues, and 
 is enabled to command the utmost attention in his 
 auditory. 
 
 " It is, indeed, astonishing, if we consider the 
 manners of our troops in India, how he has been 
 able to persuade whole garrisons. At first he 
 prevailed upon them to meet in a large apartment 
 in an old Gentoo building ; but in time the gar- 
 rison resolved to subscribe to erect themselves a 
 church ; and the money which would have been 
 thought by contractors a very inadequate sum 
 for a public building, was so well husbanded, and 
 the materials and work, in consequence of Mr. 
 Swartz's knowledge of the country and its lan- 
 guage, were procured so exceedingly cheap, that 
 a very handsome, lofty, and roomy structure was 
 raised out of it."
 
 168 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Here, it is much to be regretted, Mr. Chambers' 
 able and interesting sketch abruptly terminates. 
 Writing, as it is probable, many years after the 
 early period which alone it comprises, during 
 which a constant epistolary correspondence was 
 maintained by these two excellent men, of which 
 considerable extracts will hereafter be given, had 
 he been permitted to complete his intention, a more 
 extensive memoir would nearly have been super- 
 seded. Brief, however, as the preceding fragment 
 is, it contains a most faithful and animated outline 
 of Swartz's character and labours, and recognizes 
 those scriptural and sublime principles, and that 
 simple, disinterested, and energetic devotion to 
 the great work in which he had engaged, which 
 so eminently and uniformly distinguished him 
 throughout his long and holy career. The picture 
 which Mr. Chambers has so unaffectedly, yet so 
 powerfully, drawn of his venerated friend at the 
 commencement of his settlement at Trichinopoly, 
 substantially resembles him during every subse- 
 quent period of his life. No man ever maintained 
 a more unvarying and consistent course. " Qualis 
 ab incepto processerit," may be justly said to 
 describe his entire history ; and the portrait so 
 happily sketched in the preceding letter, needs 
 only to be exhibited in detail, and upon a large 
 scale, to present a perfect model of the Christian 
 missionary.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWART Z. 169 
 
 The church which Mr. Chambers mentions as CHAP. 
 
 y. 
 
 originating in the pious zeal of Swartz and the 
 liberal contributions of the English garrison at 
 Trichinopoly, is said to be capable of holding 
 from fifteen hundred to two thousand persons. 
 Its erection was considerably promoted by the 
 patronage and assistance of Colonel Wood, at that 
 time commandant of the fort, and deservedly held 
 in high estimation for his military talents. With 
 this distinguished officer he lived in habits of inti- 
 mate acquaintance, and dined frequently at his 
 table ; when after conversing with his family 
 about half an hour, with that good sense and 
 cheerfulness which were natural to him, he was 
 accustomed to retire to his own apartment. Both 
 Colonel and Mrs. Wood appear to have derived 
 essential benefit from his ministry ; and this 
 formed the foundation of that Christian friendship, 
 of which some interesting proofs will hereafter be 
 afforded. 
 
 The following extracts from the admirable 
 prayer which Swartz composed and offered up at 
 the dedication of the church at Trichinopoly, on 
 the 18th of May, 1766, are strikingly indicative of 
 his devout and truly Christian mind. 
 
 .... "Be merciful unto us, O God, and hear our 
 prayer, that we make before thee in this place. 
 As often as we, from henceforth, shall assemble 
 here, let thy Spirit awaken our hearts to seek thy
 
 170 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. f ace s i nc erely, without hypocrisy. As often as we 
 shall hear thy word, let us do it with an unfeigned 
 
 1766. J . > 
 
 intention to obey and keep it without exception. 
 As often as thy sacraments, which are holy means 
 of entering into a covenant of love and obedience, 
 are administered in this house, O be pleased to 
 make them effectual to the salvation of our souls. 
 And, finally, when strangers, who do not know 
 thy name, hear of all the glorious doctrines and 
 methods of worshipping thee, preached in this 
 house ; incline, O mercifully incline, their hearts 
 to renounce their abominable idolatry, and to wor- 
 ship thee, O God, in the name of Christ ! 
 
 " In this manner make this a place where thy 
 name is glorified, thy kingdom sought for, and thy 
 will duly performed. 
 
 " Bless all those who have forwarded the build- 
 ing of this house, by kind advices, or charitable 
 contributions. Remember them in mercy, during 
 the days of their life, and particularly at the hour 
 of their death. Let them see, at the day of judg- 
 ment, that their charity has been serviceable to 
 the benefit of many souls. 
 
 " Frustrate all the machinations of the devil 
 against this house ; preserve it from all dangerous 
 accidents ; and let it long be, what we from hence- 
 forth humbly shall call it, CHRIST'S CHURCH. 
 
 " Hear these our supplications, O Father of 
 mercies, for the sake of our Mediator, and to the 
 glory of thy name !"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 171 
 
 Adjoining the church, thus piously consecrated C1 ^ p - 
 to the worship of God at Trichinopoly, Swartz 
 
 1766. 
 
 built a mission house, consisting of a hall and 
 two rooms, with suitable offices, and subsequently 
 an English and a Tamul school. In complet- 
 ing these useful and charitable works he ex- 
 pended the salary of 100/. per annum, which the 
 government of Madras, without any solicitation 
 on his part, had granted him as chaplain to the 
 garrison ; after which he expressed his intention, 
 with the approbation of the society in whose ser- 
 vice he was engaged, to apply one half of that 
 sum to his own use, and the other to that of his 
 congregation. 
 
 Important as he felt this station to be, the pres- 
 sure upon the Danish mission in consequence of 
 the loss of two of the elder brethren, led him 
 to intimate to his former friends in Denmark, his 
 wish to return to Tranquebar. This being com- 
 municated by the Royal Mission College at Co- 
 penhagen to the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, while they strongly urged his con- 
 tinuance at Trichinopoly, especially as professor 
 Francke had just informed them of two other can- 
 didates for the Tranquebar mission, the determi- 
 nation of the question was wisely referred by the 
 society to the discretion of Mr. Swartz himself, 
 who, in due time, happily announced his intention 
 of remaining as their missionary at Trichinopoly.
 
 172 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. The peace which had now subsisted for 
 ' years in the south of the Peninsula, was, in 1767, 
 disturbed by the ambitious designs of the cele- 
 brated Hyder Ali. This extraordinary man, 
 partly by his boldness and military talents, and 
 partly by stratagem and intrigue, had raised 
 himself from an obscure and private station, to 
 the sovereignty of Mysore, and was evidently 
 aiming at a more extensive dominion. His rapid 
 progress at length alarmed the great powers of 
 Southern India ; and an alliance was formed be- 
 tween the Mahrattas, and Nizam Ali, Subahdar 
 of the Deccan, at whose disposal the English 
 agreed to place an auxiliary force, to check the 
 farther advance of the Mysorean chief. The 
 contest was carried on with the fluctuating policy 
 and varying fortunes incident to Indian warfare. 
 During the early part of it, Swartz's friend, 
 Colonel Wood, distinguished himself by success- 
 fully repelling Hyder, with a small body of troops 
 against a very superior force, at the fort of Mul- 
 waggle, though he was at a subsequent period 
 unable to maintain his ground against that active 
 and enterprising enemy. In the course of the two 
 years during which the war continued, many op- 
 portunities were afforded to the pious missionary 
 of exercising his Christian benevolence in attend- 
 ing the sick and wounded from the English camp, 
 near Trichinopoly, some interesting notices of
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 173 
 
 which occur in the following extracts from his CHAP. 
 journal for 1768. 
 
 Early in that year he left Trichinopoly, on a 
 visit to his brethren at Tranquebar, taking the 
 opportunity, pursuant to his constant custom, of 
 instructing and admonishing the little congrega- 
 tions of Christians, as well as of addressing the 
 unconverted natives, in the different towns and 
 villages through which he passed. Parties of the 
 latter, on a pilgrimage to Parhani, were exhorted 
 to forsake such vain and unprofitable toils ; to 
 others, following with apparent indifference, in 
 funeral processions, he pointed out sin as the 
 cause of death, reminded them of their own mor- 
 tality, and urged them to embrace the true doc- 
 trine of life and immortality, through the only 
 Redeemer. 
 
 At Ammal-Savadi he describes a noble choultry 
 built by the queen, which comprised beautiful 
 upper apartments, with verandahs, spacious 
 gardens, an avenue and grove, cool during the 
 heat of noon, and a row of houses nearly a mile 
 long, for the residence of a hundred Brahmins, 
 who were daily fed in this splendid establishment, 
 in the midst of which a new pagoda had been 
 erected. Here he announced to the assembled 
 multitude, among whom were a number of young 
 Brahmins, the majesty of the true God, and of 
 the only Mediator between God and men. While
 
 1 74 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, expounding the parable of the prodigal son, a 
 - Brahmin applied it to himself " O," said the 
 
 1 7f>R 
 
 pious missionary, " that they would arise, and 
 go to their Father !" 
 
 Towards the evening of the fourth day of his 
 departure from Trichinopoly, he reached Tran- 
 quebar, and found all his brethren well. Here 
 he remained ten days, which he spent in preach- 
 ing to the three congregations, German, Tamul, 
 and Portuguese, in paternal conferences, and in 
 visiting various Christian brethren. On taking 
 an affectionate leave of them, he thus records in 
 his journal his pious aspirations : " O that this 
 place, which has been richly favoured and visited 
 of God with the pure revelation of the blessed 
 Gospel, may become full of light and power, so 
 that the whole country may become enlightened ! 
 May God, according to the riches of his grace, 
 bless all who plant and water in this place ; and 
 especially may he cause the children in the schools 
 to grow up in his fear and favour, that many of 
 them may be transplanted to the conversion of 
 the country !" 
 
 On returning to Trichinopoly he noticed near 
 Kuttalam, a magnificent banian tree, the girth of 
 which measured seventy paces, and the widely 
 spreading branches of which afforded a delicious 
 shade. Here he visited the merchants at their 
 booths, and discoursed to them on God, the su-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 1/5 
 
 preme Being, on the fall, the Redeemer of men, CHAP. 
 and the way of salvation. They replied, " It is 
 so written, but who can live thus ? Who is able 
 thus to eradicate his desires? We have it also 
 on the palm leaves, but it is impossible to keep 
 it." To this plausible and common objectioo, 
 even among professed Christians, Swartz answer- 
 ed by pointing out the source from which strength 
 may be derived. 
 
 At Adutura one of the catechists who accom- 
 panied him, assembled a little group of Christians. 
 " We sat down," he says, " under a tree. Many 
 heathens, among whom were several Brahmins, 
 listened at the conclusion to what was addressed 
 to the Christians in the catechetical form, relative 
 to the method of salvation, that is," as he invari- 
 ably and most justly represented it, " by true re- 
 pentance, faith in the divine Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 and godliness springing from a true faith. Not a 
 single heathen made the least disturbance ; they 
 listened in silence. Afterwards I addressed them 
 separately ^ and exhorted them to receive the sav- 
 ing doctrine of the Gospel." 
 
 At Combaconum, where, he observes, there are 
 above two hundred pagodas, the people were 
 preparing for the monthly feast before the great 
 temple. 1 His spirit was much moved on beholding 
 
 1 One of the seven great pagodas of Southern India.
 
 176 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, their idolatry, and he earnestly appealed to them 
 L on the sin and folly of a superstition by which 
 they could not but acknowledge that they were 
 neither enlightened, strengthened, nor comforted. 
 In this place, he says, " We talked ourselves 
 quite weary with various heathen. When the 
 catechist," Saedtinaicken, " read to them our 
 Lord's warning against * false prophets,' and said 
 something in explanation, a Brahmin declared 
 before all present, ' It is the lust of the eyes and 
 of pleasure that prevents us from embracing the 
 truth.' Many bore testimony that this was true." 
 Upon this honest, but humiliating confession, 
 Swartz justly observes, " St. Paul enumerates 
 idolatry among ' the works of the flesh,' and cor- 
 rupt nature does indeed derive support from it 
 in more ways than one. If it were only an error 
 of the understanding, the greater number of hea- 
 thens would already have forsaken it ; but being 
 a work of the flesh, and Christianity requiring its 
 crucifixion, they stop there. May divine power 
 rescue them from it, through Jesus Christ!" 
 
 At Ayenpottah, where he had many conversa- 
 tions with Mahomedans and heathens, his friend 
 Captain Berg met and accompanied him to Tan- 
 jore. Here, he says, " my chief occupation was 
 with our Christians, though I conversed also 
 
 ' O 
 
 with Roman Catholics and others. To the Pro- 
 testant congregations I explained and applied the
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ 177 
 
 meritorious sufferings of Jesus Christ, as recorded CFTAP. 
 in the Gospel of St. Mark, and the unspeakable 
 blessing which we derive from them ; stirring 
 ourselves up to true repentance, faith in this 
 Saviour, gratitude and love. Never, O Lord 
 Jesus, may it be effaced from my mind how 
 much it cost thee to redeem me !" 
 
 During the month of April Mr. Swartz was 
 much occupied in visiting the sick and wounded, 
 who were sent from the English camp to Trichi- 
 nopoly. " Here/' he observes, " I often found 
 blessed traces of awakening grace. A soldier 
 said that he had been such thirty-two years. I 
 asked him, how long he had served Christ? He 
 wept, and replied, ' Alas ! I have not yet entered 
 his service.' ' 
 
 " An officer," he writes in his journal, " who 
 had previously discovered a great inclination to 
 religion, and had intreated me to instruct him 
 catechetically, just as I would an ignorant hea- 
 then, in which we had made a beginning, but 
 were interrupted by the war, was brought in mor- 
 tally wounded. He expressed a great desire for 
 instruction. I accordingly visited him daily, and 
 explained to him the chief points in practical 
 Christianity. After a few days he appeared to be 
 something better. He could occasionally take 
 the fresh air, and his appetite returned. Under 
 these circumstances, he gradually yielded to in- 
 
 VOL. r. N
 
 178 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, difference as to religion. He listened, indeed, 
 but not with real earnestness. At length, I said 
 to him, ' I see you are quite indifferent. I fear 
 you are deceiving yourself. Your wound is as 
 mortal now as it was fourteen days ago. When 
 you perceive that you are drawing near to your 
 end, you will be terrified to think that you have 
 been so foolish as to allow worldly men to draw 
 you off from the chief concern.' He replied, * It 
 is true ; they have flattered me with the hope that 
 I should recover ; but it is not so. I know that 
 my wound is mortal.' After this, he became 
 more earnest in prayer and meditation on the 
 word of God. Before his death, I visited him, 
 prayed with him, and exhorted him to commit 
 himself in faith into the hands of his merciful 
 Saviour. Speaking was painful to him ; yet he 
 said, he hoped to obtain mercy ; and thus he de- 
 parted, amid the exhortations and prayers of those 
 around him." 
 
 Another painfully interesting case of a similar 
 nature occurred shortly afterwards. " A young 
 English officer arrived from the camp in a very 
 weak state, having been already an invalid for 
 some time from a rapid consumption. Having 
 known his previous character, at his father's 
 request I visited him daily often, indeed, twice a 
 day ; led him to the knowledge of his sins, and 
 especially to the crucified Saviour, and earnestly
 
 THE REV. C. F SWARTZ. 179 
 
 besought him to take thought for the salvation of CHAP. 
 
 v. 
 his immortal soul. He now acknowledged what 
 
 1768 
 
 it is to forsake the fountain of living: water, and 
 to be immersed in the lusts of the flesh, by which 
 both body and soul are ruined. He prayed and 
 wept. The wretchedness of many young people 
 here is difficult to be described. Of such, how 
 many are in a short space removed into eternity ! 
 They arrive in this country, to make, as it is 
 called, their fortunes, and usually go down to the 
 grave under circumstances sorrowful indeed." 
 
 It would be unnecessarily diffuse to detail all 
 the conversations which Mr. Swartz records in 
 his journals, as held by himself and his catechists 
 at Trichinopoly, and in the surrounding villages, 
 particularly as they must often resemble each 
 other. Some of the more remarkable, however, 
 may still prove interesting and useful. 
 
 At Ureiur, a village near the fort, where his 
 instructions appear to have been so well received, 
 that he was induced to build a small cottage, 1 
 thatched with the leaves of the palmyra tree, to 
 which he might occasionally resort, for the purpose 
 of more frequent and unrestrained intercourse with 
 
 1 The nabob's son, when afterwards laying out an extensive 
 garden, ordered this cottage to be taken down, promising to 
 build a better in its stead. Whether he fulfilled this engage- 
 ment does not, however, appear. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the natives, Swartz one day inquired of some 
 ^^ Brahmins what they believed and taught. "The 
 eldest replied, ' We teach that God is omnipresent, 
 and is to be found in every thing.' l It is true,' I 
 said ; ' God is present every where, and to every 
 one of his creatures ; but it does not follow from 
 this, that you are to adore and worship every crea- 
 ture. If you regard the heaven, earth, sun, or moon, 
 as evidences of the power, goodness, and wisdom 
 of God, and as teachers that lead to the Creator, 
 you do well : but if you invoke the creature, you 
 ascribe to it the glory which is due to God alone, 
 and fall into idolatry. Besides, the creature is not 
 a perfect, but only a frail image of the Almighty. 
 Can an idol, which is unable to see, speak, or move, 
 adequately set forth to you the majesty, greatness, 
 wisdom, and goodness of the living God ?' They 
 acknowledged that it could not. I next demanded 
 of a Brahmin whether he did not perceive that the 
 world was full of sin, and that we should all be 
 found guilty, and how we might obtain forgive- 
 ness ? He answered, ' Through the mercy of God.' 
 ' You say right,' I resumed ; ' but you know that 
 God is righteous, and punishes the wicked ; how 
 then can a just God be gracious to such sinful 
 creatures, so as fully to pardon us, and to make 
 us blessed ?' Upon this I explained to them the 
 doctrine of redemption through Jesus Christ, and 
 earnestly exhorted them to embrace it."
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 181 
 
 " In one of the pagodas," he writes, " at Puttur, CHAP. 
 
 resides a learned Pandaram, who is generally L 
 
 friendly, and does not seem entirely to reject in- 
 struction. We both seated ourselves on a bank 
 of earth, near a street. This brought together a 
 concourse of inhabitants. The Pandaram said, 
 ' My chief question to you again and again has 
 been this, How shall I arrive at the knowledge of 
 God, whom I cannot see ?' I replied, ' It has often 
 been stated to you, that heaven and earth declare 
 the glory of God. Reflect, then, attentively on the 
 creation, and you will soon be convinced, that no 
 other than an almighty, all-wise, and all-graci- 
 ous Being, produced it. This Creator we ought, 
 in justice, to reverence and adore ; but you ren- 
 der this honour to the creature, and not to the 
 Creator.' ' This,' said he, * is all good, but it does 
 not satisfy me ; this knowledge is not of the kind 
 I seek.' Well,' I said, ' do you desire to have a 
 clearer and more perfect knowledge ? God has in 
 great goodness afforded it. He has taken compas- 
 sion on ignorant man, and given freely to him his 
 word, or true law; wherein he has revealed all 
 the doctrines which are necessary to the attain- 
 ment of everlasting happiness. He has made 
 known to men, rebellious, corrupt, and lost, the 
 Saviour of the world, as the restorer of forfeited 
 blessedness, and the way in which that salvation 
 is to be attained. In short, all that can make us
 
 182 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP- holy and happy, is in this word of God made 
 
 L known to mankind. Read and meditate upon it, 
 
 68> with prayer to God ; so will it become clear to 
 you. Compare it also with your heathen instruc- 
 tion, and the superiority of the divine word will 
 soon be discerned.' 'Still,' said he, 'this is not 
 enough ; for even if I read this, I cannot rightly 
 conceive the idea of what God is.' ' Well,' I 
 replied, ' one thing is wanting to you ; namely, 
 experience. Lay your heathenism aside ; follow 
 the word of God in every point ; and pray to him 
 for light and power. Then I may assure you 
 that you will say, Now I am like one who could 
 not, from any description, understand the nature 
 of honey, but now I have tasted it, and know what 
 honey really is.' ' 
 
 How anxious this excellent missionary was to 
 cherish in himself and his brethren the princi- 
 ples by which alone they could be animated in 
 their self-denying labours, will appear from the 
 following brief notice in his journal. 
 
 " August 2. After finishing the catechising of 
 the children in the forenoon, the two catechists 
 returned, and related to me with whom they had 
 conversed, and what had been the purport of their 
 conversations ; and how a young man had avowed 
 his willingness to embrace the Gospel. We then 
 began, for our own edification, to meditate on the
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 183 
 
 first Epistle of Paul to Timothy. On occasion CHAP. 
 of the apostolic wish, 'Grace, mercy, and peace,' 
 we called to mind, that a teacher stands in the 
 highest need daily and hourly of this three-fold 
 fruit of Christ's reconciliation ; and that the be- 
 lieving apprehension of this precious grace is best 
 calculated to strengthen him, to render him joyful 
 and courageous in urging upon others salvation 
 through Christ, as well as in cheerfully suffering 
 for his sake." 
 
 On the 7th of August he notices the follow- 
 ing instructive incidents. The nabob's second 
 son, who is a genuine disciple of Mahomed, 
 that is, inclined to cruelty, watches narrowly 
 the lives of Europeans ; and if he remarks 
 any thing wrong, he generally gives it a ma- 
 licious construction, as if the Mahomedan doc- 
 trine rendered people better than the Chris- 
 tian. This young man, observing some Euro- 
 peans, entered into conversation with them. I 
 was the interpreter. ' It seems remarkable,' said 
 he, ' to me, that Christians are so inclined to card 
 playing, dancing, and similar amusements, which 
 are contrary to the true law.' One of them 
 answered, 'We think it no sin, but an innocent 
 pastime.' * Indeed,' said he, ' it is singular that 
 you do not consider it sin, to spend your time in 
 such amusements, when even the heathen them- 
 selves declare it to be sinful. It is certainly
 
 184 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, wrong to pursue such things, though you are of 
 
 opinion that there is nothing sinful in them. 
 
 You,' he continued, addressing one of the party, 
 ' are a cashier; if you do not know the value of 
 money, you inquire and inform yourself on the 
 subject ; why, then, do you not examine into 
 these things? the omitting such examination is a 
 sin also. Nay, if you do not know whether it be 
 right or wrong, and yet continue to play, that is 
 still a greater sin. I am sure Padre Swartz 
 would tell you at once that it is sinful, if you 
 would but receive it.' The cashier replied, ' It 
 is better to play a little, than to absorb all one's 
 thoughts on money.' But the young nabob 
 answered him very discreetly on this point, that 
 we are not to justify one sin by another. 
 
 " So artful is he, that he will accost and con- 
 verse with an European during divine service, 
 and afterwards observe, ' If the man had the 
 least reverence for the worship of God, he would 
 not have allowed himself to be interrupted.' 
 
 " On the 15th of this month," continues Mr. 
 Swartz, " in the morning I had a conversation 
 with him. He first asked, how God was to be 
 served, and how we should pray to him; and 
 censured us for not washing our hands, and taking 
 off our shoes, before prayer. I answered that 
 this was merely a bodily, outward act, which was 
 of no value in the sight of God that his word
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 185 
 
 re hearts, which abhor all and every 
 sin, and approach him in humility and faith we 
 
 requires pure hearts, which abhor all and every CHAP 
 
 1768 
 
 could then be assured that our prayer was ac- 
 ceptable to him. One of those present asked, 
 ' From what must the heart be cleansed?' I replied, 
 * From self-love, from fleshly and worldly lusts ; 
 which constitute, according to the first command- 
 ment, the real inward nature of idolatry.' The 
 nabob's son said, ' This inward cleansing is very 
 good ; but the outward is also necessary, and 
 God is pleased with it, even though the inward 
 cleansing be not perfect.' I replied, ' Not so. 
 You should rather say, that God has pleasure in 
 inward purity, though the hands be not washed 
 immediately before prayer.' " 
 
 At the close of another conversation about this 
 time, with some of the poor heathen natives, in 
 which he had been endeavouring to convince them 
 of the sin and folly of their idolatry, and to per- 
 suade them to embrace the blessed doctrines of 
 the gospel, he thus expresses the genuine kind- 
 ness of his heart, and affords a beautiful example 
 of the tender earnestness with which the missio- 
 nary should address them. " At length I said, 
 as I often do to them, ' Do not suppose that I re- 
 prove you out of scorn ; no, you are my brethren; 
 we are by creation the children of one common 
 Father. It grieves us Christians, that you have 
 forsaken that Almighty gracious Father, and have
 
 186 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, turned to idols who cannot profit you. You know, 
 - because you have often heard, that a day of judg- 
 ment is before us, when we must render up an 
 account. Should you persist in remaining ene- 
 mies to God, and on that day hear with dismay 
 the sentence of condemnation, I fear you will 
 accuse us Christians of not warning you with 
 sufficient earnestness and fervour. Suffer your- 
 selves, then, to be persuaded, since you see that 
 we want nothing of you, but that you turn with 
 us to God, and be happy.' They all declared 
 that they were convinced of our sincere inten- 
 tions, and that they would speak further with 
 us." 
 
 In October, in a letter to Dr. Francke, after 
 expressing his anxious wish for a second mis- 
 sionary, for the purpose of more extensive useful- 
 ness, he writes as follows. 
 
 " Though I should much prefer being at Tran- 
 quebar, for the enjoyment of the communion of 
 faithful brethren, yet, when I look on our congre- 
 gations, I feel that my presence is more necessary 
 here. The catechists require daily superintend- 
 ence and admonition to prevent them from re- 
 lapsing into indolence and disorder. The hea- 
 then, too, though courteous to Europeans, are 
 apt to behave unkindly to the poor catechists ; so 
 that they need countenance and encouragement.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 187 
 
 With regard to myself, I praise God, who has CHAP. 
 borne with my weakness, and prospered my la- 
 bours. During the whole of this year my health 
 has been good ; so that my work has been easier 
 to me than at any former period. Many heathens 
 and Catholics have been this year instructed, 
 and received into the congregation. Affliction, 
 both from without and from within, has not failed 
 us; but God has been our helper." He then 
 mentions that many Europeans, not only among 
 the soldiers of the garrison, but of the higher 
 ranks, had been powerfully awakened to a sense 
 of religion. Among others, he notices particu- 
 larly one young man, who had made a temporary 
 visit to Trichinopoly, and who, though virtuous 
 and well disposed, knew but little of Christ, and 
 of the real value of the gospel. " He visited me 
 several evenings," says Swartz, " and acknow- 
 ledged that he was stirred up to greater concern 
 for his salvation. I testified my joy, but observed 
 that he was at present trusting to the sandy 
 foundation of his own righteousness, from which 
 he could derive neither rest nor power. He re- 
 ceived all that I said in good part, and began to read 
 his New Testament better; that is, with prayer. 
 Soon afterwards, he was invited to a gay party, 
 but declined it, which had a good effect on others. 
 He soon learned how the Gospel becomes saving, 
 and communicates to man more power unto sal-
 
 188 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, vation than any considerations derived merely 
 from the law. He went boldly forth ; and, when 
 many were displeased that a young man should 
 speak so freely, he gladly bore the cross : and his 
 example has been made a blessing to others." 
 He concludes as follows. 
 
 " In my previous letters, I mentioned a Maho- 
 medan, who had formerly been employed in the 
 highest offices. This man understands Persian 
 most thoroughly, and speaks it excellently. He 
 often visited me of an evening, and gave me a 
 complete idea of the Mahomedan doctrines and 
 discipline, and read to me the rarest books he 
 possessed. I thus learned to express myself in 
 Persian, and to explain the doctrines of Christi- 
 anity. Some months ago, this poor man was put 
 under arrest, and confined to his own house, 
 where he still remains. The nabob's son, a bi- 
 goted Mahomedan, says that he had offended his 
 father, and on that account he was imprisoned. 
 Every one, however, believes that it was in con- 
 sequence of his having visited me, and expressed 
 himself in terms too favourable to Christianity. 
 God graciously help us for Christ's sake, and 
 tread down Satan under our feet! The good Lord 
 inwardly strengthen you, and by the comfort 
 flowing from the inestimable mercy of reconcilia- 
 tion, animate you ; and may your old age be truly 
 blessed!"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 189 
 
 In a letter, dated in the same month of October, CHAP. 
 1768, addressed to the secretary of the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, Mr. Swartz, 
 after thanking him for the present of a Persian 
 lexicon, gives a similar account of the old Maho- 
 medan governor, just mentioned, as his instructor 
 in that language, and takes occasion, from the 
 circumstance of his arbitrary imprisonment, to 
 notice the frequency of such occurrences, both at 
 Trichinopoly and at Tanjore. He then proceeds 
 to give a detailed account of the government of 
 the latter country, of the wretched state of op- 
 pression and ignorance in which the great body of 
 the people were held, and of the numbers, wealth, 
 and influence of the Brahmins. 
 
 " The king of Tanjore," he observes, " is, in 
 the estimation of the ignorant, a prince who go- 
 verns according to his despotic will ; but he is, in 
 fact, more a slave than a king. He seldom goes 
 out; and often, when he purposes to do so, the 
 Brahmins tell him that it is not an auspicious day. 
 This is sufficient to confine him to the house. 
 His children are brought up in ignorance, for 
 why should a prince learn much ? He need not 
 be acquainted with writing and accounts, for has 
 he not servants enough for this? The number 
 of his wives destroys all domestic peace. The 
 first whom he espouses is denominated his lawful 
 wife. By degrees, however, as he takes more,
 
 190 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, jealousy among them becomes a source of dan- 
 
 ' gerous disquiet, and the love which should subsist 
 
 between brethren is banished. So true it is, that 
 
 when man departs from the ordinances of God, he 
 
 treads in a thorny path. 
 
 " A despotic ruler, being intent only on increas- 
 ing or preserving his power, entertains a distrust 
 of all his ministers. He considers it expedient, 
 therefore, often to humble them. Though a 
 minister possess his favour for years, he some- 
 times falls at once. The king permits his house 
 to be plundered, (this has often happened within 
 my remembrance,) and lays him under a domi- 
 ciliary arrest. No one must visit him, or speak 
 to him. By degrees, this severity is relaxed. 
 The ex-minister, thus fallen into disgrace, hunts 
 after the failures of his successor, and endeavours 
 to involve him in the same ruin, and frequently is 
 restored to favour. 
 
 " The troops belonging to the Rajah of Tan- 
 jore are chiefly cavalry, about six thousand, 
 and two thousand foot. The cavalry are not fur- 
 nished with horses, but each soldier provides his 
 own. He who can collect a hundred horse, is 
 appointed their captain. To these troops, a dis- 
 trict is assigned, where they receive their pay 
 from the tenants. If they do not give what they 
 demand, they resort to force. 
 
 " The Tanjore country is, however, as a well-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 191 
 
 watered garden. Notwithstanding all the op- CHAP. 
 pression and injustice, the inhabitants subsist 1 
 tolerably well : it teems with people. The land 
 is divided into districts, and every district is 
 leased. The lessee is obliged to advance at least 
 the half of his rent ; and as he cannot in general 
 do this from his own resources, he borrows of the 
 native merchants or Europeans, and gives forty, 
 or even more, per cent. He borrows also what 
 he requires for the support of his family; and all 
 must be eventually extorted from the poor inhabi- 
 tants. It may with truth be averred, that the 
 poorer people enrich with their labour the idle 
 and the proud. A cultivator of land in Tanjore, 
 commonly gives sixty or seventy in the hundred. 
 Supposing that he has on his ground a hundred 
 bushels of rice, the king (or the lessee in his 
 name) takes seventy ; the remaining thirty are 
 retained by the inhabitant; and with this he has 
 to pay his servants and support his family. Nay, 
 if the king need money, as in time of war, he 
 seizes upon all. I have myself witnessed the 
 poor labourers contemplating at a distance the 
 blessing of God upon the fields, while the king's 
 people have reaped it all. Thus, the oppression 
 being so great, they endeavour, by every possible 
 means, to defraud the king. They are accus- 
 tomed to say, ' Without stealing, we cannot live.' 
 Hence it may easily be conceived what disposition
 
 192 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to the ; 
 country. 
 
 CHAP, to the maintenance of justice prevails in this 
 
 " Under a frame of government so wretched, 
 the education of the young is miserably neglected. 
 Few children learn to read, write, and cast ac- 
 counts; and these are almost exclusively boys. 
 It is a most rare occurrence for a father to afford 
 his daughter the means of education. When 
 taught to read, it is from books in which the fa- 
 bled epiphanies of their gods, together with all 
 their licentious acts, are delineated. We cannot, 
 they think, be better than our gods ; they every 
 where practised lying, impurity, injustice, and 
 revenge; these cannot, therefore, be sinful. Thus 
 is the little which they know from reflecting on 
 the works of creation, greatly obscured. In the 
 temples of their deities, their most flagrant actions 
 are described in images and pictures, which sink 
 the people in the depths of vice and misery. 
 The consequences of this devilish instruction are 
 clearly visible. Both body and soul are destroyed. 
 Thousands sensibly feel their errors. 
 
 " The children of the Brahmins are commonly 
 better educated. Besides the thousands attached 
 to the idol temples, many of them farm the land, 
 hold offices under the king, and act as clerks, 
 overseers, and accountants. The offspring of 
 the Brahmins are in general clever, and learn 
 languages quickly, especially when they hope to
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 193 
 
 turn it to advantage. Many English gentlemen CHAP. 
 engage Brahmins to keep their books; and hence - 
 a great number acquire the English. Besides 
 this, they learn the Persian, and are employed by 
 the nabob and others as interpreters. In every 
 lucrative situation we find a Brahmin. It is re- 
 markable, that within the narrow limits of Tan- 
 jore, a hundred thousand vigorous young Brah- 
 mins might, with very little trouble, be collected. 
 With the exception of their daily ceremonies and 
 ablutions, they do nothing : living in voluptuous- 
 ness and corrupting sloth. They possess the best 
 land, and give away little or nothing; besides 
 which, the numerous pagan festivals are eminently 
 profitable to them. I asked a wealthy Brahmin 
 whether they imparted to the poor a portion of 
 their great revenues. He replied, ' No : the 
 people give to us and the pagodas ; but we con- 
 tribute nothing.' What is asserted, therefore, in 
 one of Mr. Holwell's books, as to the beneficence 
 of the Brahmins, is not to be credited. Some 
 months ago, a Brahmin declared to me plainly, 
 ' The reasons why we do not embrace the Christian 
 doctrine, are avarice, pride, and voluptuousness.' 
 
 " Meanwhile," adds this excellent man, witli 
 something of prophetic hope as to the future pro- 
 gress of Christianity, " we faint not ; we know that 
 Christ is ordained as a light to the Gentiles. He 
 is able to dispel this heathen darkness. Confiding 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 V. 
 
 1768. 
 
 194 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, in his divine assistance, we go forth diligently 
 among the natives to make known to them the 
 way of life, and affectionately to invite them to 
 the enjoyment of the salvation purchased for them 
 by the Redeemer. The progress of conversion is 
 not so great as we wish ; still the rescuing of one 
 single soul, (not to mention many,) is sufficient to 
 encourage us not to be weary. Who knows to 
 what important end the all- wise God may direct 
 the revolutions which have taken place in India 
 during the last twenty years ? O that the Eu- 
 ropeans in this country would discern the glory 
 of God ! Should he graciously work a thorough 
 change and reformation among the principal Eu- 
 ropeans, a blessing would spread through the 
 whole land. Many salutary regulations might be 
 introduced. Multitudes of abominations might 
 be prevented, and thus the obstacles which have 
 hitherto deterred the natives from embracing the 
 Gospel might be lessened. There are several 
 Englishmen here, who, through the converting 
 grace of God, have been convinced that the know- 
 ledge and enjoyment of his loving-kindness are 
 better than life, and consequently better than ill- 
 gotten wealth." 
 
 In a letter to a friend in London, Mr. Swartz 
 again refers to the same painful topic ; and the 
 passage is here introduced chiefly for the purpose 
 of contrasting that representation with the marked
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 195 
 
 improvement in European character which has CHAP. 
 of late years been universally acknowledged. 
 
 " It is extremely difficult," he observes, when 
 describing our situation here, " to give any one a 
 just conception of it without adverting to the pro- 
 fligacy of the Europeans. The great among them 
 aim at nothing but to live in pleasure, and to be- 
 come rich. If not readily successful in the latter 
 object, they resort to unjust means, the employ- 
 ment of which hardens the mind to so alarming a 
 degree, that they will hear nothing of the word of 
 God, and too frequently plunge into the most 
 frightful infidelity." 
 
 After giving an account of himself and his 
 labours during the year, similar to that contained 
 in the extract from his letter to professor Francke, 
 he adds, " O may the faithful God grant to me, 
 a feeble creature, his powerful grace more and 
 more, that I may spend my days to his glory, 
 and the benefit of my neighbour. O that I had 
 a dear brother with me, then could many be bet- 
 ter instructed ! In the mean time, God knows 
 our affliction, and our sighs are not hidden from 
 him. May he compassionate the poor heathen, 
 and may his kingdom break forth here gra- 
 ciously !'' 
 
 Mr. Swartz closes his journal for 1768 as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 o 2
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " The conclusion of the year has been very 
 melancholy with respect to political events. All 
 the territory which the English had taken from 
 Hyder-Naick, they have again lost. He approach- 
 ed near to Trichinopoly, and would probably have 
 taken it, had not a rain of three days' continuance 
 driven him off. 
 
 " God be gracious to us, and further his work ! 
 May he cause his countenance to shine upon us, 
 that the heathen may know his ways, believe in 
 him, and adore him as his children in Christ 
 Jesus !"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 197 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Continuation of hostilities Zeal and disinterestedness of 
 Swartz His conference with a Romish Padre Peace be- 
 tween Hyder Ali and the English Swartz proceeds to Tan- 
 jore His introduction to the Rajah His character Con- 
 versation at this interview Swartz returns to Trichinopoly 
 
 His second visit to the Rajah with Colonel Wood 
 Preaches to the natives on the glacis, and in the Fort 
 The Rajah wishes to converse with him, but is prevented by 
 his Ministers Swartz's message to the King, and his reply 
 
 He returns to Trichinopoly Mr. Chambers leaves that 
 city First letters of Swartz to that gentleman Conver- 
 sations with the natives, and with the Nabob's son At- 
 tendance on sick Europeans Visit from two Mahomedans, 
 and conversation respecting Mahomet Letter from Mr. 
 Chambers to his brother on a translation of the New Testa- 
 ment into Persian Conversation with a sick soldier, and 
 with natives, heathen and Mahomedan Reflections of 
 Swartz at the close of the year 1769. 
 
 HOSTILITIES still continued during the first three ~ 
 months of the succeeding year : in the midst of 
 
 & J ' 1769 
 
 which, Mr. Swartz visited a detachment of the 
 English army near Trichinopoly, and preached 
 to the troops both in English and German. No
 
 198 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, sooner had the enemy withdrawn from the sur- 
 
 rounding villages, involved by their devastations 
 
 in ruin, than his zeal and charity prompted him 
 to repair to them to instruct and comfort the dis- 
 tressed inhabitants ; while he declined accepting 
 a legacy bequeathed to him by an officer to whom 
 he had been eminently useful in religion, lest he 
 should be suspected of interested motives. 
 
 Early in February he had a long and friendly 
 discussion with a Romish Padre at the request of 
 an officer's lady at Trichinopoly, who professed 
 the Roman Catholic religion, but who had also re- 
 ceived instruction from Swartz, and was desirous 
 of hearing what each had to say in support of the 
 differences between the two churches. To the 
 usual question, where Protestantism was before 
 the days of Luther and Henry VIII., Swartz justly 
 replied, by referring to the testimony which had 
 been uniformly borne against the papal perver- 
 sions of divine truth by the Albigenses, John 
 Huss, and the Bohemian brethren, and the fol- 
 lowers of Wickliffe; he might have added, by the 
 Syrian Christians in the mountains of Travan- 
 core. He then appealed to the word of God; 
 affirming that while Protestants readily receive 
 the testimony of antiquity, their faith in the divine 
 authority of the sacred canon, independent of its 
 internal evidences, does not rest exclusively on 
 that of the Romish church, the word of God
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 199 
 
 having been possessed by thousands before that CHAP. 
 church, properly so called, existed. 
 
 The sophistry of the Papist in defending the 
 worship of saints and images was ably exposed 
 by the pious Lutheran. " If you prostrate your- 
 self before an image, complain to it of your afflic- 
 tion, and desire help, do you not honour it after 
 an idolatrous manner ? God says in the second 
 commandment, ' Thou shalt not make any graven 
 image thou shalt not bow down to it nor worship 
 it.' The Papist says, ' Thou shalt.' See how 
 Popery opposes itself to God." " The Papist," 
 said the Padre, " is the follower of Peter." " I 
 heartily wish," replied Swartz, " that it were so- 
 Follow Peter, and we from our hearts will rejoice. 
 Peter was humble, and desired no worship, when 
 he was in the house of Cornelius. 1 Your new 
 Roman Peter will be worshipped. Examine into 
 it again, my worthy Padre, and follow after God 
 and his word." From this point the conversation 
 proceeded to what Swartz calls the idolatry of 
 the mass, and the refusal of the sacramental cup 
 to the laity, which were but feebly defended by 
 the Romish Padre ; to whom in conclusion, he 
 addressed this brief but solemn warning. " My 
 dear Padre, prove all things by the word of God. 
 You and I shall soon appear before the judgment 
 seat of Christ, where we shall have to render an 
 1 Acts x. 25, 26.
 
 200 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, account of our ministry and doctrine, and the 
 souls which we have neglected. One of his peo- 
 ple called him away several times, " He depart- 
 ed," sa}s Swartz, "wishing that I might become 
 a saint, and I wished him sincerity of heart. The 
 captain's lady was struck with his rejection of our 
 Bible, while he refused to produce his own. May 
 God help her to a clear and saving knowledge of 
 Christ !" 
 
 At the beginning of March he attempted a 
 journey to Tanjore ; but he had not proceeded far, 
 before the enemy's army approached Trichinopoly, 
 and burnt great part of Ureiur. Messengers were 
 in consequence despatched to him and his com- 
 panions, apprising them of their danger. " I 
 turned back," he says, " and beheld Ureiur in 
 flames. God be praised for his gracious protec- 
 tion !" The ravages of war, however, having hap- 
 pily terminated in April, by a treaty of peace be- 
 tween Hyder Ali and the Madras government, 
 Swartz resumed his intended journey, and arrived 
 at Tanjore on the 20th of that month. Here he 
 preached daily two or three times, visited the 
 members of the three congregations individually, 
 and attended the schools. 
 
