FAC-SIMILE OF THE TEXT, "The people which

sat in darkness saw great light" (Matt. iv. 16), in

the following Eastern languages:

4

अन्धकार त्रिशतो लोका महाले [कमुद्रा 5 అంధ కారాలయందు కూచుఁన లొకులు మహాతెజ

هره خلق چه په تیاره کښ ناست وو هغو لويه روضناني 7

8 2ဗူလန်ပြည် ၊ ရုပ်ဘာလိပ်ပြဉ်၏အစွန်တို့တွင်ပင်လ 9 ஓருளிலிருக்குஞ் சனம பெரிய வெளிசசதலதக 10 අඳුරෙහි උන් දනන් මහත්ව එලියක්

11

ماد کلور له تاین در ها داتن حضره ها و لال دود لله

12 邃虛于氣形未地造 造血原

well aware that he was laying the foundation upon which others might work. His successors, Dr. Yates and Dr. Wenger entered into his labours, making the versions more perfect. The latter eminent man thus refers to his own and Dr. Yates's efforts upon the Bengalee Bible :-"That it will be the final or standard version I do not expect, for the language is still in a transition state, and is an awkward medium of expressing true and Christian ideas in religion. When Dr. Carey came, he found the language scarcely so far advanced as the Greek was in the time of Homer. All the literature was of a poetical nature, and poetry not like Homer's as to the ideas and the colouring, but like the poorer parts of the Odyssey as to versification. Dr. Carey was the first Bengalee prose writer of any note. Since then, the language has made rapid strides; but when it has become thoroughly Christianised it will be something very different."

The testimony of Dr. Wenger to Carey's prodigious achievements will suitably bring this chapter to a close. In a speech he delivered at a public meeting in 1875 he said, “I feel bound to state that it passes my comprehension how Dr. Carey was able to accomplish one fourth of his translations. They were pre-eminently useful in their day. About twenty years ago, when some friends wished to introduce the Gospel among the Afghans near the Peshawur frontier, they found that the only version intelligible to those people was the Pushtoo version of the New Testament made at Serampore by Dr. Carey."

Μ'

foremost in seeking the amelioration of the social and civil condition of the people amongst whom they have lived and laboured. How could it have been otherwise with those whose Great Master was, and is, the Friend of man; who are the bearers of a Gospel, the principles of which are antagonistic to all oppression and cruelty and wrong. To stimulate and assist the endeavours of statesmen who have sought the repeal of unjust and inhuman, or the enactment of righteous and beneficent laws; to teach the ignorant the first rudiments of knowledge; to instruct the barbarous in the primary arts of civilization; to systematise languages and create literature; to deliver from the abominable and hurtful customs of ancient superstitions; to help to strike the shackles from the slave; to relieve the hunger of the famine stricken; to heal bodily diseases and sicknesses; to raise woman to her true position; to transform the habitations of cruelty into homes of

purity and love-these humane objects, these kindly ministries have ever possessed the sympathies and commanded the energies of the missionaries of the Cross. As time passes on, and their work is being better understood, and their influence more truly gauged, testimonies are multiplying as to their manifold and benevolent usefulness. Men of high civic positions, and even Government blue books are not withholding their commendations.

It was fitting that the first English missionary sent forth by the first English Society should lead the way in philanthropic well-doing. And no memoir of William Carey would be complete which did not record his benevolent endeavours to improve the social condition of the natives of India.

The first reform which Carey helped to effect was the prohibition of the sacrifice of children at the great annual

festival at Gunga Saugor. The supposed virtue of this particular place was thought to arise from its geographical situation. Gunga is the word for Ganges, and Saugor for sea, and as at this particular spot the river flowed into the sea, the confluence was believed to give special sanctity. Sacrifices were consequently held to be of great merit, and many were the children who year by year were drowned in the waters or devoured by alligators and sharks.

In the year 1801, Carey's friend, Mr. Udney, entered the Supreme Council. He at once directed the attention of Lord Wellesley to these inhuman practices, and with such effect that Carey was instructed to inquire into the matter and report to Government, this commission being intrusted to him on account of his position at Fort -William College. His report was to include the results of inquiries into other superstitious customs as well as the sacrifice of children; and, as he assured Mr. Fuller would be the case, he made his report as full as possible. In this report he declared that the Hindoo shasters gave no warrant for the Gunga Saugor perpetrations. That declaration afforded the Governor-General the justification he required for issuing a proclamation making the custom illegal. And when the next festival recurred, Sepoys were despatched to the spot to see that the law was observed. And strange to say, the natives quietly assented, so much so that in the course of time the practice of these cruelties not only fell into disuse, but was even denied to have ever existed.

Another abomination, to the abolition of which Carey directed his most determined efforts, was Suttee: the immolation of widows on the burning pile of their dead husbands. Very graphic is the descrip