day we went, and Mr Thomas preached to near two Hundreds of them at Saa-Gunge a village near usthey listened with great Seriousness, and several followed us to make further enquiries about what is the way to Heaven, and how they should do to walk therein -every place presents a pleasing prospect to us of success—and we are of one mind and one soul-pray for us-we duly remember you-and the prosperity of the Society lies very near our Hearts

Rev A. FULLER

Kettering

Northamptonshire

W CAREY

There is a peculiar interest attaching to this letter to those who read it in the light of the events that have succeeded its writing, and it is not difficult for the imagination to picture the varying emotions with which it must have been received by the friends of Carey in England, and by those who, far from being his friends, had looked upon his embassy as the wildest and most dangerous of chimeras. To the hostile critic there was not a little in the letter to furnish material for jest and ridicule. The quaint phraseology, the almost child-like expressions of wonder at the new sights and terrors of the sea, the exaggerated estimates of the immensity of waves fifty or sixty yards high, were easy subjects for the perverted ingenuity of the satirist, and it is scarcely remarkable that these letters

and the similar ones that followed should have seemed to men like Sydney Smith only the vaporings of ignorant and diseased zeal. But to those who had, like Andrew Fuller, come to know more of the deep purpose that dominated the life of William Carey and of that passion for souls which mastered all his activity, the apparent crudities must have vanished away, and the only feeling that could have been left in the mind must have been one of profound admiration for the man who, without stopping to count the cost, and with scarcely any intelligent apprehension of the perils and dangers that he had to incur, had flung himself resolutely into the vanguard of what all but he and a few like-minded associates must have regarded as the most forlorn of hopes. But to-day, as we read the narrative, when a century has gone by, and the writer and his critics have all passed, leaving words only to be their judges, there can be little doubt as to what the verdict of history shall be, and the most merciful judgment that will be likely to be passed upon the critic will be that of Carey on poor Ram Boshee-that he knew no better.

The letter that follows owes its chief interest to the fact that it was written from Debarta, where, for a little time, the missionaries hoped they might find the opportunity of establishing a station within the Company's territory. But events proved that the judgment of the natives, as Carey records it, that "Englishmen are

worse than Tygers

was not altogether out of the way, for it was Englishmen and not tigers who drove the little missionary colony from English territory to seek a harbor on Danish soil; and the next letter which we present to the reader, signed by all of the five missionaries, and dated at Serampore April 25, 1800, gives the account of the formation of the first Baptist Church ir India, and of the foundation of the first permanent mission undertaken by the Society to the Hindoos.

MY DEAR FRIEND

DEBARTA Feby 15th, 1794.

I do not expect that you will receive this till some time after the other letters, the last ships being hastened away upon account of the numerous Privateers fitted out from Mauritius. On this account also I shall not be able to write to so many of my friends in England as I wished, being even uncertain whether even this will arrive at Calcutta soon enough for the ships.Nor have I anything of importance to communicate more than I have already written-except that Mr T is now settled in his profession at Calcutta-where he pursues the Mission also, and I have taken a few acres of Land at Hasuabad near this place; which is about 40 miles East of Calcutta upon the River Juboua—I am now at the house of a Mr Short, a Servant of the Company, who generously invited us all, tho' before entirely unknown to him, to stay at his house till we

have erected one of our own; and which I am now engaged in. The Walls will be made with mats fastened to Posts of Wood, and the roof with Bamboo and Thatched; In this work the neighbouring inhabitants yield me a little assistance, and a great number of people, about four or five hundred families intend to come and reside in our neighbourhood, this is principally occasioned by Moonshee telling them that I am not like the other Englishmen, but that I shall be like a Father to them, the Country is an excellent soil, but has lately been deserted almost upon account of the Tygers, and other Beasts of prey which infest the Place; but all these are afraid of a Gun, and will be soon expelled-this people therefore are not afraid when an European is nigh-but have kept from other's because they think Englishmen worse than Tygers; We shall have all the nesscessaries of Life except Bread for which rice must be a substitute-Wild hogs, Deers & Fowls are to be procured by the Gun & must supply us with a considerable part of our food, and in the woods'-there are Rhinoceros's which are good food, but is dangerous going after them for fear of Tygers— the greatest inconvenience I find is that of our being separated so far, and having so much of my time necessarily taken up in procuring provisions, and cultivating my little Farm. When my House is built however I shall have much more leisure, than I now have, and shall have daily opportunity of conversing with the

natives and pursuing the work of the Mission; There is certainly a large field here for usefulness, much larger than you conceive, both amongst the Hindoos, and Mussulmen. They are very numerous very inquisitive, and very attentive to the Gospel; when I can so far know the Language as to preach in it, I have no doubt of having a stated Congregation; and I much hope to send you some more pleasing accounts than at present I can. I can so far converse in the Language as to be understood in most things belonging to Eating & Drinking, Buying, and Selling &ct and my ear is somewhat familiarised to the Bengalic Sounds.

It is a language of a very singular Construction having no Plurals except to Pronouns; and not a singular Preposition in it—but the Cases of Nouns and Pronouns are almost endless, all the words answering to our prepositions, being put after the word and forming a new Case; Excepting these irregularities I find it an easy Language.

I never felt myself more happy in any undertaking than this and tho' I never felt the loss of Social Religion so much as now yet a consciousness of having given up all for God, is a support and the work with all its attendant inconveniences is to me a rich reward.

I hope the Society still prospers and think they would do well if they would still keep their eye towards Africa or Asia-these countries are not like the wilds of America where long labour will scarce collect sixty