 The most important result of this visit to Tan- 
 jore was his introduction to the Rajah Tuljajee, 
 or, as he was then usually called, the king, and 
 the favourable impressiqn made upon his mind,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 201 
 
 which led to the kindness and confidence with CHAP. 
 
 which that prince ever afterwards distinguished 1 
 
 him. The Rajah Tuljajee was at that period in 
 the prime of life, of good natural talents, and of 
 mild and dignified manners ; indolent and self- 
 indulgent, like the generality of Hindoo princes, 
 but by no means tyrannical or oppressive ; and 
 though too much under the influence of the 
 Brahmins, tolerant and liberal in his views of 
 religion. He is said to have formed an exception 
 to the general ignorance of men of his rank in 
 India, and to have successfully cultivated Sanscrit 
 literature, so as even to have produced some poe- 
 tical compositions in that language, which are 
 still recited at Tanjore as proofs of his genius and 
 learning. Such was the Hindoo prince with whose 
 history that of Swartz is henceforth so intimately 
 interwoven. 
 
 " At five in the afternoon of the 30th of April," 
 says the excellent missionary in his journal for 
 1769; " I was introduced to the king. He was 
 seated on a couch suspended from pillars, sur- 
 rounded by his principal officers, and opposite to 
 him a seat was placed for me." The conversa- 
 tion began by the Persian interpreter informing 
 him that the king had heard a good report of him, 
 to which Swartz replied in Persian, expressing his 
 thanks for the kindness which he entertained for 
 him, and wishing that God might enrich him abun-
 
 202 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, dahtly with every blessing. The interpreter 
 1 omitting to repeat the wish, one who sat by 
 told him, " He wishes you a blessing." " He is 
 a priest," replied the king. Perceiving by the 
 manner in which he made this observation, that 
 he was but imperfectly acquainted with the 
 Persian language, he requested permission to 
 speak in Tamul, at which the rajah appeared 
 pleased. 
 
 He first inquired how it happened that some 
 European Christians worshipped God with 
 images, and others without them ; to which 
 Swartz answered, that the worship of images 
 was expressly forbidden by the word of God, and 
 that this corrupt practice originated in the neglect 
 of the Holy Scriptures, which had in consequence 
 been removed by such Christians from general 
 use among the people. The rajah next inquired 
 how man could attain to the knowledge of God. 
 In reply to this question, the missionary pointed 
 out, in his usual manner, the works of creation, 
 and the bounties of divine Providence, as testify- 
 ing the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, and 
 his word as clearly revealing whatever is essen- 
 tial to salvation. " If it please the king," said 
 he, " I will set before him briefly the principal 
 subjects of that word." The rajah having signified 
 his assent, Swartz proceeded to explain the 
 nature and divine attributes of God, one of the
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 203 
 
 attendants repeating his explanation of each point CHAP. 
 very distinctly, slowly, and audibly. He then re- 
 monstrated against the worship of idols, as incon- 
 sistent with the perfections and glory of God, 
 observing, that before their conversion from hea- 
 thenism, the European nations also made images, 
 and adored the work of their own hands with 
 salams and salams. The king laughed, for the 
 expression struck him forcibly, and said, " He 
 speaks plain." The pious missionary next shortly 
 urged the corruption into which mankind had 
 fallen, which is visible from universal and melan- 
 choly experience ; and then unfolded the method 
 of deliverance through the Mediator and Saviour 
 whom God has graciously provided, and his inde- 
 scribable willingness to receive those who turn to 
 him illustrating this encouraging assurance by 
 his favourite and appropriate parable of the pro- 
 digal son. 
 
 Upon the usual introduction of sweetmeats, of 
 which Swartz took a little, he said, " We Chris- 
 tians are in the habit, before we partake of food, 
 of praising God for his goodness, as well as of 
 imploring grace to use the gift to his glory ;" and 
 on being desired to offer up such a 'prayer, he im- 
 mediately complied. With the simplicity and 
 freedom from the apprehension of ridicule which 
 peculiarly characterized him, he then, at the re- 
 quest of the king, who had been informed that
 
 204 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Christians were accustomed to sing- in celebrating 
 vi ... 
 1 divine worship, sang some verses of the Lutheran 
 
 hymn, in the Tamul translation of Mr. Fabricius, 
 beginning, 
 
 " My God, to thee this heart I bring." 
 
 The rajah declared himself much pleased, apolo- 
 gising that he had detained him so long, and de- 
 siring him to dine with Captain Berg, who was 
 his constant friend and companion, in the palace. 
 " I withdrew," he adds, " repeating my wishes for 
 his happiness. 
 
 Mr. Swartz remained at Tanjore about three 
 weeks during this visit, and then returned to 
 Trichinopoly. A few days afterwards the rajah 
 having inquired for him, and being told that he 
 had left Tanjore, said, " I thought he would have 
 stayed with us ;" and on being reminded that he 
 had not desired him to remain, he replied, " It is 
 my most earnest wish that he would continue 
 here." Captain Berg having informed him of 
 this favourable disposition of the rajah, Mr. 
 Swartz consulted his brethren at Tranquebar, 
 Cuddalore, and Madras, as to the best mode of 
 proceeding, who unanimously advised him to re- 
 turn to Tanjore without delay, in order to ascer- 
 tain what the rajah's views really were. Accord- 
 ingly, in the month of June he proceeded thither 
 in company with his friend Colonel Wood, who
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 205 
 
 was about to leave Trichinopoly, and whom the CHAP. 
 
 rajah was desirous of seeing as he passed through L 
 
 Tanjore. " We set out," he says, " and, on the 69< 
 way, 1 had many pleasing conferences with the 
 natives. When introduced to the king in the 
 presence of Colonel Wood, he was very friendly. 
 After a few inquiries respecting the welfare of 
 the colonel and his family, he asked me what 
 was the design of our celebrating Sunday. I 
 explained to him the command of God relative 
 to the consecration of the Sabbath, and his merci- 
 ful intention in giving it, namely, to make us holy 
 and happy, by devoting it to the concerns of our 
 souls. He then inquired why we Christians did 
 not anoint ourselves as they did. I replied, that 
 the heathen thought they were thereby purified 
 from sin ; but that we knew that sin could not 
 thus be removed that God had provided a more 
 effectual remedy by sending a mighty Saviour 
 who had taken away our sins by the sacrifice of 
 himself; and that we must seek forgiveness 
 through faith in this Redeemer. 
 
 O 
 
 He then asked some questions respecting the 
 king of England, and expressed a wish to visit our 
 country. I took occasion in reply to say some- 
 thing concerning the religion which is there 
 taught, and how much it contributes to the wel- 
 fare both of princes and people ; adding, " This
 
 206 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, is our wish, that you and your subjects may em- 
 
 1 brace it to your present and eternal happiness. 
 
 69 ' The king looked at me, and smiled. His chief 
 Brahmin often interposed, and told him what he 
 had seen among the Papists at Pondicherry ; to 
 which he replied that we were very different from 
 the Papists. He then desired me to speak to 
 the Brahmin in Persian, which I did, and address- 
 ed a short admonition to him ; but he professed 
 to have forgotten his Persian. Here the conver- 
 sation ended, and we took our leave. I accom- 
 panied Colonel Wood a day's journey beyond the 
 river ; and parted from him and his lady, who is 
 powerfully awakened to religion, with prayer. 
 They were both greatly affected. May God 
 mightily carry on the work he has begun in them, 
 and bring it to a glorious issue !" 
 
 After this interesting conference with the rajah, 
 not having as yet received permission to enter the 
 fort, Swartz repaired daily, early and late, to the 
 glacis near it, and addressed the natives, who in 
 great numbers surrounded him. Frequently, from 
 the violence of the land wind, he was covered 
 with the dust which flew around : he generally 
 spoke upon the great subjects of repentance, 
 faith, and reconciliation with God, through Jesus 
 Christ, till he was quite exhausted. Sometimes 
 he expounded the parables by which our Saviour
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 207 
 
 displayed the treasures of the kingdom of heaven, CHAP. 
 
 and the means of attaining them. The people '. 
 
 commended his doctrine, and often said, " O that 
 the king would embrace it ! All would then for- 
 sake heathenism." At the end of a fortnight he 
 received an unlimited permission to enter the fort 
 whenever he was disposed. He in consequence 
 visited the principal officers of the rajah and fully 
 declared to them the Gospel of Christ. One of 
 them having offered him a present, he civilly de- 
 clined it, requesting him and those who were as- 
 sembled, not to be offended at his refusal, as he 
 was only anxious not to interpose any obstacle to 
 their reception of Christianity, by giving occasion 
 to any to suspect him of interested motives. " He 
 who tendered me the present," says this wise and 
 excellent man, replied, " that he should never 
 think this of me." I answered, " That may be; 
 but you cannot prevent others from thinking thus ; 
 I seek the good of your souls, and not gifts. I 
 accepted a nosegay, and so we parted." 
 
 Sometimes he went through the principal streets 
 of the fort, when many of the inhabitants, Brah- 
 mins and others, collected around him, and listen- 
 ed for a long time. One of the Brahmins ob- 
 served, " You allure the people with money." 
 " I replied," said Swartz, before the whole multi- 
 tude, " Prove to me that either I or my brethren 
 at Tranquebar have decoyed a single heathen to
 
 208 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. us w ith money, and I will hold my tongue." It 
 
 was said, that when speaking one day before the 
 
 palace, the rajah stationed himself in an upper 
 room, and after listening to his address, observed, 
 " He makes out our gods to be downright demons ! 
 We must keep him here to instruct this foolish 
 people." Upon another occasion when near the 
 palace, the king sent to desire him not to quit 
 the fort, as he wished to speak with him. Upon 
 this a number of Brahmins and others belonging 
 to the court hastened to the palace, and Swartz 
 prepared himself for the interview ; but the chief 
 Brahmin, who had the controul of the revenue, 
 came and diverted the king from his purpose. He 
 sent, however, to tell him that he would speak to 
 him in the evening; but again he was prevented. 
 " The poor king," he observes, in a letter to 
 Dr. Francke, in which he briefly mentions this 
 remarkable visit to Tanjore, " sits, as it were in a 
 prison. His officers deceive him and the whole 
 country, and resist to the utmost the settlement 
 of a missionary here. Many," he says in his 
 journal, " even of the Brahmins themselves, said 
 that the king would gladly have had me with 
 him, but he was afraid of the people around him. 
 The great about the court saw, with regret, 
 that he was desirous of detaining me, being 
 fearful lest their corrupt practices might be 
 exposed. At length I visited one of his
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 209 
 
 principal officers, and after declaring to him the CHAP. 
 Gospel of Christ, I begged to make my humble 
 salam to the king, and to ask what was his pur- 
 pose with regard to me ; that I was come at his 
 gracious summons, ready to serve him from my 
 heart in the cause of God ; but that as I had an 
 engagement at Trichinopoly, it would be necessary 
 that some one should take charge of my duty 
 there, if I were to remain at Tanjore. I requested 
 therefore to know the king's intention. The 
 answer which I received the next day was this ; 
 that I might return for this time to Trichinopoly, 
 but that I was to remember that the king looked 
 upon me as his padre. Many," he adds, " of 
 the common people were grieved that the king- 
 should allow himself to be hindered by his ser- 
 vants from detaining me near him. But God can, 
 and in his own time will, cause this nation to 
 adore and fear his name. May He compassionate 
 this poor people, now lying in darkness and the 
 shadow of death, for his name's sake." 
 
 Such is the account which Mr. Swartz gives in 
 his Journal, as well as in letters to Dr. Francke 
 and the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, of his first interviews with the Rajah of 
 Tanjore, which led to his subsequent establish- 
 ment and favourable reception as a missionary in 
 that kingdom. In the month of July he returned 
 to Trichinopoly, and resumed his ordinary labours 
 
 VOL. i. P
 
 210 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CI ^ P< among the Christians and heathens of that 
 city. 
 
 1769. 
 
 Soon afterwards Mr. W. Chambers, who had 
 resided there during the two preceding years, 
 was recalled to Madras. The sentiments and pur- 
 suits of these two excellent men were so congenial, 
 that a cordial friendship, founded upon Christian 
 principles, was the result of their intercourse 
 with each other, which was cherished by a regu- 
 lar correspondence from this period to the death 
 of Mr. Chambers, in the year 1793. With the 
 exception of occasional letters to a few eminent 
 persons, chiefly in Germany, which were almost 
 considered as points of official duty, Swartz was 
 not accustomed to write much in detail, even to 
 his most intimate friends. His time was too fully 
 occupied with the various labours of his mission, 
 to allow of his indulging in an extensive corres- 
 pondence. His letters were, therefore, in general 
 brief, and relating-, for the most part, to ordinary 
 circumstances and concerns ; but they are all 
 strikingly characteristic of his habitual and ele- 
 vated piety, his fine manly sense, his genuine be- 
 nevolence, and his affectionate desire for the spi- 
 ritual and temporal welfare of his friends and all 
 around him. 
 
 The following are two of his earliest letters to 
 Mr. Chambers; and when it is considered how 
 comparatively recent was his acquaintance with
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 211 
 
 the English language, the general ease and cor- CHAP. 
 rectness of his style are extraordinary. 
 
 " Mr DEAR FRIEND ; 
 
 " Five days ago I received your agreeable 
 letter, and praise God for all the mercies he has 
 bestowed on you in your journey, and on your 
 arrival at Madras. I doubt not but he will mul- 
 tiply his favours according to his wonted mercy. 
 In your new station you will need his gracious 
 assistance. You have had some specimens of the 
 Malabar people's sad art of evading truth, and of 
 affirming lies with the boldest countenance. This 
 little experience will help you in some respects, 
 at least so far as to make you cautious. 
 
 " But our caution, what doth it avail, unassisted 
 by divine grace ? May the Spirit of Jesus Christ 
 strengthen and comfort you every moment ! 
 What you write touching the clergyman, 1 is 
 doleful indeed. But you know, that sort of 
 people, when they refuse to accept of divine 
 grace, have always been the worst of enemies to 
 the promotion of the cause of Christ, as all his- 
 tory declares, and particularly that of the suffer- 
 ings of Christ. I hear there is another lately 
 arrived. O that he may be a disciple of the 
 humble Jesus ! 
 
 1 Probably referring to one of those who at this period were 
 but too frequently unworthy members of the sacred profession. 
 
 P2 
 
 1769.
 
 212 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " Many people went from hence to Madras, white 
 
 1 and black, to the court martial, which seems now 
 
 likely to take place. 1 You are on the spot. May 
 you be serviceable ! I wish and pray a gracious 
 God may help our friend, to behave, in all circum- 
 stances, as a true disciple of the meek and holy 
 Jesus. A great degree of true humility, denial of 
 himself, presence of mind, in short, nothingless than 
 divine grace, will be able to carry him through his 
 present troubles with a clear and clean conscience. 
 Pray often for him. We will here intreat the Lord 
 likewise to glorify his name in this affair. Mr. 
 Green was taken ill the very day your letter ar- 
 rived ; but he is now better, and desires to be re- 
 membered by you. Your George begins to write. 
 He seems to promise well in that respect. At 
 present I am building a verandah and a little cham- 
 ber for Mr. Green. This has hindered me from 
 employing the carpenter to make your palanquin. 
 " Farewell, my friend; and whenever you appear 
 before the throne of Christ, remember your fellow 
 pilgrims at Trichinopoly. Salute in the Lord, 
 all our friends, particularly the colonel and Mrs. 
 Wood and the little ones. 
 
 " I am, dear friend, 
 " Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWAIITZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, 8th of Sept. 1769." 
 
 1 This refers to an investigation into the military conduct of
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ 213 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND ; CHAP. 
 
 VI. 
 
 11 It is a long time since I received your kind 
 
 letter. The evening hour which I used to spend 
 in writing letters, as you know, I have spent a 
 long time with Mr. U., who was more than once 
 on the borders of eternity. Often he could hardly 
 pronounce a word. I admonished him to repent- 
 ance and faith in Jesus Christ. He was always 
 glad to see me, and joined in prayer, nay some- 
 times, at least once, he entreated me to pray with 
 him. At present he is in a way of recovery, and 
 
 I think not . I cannot write more ; since 
 
 what passeth between a clergyman and a sick 
 person ought not to be divulged. But O the 
 heart of man ! So far I may tell you, that we 
 were very plain. May God have mercy on him 
 and us all ! The heart of man is fickle beyond 
 expression. Christian stedfastness is a glorious 
 grace springing from the enjoyment of the re- 
 demption. In proportion as we enjoy its precious 
 fruits, particularly pardon and peace, we obtain 
 confidence in God, and count all things but loss, 
 that we may win Christ, and be found in him. 
 
 " Concerning the palanquin, the carpenter 
 would have gladly done it, but to this day I have 
 
 Colonel Wood, in the campaign with Hyder Ali, subsequent to 
 the battle of Mulwagle, in which he signally defeated the 
 Mysorean chief.
 
 214 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, not got a plank from Tranquebar, though they 
 promised to send them, as soon as they arrived 
 from the Malabar coast, which would certainly be 
 at the beginning of October. The bamboo I hope 
 to get soon. Write me in your next how I shall 
 send it you. 
 
 " How do you go on in the Persian language ? 
 Where do you live ? How is the new clergyman ? 
 Have you not yet met with one who dares to be 
 good at Madras? Here at Trichinopoly is great 
 coldness. Mrs. and I are exactly as stran- 
 gers. I have seen her twice or thrice at her 
 house, but she takes care not to be molested. 
 Every Monday there is a concert at her house, 
 and daily more than one card-table. The altar- 
 piece is finished. 1 It is done, as they say, very well. 
 In the Persian we have several passages ; 2 as, ' I 
 am the way, the truth, and the life ; no man 
 cometh unto the Father, but by me.' John xvi. 
 23. John xvii. 3. ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God/ &c. ' Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the Gospel to every creature.' How is every 
 
 1 For his new church at Trichinopoly. 
 
 2 The texts of Scripture which Swartz mentions were in- 
 scribed in gold characters, and are probably the only specimen 
 of his composition in that language, which he spoke fluently. 
 The first of them must have been peculiarly obnoxious to the 
 pride and bigotry of the Mahomedans, who were at that period 
 very powerful at Trichinopoly.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 215 
 
 thing in the colonel's house carried on ? Can you CHAP. 
 see that they go forward in their pilgrimage ? 
 
 " We think of you often in prayer. May Jesus 
 Christ strengthen you to fight the good fight of 
 faith, laying hold on eternal life ! 
 
 " I am sincerely, dear friend, 
 " Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, Nov. 6th, 1769. 
 
 " Saruvaien and Sadtinaicken are upon a 
 journey near the Kaller, to preach the Gospel 
 to the poor Gentiles and Papists. Thy kingdom 
 come !" 
 
 The allusion in the preceding postscript to the 
 labours of his two catechists may with propriety 
 introduce a few additional notices of his own from 
 his journal during the remainder of the year. 
 
 In November, being at Urejur, near a stone 
 choultry, which was full of idols, Swartz met 
 some natives, who wished to refer to him a dis- 
 pute in which they were engaged. He said, with 
 his wonted wisdom, " You contend with one 
 another for trifles, and cannot brook the loss of 
 small things ; but the loss of your souls, and their 
 eternal welfare, you leave out of sight. Begin to 
 care for better things !" 
 
 The next day he visited some of the natives
 
 216 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, who were on the corn floor, employed in cleaning 
 1 the rice which they had that morning reaped. 
 " The process," he observes, " is very simple. 
 The grain is cut in the morning; it then lies a 
 short time on the field, and soon after it is carried 
 to the floor. They grasp a good handful, beat it 
 three or four times against the ground, clean, 
 winnow, and measure it. The nabob takes sixty 
 out of one hundred parts, the tenant forty; out 
 of which he must pay the labourers. Here," 
 says Swartz, " sat a number of the inhabitants, 
 and looked on as the rice was winnowed. I sat 
 down with them, and explained to them the Gos- 
 pel of Christ, and invited them to a participation 
 of the blessings of grace." 
 
 At another place, he conversed with two gar- 
 deners, and pointed out to them the way of be- 
 coming spiritually fruitful. They said, " We 
 have not yet obeyed our own shasters : how 
 should we now keep the true law ? When we 
 leave you, we forget what we have heard." They 
 were told that they must pray to God. " How," 
 said they, " are we to pray ?" " Act," replied 
 Swartz, "like starving beggars. Do not they 
 know how to set forth their hunger and distress ? 
 Set before God your ignorance, obduracy, and 
 misery, and beseech him to open your eyes to 
 discern him and his true word. This you may 
 do, even in the midst of your labours. But come
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 217 
 
 also, and allow yourselves to be instructed. Try CHAP. 
 this for ten days ; it will assuredly be better with 
 you if you follow this advice. Consider that in a 
 few days, perhaps, you may be happy or miserable 
 for ever ; give, therefore, all diligence, and seek 
 your everlasting salvation. They appeared friendly, 
 and left me." 
 
 " On the 8th of November," he writes, " I 
 spoke with the Nabob's son, who at present com- 
 mands the regiment stationed here and in the 
 surrounding districts, which, it is reported, he 
 farms of his father for an immense sum of money. 
 He was accompanied by his priest, and said to 
 me, * Padre, let this priest answer you a question !' 
 I said, ' The great question is, How shall we be 
 freed from sin ; from its dominion, as well as its 
 punishment ?' The priest being unable to express 
 himself with facility in Persian, the Nabob's son 
 himself replied, * Hate and forsake anger, sen- 
 suality, envy, and so you will be clean.' I said, 
 * You require life from the dead. Say to a dead 
 man, walk ! and see if he will obey.' He said, 
 ' What is not done deliberately, will not be im- 
 puted to us.' I answered, ' You separate the 
 holiness from the goodness of God. He will 
 doubtless forgive, but in such a way as that his 
 holiness be not thereby obscured, namely, 
 through Jesus Christ.' ' Certainly,' he said, ' we 
 must confide in God, so as to fear him."
 
 218 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. The pious missionary next mentions his attend- 
 ance on two sick Europeans, one of whom appear- 
 ed to be effectually changed and converted by the 
 grace of God from a life of worldliness and sin, to 
 deep humility, self-denial, and willingness to bear 
 the cross. The other, a person of rank, suddenly 
 brought, by one of the prevalent diseases of the 
 country, to the very brink of the grave, he visited 
 almost daily for a fortnight after evening prayers. 
 At length, he began to recover a little strength, 
 when Swartz represented to him how mercifully 
 God had spared him, and how anxious he should 
 be to express his gratitude, and his determination 
 to live henceforth as a real Christian ; urging 
 him particularly to receive the holy communion. 
 " His answer was, that he could not resolve 
 upon this in India, because such was the state 
 of tilings here, that one often felt compelled to 
 act in opposition to conscience ; but that if he 
 returned home, he would communicate.' I re- 
 plied, ' If you are not -in a state to partake of the 
 Holy Supper in India, you are not in a condition 
 to die happily here.' * He did not live,' he said, 
 ' in open sin, and committed himself to the mercy 
 of God.' I conversed with him much after- 
 wards," he adds ; " but he heard all in silence, 
 just as the heathens do, without any satisfactory 
 reply. But so it is with the best of mere natural 
 men. May God help us !"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 219 
 
 The next day two Mahomedans visited him. CHAP. 
 J vi. 
 
 One of them maintained himself by teaching the 
 
 J 1769. 
 
 Persian language. In reply to a question, as 
 to the Christian doctrine respecting the dis- 
 tinction of meats, Swartz observed that every 
 creature of God was good, and desired him to 
 read the 15th chapter of St. Matthew, from the 
 Persian Evangelistarium. " I now see," he said, 
 " what it is that defiles men." To his inquiry 
 as to the general doctrine which he taught, he 
 replied, " that he explained the commands of 
 God, and proved the transgressions and corrup- 
 tion of mankind ; that, notwithstanding, God 
 pities sinners, and to every one who penitently 
 confesses and renounces his sin, will, for Christ's 
 sake, impart forgiveness; and that this grace 
 of God should be improved as the principle of 
 a holy life. The man beginning to speak of 
 Mahomed, Swartz said, " What then is a pro- 
 phet?" "One," he answered, "who brings us 
 an account of God." " How do you know that 
 Mahomed's account of God comes from him ?" 
 " From the wonders he performed." " But he 
 himself denies, in his Koran, that he came to work 
 miracles." " He cleft the moon," said the Maho- 
 medan. " Such a miracle," I replied, " must have 
 been remarked by other nations. Besides, it is 
 not God's method, when he sends an extraordi- 
 nary prophet, to authorize him to work only one
 
 220 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, miracle, and that in secret, or only in the presence 
 
 of a few friends. No. To such a prophet, he 
 
 often gives power to do many wonderful works in 
 public places, and before both friends and ene- 
 mies. Here, however, Mahomed looks suspicious. 
 Further, it is no proof of a divine mission, when 
 one who professes to be a prophet denounces all 
 the undoubted revelations which God had pre- 
 viously vouchsafed by his servants, as obsolete 
 and superseded. Thus did not the Lord Jesus. 
 He came to fulfil all, and to disown nothing. 
 Moses is edifying to us, even now, for he foretold 
 the Redeemer of the world, as did also David, and 
 the other prophets." Swartz then charged Ma- 
 homed with having taken from the pure word of 
 God, by representing Christ merely as a prophet, 
 and thus depriving mankind of their greatest con- 
 solation in him as a Saviour, and of having added 
 to it, by his allowance of polygamy. And in 
 reply to the Mahomedan's objection from the ex- 
 amples of David and Solomon, he said, " that 
 they had fallen into errors and sins, which David, 
 at least, confessed, and that the rule of the Gospel 
 with respect to marriage was clear and peremp- 
 tory." " Why, then," said he, " did not the Jews 
 believe in Jesus?" " Read," I replied, "John v. 
 verse 31, to the end." Here I was obliged to 
 leave him to attend divine worship, and he said 
 he would also go to prayer, and so we parted.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 221 
 
 " Oh," said he, u that you had the whole New C ^P. 
 Testament in the Persian language !" I replied, 
 " If you will assist me with your knowledge of 
 Persian, we can well make such a translation for 
 ourselves." He promised faithfully to assist. 
 
 The subject of this latter suggestion had often 
 occupied the attention of Swartz, and of his friend, 
 Mr. W. Chambers, who, in a letter to his brother, 
 afterwards Sir Robert Chambers, written during 
 his visit to Trichinopoly, thus adverts to their 
 mutual anxiety to obtain a translation of the entire 
 New Testament into the Persian language. 
 
 " I told you in a former letter, that Mr. Swartz 
 had struck into a new path at this place, by having 
 already made himself master of the Hindostanee 
 language, and continuing to acquire a knowledge 
 of the Persian. As he was upon this plan when 
 I came up about seven months ago, he was very 
 well pleased with my having brought with me 
 the Persian Gospels ; and these, I assure you, are 
 read with such profound veneration and attention 
 by the more learned Mahomedans, as would sur- 
 prise you. But Mr. Swartz, though he could not 
 but acknowledge the advantage these gave him 
 in showing the fundamental doctrines of our 
 religion, yet has often lamented his want of the 
 latter part of the New Testament, in which alone 
 the application of those doctrines is to be found.
 
 222 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Indeed, the sophistical questions they so fre- 
 1 quently put to us, in perusing the ' Ingeel,' (as 
 they call it,) do but too plainly discover to us 
 the disadvantage of not being possessed of a 
 complete Persian New Testament. Mr. Swartz is 
 a man of such extensive learning, of such strength 
 of judgment, is of so regular a conduct, so cheer- 
 ful a disposition, and such sincere piety, that 
 I think there can scarce be a man more likely to 
 succeed in such an undertaking as this is, if he 
 had only the proper means. He has already 
 written to the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, to beg they may supply him with 
 some books, and particularly the complete New 
 Testament in this language, if such a thing can 
 be procured. But I believe his modesty, in the 
 infancy of such a scheme, has prevented his 
 descanting so largely upon it as he would, if he 
 were to open his mind. He has declared to me, 
 however, with some energy, that he thought if 
 some hundred impressions of the Persian New 
 Testament, in a portable volume, without any 
 translation, could be printed off in England, either 
 by subscription or any other means, they might 
 be dispersed in this country amongst the Moors, 
 in all human probability to great advantage. 1 
 The son of the Nabob said to him one day 
 
 1 This is a striking anticipation of the opinion afterwards ex- 
 pressed upon this subject by the late Sir William Jones.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 223 
 
 ' Padre, we always regarded you Europeans as a CHAP. 
 most irreligious race of men, unacquainted even - 
 with the nature of prayer, till you came and told 
 us you had good people amongst you in Europe ; 
 since you are come here, indeed, we begin to 
 think better of you !' Both he (Mr. Swartz) and 
 your humble servant, begin now to be a little 
 known among them ; but I assure you, at first 
 they seemed vastly surprised to find there was 
 any thing rational in our faith, or that any of us 
 pretended to holiness of life. Mahomed Panah 
 (the Moorman I mentioned in a former letter) 
 agreed once so far with us, and talked so loudly 
 in praise of the * Ingeel,' even before his own 
 countrymen, that I really thought he was going 
 to turn Christian : Mr. Swartz happening to tell 
 him the circumstance within his knowledge of an 
 Englishman having sent back some valuables 
 from scruples of conscience, he, (Mahomed,) in 
 a large company of Moormen of rank, began to 
 talk highly of our ' Eemahu,' (faith and religion,) 
 and as a proof of the excellence of it, brought up 
 this very circumstance ; and at the end of the 
 narration he exclaimed, ' There's an Eemahu for 
 you ! where shall we find a Mussulman that 
 would do so?' He talked at this rate so long 
 and so strenuously, that there was an universal 
 report amongst the Moormen, even to the Nabob, 
 that Mahomed Panah was going lo be a convert
 
 224 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of Mr. Swartz ; and upon this he found himself 
 
 L deserted by all his acquaintance, particularly his 
 
 69 ' great ones, that before had reverenced him for his 
 learning. This the old man had not strength to 
 bear; and, resigning himself up to that passion 
 which gets hold of us all, in some degree, ' the 
 fear of man,' he tacked about, and has ever since, 
 in the presence of his countrymen, disputed against 
 some of the principal points of Christianity with 
 all his usual sophistry. 
 
 " Who knows, however, what such a man might 
 have done before now, if he had but had one more 
 to keep him in countenance ? and who can say that 
 he might not have had many more, if the New 
 Testament had been known among them ? All I 
 have to beg of you, is, that you will procure for 
 me one Persian New Testament at least, if possi- 
 ble ; and as for the other scheme, you know best, 
 whether you can at all promote it. I am well 
 aware of the difficulty of bringing any such thing 
 about in the present age, and therefore scarcely 
 know what to say to you upon the subject : you 
 have the state of the case, however, and it is your 
 particular province, you know, to discuss the 
 merits of it. One thing you may do, perhaps, 
 viz.; if you are acquainted with any of the mem- 
 bers of the Society for promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge, you may back what Mr. Swartz has said 
 in his letter with what I have said in this ; and
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 225 
 
 he, as well as the religion we profess, will both CHAP. 
 
 VI. 
 
 be much obliged to you. To a friend, what can 
 
 T , 1769. 
 
 1 say more i 
 
 Though the early zeal of Mr. Swartz and Mr. 
 Chambers, and the subsequent attempts of the 
 latter, were not successful in the important object 
 to which the preceding letter refers, it is gratify- 
 ing to know that more than one faithful transla- 
 tion of the New Testament into the Persian lan- 
 guage has long since been distributed in India,* 
 and that many Mahomedans have been convinced 
 of its divine inspiration, and instructed in its 
 sacred truths by means of those invaluable 
 works. 
 
 The testimony of the Nabob's son, to the ex- 
 emplary piety of Swartz, as incidentally men- 
 tioned by his young friend, who afterwards, like 
 the excellent missionary, contributed to raise the 
 estimate of the European character in the native 
 mind, will not fail to be appreciated as it de- 
 serves. 
 
 With what wisdom and kindness Mr. Swartz 
 expounded the doctrines of the Gospel, his jour- 
 nals frequently testify. Thus he relieved the 
 fears which our Lord's declaration, (John vi. 44, 
 " No man can come unto me, except the Father 
 
 1 The constant conclusion of all Persian letters. 
 Particularly that of the lamented Henry Marly n. 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, which hath sent me draw him ,") had excited in the 
 
 VI. 
 
 mind of a sick soldier in the hospital at Urejur, 
 
 who had been religiously disposed in Europe, but 
 whose good impressions had been much effaced 
 in India. " Well," I said, " does not the Father 
 draw you by the word of his gracious Gospel, 
 when you read what Christ has done and suffered 
 for you, what blessings he has obtained for you, 
 what promises he has given you, what help he 
 has offered you, what divine exhortations he has 
 addressed to you ? Does not the Father draw 
 you by all these ? But you expect every thing 
 without using the appointed means. Humbly 
 improve those means, and confide in him that he 
 will impart to you more and more grace." 
 
 " On the 13th, and two following days of No- 
 vember," says this pious and grateful observer of 
 divine Providence, " I was engaged only with the 
 children in the schools, and with a sick person ; the 
 almost incessant rain preventing me from going out. 
 The gracious God has copiously refreshed this 
 district, so that the high lands, which cannot be 
 watered by the river, are rendered fruitful by the 
 showers. Praised be God ! On the 20th, I went 
 out early. It was a peculiarly pleasant morning ; 
 the beams of the sun, after the late rains, being 
 doubly reviving. A heathen came to me, whom 
 I affectionately entreated not to neglect so good 
 a God, who created, preserves, and redeemed us.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 227 
 
 During this month the Brahmins and others re- CHAP. 
 pair to the river to bathe. On the 21st, a vast 1 
 multitude being assembled, I suggested to the 
 Brahmins, whether their outward washings could 
 purify; and added, that the great God had indeed 
 provided and revealed to mankind a divine method 
 of purification from sin." 
 
 " The next day, after pointing out to a party of 
 attentive hearers the sin and folly of idolatry, and 
 explaining the leading doctrines of divine truth, 
 a Brahmin said, ' We also have books and priests, 
 and we must not depart from them. You do 
 well to believe your law, and to instruct the 
 ignorant ; but that we, who have learned some- 
 thing, should go over to you, can never be.' 
 * If a blind man,' I replied, ' pretend to show 
 others the way, both must fall into the ditch. 
 You have priests ; but prove whether what they 
 teach be truth or falsehood, light or darkness. 
 To what purpose has God given you understand- 
 ing ? Pray to him also that he would guide you 
 to the knowledge of the truth. You well know 
 how your priests instruct. You will shortly have 
 a festival at Seringham, during which they will 
 exhibit the obscene images and actions of your 
 idols. Do you call that instructing in what is 
 good? Look at the effects which such instructions 
 produce. Is not your country overwhelmed with 
 impurity ?' Upon this we seated ourselves under 
 
 Q2
 
 228 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, a tree, and I expounded and applied to them the 
 
 parable of the prodigal son. 
 
 " I again visited the sick in the hospital. 
 Some thought that this school of the cross had 
 not been unblessed to them. In the afternoon, I 
 was called to an officer of the nabob, who was 
 born in the principality of Halberstadt. He was 
 very ill, and his mind much distressed. An im- 
 prudent marriage, against which I had earnestly 
 .warned him, had injured him much both in body 
 and soul, which he now deeply lamented. I di- 
 rected him to Christ, and his blood of reconci- 
 liation, by which all our sins can be blotted out, 
 and prayed with him." 
 
 " December. A Mahomedan from the north, 
 who wished to be a chief priest, visited me with 
 his wife. We sat down before the church-door. 
 He inquired concerning the Christian doctrine, 
 when that of the atonement was chiefly insisted 
 on. He said, ' My mind is truly in doubt and 
 anxiety.' ' Turn, then/ I replied, ' to him who 
 can and will relieve you.* His followers went into 
 the church, and performed their evening devotions 
 kneeling. This man has since visited me only 
 twice. ' The nabob,' said another Mahomedan, 
 near him, ' is against it. What can we do ?' 
 To this a third, who is in the nabob's confidence, 
 assented. When I asked him, therefore, after- 
 wards, why he never came to me ' The times
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 229 
 
 are such/ said he, ' that whoever converses with CHAP. 
 you must suffer for it.' ' 
 
 " Many among the heathen, also," Swartz ob- 
 serves in his letters to Dr. Francke and to the 
 Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 " have owned themselves convinced in their hearts 
 of the truth of the Christian religion, but the 
 cross which they must take up as soon as they 
 embrace Christianity, deters them from a public 
 profession of it." Notwithstanding these difficul- 
 ties and discouragements, he adds, "I have bap- 
 tized twenty-five adults in the course of this year, 
 received several Roman Catholics into the Pro- 
 testant church, and five children have been born 
 in the congregations. Some, especially of the 
 women, so conduct themselves, that I have a good 
 hope that the word of God has not been preached 
 to them in vain. We exhort one another to this 
 end, and trust that God will, according to his 
 goodness, permit us to behold with rejoicing the 
 days of harvest." 
 
 " At the sacred festival of Christmas," thus 
 he concludes his journal for the year 1769, 
 " we endeavoured to stir up ourselves and the 
 congregations to faith, love, and thankfulness, by 
 the blessed Gospel of the unspeakable love of 
 God, as it is manifested in the incarnation of 
 Christ ;" and in a short letter, dated December 
 23, in which he informs his friend, Mr. Chambers,
 
 230 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, that he had despatched the furniture which he 
 had left at Trichinopoly, he thus expresses his 
 grateful emotions on the return of that hallowed 
 season. 
 
 " I wish you may enjoy the fulness of grace, 
 purchased for us by Jesus Christ. May the 
 good tidings raise your heart to holy joy, thank- 
 fulness, and love ! Remember me to all our 
 friends.'
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 231 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Swartz's general occupations during the year 1770 Con- 
 version of a Pandaratn Journey to Madras and Cuddalore 
 Letters to Mr. Chambers Devotional service with Eng- 
 lish soldiers at Trichinopoly Further Letters to Mr. 
 Chambers Visit to Tanjore Extracts from his journal of 
 conversations with natives Return to Trichinopoly Swartz 
 visits the great mosque, and addresses the Mahomedans 
 Letter to Dr. Knapp, with a sketch of the proceedings of 
 the year Excitement of the Roman Catholics in Tanjore 
 His anxiety for a colleague. 
 
 THE year 1770 was spent, like the preceding, in CHAP. 
 diligent labours among the heathen and others, - 
 
 1770 
 
 and in visiting his Christian brethren. " From 
 the commencement to the end of this year," he 
 observes, in his journal, " the gospel of God re- 
 conciled to us in Christ, has been preached to the 
 poor heathen in Trichinopoly, Seringham, and the 
 surrounding villages. Daily, morning and after- 
 noon, have the catechists gone forth, and sowed 
 the seed of the word of God. In the afternoons 
 I have myself accompanied one of them. The 
 conviction among many thousand heathen and
 
 232 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Roman Catholics is certainly remarkable, so that 
 
 1 they even speak of it among one another. The 
 
 1770 ' fear of man, however, and other similar causes, 
 keep them back. Notwithstanding, may God 
 yet have mercy on them ! In addition to my 
 employment in the schools throughout the year, 
 except during two months, in which I travelled to 
 Madras, I have in the mornings held preparations 
 with various natives, heathen and Roman Ca- 
 tholic, for receiving them into the communion of 
 our church." 
 
 With respect to some of his converts, he re- 
 ports the most pleasing and satisfactory proofs of 
 sincerity ; while as to others, he with equal in- 
 genuousness acknowledges the superficial and 
 temporary nature of their profession of Christi- 
 anity. Among other instances of success he par* 
 ticularly mentions the following. 
 
 " A young Pandaram, who for nearly seven 
 years had resorted to all the celebrated pagodas 
 and reputed sacred waters, without finding rest to 
 his soul, was accosted by us one afternoon near 
 the river. He had, he said, often entertained 
 doubts as to the whole of the heathen ceremonies. 
 A Roman Catholic had given him a little brazen 
 crucifix ; this he had carried about him, and often, 
 as he told us, had placed it before him, and wor- 
 shipped. ' To-day,' he said, ' I was at the river, 
 and beholding the numerous pagodas of Seringham,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 233 
 
 I thought within myself, What is all this ? What CHAP. 
 can it avail ? Just as I was thinking thus, your 
 
 J . 1770. 
 
 catechists approached and recommended Chris- 
 tianity to me. I will now see what effect your 
 doctrines will have. If I discover in them any 
 thing better than I have found in heathenism, I 
 will cheerfully embrace them.' We recommended 
 him to remain with us a fortnight, and attend to 
 the Christian doctrines with becoming seriousness 
 and prayer ; honestly to state the doubts he 
 might at any time entertain ; and when he had 
 in some degree ascertained the nature of Chris- 
 tianity, to determine what he would do. He was 
 pleased with the proposal, and attended daily to 
 what was addressed to those who were under a 
 course of catechetical preparation ; and at length 
 voluntarily laid aside his Pandaram's habit, and 
 gave up his string of a particular kind of corn, 
 which both Pagans and Romish Christians use as 
 a rosary. He learned with diligence, and began 
 to pray, being daily present when I prayed with 
 my servant morning and evening. After holy bap- 
 tism, he requested that an opportunity might be 
 afforded him of again learning to read, which he 
 had been previously taught, but had forgotten. 
 He has now been with us four months, and no- 
 thing inconsistent has been perceived in him. 
 The knowledge of Christ will render him truly 
 zealous and sincere."
 
 234 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CI ^ I P - The journey to Madras, alluded to in the pre- 
 ceding extract, occupied the months of February 
 and March : " but as I did not keep a perfect 
 diary," says this conscientious missionary in his 
 journal for the year, " I have passed it by, from 
 an apprehension that much might be now written 
 that was not accurate, and consequently not ac- 
 cording to truth. On the whole journey repent- 
 ance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, were proclaimed to the heathen and to the 
 Roman Catholics ; and at the request of my 
 brethren, I visited the different and distant con- 
 gregations in the country, in order to impress 
 upon their hearts a word of exhortation." 
 
 From Cuddalore, on his return to Trichinopoly, 
 Swartz thus addressed his friend, Mr. Chambers. 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I arrived here yesterday in the afternoon. 
 Your boys 1 have behaved very well, so that I 
 safely praise them in that respect. They have 
 had many a word of exhortation. You have 
 heard perhaps, that Mr. Obeck 2 is to change his 
 place. He has been hitherto employed by Mr. 
 Hutteman, as schoolmaster; but now, as the 
 
 1 Natives, whom Mr. Chambers was educating. 
 
 2 An account of the latter years of this pious man, is given 
 in the Memoirs of Dr. Buchanan, vol. i. p. 274.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 235 
 
 school here is decreasing, he will go to Vepery CHAP. 
 to assist our brethren there. 
 
