Mr. Tho mas's first Calcutta. voyage to CHAPTER II. COMMENCEMENT OF THE BAPTIST MISSION IN BENGAL, 1793-1806. 1. In the history of modern Missions, few events mark the leadings of Divine Providence more manifestly than the circumstances which led to the establishment of the Baptist Mission in Bengal. In the year 1783 Mr. John Thomas, surgeon of the Oxford East Indiaman, sailed to India. Brought up by a pious father, of the Baptist denomination, he seems himself to have been impressed with the paramount importance of religion; and on his arrival at Calcutta, he made diligent inquiry after devout Christians, but could hear of none.1 At last he was informed of one, who was described, he says, as “a very religious man, who would not omit his closet hours, of a morning or evening, at sea or on land, for all the world." He was impatient to meet this extraordinary person; but great was his disappointment to find him a profane man, who rejected all his attempts at religious conversation with scorn, while his belief in the Son of God was very ques (1) It may seem unaccountable that he heard nothing of the English Mission, which at this time had existed upwards of twenty years. But the Missionaries and their establishment seem not to have been known beyond their own immediate circle. To this day many Europeans in the immediate neighbourhood of Mission Stations in India know nothing about them. tionable indeed. They afterwards returned to Europe in the same ship; and Mr. Thomas remarks, that he continued through the voyage "a strict observer of devotional hours, but an enemy to all religion, and horribly loose, vain, and intemperate in his life and conversation." But before he sailed, Mr. Thomas met with a better specimen of Christian character, in a European shopkeeper in Calcutta, whom he describes as "a truly pious man." From him he heard also of two gentlemen, Messrs. Grant and Chambers, who walked in the fear of God; but they were too far up the country for him to call upon them. Such, as we have before seen, was the paucity of religious persons in India in those days. Mr. Thomas made a public attempt to ascertain whether any more were to be found, by inserting an advertisement in the Indian Gazette, inviting co-operation in a plan which he desired to form "for the more effectual spreading of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, and His glorious Gospel, in and about Bengal." He received two answers, couched in favourable terms; but he had no opportunity at that time to follow up the subject. On his arrival in England, he found that his advertisement had been copied into an English Newspaper, and that it had induced the friends of religion to hope that "there were some religious stirrings" in the East; but it led to no immediate result. Who can say, however, that it contributed nothing towards the movement ere long made in favour of Christianity in India ? Every streak of light, though faint, accelerates the opening day. second 2. In 1786 Mr. Thomas sailed a second time to His India, in the same capacity and ship as before. He voyage to was rejoiced to find that the Rev. David Brown, Calcutta. Chaplain to the East-India Company, had arrived just before him, and that the two gentlemen of CHAP. II. whose piety he heard at the close of his last visit, were now at Calcutta. He waited upon them, was encouraged by the cordial welcome they gave him, and accompanied them to Mr. Brown's service at the Orphan Asylum. Mr. Grant, pleased with his piety and abilities, recommended him to remain in the country, learn the language, and preach to the Hindoos; but he did not feel at liberty at first to accede to the proposal. It, however, awakened feelings within him which he could not suppress; and after a few weeks he became so concerned for the condition of the multitudes around him, that he could find no rest until he gave himself up to the work. For the present, therefore, he was induced to remain at Calcutta, and begin with preaching in English; and his instructions were, ere long, rendered effectual to the conversion of two Englishmen from the error of their ways. In 1787 he began to study Bengalee, and next year was able to converse freely with the Natives with whom he was acquainted; but he was doubtful whether his pronunciation in preaching was intelligible. intelligible. With the help of a native, he translated several portions of the Old and New Testament into Bengalee, and circulated some of them in manuscript. Thus he continued to labour till about the end of 1791, and there was reason to hope that he had not published the Word of God in vain. The attention of several Natives was awakened to the subject of Christianity, and two or three of them seemed to be turning from dumb idols to the Living God; but they afterwards disappointed his expectations.1 (') He gave an interesting account of these men while he thought them sincere; but knowing that they subsequently proved unfaithful, it would now be read with pain.-Vide Rippon's Baptist Register, No. V. This Chapter is drawn up from the Periodical Accounts of the Baptist Missionary Society for the first four years 3. In 1792 Mr. Thomas returned to England, Establishwhere he endeavoured to open a fund for a Missionment of the Bapto Bengal, and inquired for a companion to return tist Miswith him to India. He was soon informed of the sionary Society. recent establishment of the Baptist Missionary Society for the propagation of the Gospel among the Heathen, and he lost no time in applying to them for the assistance he required. In the narrative of the first formation of this Society, it is attributed, under God, to "the workings" in the mind of a Baptist Minister, the Rev. William Carey, of Leicester, whose thoughts for the last nine or ten years had been directed to this object with very little intermission. In order to call the attention of his brethren to the subject, he wrote a treatise, entitled, "AN INQUIRY INTO THE OBLIGATIONS OF CHRISTIANS TO USE MEANS FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE HEAthen.' His conversations, prayers, and sermons, were generally accompanied with some reference to the subject. Besides his zeal in the cause, he possessed an ardent thirst for geographical knowledge, and a remarkable aptitude at learning languages, so that his most intimate friends had been long induced to think him formed for some peculiar undertaking; but little could they imagine the extensive work for which the providence of God was preparing him. Thomas 4. The Society was formed at Kettering on the Messrs. 2d of October 1792. At their third meeting, at and Carey Northampton, November 13th, they were informed, their first by a note from Mr. Carey, of Mr. Thomas's exer- ries. tions for Bengal: at the same time he expressed years. As in the case of other Societies, the original documents will seldom be referred to, the dates of the transactions narrated furnishing an easy reference to the Society's Records. Most of the facts for which reference will be made to other sources of information are contained also in the Society's Reports, and the Memoir of Dr. Carey. Missiona CHAP. Their India. his apprehensions lest this should interfere with their larger plan; and suggested the expediency of trying to unite the collections of both parties "into one fund, for the purpose of sending the Gospel to the Heathen indefinitely." This note led to communications with Mr. Thomas, and ultimately to his engagement with the Society to return to Bengal as their Missionary. The Committee were at no loss to fix upon a person for his colleague. There could be no doubt that Mr. Carey was prepared for the work; and when asked, whether, in the event of Mr. Thomas acceding to the Committee's proposal, he would be inclined to accompany him, he immediately answered in the affirmative. Deeply affecting was the first interview between these two devoted men. Mr. Thomas arrived in the evening of the same day; fully acceded to the Committee's proposal; and when introduced to his future colleague, they fell on each other's necks and wept.1 5. After receiving a charge from Rev. A. Fuller, arrival in they took leave of their Brethren with prayers and many tears, and on June 13, 1793, sailed together on board the Princess Maria, a Danish East-Indiaman. On the 11th of November they arrived at Calcutta, where they were welcomed by the Rev. David Brown and other Christian friends; but for some time the unsettled state of their affairs occasioned them much anxiety. In their engagement with the Society, whose funds were inadequate to their support, they agreed to maintain themselves as soon as practicable; and for this purpose Mr. Thomas, who was a surgeon, prepared for the practice of his profession, while Mr. Carey turned his thoughts to the cultivation of some land. This Second (1) Brief Narrative of the Baptist Mission in India. Edit. p. 5. Morris's Memoir of the Rev. A. Fuller, p. 101. Brown's History of the Propagation of Christianity. Vol. ii. p. 128. |