 " In my journey I have frequently considered 
 your synagogue (remember me to the gentleman 
 who used that fine expression,) and wished you 
 divine blessing. But as in every Jewish syna- 
 gogue at least ten persons were requisite to keep 
 up divine service, so I wish you may increase in 
 ten times ten hundred, and if possible, thousand. 
 Let Jesus be your high priest and preacher. 
 Grow in him, and what I told you last, keep in 
 memory, or rather in constant practice. Read 
 frequently John xvii. 3, 11, 15, 16, 21; iW 
 
 UKTl, Katoq (TO TTttTCp V 6/ttOl Kayd) V <TOl, 
 
 i'va /cat avrot iv fipuv tv wat, t'va o KOG^OQ Triartvay on 
 
 av /UE aTreffTttXac. Let us, therefore, according to 
 that heavenly pattern and divine admonition, strive 
 to be one 
 
 " One in doctrine, 
 
 One in adhering to Christ, 
 
 One in loving him, 
 
 One in despising and renouncing the world, 
 
 One in loving one another, 
 
 One in bearing the cross. 
 
 "As God has made us equal in the share of 
 the most glorious benefits of the gospel, as having 
 given us one gospel, one baptism, one hope, one 
 glorious Redeemer, so he has thereby designed 
 us to be the same in brotherly love. And as
 
 236 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, without joint prayer that brotherly love cannot 
 '. be kept in proper vigour, let us endeavour to keep 
 
 1770. ,i_ , i i 
 
 up that holy exercise. 
 
 " We poor pilgrims at Trichinopoly hope to be 
 benefited by your hearty supplications. Bre- 
 thren, pray for us. Salute the brethren in the 
 Lord. Grace be with you ! Have salt in your- 
 selves, and peace with the salt ! 
 " I remain sincerely, 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 " and fellow pilgrim, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Cuddalore, March 30, 1770." 
 
 An extract from another letter relating to the 
 Christian Society referred to in the preceding, 
 may properly follow it. 
 
 " That you are united in a brotherly manner, 
 has rejoiced me very much. Such ' Collegia 
 biblica,' as we were used to call them, were the 
 beginning of that extensive blessing in Ger- 
 many. 1 Mr. Spener first instituted them, when 
 he was chaplain at Dresden. Afterwards Mr. 
 Francke, Mr. Anthony, and others, followed the 
 good example of Mr. Spener at Leipzig, and 
 from thence it became more fashionable. As you 
 kindly desire my advice in this matter, I will 
 1 About the year 1686.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 237 
 
 freely offer it, knowing that friends receive every CHAP. 
 
 thing of that nature, though they have a right, nay 
 
 are obliged, to prove every thing according to the 
 infallible rule of holy Scripture. I could wish, 
 that when, after reading the chapter of the Bible, 
 you begin to expound it, every member might 
 contribute something. In this manner you might 
 all learn to prophesy. The spirits of the prophets 
 are subject to the prophets, as you all know. 
 Likewise in respect of the prayer, one might 
 undertake it one Sunday, another the next, so 
 your gift might become beneficial to all. I con- 
 fess the joint prayer of my brethren has been 
 highly edifying to me, and even then, when the 
 person who prayed displeased himself. The 
 reading of the sermon, likewise, should not always 
 be by one. The world will also have less to cen- 
 sure. Yours is a brotherly society ; none is 
 greater, none less ; all upon that noble ground of 
 humility, and brotherly forbearance. And this 
 divine humility will keep every member from cen- 
 suring or gainsaying his brother. If humility 
 and sincerity govern your society, you will have, 
 I cheerfully hope, a great blessing. O that the 
 Spirit from on high might come upon us all, 
 that the barren might become fruitful, the weak 
 strong, 'and the mourners rejoicing ! Salute your 
 dear brethren in the Lord, and let this plain epis- 
 tle be read, if you please, by them. My heart
 
 238 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and love are with you. Remember us in our 
 
 VII. 
 
 '. desert, that here the waters of life may likewise 
 
 )W. 
 
 " Tricbinopoly, May 14th, 1770." 
 
 1770. a 
 
 now. 
 
 The person mentioned in the following letter 
 appears to have been a native who had been guilty 
 of some breach of trust confided to him by Mr. 
 Chambers. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I sent you some days ago a few lines. At 
 present I will in few words relate to you Suppa's 
 story. I went to Colonel Lang, took him out of 
 prison, and put him in mind of his duty. To my 
 astonishment, I learnt from his own mouth, that 
 he had formed a long while ago the scheme of 
 keeping the profit to himself. I told him that he 
 should act upon better principles. He promised 
 to pay you, according to his way of accounting, 
 within three months, seventy-five pagodas. I said, 
 very well, and let him go. If he brings it, well ; 
 if not, I shall not say much about it. 
 
 " I hope you go on prosperously in your Chris- 
 tian society. May the Spirit of Christ enliven, 
 comfort, and strengthen you ! How are the 
 colonel and Mrs. Wood ? Doth the work of God 
 prosper in their hearts? He wrote me a letter, 
 which gave me great hope.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 239 
 
 " Salute all our friends in the Lord. Grace be CHAP. 
 with you and us ! 
 
 1770. 
 
 " I am, 
 " Your fellow pilgrim, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, llth June, 1770." 
 
 " Mr. Green is worse." 
 
 The loss of the pious and useful man, whose 
 illness is thus briefly noticed, is the principal sub- 
 ject of the next letter. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND ; 
 
 " Your last favour I have received, and should 
 have answered it sooner, but I have been ill dis- 
 posed to write letters. The death of my friend, 
 Mr. Green, has made a great alteration in my 
 schemes, as you may easily imagine. For what 
 he could do, he did willingly, and with an eye to 
 the glory of God. The school was kept in good 
 order. Every Saturday we came together, con- 
 sulting one with another, how the school affair 
 might be mended ; and in a prayer we delivered 
 all to the care and blessing of our heavenly Father. 
 Now, a great deal of anxiety falls upon me. 
 However, God's will be done ! He knows best 
 what we want in this our pilgrimage. 
 
 " From the time of Mr. Green's death, I have 
 taken your George to me. He reads to me some-
 
 240 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, thing every evening, and I think he reads well, and 
 ' writes likewise. He is an active little boy, and has 
 assisted Mr. Green more than could be expected ; 
 kept his linen in good order, so that he loved him 
 as a father. I wish Willoughby's boy had a good 
 Christian master. He has learned hitherto under 
 the care of Mr. Green, and has given us hopes 
 that something of real Christianity is in his 
 heart. His foster-father has set up a shop ; but 
 is a man who neglects religion more than any one 
 here. If he should be employed by his father, I 
 am afraid he will be kept at work all Sunday. 
 
 " That our friend Mr. improves in the 
 
 knowledge of Christ, is a matter of great joy. 
 Blessed be God, who raises up himself a seed in 
 your place ! May Jesus reign in all your hearts ! 
 The blessing of being united in the Lord is so 
 great, that no angel's tongue can declare or ex- 
 plain it sufficiently. Stick, therefore, close to it. 
 Small inadvertencies in a brother ought to be over- 
 looked. I feel at present what it is to have and to 
 lose a companion in the road to heaven. It is an 
 invaluable treasure. In proportion as you grow 
 united, edifying one another in all simplicity and 
 brotherly love, you will experience an internal 
 growth in faith, hope, joy, and strength. May the 
 Lord Jesus be in the midst of your assembly, in- 
 vigorating and strengthening you by his Spirit ! 
 " My last letter has no doubt grieved you.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 241 
 
 The Tanjore affair has much dejected me. 1 The CHAP. 
 king is gone to visit some places, and will return ' 
 perhaps in eight or ten days. I shall try to go 
 thither. But to whom shall I deliver the care of 
 the church and divine service here ? Pray jointly 
 for me. May God guide me by his blessed 
 Spirit ! My hearty salutations to all the bre- 
 thren. 
 
 " I remain your sincere friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, 16th July, 1770." 
 
 The following extracts from three succeeding 
 letters, relate chiefly to the native boys whom 
 Svvartz was anxious to place under the care of Mr. 
 Chambers. 
 
 " Your last favour I received several days ago. 
 You ask me, what is to be done with your George ? 
 In my opinion, it would be best to take him from 
 hence ; because, what he is to learn, he will learn 
 sooner when he is with you. Moreover, he will 
 be freer from being infected. I spoke with the 
 boy's father, and he is very willing to let him go 
 to Madras; but there is now no necessity for 
 
 1 Referring to the approach of hostilities on the part of the 
 nabob of the Carnatic and the East India Com pany, against the 
 rajah of Tanjore. 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sending a im 
 water permit. 
 
 CHAP, sending; a man. I will send him as soon as the 
 
 VII. 
 
 1770. . 
 
 " May you be strong in the Lord, who is our 
 righteousness ! My kindest salutations to all our 
 dear brethren in the Lord. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, July, 28th, 1770." 
 
 " As to Willoughby's boy, I have spoken to 
 his father, who is very willing to deliver him over 
 to your kind care. For my part, I think you will 
 like the boy ; and he is very happy in hearing 
 that he should be trained up by you. May God 
 bless you, and all our brethren, externally and 
 internally ! 
 
 " Trichinopoly, August 15th, 1770." 
 
 " To-day Willoughby's boy sets off for Madras. 
 I hope he will turn out well. At least, I can 
 safely say, that he has given me all reason to 
 think so. The point of strict honesty I have in- 
 culcated on him, and he has promised faithfully. 
 Had he remained here for some time, I would 
 have prepared him for the sacrament ; but that 
 may be done at Madras much better ; the cold- 
 ness of his parents here was a great impediment 
 to it. I wish heartily poor Jacob could find a 
 good master. I cannot say so much for him as 
 for Willoughby's boy ; however, in point of ho- 
 nesty, I am not without all hope. I know re-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 243 
 
 commending is a dangerous thing ; neither would CHAP. 
 
 I go so far in respect of him : a master must try 
 
 him. Does not Mr. Toriano want such a boy if 
 not immediately, in a short time ? Jacob's father 
 would never, as he says, do any thing to spoil 
 him. Dr. Gordon goes to-day to Madras. I 
 have given him six hundred star pagodas to de- 
 liver to Mr. F , being the estate of Mrs. 
 
 H and her orphans. Within ten days, he 
 
 will be with you. As soon as he comes, you will 
 kindly take care to get the money, and to make 
 out a bond. Do you go on in your ' Collegio Bib- 
 lico ?' This evening I read before the soldiers, 
 Acts. xix. ' Have ye received the Holy Ghost ?' 
 Let us examine our hearts and lives frequently, 
 and try whether we can humbly answer the ques- 
 tion in the affirmative. 
 
 " May God pour out his Spirit upon us, so as 
 to create in us a universal hatred of sin, a true 
 and strong hunger and thirst after Jesus and his 
 righteousness, together with a willingness to bear 
 his cross ! 
 
 " Salute all the brethren in the Lord. Grace 
 be and remain with you ! 
 " Trichinopoly, August 30, 1770." 
 
 Of the devotional service with the soldiers al- 
 luded to in the preceding extract, Mr. Swartz gives 
 
 R 2
 
 244 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, an interesting account in his journal, and in a 
 letter to Dr. Knapp. 
 
 1770. 
 
 " When I return in the evening from my cus- 
 tomary excursion among the heathen, I hold a 
 prayer meeting with the English soldiers. This, 
 God has graciously not left without a blessing. 
 A chapter from the New Testament is read, some 
 verses expounded, and the services concluded 
 with some practical advice. Many attend this 
 evening prayer, and twenty of them have united 
 in devoting themselves sincerely to the Lord ; and, 
 to confirm their resolution, have received the holy 
 sacrament. These, on Sundays, after public 
 service, hold a special prayer-meeting, in which 
 they encourage themselves by sing-ing the evan- 
 gelical hymns of the blessed Watts, and, in their 
 own words, pour out their hearts before God. 
 The mutual agreement among them is, that if any 
 one lives in known sin, he is admonished, reproved, 
 and, on failing to amend, is to be excluded from 
 this special meeting. The gracious God direct his 
 eye towards them, increase their number, and guide 
 them by his Holy Spirit, to the glory of his name, 
 and the edification of each other !" 
 
 The two following letters to Mr. Chambers, in 
 the autumn of this year, beautifully illustrate the 
 piety and humility of their author.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 245 
 
 " Mr DEAR FRIEND, C vn P * 
 
 " Your kind letter I received several days ago, 
 
 J 3 1770. 
 
 by Tasunaick, together with the piece of broad 
 cloth. I thank you for your tender (I might 
 almost say too tender) regard for me, poor sinner ; 
 I wish nay, pray heartily, that you may always 
 appear clothed with the righteousness of your 
 divine Redeemer. Just now we considered, to 
 our mutual edification, in our evening prayer, that 
 excellent chapter, Rom. v. " Being therefore 
 justified by faith, we have peace with God 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ ; rejoice in the 
 hope of glory; rejoice even in tribulation.' What 
 inestimable blessings are these ! and all pur- 
 chased by Christ, and given freely to all hungry 
 and thirsty souls ! O that we might open our 
 mouths wide and be filled ! As I read you once 
 that passage in the garden, so I could not help 
 reflecting on it ; nay, I shall remember you as 
 often as I read it. May the Spirit of God be 
 poured out in our hearts, and may he display to 
 us the inconceivable wonders of the grace of God 
 towards us ! 
 
 " Your boys are now, no doubt, with you. I 
 hope and pray that they may be serviceable to 
 you. Let me by-and-bye hear of them. I forgot 
 to mention the last time that I have sent my pa- 
 lanquin to Madras. Mr. Evers, the nabob's 
 officer, borrowed it from me. You are welcome
 
 !46 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, to it. As soon as you desire it, lie is to let you 
 
 VII. . 
 
 have it. You may give him your palanquin. 
 May the God of all grace strengthen you to do 
 his will in all respects ! My best wishes to all 
 our friends. 
 
 " I remain 
 " Your affectionate friend and fellow-pilgrim, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, September 18th, 1770." 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " It is now a good while since I wrote a line. 
 It was the evening when I had been reading at 
 our meeting the 2nd chapter of the Epistle to the 
 Galatians. Now I have been reading the 2nd 
 chapter of the Revelation, and considered the 
 first Epistle sent to the angel of Ephesus. How 
 many things doth our Saviour approve of which 
 were conspicuous in the character of that bishop. 
 Nevertheless, he had against him that he had left 
 the first love. He still did many laudable things, 
 but the principle from which they flowed was no 
 more that pure and fervent love which formerly 
 used to move and influence him. His heart be- 
 came somewhat cold and indifferent, and he per- 
 formed many things more from custom than love. 
 I cannot say how that tender and mournful com- 
 plaint moved me. It was as if Jesus stood before
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 247 
 
 me, telling me, I have that against thee. My CHAP. 
 heart was quite melted down. Yes, no doubt, - 
 too many things, otherwise good in themselves, 
 are done without that noble spirit of love. O 
 that my heart might bleed for that unaccountable 
 coldness with respect to the love I owe to my 
 blessed Redeemer ; I repent of it sincerely, though 
 not so as I wish, remembering how great the fall 
 is. But how cheering is the promise, which that 
 beloved Redeemer gives to all those who over- 
 come that coldness, and strive to be fervent in 
 love. They shall ' eat of the tree of life, which is 
 in the midst of the paradise of God ; they shall 
 enjoy the sweet favour and love of God ; they 
 shall see and taste how good the Lord is.' May 
 this inestimable promise keep up a fire of love in 
 our breast ! May we condemn all coldness and 
 mere formality in religious exercises ! I hope 
 your heart is burning with the love of Christ, as 
 the heart of the disciples in the road to Emmaus. 
 Indeed, materials to kindle that fire in us are not 
 wanting, provided we take care and be vigilant. 
 Let us, then, mutually excite one another as long 
 as we have opportunity ; and let not the multi- 
 plicity of business damp that holy flame, which 
 ought to be burning continually. My heart 
 wishes you may be always a shining light ! 
 Amen ! Be it so !" 
 
 It is impossible not to feel, in reading this ex-
 
 248 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, quisite letter, how true it is, that the best and 
 VI1 ' holiest Christians are invariably the most humble. 
 1770. Yew, perhaps, ever retained their first and earliest 
 fervour of divine love in all its freshness and vi- 
 gour, through a longer series of years than this 
 admirable man. Yet with what tenderness and 
 depth of feeling does he lament his deficiency and 
 failure ! Surely this is an example of genuine 
 Christian affection, which ought powerfully to 
 appeal to the hearts of many who must be con- 
 scious of far greater declensions in the love of 
 Christ than any which he so pathetically deplores. 
 May the reflection tend at once to humble and to 
 animate us ! 
 
 After the brief summary of his labours during 
 this year, already noticed, Mr. Swartz gives a 
 more detailed account of them during the last 
 four months of it, in his journal. 
 
 On the 9th of October he left Trichinopoly on 
 a visit to Tanjore. He was accompanied on this 
 journey by the native catechist Saadtinaicken, 
 who was born there. Having reached Klicotta, 
 they conversed with a number of heathens, Ma- 
 homedans, and Romish Christians, on the im- 
 portant subject of the Creator of heaven and 
 earth, and his Son Jesus Christ. " While en- 
 gaged," he observes, " in this conversation, a 
 poor widow came and asked alms. They referred 
 her to me ; upon which I said, ' God has shown
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 249 
 
 mercy to every one of us, and thus teaches us our C n AP> 
 duty to one another. You have sent this poor VI1> 
 widow to me ; be not, then, hard-hearted, but mo - 
 let us all contribute something, and gladden her 
 heart.' But, alas ! no one of them would give 
 any thing." He alone relieved her. The next 
 day he arrived at Tanjore, and accompanied his 
 friend, Captain Berg, who had met him on the 
 way, to his house. 
 
 On Sunday the 14th he preached in the morn- 
 ing to the Tamul Christians, next to the Portu- 
 guese, and in the afternoon to a few Germans 
 who were there, from Matt. xxii. 34, on the ge- 
 nuine love of God, evidenced by its fruits. " The 
 day being cool," he says, " I went round the fort, 
 the poor heathen collecting in numbers to hear 
 the word of God. After conversing with them, a 
 Mahomedan approached, and asked me, ' What 
 was the difference between his religion and mine.' 
 To which I replied, ' We both have a heavy bur- 
 then of sin to carry. You have none to remove 
 it ; but we have, in Jesus Christ, a powerful de- 
 liverer.' ' 
 
 " On the 16th," he continues, " I repaired to 
 the river, where, during this month, the Brahmins 
 assemble daily, and read the history of Ram to 
 the numerous attending natives. On the way 
 thither I met the rajah's arikar, whose duty it is 
 to report to him every day whatever he sees ex-
 
 250 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, traordinary. ' Tell the king,' said I, ' that you 
 
 1 saw me, and that I testify to great and small, that 
 
 70 ' they should turn from dumb idols to the living 
 God; and that from my heart I wish that the king 
 would in this respect set his subjects a good ex- 
 ample.' ' Good, good,' he replied, ' I will tell him.' 
 *' The Brahmins sat in rows by the river. As 
 I approached, one said, ' Give something to the 
 Brahmins.' ' Well,' said I, 'first give me some 
 useful instruction teach me what relates to my 
 welfare, and then I will give you something 
 gladly.' Another said, ' This is our advice, that 
 if you give money to the Brahmins, you shall 
 prosper.' ' Is that all ?' I replied ; ' do you know 
 nothing more than that ?' I then copiously un- 
 folded the perfections of the great God, and our 
 obligation to worship and serve him only, our in- 
 gratitude and disobedience, the one method of re- 
 conciliation with him, the holiness and happiness 
 consequent upon cordially acquiescing in it. 
 Many listened in silence. The Brahmins after- 
 wards strongly commended my doctrine, and the 
 people testified their satisfaction. 
 
 " Farther on," he continues, " I sat down under 
 a shady tree. The river was skirted with a 
 border of verdant shrubs, and all looked fresh 
 and green after the abundant rain. My heart 
 was quite exhilarated by the view of God's lovely 
 creation. Many heathens approached, one of
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 251 
 
 whom said, ' What you were teaching yonder is 
 right and good.' Upon this I declared to them - 
 the counsel of God, and testified to them that we 
 must, in a short time, appear before the Judge of 
 all mankind, to give an account of our conduct ; 
 and that they would rue it everlastingly, if they 
 rejected the truth. A young man said, ' I will 
 hear the truth.' 
 
 " In the afternoon, I addressed the people at 
 the entrance of the fort, where they surrounded 
 and listened to me as long as I continued speak- 
 ing. O that God would give them an obedient 
 heart ! On my return, a Mahomedan frankly 
 said, ' The people talk of you very strangely, as- 
 serting that you come here to draw them over to 
 your religion.' I replied, ' They say what is per- 
 fectly true. I wish I could persuade them all to 
 turn to the living God.' ' So, then,' said he, 'you 
 avow that to be your object.' ' 
 
 It is remarkable that, though at the period 
 of this conversation there was some risk in 
 openly avowing, more particularly to a Maho- 
 medan, the intention and the earnest wish to 
 convert the natives to Christianity, so prudent 
 a man as Swartz did not hesitate to make such a 
 confession. It is at once a striking proof of the 
 simplicity of his aim, and the strength of his 
 faith, and of the general confidence which the 
 integrity and excellence of his character had con-
 
 252 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, ciliated, that it was followed by no reproach, 
 vn. J 
 
 and by no attempt to interrupt or counteract his 
 
 exertions. 
 
 On the 21st he preached, as on the pre- 
 ceding Sunday, in Tamul and Portuguese, and 
 afterwards addressed the Germans from Matthew 
 ix. ]. In the evening he took his usual walk, ac- 
 companied by two Mahomedans, who said, " The 
 people are fond of you." This led to a conver- 
 sation respecting the grace of God, and the way 
 in which the forgiveness of sin is to be obtained. 
 The next day, having gone early to the river, 
 among many of the natives who joined him one 
 of them said, " It is our fate to be heathens, and 
 a convenient season must first arrive before we 
 can change our religion." " You speak," said 
 he, " of blind fate, which you must yourself 
 acknowledge to be evil, yet you -reject a better 
 dispensation, against your own knowledge and 
 conviction. Can you suppose that the Almighty, 
 to whom you will have to render an account, will 
 accept this as an excuse ? The time will come 
 when you will regret having refused the means of 
 salvation. It is the fear of men which keeps you 
 in bondage." To the last observation they assented. 
 In the afternoon a large number assembled near 
 the fort to hear him. One of them, a lively 
 young man, said, " Shew me God, that I may 
 see him, and I will become your disciple." Mr.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 253 
 
 Svvartz replied, " You speak like a sick man, who CHA.P. 
 
 wishes to become well without taking medicine. 
 
 There is a sure way revealed by God himself; 
 follow it, and you will see him. This consists in 
 self-abasement and poverty of spirit, in repent- 
 ance, meekness, and humility, in hungering and 
 thirsting after righteousness." He then asked the 
 young man whether he would choose this way. 
 He went away like another mentioned in the gospel, 
 acknowledging that this way was too difficult. 
 
 The day following, he met with a learned Hin- 
 doo, at one of the resting houses, who took him 
 by the hand, and expressed great satisfaction in 
 seeing him, promising at the same time to be 
 obedient to the truth, should he be convinced of 
 it. Several sentences in the Tamul language 
 being visible on the wall, the Hindoo read them. 
 The substance was nearly as follows. 
 
 " Our ancestors have been taught to observe 
 many ceremonies, and have died. He will be the 
 true priest who can confer immortality." " What 
 say you to this," said the missionary ? " Do you 
 indeed desire true and happy immortality ? If so, 
 you may attain it." The Hindoo declared that the 
 immortality he wished to possess, consisted in 
 being exempt from pain, sickness, and death, and, 
 whenever he was so inclined, (such was his ex- 
 pression,) in being able to make an excursion to 
 the moon. " Your first care," rejoined Swartz,
 
 254 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " should be this : how, as a poor, guilty sinner, 
 you may be reconciled to God." " I know no 
 
 1770. . 
 
 sin," he exclaimed, "and wish for superior in- 
 struction from you." " Ah," said Swartz, " I per- 
 ceive that you are full of conceit the chief 
 knowledge you want is self-knowledge." 
 
 On the 31st of October, he left Tanjore, 
 and the next day arrived safely at Trichinopoly. 
 On the 15th of November he visited the great 
 Mosque, and addressed the assembled Mahome- 
 dans on the true way of obtaining grace. Their 
 legend respecting this mosque, is, that it contains 
 the remains of a celebrated fakir named Natter, 
 distinguished for his extraordinary miraculous 
 powers displayed there about seven hundred years 
 ago. It is frequented by the Mahomedans 
 every afternoon, particularly on a Thursday, to 
 worship God at the tomb of this pretended saint. 
 One of the superintendents told Mr. Swartz, 
 that " the annual income of this temple amounted 
 to about two thousand rupees, a sum insuf- 
 ficient to support the numerous families resid- 
 ing in its vicinity ; which," he added, " occa- 
 sioned continued quarrels." Two Mahomedans, 
 who spoke Persian very fluently, conversed with 
 him, and greatly extolled the merit of good 
 works. He observed, " that the real founda- 
 tion for the remission of sins was Christ's merit 
 and satisfaction. I will not," said he, " detain
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 255 
 
 you with long discussions, as you have just CHAP. 
 quoted the Persian proverb, 'He who disputes 
 loses every time a drop of blood from his liver. 
 I will, therefore, simply state the truth as re- 
 vealed to us in the gospel. We are sinners, and 
 deserve the wrath of God. Consider his pure 
 and holy nature. The more we think of God 
 and ourselves, the more we must be convinced, 
 that either we must suffer ourselves the punish- 
 ment due to our sins, or that another person 
 duly qualified must endure it in our stead. This 
 person is no other than Jesus Christ. God has 
 made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; ac- 
 cepting out of infinite compassion his atonement, 
 which he has sufficiently demonstrated by his re- 
 surrection. He is now the foundation of all 
 grace ; so that unless you seek through him the 
 forgiveness of your sins, the guilt will rest upon 
 yourselves, and you must bear the punishment." 
 Having then explained how the doctrines of re- 
 pentance, faith, and godliness, all spring from 
 this reconciliation with God through Christ, the 
 eldest of the Mahomedans, who had listened in 
 silence, at length said, " You have it one way, 
 and we another ;" but the other observed, " that 
 Mahomed also taught, that Iman, or faith, lies at 
 the foundation of good works." 
 
 In a letter to Dr. Knapp, datecLTrichinopoly,
 
 256 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C vn ? ' J anuar y 22, 1771, in which he gives a sketch of 
 his proceedings during the past year, Swartz thus 
 speaks of himself and his catechists. 
 
 " By the grace of God I am fully determined 
 implicitly to follow the Saviour, in whatever way 
 it may please him to make use of my poor ser- 
 vices. 
 
 " God has supported me and my native as- 
 sistants in a very signal manner. The latter are 
 perfectly well, and zealous in prosecuting the 
 work of God. There are five; 1st, Devanesen. 
 (Theophilus,) a man of quiet, peaceable disposi- 
 tion ; 2nd, his son, Rayappen, who formerly had 
 been my servant, but conducted himself with so 
 much propriety, that I appointed him school- 
 master ; 3rd, Sasdtinaicken, a man in his fiftieth 
 year, of a very cheerful and happy temper, who 
 has a peculiar gift in conversing with all kinds of 
 people ; 4th, Ignasimutta, thirty years of age, 
 who is very anxious to make known Christ ; and 
 lastly, Dewasagayam, whom I lately engaged on 
 account of his piety, and ability in teaching 
 others. Each receives monthly two pagodas, 
 which is little enough to support themselves and 
 their families. They are a great comfort to me, 
 and each of them possesses qualities which render 
 him useful in his department. During the last 
 year I heid many Papists and heathens under in- 
 struction. One of the assistants is then always
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 25 
 
 present to teacli the catechumens. The others I CHAP. 
 send to teach in the villages, which they do very vn * 
 willingly. In the afternoons one of them accom- mo> 
 panics me in my walks to converse with the na- 
 tives, and he addresses Christians and heathens 
 in my presence. I have often been surprised at 
 the great propriety with which they apply pas- 
 sages of the New Testament, to point out the 
 superiority of Christian doctrine. 
 
 " In the English school I have forty children, 
 who are taught by two pious soldiers, and I daily 
 examine them myself for an hour. In the Mala- 
 bar school thirty children, of whom twenty-six 
 receive a monthly gratuity of half a rupee. In 
 the forenoon they are instructed in reading and 
 Christian knowledge ; in the afternoons they are 
 taught netting, that they may be accustomed to 
 some employment." 
 
 In mentioning his journey to Tanjore, in Oc- 
 tober of this year, Mr. Swartz informs Dr. Knapp, 
 that the Roman Catholics appeared to be much 
 excited by his visit, and requested him to hold a 
 conference with their Padre on the doctrines of 
 Christianity, in their presence. To this he willingly 
 assented, laying down three excellent rules to be 
 observed during the discussion, viz. that it should 
 be conducted in the spirit of kindness and chanty ; 
 that the appeal should be exclusively to the word 
 
 VOL. i. s
 
 258 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of God ; and that correct minutes of the argu- 
 '. ments should be made in writino- so that the 
 
 ~ ' 
 1770 
 
 whole might be reviewed. When the day, how- 
 ever, appointed for the interview arrived, the Ro- 
 mish Padre, much to the displeasure of his people, 
 declined making his appearance. Swartz contented 
 himself with expounding to those who had assem- 
 bled, several beautiful passages of Scripture, such 
 as Matt. v. 1 10 ; John xiv. 6 ; 2 Cor. iv. 1 ; 
 1 Tim. iv. 6 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; and some of his hearers 
 expressed their conviction, that if a missionary 
 were settled at Tanjore, many would attach them- 
 selves to the truth. He concludes this letter, as 
 he did one of nearly the same date to the Society 
 for promoting Christian Knowledge, with an ear- 
 nest wish for additional aid in his mission. 
 
 " The king," he says, " having once desired 
 that I would settle at Tanjore, it might be well 
 to make the attempt. Who knows whether the 
 hand of God might not be with us, and many be 
 relieved from their wretched state ! 
 
 " Had I a colleague here, I might be absent 
 for some months. But if any thing be done in 
 Tanjore, a missionary must be constantly resident 
 there. I have mentioned the subject to the ho- 
 nourable society. May God in his mercy for 
 Christ's sake direct all things to the glory of his 
 
 name 
 
 i"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWART/,. 259 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Letter to Mr. Chambers at the commencement of the year 
 1771 The convert Nyanapracasam Progress of the mission 
 Death of two pious English soldiers Residence at 
 Trichinopoly Letters to Mr. Chambers Attack by the 
 Nabob and the English on Tanjore Peace restored Svvartz's 
 allusion to these events Violence of the Roman Catholics 
 against Nyanapracasam The conduct of Mr. Swartz upon 
 this occasion His preservation from an explosion of the 
 powder magazine in the fort His reflections on the event 
 Conversion of Sattianaden, and of a very aged man Visit 
 to Tanjore Interview with the Rajah Performs the mar- 
 riage ceremony in the palace Account of this, and of the 
 Rajah Letters to Mr. Chambers respecting one of his for- 
 mer servants, a convert to Christianity Swartz declines an 
 invitation from the Rajah for a political object. 
 
 THE record of Mr. Swartz's proceedings during CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 the year 1771, cannot be more appropriately 
 commenced than by the following letter to Mr. 
 Chambers. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " This is the first letter I write you this new 
 year. O may Jesus be glorified in your precious 
 soul, so as to be your wisdom, righteousness, 
 
 s2
 
 260 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, sanctification, and redemption ! We were read- 
 
 ' ing and meditating this evening on Coloss. ii. 
 
 wherein Jesus is set forth as our all the sum, 
 the centre, and fountain of all our bliss. What- 
 soever we want we find in him ; and are, as the 
 apostle says, ' complete in him.' In him we are 
 circumcised, by putting away the body of sin, 
 which is the true spiritual circumcision ; in him 
 we are buried, by being baptized in his name ; in 
 him we are raised from the dead, by believing in 
 him, and his divine resurrection ; by him we are 
 quickened with a true sense of the paternal fa- 
 vour of God, having our sins pardoned. If, then, 
 we have all in our divine Redeemer, how just and 
 comfortable is the conclusion, that we are not to 
 look out for any happiness in the new moons, 
 &c. Why should we run to the shadow, having 
 and possessing the body ? Why should we com- 
 plain of want of comfort or strength, having 
 Jesus? Let us stir up one another to a faithful 
 adhering to the fountain of all our bliss. But let 
 us receive him entirely as our all love, serve, 
 and glorify him as such by our whole life. Amen, 
 be it so ! May this year prove to us both, and 
 to our friends, a year of blessing, and peace, and 
 strength !" 
 
 During the whole of this year, with the excep- 
 tion of a few days, Swartz held preparatory ca-
 
 1771. 
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 2G1 
 
 techetical lectures from eight till eleven o'clock, CHAP. 
 and observes in his journal, that many of the 
 catechumens occasioned him much joy. Among 
 those who attended his first preparation was the 
 young Pandaram, 1 who had been so anxiously in 
 pursuit of religious truth, and who had so inge- 
 nuously resolved on listening to his instructions. 
 " To me and all the catechists," says Swartz, " he 
 has been a real joy. His desire after the word 
 of God, and his sincere love of prayer, as well as 
 his kind and jcharitable disposition, have been 
 clearly evinced. An officer who is sick, told me 
 that he heard him pray every night about twelve 
 o'clock for an hour together ; a custom which in 
 the simplicity of his mind he has since continued." 
 This young man, who was of a good caste, re- 
 ceived at his baptism the name of Nyanapracasam, 
 (spiritual light,) and was added as a sixth to the 
 number of the catechists. 
 
 This year the aged Schinappen, one of the first 
 converts at Trichinopoly, by the ministry of Mr. 
 Kohlhoff, had the gratification of seeing all his 
 relatives, with their families, attend Swartz's 
 preparation as catechumens. Many instances of 
 conversion amongst the Roman Catholics and 
 heathens occurred, the sincerity of which was 
 strikingly proved by resistance to every species 
 of allurement and persecution. " The increase 
 1 See page 232.
 
 262 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, in the congregation," he observes, " has been 
 greater than in the preceding year, one hundred 
 
 1771 
 
 and forty persons in all having been added to it. 
 We have also remarked more of the work of God 
 in the hearts of the catechumens, which has en- 
 couraged us cheerfully to persevere. The Lord 
 strengthen us daily in faith, love, and hope, that 
 we may go on from strength to strength, and 
 zealously promote his work in humility of heart, 
 and dependence on his blessing !" 
 
 Among the English soldiers, the blessing of 
 God had been remarkably evident ; and the little 
 company of the sincerely pious and devoted, 
 which had increased to thirty, were eminently 
 useful both in visiting the sick, and in accrediting 
 and adorning the profession of Christianity in the 
 estimation of all around them. An interesting 
 memorial of the death of two of those pious men 
 is recorded in Swartz's journal. The first of 
 them was an Englishman, who had during several 
 years lived as a true Christian. " There was a 
 manliness," he says, " in his whole deportment. 
 The Gospel of Christ was precious to him, and 
 produced a settled peace and holy courage in his 
 heart. This year he became sick. His pious 
 companions visited him diligently. His mind 
 was perfectly composed, and he longed for the 
 holy communion, which was administered to his 
 edification. Some hours before his death, I
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 263 
 
 visited him, and found him in a most happy frame. CHAP. 
 1 My sins,' said he, ' are forgiven me of God for 
 
 1771. 
 
 Christ's sake ; my heart has rest and peace ; the 
 enemy has no power over me. I look forward 
 with complacency to a blessed eternity. I would 
 not exchange with the king of England. O the 
 poor world, that it could but reflect what a blessed 
 thing Christianity is!' Then turning to me, he 
 said, 'And I thank you, my friend, for having 
 made Jesus Christ known to me.' 
 
 " At last he repeated several times that beau- 
 tiful sentence, ' Into thy hands I commend my 
 spirit ; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of 
 truth !' 
 
 " The other soldier, an Irishman, whom we 
 called old James, died about a month since ; an 
 ancient servant of Christ, who kept his heart with 
 all diligence. He frequently lamented, during his 
 days of health, that he was troubled with sinful 
 thoughts, which hindered his prayers. The very 
 ungodly acknowledged that he was a Christian. 
 He was in the habit of retiring alone in the night 
 to devotion. Prayer was one of his chief em- 
 ployments. He hesitated when he read ; but 
 when he prayed, it was scarcely perceptible. 
 This aged man was a blessed member of the pious 
 Soldiers' Society. The last time I saw him at 
 the hospital, he said that he had no particular 
 pain, but only general uneasiness. ' Well,' said
 
 264 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. I, ' James, you have nothing to object, should 
 the Lord Jesus call you home ?' ' Nothing, no- 
 
 1771 
 
 thing,' he replied with a smiling countenance. 
 We prayed with him, and the following night he 
 departed." 
 
 How cheering are such simple and genuine 
 memorials of those who, in a far distant land, 
 amidst so many dangers and discouragements, 
 lived and died in the faith and fear of God ! And 
 how incalculable the value of such a missionary 
 as Swartz both to the European and native in- 
 habitants of India ! Eternity alone can fully un- 
 fold it. 
 
 His residence at Trichinopoly was, indeed, an 
 interesting spot. Daily he assembled his cate- 
 chists, who were not on stations too remote, and 
 instructed them how to explain the truths of 
 Christianity, and to address the natives in a mild 
 and winning manner ; " trying," to adopt his 
 own expressions, " whether they might not be so 
 happy as to bring some of their wandering fellow 
 creatures into the way of truth." In the morning, 
 the catechists joined with him in prayer, and in 
 meditating on the word of God ; after which 
 every one was directed whither to go that day. 
 In the evening, they gave an account of their 
 labours, and the day closed as it began, with me- 
 ditation and prayer. During the day, many of 
 the natives, of various ranks, came to visit and
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 265 
 
 converse with him, as well as officers of the gar- CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 rison, who esteemed his character, and courted 
 his society. The widow of one of them, 1 who 
 still survives, and at whose table Swartz was a 
 welcome guest, bears the following pleasing tes- 
 timony to him. 
 
 " No time can efface the remembrance of that 
 remarkable man : more than half a century is 
 since gone over my head ; yet his features, his 
 sweetness of temper, and kind and courteous man- 
 ners, are still before me ; his information was 
 great and various, and whether he spoke of reli- 
 gion or of the world, it was delightful to listen to 
 him." 
 
 The two following letters continue his pious 
 and interesting correspondence with Mr. Cham- 
 bers. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " I have received your kind letter, and praise 
 God for all the blessings he bestows on you, and 
 for all the assistance he vouchsafes you in difficult 
 circumstances. This evening we were edifying 
 ourselves with Rev. vii. wherein we read of the 
 great number of those that were sealed, standing 
 before the throne, clothed in white robes and 
 palms in their hands. O may we always be 
 1 General Home.
 
 266 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, found in the white robes of the innocence and 
 
 VIII. 
 
 righteousness of our blessed Redeemer, and may 
 we in his strength be able to conquer all the 
 temptations we find ourselves surrounded with 
 every day ! It is altogether cheering to consider 
 that such vile and corrupted creatures as we are, 
 shall be adorned in so splendid a manner, and 
 that in the strength of our Saviour we, who are 
 so frail, shall become conquerors. See how 
 the angels and elders and the four living crea- 
 tures bless and praise God, ascribing to him all 
 power, glory, and thanksgiving. Let us join with 
 them, every day giving all glory to him ! Amen, 
 be it so ! 
 
 " Concerning the boy Jacob, I can say so much, 
 that within a year and a half we have observed 
 nothing of that childish or trifling behaviour, so 
 common amongst those people, (the Indo-Portu- 
 guese ;) but then I must likewise confess, that I 
 have not observed real Christianity. He attends 
 religious exercises, but the power of godliness I 
 cannot observe. I have often talked to him pri- 
 vately, laying before him the danger, and my 
 apprehension, of his falling into the same vices 
 with other Portuguese. But he has assured me 
 that he hoped God would preserve him. This 
 is all I can say of him. May the Spirit of Jesus 
 draw his heart to a sincere conversion ! I have
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 267 
 
 not mentioned a syllable of your intention to CHAP. 
 
 him. Do now as God guides you. Be happy ' 
 
 in him, who doth and will love you. 
 
 " I am, your's, sincerely, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, May llth, 1771." 
 
 How candid and conscientious is this character 
 of the poor boy, of whom he was naturally an- 
 xious to speak as favourably as possible, consis- 
 tently with truth ! And how perfectly may we 
 depend upon the statements of a man so evidently 
 judicious in his estimate, and cautious in his as- 
 surances respecting the influence of Christianity 
 on the natives of India ! 
 
 The next letter contains an animated exposition 
 of St. Paul's 1 eloquent description of the Chris- 
 tian panoply ; a passage of scripture peculiarly 
 adapted to the situation of Christians like Swartz 
 and his correspondent, amidst the strong holds of 
 the prince of darkness. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " Though I have not written to you for some 
 time, you are in my thoughts, I may say, every 
 day. I wish and pray that you may ' be strong 
 in the Lord, and in the power of his might.' 
 Without him we are nothing, and can do nothing. 
 Eph. vi. 1018
 
 268 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. But being united to him and his Spirit, we shall be 
 ' strong so as to gain the victory over all our ene- 
 mies. This strength, which comes from our 
 Lord, we need every day and hour, on account of 
 our enemies. c For we wrestle not against flesh 
 and blood,' or weak men only, ' but against prin- 
 cipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the 
 darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- 
 ness in high places.' St. Paul describes the ene- 
 mies, their power and malice, in a true, that is, 
 terrible manner, not to frighten, but to rouse us 
 to earnestness. Slothfulness will not do; a holy 
 zeal is absolutely necessary in order to overcome 
 such powerful and cunning enemies. 
 
 " Let us * stand, therefore, having our loins girt 
 about with truth.' The truth of the gospel, parti- 
 cularly concerning the Author of our salvation, is 
 like a girdle, that will keep close, and, as it were, 
 unite our strength. As soon as we let go the truth 
 we loose our girdle, and are like to dissipate our 
 strength. But as the principal truth of the gospel 
 concerneth the righteousness of Jesus Christ, let us, 
 above all, take and put on that perfect righteousness 
 as a * breastplate,' which covers our breast, and 
 screens our conscience, so that no accusation or 
 condemnation can reach and disturb it. And as the 
 gospel contains and sets forth that glorious righ- 
 teousness of Christ, let our ' feet be shod with 
 the preparation of peace.' When our enemies
 
 THE REV. C. F. SVVARTZ. 269 
 
 deride our relying on the righteousness of Christ, CHAP. 
 
 and ask us from whence we have it, let us say. 
 
 
 ' So it is written. The gospel is our armoury. 
 
 And whereas our enemies not only seduce but 
 likewise threaten ; let us, in that case, take 'the 
 shield of faith/ and trust in the providence of our 
 heavenly Father. Our faith in the goodness, 
 power, and veracity of God, is our shield, by 
 which we keep off, nay, ' quench all the fiery darts 
 of the wicked.' The glorious promises, scattered 
 up and down in the word of God, relating to his 
 providence and his preservation of his children, 
 and that all shall turn to their welfare, those 
 pacify our hearts. Nay, and if we suffer here, 
 let us look up to that great salvation, which shall 
 be, in a short time, our lot; let us use it as a 
 ' helmet,' on our head, that we may not faint. 
 And if our enemies will entangle and perplex us 
 with their sophistical and knotty questions, let us 
 take ' the sword of the Spirit, which is the word 
 of God/ and cut them all asunder. And lastly, 
 in our cheerful confidence, let us never be proud, 
 but maintain that most necessary poverty of 
 spirit, ' praying always with all prayer and sup- 
 plication in the Spirit.' What divine arms are 
 here offered to us ! To know and consider them 
 is good ; but to put them on and use them, 
 is infinitely better. The primitive Christians 
 used those arms in a very manly manner. O that
 
 270 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, the Spirit of Jesus Christ would enable us to be- 
 
 1 come true and faithful soldiers of our Lord ! Let 
 
 71 * us entreat him to strengthen us daily and hourly, 
 till the whole conflict is over ; and we can say, 
 ' It is finished ; I have fought a good fight.' 
 
 " Salute all our friends, and particularly Mr. 
 Toriano. I hope to write him a line next Monday. 
 
 " For the excellent eight handkerchiefs sent me 
 
 by Mr. O , I thank you kindly ; likewise for 
 
 the book you have bought for that truly Christian 
 soldier. He goes under the name of Bishop 
 Powers. This man prays so well, walks so cir- 
 cumspectly, and preaches so effectually to his 
 fellow soldiers, that I rejoice when I see him. He 
 is now at the Coleroon, but he has heard of your 
 kind present. 
 
 " As Colonel Flint has paid me one hundred 
 star pagodas belonging to Captain H.'s widow 
 and orphans, I have ventured to send them, in 
 hope you will take them, as you have the other 
 money. 
 
 " I should be obliged to you if you could send 
 me a pair of green spectacles my eyes seem to 
 want some help. 1 
 
 " Here all is full of rumour of war, and it 
 seems they will march against Tanjore, as it like- 
 
 1 An increasing affection of the eyes a few years afterwards 
 rendered writing painful to him, and gradually abridged the cor- 
 respondence.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 271 
 
 wise seems that the king is resolved to receive CHAP. 
 them. I am sorry poor king he may lose all ! 
 How wonderful is the way of God ! He is the 
 supreme governor. May divine grace, peace and 
 strength attend you in all your ways ! 
 " So wishes, my dear friend, 
 
 " Your friend and fellow soldier, 
 
 "C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, August 10th, 1771." 
 
 The war to which he alludes at the close of 
 his letter, was occasioned by an attack which 
 the rajah of Tanjore had made early in the year 
 on the polygar of one of the Marawars. These 
 being alleged to be dependencies of the Carnatic, 
 the nabob appealed to the government of Madras 
 as guarantees of the treaty between him and the 
 rajah, and urged them to insist on the latter re- 
 linquishing his design against Marawar. The 
 real object of the nabob was, doubtless, to em- 
 brace the opportunity of becoming possessed of 
 Tanjore, to which, however, he had not the shadow 
 of a claim, except in his own unjust and inordi- 
 nate ambition. But as the history of such dis- 
 putes forms no part of the purpose of these 
 memoirs, it will be sufficient to observe, that the 
 king of Tanjore refusing, or at least hesitating, 
 to comply with the demands of the nabob, the 
 English army, under General Smith, marched
 
 272 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, from Trichinopoly about the 12th of September, 
 
 ' and on the 16th arrived before Wallam, 1 a fortress 
 
 1771 ' of considerable strength, and one of the bulwarks 
 of Tanjore. The battery was not ready till the 
 morning of the 20th ; but towards evening the 
 garrison abandoned the fort. On the 23d the 
 army again marched and encamped before Tan- 
 jore. The operations proceeded slowly, but a 
 strong sally was successfully repulsed by the 
 British troops, and on the 27th of October, when 
 the engineers reported that a breach would be 
 practicable the next morning, the nabob's eldest 
 son, Omdut ul Omra, signed a treaty of peace 
 with the rajah, and hostilities for the present 
 ceased. It is to these events that Mr. Swartz re- 
 fers in the following letter to Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " Your very agreeable letter I have received. 
 Blessed be God for all his mercies bestowed upon 
 us, in spiritual and temporal concerns. His ways 
 are loving kindness and truth. Whatever he 
 
 O 
 
 doth, he doth it to our welfare ; and that, 
 according to his promises, to fulfil them, and con- 
 vince us that he is faithful. So he establisheth a 
 well-grounded faith in us in a practical method, 
 which is far preferable to the speculative one. 
 All his dealings with us tend to work or 
 1 Or Vellum. Mill's History of British India, vol. iv. p. 84.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 273 
 
 strengthen that divine principle of faith in us. CHAP. 
 Consider the Psalms in that view, and you will 
 
 J 1771. 
 
 admire, as I hope you have done already, the 
 glorious footsteps of divine Providence Provi- 
 dence ! a word often used, or rather abused, by 
 an unthinking world, is sweet to all those who 
 have an interest in the favour of God through 
 Jesus Christ. David was a pious and attentive 
 observer of the ways of God. Let us do the 
 same ; and we shall find much comfort and 
 
 strength by so doing. Our poor friend Mr. ! 
 
 alas, I am truly sorry for his circumstances. I 
 am loth to judge of him in a rash manner ; and 
 still I cannot help thinking, that had his heart 
 been better grounded in humility, he might have 
 been very serviceable to the cause of Christ, and 
 avoided those things which have hurt him and 
 others. Stedfastness is a noble quality, but un- 
 guided by knowledge and humility, it becomes 
 rashness. May God be his guide and comfort in 
 those dark circumstances ! I could heartily wish 
 he would converse again with his friends. Who 
 knows how God might alter things ? 
 
 " The Tanjore affairs begins to grow serious. 
 There is a little fort near Tanjore, Wallam, which 
 was battered yesterday. 1 We heard the report 
 of the guns very plainly. What shall we say to 
 these things? Your observation is very just; 
 1 This letter is without date. 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and I think that if any one of our Christians had 
 vni. ... 
 
 had Christianity enough to take him 1 by the hand, 
 
 he would, perhaps, have hearkened. But we want 
 something else Eheu ! Let us observe even in 
 this affair the footsteps of Providence ; how things 
 will end, and what will be the effects of them. 
 For nothing, God could never have permitted it. 
 Idolatry in the Tanjore country is very deeply 
 rooted ; and to overthrow it gradually, who knows 
 but God may use the present affliction ? We pray, 
 and will pray, ' Thy kingdom come,' to us, to all, 
 to Tanjore. Amen. 
 
 " I remain sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 P. S. This letter I wrote yesterday. To day 
 we hear that Wallam is taken, or rather, eva- 
 cuated by the Tanjourians." 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 "Your last favour of the 19th instant I have 
 
 received. Concerning Mr. 's dismission, your 
 
 and my final remark is almost the same. This will 
 in all likelihood open his eyes to treat other people 
 with more decency even when he tells them no- 
 thing but the truth. I hope a wise God will bring 
 some good out of that catastrophe. Whatever we 
 do, let us do it with humility, and submit the 
 whole to God, who can mend and rectify what is 
 
 1 Doubtless the king.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 275 
 
 amiss. When I read the evangelists, particularly CHAP. 
 
 the speeches of our Saviour to his disciples to- ' 
 
 wards the latter end of his ministry, I think they 
 consist mostly of admonitions to humility. And 
 when we consider how long God has borne with 
 us, I think we should not soon lose patience when 
 we endeavour to mend others. Yesterday we treat- 
 ed, in church, of Eph. iv. 1 6. To walk worthy 
 of our vocation, or calling, how necessary ! And in 
 order to do so, humility is placed in the front. 
 Meekness follows as a consequence, and forbear- 
 ance. The example of God and of Christ is pro- 
 posed to our imitation. O may the Spirit of 
 Christ lead and strengthen us at all times ! 
 
 " The Tanjore affair is almost every hour in my 
 mind. The army lies now encamped before it ; not 
 far from Captain Berg's house. When I pray, I 
 know not what to say. All I can say is, 'Thy 
 will be done !' Who knows what God intends 
 by this judgment, for the propagation of his king- 
 dom ! Farewell, my dear friend, and remember 
 me before God, that to me may be given more 
 grace, strength, and sincerity, in publishing the 
 glad tidings of salvation. 
 
 " At present we have here a philosopher 1 in 
 the preparation. He finds the doctrine of Chris- 
 
 1 In this and in several other letters, Mr. Swartz introduces 
 the original Tainnl words, with which his friend Mr. Chambers 
 was perfectly familiar. Translations of them, by an eminent 
 oriental scholar, are here inserted. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C yin P tians difficult, because he is void of humility. 
 
 His wife is more teachable, and seems to be of a 
 
 humble heart. He is of the merchant caste. His 
 
 son-in-law has left him, which he bears tolerably ; 
 
 his wife better. 
 
 " I am, and remain sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, Sept. 26th, 1771." 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " As I am sure you have prayed to God to 
 bring the affair of the war to a happy end ; so I 
 think myself obliged and very happy in giving 
 you the glad news of an accommodation, which 
 has taken place. To-day every thing is to be 
 settled. No doubt to-morrow we shall hear more 
 of all the articles. Blessed be God ! It would 
 have been a bloody affair if the fort had been 
 stormed. We have lost a great number of Euro- 
 peans and sepoys : the Tanjourians likewise. How 
 easily is human blood shed, and lives thrown away ! 
 
 " By the mercy of God we stand and are pre- 
 served. By Him only; for if the enemy had 
 power, he had swallowed us up long ago. Last 
 Sunday happened a peculiar case to us. A 
 young man who came to us with his father and 
 mother, six months ago, grew in true wisdom ; 
 and besides showed a truly Christian spirit, 
 almost above any of our catechists. The Roman
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 277 
 
 Catholic people have tried to delude him by per- 
 suasion, bribes, and at last threatenings. All 
 proving ineffectual, they fell twenty or more of 
 them upon the young man last Sunday, and 
 nearly killed him. For three hours the poor 
 creature was senseless. I heard it at ten o'clock, 
 but could not go to see him till twelve. I went 
 with the doctor, and found him senseless ; but 
 after bleeding he came to himself. His chest is 
 miserably hurt. The occasion was shortly this : 
 one of the young man's near relations came from 
 the country and fell sick. In his sickness he 
 called for this young man, Nyanapracasam, who 
 was reading to him and praying with him three 
 days. In the course of Saturday night he died. 
 Then came the papists to bury him ; but seeing 
 this young man, desired him to go away on ac- 
 count of his having received the Parreiar law. 
 He replied, ' If your catechist comes and tells me 
 so, I will go.' As soon as the catechist came, he 
 struck the young man with his slippers, and then 
 all fell on him, dragging him through the street. 
 The heathens cried out, ' Will you murder the 
 young man ?' They are of their father the devil, 
 and the pope. However, the young man praiseth 
 God, and is not dismayed. He is still very sick 
 Pray for us. 
 
 " Yours, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, Oct 22nd, 1771."
 
 278 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 VIII. t . , T ^ 
 
 " MY DEAR .FRIEND, 
 
 " At present being confined at home by some 
 showers of rain, I take my pen to write you a 
 line or two. By the upholding mercy of God, I 
 and my assistants are tolerably well. The affair 
 of the Romish people has given me some trouble ; 
 it has occasioned at least some loss of time. 
 They applied to the nabob's son, who was glad 
 to take the matter into his hands. I was quite 
 resolved to drop the affair, after some admoni- 
 tions to peace and quietness ; but they threw 
 themselves upon the nabob, who, as it appears, 
 has squeezed them. They have not been afraid 
 of threatening me with the worst things ; but my 
 security is in God my support. The padre sends 
 presents to the general and all the head people. 
 I have been quiet. It would have been folly in 
 me to expect any thing from those who, in all 
 respects, side with * the beast.' 
 
 " Mr. Gericke has informed me of your kind 
 present of a pair of spectacles, &c., which he will 
 send by the first opportunity. Mr. Fabricius 
 writes me that my salary of one hundred and 
 twenty-five pagodas is payable on the 6th of De- 
 cember. I have desired him to pay it to you. 
 My intention is to put into your hands two hun- 
 dred and fifty pagodas; and, if agreeable to you, 
 to take the accustomed interest, in order to main-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 279 
 
 tain one catechist from it. Let me know whether CHAP. 
 . , , viii. 
 
 you agree with my proposal. 
 
 " Yesterday we treated of the day of judgment. 
 O may our life be nothing but a preparation for 
 that awful day ! May we have that unspeakably 
 joyful sentence, ' Come, ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit the kingdom which has been prepared for 
 you.' If Jesus is our friend, we have nothing to 
 fear; for He it is that is appointed to be our 
 judge. To his kind care and blessing I commend 
 you and your concerns, remaining 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, Nov. 25, 1771." 
 
 The conduct of Swartz upon the occasion 
 detailed in the preceding letter, which was so 
 much calculated to excite his own indignation, as 
 well as to discourage the native converts, affords 
 a striking proof both of his Christian meekness 
 and wisdom. His catechists were naturally anx- 
 ious that he should prosecute the affair to the 
 utmost ; but he well knew how hopeless it was 
 to expect justice in such a case from Mahome- 
 dans, and rightly judged, as experience after- 
 wards proved, that the violence of the papists 
 would probably disgust not only their own ad- 
 herents, but even the heathen themselves, and 
 thus tend, as in the days of primitive persecu-
 
 280 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, tion, ' to the furtherance of the gospel ;' while 
 
 Vlli. 
 
 the patient endurance of the cross would no less 
 
 1771. 
 
 contribute to strengthen and animate his own fol- 
 lowers. This truly wise and Christian view of 
 the subject is evident in his next letter to Mr. 
 Chambers, in which, after briefly, but emphati- 
 cally noticing his incessant labours, he resumes, 
 and beautifully concludes it. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 1772. <c After a long silence, I take the pen to write 
 you a line or two. I hope you are convinced 
 that, though I am sparing in writing, I am not in 
 remembering you. Hitherto my engagements 
 have been so close one upon another, that I had 
 almost no time for private study, except the night 
 time. 
 
 " In my last I mentioned the proceedings of 
 Madur ul Mulk, 1 concerning the abused Chris- 
 tians. It happened as I imagined. He began 
 to inquire ; but as he found the other party alone 
 guilty, he desisted, and let them go. He pro- 
 mised afterwards to give me in writing that they 
 should do so no more ; but even that he has not 
 kept. However, I am not very sorry. Our help 
 cometh, and must come, from another quarter. 
 If God be with us, who will be against us ? 
 
 1 One of the nabob's younger sons, who was his representa- 
 tive at Trichinopoly.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 281 
 
 Neither do I think that the blasphemies of the 
 
 papists will do us any harm. Even now is a 
 
 . . 1772 - 
 
 family in the preparation, which was threatened 
 
 to be turned out of their tribe ; but the young 
 man and his mother answered with a good deal 
 of courage. Another before him argued the case 
 with them with equal courage. I could relate 
 many more things ; but you know the nature of 
 the kingdom of Christ. It was and is disliked 
 and hated ; and every one who desireth to be a 
 genuine disciple of Jesus, must bear the cross : 
 and by doing so he never will be a loser. Blessed 
 be God for his unspeakable mercy in revealing 
 his divine will, and strengthening us to do it ! 
 Our condition here is much the same as I men- 
 tioned in my last. Amongst the officers is less 
 desire to frequent divine service than when you 
 were here. The cause is plain. O ! they know 
 not what belongs to their peace. 
 
 " May Jesus Christ and the blessings of the 
 redemption become more and more precious to 
 you; may you hence have peace and joy; may 
 you, by him, grow in all Christian virtues ! 
 " I remain sincerely, 
 
 " My dear friend, 
 " Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Tricliinopoly, Feb. 1st, 1772."
 
 282 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Within a fortnight after the date of the pre- 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ceding letter, Swartz gratefully acknowledges his 
 
 preservation from the effects of a lamentable 
 event, which proved fatal to many around him. 
 This was the explosion of the powder magazine 
 in the fort, in the afternoon of the 14th of February. 
 " By this calamity," he writes, " many Europeans 
 were killed and wounded, and a much greater 
 number of the natives. The whole street was 
 covered with the massive stones, of which the 
 magazine was constructed, with men prostrated 
 beneath them. Besides the powder which ex- 
 ploded, a multitude of shells and cartridges de- 
 scended like hail." The windows of his house 
 were shattered, and several balls flew into the 
 room next him ; but amidst the surrounding dan- 
 ger, both he, his catechists, school-children, and 
 members of his congregation, providentially es- 
 caped unhurt. It is to this that he refers in the 
 following letter to Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " By this time I suppose you are sufficiently 
 informed of that divine judgment executed by a 
 holy God on this sinful place. I will not, there- 
 fore, enlarge upon it, but bless God for his divine 
 protection which he vouchsafed me, the children, 
 and congregation. Human chastisements are 
 trifles when compared with divine ones. Well
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 283 
 
 may we stir up one another to fear God as well CHAP. 
 J r viii. 
 
 as to love him. So many hundred souls sent into 
 
 i 11 
 
 eternity, without a moment s warning, with all 
 
 their sins about them how terrible ! No doubt 
 many were amongst those unhappy people, who 
 dreamed of repenting to-morrow. May we be 
 wise, and employ the present time to the best of 
 purposes ! May we never slumber, lest the 
 bridegroom come at midnight, and find us sleep- 
 ing. Blessed are those that wake, and keep their 
 garments undefiled ! 
 
 " This I write just before I go to Tanjore. 
 Pray for me, and those that may hear the word of 
 God. I wished Mr. Gericke might come here for 
 some months ; but that seems impracticable. 
 ' The harvest truly is great, but the labourers few.' 
 O that God would stir up many to come and 
 help ! We wait upon thee, O God. Let us not 
 be put to confusion. The enemy is at present 
 fierce. May God strengthen us ! I remain 
 " Yours, in the Lord, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, March 3rd, 1772." 
 
 At the commencement of this year, Mr. Swartz 
 not only preached the gospel in Trichinopoly and 
 the neighbouring villages, but sent out his cate- 
 chists, generally two together, to distant places, 
 where their labours were more than usually sue-
 
 284 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 cessful. Among the converts 
 
 period added to his congregation, was a young 
 
 CHAP, cessful. Among the converts who were at this 
 
 1772. 
 
 man from the" country, who, having been met 
 by one of the catechists, was conducted to 
 Swartz. He remained with him several days, 
 heard his instructions in silence, and at length 
 avowed his conviction of the falsehood of hea- 
 thenism. He then desired to go into the country, 
 and, after a few days, returned with his mother. 
 He continued to attend diligently to reading and 
 prayer, and, at his baptism, received the name of 
 Sattianaden, Professor of the Truth. Many of his 
 relations were much offended at his conversion; 
 but he advanced steadily in Christian faith, ac- 
 companied the missionary and his assistants in 
 their excursions, and manifested, upon various oc- 
 casions, his humility as well as his courage. In a 
 short time he was received as a catechist, " only," 
 observes Swartz, with his usual judgment, " I 
 never send him forth alone, but in company with 
 an elder assistant, that if he should happen to be 
 roughly treated, he may have some one to con- 
 sole him." Sattianaden proved, as it will here- 
 after be seen, a genuine and valuable convert, 
 and was distinguished during a long course of 
 years for his useful and laborious services in the 
 mission, to which he became thus early and hap- 
 pily attached. 
 
 Another instance of conversion, of a very in-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 285 
 
 teresting nature, occurred at this time, which is 
 particularly mentioned in his journal for the year. 
 It is that of a man, said to have been more than 
 a hundred years old, who placed himself under 
 instruction, and, considering his extreme age, 
 comprehended well what he was taught, and 
 prayed fervently. Not long afterwards he was 
 taken ill, when he earnestly entreated that he 
 might not be allowed to die unbaptized ; " for," 
 said he, " I believe in Jesus Christ." He was 
 accordingly baptized and received, and was named, 
 at his own request, Rayappen, (Peter,) after one 
 of the younger catechists, to whom he was much 
 attached. During his illness, he desired to be 
 read and prayed with diligently. " I visited 
 him," says Swartz, " the day before his departure, 
 when he said, ' Now, padre, I am going to the 
 kingdom of blessedness ; and when I am gone, 
 see to it that my wife, who is ninety years of age, 
 may at length follow me.' Soon afterwards he 
 expired, and, as an old man of a hundred years, 
 and a child of God of a few months, he received 
 honourable and Christian burial. His aged wife 
 is now under preparation, and has hitherto de- 
 lighted us by her grave, devout, and quiet de- 
 meanour. She partakes of the spirit of those 
 holy matrons of whom Paul and Peter wrote. 
 She is now about to receive with us the holy
 
 286 t MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C vnr communion. May the Lord bring in her children 
 and relations also !" 
 
 1 / 1 <% 
 
 Early in March, as intimated in his last letter 
 to Mr. Chambers, Swartz proceeded to Tanjore, 
 accompanied by three of his catechists. On the 
 day after his arrival, the king having heard that 
 he had been explaining the doctrines of Chris- 
 tianity to his officers and servants in the palace, 
 desired to hear him himself. He was accordingly 
 conducted to a shady tree in the court before the 
 king's apartment, who, before he was aware, ap- 
 proached him, holding a yellow umbrella. " At 
 first," he says, " I did not recognize him, as 
 he was very thin compared with his robust ap- 
 pearance when I saw him two years before. 
 Having made a low salam to him, ' Padre,' he 
 said, ' I wish to speak with you privately ;' and 
 led me to a detached court. We had been to- 
 gether only a few minutes, when the great Brah- 
 min, who might be called the court chaplain, joined 
 us. The king prostrated himself to the ground, 
 and afterwards stood before him, with folded hands, 
 while the Brahmin placed himself on an elevated 
 seat. The Rajah gave me a sign to address the 
 Brahmin, who also expressed a wish to hear the 
 discourse which I had delivered in the palace the 
 preceding day. I then directed him to the su- 
 preme Creator and Preserver of all things, and to
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 287 
 
 the worship worthy of him, pointed out the folly of 
 adoring images and departed men, urged the de- 
 pravity of mankind, and exhibited the mercy of 
 God in Christ, and the method of salvation by 
 repentance and faith in the Saviour. The Brah- 
 min listened in silence, and I was desired to with- 
 draw a little." Refreshments were afterwards 
 brought ; and while he was partaking of them the 
 king asked him many questions respecting the 
 nature of repentance ; and particularly whether it 
 were allowable to return to the sins which we pro- 
 fessed to lament. The faithful missionary replied, 
 that " true repentance consisted in an hatred of 
 all sin, which was inconsistent with such a return." 
 And to an inquiry as to what he thought of the sin 
 of drunkenness, though he perceived its tendency, 
 he took occasion, after the example of the great 
 apostle, to " reason concerning temperance." 
 
 Notwithstanding his Christian boldness and 
 fidelity, it is evident that Swartz had conciliated, 
 in no common degree, the confidence of the Rajah, 
 and that he was anxious to see and hear him as 
 often as his superstitious dread of offending the 
 Brahmins permitted. Intending to marry the 
 daughter of Captain Berg to another European 
 officer in his service, he desired that they might 
 be previously examined and instructed in Chris- 
 tianity. At the end of a fortnight, the day for 
 their marriage was fixed ; and the king, having
 
 288 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, expressed his wish to be present at the ceremony, 
 the bridal party met towards evening in the open 
 
 1 772 
 
 air, in front of the female apartments in the pa- 
 lace. Mr. Swartz was accompanied on this singular 
 occasion by two of his catechists and a school- 
 master. In the following letter to Mr. Chambers, 
 after mentioning the case of a promising cate- 
 chumen, and his interviews with the Rajah, he 
 details the particulars of this marriage ceremony. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " Your kind letter I have received by Nalla 
 Tambi, who has been with us seventeen or eighteen 
 days, reading, hearing, and attending public and 
 private prayers. He seems to be pleased with 
 such exercises. Here he is as in a desert. He 
 has no communication with men, except with the 
 catechists, who teach him something daily out of 
 the New Testament. May divine grace work in 
 him a thorough change of heart ; for without that, 
 all other exercises would prove fruitless. I shall 
 now soon see whether I stay here longer, or de- 
 part ; consequently, whether Nalla Tambi will be 
 baptized here or at Trichinopoly. 
 
 " Concerning affairs here, I am quite in the 
 dark. The last time I was here, I saw the king 
 four times, and spoke with him, more or less, of 
 Christianity. But as soon as Manoziappa was 
 put at the head of the government, the king was
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 289 
 
 to be seen no more ; because such intercourse CHAP. 
 
 was not proper ! The king himself is very free, ' 
 
 and speaks with one as a brother ; but, unhappily, 
 he is addicted to intoxicating drugs, and the love 
 of women. These two things lessen his sense and 
 authority. Were he to converse freely with 
 Christians, I firmly believe he would be per- 
 suaded to be a Christian. He told me once, 
 in reply to my entreaty that he would give up 
 his heart to God, ' Alas ! my padre, that is no 
 easy matter !' 
 
 " I fancy you have heard that the king desired 
 me to marry a couple in his palace, which I did. 
 First we began with a hymn ; then I prayed ; 
 after prayer, I preached a sermon in Malabar, 1 
 explained the duties of man and wife, and en- 
 forced them by Christian motives, warning against 
 the opposite vices by all that is awful. The king 
 and his first people stood round us, hearing with 
 attention, and even making his remarks. His 
 women were before me, though concealed by a 
 screen. All this displeased the devil. 2 
 
 " We have been since preaching every where 
 in and out of the Fort ; to which purpose I 
 brought three catechists from Trichinopoly. About 
 ten days ago, I was talking to a number of peo- 
 ple, when I was attacked by two servants of the 
 
 1 Tamul. 
 
 2 The Brahmins considered it a dangerous innovation. 
 VOL. I. U
 
 290 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. king. Leaving me. they went into another street, 
 
 VIII. J 
 
 where they found Rayappen (my former servant) 
 and Nyanapracasam, (the young man who was 
 abused by the Papists in Trichinopoly.) These 
 two were reading the New Testament to many 
 people, in which work they were attacked by those 
 two servants of the king, 1 beaten, and deprived of 
 their Testaments. Rayappen and Nyanapracasam 
 have behaved like Christians, declaring to all the 
 people present, that they were not ashamed to 
 suffer for the sake of the truth. You see, then, that 
 the word of God meets with the same treatment 
 everywhere. May Jesus begin to open the eyes 
 of the Gentiles, that they may come and receive 
 the salvation which is prepared for them also ! 
 
 " Now, my dear friend, pray heartily for us, 
 and be strong in the Lord, that when he shall call 
 you into another field, you may glorify him. 
 Amen ! 
 
 " I am, sincerely, 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Tanjore, May 20th, 1772." 
 
 The preceding letter was written during the 
 second visit of Swartz to Tanjore, in this year. 
 He remained there, upon each occasion, a month, 
 and 1 , during the latter, he had the satisfaction of 
 
 1 Swartz afterwards thought they might be disguised Papists.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 291 
 
 having his place supplied at Trichinopoly by Mr. CHAP. 
 
 Gericke, who, at the request of the Society for ' 
 
 promoting- Christian Knowledge, had proceeded 
 thither from Cuddalore. On his return to Tri- 
 chinopoly, he thus resumed his correspondence 
 with Mr. Chambers. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " NallaTambi, your former servant, desirethto 
 return, after he has been instructed and baptized. 
 He has behaved, during the time of his being in- 
 structed, in such a manner as to give us hope that 
 he will prove sincere. But as he has met with 
 no temptations in money affairs, one cannot judge 
 of it. May the knowledge of Jesus and of all his 
 sufferings cleanse and strengthen him against all 
 temptations of that sort ! The point you men- 
 tioned has been frequently inculcated upon him, 
 and now nothing remains but to pray for him, that 
 he may follow the guidance of the blessed Spirit. 
 As Mr. Gericke will acquaint you with all that 
 passed here, or at Tanjore, I will not repeat it. 
 May God bless us, and all the earth fear him ! 
 
 " Wishing you a true enjoyment of that inesti- 
 mable peace of mind, purchased by Jesus, and 
 applied by the Holy Ghost, I remain 
 
 " Your sincere friend and brother, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, June 16th, 1772." 
 
 U'2
 
 292 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 VIII. 
 
 " It is now above eight days since NallaTambi, 
 
 177 
 
 (or, as he has chosen the name of, Pracasam,) 
 went from this place to Negapatnam. I suppose 
 he is now with you. He has attended tolerably 
 well ; so that I am not without hopes of his good 
 behaviour. He desired me, before he was baptized, 
 to intrcat you to be his god-father. I told him 
 that you would readily perform the duty of god- 
 father, provided he would behave as a Christian. 
 He is naturally passionate, but not malicious. 
 The points you mentioned in your letter, I have 
 endeavoured to instil into his mind. May the 
 Spirit of Jesus Christ stir him up daily to watch 
 and pray ! You know how to behave to such 
 beginners ; how to treat them with a kind severity. 
 Though such people have a good will and inten- 
 tion, they must not expect that we should trust 
 them immediately, much less blindly. I beseech 
 the Father of mercy, to grant him a truly Chris- 
 tian spirit, ' to walk worthy of the vocation where- 
 with he is called.' 
 
 " Some weeks ago, I received the last sum of 
 one hundred pagodas, that belong to Capt. Heyn's 
 orphans. I have forwarded them to Madras, and 
 desired Mr. Fabricius to offer them to you. 
 
 " Concerning my circumstances, I cannot say 
 much about them. The worst is, whatever is 
 done at Tanjore, transpireth immediately : and so
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 293 
 
 their schemes prove abortive. I had wished you CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 had been there. But, alas ! there are wheels ' 
 within wheels. The poor king desired sincerely 
 peace ; but his own people are treacherous crea- 
 tures. For my part, I bewail their confusion, and 
 entreat God to assist them, or rather to revive 
 them. 
 
 " When I consider how many people heard the 
 word of God, and what a prospect of a harvest 
 there was in that place, I wish heartily some la- 
 bourers could be sent there. But our duty is to 
 be faithful in that which is committed to our care. 
 I have at present eight 1 catechists, who are willing 
 to glorify the Redeemer, according to that mea- 
 sure of grace which is given them. Let us daily 
 join heartily in lifting up our hands and hearts to 
 God from whom cometh all gifts and blessing. 
 May his kingdom come, even amongst the blind 
 heathens. Amen ! 
 
 " Wishing you all that is needful to you in 
 your station, in order to enjoy peace yourself, and 
 to glorify your Maker and Redeemer, I remain 
 " Your sincere friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Tiichinopoly, July 1st, 1772." 
 
 What a beautiful illustration do the preceding 
 lettersafford of that union of zeal with judgment 
 1 The eighth was named Abiseganaden, (Christian.)
 
 294 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and of hope respecting the sincerity of his converts, 
 with that cautious reserve which his sagacity and 
 
 1772. . . 
 
 experience, as to the natives ot India, had taught 
 him to be so necessary, which peculiarly distin- 
 guished the character of this eminent missionary ! 
 How anxious he is not to excite too sanguine ex- 
 pectations in the mind of his friend as to the con- 
 version of his late servant, and how admirable 
 his suggestion, to treat him with a kind severity ! 
 The wisdom of Swartz is equal to his piety and 
 love. In his next letter to Mr. Chambers, he re- 
 fers to a fresh call to Tanjore. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " To-day I received your kind favour just be- 
 fore I would catechise the children. In the time 
 of catechization I got a letter from Tanjore, in 
 which 1 was invited to come, the rajah desiring to 
 see me. The poor people will be afraid now lest 
 they may share the fate of the Marawar l rajah. I 
 shall, if God pleaseth, take a journey thither 
 next Monday. O that they might consider in time 
 what belongs to their peace, before it be too late ! 
 Now you may sharpen your fervour in prayer. 
 Remember them and me before the throne of 
 grace. But let none know any thing of this 
 journey. The last time, the Cuddalore people 
 
 1 This is an allusion to the recent conquest of hoth the Ma- 
 rawar Polygars, by the nabob of the Carnatic.
 
 THE REV. C. F SWARTZ. 295 
 
 were very industrious to spread their conjectures, CHAP. 
 which is often prejudicial to the cause of God. 
 May God bless all your study and prayer ! When 
 you can send a line it is very acceptable ; but I 
 desire it not at the expense of your precious time. 
 The time is truly short ! Happy if we spend it 
 to the best of purposes. Wishing you a daily 
 supply of divine grace and strength, 
 
 " I remain 
 " Your sincere friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, July 29th, 1772 ." 
 
 The object of the king's invitation to Swartz at 
 this time was, as he mentions in his journal, of a 
 political nature. He perceived the storm which 
 was approaching him on the part of the nabob of 
 the Carnatic, and was desirous of employing the 
 respected missionary as a mediator between him 
 and the English, in order to revive their drooping 
 friendship. " Now," he observes, " this in itself 
 would not be sinful ; but it is a dangerous matter 
 to engage in such things with a people so prone 
 to deceit ; and this I distinctly avowed to them. 
 The king said, ' Padre, I have coirfidence in you, 
 because you are indifferent to money.' But his 
 officers did not wish me to be engaged in this 
 affair, lest their own iniquity might be discovered. 
 And thus it passed off; for which God be praised,
 
 296 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, as I had no occasion to declare fully my averse- 
 
 VIII. 
 
 ' ness to the employment." 
 
 Here again it is impossible not to admire the 
 testimony borne by the friendly rajah to the 
 known superiority of Swartz to the prevailing 
 love of money, and the Christian integrity and 
 prudence with which he guarded against every 
 
 engagement which might in the remotest degree 
 hinder or interfere with his one grand object of 
 promoting the gospel in India. 
 
 In the month of October, he again visited 
 Tanjore, and conversed with numbers of all ranks 
 on the great truths of Christianity. Upon one 
 occasion, however, he was forbidden by an inferior 
 
 officer to preach so publicly without an order 
 from the king; upon which he inquired, whether 
 he had any authority to interrupt him in the 
 peaceable exercise of his duty ; and finding that 
 he had not, he concluded that a Brahmin who 
 happened to be present had excited this tempo- 
 rary opposition. 
 
 On his return to Trichinopoly, he spent the 
 rest of the year in his usual sacred occupations, 
 in which the goodness of God permitted him to 
 witness much that was hopeful, to the strengthen- 
 ing of his faith and the comfort of his heart in the 
 midst of many discouragements and trials. He 
 thus piously concludes his journal. 
 
 " With this I close, and praise the merciful
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 297 
 
 God for his unmerited goodness to me and the CHAP. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 eight assistants during the whole year. May He, 
 
 according to the riches of his mercy, forgive us 
 whereinsoever we have, either inwardly or out- 
 wardly, in act or omission, offended him ; clothe 
 us with the perfect righteousness of our Redeemer, 
 anoint us with his Spirit, enlighten, strengthen, 
 and bless us all, to the praise of his mercy. 
 Amen !"
 
 298 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Mr. Swartz visits Tanjore Places a Catechist at Vellum 
 Letters to Mr. Chambers and the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge Renewed hostilities against the Rajah 
 of Tanjore Capture of the Fort and City Unfavourable 
 effect on the ministry of Swartz Two journies to Madras 
 Progress of the Mission at Trichinopoly Death of Colonel 
 Wood Lettei-s of Swartz to his children Restoration of the 
 Rajah of Tanjore Arrival of a new Missionary His death 
 Mr. Pohle sent from Tranquebar to supply his place Fre- 
 quent visits of Swartz to Tanjore Letter to Professor Frey- 
 linghausen Rajah of Tanjore At his request Swartz learns 
 the Mahratta language Translates his Tamul Dialogue for 
 the Rajah's use Account of that tract State of the Mission 
 at the close of the year 1 777. 
 
 CHAP. EARLY in the ensuing year Mr. Swartz proceeded 
 to Tanjore, and finding that an opportunity pre- 
 sented itself of preaching the gospel in the neigh- 
 bouring fort of Vellum, he determined on placing 
 a catechist there, and occasionally visiting it him- 
 self. Of this additional station he informs Mr. 
 Chambers in the following letter.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 299 
 
 CHAP. 
 IX. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 1773 
 
 " It is now a long time since I have asked you 
 how you did. The business which keeps you 
 from writing oftener is the very same cause of 
 my delaying it so long. But besides the friendly 
 inclination of writing you a line or two, I was 
 stirred up in a particular manner, by finding some 
 of your papers in the bureau Colonel Wood gave 
 me. As they may be useful, nay necessary to 
 you, for aught 1 know, (for I have not perused 
 them,) I resolved to send them to you. 
 
 " Another question which I would put to you 
 is, whether you have received those books which 
 you desired me to write for, and which were sent 
 to your brother 1 at Oxford, as the late Dr. Knapp 
 wrote me. 
 
 "Yesterday evening we were finishing a short 
 cursory explanation of the Revelation of St. John, 
 which some young Malabar people desired me 
 to give them at morning and evening prayer. 
 Glorious are the promises which Jesus has given 
 to his church, in order to encourage them in their 
 
 * 
 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 " So far I wrote a fortnight ago. 
 
 " After that I went to Vellum, from whence I 
 returned yesterday. As some Malabar people 
 seem willing to be instructed, I proposed to the 
 1 Then a fellow of University College.
 
 300 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, gentlemen there to erect a small house wherein 
 
 TV 
 
 1 we might assemble in an orderly manner ; which 
 
 m3 ' they agreed to, and collected fifty pagodas for 
 that purpose. I intend to keep a catechist there, 
 and to visit that place occasionally. As some 
 families beyond the Coleroon came hither and 
 were instructed, they desire to fix one catechist 
 there. In a few days time I intend to go to that 
 place in order to regulate matters as well as divine 
 grace leads us. 
 
 " I had many things to write to you, but my 
 time being much confined, I must conclude. 
 May you grow daily in grace, and in the 
 knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ! May 
 the blessed Spirit of Christ glorify Jesus more 
 and more in your heart ! And, O ! may you be 
 honoured to be a glorious instrument in promot- 
 ing the honour of God, and consequently the 
 benefit of your fellow- creatures. This is the 
 sincere wish of 
 
 " Your affectionate friend and humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " Trichinopoly, Jan. 20th, 1773." 
 
 In a letter to the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge, dated from Tranquebar, Feb. 
 14th, Swartz expresses his grateful sense of the 
 divine goodness in preserving him and his fellow 
 labourers in health during the prevalence of an 
 epidemic disease which had swept away above a
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWART/. 301 
 
 thousand persons in a fortnight. He informs the CHAP. 
 
 Society of his visit to the natives beyond the Cole- 1 
 
 roon 1 mentioned in the preceding letter to Mr. 
 Chambers, and adds, that finding the greater part 
 of the village inclined to embrace Christianity, 
 he had left two catechists there, and ordered every 
 thing for the building of a small church, pro- 
 mising to return to them shortly. From thence 
 he went to Tranquebar to see his brethren the 
 Danish missionaries, and to regulate some affairs 
 relating to his congregation. He notices the in- 
 creasing expenses of the mission, but expresses 
 a humble hope that a merciful God will supply 
 whatever might be needful a hope which was 
 not long afterwards realized by a donation of 200/. 
 on the part of the members of the Society to- 
 wards the support of Swartz and his catechists. 
 He gratefully acknowledges the Society's present 
 of bibles, and common prayer books, which were 
 most useful and acceptable to the English soldiers ; 
 and referring to the liberal offer of Archdeacon 
 Congreve to defray the expense of translating 
 into Tamul, and printing, Leslie's short method 
 with the Deists, and Bishop Wilson's Instructions 
 for the Indians, he assures the Society of his in- 
 tention of accomplishing that design on his return 
 to Trichinopoly. In August he wrote as follows 
 to Mr. Chambers. 
 
 1 About twenty miles from Trichinopoly.
 
 302 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " Mr DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 IX. 
 
 " Though our correspondence has been much 
 interrupted by your multiplicity of business, this 
 has not diminished my regard for you. I remem- 
 ber you often, and wish that all your steps may be 
 blessed, that you may enjoy a rich share of divine 
 light, peace, strength, and consequently true hap- 
 piness. 
 
 " Here all is in confusion. Poor Tanjore will, 
 nay must, as they are pleased to say, fall. I am 
 afraid Tanjore has filled the measure of its sins, 
 and is given up. Certainly the poor rajah was 
 blind and infatuated ; otherwise he might have 
 prevented the present misery that comes upon 
 him. In January I was there the last time. I 
 warned them, and told them that in the present 
 course they must perish. Manoziappa's son said, 
 ' What can we do ?' I answered, ' Turn to Him 
 who can help you.' He said, ' Is it not the way 
 of the world ?' " Well,' I said, ' the course of 
 the world will undo you.' Within a short time 
 it will be decided. As the church at Vellum is to 
 be turned into an hospital, I shall go to try 
 whether it may be prevented. May Jesus be 
 with you, and your spirit. Pray for us here. 
 " I am, and remain, 
 
 " Yours for ever, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, August 2nd, 1773."
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 303 
 
 The alarm respecting Tanjore expressed by CHAP. 
 Swartz in the preceding letter, was occasioned by - 
 the determination of the Madras government to 
 assist the nabob of Arcot in the object which he 
 had long had in view of dethroning the rajah, 
 under the pretence of the non-payment of the 
 tribute due to him from Tanjore, and possessing 
 himself of his dominions. The army marched 
 from Trichinopoly for this purpose on the 3rd of 
 August, and on the 6th encamped within a short 
 distance of Tanjore. The poor rajah remonstrated 
 against this unjust invasion, but in vain. The 
 approaches were made, and the breaching batteries 
 opened on the 14th of September. On the 16th 
 a practicable breach was reported, and the next 
 day at noon, while the garrison had retired for a 
 little refreshment and repose, the English troops 
 advanced to the assault and entered Tanjore with 
 scarcely any resistance or loss. The rajah and 
 his family were taken prisoners in the fort, and 
 the nabob took possession of his treasure and his 
 kingdom. 
 
 The effect of this change in the government 
 of Tanjore was unfavourable to the influence of 
 Swartz, and to the progress of his Christian 
 labours in that quarter. The nabob and his 
 sons, though personally civil, were unfriendly to 
 the exertions of the able and zealous missionary ; 
 and the building in which divine service had 
 been performed appears to have been destroyed
 
 304 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, during the suspension of the rajah's authority in 
 
 Tanjore. 
 
 In the course of the succeeding year Mr. Swartz 
 undertook a journey to Madras for the express 
 purpose of obtaining from the nabob a spot of 
 ground at Tanjore, on which to build a small 
 church ; but the grant was refused. Business 
 having called him to Madras a second time, he 
 repeated his application, but it was again civilly 
 declined. On both these journies, he observes in 
 a letter from Trichinopoly, dated January 21st, 
 1775, addressed to the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, he conversed freely with 
 the natives, the generality of whom appeared to 
 be more and more convinced of the divine origin 
 of Christianity. " Many of the best families," 
 he says, "would not hesitate to become Chris- 
 tians, could it be shown how they might maintain 
 themselves. But the difficulties are now greater 
 than when Tanjore and the Marawar country had 
 their own princes and governments ; many thou- 
 sands of the inhabitants having quitted the country 
 for want of food and employment. We go on, 
 however, casting all our burden upon Him ' who 
 careth for us/ and who can point out a thousand 
 means of alleviating these distresses, and open 
 the way for the reception of his word." 
 
 In the same letter, he informs the Society, 
 that two of his catechists were stationed at Vel- 
 lum, for the instruction of the small congregation
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 305 
 
 collected there : and that his own at Trichinopoly CHAP. 
 had received a large accession of members. Se- . 
 veral of these, he acknowledged with his charac- 
 teristic sincerity, had been actuated rather by the 
 pressure of the famine which was then afflicting 
 the country, than by a genuine desire of knowing 
 the way of salvation. " As they insist, however, 
 on being instructed," he adds, " I think it my 
 duty to bestow on them all diligence, though the 
 labour sometimes increases to a great degree, 
 hoping that some at least may make a good use 
 of my instructions ; nor have I been disappointed 
 in my expectations." 
 
 The benevolence which was so conspicuous in 
 the character of Swartz, was particularly observ- 
 able in his love to children, and in his endeavours 
 to promote their moral and religious improvement. 
 His schools for the instruction of the natives 
 formed, as is well known, an important part in all 
 his plans as a missionary ; and in his intercourse 
 with his European friends, his kindness towards 
 the younger branches of their families was equally 
 striking. Of this amiable feature in his character 
 a very pleasing memorial remains in several let- 
 ters written to the children of Colonel Wood, 1 
 who, on leaving Trichinopoly had been stationed 
 
 1 Two of the daughters, one of whom was married to the 
 late Rev. Basil Woodd, died early of decline. The son, 
 who followed the profession of his gallant father, is now a 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. a t Madras. They are marked by the affectionate 
 
 IX* 
 
 simplicity, the sound judgment, and the elevated, 
 but sober and practical piety which pervade all 
 his correspondence, and prove how eminently he 
 partook of the spirit of his gracious and conde- 
 scending Master, who said, " Surfer the little 
 children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; 
 for of such is the kingdom of heaven." The first 
 of these interesting letters is addressed to the 
 eldest daughter, then only nine years of age, and 
 is as follows : 
 
 " It is a long time since I had it in my mind to 
 send you a line, because I have known you from 
 your infancy, and that for several years. It is, 
 therefore, natural in me to wish you well, and 
 particularly to desire the welfare of your immor- 
 tal soul. I know, and am fully persuaded, that 
 your dear mamma will do all that lies in her 
 power to train you up in the paths of true Chris- 
 tian piety ; still a well-meant admonition from 
 an old friend may be acceptable. As God has 
 made us reasonable creatures, our great care 
 should be to adorn our understanding with useful 
 knowledge. Now the word of God is particularly 
 given us for that divine purpose of making us 
 
 lieutenant-general in the anny, and still retains a pleasing 
 remembrance of his venerable friend.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 307 
 
 wise unto salvation. It teaches us in the best CHAP. 
 
 IX 
 
 manner what God is, and what we are ; and 
 
 1774. 
 
 leads us unto Jesus Christ the blessed Saviour, 
 who is able and willing to deliver us from 
 our sins, and to make us beloved children of 
 God. 
 
 " I hope that by the example and admonition 
 of your kind mamma, you are desirous of improve- 
 ment daily in that divine knowledge of Jesus 
 Christ. Besides, we have a will to choose, or to 
 reject something as this our will is directed 
 either for God and his glory, so we are obedient 
 to him ; is this will inclined towards the world 
 and sinful things, so we prove disobedient. There 
 was never a man upon earth whose will was so 
 well directed, as the will of our Saviour. In the 
 midst of his sufferings he said, ' Not my will, but 
 thine, O Father in heaven, be done.' Now as a 
 will, well directed and guided, is a sort of heaven 
 upon earth ; so, on the other hand, a stubborn, 
 disobedient will is a sore affliction. Therefore I 
 wish and entreat you, my dear N., to make God's 
 will your own, saying from the heart, ' Not my 
 will, but thine be done, O God.' And as we in 
 our younger years do not know what is good for 
 us, God has enjoined us to obey our parents. I 
 make no doubt but a hint from your dear mamma 
 will be as much as a command. Remember me 
 to your dear brother, and my young friend, and 
 
 x 2
 
 308 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, to your two dear sisters. May the grace of God 
 
 abound in and upon you. Amen ! 
 
 " So prays your affectionate friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, July 1st, 1773." 
 
 The admonition of the pious missionary to ac- 
 quiesce in the will of God came but too seasonably 
 to his youthful correspondent, who was called 
 about a twelvemonth afterwards to sustain the 
 heavy loss of her father. Colonel Wood, who died 
 in July 1774, had requested Swartz to become a 
 joint executor with Mr. Chambers, of his will, an 
 office which he could not with propriety decline, 
 considering his personal friendship for that excel- 
 lent officer, and his obligations to him as a gene- 
 rous benefactor to his mission. The two next 
 letters to his orphan daughter were written after 
 his return from Madras, where he had consoled 
 the family, and arranged as far as possible, the 
 affairs of his deceased friend. 
 
 " Tricliinopol y, Sept. 10th, 1774. 
 
 " Your very agreeable letter 1 received with 
 joy and thankfulness to God, for the divine grace 
 which already has been given you ; which, if you 
 continue to implore your blessed Redeemer, and 
 watch over yourself, will be augmented every day. 
 Your dear mamma will show you an excellent
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 309 
 
 admonition which God your Saviour has given CHAP< 
 you and us all. ' Give me, my son, (daughter,) 
 thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.' 1774 - 
 (Prov. xxiii. 26.) Yes, may your heart, all your 
 desires and affections, be given to God, so a 
 to love him above all, and fear him in a filial 
 manner, and trust in him ! His ways you must 
 learn to observe, even with joy, gratitude, and 
 obedience, though they should cross our ways ; 
 for his ways are good and highly beneficial, lead- 
 ing us to the place of eternal happiness. The 
 ways of men are too often sinful, leading to de- 
 struction. Be, then, always observing the ways 
 of your heavenly Father, and follow him in all. 
 Obey your dear mamma ; and look upon it as the 
 greatest blessing, that God has given you such a 
 guide. Love humility as your Saviour did, and 
 let not your heart be deluded by the show of the 
 world. Salute my young friend J., and tell him 
 not to stay behind, but to be diligent in learning 
 his book. Tell your dear sister B. not only to 
 mind the things that belong to the body, but to 
 mind, above all, the blessings of the soul ; to pray 
 heartily ; to obey strictly all the orders of her 
 dear mamma. And last, remember me to my 
 dear P. ; ask her whether she can say her A, B, C, 
 and whether she loves prayer. Jesus be with, 
 and in you all !"
 
 310 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " Trichinopoly, Dec. 20th, 1774. 
 
 IX 
 
 - " Last month I received your most agreeable 
 
 1 774 
 
 favour, which rejoiced me much. Blessed be the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has awak- 
 ened your heart to a sense of the love of God, 
 and of Jesus Christ. Believe me, this is the 
 greatest treasure which a gracious God bestows 
 on the poor children of Adam and Eve. The 
 blessings which he bestoweth on our bodies are 
 not to be despised ; but as our soul is of an infi- 
 nite value, the benefits which we receive from 
 God in respect of our souls, are much more to be 
 valued than those which belong to our bodies. 
 Go on vigorously in the way of God. Learn to 
 know him better, and what mercy he has bestowed 
 on us in Jesus Christ. Pray heartily to him every 
 day, not only with your dear mamma, but like- 
 wise by yourself. Endeavour by the grace of the 
 Holy Spirit to do the will of God. All true 
 Christianity is founded in humility. This true 
 humility makes the Lord Jesus so precious in 
 our hearts. This humility produces likewise all 
 Christian dispositions towards our fellow-crea- 
 tures. It makes us meek, patient, and compas- 
 sionate towards all men. Above all, strive to 
 subdue and conquer that most dangerous enemy, 
 self-will. This self-will robs us of all comfort, 
 and our fellow Christians of a good example ;
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 311 
 
 besides, it hindereth the Holy Spirit to work in CHAP. 
 
 us a glorious resemblance to Jesus Christ. Al- L 
 
 ways think and say, * Thy will be done, O God !' 
 Salute my dear J. in my name. The angels 
 sang, ' Glory be to God in the highest.' I hope 
 he will glorify God through Jesus Christ. Tell 
 B. that Jesus loveth all humble praying children, 
 and that I wish she may always be loved by 
 Jesus. Your youngest sister M. tell, that Jesus 
 desireth the children to come unto him. I hope 
 she cometh daily, folding her little hands and 
 praising him who was born a little babe for us. 
 All and every one, I hope, is obedient to your 
 dear mamma, that the blessing which God has 
 promised to obedient children may come and rest 
 upon you !" 
 
 Simple as these letters are, and adapted to the i??j. 
 capacities of children, they will not be deemed 
 unworthy of being recorded, when the import- 
 ance of such a talent for the instruction of the 
 young on the part of a missionary, and the fine 
 sense and solid excellence of the admonitions 
 which they contain, are duly appreciated. The 
 two following letters were addressed to his young 
 friends in the prospect of their approaching de- 
 parture from India, and their voyage to Eng 
 land.
 
 312 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP " Trichinopoly, Jan. 16th, 1775. 
 
 IX. 
 
 " DEAR CHILDREN, 
 
 1775. 
 
 " As the time is very near, when you, I sup- 
 pose, will leave this country, I thought it my 
 duty to write to you a short exhortation, which 
 you are so willing to receive from me, your old 
 friend. When you leave this country, I beseech 
 you, take none of the sins which are so manifest 
 here with you ; beg of your Redeemer to forgive 
 you all your sins, and to grant you the help of 
 his holy Spirit to love, fear, honour, and obey 
 God. Learn the will of God, and practise it 
 daily, as you have given us some pleasing ground 
 to hope you do. As your age is not easily given 
 to grief, make use of your innocent cheerfulness 
 to gladden the heart of your parent. You can- 
 not please her better than by obedience, willing- 
 ness to learn to pray, and fear God : endeavour to 
 please her and your heavenly Father by all this ; 
 read every day your beloved Bible ; pray heartily, 
 and forget not to sing a song of praise to your 
 Redeemer. Whenever your dear mamma forbids 
 you a thing, be ready to obey. Never give way 
 to any stubbornness ; and as you know that God 
 is highly pleased with humility, learn to be humble, 
 entreating your Saviour to destroy all the seed of 
 pride, and to clothe you with humility. May the 
 blessing of God the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, be with you. Amen !
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 313 
 
 " Remember me, and pray for me, that I may CHAP. 
 walk worthy of the gospel of our Lord Jesus 1 
 Christ ; and that by my poor ministry many souls 
 may truly be converted to our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 " Trichinopoly, Sept. 8th, 1775. 
 " Having written a few lines to your dear 
 mamma, I thought it proper to address you like- 
 wise. You may be sure I have thought of you 
 very often, representing to my mind the com- 
 fort which you would afford to her during the 
 passage. In this obedient disposition I hope 
 you will continue, nay, improve, as you advance 
 in knowledge. You know, even in your tender 
 years, how agreeable it is to God, and what 
 a great blessing he has promised to obedient 
 children. The fear of God, as a reverential re- 
 gard to keep his commandments, and a holy care 
 not to offend him, I hope, will preserve your 
 tender hearts ; and to strengthen this holy fear 
 and love to God, I hope you pray often and 
 devoutly. As you liked prayer in your tender 
 years, I hope you will not neglect it as you ad- 
 vance in age. Let your Bible be your most 
 beloved book. Read and consider how Jesus 
 your Saviour lived, how he gave himself for us 
 all, how he sits at the right hand of God to bless 
 us, and to send his holy Spirit into our hearts.
 
 314 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. But all this your dear mamma will explain to you 
 - more clearly. May God lead and guide you by 
 
 1775 * 
 
 his holy Spirit, that your whole life may bring 
 glory to God and comfort to your dear parent 
 and friends ! 
 
 " My dear J. intreat particularly to be diligent 
 in learning useful knowledge, and sincere. I 
 hope to hear from him, and to learn how he has 
 improved in those things which suit his age. 
 
 " Next January, the little J. 1 whom I educate, 
 shall write him a letter; at present he begs to 
 send his compliments. He is just now reading 
 his Persian books, which he began to learn just 
 after your departure. Farewell, beloved chil- 
 dren ! May the blessing of God be upon you at 
 all times !" 
 
 The converts to Christianity in Trichinopoly 
 and the neighbouring villages, during the year 
 1775, were numerous, and, in general, able to 
 give a satisfactory account of their faith. Among 
 them, Swartz mentions 2 a young man of high 
 caste, who had deliberated more than three years, 
 
 1 This was the son of his friend, the excellent Mr. Kohlhoff, 
 of Tranquebar, whom Swartz had adopted, and whom he was 
 educating ; who was afterwards his colleague and successor at 
 Tanjore, and still lives, the highly respected superior of that 
 mission. 
 
 2 Abstract of Society's Reports, p. 180.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 315 
 
 whether he would embrace the eospel. His rela- CHAP. 
 
 IX. 
 
 tions opposed his conversion : but he followed the 
 
 . . . 1775. 
 
 convictions of his own mind, and, having culti- 
 vated our language, was taken into the service of 
 an English gentleman. His countrymen shunned 
 and reviled him ; which he bore with humility, 
 yet without dejection ; and, finding that they 
 could not depress his spirits, they acknowledged 
 the wrong they had done him, and even entreated 
 him to read to them some passages of the New 
 Testament. In the same letter, Swartz speaks 
 of two families near Trichinopoly, who had been 
 converted, and whose patience, under the perse- 
 cution which had followed from their heathen 
 neighbours, combined with a degree of cheerful 
 boldness in maintaining their Christian profession, 
 had been productive of such happy effects, that 
 a third family had been induced to embrace the 
 truth ; and he entertained the hope of shortly 
 seeing the whole village converted to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 The deposition of the rajah of Tanjore, and the 
 assumption of his country by the nabob of Arcot, 
 having been the sole act of the Madras govern- 
 ment, was, after a considerable interval, the sub- 
 ject of serious discussion in England. Notwith- 
 standing all the efforts of the nabob, the voice of 
 justice prevailed, and an order was sent out from 
 the Court of Directors to restore the rajah to bis
 
 316 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, former authority. The president of Fort St. George 
 was, inconsequence, recalled ; and, in April, 1776, 
 the restoration of Tuljajee, under certain condi- 
 tions highly favourable to the British interests, 
 was proclaimed at Tanjore. This event led to the 
 renewed and more beneficial intercourse of Swartz 
 with the rajah and his kingdom. 
 
 In the course of this year, professor Freyling- 
 hausen, of Halle, to whom the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge had repeatedly ap- 
 plied without success, informed them that the 
 Rev. J. J. Schoelkopf, of whom he wrote in strong 
 terms of commendation, was on his way to Lon- 
 don, to embark as a missionary to India. On 
 the 29th of October, he was presented to the 
 Society, and was addressed by the Rev. Mr. 
 Bourdillon, in an eloquent charge in Latin, in 
 which he refers to the subject of this memoir, 
 in language which proves the high estima- 
 tion in which he was held in this country. 
 " Neither," he observed, " do you engage in this 
 career alone : for, independently of that divine 
 assistance which will attend both your entrance 
 upon it, and your daily progress, you have the 
 happiness of finding a wide and effectual door 
 opened to you, and of being preceded by the 
 illustrious example of Swartz, as a fellow-labourer ; 
 by whose unwearied diligence, admirable pru-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 317 
 
 dence, and incredible labours, the work of the CH AP. 
 gospel has, to the great joy, and gratulation to 
 heaven, of this Society, within these few years, 
 made no inconsiderable advances in Tanjore : 
 whose footsteps, if you follow, not only as a friend 
 and colleague, but as a most skilful leader, and 
 imitate his faith, his zeal, his virtues, how will the 
 solid experience of the one, the cheerful emulation 
 of the other, and the united studies and labours* of 
 both, redound to the influence and efficacy of pure 
 religion, and to the desired enlargement of the 
 kingdom of Christ !" 
 
 Mr. Schoelkopf replied in Latin, in a manner 
 which gave a very favourable impression of his 
 talents and piety, and sailed immediately for India, 
 but died soon after his arrival, to the great 
 disappointment and concern of Swartz, who men- 
 tions, with genuine Christian feeling, this afflicting 
 event in the following extract from a letter to 
 professor Freylinghausen, dated September 25th, 
 1777. 
 
 " Your letter, containing the agreeable intelli- 1777- 
 gence of a missionary coming to my assistance, 
 atforded me great satisfaction. This gentleman 
 arrived safely at Madras ; but it pleased the Lord 
 of life and death soon to call him to himself, by a 
 pleurisy, which terminated his life in a few days. 
 You may easily conceive how deeply this intelli- 
 gence affected me. But the Lord is holy : just
 
 318 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 true are all his ways. Our duty is to submit 
 to his will. May he have mercy on us, and sup- 
 port the work in which we are engaged, for 
 Christ's sake !" 
 
 The next extract from this letter, affords ano- 
 ther illustration of the wise and pious caution of 
 the writer, as to any interference in political 
 matters. 
 
 " Respecting our situation at Tanjore, you will 
 easily conceive the confusion into which we have 
 been thrown by the late events at Madras. 1 In- 
 deed, the arrest of the governor by his council, 
 could not fail to have a great influence on the af- 
 fairs of Tanjore. It being known that the king 
 placed confidence in me, I received letters re- 
 questing me to persuade him to accede to certain 
 propositions ; but this I refused in a polite way, 
 as a business which would interfere with the con- 
 scientious discharge of my sacred office. This is 
 the cause of my not having conversed with the 
 king for these six months past. It is with great 
 regret I have to inform you, that he has lately 
 given way to a luxurious and dissipated life ; so 
 that little hope can now be entertained respecting 
 
 1 Alluding to the contest between the governor and the coun- 
 cil, and the subsequent arrest of Lord Pigot.
 
 TFIE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 319 
 
 him. Yet, let us not forget, that God can do CHAP. 
 
 exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask 
 
 , . , 1777. 
 
 or think. 
 
 How clearly does Swartz here intimate one of 
 the most powerful causes which hindered the re- 
 ligious progress of the rajah ; yet with what faith 
 and charity does he express his feelings on this 
 interesting point, both in this and in a succeeding 
 letter, while, at the same time, what immediately 
 follows, shews his anxiety to promote the improve- 
 ment of the rajah in Christian knowledge, though 
 at the expense of additional labour in acquiring 
 another language. 
 
 " I learned," he continues, " at the request of 
 the king, the Mahratta language, 1 into which I have 
 translated a dialogue between a Christian and a 
 heathen, composed by me in the Malabar (Tamul) 
 tongue, at the express desire, and at the expense, 
 of Archdeacon Cougreve. 2 May God command 
 his blessing according to the riches of his grace ! 
 The order and contents of this dialogue are as 
 follow : 
 
 1 Tliis is in use by the princes of Tanjore, as descended 
 from the Mahratta conquerors ; and to his acquisition of it, for 
 the purposes of his mission, Mr. Swartz, doubtless, owed much 
 of his subsequent influence in that court. 
 
 2 Thus virtually fulfilling the object of the venerable Arch- 
 deacon's proposal, mentioned p. 301.
 
 320 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. 1st. On the being and infinite majesty of God. 
 2nd. On his glorious attributes. 
 
 1777. 
 
 3rd. On creation and providence. 
 
 4th. On the overflowing goodness of God to- 
 wards our first parents, in creating them good and 
 happy. 
 
 5th. On their deplorable fall, and consequent 
 great misery. 
 
 6th. On the unspeakable mercy of God, in 
 promising, and sending in due time, a Saviour, to 
 the fallen human race. 
 
 7th. On our Saviour's person, and what he has 
 done for the redemption of mankind. 
 
 8th. The way appointed by God for receiving 
 man into his favour again ; namely, that of re- 
 pentance, faith, and holiness. 
 
 9th. The means by which mankind may obtain 
 strength for repentance ; namely, prayer and the 
 sacraments. 
 
 10th. On the unspeakable happiness of those 
 who walk in the path of faith, ordained by God, 
 and keep his commandments. 
 
 llth. Lastly, a Treatise, proving the truth of 
 the Christian religion." 
 
 This dialogue, the admirable outline of which 
 is thus detailed by its excellent author, is still 
 highly valued, and extensively used in its original 
 language on the coast of Coromandel.
 
 TPIE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 321 
 
 " I regret," thus Swartz concludes this in- CHAP. 
 teresting letter, " that I cannot reside more con- 
 stantly at Tanjore. I have scarcely, found an 1777 * 
 entrance into the hearts of my hearers, when I 
 must leave them ao-ain. You are well aware, that 
 
 o * 
 
 a few conversations will not suffice. Continual 
 preaching is required, as well as frequent friendly 
 converse, which will afford an opportunity of 
 bringing to their consideration the various divine 
 truths of the Scriptures. By relating to them 
 the many remarkable events revealed in the Old 
 and New Testaments, the foundation of heathen- 
 ism is shaken, and Christianity appears in all her 
 beauty. Many have observed, that when they 
 first conversed with me, scarcely any thing struck 
 them as deserving particular attention ; and that 
 they secretly thought how they might get rid of 
 me, or confound me by their answers. But after 
 hearing a more complete representation of the 
 different facts and points of the Christian religion, 
 they then saw the end in view, and the advantages 
 to be obtained. God grant that we may put our 
 hands with renewed zeal, vigour, and joy, to the 
 great work of converting the heathen !" 
 
 The regret so frequently expressed by this 
 great missionary, at his inability to reside more 
 constantly at Tanjore, was happily relieved by 
 the kindness of his Danish brethren at Tran- 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 322 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, quebar. On hearing of the death of Mr. Schoel- 
 kopf, they sent one of their own number, the 
 
 1777. . 
 
 Rev. Christian Pohle, then recently arrived in 
 India, to assist him ; and on his earnest recom- 
 mendation, the Society for promoting Christian 
 Knowledge received him as one of their mis- 
 sionaries at Trichinopoly, thus enabling Swartz 
 to direct his more immediate attention to Tan- 
 jore. "Mr. Pohle," he says, "has a clear head 
 and a pious heart, with a great desire of doing 
 good to the natives, and has made such profi- 
 ciency in the Oriental languages, as to be able, 
 in three months, to preach in Malabar." 
 
 This excellent missionary made himself master 
 of the English as well as the Tamul language, so 
 as to officiate with acceptance in both, and soon 
 took a very active part in the work of the ministry 
 and the schools. 
 
 In consequence of the assistance thus sea- 
 sonably obtained, Mr. Swartz, during the year 
 1777, visited Tanjore four times. " In one 
 of my journeys," he says, " I arrived at a large 
 place, where the heathen were celebrating a feast. 
 I was struck with the excessive crowd which I 
 saw before me. I stood at some distance from 
 them, but was soon surrounded by a great num- 
 ber of people, to whom I explained the glorious 
 perfections of God, and remarked how they dis- 
 honoured him by their idolatry. I told them at
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 323 
 
 the same time, what infinite mercy God had CHAP. 
 shewn to lost sinners, by sending them a Re- 
 
 1777 
 
 deemer, and how they might become partakers of 
 the benefits of redemption. All seemed pleased, 
 and acknowledged their own folly, and the ex- 
 cellence of the Christian doctrine. I spoke till I 
 was quite exhausted." 
 
 In his letter to the Society for promoting Chris- 
 tian Knowledge, he laments in this year the loss 
 of the able and exemplary catechist, Rayappen. 
 "His solid knowledge," he says, "of the Chris- 
 tian doctrine, his meek behaviour towards all, his 
 contented mind, and, more particularly, his love 
 of Christ and humble zeal in preaching the word 
 of God, were acknowledged both by Christians 
 and heathens." 
 
 With respect to the natives in general, he ob- 
 serves, " that though many who were convinced 
 of the truth and excellence of Christianity were 
 restrained by worldly considerations from em- 
 bracing it, the divine blessing rested on his en- 
 deavours, to the real conversion of some." " It is 
 our duty," he adds, "to be faithful in the dis- 
 charge of our office, without being too anxious as 
 to the number of those who are benefited by our 
 labours." 
 
 The following extract from a letter to profes- 
 sor Freylinghausen, dated Tanjore, Jan. 23rd, 
 1778, contains a brief, but interesting expres- 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, sion of his feelings in the review of the preceding 
 
 IX. 
 
 year. 
 
 1778. 
 
 " Blessed be God for his abundant mercy, by 
 which the missionary brethren and myself have 
 been spared, supported, directed, and consoled ! 
 Who are we that He should have compassion on 
 us from day to day ! We are all well, although 
 some of us begin to feel the effects of advanced 
 age. The different congregations at Trichinopoly, 
 Vellum, and Tanjore, are not only preserved, but 
 have lately received an accession of fifty members. 
 The schools are continued with good success ; but 
 it is with regret that I have to state, that the 
 junior teacher of the English school has applied 
 for leave to resign his place, as another more lu- 
 crative situation has been offered to him. The 
 senior schoolmaster also wishes to leave us ; he 
 intends to turn merchant. They have by no 
 means" such is the pious reflection of the de- 
 voted missionary upon the secession of these 
 useful fellow-labourers " a due value for the 
 welfare of immortal souls. As they see other 
 people labouring for riches, and many succeeding 
 in their schemes, they also become eager for their 
 possession. O may the gracious Lord not leave 
 
 us : 
 
 " The catechists are all out on different jour- 
 neys to preach the gospel to Christians and hea-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 325 
 
 tbens. From their reports, as well as from my CHAP. 
 
 own observations, it appears that the principal 
 
 cause which prevents most heathens from em- 
 bracing Christianity, is the fear of man. 
 
 " Of the king of Tanjore, I cannot relate much 
 good at present. Formerly the Brahmins stood 
 
 in his way ; and now . But let us recollect, 
 
 that all things are possible with God. He has 
 ways and means of humbling the proud, and 
 of opening prospects for the dissemination of the 
 gospel. I have presented the king with a copy 
 of the Treatise, which I composed at the desire of 
 Archdeacon Congreve, which he received kindly ; 
 and it is said that he reads it. May God bless 
 its perusal !"
 
 326 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Tanjore, the future residence of Mr. Swartz His Report of the 
 Mission for the year 1778 Letters to friends History of 
 a young Hindoo convert Major Stevens Foundation of a 
 Church at Tanjore Mr. Swartz called by the governor to 
 Madras His mission to Hyder Ali Account of his journey 
 to Seringapatam Reception by Hyder His Palace and Go- 
 vernment Swartz' occupations during his stay His last 
 interview with Hyder His return to Madras His disin- 
 terestedness as to remuneration He obtains a salary for Mr. 
 Pohle, and assistance towards building his Church at Tan- 
 jore Reflections on his Embassy to Hyder. 
 
 CHAP. FROM this period, Tanjore formed the chief resi- 
 dence of Swartz, though he occasionally visited 
 Trichinopoly, and superintended the missionary 
 proceedings at both places. 
 
 The territory of Tanjore was conquered from 
 the reigning Hindoo prince, by Eckojee, a mem- 
 ber of the Mahratta family, towards the close of 
 the sixteenth century. Fertilized by the sacred 
 waters of the Cavery, it is considered as holy 
 land, and has always been a most favourite resi- 
 dence of the Hindoos. Its capital, bordering on
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 327 
 
 the delta of the Coleroon and the Cavery, is 
 wealthy and splendid, adorned with a pagoda, - 
 which eclipses in magnificence all other structures 
 in the south of India ; and exceeding, in the 
 number of its sacred buildings and charitable 
 institutions, all the neighbouring provinces. Its 
 soil is peculiarly rich and productive, and its in- 
 habitants numerous and industrious. Having 
 suffered but little from the Mahomedan invasion, 
 the Hindoos of Tanjore preserved much of the 
 original character of their religion, and cultivated 
 the study of their sacred literature with ardour 
 and success. Though inconsiderable, in point of 
 extent, its comparative opulence and its local 
 position rendered Tanjore, at that period, the seat 
 both of a political resident and of a British gar- 
 rison, a place of great interest and importance. 
 Such was the spot in which the future exertions 
 of Swartz, for the diffusion of our holy religion, 
 were to be conducted. 
 
 In communicating to the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge his general report for the 
 year 1778, he observes, that among the Hindoos 
 at Trichinopoly and Tanjore, there were many 
 thousands, even among the Brahmins, who con- 
 fessed that their idolatry was both vain and sin- 
 ful. It was not unusual for them, when pressed 
 by his arguments, to reply, " True what can
 
 328 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, avail all our images and innumerable ceremonies ! 
 
 A- 
 
 There is but one Supreme Being, the maker and 
 
 preserver of all !" " Hardly a day passes," he 
 says, " in which Brahmins do not visit my house 
 at Tanjore, hear attentively what is addressed to 
 them, frequently take up a book in which the 
 doctrines of Christianity are explained, and praise 
 it as a divine religion." But too generally their 
 convictions ended with their applause. " A Brah- 
 min," he continues, " being asked what he would 
 resolve upon, whether he intended to stifle his 
 conviction, or to receive that divine doctrine, and 
 to profess it, replied that he could not deny the 
 impression he had received, and that he had 
 sounded some of his acquaintance ; but that they 
 all insisted upon the task as too difficult and dan- 
 gerous, on account of the great numbers of the 
 professors of idolatry. Nothing, therefore, but 
 fear keeps them, at present, from embracing the 
 Christian religion ; but it is to be hoped that this 
 conviction will embolden them, one day or other, 
 to shake off that inglorious servitude of sin and 
 Satan. For my part," he adds, " I entertain a 
 cheerful hope of seeing better days, and therefore 
 rejoice in the present opportunity of preaching 
 the salutary doctrine of Christ, frequently calling 
 to my mind, that there is a time of sowing pre- 
 ceding that of reaping.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 329 
 
 " At Trichinopoly, we begin and end the day CHAP. 
 with public prayer. At Tanjore, I have intro- 7- 
 
 i i / / 1778. 
 
 duced the same custom. Very often, Brahmins 
 and others have been present, observing our read- 
 ing the word of God, our singing and praying. 
 I never discourage the heathen from being present 
 at any of our acts of solemn worship." i 
 
 Early in this year, Swartz addressed the fol- 
 lowing affectionate and instructive letter to the 
 children of his late friend, Colonel Wood. 
 
 " MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS, 
 
 " I hoped to read a line from you this year ; 
 nay, from the letter of your dear mamma, I un- 
 derstood that you were kindly inclined to make 
 me so happy ; but perhaps the ship sailed be- 
 fore you had finished it. Well, I am fully satis- 
 fied with the good account she sent me of your 
 health and improvement in all useful know- 
 ledge ; particularly I rejoiced at your filial obe- 
 dience to her. Truly this account was joyful, 
 and a subject of thanksgiving to God. As you 
 have begun so hopefully, I trust you will con- 
 tinue in that path which will not only rejoice the 
 heart of your dear mamma, but, which is infi- 
 nitely more, will be a joy to angels and their 
 Lord. Oh, my dear friends, read daily the word 
 
 1 ATI instance of the beneficial effect of this practice occurs 
 in the next letter to Mr. Chambers, p. 333.
 
 330 MEMOIUS OF 
 
 CHAP, of God, and let the meditation of it be your de- 
 light. By so doing, your understanding will be 
 enlightened; the doctrine of your blessed Re- 
 deemer will be like food to your hearts; your 
 affections will be fixed upon Him who is the 
 source of your blessing ; your whole conduct will 
 be conformable to the will of your best friend ; 
 and lastly, this daily meditation of Holy Scripture 
 will guard and preserve you from the path of the 
 wicked. 
 
 " Never read the word of God without prayer. 
 Be sure, my dear friends, that the neglect of fer- 
 vent prayer is the cause of so much iniquity in 
 the world. Forget not how tenderly the blessed 
 Redeemer has advised us to enter into our cham- 
 bers, to shut the door, and to pray to our Father 
 in secret. You know that he himself practised 
 prayer, and so set us an example which it is our 
 duty and happiness to follow. 
 
 " Wherever you are, watch lest evil conversa- 
 tion deprave your tender hearts. You know that 
 we cannot trust our hearts ; therefore be always 
 upon your guard, and walk as in the presence of 
 God. 
 
 " You see how plain I am to you, because I 
 love you all, and wish to hear of your spiritual 
 and temporal happiness. How happy should I 
 be if I could be with you, and bend my knees 
 with you before the Father of our Lord Jesus
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 331 
 
 Christ ! But that being very improbable, I hope CHAP. 
 
 A 
 
 to spend with you a blessed eternity. 
 
 " Pray for me, my dear friends, that I may 
 preach the gospel of my Saviour faithfully ; that 
 I may not labour in vain, but win immortal souls 
 unto Christ; and that I may finish my course 
 with joy, and enter into the joy of my Lord. 
 
 " Remember me respectfully to your kind 
 governess. May divine grace guide her in in- 
 structing you ! Farewell, my dear friends, and 
 fulfil by your Christian behaviour the wished-for 
 joy of your aifectionate friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 It is difficult to conceive any thing more truly 
 wise, Christian, and paternal, than the preceding 
 letter, more perfectly illustrating the character of 
 the excellent writer, or better adapted to impress 
 the hearts and to promote the improvement of the 
 young persons to whom it was addressed. 
 
 To Mr. Chambers, who had now removed to 
 Calcutta, Swartz wrote in this year, as follows. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND ; 
 
 " You have truly put me to shame by your re- 
 peated kind favours, when I reflect on my neg- 
 lect in answering. Pardon this neglect. I pro- 
 mise to mend in this, as I ought in all points of 
 my duty.
 
 332 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " Hitherto a merciful God has preserved your 
 unworthy friend, and bestowed on him innume- 
 
 1778 
 
 rable benefits. Would to God I had made pro- 
 per returns for all his unmerited kindness ! 
 
 " The mournful story of your valuable servant 1 
 has much affected me and every one who has 
 heard of it. Satan is c a murderer from the be- 
 ginning,' and his servants are too often, at least in 
 their hearts, of the same hellish disposition. The 
 conduct of that young man is a great comfort to 
 you, and to us, in this melancholy affair. May 
 God raise up many to be witnesses of his grace, 
 and the divine effects which it produces in the 
 hearts of all, who do not wilfully oppose it ! 
 
 " The most agreeable account which I have 
 heard a long time of the conversion of souls, is 
 doubtless that which you so circumstantially de- 
 scribed to me. I mean that happy couple, Mr. 
 
 and Mrs. . 2 Tell them that as all angels 
 
 and servants of God rejoice over a sinner that 
 repenteth, so the devil and his servants murmur 
 and blaspheme. O may our blessed Redeemer 
 fill their hearts with 'joy and peace in believing,' 
 
 1 The particulars of this story do not appear. It seems pro- 
 bable that the enmity of some of the natives had proved fatal 
 to a converted servant of Mr. Chambers. 
 
 2 The friends here alluded to, continued, during many years, 
 both in India and in England, to adorn and promote the religion 
 of the gospel.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 333 
 
 that they may go on vigorously to the praise of CHAP. 
 their Saviour, to the encouragement of fellow 
 
 1 77R 
 
 Christians, and to the confusion of the devil !" 
 
 The narrative which follows, illustrates the be- 
 neficial effect of the practice already mentioned 
 of permitting the natives to be present at the de- 
 votional exercises of the missionaries, as well as 
 the difficulty attending their conversion to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 " Here I had a few days ago an example which 
 pleased me very much, though attended with 
 trouble. A young man of twenty-four years, of 
 the shraf caste, resolved to visit us at our even- 
 ing prayer heard the word of God explained, 
 joined in prayer, meditated what to do came 
 to a settled resolution to join the despised peo- 
 ple of God. Not poverty, not quarrel, but a de- 
 sire of being happy, inclined him. He was en- 
 gaged to marry a young woman, the daughter 
 of a rich man at Seringham. The day of their 
 wedding was appointed. He told his mother that 
 he would fain marry that girl, but not with ido- 
 latrous rites. The mother said, * I wish I had 
 killed you as soon as you were born,' &c. All 
 this happened before his being baptized. The 
 relations got him cunningly, and kept him a close 
 prisoner ; but he found an opportunity of making 
 his escape, and came hither to Tanjore. His 
 mother and others made H great noise, and came
 
 334 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and begged I would not admit him. I replied, 
 
 \ 
 
 in the presence of Brahmins and a number of 
 
 1778. 
 
 people, that I never forced any body ; but that I 
 could not reject him, if he desired me to instruct 
 him. Further, I said, ' Here he is ; ask him whe- 
 ther he likes to go with you, or stay with us.' 
 The young man said, ' Mother, and friends, if 
 you can shew me a better way to heaven, I will 
 follow you but I will not live any longer in 
 idolatry.' I remained in my house ; the young 
 man went to the chattiram ; his relations followed 
 him, and fairly carried him off to Vellum ; but 
 he again contrived to make his escape. After 
 that, I instructed him daily, and baptized him. 
 May Jesus triumph over all his enemies shortly ! 
 
 "As to the rajah here, I thought to write to 
 you as soon as I knew any thing with certainty. 
 But I saw that this might detain me too long. 
 I have not seen him since February. He has 
 married more wives lives a sensual life, and in- 
 dulges much, as his people say, in drunkenness. 
 He is surrounded with bad people. Nay, to say 
 the plain .truth, the behaviour of many Europeans 
 to him has disgusted him much. You know, my 
 dear friend, that the generality of our people do 
 not mind that which is Christ's. 
 
 " In Colonel Wood's affair, he has declared 
 that not he but the nabob is obliged to pay the 
 debt.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 335 
 
 " Remember me to your kind brother. O how CHAP. 
 
 I esteem people who introduce justice into this 
 
 desert. May your brother prosper ! But you men- 
 tion not a word of your mother. God bless you ! 
 
 " I am, 
 " Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Your blessed employment, how it rejoiceth 
 me ! Blessed be God ! Watch and pray, without 
 ceasing." 
 
 His next letter to Mr. Chambers is strongly in- 
 dicative of that simple, yet elevated and devoted 
 piety which so peculiarly distinguished Swartz. 
 The individual to whom he so painfully refers, had 
 long been connected with the mission at Madras, 
 but was now involved in pecuniary embarrass- 
 ments arising from secular speculations and en- 
 gagements, which obscured the lustre and impaired 
 the efficacy of his previous exemplary labours. 
 It is consoling to know that he was spared for 
 several years after this period, and lived in some 
 measure to redeem his character, and to prove the 
 substantial excellence of his religious principles, 
 and the validity of his Christian profession and 
 hope. The allusion, however, to his case is pre- 
 served as a warning to those who may be engaged 
 as missionaries, particularly in India, to avoid, 
 with the utmost caution, all worldly occupations
 
 336 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and pursuits ; while the kindness and forbearance 
 
 exercised by Swartz upon this painful occasion, 
 
 may teach a lesson of charity to all with respect 
 to an offending and fallen brother. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " I arrived here at Madras yesterday ; and as I 
 heard that a vessel is to be despatched to-morrow 
 for Bengal, I thought it my duty to write you a 
 line or two. The occasion of my taking this 
 
 journey is melancholy. Mr. , who has 
 
 brought disgrace upon himself and us all, is dan- 
 gerously ill. Some friends thought it necessary 
 that I should try to get some information concern- 
 ing certain points before he died. He is a little 
 better, and as I have been dissuaded from enter- 
 ing upon that business, I shall say no more of it, 
 except that his conduct has given me the most 
 pungent pain. What shall I say ? Let us watch 
 and pray, lest we enter, fall, and sink into temp- 
 tation. What is man when left to his own foolish 
 devices ! 
 
 " Your truly friendly letter has revived me in 
 the midst of all my present anxieties. The con- 
 tents of it are glad tidings out of Sion. Blessed 
 be God ! 
 
 " I rejoice that you have awakened in some 
 
 degree Mr. .* O may you be a happy in- 
 
 1 A young missionary at Calcutta.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ 337 
 
 strum ent of his thorough recovery ! Your advice CHAP. 
 to him not to compose his own sermons till he be 1- 
 
 1 77K 
 
 more perfect in the English language is prudent. 
 Any thing of his own composition in his present 
 condition would rather hinder edification. May 
 he have so much good sense as to follow the 
 advice of sincere friends ! 
 
 " It is cheering to reflect on the externally 
 devout behaviour of the congregation. O may 
 the Spirit of Jesus come on them like a rain, that 
 the Bengal desert may become a fertile soil, and 
 fruitful field of the Lord ! 
 
 " That this time is a time of apostasy and blas- 
 phemy none can deny; but this must not discou- 
 rage us from glorifying our God and Redeemer. 
 No ; ' tu contra audentior ito.' Who knows but 
 God may bless us one way or other ? And if, 
 (which God forbid !) we should seem to spend 
 our strength in vain ; yet the work (and the fruit 
 of it) is the Lord's. 
 
 " It is a most pleasing reflection to me, which 
 has been much strengthened by the reading of 
 your favour, that God is able to raise himself 
 servants to do his will, and to promote the glory 
 of his name, though those who are most obliged 
 to do it should turn faithless to their charge. 
 
 " May you be a burning and a shining light, 
 like St. John a light, full of divine knowledge 
 burning, and vigorous to live according to that 
 
 VOL. i. z
 
 338 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, knowledge ; and lastly, shining, and diffusing that 
 knowledge wherever you are ! 
 
 " My poor prayer shall attend you, and your 
 dear friends. Whenever I bow my knees before 
 the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I shall often 
 remember you, not only because you are my friend, 
 but because you are a friend of my dear Master. 
 
 " Remember me kindly to Mr. and Mrs. , 
 
 likewise the young lady that has dared to be 
 unfashionable, so as to count all things but dross 
 in comparison of the excellency of Jesus Christ 
 our Lord. My prayer to God is, that they all 
 may be fruitful branches ingrafted into the true 
 vine, viz. Jesus Christ. 
 
 "And now, my dear friend, abide in him, so 
 shall you become daily more fruitful, and your 
 fruit shall remain sure ; and, which above all is 
 comfortable, your prayer will be acceptable be- 
 fore God, so that whatever you ask, the Father 
 in heaven will grant, on account of Jesus, with 
 whom you are united. 
 
 " Farewell, my dearest of all friends. Be 
 strong, watch and pray. And may God prosper 
 you ! You shall hear from me soon again. 
 
 " I am constantly, 
 "Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 Major Stevens's quarters, 
 25th of June, 1778."
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 339 
 
 " My old friend Obeck salute in the Lord. CHAP. 
 
 You will pardon my writing so badly ; but I was - 
 obliged to do it in the night. Major Stevens 
 desires to be remembered to you." 
 
 Major Stevens, from whose quarters at Madras 
 the preceding letter is dated, had been stationed 
 at Tanjore, and was an intimate friend of the pious 
 Missionary. On the restoration of the rajah, the 
 zeal of this brave and excellent officer for the 
 interests of religion, induced him to erect at his 
 own expense a temporary building in the large 
 fort, in which Swartz officiated to the English 
 garrison, and other Christians, native and Euro- 
 pean, in that place. 
 
 "We had lost our church in Tanjore," he ob- 
 serves in a letter to a friend, " after that fort had 
 fallen into the hands of the nabob. He amused 
 us with empty promises ; but when we were quite 
 at a loss where to assemble for divine service, 
 my pious friend, Major Stevens, built us a fine 
 mud-wall church, which cost him upwards of an 
 hundred star pagodas. But the congregation in- 
 creasing rapidly, and a fresh covering with straw 
 being requisite from time to time, we began in 
 Jan. 1779 to think of building a spacious and 1779. 
 permanent church. A subscription was set on 
 foot, but the amount was shamefully insignificant. 
 At Madras, about ten thousand pagodas were 
 
 z 2
 
 340 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, cheerfully contributed towards erecting a play- 
 
 house. But to build a house of prayer, people have 
 
 no money. Major Stevens, who could have effec- 
 tually promoted the subscription, and superin- 
 tended the building, and who intended to return 
 to Europe, and make a faithful representation of 
 what might promote the true interest of the Ho- 
 nourable Company, and the welfare of this coun- 
 try, was killed on the 14th of October, 1778, be- 
 fore Pondicherry. 
 
 " General Munro, who knew, as well as every 
 body, that Major Stevens and I lived together as 
 brethren, condoled with me in the kindest manner, 
 saying, ' You will not soon get a Stevens again ; 
 however, I request you will consider me as your 
 friend.' Although we are bid not to place our re- 
 liance upon men, and although their promises are 
 seldom any thing more than compliments ; yet I 
 praise the Lord, whenever he makes any one's 
 heart willing to further the work of God, even in 
 the smallest degree. At a visit which General 
 Munro and I paid the rajah, the general observed, 
 that Christianity is far to be preferred to Paganism. 
 * I am convinced,' said the rajah, ' that the Chris- 
 tian religion is an hundred thousand times better 
 than idolatry.' But the conduct of the Europeans 
 makes a bad impression on his mind. 
 
 " In full reliance on the help of God, I set 
 about the building of the church in the little Fort.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 341 
 
 On the 10th of March, 1779, the general laid the CHAP. 
 foundation stone, nine feet deep : and the garrison 
 
 1779. 
 
 being assembled, I preached a short sermon from 
 the sixty-seventh Psalm. 
 
 " As I had rendered the general some little ser- 
 vice, by translating the letter which the Court of 
 Directors had written to the king, by performing 
 the duty of a chaplain in camp, for a short time, 
 and otherwise, I was informed that he had request- 
 ed government to make me a present for my trouble. 
 Instantly, when I heard it, I wrote to Madras, de- 
 clining any present for myself; but if they would 
 do me a favour, I requested that they would make 
 a present of bricks and lime, of which the Com- 
 pany had here a quantity in store, towards build- 
 ing of this church, as we had not even money 
 enough to pay the labourers, much less to purchase 
 materials. The general, who went to Madras, pro- 
 mised to support and promote my request." 
 
 It was some time before Mr. Swartz heard any 
 thing further upon the subject ; but at length he 
 received a letter from the general, desiring him to 
 repair without delay to Madras, as the governor, 
 Sir Thomas Rumbold, had something of impor- 
 tance to communicate to him. On his arrival at 
 the presidency he was assured that his request re- 
 specting the church should be granted ; and was 
 informed of the purpose for which he had been 
 summoned. This was no other than to undertake
 
 342 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, a confidential mission to Hyder Ali at Seringa- 
 
 x. J m & 
 
 patam, to endeavour to ascertain his actual dispo- 
 
 1779. ... 
 
 sition with respect to the English, and to assure 
 him of the pacific intentions of the Madras 
 government. 
 
 Of this singular embassy Swartz gave a brief 
 account in his annual report to the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge ; but as his con- 
 duct throughout this delicate and difficult un- 
 dertaking was equally honourable to his ability 
 and his character, it deserves the more detailed 
 narrative which he transmitted to his friends in 
 Germany, 1 and which contains many curious and 
 important particulars both of his journey and of 
 his intercourse with the very remarkable person- 
 age to whom he was sent. His description of 
 Seringapatam and of the government of Hyder, 
 at a period when he was at once the terror and 
 the scourge of the British possessions in India, 
 will still be read with interest ; though his name, 
 and that of his son, like those of greater con- 
 querors, have ceased to excite either admiration 
 or alarm. 
 
 It has been already observed, that upon more 
 than one occasion Mr. Swartz had been solicited 
 to act as the medium of communication between 
 the English government and some of the native 
 princes of Hindostan. This is by no means ex- 
 1 Missionary Correspondence.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 343 
 
 traordinary. His remarkable sagacity and pene- CHAP. 
 tration, his familiar acquaintance with the native 1 
 languages, his extensive information and experi- 
 ence, his calm temper, and perfect self-possession, 
 his open countenance, and simple, ingenuous 
 manners, and above all, his known disinterested- 
 ness and incorruptible integrity, peculiarly qua- 
 lified him for such services. 
 
 But these, like all his other talents and acquire- 
 ments, were directed and controlled by the purest 
 Christian principles, and rendered subservient to 
 the honour of his divine Lord and Master; nor 
 does he, upon this or any other occasion, appear 
 for a moment to have forgotten his one great 
 character as a Christian missionary. 
 
 On being introduced to Sir Thomas Rumbold, 
 for the purpose of receiving his instructions for 
 the commission with which he was about to be 
 entrusted, " the governor," he writes, " address- 
 ed me nearly as follows : 
 
 " * There is reason to believe that Hyder Ali 
 Cawn meditates warlike designs ; he has in some 
 letters expressed his displeasure, and even speaks 
 in a menacing tone. We wish to discover his 
 sentiments in this weighty affair with certainty, 
 and think you are the fittest person for this pur- 
 pose. You will oblige us if you will make a 
 journey thither, sound Hyder Ali, and assure 
 him that we entertain peaceable thoughts.
 
 344 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " 'The reason why we have fixed upon you, is, 
 because you understand the Hindostanee, and con- 
 
 1779. 
 
 sequently need no interpreter in your conferences. 
 We are convinced that you will act disinterest- 
 edly, and will not allow any one to bribe you. 
 
 *' ' You can travel privately through the country, 
 without external pomp and parade, and thus the 
 whole journey will remain a secret (which is of 
 great importance to us) until you reach Hyder 
 Naik himself. 
 
 " ' You will have nothing to do but to refer 
 Hyder to his own letters, and to explain some du- 
 bious circumstances ; and if you perceive him to 
 be peaceably disposed, inform him that some prin- 
 cipal members of council will come to him to settle 
 the business finally. As the intention of the jour- 
 ney is good and Christian, namely, to prevent 
 the effusion of human blood, and to preserve this 
 country in peace, this commission militates not 
 against, but highly becomes, your sacred office ; 
 and therefore we hope you will accept it.' ' 
 
 This unexpected proposal, as may be readily 
 imagined, surprised and perplexed the good mis- 
 sionary. " I requested time," he says, " for reflec- 
 tion, intending to lay the case in retirement be- 
 fore God. It immediately occurred to me that 
 it was in more than one respect an undertaking 
 of danger." It was, indeed, truly such, both from
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 345 
 
 the nature of the country through which he was CHAP. 
 to pass, and from the fierce and perfidious cha- 
 
 1779. 
 
 racter of the despotic chief whose territories he 
 was about to enter. 
 
 " Having implored wisdom from above, I thought 
 it," he continues, " my duty not to decline the pro- 
 posal. The grounds which determined me, were, 
 
 " 1st. Because the mission to Hyder was not 
 attended with any political intrigues. To preserve 
 the blessings of peace was the only aim I had in 
 view, and at that time I really believed Sir 
 Thomas's intentions to be upright and peaceable. 
 I considered, that if God, according to the riches 
 of his mercy, would vouchsafe to employ me as an 
 instrument to establish the happiness of British 
 India, I durst not withdraw myself, nor shrink 
 back on account of the danger of the undertaking, 
 of which I was fully aware ; but I ventured upon 
 it in firm reliance upon God and his fatherly pro- 
 tection. 
 
 " 2nd. Because this would enable me to an- 
 nounce the gospel of God my Saviour in many 
 parts, where it had never been known before. 
 And, 
 
 " 3rd. As the Honourable Company and the 
 government had shown me repeated kindness, I 
 conceived that by this journey I might give them 
 some marks of my gratitude. 
 
 " But at the same time I resolved to keep my
 
 346 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, bands undefiled from any presents, by which de- 
 - termination the Lord enabled me to abide ; so that 
 
 1779. 
 
 I have not accepted a single farthing, save my 
 travelling expenses. 
 
 " These," he adds, " having been given me, I 
 returned to Tanjore, where I left directions with 
 the native teachers, how they were to act during 
 my absence, and then to Trichinopoly, where I 
 preached to the Europeans and natives in the 
 absence of the Rev. Mr. Pohle, who was on a tour 
 to Palamcotta." 
 
 On the 1st of July, 1779, he set out from Tri- 
 chinopoly on his important and honourable mis- 
 sion, accompanied by his able catechist, Sattia- 
 naden. He stopped the first night at Curuttaley, 
 a beautiful place near the Cavery, the aqueduct 
 from which irrigating the low south lands, enabled 
 the nabob to reap the fields thrice every year as 
 far as Trichinopoly. The catechist here read to 
 the inhabitants, and many attending Brahmins, 
 from the Tamul dialogues between a Christian 
 and a heathen. On the 6th they halted at Cattaley, 
 and conversed with many of the natives on the 
 salvation of the gospel; in the evening they 
 arrived at Caroor, the frontier fort of Hyder, 
 about forty English miles from Trichinopoly. 
 
 Here he found the son of a Dutch gentleman 
 at Colombo, with whom he had once resided for 
 several months, and who had shown him much
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 347 
 
 kindness. This young man had been most libe- CHAP. 
 rally established in Ceylon by his father; but 
 being offended by the refusal of some trifling 
 request, he went in disgust to Negapatam, in- 
 volved himself in hazardous speculations, was 
 obliged to withdraw from Madras, where he next 
 resided, and at length entered into the service of 
 Hyder Ali, raised recruits for him, and incurred 
 debts, in the hope that he would pay them. 
 Hyder allowed him a salary ; but deducted more 
 than one-half monthly, for the purpose of liqui- 
 dating his debts. Here he passed his life in sor- 
 row, sighing over his folly, yet not thoroughly 
 disposed to renounce it. Hence he engaged in 
 new speculations, which only added to his per- 
 plexities. " How many," observes Swartz, " have 
 I known, who, from determined self-will, have lost 
 their prosperity, their lives, nay, too often, it is to 
 be feared, their eternal salvation ! O how should 
 parents and teachers endeavour to inculcate on 
 those entrusted to them, humility, and the subju- 
 gation of their own will !" 
 
 At Caroor he remained a month, having to 
 write to Hyder for permission to advance, and to 
 await his answer. During this interval, which 
 to many would have proved tedious and unin- 
 teresting, he found full and most useful occupa- 
 tion. With his young friend from Ceylon, and 
 his family, he performed divine service. Some
 
 348 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of his servants he instructed, 'and baptized. In 
 
 -*r 
 
 L the place itself, he and Sattianaden proclaimed 
 
 1779> the majesty of God, the deep corruption of man, 
 the mighty Saviour, and the nature and necessity 
 of repentance and faith in him. Upon these oc- 
 casions, the street was often quite filled. Many 
 listened attentively. A Brahmin said, " This is 
 deep wisdom." A young man replied to his ex- 
 hortation, " Look at the water in the river : will 
 it assume another colour? As little shall we 
 change." Some objected, that it was repugnant 
 to them to receive the Christian doctrine, though 
 
 7 O 
 
 they acknowledged it to be good, from Europeans. 
 Were it preached by Brahmins, it would be more 
 acceptable. 
 
 On the 6th of August Swartz and his catechist 
 left Caroor, teaching and conversing with heathens 
 and Roman Christians by the way. On the 8th, 
 being Sunday, they staid at Curremudi, where he 
 was joined by his friend and his family from Ca- 
 roor. He preached to them from the 19th of 
 St. Luke. " We were on the banks," he says, 
 " of the river Cavery, where beautiful trees render 
 the scene very delightful. We had a long dis- 
 course with a pandaram, on the principal subjects 
 of religion. When he heard of the resurrection, 
 he said, ' What is this ? Can the body rise 
 again?'" 
 
 The next day they came to Errode, where they
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 349 
 
 observed the vestiges of the English army, which CHAP. 
 had some years since encamped there, and cap- 
 tured the fort. In the afternoon, they arrived at 
 Bovany. " This," says Swartz, " is an island 
 formed by the Cavery, and highly venerated by 
 the Hindoos. As we were to halt here for some 
 time, I visited the inhabitants, inspected the pa- 
 goda, and the lovely spots near the river, where 
 the Brahmins are accustomed to assemble. The 
 streams flowing on each side, and the lofty and 
 branching trees, refresh the eye and the spirits 
 much more than in Europe. Several Brahmins 
 pressed me to visit them, when I set before them 
 the doctrine of Christ, and earnestly admonished 
 and exhorted them. Apparently, they approved 
 all ; but there it rested. ' We have already heard 
 of you,' said one; 'how you have declared the 
 true law at Caroor.'" 
 
 On the 14th, they reached Sattimungulum, 
 after travelling for more than a day at the foot of 
 the mountains. The fort stands on a high rock, 
 opposite to which is a pagoda, from which Colonel 
 Wood bombarded and captured it without much 
 trouble. The marks of the shot were distinctly 
 visible. Being Sunday, divine service was per- 
 formed with his friends from Caroor, and Swartz 
 preached from Luke xviii. 
 
 Three days afterwards, the party arrived at 
 Guzzulhatty, close to the pass. The heat was
 
 350 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, intense, and formidable mountains were before 
 
 y 
 
 __L them. " Early on the 18th," he writes, " we set 
 79 ' forth, not without fear, and prayer to God for his 
 fatherly protection. A multitude of people ac- 
 companied us. Many carried a piece of wood, 
 which they lighted, not only to render the path 
 more discernible, but to deter the tigers. The 
 mountain is ascended gradually. In many places, 
 it is steep. If one looks down into the abyss, the 
 head becomes quite giddy. The path is fre- 
 quently narrow ; so that if you slip, it is all over 
 with you. But the trees which grow on all sides, 
 conceal the danger. When we had mounted 
 about half way up the hill the sun rose, and we 
 beheld the numerous heights and depths with as- 
 tonishment, and admiration of God. The eye 
 cannot satiate itself with gazing ; so that the 
 dread of tigers is forgotten. Often we had a 
 summit on our left, and a fearful abyss on our 
 right. We directed the people around us to the 
 majesty, the might, and the inconceivable great- 
 ness of God. The heights and declivities which 
 weary the traveller, are his work ; and He has 
 created them that they may proclaim his glory. 
 But wretched man looks off from these wonders, 
 and makes to himself worthless images, and says, 
 Ye are our gods ! 
 
 " About nine o'clock, we had surmounted the 
 pass, and its seven lofty ridges. We expected
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 351 
 
 that we should now have to descend : but it was CHAP. 
 
 x. 
 a plain before us. and we perceived, with sur- - 
 
 1779. 
 
 prise, that the Mysore country is a full English 
 mile higher than the Carnatic. During the whole 
 way, the people saw but one small tiger, though 
 there are thousands of them in these mountains. 
 Having reached a village, we began to rest our- 
 selves, when a thunder-storm came on, one clap 
 of which was so loud, that the whole mountain 
 seemed to be shaken in pieces. 
 
 " On the 19th, we proceeded, and had another 
 hill to climb ; fearful, on account of the tigers, but 
 not to be compared, in elevation, with the first. 
 There was a tolerably spacious choultry ; and, on 
 entering into conversation with the people, a 
 Brahmin said, ' No man lives so holy. Only let 
 money be offered to any one, and all his good 
 resolutions vanish!'" an observation which, 
 though but too true of the generality of mankind, 
 and particularly of the Hindoos, was most re- 
 markably refuted by the pure and perfect disin- 
 terestedness of the admirable person to whom it 
 was addressed. 
 
 The following day, the party came to Arrya- 
 cottah, where Swartz conversed in Hindostanee 
 with the Brahmins on religious topics. The 
 chief Brahmin, however, sent and called him 
 away, fearing that Hyder might hear of it, and 
 think that they were conferring on political sub-
 
 352 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, jects. " Hyder," he added, " is quite uncon- 
 
 ^ 
 
 cerned as to religion. He has none himself, and 
 
 1779. 
 
 leaves every one else to his choice." The ob- 
 servation was perfectly true, and affords a striking 
 contrast to the despotic government of this suc- 
 cessful adventurer in every other respect, and to 
 the relentless bigotry of his son. 
 
 " On the 22nd of August," he continues, " be- 
 ing Sunday, we halted at Madenemuley, a plea- 
 sant little town. I first held divine service by the 
 river, under the green trees. We meditated on 
 the gospel for the day, respecting the deaf and 
 dumb, and besought God to compassionate us, 
 and this benighted land. 
 
 " The country was very delightful, verdant, 
 and well planted with trees. The air was fresh, 
 and the nights rather cold ; so that a covering 
 was quite needful. A scarcity of rain having for 
 some time prevailed, the poor heathen imagined, 
 that if the Brahmins would only submit to certain 
 painful ceremonies, God would soon send them 
 rain; since they supposed that he was pleased 
 with such austerities. One of those who was 
 present, exclaimed, ' Our religion is a complete 
 system of fraud !' 
 
 " Over the river which flows by this place, is a 
 bridge, of twenty-three arches ; and, after rain, 
 the superintendent is required to send people to 
 repair it, wherever any earth is washed away from
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 353 
 
 its sides. " It is Hyder's economical regulation," CHAP. 
 
 observes Swartz, " to repair every thing immedi- 
 
 ately ; by which means, all is maintained in good 
 condition, and much expense is saved. Among 
 the Europeans in the Carnatic, all is suffered to 
 go to ruin." 1 
 
 " On the 24th of August," he continues, " we 
 arrived at the fort of Mysore, from which the 
 country takes its name, and observed, with de- 
 light, the beauty of the surrounding scenery. A 
 high hill, on which a pagoda is built, was formerly 
 dangerous to travellers. The Pagan mountaineers 
 imagining that their deities took peculiar pleasure 
 in the offering of a human nose, frequently rushed 
 out upon travellers, cut off their noses, and offered 
 them to their idols. Hyder has, however, strictly 
 forbidden this inhuman practice ; so that travellers 
 may now proceed on their way in safety. From 
 this eminence, we had a distinct, but distant, view 
 of Seringapatam, which we reached the next day. 
 We crossed the river over a bridge, which, to- 
 gether with the strong columns on which it is con- 
 structed, is built entirely of stone. On the other 
 side of the fortress, there is another arm of the 
 river ; so that Seringapatam is an island. From 
 the point at which the river divides into these two 
 branches, the fortifications commence. 
 
 1 This, it must be remembered, was written more than fifty 
 years since. Such mismanagement does not now exist. 
 VOL. I. A A
 
 354 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " I had a tent pitched on the glacis, as I found 
 it too close and sultry in the fort itself; and an 
 
 1779 
 
 epidemic fever raged within ; but I had, at all 
 times, full liberty to enter. The fortifications 
 have a grand appearance ; but Europeans think 
 that the works are not strong. I am not able, 
 and do not wish, to pronounce an opinion on them. 
 The rampart round the walls is not broad. Many 
 of the houses are of two stories ; and some of the 
 ancient buildings are of hewn stone, with lofty 
 and massive columns. 
 
 " The palace of Hyder Ali, built by himself, is 
 very beautiful, according to the style of Eastern 
 architecture. It is entirely of hewn stone, with 
 numerous pillars. At the extremity of the pa- 
 goda stands the ancient palace of the kings of 
 Mysore. The former possessor of the throne, to 
 whom Hyder allows an annual income, still in- 
 habits it. He has his servants, but is treated as a 
 prisoner of state. Hyder himself sometimes visits 
 him, and stands in his presence as a servant. 
 Thus men of the world can dissemble. The 
 king's sons are all dead ; and the general opinion 
 is, that they were secretly despatched. 
 
 " Opposite to the palace, is a large square, on 
 two sides of which are open buildings, in which 
 the military and civil servants of Hyder have 
 their appointed stations for conducting public 
 business. He can overlook them from his bal-
 
 THE RF.V. C. F. SWARTZ. 355 
 
 cony ; and, as they are required at appointed CHA.P 
 
 hours to be in the places assigned them, to re- 
 
 i P i i i. 1779 - 
 
 ceive the reports ot the country and army, who- 
 ever has business to transact knows where to find 
 them. Here reigns no pomp ; but the utmost 
 regularity and despatch. 
 
 " Though Hyder sometimes rewards his servants, 
 the main spring of action here is terror. Every 
 one performs his part from a motive of fear, well 
 knowing the consequences of any neglect of duty. 
 Persons of the highest, as well as of the meanest, 
 condition, are punished with the same instrument. 
 The tyrant keeps two hundred men, with whips 
 in constant readiness ; and no day passes, without 
 many being chastised. The governor of a whole 
 district is whipped in the same manner as the 
 meanest groom. Hyder treats them all alike. 
 Even his two sons, and his son-in-law, are liable 
 to the same cruel usage. When any one of his 
 highest officers has been thus publicly flogged, 
 he does not allow him to resign his employment, 
 but compels him to retain it, that the marks of 
 the whip on his person may serve to deter him 
 from repeating the offence ; for he seems to think 
 that almost all persons who seek to enrich them- 
 selves, are devoid of all principles of honour. 
 
 " Entering the palace one evening, I observed 
 in the audience chamber a number of people sit-- 
 ting in a circle. By their dress, I perceived that 
 
 A A2
 
 356 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, they were collectors of districts ; and in their 
 - countenances, the marks of anxious fear were 
 visible. I was informed, by Hyder's Persian se- 
 cretary, that they were come to submit their 
 accounts. They appeared to me like criminals 
 expecting death. Very few were able to render 
 these to Hyder's satisfaction : and, in consequence, 
 dreadful punishments were daily inflicted. I 
 hardly know whether to mention how one of these 
 unhappy men was treated. The poor criminal 
 was tied to a post ; two men approached with 
 whips, and flogged him in the most cruel man- 
 ner, the pointed nails lacerating his flesh. The 
 cries of the wretched victim were most heart 
 piercing. 
 
 " But, notwithstanding this severity of punish- 
 ment, there are numbers who eagerly seek these 
 lucrative employments, and even outbid each 
 other. The Brahmins are the worst in this traffic. 
 When one of them has obtained a district, he 
 fleeces the inhabitants without remorse. At length, 
 when called upon by Hyder for his arrears, he 
 pleads poverty ; and, having undergone a fla- 
 gellation, returns to renew his exactions. Can 
 we be surprised if the people, under such a go- 
 vernment, lose all sense of shame ?" 
 
 May it not be added, that it is a matter of con- 
 gratulation, both to India and to ourselves, that a
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 357 
 
 system, so corrupt and cruel, should, within a CHAP. 
 
 v 
 
 few years afterwards, have been overthrown ; and L 
 
 the government transferred to a nation acting 
 upon the pure principles of British and of Chris- 
 tian justice? 
 
 " Hyder's army is under the management of 
 four chief officers, (called baschi.) They may 
 be considered as pay-masters ; but their office is 
 not confined to paying the troops, as they have to 
 provide for the recruiting service, and to regulate 
 other military matters, being likewise judges for 
 the decision of private quarrels. With these 
 people I often conversed. Some of them speak 
 Persian ; others, only Hindostanee, and are all 
 Mahomedans. They once asked me what is the 
 most acceptable prayer, and to whom ought it to 
 be addressed ? I explained to them, that as sin- 
 ful creatures, and therefore deserving eternal 
 death, we could only approach the Almighty in 
 the name of the Mediator, Jesus Christ ; and then 
 expounded the Lord's Prayer. They next in- 
 quired, whether the Lord Jesus, in his gospel, 
 had fixed the period of his coming, and of the 
 day of judgment. In reply to this I explained to 
 them the doctrines of the gospel ; to some, in 
 Tamul ; to others, in Hindostanee. As the house- 
 hold of Hyder consisted chiefly of Brahmins, I 
 had very frequent conversations with them.
 
 358 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CI ^ AP - Some of them gave me very modest answers ; 
 whilst others avoided the discussion, and gave me 
 
 1779. 
 
 to understand that they did not consider their 
 temples to have been built in vain. The ' build- 
 ings/ I replied, ' may be useful ; but the idols you 
 worship, are worthless.' 
 
 " Without the fort, several hundred Europeans 
 were encamped ; some of whom were French ; 
 others, Germans. I also met with a few Malabar 
 Christians, whom I had instructed at Trichiriopoly. 
 To find them," he adds, with true pastoral feel- 
 ing, " in that country, far from all Christian or- 
 dinances, was painful, but to renew the instruc- 
 tion which they had formerly received, was very 
 comfortable. Captain Buden, the commander of 
 the German troops, lent me his tent, in which 
 I performed divine service every Sunday, with- 
 out asking permission ; acting in this as one 
 bound in conscience, to do his duty. We sang, 
 preached, and prayed, no one presuming to hinder 
 us. The whole I considered as a kind providence 
 of God. 
 
 " In Hyder's palace, high and low came, in- 
 quiring of me the nature of the Christian doc- 
 trine ; so that I could speak as long as my strength 
 allowed. Hyder's younger son (not Tippoo) see- 
 ing me in the durbar, or hall of audience, saluted 
 me in a friendly manner, and invited me to pay 
 him a visit in his own apartments. I told him I
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 359 
 
 would come most cheerfully, provided his father 
 would give permission ; since to do so, without -~~ 
 his consent, might prove injurious both to himself 
 and to me. Of this he was perfectly aware. 
 Even the most intimate friends do not venture to 
 speak their mind freely. Hyder has every where 
 his spies ; but I knew very well, that, on the 
 subject of religion, I might discourse day and 
 night, without fear of giving him the least of- 
 fence. 
 
 " When I was admitted to an audience, Hyder 
 bade me sit next to him on the floor, which was 
 covered with the richest carpets ; and I was not 
 required to take off my shoes. He listened to all 
 I had to say ;* expressed himself in a very frank 
 and open manner, and told me, that notwith- 
 standing the Europeans had violated their pub- 
 lic engagements, he was willing to live in peace 
 with them. A letter was then read to me, which 
 had been prepared by his order. ' In this letter, 
 said he, ' I have stated the substance of our con- 
 versation ; but you will be able to give further 
 explanations personally.' Hyder seemed, by this 
 expression, to consider my visit as the preliminary 
 
 1 In his account of this interview to the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge, Swartz says, " Hyder Ali gave a plain 
 answer to all the questions I was ordered to put to him ; so 
 that the honourahle Board at Madras received the information 
 they desired."
 
 360 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. t a treaty of peace ; but the nabob at Madras 
 x< defeated all these intentions. 
 
 " Whilst sitting near Hyder, I was struck with 
 the expeditious manner in which the public busi- 
 ness was despatched. When he had ceased con- 
 versing with me, some letters were read to him, 
 and he dictated an immediate answer. The se- 
 cretaries hastened away, wrote the letter, read it 
 before him, and he affixed his seal to it. In 
 this way, many letters were written in the course 
 of the evening. Hyder himself can neither read 
 nor write ; but he has an excellent memory. Few 
 have the courage to impose upon him. He orders 
 one to write a letter, and then has it read to him ; 
 after which, he calls another, and hears it read a 
 second time ; and if the secretary has not strictly 
 conveyed his meaning, or has in the least de- 
 viated from his orders, his head pays for it. 
 
 " I frequently sat with him in a room, adorned 
 with marble pillars, opening into the garden, 
 which, though not large, as it could not be in the 
 fort, was neatly laid out with trees, which were 
 grafted, and bore two kinds of fruit ; rows of cy- 
 presses, fountains, &c. Observing a number of 
 youths carrying earth into the garden, I inquired 
 respecting them, and was told that Hyder had 
 established a battalion of boys, all of whom were 
 orphans, and whom he had taken under his pro- 
 tection ; boarding, and clothing them, and fur-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 361 
 
 rushing them with wooden guns, for the purpose ;CHAP. 
 
 of teaching them their exercise. This care of poor !_ 
 
 orphans really pleased me ; and I wish our go- 
 vernment would, in this particular, imitate his 
 example, and improve upon it, particularly as to 
 religious instruction, so as it becomes Britons, 
 and as God will certainly require it at our hands, 
 who hath armed us with power, that we should 
 use it chiefly for his service and glory, and not 
 merely for our own. 1 
 
 " On the last evening, when I took my leave 
 of Hyder, he requested me to speak Persian be- 
 fore him, as I had done with some of his attend- 
 ants. Of this language he understood a little, 
 but he does not speak it. I did so ; and explained 
 the motives of my journey to him. ' You may 
 perhaps wonder,' said I, ' what could have in- 
 duced me, a priest, who has nothing to do with 
 political concerns, to come to you, and that on 
 an errand which does not properly belong to my 
 sacerdotal functions. But as I was plainly told, 
 that the sole object of my journey was the pre- 
 servation and confirmation of peace ; and having 
 
 1 The benevolent missionary was here misinformed, or he 
 would not thus have eulogised Hyder's supposed humanity. 
 The battalion alluded to was formed of boys, called chelahs, or 
 captives, selected, at the proper age, from the numbers carried 
 away after one of the sieges of Chittledroog, to people the 
 island of Seringapatam, and trained, like the Turkish Janissa- 
 ries, for the military service of this tyrant.
 
 302 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, witnessed, more than once, the misery and horrors 
 - attending on war ; I thought within my own mind, 
 how happy I should deem myself, if I could be of 
 service in cementing a durable friendship between 
 the two governments ; and thus securing the 
 blessings of peace to this devoted country, and 
 its inhabitants. This I considered as a commis- 
 sion in no wise inconsistent with my office as a 
 minister of a religion of peace.' He said, with 
 great cordiality, ' Very well ! very well ! I am 
 of the same opinion with you ; and my only wish 
 is, that the English would live in peace with me. 
 If they offer me the hand of peace and concord, 
 I shall not withdraw mine, provided ' " But 
 of these mysterious provisions, nothing," observes 
 Colonel Wilks, " can now be ascertained." 
 
 " I then," adds Swartz, " took my leave ; and, 
 on entering my palanquin, I found three hundred 
 rupees, which he had sent me, to defray the ex- 
 penses of my journey." 
 
 The conscientious missionary wished to decline 
 this present, but was told by Hyder's officers that 
 it would endanger their lives, if they presumed 
 to take it back. He then expressed his desire to 
 return it in person ; but he was informed that it was 
 contrary to etiquette to re-admit him into their 
 master's presence, after having had his audience of 
 leave, or to receive any written representation on 
 the subject ; and that Hyder, knowing that a great
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 363 
 
 present would offend him, had purposely limited CHAP. 
 it to the lowest amount of travelling expenses. 
 
 1779. 
 
 Such is Mr. Swartz's interesting narrative of 
 this singular embassy. Too much praise can 
 scarcely be given to his conduct throughout 
 this difficult undertaking. While his piety en- 
 gaged the protection and favour of Heaven, his 
 frank and manly bearing evidently disarmed the 
 hostility, and won the confidence, of the Mysorean 
 chief. The natives of India are said to be expert 
 in appreciating character, and Hyder AH pos- 
 sessed this talent in an eminent degree. He 
 failed not to discern, under the simple and pious 
 demeanour of Swartz, a mind of no common 
 order ; a degree of talent and of fearless integrity 
 which he could neither deceive nor alarm, and 
 which at once commanded his respect and conci- 
 liated his regard. Had the Madras governor been 
 as penetrating with respect to the character and 
 designs of Hyder, and as sincere in his professions 
 of peace, as his admirable envoy, the storm which 
 soon afterwards burst over the Carnatic, might 
 have been retarded, if not altogether averted. 
 
 By the most unhappy coincidence, 1 Swartz 
 arrived at Seringapatam a few days after Hyder 
 had received intelligence of an attempt on the 
 part of a body of British troops to pass with- 
 out permission, through his territory. This 
 i Wilks' South of India, vol. ii. ]>. 242.
 
 364 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, event was not calculated to allay the resent- 
 
 '_ ment which he had long cherished against the 
 
 1779> English on other accounts ; and in fact, though 
 gracious and condescending to the venerable mis- 
 sionary, in the letter to the governor, of which 
 he was the bearer, Hyder evidently betrayed his 
 irritation and his hostile disposition. He re- 
 viewed the conduct of the English as connected 
 with Mahomed Ali, from his refusal to resign the 
 province of Trichinopoly, as he had promised in 
 1752, to their breach of the treaty of mutual 
 support and defence in 1 769, in consequence of 
 which his affairs had been nearly ruined, in his 
 contest with the Mahrattas, and enumerated the 
 capture of Mahe from the French, the conduct of 
 the nabob's officers on the frontiers, and of the 
 Company's servants at Tellicherry, in affording 
 protection to his rebellious subjects, as so many 
 proofs of their determination to break with him ; 
 adding with fearful emphasis, " I have not yet 
 taken my revenge, and it is no matter. When 
 such conduct is pursued, what engagements will 
 remain inviolate ! I leave you to judge on whose 
 part treaties and promises have been broken. 
 You are acquainted with all things ; it is right to 
 act with prudence and foresight." From the 
 haughty usurper of Mysore, what could be more 
 intelligible, or more menacing, than such language 
 as this !
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 3G5 
 
 1779. 
 
 On the return of Mr. Swartz, the governor com- CHAP. 
 municated for the first time to his council the re- 
 suit of a mission, which it seems had been under- 
 taken without their knowledge. The only docu- 
 ments recorded on that occasion, are Sir Thomas 
 Rumbold's letter to Hyder, and his reply, which 
 has been already adverted to, and which inti- 
 mated that the faithful missionary would inform 
 the governor of several matters with which he had 
 charged him. No entry, however, appears on the 
 records, of any such information ; nor a single line 
 of report or communication in any form upon this 
 important subject. 
 
 The able historian of the South of India justly 
 expresses his surprise at this omission, as well as 
 that no such report had ever been officially called 
 for. He adds, what the writer of these memoirs 
 can confirm, that upon various inquiries, both in 
 India and in England, no document of this nature 
 has been discovered, and that in the preceding 
 extracts from the correspondence of Mr. Swartz, 
 a mysterious blank is interposed at the very point 
 on which the desired information is wanting. " The 
 nabob and others, frustrated all hopes of peace." 
 
 The truth appears to have been, that full infor- 
 mation of all that passed between himself and 
 Hyder Ali was afforded by the pious missionary 
 on his return, to the governor of Madras, and 
 that, with his characteristic candour and fidelity, he 
 communicated his own impressions as to the state
 
 366 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of affairs. Swartz himself was not deceived as to 
 
 X 
 
 1 the probability of an approaching rupture. He 
 
 79 ' clearly foresaw, and in subsequent letters to his 
 friends plainly adverted to the intrigues of the 
 nabob, and the misconduct of other persons, as 
 the causes of this calamitous event. May it not, 
 therefore, be conjectured, that the report of the 
 result of his mission to Hyder was not recorded, 
 because it little coincided with the prevalent views 
 of the Madras government ? 
 
 " These extracts," says Colonel Wilks, " are 
 added, for the purpose of exhibiting the amount 
 of the lights which they afford regarding the na- 
 ture of the mission, and of furnishing a curious 
 and interesting picture of the mind of this vene- 
 rable Christian, who seems to have deemed the 
 political mission no farther worthy of notice, than 
 as it tended to promote a particular object of spi- 
 ritual pursuit." 
 
 In his last observation, this candid and eloquent 
 writer by no means does justice to the character 
 and views of Swartz. It was, indeed, one of the 
 motives which induced him to undertake the em- 
 bassy to Hyder Ali, that it would afford him an 
 opportunity of pursuing the higher objects of his 
 sacred mission ; but he was, at the same time, 
 deeply interested in the preservation of the peace of 
 India, and, as the most effectual means of securing 
 it, was anxious to promote the British power and 
 1 From the missionary's correspondence.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 367 
 
 ascendancy in that country. Simple and spiritual CHAP. 
 as he was, he entertained the most just and en- 
 
 1779. 
 
 larged conceptions of the real welfare of nations, 
 and upon more than one occasion evinced the 
 extent of his information and the soundness of 
 his judgment on points of civil and political im- 
 portance. In one respect only did he invariably 
 reject every approach to secularity in steadily 
 refusing to derive from political services any 
 personal or pecuniary advantage. 
 
 On his return to Madras, " having been fur- 
 nished," says this disinterested man, " with all 
 necessaries by the honourable board, I delivered 
 the bag containing the three hundred rupees sent 
 to me by Hyder to them, who desired me to keep 
 it. Thus urged, I requested their permission to ap- 
 propriate this sum as the first fund for an English 
 orphan school at Tanjore, hoping that some chari- 
 table people would increase it. General Munro 
 promised to recommend the plan to the gentlemen 
 of the settlement." This design was immediately 
 commenced, and it will be gratifying to know, 
 was afterwards carried into extensive and most 
 beneficial execution. 
 
 " Being told," continues Swartz, " that Sir 
 Thomas Rumbold intended to procure me a pre- 
 sent from the board, I begged leave to decline 
 accepting any, declaring that if my journey had 
 been in any way beneficial to the public, I rejoiced
 
 368 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, at the opportunity. I signified, however, that it 
 - would make me very happy if the board would allow 
 my colleague at Trichinopoly the same yearly sum 
 they had given to me, being convinced that he 
 would use it for the benefit of the school, and the 
 maintenance of some catechists. This request 
 was granted. Mr. Pohle receives at Trichino- 
 poly yearly a hundred pounds sterling, as I do 
 here at Tanjore ; by which means we are en- 
 abled to maintain in both places schoolmasters 
 and catechists." The government further imme- 
 diately ordered that he should be supplied with 
 bricks and lime towards the building of his church 
 at Tanjore. 
 
 Thus ended this memorable visit of Swartz to 
 the capital of Mysore. " Of my journey back," 
 he observes, " and the conversations I held with 
 heathens, Roman catholics, and Mahommedans, 
 I cannot, on account of the shortness of time, 
 say more. God preserved me on the dangerous 
 journey, gave me abundant opportunities to an- 
 nounce his word, and directed all circumstances 
 so as was most expedient for me. Praised be his 
 gracious name ! May the Almighty grant that 
 every where, and even in the Mysore country, his 
 gospel may be preached, received, and glorified ; 
 so that many thousands may be converted, and 
 eternally saved, to the praise and glory of God, 
 and of his Son Jesus Christ !"
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 300 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Completion of the church in the little Fort at Tanj ore Prepa- 
 ration of another for the Tamul congregation in the garden, 
 presented by the Rajah to Mr. Swartz, in the suburbs 
 Letters to friends Invasion of the Carnatic by Hyder Ali 
 Letters to Mr. and Mrs. Chambers Desolation and dis- 
 tress of the country in consequence of Hyder's attack Be- 
 nevolent exertions of Swartz to relieve it. 
 
 THE new church at Tanjore, thus auspiciously CHAP. 
 commenced, was carried on with so much vigour 
 
 * o 
 
 that early in the year 1780, Mr. Swartz expressed 178 * 
 his hope that he should perform divine service in it 
 in the course of a few weeks. It was completed 
 according to his expectation, and consecrated in 
 the month of April by the name of Christ Church. 
 " It is built," as he informed the Society for pro- 
 moting Christian Knowledge, " upon the plan of 
 the church at Trichinopoly, being ninety feet long 
 and fifty broad ; so that five hundred people may 
 conveniently find room in it. But," he continues, 
 " though the church is very convenient to the 
 
 VOL. I. B B
 
 370 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, garrison, it is not so to the Malabar congregation, 
 '- the greater part of whom live in the suburbs. 
 They used to assemble in the large fort, where 
 my late worthy friend, Major Stevens, had pre- 
 pared a very convenient place. 
 
 " But as the spot on which he built belonged 
 to a Brahmin family, which he endeavoured to 
 find out, but in vain, and when at last that family, 
 upon their return to the Fort, refused to sell the 
 ground, we were in conscience obliged to let them 
 possess their own property. However, we soon 
 got a more convenient place given us by the 
 rajah, near to which was a vaulted house for the 
 use of an European family. That family quitting 
 the place, I bought the house for one hundred 
 and fifty pagodas, which were given me by 
 Mr. John Macpherson, at the time of his return- 
 ing to England, and by General Munro. But as 
 this house was by much too small for the congre- 
 gation, I lengthened it, so that, it is now a con- 
 venient church for that congregation. It lies on 
 a rising ground, not an English mile distant from 
 the Fort. Round about it live the inhabitants. 
 On all sides of it is an empty spot, on which 
 may be built a school-house, and houses for the 
 catechists. I have enclosed it with a wall. All 
 circumstances concurred to make this house of 
 prayer convenient, healthy, and remote from noise. 
 Blessed be God, that we are so agreeably placed !
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 371 
 
 May he graciously vouchsafe his blessing, that CHAP. 
 many thousands of the poor heathens may hear, L 
 embrace, and practise the truth preached in the 
 midst of their habitations ' 
 
 In the same letter in which he thus piously and 
 unostentatiously communicates to the society the 
 commencement and completion of both these good 
 and important works, he informs them that he 
 had enjoyed a perfect state of health, and had not 
 been hindered by any sickness in the performance 
 of his various duties. " The catechists," he added, 
 " and schoolmasters are all living, and according 
 to the best of their abilities assist me in preach- 
 ing the word of God. To make known to Gentiles 
 and Christians the way that leadeth unto life has 
 been my aim ; and that most important business I 
 have pursued through the last year, and, I hope, 
 not without success." 
 
 Shortly afterwards he addressed the following 
 letter to his young friend, the son of Colonel 
 Wood, the wise and affectionate admonitions of 
 which, it will be perceived, are beautifully adapted 
 to his growing years. 
 
 " Taujore, Feb. 22ncl, 1780. 
 
 l< 1 have received your kind letter, and rejoiced 
 that the son of my much esteemed friend, who is 
 
 B B 2
 
 372 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, now in eternity, goes on learning such things as 
 - will make him useful in human society. You 
 learn Latin, geography, arithmetic, French, draw- 
 ing ; all which may be very serviceable to you 
 and beneficial to your fellow-creatures. I entreat 
 you, therefore, to be very diligent, and to spend 
 your time in the best manner. I remember that 
 when I learnt vocal music, in my younger days, 
 I did not think that I should use it much ; and 
 behold now, every morning and evening when 
 the Malabar children come to prayer, I teach 
 them to sing in praise of their Redeemer. Every 
 week they learn one hymn, for they are slow. 
 Now I am well pleased that I was instructed in 
 vocal music ; all things may become useful to us 
 and others. 
 
 " But then, my dear friend, our intention, our 
 duties, must be well managed ; or, in other words, 
 our hearts must be truly mended. As you have 
 spent many months and years in learning useful 
 things, let your heart now be given over to your 
 God, otherwise your learning will not prove be- 
 neficial ; nay, which is deplorable, it may be 
 abused to your detriment. 
 
 " As you are so well placed, I beseech you, by 
 the mercy of God, my dear J.. to mind now the 
 best, the one thing needful. Examine your 
 heart, and whatever you find in it that is not
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 373 
 
 agreeable to the will of God, (and you will find CHAP 
 
 much of that sort,) acknowledge and bewail it ! 
 
 before your God ; entreat him to wash and 
 cleanse you from all your sins. Cease not till you 
 find rest to your soul. Having obtained pardon 
 and peace through Jesus, watch and pray, that 
 you may not lose what you have gained, but that 
 you may rather grow daily in faith, love, and 
 hope. 
 
 " In your conversation with young people be 
 very cautious. Their thoughts and speeches are 
 often too frothy, aye, and even dangerous. Above 
 all, try to gain strength divine strength, to over- 
 come that sinful bashfulness, whereby many are 
 ashamed to confess or practise what they other- 
 wise approve of in their heart. If you read 
 your Bible, and pray heartily to God, you will 
 get strength every day to go on and prosper in 
 his way. Our time is but short ; eternity, awful 
 eternity, is at hand. Let us, therefore, not trifle 
 away our time, but let us seek the Lord, and his 
 grace, his blessing, and his strength. As you, 
 dear J., are blessed with a pious mother, who is 
 unspeakably desirous of promoting your welfare, 
 I hope you will take all possible care to comfort 
 and rejoice her heart. Though I have never seen 
 your schoolmaster, it is cause enough for me to 
 revere him, that I hear that he is a faithful ser-
 
 374 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, vant of his Lord and master Jesus Christ. May 
 1 God bless him, and all that are under his 
 
 1780. 
 
 care ! 
 
 " P. S. I communicated your letter to Mr. 
 John Koblhoff, who lives at present at Trichino- 
 poly, and desired him to write 'you a few lines 
 which I hereby inclose." 
 
 Hitherto the health of Swartz had been vigor- 
 ous and unimpaired. In the course of this, year, 
 he complained of a pain in the shoulder and side, 
 which indicated something of the disorder so pre- 
 valent in India, but which happily soon subsided. 
 It is to this that he refers in the following letter, 
 addressed to the lady of William Duffin, Esq. a 
 medical gentleman in the service of the East 
 India Company, who had been resident at Tri- 
 chinopoly, and for whom he ever professed the 
 highest esteem. They were at this time at 
 Vellore. 
 
 " DEAR MADAM, 
 
 " Your most agreeable favour I have had near 
 two months on my table, having looked on it very 
 often, and as often desiring to answer it. My 
 indisposition hindered me first a long while. For 
 though I was not confined, my right arm gave me 
 so much pain, that I was unfit to write, nay, to
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 375 
 
 hold a book with it. But now it is much better, CHAP. 
 
 XI 
 
 by the mercy of God. He is the author and pre- - 
 server of our lives. If he be pleased to let us 
 stand for some time, O may he grant us strength 
 to live to his glory and praise ! Our time is in 
 his hand. 
 
 * 
 
 " The behaviour of the Europeans in this 
 country is truly lamentable. But let us live in 
 such a manner that we may be witnesses of God's 
 goodness witnesses of the sufferings and resur- 
 rection of Jesus. Whatever they now say to keep 
 themselves in countenance, they will soon bewail 
 it. To be ashamed of God, the author of their 
 life ; to scorn their Redeemer, who bled and died 
 for them ; who purchased their pardon, peace, 
 nay, eternal life how shocking! 
 
 " Your celebration of the Lord's day is very 
 pleasing. John was in the Spirit on the Lord's 
 day. May you improve every Lord's day in 
 knowledge, hatred of every sin, hunger and thirst 
 after the righteousness of Jesus, and, in short, in 
 every branch of true Christianity ! 
 
 " I intended to say something, however, to dis- 
 tinguish the true doctrine of God from the spuri- 
 ous and fashionable one, but I hope to do it in 
 my next. 
 
 " You are then the governess of your school. 
 Who knoweth how much good may proceed from 
 it ? Let us not despise small things. God is
 
 376 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, pleased to bless them. My best wishes attend 
 
 .XJ . 
 
 you. and my dear friend Mr. D., 
 
 1780. . J 
 
 " Being your most humble obedient servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " 22nd of July, 1780." 
 
 About the same date is the following letter to 
 the daughter of Colonel Wood, full of pious and 
 affectionate admonition, and exhibiting some touch- 
 ing traits of apostolic simplicity and fervour. 
 
 " With great joy T have been reading again 
 
 and again the most agreeable letter which N 
 
 has written me. I praise God for all the innume- 
 rable blessings which he, for the sake of your 
 Redeemer, has bestowed upon you all, particularly 
 for that inestimable benefit of being guided, in- 
 structed, and corrected by a religious mother and 
 governess. Be sure you are, in this respect, 
 blessed above millions. The advantages which 
 you daily reap from that double blessing are ob- 
 vious, and very great. The impressions which 
 we get from the good example of those whom we 
 honour, are very lasting; and though we some- 
 times swerve, they follow us, and incline our 
 hearts to pursue that which is good. My blessed 
 
 friend, Major S , told me, that the pious 
 
 conduct of his mother laid the first foundations of 
 that excellent frame of mind which was afterwards
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 377 
 
 raised and strengthened by divine grace. But re- c "^ p ' 
 member always the rule which is strictly observed 
 
 J 1780. 
 
 by God, namely, ' To whom much is given, from 
 them much will be required.' O my dear young 
 friends, regard the admonitions, example, nay, 
 and the correction, of your pious mamma ; des- 
 pise them not; prize them higher than all jewels. 
 Rejoice her heart by your humble and obedient 
 behaviour, as I hope you have hitherto done. 
 Doubtless you see and hear much in so large a 
 city, which should not so much as be named by 
 Christians. But the church is at present like a 
 field which is overgrown with weeds, thorns, and 
 thistles. You are happily guarded by your 
 Christian education against the pernicious influ- 
 ence which the prevailing wickedness might 
 otherwise have over you. Shun those places; 
 turn away your eyes and hearts from all which 
 might vitiate your mind, or at least tempt you, or 
 retard you in your way. Be sure, you may 
 pray, nay, be fervent in prayer ; but except you 
 watch, you will lose all most miserably. Watch- 
 fulness is the soul of Christianity. Be therefore 
 careful. Watch ; above all, watch over your heart, 
 over yourconversation, over the company you keep. 
 In short, be wise virgins. You will then be ready 
 to go out to meet the Lord. You read, you pray, 
 you sing hymns; but take care that all these ex- 
 cellent things may improve your hearts and lives,
 
 3?S MEMOIRS OF 
 
 xi ? ' ^ iat ^ y ur rea ding you may grow in the know- 
 
 ledge of Jesus, in faith, in a sincere love towards 
 
 1 7RO 
 
 him, in willingness to follow him, in hating and 
 rejecting all things which hinder you in your 
 desire of winning Christ, and the happiness of 
 being found in him. I remember you all fre- 
 quently ; my heart wishes you all the riches of 
 grace, of strength, and comfort, which are to be 
 found in Jesus. 
 
 " When you come together to bow your knees 
 before the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, forget 
 not your old friend who lives in this wilderness. 
 Beg of God, that grace may be given me to 
 finish my course with joy, and that in the time 
 that my kind Master suifereth me to work, I may 
 glorify him. After I have preached in the Fort to 
 the English, I go out to the Malabar church, 
 when I preach from ten till twelve. In the after- 
 noon a catechist repeats the sermon, and at seven 
 o'clock in the evening we have prayer ; then I go 
 to rest pleasingly tired. At our prayer I fre- 
 quently remember you. Such joy the Lord my 
 master grants me in the wilderness ! O when 
 
 O 
 
 shall we appear before his glorious presence ! 
 Till I see you there, I am 
 
 " Your affectionate friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " P.S. Remember me to your pious governess."
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 379 
 
 Notwithstanding; the pacific mission of Swartz CHAP. 
 
 r xi. 
 
 to Seringapatam, and the assurance of Hyder 
 
 AH of his anxiety to preserve peace with the 
 Madras government, jealousy, and, doubtless, just 
 dissatisfaction as to some of their proceedings, 
 his own ambitious views, and the intrigues of the 
 French, at this crisis again at war with England, 
 and of several of the native powers, combined, in 
 the course of a few months after that visit, to 
 induce him to throw off the mask, and to com- 
 mence hostilities against the English. In the 
 month of June, 1780, Hyder invaded the Car- 
 natic with an army of nearly one hundred thou- 
 sand men ; his cavalry overran the country with 
 the most frightful rapidity, and spread ruin and 
 desolation in every direction. Every day brought 
 fresh intelligence of his conquests and devasta- 
 tion ; but such was the apathy of the ruling party 
 in the council at Madras, that they could not be 
 convinced of the approaching danger, until black 
 columns of smoke, mingled with flame, were dis- 
 covered within a few miles of Madras. A party 
 of Hyder's horse committed ravages even at St. 
 Thomas's Mount, and the inhabitants of the open 
 town began to take flight. 
 
 It is to these fearful events that Swartz refers 
 at the close of the year in the following letter to 
 Mr. Chambers, in which the confusion and per- 
 plexity, not to say the negligence and misma-
 
 380 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, nagement of the English government, and the 
 treachery or alienation of some of the native 
 
 1780. 
 
 princes, are described with the strength and accu- 
 racy of an intelligent, and the piety of a Chris- 
 tian observer. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 " I will not venture to excuse, much less jus- 
 tify myself, on account of my strange delay in 
 answering your most valuable letters. In short, 
 I am guilty. The account you have given me of 
 the death of Mr. 's brother, of your own situa- 
 tion, of the spiritual state of your dear consort, are 
 so reviving, that I have not only read them again 
 and again, but keep them as testimonies of the 
 divine mercy. Truly such accounts strengthen our 
 faith, love, and hope, and are particularly very 
 useful to those who work in the Lord's vineyard, 
 and are often tempted with the discouraging 
 thoughts of labouring in vain. 
 
 " Go on, my dear friend, and be sure, that if 
 you are instrumental in converting a soul, you 
 have gained more than if you got the treasures 
 of both Indies. I write to a Christian, and 
 therefore I am sure I shall not be accused of 
 having exaggerated the worth and value of 
 pious labours. 
 
 " I wish I could send you reciprocally a list 
 of real converts ; who, renouncing all the works,
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 381 
 
 nay, lusts of the world, look out for grace, peace, CHAP. 
 
 joy, true happiness, in the Lord Jesus Christ. '. 
 
 But, alas ! how rare are these ! 
 
 " It is true Coromandel has been visited by 
 the Lord ; the inhabitants of it have had time, 
 and places to be instructed ; the book of God, 
 and other useful treatises, have been freely offered 
 to them ; nay, they have been pressed to accept 
 of these spiritual treasures ; but they have neg- 
 lected, not to say despised, the gracious counsel 
 of God, preferring the friendship and things of 
 the world before the blessings of God. 
 
 " Now the Lord God begins to visit them in a 
 different manner. Their idols, on which they 
 leaned, are taken away ; their houses burnt, their 
 cattle driven away, and, what afflicts many thou- 
 sand parents unspeakably more, is, that Hyder 
 sends their best children away. All the smart 
 boys of eight, or nine, or ten years, he sends to 
 his country. He has now reigned in this manner 
 above five months, without meeting any oppo- 
 sition. 
 
 " Our leaders pursued other things ; the wel- 
 fare of the public was entirely forgotten ; private 
 interests, pleasures, luxury, were come to a stu- 
 pendous height. They were warned three months 
 before Hyder's invasion ; but they despised the 
 warning, saying, ' Hyder might as well fly as 
 come into the Carnatic !' None could persuade
 
 382 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, them to the contrary, till they saw his horse 
 '- at their garden houses. Then consternation 
 seized them; nothing but confusion was visible. 
 Hyder pursued his plan ; took one fort after ano- 
 ther, till he got possession of Arcot. Now he 
 desires that the Dutch and Danes shall send 
 their counsellors to compliment him as Nabob of 
 Arcot. 
 
 " It seems as if all the country people wished 
 for a change. Worriarpallam, Marawar, Tinne- 
 velly Country, Madura, all are up in arms. The 
 Colleries are encouraged by Hyder ; and our 
 place (you understand me) is suspected. These 
 are terrible judgments of God. But are they not 
 holy and just? Even the most profligate people 
 seem to be convinced of it. If they would repent, 
 and sue for mercy, who knows but a holy God 
 might have mercy on them ? 
 
 " But what shall I say ? I tremble at the 
 sight of it. Even now, every one looks out for 
 some rich post. Every thing is like a job, not to 
 mention their continuance in their wonted sins. 
 
 " I dare say you fully know the transactions of 
 
 Sir } & c . how they did every thing to bring 
 
 this calamity on the poor country. 
 
 " The nabob says he has no money ; his disci- 
 plined troops he provoked, by withholding their 
 pay. So he trained soldiers (above 20,000) for 
 several years, for Hyder's service.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 383 
 
 " Our people here at T seem to be very C1 ^ p - 
 
 averse to our G , and no wonder : for they 
 
 J 1780. 
 
 were ill treated, and therefore do not care whether 
 we sink or escape. And, above all, our infidelity, 
 our contempt of divine things, is beyond descrip- 
 tion, and brings upon us the wrath of God. 
 
 " Now what is to be done ? I say with Je- 
 remy, ' Be thou not terrible unto me, O God.' 
 This calamity is from the Lord ; and doubtless he 
 intends to purge us from our sins, and take away 
 our dross. Heathens and nominal Christians 
 were asleep, nay, dead, and minding nothing but 
 the things of the world. By the soft voice of 
 God they would not be awakened. Who knows 
 but they may arise on hearing the thundering 
 voice of the Lord ! 
 
 " This letter I send by Captain S , who 
 
 returned from England. He brought me a letter 
 from Mrs. Wood, which is full of complaints, as 
 you may imagine. Alas ! she will get no money 
 from the nabob, particularly as the country is in 
 Hyder's hands, and quite drained. The king of 
 Tanjore promised me to pay her the 14,500 
 pagodas j 1 but I am afraid, as his people are run- 
 
 1 The difficulty respecting the repayment of this sum, origi- 
 nally lent to the rajah of Tanjore, arose partly from the confu- 
 sion into which his affairs were thrown by his deposition, and the 
 intermediate government of the nabob, and partly by the invasion 
 of Hvder AH.
 
 384 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, ning away, and the villages very thinly inhabited, 
 '- he will refuse to fulfil his engagement. 
 
 j 7ftQ 
 
 " God bless you, my dearest friend, and your 
 
 dear consort. Tell Mr. G and his lady, 
 
 that I remember them very often. O may you 
 all be a holy seed in Bengal ! Remember me to 
 your steward, my beloved Mr. Obeck, and assure 
 him of my constant love and good wishes. May 
 you all grow daily in faith, love, and hope, 
 through the Holy Spirit ! 
 
 " If Mr. and his colleagues, whose trans- 
 actions, I am afraid, are not guided by the spirit 
 of humility, come in your way, present my best 
 wishes to them ; and I might well add, explain 
 to them ' the way of the Lord.' 
 
 " I am constantly, 
 " Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Tanjore, December 19th, 1780." 
 
 " You inquire about our church. You must know, 
 that we have two. The large one in the little fort is 
 built according to the model of the Trichinopoly 
 church, was finished, has been used from the 16th of 
 April, and what shall I say ? is now required to 
 be a magazine for paddy : for nothing has been 
 built here, no not a magazine to keep the powder 
 in. The second church is half an English mile dis- 
 tant from the Fort, towards the east, for the use
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 38a 
 
 of the Malabar people. I preach from eight to CHAP. 
 ten to the English, from ten to twelve to the - 
 Malabar, and from four to five, in the afternoon, 
 to the Portuguese ; and then, I say, I have served. 
 Blessed Jesus, give thou the increase ! Amen. 
 
 " P. S. You have sent me a bill for three hun- 
 dred and fifty-nine pagodas. I wait for an expla- 
 nation ; for you do not owe me so much." 
 
 On the same day on which the preceding letter 
 was written, Swartz addressed the folio wing: to 
 
 o 
 
 Mrs. Chambers. It affords a beautiful specimen 
 of Christian affection and urbanity, and presents 
 a brief, but impressive, view of the great prin- 
 ciples of vital and practical religion, which formed 
 the basis of his own character, and the source of 
 his consolation and joy. 
 
 "Tanjore, December 19th, 1780. 
 " MADAM, 
 
 " Had I no other reason for addressing you 
 than your being connected with my dearest friend 
 in India, I think I should stand absolved from all 
 imputation of being impertinent. But you have 
 
 sent me joyful news concerning Mr. 's life 
 
 and death, and copied them with your own hands ; 
 by this, you have made my addressing you an act 
 of gratitude. 
 
 " I rejoice over your mutual happiness. You, 
 
 VOL. i. c c
 
 386 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, madam, are united to a Christian. This will, 
 
 XI 
 
 1 this must ennoble your state of matrimony. This 
 
 must endear your connexion, even in respect of 
 eternity. How happy should I be, if I could see 
 you both, converse with you, and finish our con- 
 versation with prayer and thanksgiving. But 
 though I cannot enjoy this delight at present, I 
 may anticipate something of it by sending you a 
 line now and then. 
 
 " You know, madam, that the goodness of a 
 building depends much upon the foundation ; if 
 that be deep and firm, the whole building will be 
 strong. 
 
 " Just so it is in Christianity, which is com- 
 pared, by an excellent master-builder, (St. Paul,) 
 to a building. Let us then take care to lay the 
 foundation as deep as possible. 
 
 " The only foundation of all our holiness and 
 happiness, in time and eternity, is Jesus Christ ; 
 his atonement, his righteousness, and sacrifice. 
 If we are united to him, so as to share in his all- 
 sufficient righteousness, we shall have and enjoy 
 every blessing : wisdom, righteousness, sanctifica- 
 tion, and redemption : we shall glory in him. 
 
 " Now, that we may know, value, desire, and 
 choose Him, we must know ourselves, and our 
 sad condition by nature. In proportion as we 
 know ourselves, we shall desire and hunger after 
 Jesus, more or less. And still how backward are
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 387 
 
 we to know our hearts, our poverty, and misery ! CHAP. 
 Let us, therefore, entreat God to grant us his 
 
 1 7RO 
 
 Spirit, that by the light of the Searcher of hearts, 
 we may see our true condition. This will make 
 us humble, and show our poverty ; but blessed 
 are the poor in spirit, who have been so far 
 enlightened as to see their poverty, in respect of 
 knowledge, holiness, strength, happiness ; for in 
 all these particulars we are poor. 
 
 " This poverty the world endeavours to remove 
 by riches, honour, fame, pleasures, and what not. 
 But gold and silver cannot pay off our dreadful 
 debt which we have contracted ; it may, by ill 
 use, even increase it. 
 
 " Others endeavour to become free from sin 
 and sorrow by living a strict and virtuous life : 
 they are servants, who owe their master ten thou- 
 sand talents, but they fancy to pay off that debt 
 by a farthing or two ; and by such farthings, 
 as, if well inspected, will be found bad coin. 
 But the strict and holy law of God says, ' Pay 
 that which thou owest:' pay all, perfectly. 
 ' Cursed be every one that doeth not according 
 to all that is written in the law.' And who of us 
 is able to satisfy these just demands ? 
 
 " But the righteousness which is by faith, doth 
 not say, pay thou all ; but rather entreats us to 
 accept of t\ia.t full payment, which has been made 
 by Jesus Christ. This righteousness of faith, (to 
 
 c c 2
 
 388 MEMOIRS OP 
 
 CHAP, represent it as a speaking person,) says, in a warn- 
 
 L ing manner, to every mourning sinner, ' Say not 
 
 8 ' in thy heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, that 
 is, to bring down Christ from above ?' Be upon 
 thy guard ; do not thou, O mourning sinner, 
 speak in so unbelieving a manner ; for by such a 
 speech thou deniest Christ, as if he had not come 
 from heaven to redeem thee. 
 
 " Neither say, ' Who shall descend into the 
 deep,' to atone for my sins ? Would not such a 
 speech be a denial of the sufferings of Christ, as 
 if he had not yet descended into the deep death, 
 and the grave, or as if he was still in the grave, 
 and not yet risen from the dead ? 
 
 " But the righteousness which is by faith, not 
 only warneth us, but gives, at the same time, the 
 most salutary counsel ; viz. 
 
 " The word which thou, O mourning sinner, 
 needest for thy comfort, is nigh thee, even in thy 
 mouth, (so that thou art able to speak of it,) and 
 in thy heart, (so as to perceive and feel its 
 strength.) Why, then, wouldest thou refuse to 
 accept of it ? 
 
 " That is the word of faith, which the apostles 
 preached and sealed by divine works and miracles ; 
 so that there remaineth no reasonable doubt of its 
 being divine ; ' that if thou shalt confess with thy 
 mouth, that Jesus,' who was crucified in order to 
 redeem us, 'is Lord/ our redeeming Lord and
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 389 
 
 King, * and shalt believe in thy heart that God CHAP. 
 
 . xi. 
 
 has raised him from the dead, in testimony that 
 
 he has fulfilled all : 
 
 " If thou, who art hungry and thirsty after 
 righteousness, pardon, and peace, takest thy re- 
 fuge in Jesus, who has made a full atonement for 
 thy sin ; and to whom God has given his judicial 
 approbation, by raising him from the dead : thou 
 art happy, blessed, pardoned, and a beloved child 
 of God. 
 
 "This is the only way in which we, who are 
 poor, depraved, and deep in debt, may find com- 
 fort, strength, nay, eternal life. 
 
 "So Paul thought so all prophets preach 
 so all true Christians have believed ; and so T 
 hope you, madam, and my friend, your husband, 
 look out for all blessings, in and through Christ. 
 Here is firm footing. This union and communion 
 with Him will make your life happy, and your 
 conduct holy. This will fill you with grateful 
 sentiments, and make you very kind to your fel- 
 low creatures. 
 
 " Believing in Christ, and having found par- 
 don, peace, and hope of everlasting happiness, 
 by faith, you will not regret the loss of worldly 
 friends. Paul could count all (all riches, honours, 
 pleasures of the world) loss and dung, that he 
 might win Christ, and be found in him. Try to
 
 390 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, follow him. Having obtained the best, I hope 
 - you will be less anxious about smaller matters. 
 
 " You see, madam, by my prolixity, that I 
 almost fancied myself to be in your company. 
 
 " That you and your dear husband may always, 
 in health and in sickness, in riches and poverty, 
 in time and eternity, be found in Jesus Christ, is 
 the hearty prayer of, 
 
 " Madam, 
 " Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " Pray make my best respects to Mr. and 
 
 Mrs. . Though I never have seen them, yet, 
 
 as fellow-christians, they are, and shall ever be, 
 precious in my thoughts. 1 ' 
 
 The three succeeding years were distinguished 
 throughout the Carnatic and the south of India, 
 by the complicated horrors of war, desolation, and 
 famine. The sluices which irrigate the country 
 were destroyed by Ryder's troops, and the inha- 
 bitants having no security for their crops, did not 
 sow their fields, and consequently could reap no 
 harvest. They forsook the country, and fled in 
 crowds to the towns, where the scarcity rose to a 
 fearful height. During this long and trying period 
 of visitation and calamity, the prudence and fore-
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 391 
 
 sight, and the pious and active benevolence of 
 Mr. Swartz, were eminently conspicuous, both in 
 providing for the support of those immediately 
 dependent upon the mission, and in alleviating 
 the distress and misery of multitudes of the pe- 
 rishing natives around him. 
 
 Thus he writes in September 1783, to the So- 
 ciety for promoting Christian Knowledge : 
 
 " The last three years have been years of sor- 
 row and anxiety : notwithstanding which, we have 
 no reason at all to murmur, or to find fault with 
 God's ways, which are very just and equal ; and 
 the judgments which have befallen us, may, per- 
 haps, be more conducive to the true welfare of 
 the country than we conceive. This year God's 
 fatherly goodness has preserved and strengthened 
 us for his service. All the four catechists are 
 alive, as is likewise the Tamulian schoolmaster. 
 Besides these five, I have taken two more upon 
 trial, who have been educated in the mission 
 school at Tranquebar : both seem to be truly 
 religious. Our congregation has received an in- 
 crease of upwards of a hundred : most of them, it 
 is apprehended, have been compelled, by the fa- 
 mine, to come to us : nevertheless I have given 
 them the necessary instruction, and this during 
 the space of several months ; during which I have 
 also procured them some provisions. The teach- 
 ing them was attended with much difficulty and
 
 392 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, fatigue, on account of the great decrease of their 
 mental powers. Yet I could not persuade myself 
 that it would be consistent with the will of God 
 to put these poor people off; many of whom af- 
 terwards died. As the famine was so great, and 
 of so long continuance, those have been affected 
 by it who seemed to be beyond its reach. A 
 vigorous and strong man is scarcely to be met 
 with : in outward appearance, men are like wan- 
 dering skeletons. 
 
 " When I returned from Seringapatam, I saw 
 reason to apprehend an approaching war : this 
 induced me to buy rice whilst it was at a low 
 price, which proved of great benefit to our cate- 
 chists. Besides this, God moved the hearts of 
 some Europeans to send me a portion monthly to 
 distribute among the people lying on the road, by 
 which means numbers of them have been saved 
 from perishing. This benefaction is continued 
 to this day, so that about a hundred and twenty 
 persons are constantly fed. 
 
 " When it is considered that Hyder Ali has 
 carried off so many thousands of people, and 
 that many thousands have died of want, it is not 
 at all surprising to find not only empty houses, 
 but desolated villages a mournful spectacle 
 indeed!" 
 
 In a letter to one of his friends, Swartz more
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 393 
 
 minutely describes the distress which prevailed at CHAP. 
 this calamitous period, in and aroundTaniore, and 
 
 17HS 
 
 the seasonable relief which his foresight, good 
 sense, and influence with the natives enabled him 
 to afford. 
 
 1 We have suffered exceedingly in this fortress 
 from hunger and misery. When passing through 
 the streets early in the morning, the dead were 
 lying in heaps on the dunghils." 
 
 He then mentions his purchase already alluded 
 to, of twelve thousand bushels of rice, by which 
 he was enabled, not only to support his catechists 
 and schoolmasters, but to assist many others. 
 " Unfortunately," he continues, " there was no 
 magazine in the fort for the native soldiers or 
 sepoys. The king and the Company requested 
 me twice to procure provisions for the garrison, 
 since they were unable to obtain oxen for the 
 carriages, for want of a good understanding with 
 the natives. In this dilemma I wrote to the in- 
 habitants, desiring them to bring their cattle, and 
 promising them payment on my own responsi- 
 bility. This had the desired effect ; the oxen 
 were brought, and the garrison supplied, at the 
 very moment when a fresh attack from the enemy 
 was expected. I afterwards settled with the 
 natives, and they went home quite satisfied. The 
 Lord also enabled me to consider the poor ; so 
 that I had it in my power to feed a considerable
 
 394 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, number for the space of seventeen months. Often 
 - eight hundred poor people assembled. Several 
 Europeans sent sums of money for this charitable 
 purpose ; but instead of giving them the money, 
 1 prepared food and distributed it, many of them 
 having no utensils for cooking. Such distress I 
 never before witnessed, and God grant I never 
 may again." 
 
 Writing a few months afterwards from Trichi- 
 nopoly, he says, " Our Fort contained the best 
 part of the inhabitants of the country, who 
 flocked hither to escape the unrelenting cruelty 
 of the enemy. Daily we conversed with these 
 people, and tried to convince them of the vanity 
 of their idols, and to induce them to turn to the 
 living God. They readily own the superior ex- 
 cellence of the Christian doctrine, but remain in 
 their deplorable errors for various frivolous rea- 
 sons. 
 
 " It were to be wished," he piously adds, 
 " that the country people, having suffered nearly 
 four years all manner of calamity, would consider 
 the things which belong to their eternal wel- 
 fare, for which my assistants pray and labour in 
 conjunction with me. But though the fruit of 
 our labour has not hitherto answered our wishes, 
 still I am happy in being made an instrument of 
 Providence to instruct some, and to warn others.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 395 
 
 Who knows but there may come a time when CHAP. 
 others may reap what we are sowing !" 
 
 Whilst Swartz was thus naturally and justly 1783 ' 
 anxious to avail himself of the opportunity of ad- 
 dressing " a word in season" to the famishing 
 natives around him, his general caution, as well 
 as his Christian wisdom and kindness, are well 
 expressed by Mr. Pohle in a letter to the Society, 
 after spending a few days with him during this 
 period at Tanjore. 
 
 " He is very careful," he observes, " with re- 
 gard to receiving both heathen and Roman Catho- 
 lics into the church. He has nothing to do with 
 people that want only to be fed, or that are un- 
 known vagabonds. But such as are known, and 
 wish to be Christians, and after being received, 
 to eat the labour of their own hands, them it 
 would be unjust to reject, though they should 
 want a little assistance during the time of their 
 preparation. They must live from hand to mouth ; 
 and it would be cruel not to assist them under 
 pretence of a supposed hypocrisy, or lest it should 
 be looked upon as buying Christians for money." 
 
 The Madras government was but ill prepared 
 for the formidable attack of the Mysorean chief. 
 Their treasury was exhausted, their councils 
 divided, and their native allies but little to be 
 trusted. Several of the forts held by the troops
 
 396 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of the nabob were surrendered, after a slight 
 
 resistance, to the enemy. A detachment of Ent- 
 ires. . J 
 
 lish troops, under Colonel Baillie, in attempting 
 
 to join the commander-in-chief, Sir Hector Monro, 
 was cut oif ; the greater part of the corps perished 
 on the field ; and the remainder, including two 
 hundred Europeans, were taken prisoners and 
 consigned to the dungeons of Seringapatam. 
 Hyder, elated by his successes, and encouraged 
 by the French officers who directed the move- 
 ments of his army, indulged the hope of conquer- 
 ing the Carnatic, and of expelling the English from 
 that portion of the Peninsula. At this important 
 crisis, Mr. Hastings, the governor-general of 
 Bengal, interposed to rescue the British army 
 and the possessions of the Company from the 
 dangers which surrounded them. He suspended 
 the governor of Fort St. George, and despatched 
 Sir Eyre Coote, who had long before distinguished 
 himself as an officer of the highest military re- 
 putation, with a reinforcement of troops, to assume 
 the chief command at Madras. He immediately 
 took the field, and notwithstanding the difficulties 
 with which he had to contend in a country con- 
 verted almost into a desert, by the destructive 
 warfare of Hyder, raised the siege of several places 
 which he had invested, and defeated him in four 
 pitched battles. In the mean time, Mr. Hastings 
 prevailed upon the Mahrattas to withdraw from
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 397 
 
 their alliance with Hyder; and though he had CHAP. 
 
 received a strong reinforcement of French troops, 1 
 
 and his son Tippoo, who took an active share in 
 the war, had succeeded in cutting off a con- 
 siderable body of troops under Colonel Brath- 
 waite, on the banks of the Coleroon, the British 
 army, both on the coast of Coromandel and on 
 the side of Malabar, made such vigorous efforts 
 that Hyder was unable to face it in the open field 
 and the contest with this formidable enemy as- 
 sumed a far more favourable aspect. 
 
 The Christian character of Swartz attracted 
 during this perilous crisis universal confidence 
 and esteem ; and so powerfully had his conduct 
 impressed Hyder Ali himself in his favour, that 
 amidst his cruel and desolating career, he gave 
 orders to his officers, " to permit the venerable 
 padre to pass unmolested, and to shew him re- 
 spect and kindness ; for he is a holy man, and 
 means no harm to my government." 
 
 He was generally allowed to pass through the 
 midst of the enemy's encampments without the 
 slightest hindrance ; and such was their delicacy 
 of feeling towards him, that when it was thought 
 necessary to detain his palanquin, the sentinel 
 was directed to assign as a reason, that he was 
 waiting for orders to let him proceed. Thus, 
 when the whole country was overrun by Hyder's 
 troops, the general reverence for the character
 
 398 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, of the good father, (as he was emphatically called,) 
 - enabled him to pursue his peaceful labours even 
 
 1783. . , . , ,. 
 
 in the midst ot war. 
 
 An interesting anecdote connected with this 
 distressing season, is related by Christian David, * 
 whose father was a convert of Swartz, and who 
 had himself waited, when a boy, on the apostolic 
 missionary. They had been travelling all day, 
 and arriving at a small village at sunset, the good 
 man sat down under a tree and conversed with 
 the natives, who came round him, while his 
 horse-keeper was cooking their evening meal. 
 When the rice and curry were spread on the 
 plantain leaf, Swartz stood up to ask a blessing 
 on the food they were going to share, and to 
 thank God for watching over them through the 
 dangers of the day, and providing so richly for 
 their repose and comfort. His heart was full of 
 gratitude, and expressed itself in the natural 
 eloquence of prayer and praise. The poor boy 
 for some time repressed his impatience, but his 
 hunger at last overpowered his respect for his 
 master, and he ventured to expostulate, and to 
 remind him that the curry would be cold. He 
 describes very touchingly- the earnestness and 
 solemnity of the reproof he received. " What !" 
 said he, " shall our gracious God watch over 
 us through the heat and burden of the day, and 
 1 Ordained by Bishop Heber at Calcutta.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 shall we devour the food which he provides for 
 us at night with hands which we have never raised 
 in prayer, and lips which have never praised 
 him I" 1 
 
 It would be unjust to the memory of Mr. 
 Gericke not to mention the signal services which 
 he rendered to the cause of humanity, when in 
 the year 1782 the town of Cuddalore capitulated 
 to the French and their allies of Mysore. Upon 
 that critical occasion he prevailed on the French 
 general not to deliver up the town to the troops 
 of Hyder Ali, and was thus instrumental in pre- 
 serving it from devastation and ruin. He con- 
 cealed in his own house several English officers, 
 and rescued them from the train of miseries in 
 which many others were involved, who unhappily 
 fell into Hyder's hands. The mission church, 
 however, was converted into a magazine, and the 
 garden entirely destroyed. Mr. Gericke after a 
 few months proceeded to Madras ; and from this 
 time Cuddalore ceased to be one of the principal 
 branches of the Society's missions. 
 
 During the whole of the afflicting period de- 
 scribed in the preceding extracts, the missionaries 
 at Tanjore and Trichinopoly were permitted to 
 enjoy comparative security and comfort. Thus 
 Mr. Swartz devoutly acknowledges this merciful 
 exemption : 
 
 1 Archdeacon Robinson's " Last Days of Bishop Hebcv," 
 p. 14. 
 
 399
 
 400 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " We adore the Divine goodness, which has 
 preserved my fellow-labourers and me, in the 
 midst of calamities. While the sword, famine, 
 and epidemic sickness swept away many thou- 
 sands, we have enjoyed health, and have been 
 accommodated with all necessaries. May we 
 never forget the various mercies which God has 
 bestowed upon us !"
 
 THE REV, C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 401 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Death of Hyder Ali Continuation of the war hy Tippoo Sul- 
 tan Return to Madras, and death of Sir Eyre Coote Suc- 
 cess of Colonel Fullarton in Southern India Negotiation 
 for peace Lord Macartney requests Mr. Swartz to join the 
 Commissioners at Seringapatam He consents, and sets cut 
 on the journey Letters to Mr. Sullivan Meets Colonel 
 Fullarton and his army He is stopped hy Tippoo's officers, 
 at Sattirnungaluin Returns to Tanjore Declines attempting 
 a second journey Peace concluded with Tippoo Letters to 
 several friends on the preceding events Journey with Mr. 
 Sullivan to Ramanad Plan of the provincial schools Jour- 
 ney, on account of his health, to the coast Letters to Mr. 
 Sullivan, and Mr. Duffin. 
 
 AT the close of the year 1782, Hyder Ali, the CHAP 
 most powerful and able opponent of the British 
 dominion in India, who had hitherto appeared, 1783 - 
 died at an advanced age at Chittore. He was 
 succeeded in the empire, to which his civil and 
 military talents had raised him, by his son Tip- 
 poo ; who, though not equal to his father in ge- 
 neral ability, was not deficient either in bravery 
 
 VOL. I. D D
 
 402 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, or military skill, and inherited both his ambition 
 '- and his implacable enmity to the English autho- 
 
 "1 7 RS 
 
 rity. The war continued, therefore, to be prose- 
 cuted with vigour, and, on the part of the Maho- 
 medan Sultan, for such was the title which he as- 
 sumed on the death of Hyder, with unrelenting 
 severity. 
 
 The dissensions which at this time unhappily 
 prevailed between the civil and military authorities 
 at Madras, prevented them from availing them- 
 selves of the advantage which so important an 
 event had thrown into their hands. Sir Eyre 
 Coote was, in consequence, again sent to take 
 the command in the Carnatic ; but that gallant 
 veteran, worn out with former toils, sunk under 
 the return of complaints from which he had pre- 
 viously suffered, and expired early in 1783, two 
 days after his arrival at Madras, and a few months 
 only after the decease of Hyder Ali, whose career 
 he had so successfully checked. 
 
 Tippoo, considering the western coast of India 
 as having become the principal seat of the war, 
 withdrew his troops from the Carnatic. The 
 English, in consequence, attacked Cuddalore, 
 which was then in the possession of the French ; 
 but before they could reduce it, news having ar- 
 rived of peace in Europe between the two nations, 
 the French commander suspended offensive ope- 
 rations, and withdrew his countrymen from the
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 403 
 
 service of Tippoo. In the mean time, the English 
 became decidedly superior on the western coast, 
 and in the south the brilliant campaign of Colonel 
 Fullarton was rapidly restoring the British ascen- 
 dancy. Caroor and Dindegal, and afterwards 
 Palgaut and Coimbetore were reduced, and he 
 was even preparing to ascend the Ghauts, and 
 anticipating the conquest of Mysore, when he 
 was suddenly arrested in his triumphant progress, 
 and directed to restore all his recent conquests. 
 Tippoo had applied for two English commissioners 
 to proceed to his camp, and enter into negotia- 
 tions for a treaty of peace ; and the Madras go- 
 vernment, alarmed at the failure of their resources 
 for the continuance of the war, with doubtful po- 
 licy, complied with his request. 
 
 From his well known integrity and ability, and 
 from his superior acquaintance with the native 
 languages, of which the commissioners were igno- 
 rant, Swartz was requested by the governor of 
 Madras to join them, as their interpreter with the 
 sultan of Mysore. 
 
 The following is Lord Macartney's letter to him 
 upon this subject. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " My knowledge of your excellent character, 
 and of the cheerfulness with which, on several 
 occasions, you have lent your assistance to the 
 
 D D 2
 
 40 1 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, public service, encourage me to request it on be- 
 half of the Company, in one of very great im- 
 portance, which now presents itself. 
 
 " You doubtless know that commissioners from 
 this government are now on the road to Tippoo 
 Sultaun, to complete the pacification settled by 
 the treaty in Europe. The commission now con- 
 sists of Anthony Sadlier, George Leonard Staun- 
 ton, and John Hudleston, Esqrs. ; and the re- 
 quest I have to make to you, is, that you will 
 join them on the road, and act as their inter- 
 preter with Tippoo Sultaun. By complying with 
 this request, you will render essential service to 
 the public, and confer an obligation on the Com- 
 pany, as well as on him, who is, with much esteem, 
 
 " Sir, 
 " Your most obedient, humble, servant, 
 
 " MACARTNEY. 
 
 " Fort St. George, December 3rd, 178$." 
 
 The reply to a request, expressed in terms so 
 honourable to the excellent missionary, was com- 
 municated through Mr, Sullivan, 1 then the Resi- 
 dent at Tanjore. With this able and estimable 
 servant of the Company, whose energy and ad- 
 dress had revived public confidence after the de- 
 feat of Colonel Braithwaite, and who was charged 
 with a general superintendence over the southern 
 
 2 The present Right Honourable John Sullivan. 

 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 405 
 
 provinces, Mr. Swartz was in habits of friendly CHAP. 
 and confidential intercourse. Thus, at the com- 
 mencement of the year 1783, he briefly expressed 
 to him his cordial good wishes and prayers. 
 
 " Something or other has prevented me from 
 writing a line to you. In my heart I have wished 
 you at all times, and consequently at the begin- 
 ning of this new year, divine grace, health, and 
 true joy of heart, in the midst of all troubles. I 
 can guess, aye, and more than guess, what you 
 must have felt for several things. Though we 
 move slow," (probably referring to the military 
 proceedings in the south of India, in the plan- 
 ning of which Mr. Sullivan is supposed to have 
 taken a prominent part,) " may we move sure by 
 the help of God!" 
 
 Another letter from Mr. Swartz, about this time, 
 contains the report of a conversation with the 
 rajah, in which he had acted as interpreter, rela- 
 tive to the devastation of the country, by Tippoo 
 and the English troops, and in which Mr. Sulli- 
 van promised that the matter should be repre- 
 sented in the proper quarter. Again, in August, 
 of the same year, he thus writes: 
 
 " The beginning of my letter must be an apo- 
 logy for troubling you." He then mentions se- 
 veral claims on the rajah, on the part of the 
 families of two British officers, and intercedes for 
 the town- major, who was in danger of losing
 
 406 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, his situation. " Surely, my dear Sir," he con- 
 
 .XII* 
 
 tmues, " all the apologies which I can make, will 
 
 1783 
 
 not clear me of the imputation of being shame- 
 less. But I know to whom I write. May you be 
 blessed with health, and cheerfulness of mind ! 
 May you be an instrument of Providence for the 
 welfare of this country !" 
 
 With the same readiness to do good, and to 
 promote the restoration of peace, and with the 
 same disinterested disregard of all personal con- 
 siderations, which had actuated him upon a former 
 occasion, Mr. Swartz informed Lord Macartney, 
 through Mr. Sullivan, that " his repugnance to a 
 political mission, though great, had yielded to 
 his desire of rendering the Company any service 
 within his power." Yet so anxious was he- to 
 guard against whatever might be in the slightest 
 degree inconsistent with his sacred character, that 
 before any definitive arrangement was made, he 
 wrote the following letter to that gentleman ; 
 which is strikingly characteristic of the pure and 
 elevated principles by which he was invariably 
 governed. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " I forgot to mention to you, though I talked 
 of it before Mr. Hippisley, 1 viz. that as Colonel 
 Fullarton has required stores, powder, c. it has 
 
 1 The late Sir John Cox Hippisley, Bart, then Paymaster 
 at Tanjore.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 407 
 
 as I think, too much the appearance of hostilities. CHAP. 
 
 XII. 
 
 You know that I am willing to do what little '. 
 
 1 7R.i 
 
 service I can for the benefit of the poor country ; 
 but should not wish to have even the remotest 
 appearance of deceit. If you supply Colonel 
 Fullarton with the stores for which he has sent 
 Captain Maitland, I cannot conceal my doubts 
 and apprehensions ; particularly as I heard of 
 
 General M 's march. Let me, I beseech you, 
 
 know what you intend to do, before I give my 
 final answer in writing to Lord Macartney. You, 
 I am sure, would not wish that I should appear an 
 impostor, or as a tool to forward any thing but 
 what is perfectly agreeable to my office. I am 
 always, 
 
 " Dear Sir, 
 " Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 " December 6th, 1 783." 
 
 The difficulty, so conscientiously and simply 
 stated, having doubtless been satisfactorily ob- 
 viated, Mr. Swartz left Tanjore for Coimbetore, 
 by way of Dindegal and Darapuram, intending to 
 proceed from thence by the shortest route, through 
 the Gudgeratty pass, to join the commissioners at 
 Seringapatam. 
 
 On arriving at Trichinopoly, he again wrote to 
 Mr. Sullivan, for the purpose of introducing to
 
 408 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C xn P ' his notice Mr. John Kohlhoff, whom he deputed to 
 ^j supply his place during his absence from Tan- 
 jore. 
 
 " Trichinopoly, December 17th, 1783. 
 
 " DEAR SIR, 
 
 " After I had sent away my letters to you and 
 Mr. Hippisley, I was sensible of a neglect. I 
 intend to send my young friend, Mr. Kohlhoff, to 
 you, to read prayers every Sunday. I therefore 
 request you and Mr. Hippisley, that you will be 
 so kind as to countenance him in his business. 
 He will, I am sure, be thankful for any friendly 
 correction, and grateful for your protection. 
 " I am, &c. 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The following extracts, from a series of letters 
 to Mr. Sullivan, during his "journey, will, it is 
 presumed, be deemed interesting, both as throw- 
 ing light on the state of the country, and the war 
 in that part of India, at this critical period, and as 
 illustrative of the character of Swartz, both as a 
 Christian and a man. His intelligence and in- 
 formation, his zeal, tempered with prudence, his 
 anxiety to promote the interests of the British 
 government, his acuteness of observation, and his 
 talents for business, are every where conspi- 
 cuous.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 409 
 
 Dindegal, December 20th, 1783. CHAP. 
 
 XII. 
 
 " This evening I arrived here in perfect health. I 
 I praise God for his protection. All along I have 
 been delighted with the mountains, and have fre- 
 quently applied the words of the psalmist, who, 
 speaking of the heavens, says, that they ' declare 
 the glory of God.' May we not, nay, ought we 
 not to say, that the mountains declare the same ? 
 God is great, and appears wise, good, and omni- 
 potent in all his works.*' 
 
 After acknowledging a letter from Mr. Sulli- 
 van, containing " the proposals," probably for 
 accommodation with Tippoo, he says that the 
 commanding officer at Dindegal told him of a 
 new detachment of the enemy's troops being out, 
 and advised him to wait till he could proceed 
 with safety, as this might hinder the negotiation. 
 He accordingly remained two or three days, for 
 farther information as to the hostile party ; and 
 after mentioning several reports, he adds, '* I will 
 write no more, lest I fill my letter with idle 
 guessing." 
 
 On the 24th, he left Dindegal, accompanied by 
 a Jematdar's party of horse, and some sepoys, to 
 protect him from the colleries, (marauders,) who 
 were sometimes troublesome ; and on the evening 
 of the 26th, he reached Darapuram, where he 
 heard a false report of two hundred of the enemy's 
 horse hovering about, and informed Mr. Sullivan
 
 410 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, that Roschen Chan. Tippoo's commander in Coim- 
 
 Xil. rr 
 
 betore, waited to know the number of his followers 
 
 1783. 
 
 before he sent his passport. " The district of Da- 
 rapuram," he says, "is delightful and fertile, with 
 a great deal of small grain on the ground. The 
 inhabitants have left the place : but Lieutenant 
 Tolfrey, who came with me, is ordered to collect 
 grain. I translated the orders which promise 
 protection, and all possible encouragement to the 
 inhabitants, into the Malabar language, and went 
 out yesterday, and assured the few people to be 
 met with, of the best treatment. They seemed to 
 be pleased. Some were soon seen, and others 
 expected. The Fort is destroyed, and the houses 
 quite pulled down. It is amazing how so many 
 houses were so totally destroyed in so short a 
 time." 
 
 In his next letter, Swartz pointedly expresses his 
 astonishment at the unexpected, and, as he evi- 
 dently thought, the impolitic orders sent by the 
 Madras commissioners to Colonel Fullarton, to 
 restore the places which he had lately reduced, 
 which checked him in the midst of his successful 
 career. 
 
 "Camp, in sight of Coimbetore, Dec. 30th, 1783. 
 "DEAR SIR, 
 
 " This morning, early, I saw the army, and, 
 to my surprise, marching. Not long after, I had
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 411 
 
 the pleasure of seeing Colonel Fullarton. With CHAP. 
 him I went to the place which they had marked 
 
 1 <*oo 
 
 out for encamping. He told me that he had re- 
 ceived strict orders to quit Palacatcherry, Coim- 
 betore, and of course the whole rich crop, which, 
 as to the Sirkar 1 share, would have sufficed to 
 maintain the whole army for a year, nay, more 
 than that. I asked him whither he was to move. 
 He replied, ' To Dindegal, &c.' ' Alas !' said I, 
 ' is the peace so certain that you quit all, before the 
 negotiation is ended ? The possession of these 
 two rich countries would have kept Tippoo in 
 awe, and would have inclined him to give you 
 reasonable terms. But you quit the reins, and 
 how will you manage that beast ?' The Colonel 
 said, * I could not help it. I have written in 
 strong terms to government,' &c. Just now I 
 write a letter to Roschen Chan. When that is 
 sent off, I shall converse with the Colonel, and 
 then give you the sum of all. The letters which 
 I have brought, he is now reading, and particularly 
 those proposals sent to me, with your observa- 
 tions. But as you have given up Palacatcherry 
 and Coimbetore, I look upon those proposals al- 
 most as ineffectual. But perhaps things may be 
 better than Tat present think. If so, I shall be 
 happy in rejecting my mistaken fancy. 
 
 " Coimbetore is truly a pleasant country. The 
 1 Government.
 
 412 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, inhabitants, I hear, were much pleased with the 
 mild treatment they met with from Colonel Ful- 
 
 1783. J 
 
 larton. The last affair, wherein Captain Temple 
 lost his life, was it seems, quite designed to dis- 
 perse the inhabitants who came together to cut 
 the crop, and to assist the English. Roschen 
 Chan sent the Colonel a letter, intimating that it 
 was done without his order. But their threaten- 
 ing the inhabitants, and desiring them for the 
 future not to assist the English, is a full evidence 
 of their wicked design. 
 
 " God bless you and all your family. 
 " I am, &c. 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The preceding letter was enclosed the next day 
 in the following. 
 
 Camp at Parapetly, about 12 miles from 
 " Coimbetore, on the road to Dara- 
 " puram, Dec. 31st, 1783. 
 
 " As I had not received the passport, I was 
 obliged to march to-day with the camp, and of 
 course to go back more than twelve miles. About 
 noon, Roschen Chan sent his people, and desired 
 me to come first to his camp. To-morrow morn- 
 ing I set out, and begin the new year as a pil- 
 grim." 
 
 He again laments that the country was given
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 413 
 
 >oo before the i 
 pleted, and then continues : 
 
 up to Tippoo before the negotiation was com- CHAP 
 
 XI I 
 
 1783. 
 
 " In six or seven days I hope to be at Seringa- 
 patam. I requested of the Colonel to give me a 
 few good palankeen boys, on account of the for- 
 mer ones, from whom I have suffered a great 
 deal : the gentlemen who saw me in that condi- 
 tion, thought that they would throw me down. 
 To-day I rather marched on foot with Captain 
 Cochran than chose to be tossed up and down by 
 those sad palankeen boys. Within two or three 
 days, the Colonel will be at Dindegal. I foresee 
 that the feeding of this army will give you great 
 uneasiness. 
 
 " May God bless you at all times, particularly 
 in the ensuing new year ! May we see better 
 days than we have experienced the last three 
 years !" 
 
 From Captain Wheeler, who commanded at 
 Palacatcherry, he procured some teak plants for 
 Mr. P. Sullivan, Mr. Hippisley, and his own 
 servants at the Malabar Church. 
 
 In a letter from Darapuram, dated January J784i 
 22d, 1784, Swartz informs Mr. Sullivan of his 
 leaving the camp, and going to Roschen Chan, 
 and from him to Panden Palleam, where he was 
 again detained a day and a half. From thence he 
 advanced to Sattimungalum, a fort near the pass.
 
 414 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. Here the killedar refused to permit him to pro- 
 -' ceed any farther without an express order from 
 Tippoo, which it would require ten days to re- 
 ceive. He was under the necessity of submitting, 
 and accordingly waited eleven days in the Fort, 
 without being allowed to walk out, or take the 
 air. At length, the killedar said he could obtain 
 no order; and Swartz was, in consequence, obliged 
 to return to Roschen Chan. Before he reached 
 that officer, Navas Beg succeeded to the com- 
 mand, and sent to say that he was sorry he had 
 been stopped, and that he might now go through 
 the pass. 
 
 " This is the short story," he adds, " of my 
 disappointment. Some say, that as the peace 
 was concluded, Tippoo did not wish to have more 
 people come to him. Others have different con- 
 jectures, with which it would be improper to 
 trouble you. I am sorry that the whole intention 
 of Lord Macartney and yours, and, I may add, 
 mine, has been frustrated. However, if a solid 
 peace be concluded, no matter who was present or 
 absent. To-morrow I shall leave this place, and 
 I hope to wait on you in eight days. May a 
 merci ful God direct all negotiation to the welfare 
 of this poor distressed country ! 
 
 " The gentlemen commissioners have been 
 called by Tippoo to the other coast at Mangalore, 
 where he still is."
 
 415 
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 From Dindegal, on the 30th of January, Swartz 
 wrote to Mr. Sullivan that he had been detained 
 
 1784. 
 
 some days on account of parties of Tippoo.'s 
 horse being on the road, and making depreda- 
 tions ; which did not look, he said, very friendly ; 
 that Captain Maitland wrote to Navas Beg not 
 to molest the people ; who answered, that the 
 English having given up Darapuram, had now 
 nothing to do with the people, and complaining 
 that we had not kept our word in delivering up 
 Palacatcherry. 
 
 " For my part," he says, " I wish we had 
 never promised ; or if we had, that we had kept 
 it strictly. The reproach of breaking promises 
 becomes loud and general. 
 
 " May God bless you in all respects !" He 
 then adds with admirable foresight and prudence ; 
 " As it is not improbable that hostilities may still 
 be carried on, it would be very good if the king 
 of Tanjore would hasten the cutting of the 
 paddy as much as possible." 
 
 Such was the unexpected termination of his se- 
 cond intended expedition to Seringapatam. It was, 
 however, the occasion of the following distin- 
 guished testimony to the singular excellence and 
 value of his character from Colonel Fullarton, 
 who thus mentions his visit to the army which 
 he commanded, in a letter to the government 
 of Madras.
 
 41G MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP. " On our second march we were visited by the 
 
 XII. 
 
 ! Rev. Mr. Swartz, whom your Lordship and the 
 Board requested to proceed as a faithful inter- 
 preter between Tippoo and the commissioners. 
 The knowledge and the integrity of this irre- 
 proachable missionary have retrieved the cha- 
 racter of Europeans from imputations of general 
 depravity. A respectable escort attended him to 
 the nearest encampment of the enemy, but he 
 was stopped at Sattimungalum, and returned to 
 Tanjore. I rejoice, however, that he undertook 
 the business ; for his journal, which has been 
 before your board, evinces that the southern army 
 acted towards our enemies with a mildness seldom 
 experienced by friends in moments of pacification. 
 From him, also, you learned that this conduct 
 operated on the minds of the inhabitants, who de- 
 clared that we afforded them more secure pro- 
 tection than the commanders of their own 
 troops." 1 
 
 On the 4th of February the excellent mission- 
 ary returned in health and safety to Tanjore, on 
 which day Mr. Sullivan in a letter to the governor 
 of Madras thus mentions him. 
 
 " Since your Lordship's letter of the 29th, we 
 have no news from the northward. Mr. Swartz 
 
 1 View of the British Interests in India.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 417 
 
 morning ; the day before he left Satti- 
 mungalum, a merchant came to that place from 
 
 arrived this morning ; the day before he left Satti- CHAP 
 
 X I J 
 
 Mangalore, and related that Curreem Sahib was 
 in arrest and that Mahomed Ali had poisoned 
 himself: the disgrace of the latter is said to have 
 arisen from his having taken under his protection 
 the killedar who surrendered Mangalore to Gene- 
 ral Matthews, and who was doomed to punish- 
 ment by Tippoo. Mr. Swartz will detail this 
 event, and some other anecdotes to your Lord- 
 ship." 
 
 Two days after his return to Tanjore he wrote 
 to Mr. Sullivan as follows : 
 
 " I have thought on the letter to Lord Macart- 
 ney," (doubtless containing the official report of 
 his late journey,) " the whole day, but one thing 
 or other interposed. However, to-morrow I hope 
 to send it to you open, for your perusal." 
 
 He then refers to the request of Mr. Sullivan 
 to exert his influence with the natives, as on a 
 former occasion. 
 
 " As to the inhabitants and their assisting us 
 to bring in grain, I will cheerfully do what I can. 
 What success I shall have, I cannot say ; for I 
 fear that the people being oppressed by Baba, 1 
 have, in great measure, left the country, because 
 
 1 The rajah's sirkeel, or prime minister. The wretched state 
 of Tanjore at this period will be more fully noticed hereafter. 
 VOL. I. E E
 
 418 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, they see themselves deprived of almost all the 
 
 benefit of the crop. 
 
 "Your cowle x and that of the rajah will be 
 necessary, though the sincerity of the latter will 
 be much doubted. 
 
 " Alas ! that the rajah should so far forget his 
 own interest, by abandoning the inhabitants to 
 the enormous exactions of his manager. One 
 need not be superstitious to call that oppression 
 a bad omen." 
 
 The anxiety of Lord Macartney that Swartz 
 should be present at the negotiations at Manga- 
 lore, induced him to direct an application to be 
 made to Tippoo Sultan, to grant him a pass, who 
 in reply expressed himself in the following 
 words : 
 
 " Agreeably to your desire, I have sent orders 
 to the amildars of Sattimungalum to permit the 
 Rev. Mr. Swartz to go to you through their 
 districts/' 
 
 The select committee at Fort St. George, in 
 communicating this letter to the resident at 
 Tanjore, observe, " We entertain a hope that 
 his second attempt to join the commissioners 
 may be attended with better success, more par- 
 ticularly if he were to take the route of Telli- 
 cherry ; we are thus earnest on this point, as 
 1 A written agreement or engagement.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 419 
 
 we are of opinion that great advantage may CHAP - 
 result to the negotiations from Mr. Swartz's 1784 - 
 assistance, his knowledge of the language, and 
 his distinguished integrity." 
 
 The following letter to his friends at Vellore 
 explains his reasons for declining a second attempt 
 to reach the commissioners, and gives some 
 account both of his recent journey, and of his own 
 feelings during this trying period. 
 
 " Tanjore, March 4, 1784. 
 
 " Hitherto a gracious God has preserved, 
 guided, and comforted us. This is, and ought to 
 be, our first consideration in the midst of all the 
 calamities which we have experienced. How 
 many dangers have we escaped how many of 
 our fellow creatures fell on our right hand and 
 on our left ; but God has hid us under the 
 pavilion of his kind providence ! The 103rd 
 Psalm should be precious to us ; for it ex- 
 presses and magnifies all the divine benefits 
 which God has so richly bestowed upon us. But 
 not only in words ought we to express our grati- 
 tude, but in and by our lives. Surely God 
 deserves to be obeyed by us, particularly as we 
 only reap the benefit of it. 
 
 " I heartily wished to see you, and I enter- 
 tained a lively hope, that in my return from
 
 420 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, the Mysore country I should meet you. But 
 God has been pleased to lead me by another 
 
 XII. 
 
 1784. , ,, 
 
 road. 
 
 Here he mentions his late expedition, his de- 
 tention by Tippoo's officers, and his return to 
 Darapuram. He then continues : 
 
 " To this day I do not know the reason why I 
 was not permitted to proceed. 1 One said it was 
 because Tippoo would not treat till Mangalore 
 was in his possession. Some entertained other 
 conjectures. I thank God for his mercy and 
 providence over me. I should have been very 
 glad if I could have been an instrument in that 
 great work of peace-making. But who knows 
 but there might have been temptations too great 
 for me ? In short, whatever God does is right, 
 and the best for us. After my return, the governor 
 desired that I would take a second trip by the 
 way of Tellicherry ; but having a severe scorbutic 
 eruption on my legs, I found myself unable to go 
 I therefore declined it. Even now I am not free 
 from that complaint. But if I had made another 
 attempt I could not have forced my way to Tippoo. 
 If he refused to admit me what could I do ? Two 
 refusals I met with. I wrote first from Tanjore, 
 and the second time from Sattimungalum. To 
 
 1 Colonel Wilks supposes that it was in conformity to the 
 system of universal insult which Tippoo deemed requisite to his 
 
 views.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SVVARTZ. 421 
 
 spend my time in roving about the country to CHAP. 
 little or no purpose was disagreeable. If govern- 
 ment had sent me with the commissioners, I 
 should have attended them. I entreat God to 
 bless them with wisdom, resolution and integrity, 
 to settle the business to the welfare of this poor 
 country. But alas ! we ourselves are so divided 
 one pulls one way, the other quite a different one. 
 When one considers all, high and low, rich and 
 poor, rulers and those that are ruled, one is 
 struck with grief, and a variety of passions. What 
 blindness, insensibility, and obstinacy, greediness, 
 and rapaciousness ! a thousand times I think with 
 myself, * Good God, must all these people die 
 must they all give a strict account of their lives 
 must they all appear before the tribunal of 
 Jesus, the mediator and judge? How little do 
 they mind their end, and the consequences of 
 their lives !' 
 
 " But, however, in spite of all these horrid con- 
 fusions, which are so prevalent upon earth, God 
 has some likewise, who serve him faithfully though 
 imperfectly. This morning we read the fourteenth 
 chapter of the Revelation ; wherein Jesus is 
 represented as the lamb sacrificed for us, and our 
 redemption, and with him 144,000, who had the 
 name of God written on their foreheads. O that 
 we may openly and sincerely confess the name of 
 our God on all occasions ! They were singing a
 
 422 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, new song, (and should not new mercies require a 
 new sons ?) No one could learn that son^ save 
 
 1784. 
 
 those 144,000. Whoever gives his heart to the 
 world will never be able to praise God sincerely. 
 Surely every true believer gives his whole heart 
 to the Lord Jesus. Those blessed ones follow 
 the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. This is the 
 sure evidence of our believing in Jesus. They at 
 least do not adulterate the word of God. All the 
 world is upon that scheme. Every one wishes to 
 explain it according to his inclination but that is 
 pernicious. Let us then accept of the word of 
 God, take it, use it, and practise it as it lies 
 before us, even when it desires us to mortify our 
 beloved sins. My sincere wish and prayer is, 
 that you and I may be found true disciples of 
 Jesus, and so at last rejoice with him eternally. 
 " I am your sincere friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 The English commissioners, after a tedious and 
 harassing journey, were conducted from Seringa- 
 patam to Mangalore, where, amidst much studied 
 mortification and insult, they at length succeeded 
 in concluding a treaty of peace with Tippoo, on 
 the llth of March, 1784. 
 
 " The goodness and mercy of God towards 
 us," thus Mr. Swartz gratefully writes upon this 
 occasion to professor Freylinghausen, " have been
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 423 
 
 unspeakably great during the whole of the war, CHAP. 
 
 VTf 
 
 and to the present moment. It is indeed of the 1 
 
 Lord's mercies that we have not been consumed." 
 
 To another of his friends about this time he 
 wrote as follows : 
 
 " The war with Hyder and his son Tippoo, is 
 now ended. But notwithstanding, the misery is 
 still great. Tippoo is augmenting his army every 
 day. He is a much more enterprising soldier 
 than his father. Every commandant who sur- 
 rendered a fortress to the English he ordered to 
 be hung. Having carried twelve thousand chil- 
 dren captive from Tanjore, he compelled them all 
 to become Mahommedans. He has done every 
 thing in his power to exterminate the Malabar 
 Roman Catholics, in which he has so far suc- 
 ceeded, that no one dares to call himself a 
 Christian. He will not have any subjects except 
 such as are either heathens or Mahommedans. 
 As for the former, they are almost entirely devoid 
 of feeling ; they hear the doctrines of the gospel 
 explained, and even applaud them, and yet go on 
 in their old way, as if they had heard nothing 
 about it. Some Brahmins lately said to me, 
 ' We have no objection to hear these things ; 
 but heavenly objects do not make much impres- 
 sion upon us.' This avowal is certainly too true ; 
 and they are moreover so timid, that they would 
 not dare to profess the faith of Christ before their
 
 424 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, relations. This is truly stony ground, which 
 
 XII 
 
 requires much seed, and returns but little fruit." 
 
 1784. 
 
 In the spring of this year, Swartz suffered con- 
 siderably from weakness and exhaustion ; and 
 though he performed his various duties as usual, 
 he was advised to try the effect of a journey to 
 the coast for the restoration of his health. It is to 
 these circumstances that he refers in the follow- 
 ing truly apostolic letter to his friends at Vellore. 
 
 " Katternate, near Tanjore, July 10, 1784. 
 
 " MY DEAR FRIENDS, 
 
 " It is a long time since I had the pleasure of 
 addressing you. Illness has prevented me. I 
 can hardly describe to you the nature of my 
 weakness. I felt no pain, but such a relaxation 
 in my frame, that speaking, walking, &c. fatigued 
 me, so that often I could scarcely stand. This I 
 felt during April and May. When we were 
 favoured with some refreshing showers, I revived 
 a little ; and at present I am much better, though 
 still weak. But enough of this. Age comes upon 
 me : I have no reason therefore to wonder at 
 weakness. 
 
 " If the mind be sound, all is well ; the rest we 
 shall quit when we enter into the grave. That 
 will cure all our bodily indispositions. On this 
 subject I meditate frequently. And, O ! may
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 425 
 
 God grant me grace to do it more effectually, 
 that I may number my (perhaps very few) days. - 
 Eternity is an awful subject, which should be 
 continually in our mind. 
 
 " I know, I feel it, that I have no righteousness 
 of my own, whereon I would dare to depend for 
 eternal happiness. If God should enter with me 
 into judgment, what would become of me? But 
 blessed, for ever blessed, be the adorable mercy 
 of God, which has provided a sure expedient for 
 guilty man. The atonement of Jesus is the 
 foundation of my hope, peace, love and happiness. 
 Though I am covered all over with sin, the blood 
 of Jesus cleanseth me from all mine iniquities, and 
 sets my heart at rest. Though I am a corrupted 
 creature, the Spirit of Jesus enlighteneth, cheereth, 
 and strengtheneth us to hate and abominate all sin, 
 and to renounce the lusts of the world and the 
 flesh. Though the day of judgment is approach- 
 ing, the love of God comforts us so far as to have 
 boldness to appear before our Judge ; not as if we 
 were innocent creatures, but because we are par- 
 doned, washed, and cleansed in the blood of Christ. 
 
 " O ! my dear friends, an interest in the atone- 
 ment of Jesus, and a participation in the graces 
 of his Spirit ; these constitute a Christian, these 
 cheer and strengthen the heart, these glorify God, 
 and prepare for heaven. 
 
 " Let us daily, therefore, come before God
 
 426 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, through the blessed Jesus ; but let us, at the 
 
 XII. 
 
 same time, not neglect the second point, viz. our 
 sanctification. Our time is short. Within some 
 days, I have sojourned in this country thirty-four 
 years. The end of my journey is, even accord- 
 ing to the course of nature, near. May I not 
 flag ! May my last days be the best ! But as 
 long as we live together upon earth, let us ad- 
 monish and stir up one another. 
 
 " Remember me to Mrs. F , and tell her 
 
 not to overvalue the pleasures of the world, but 
 to let her mind feed on pleasures which are sub- 
 stantial and permanent. I am to take a journey 
 near the sea. Perhaps the sea-air may brace me 
 up a little. I shall remember you in my poor 
 paternosters, and, if I can, send you another line 
 from the sea shore. Farewell ! May grace, peace, 
 and divine mercy follow you at all times ! 
 
 " I am, my dear friends, 
 " Your affectionate friend and servant, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ." 
 
 Soon after the date of the preceding letter, Mr. 
 Sullivan requested Swartz to accompany him into 
 the Marawar country, as he was afraid of trust- 
 ing to a native interpreter, To this he willingly 
 acceded, both on account of his health, and as it 
 would afford him many opportunities of preaching 
 to the natives. It was in the course of this
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 427 
 
 journey that Mr. Sullivan took occasion to sug- CHAP. 
 gest to him a plan, the tendency of which seemed 
 to be eminently calculated to promote the moral 
 improvement of the natives, and ultimately the 
 diffusion of Christianity in India. 
 
 " At Ramanadapuram," 1 he writes, " the con- 
 versation turned on the education of youth. Mr. 
 Sullivan observed, that it might be of great im- 
 portance to establish English schools in every 
 province. ' In the first place,' he said, * the chil- 
 dren, and the parents, through their means, would 
 become better acquainted with the principles and 
 habits of Christians, and their obstinate attach- 
 ment to their own customs would be shaken. The 
 schoolmasters, if pious men, would exhibit the doc- 
 trines and precepts of the gospel, both to children 
 and parents ; a freer intercourse will be opened 
 between natives and Europeans ; and the children 
 being instructed in the English language, would 
 not need to rely on deceitful interpreters.' The 
 proposal was highly agreeable to me, though I 
 foresaw great difficulties in the execution of it. I 
 asked where we should obtain schoolmasters ; to 
 which he answered, that a seminary should be 
 erected at Tanjore for their education, and several 
 active young men should be sent for from Ger- 
 many. On inquiring who would be at the 
 
 1 Rainunad is the greater Marawar.
 
 428 
 
 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 C xn P ' c ^ ar g e of their salaries, he replied, { The petty 
 
 princes of the provinces;' and observed, that it 
 
 would be much better if a small village were 
 granted for the purpose. Accordingly, we spoke 
 to the rajah of Ramanadapuram on the subject. 
 ' It would be an excellent plan,' said he, ' and 
 I wish there were such schools in every village.' 
 His minister promised to explain the case, as it 
 related to the salary, to his master. We therefore 
 said no more on that point. On further conside- 
 ration, however, he thought it more advisable 
 to obtain a written promise from the rajah to 
 settle a sum on the school, to be paid every 
 month ; and to this he readily consented." 
 
 From Ramanadapuram Swartz proceeded to 
 Shevagunga, 1 where he made a similar proposal 
 to the principal man of the place, who also ap- 
 proved it, and promised to give a village for the 
 support of a schoolmaster. Lord Macartney, 
 and the nabob of Arcot, were afterwards made 
 acquainted with the scheme, and both highly 
 commended it. 
 
 On his return to Tanjore Mr. Sullivan addressed 
 the king upon this interesting subject, in the pre- 
 sence of Swartz. His highness consented that 
 such a school as they recommended should be 
 established in or near the Fort, promising to allow 
 
 J The lesser Marawar.
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 429 
 
 forty pagodas (16) a "month for its support. CHAP. 
 Mr. Sullivan then appointed a salary of 60 to a 
 schoolmaster, conceiving that with less he would 
 not be able to maintain himself. 
 
 " Every year," adds Mr. Swartz, " the mission- 
 ary at Tanjore or Trichinopoly must visit those 
 schools ; of course the expenses of such a journey 
 must be defrayed from the fund ; and if some- 
 thing remain, as we hope, some soldiers' children 
 or orphans should be freely educated and main- 
 tained." 
 
 The journey to Ramanadapuram proved very 
 beneficial to his health ; and in the month 
 of September following, for the purpose of pro- 
 moting the proposed plan of English schools, he 
 proceeded to Tondi, on the coast of Coromandel. 
 From this place he wrote on the 20th, to Mr. 
 Sullivan, as follows : 
 
 " Here I arrived on the 14th inst., and had 
 
 the pleasure of finding Colonel F and the 
 
 gentlemen of his detachment in good health. 
 Till the 18th, I visited the Hanoverians, and per- 
 formed daily divine service with them. On the 
 18th, they marched again to Tripatore : whether 
 I shall follow them thither, I cannot say. 
 
 " Pray remember me to Mrs. M . I wish 
 
 her all true happiness. Tell her, in my name, 
 that I wish she may live and die a sincere Chris-
 
 430 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, tian, enjoying the favour of her Maker and Re- 
 
 1 deemer above all things in the world. 
 
 " If you should find an opportunity of being an 
 advocate for orphans, I know you will not forget 
 it. If you think it proper to present my respects 
 to Lord Macartney, I request you to do it. You 
 are the best judge of it. Cur a ut valeas. Your 
 health, I hope, and am persuaded, will be a 
 blessing not only to yourself, but to the public 
 also." 
 
 In a second letter from Tondi, on the 29th of 
 September, referring to the mission in which he 
 was engaged^ respecting the establishment of 
 provincial schools, Swartz observes, 
 
 " Neither will I despair, nor entertain too san- 
 guine hopes ; leaving all to an over-ruling Provi- 
 dence. The proposal is, as I think, good ; and 
 would be beneficial to the country in more than 
 one respect." 
 
 He then mentions that the military commander 
 had cut down more than a thousand Palmeira 
 trees for building bungalows for the troops. 
 " The natives," he says, " wept ; these trees 
 forming a dowry for their daughters." He there- 
 fore proposes a small compensation, to be paid by 
 
 Colonel F , not to the sirkar, but with his 
 
 own hands. 
 
 " I am happy," he adds, " to hear that your
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. ** 
 
 health is rather mending. Ex ammo opto pre- CHAP. 
 corque ut animus sit sanus in corpore sano. Take 
 care of both body as well as soul. Remember 
 me to your friends. Yours are mine." 
 
 On his return to Tanjore in October, he in- 
 formed Mr. Sullivan, who was then absent, that 
 he had received an answer from the Pradani of 
 Ramanad, stating that the rajah had resolved to 
 allow for the proposed school, monthly, twenty- 
 four pagodas. " Whether this will meet with 
 your approbation or not," he says, " I know not. 
 Some people think that a monthly payment is 
 uncertain, and a sort of monthly begging, attended 
 with trouble, and struck off as soon as they are 
 tired. The Shevagunga man has written to me 
 that he would make a small addition. However, 
 I hope all will be better settled when you return 
 to us. May God establish your health, and bless 
 you with peace and cheerfulness of mind !" 
 
 A few days afterwards, he again wrote to Mr. 
 Sullivan as follows : 
 
 "Your favour of the 10th inst. gave me all 
 possible satisfaction. It was but right that the 
 nabob should be acquainted with the plan of the 
 schools ; otherwise he would have looked upon it 
 with uneasiness. I have informed the honourable 
 Society 1 that you, on one Sunday, (a good thought 
 1 For promoting Christian Knowledge.
 
 432 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, and speech on a Sunday,) had proposed to me 
 ' such a plan ; that I hoped to give them a fuller 
 account of it next year. The pradani assures me, 
 that his master is willing to pay the schoolmaster, 
 and that I may send the man. The Shevagunga 
 man has assigned two small villages for the main- 
 tenance of a school. If we were sure of plenty 
 of rain, it might be well enough. But the vakeel 
 told me, that I must not make any great account 
 of it ; but rather try to get a good village near 
 Arentangi, (commonly Ardingi,) because there is 
 more water ; and it is the same place which your 
 dubash pointed out. 
 
 " For the generous present of the Malabar 
 dictionaries for the benefit of schools, I thank you 
 heartily. I trust that a merciful God may make 
 you a happy instrument of benefiting this poor 
 disregarded country. I shall be unspeakably 
 happy to spend the little strength God gives me, 
 to forward the affair, and so fulfil your kind 
 desires. 
 
 " Mr. Hallam told me this morning, that you 
 are not well. Now, dear Sir, hear the voice of a 
 friend, (vox amid vox Dei.} Abstain a good deal 
 from business, and give your body a fair chance 
 of recovering. Be sure your health is precious 
 to me, and to many. 
 
 " I truly condole with you on the death of your 
 dear sister. To be resigned to the will of God, is
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 433 
 
 our duty and happiness too. Unspeakably happy 
 are they, who being prepared for a better world, 
 quit this aceldama. May God, by his blessed 
 Spirit, fit us for that grand transition every 
 day !" 
 
 In a subsequent letter in November, Swartz 
 forwarded to Mr. Sullivan an earnest request 
 from Ramanadapuram, that Colonel Martinez 
 might be continued in the command at that place, 
 and mentioned various circumstances which proved 
 his benevolent activity in doing good, particularly 
 to the poor. "At last," he says, " I would and 
 should make a long apology for my imperti- 
 nence ; but as I write to you I think it unneces- 
 sary." 
 
 Early in December, he communicated to Mr. 
 Sullivan the report of an intended invasion, 
 on the part of Tippoo, and suggested the expe- 
 diency of purchasing paddy, in order to be pre- 
 pared. He then adds, " I have got a new con- 
 gregation. I mean the soldiers at Wallam, whom 
 I am desired to visit. As often as I come, they 
 receive me in a friendly manner, and attend 
 divine worship decently, and take tracts. Nay, 
 some learn to read ; for which good purpose I 
 have supplied them with spelling books. I have 
 read the Sketch of English Government, trans- 
 lated by Mr. F . At present this paper 
 
 VOL. I. F F
 
 434 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 would do no good. Times oug 
 
 disturbed for such a publication. This I merely 
 
 CHAP, would do no good. Times ought to be more un- 
 
 XII. 
 
 1784. 
 
 refer to you. 
 
 " Here we have no rain ; and therefore a dis- 
 mal prospect. The small grain withers away ; 
 the paddy likewise looks ill. It seems as if God 
 intended to punish this country again. And who 
 can say any thing against his judgments? Every 
 one has reason to humble himself. Nay, the 
 people begin to suspect Tippoo's intentions. 
 May God have mercy on this poor nation, and 
 spare them kindly !" 
 
 At the close of this year, Mr. Swartz addressed 
 the following interesting letter to one of his valued 
 friends at Ve*llore, who had requested his opinion 
 as to some well-known writers of our church. 
 After referring to his young friend, J. Kohlhoff, 
 who had written to inform them of his recent jour- 
 neys, and had assured them that notwithstanding 
 his advanced age, he performed his various duties 
 with the same vigour and ability which he had 
 manifested ten years before, he proceeds as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "At present, I am so far established in health, 
 that my labour is rather delightful to me than trou- 
 blesome, which was not the case in April and May. 
 May God, who has bestowed so many blessings
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 435 
 
 ior sinner, grant that the last days of 
 my life may be well spent ; that I may finish my 
 
 on me, a poor sinner, grant that the last days of CHAP 
 
 A. 11 
 
 . , .,, . , . 1784. 
 
 course with peace, it not with joy. 
 
 " We are not only allowed, but even com- 
 manded to ' rejoice in the Lord.' No joy has so 
 good and firm a foundation, as that which is to be 
 found in the Lord, who has bought us, redeemed 
 us, and prepared for us all true happiness. Shall 
 we not rejoice in his salvation, pardon, peace, 
 strength, and kingdom ? But whoever wishes 
 to rejoice in the blessings purchased for us by 
 Jesus Christ, must be in him, closely united to 
 him, renouncing sin, and all the false pleasures of 
 the world, and hungering and thirsting after him. 
 This true union and communion with Jesus is the 
 source of joy the only source. From hence will 
 follow a willingness to love, serve, obey, and 
 glorify him as long as we live. Is it possible 
 that we, who have found pardon, peace, and a 
 lively hope of a glorious eternity in Jesus ; that 
 we, who have been made happy by him, should 
 not wish and endeavour to live to his glory ? 
 
 " But if, instead of trusting in Jesus, and his 
 consummate atonement, we trust and rely on our 
 own virtue, and consequently stand upon our 
 own foundation, we shall never enjoy a moment's 
 peace and unshaken delight. Our virtue and 
 holiness are, and must remain, imperfect. We 
 shall, therefore, always have reason to confess
 
 436 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAP, before God. * If thou wilt mark in my thoughts, 
 1 designs, intentions, what is amiss, Lord, who shall 
 stand before thee ?' Let us, therefore, seek for 
 pardon, peace, and joy in Jesus; and having 
 found that, let us be grateful and obedient. But 
 though we should be as holy as any of the apos- 
 tles, let us beware lest we put our confidence in 
 any thing but the sufferings and atoning death of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 " In this grand fundamental article of true 
 Christianity, I like none so much as good Bishop 
 Beveridge. He^fqrgets not to raise the super- 
 structure of holiness ; but he lays first the foun- 
 dation in a true and lively trust in Jesus, as Paul 
 likewise has done. Read Philippians iii. In the 
 explanation of holiness Archbishop Tillotson is 
 excellent ; but he does not so well, so clearly lay 
 the foundation as Beveridge, Hervey, and the first 
 reformers. When thou comfortest my heart, then, 
 and not till then, shall I run in the way of thy 
 commandments. The divine commandments, well 
 and spiritually considered, will convince us of our 
 sinfulness and corruption, and, of course, condemn 
 us. (Rom. vii.) Being condemned by the law, 
 as servants who owe to their Lord ten thousand 
 talents, how shall we pay off our debt ? By the 
 few pence of our own virtue ? No ; but by the 
 complete atonement made by Jesus Christ. This 
 atonement of Jesus is offered in the gospel to every
 
 THE REV. C. F. SWARTZ. 437 
 
 one who knows and feels his sinfulness, and wishes CHAP. 
 
 XII. 
 
 to be delivered from the curse he has deserved by 
 
 1784. 
 
 it. To those who feel the burden of their sins, and 
 groan under it, how inexpressibly sweet is and 
 must be that tender invitation of Christ, (Matt.xi.,) 
 ' Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy 
 laden, and I will give you rest ;' by taking the 
 burden from you. 
 
 " That you and your dear husband may rejoice 
 in Jesus, here and in a blessed eternity, is the 
 sincere wish of your old friend, 
 
 " C. F. SWARTZ. 
 
 " P. S. Pray let us know how your school goes 
 on. Are there some of the black people who 
 profess Christianity ? Is there any one who in- 
 structs them ? 
 
 " As to the Malabar church which I have been 
 building in the suburbs, General Munro encou- 
 raged me, by giving me fifty pagodas. But when 
 I found that the stones which I needed for the 
 foundation, cost twenty-five pagodas, without chu- 
 nam, 1 I thought I should soon stop my mill for 
 want of water ; but the rajah having given me 
 some gold cloths at the time of Lord Pigot's ar- 
 rival, when the general was lately here, I took 
 them to the merchants, who, to my agreeable sur- 
 prise, valued them at one hundred and thirty-six 
 1 Stucco.
 
 438 MEMOIRS, &c. 
 
 CHAP, pagodas, ; so that I could prosecute my plan with- 
 
 1 out interruption. I hope that God, who has so 
 
 84< graciously furnished me with the means of build- 
 ing a house of prayer, will fill it also with spiritual 
 children, to the praise of his name. He is strong 
 who hath promised us such glorious things. Read 
 for that purpose my favourite chapter of Isaiah, 
 xlix. verses 4 7, 18 20. I cheerfully believe 
 that God ' will build the waste places' of this 
 country. But should it be done after we are 
 laid in the grave, what harm 1 This country is 
 covered with thorns ; let us plough and sow good 
 seed, and entreat the Lord to make it spring up. 
 Our labour in the Lord, in his cause, and for his 
 glory, will not be in vain." 
 
 How truly elevated and apostolic are these sen- 
 timents ; and how powerfully have subsequent 
 events proved the value of the labours of this 
 eminent missionary, and tendejd to realize his 
 cheering anticipation of the future progress of the 
 gospel in India ! 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 IIJOTSON AND PAL1UEB, PRINTERS, SAVOY STREET, STRAND.

 
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