- Title
- The Commission, May 1849
-
-
- Date
- May 1849
-
-
- Volume
- 1
-
-
- Issue
- 5
-
-
- Editor
- ["Reynolds, J. L. (James Lawrence), 1814-1877","Taylor, James B. (James Barnett), 1804-1871","Kingsford, Edward, 1788-1859"]
-
- Creator
- ["Southern Baptist Convention. Foreign Mission Board"]
-
The Commission, May 1849
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VOLUME 1, NUMBER 5.
“Go ye into all llic world and preach the gospel to every crcainrc.4
RICHMOND, MAY 15, 1819.
Southern Xinptiat Comifiition.
Correspondence of the Foreign Board.
Coinmunicatiuus relating to the general busi¬
ness of tho Foreign Mission Board, may be ad¬
dressed, post paid, to
James B. Taylor, Cor. Sec.
Richmond, Va. _
Communications enclosing donations, or relat¬
ing to the financial department, may bo address-
Archibald Thomas, Trees.
Richmond, Va.
ed to
William Carey.
As all our readers may not bo familiar with
the history of Dr. Carey, wo insert in this num¬
ber a brief memoir, selected from an old period¬
ical befoio us.
Dirth.
“William Carey was horn at the village of
I’aulerspury, about three miles fiom Towccster,
in Northamptonshire, on the 17th of August,
1701. His father was clerk of the parish, and
kept a small frcc-school in the village, in which
lie gave his son an ordinary English education.
lloplism and Pastorale.
" In tho year 1783, he was publicly baptized at
Northampton, in the river Nen, by the lain Dr.
Itylaud, which led to his settlement, in 178t>, as
pastor of the small Baptist church at Moulton,
near that town.
Application to Study.
“ To eay nothing of natural history, which,
from his childhood, had been a favorite pursuit,
lie found means, amid all his indigence and ob¬
scurity, to attain no small acquaintance with lan¬
guages, both ancient and modern. The precise
extent of his acquirements at this period, it is
now difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain, but
ing tho request with an oiler of ten pounds (about
fifty dollars) toward the expense. On his return
home, Mr. Carey met at Northampton his friends
Fuller, SutclifF, and Ryland,to whom ho com¬
municated what had passed. He importuned
one of them to undertake tlm publication in his
stead ; hut, as they scvcially declined the task,
posed to avail himself of his skill in the eultiva-
tioq (if land, for the support of his family; nnd
quiying Calcutta, with his family, in an open
boa], on; the 0th of February, 1791, he went
forth, like Abraham of old, not knowing whither
he went. After proceeding on 'the river a dis¬
tance of about foity miles, they reached at night
1m fulfilled it himself soon after, by sending' bis i fall Deharta,- tho residence of- the late Charles
‘ Inquiry' to the press. In April, ltOl, sermon Short, Esq.' By this gentleman, though an on
bearing on the same subject were deliroied by [Ure.atrahger, -and by no means disposed to favor
Messrs. Fuller and Sutcliff, at a public meeting , Mr. Carey’s religious views, the whole party
held at Clipston. Caicy himself was chosen to >eio received and entertained for several months
preach the following year at Nottingham, where with the kindest hospitality; and with him, tho
he poured forth all tho energy of his, soul in a
discoutso f^m Isaiah liv. 2, from which he en-
foiced on his brethren the duty, first, to expect
great things; and, secondly, to attempt great
thing*. The effect was decisive : after tho pub¬
lic service had ended, the ministers and a few
other friends met, ard resolved that a society
I nun a translation 01 me scnpiures imo ineir
Dr. Hyland, ‘on October 3. lanSBS{te|
оя
wh:ch Mr.
Сзте} ы
becn
1, in a little back parlor at Kei- gently employed. But here, again, Provi-
ilion of a small society, whim d ^ ,0 |hwart ,heir inlendeit opcra.
sister of Mrs. Carcv was not long afterward
united in marriage.
Д*1п
the year 1799, four additional missionaries
were sent out to join him; of the others, Mr.
(how Dr.) Marshman, had been previously en¬
gaged in the instruction of youth ; and Mr. Ward
was a printer, whose aid, it was anticipated,
should be formed at their next meeting, for pm^
^иН
^ be lciui:ed in ploviding lhe na!hel
agating the gospel among the heathen. ‘Ac-|wr,h a tran,llliori of lhe KtiflaKi int0 lheir
cording!)-,’ says Dr. Ryland, ‘ on October 2.
1792, 1 witnessed,
tcring, tho formation o. a smai. socrcy, «r- appeaied ,0 ,nwan lfteir lnlendert opcrJ
began with a suhscnption of £13, 2s., Cd.,jtirf!ia. The authorities at Calcutta refused per-
(about $05), and of which this William Carey |m;ssion (0 lll6 younger- missionaries to piocccd
was tho founder.’ j u| ,be country and join Mr. Carey at Mudnabat
Personal Consecration. ,tyl Hence he was compelled, at a considerable
“When this infant society resolved to ven- W^niary sacrifice, to relinquish the appointment
lure on the bold step of sending forth one or two ' h,5 helli lher0- 3nd rcmoto tn the neighborhood
individuals into the heathen world, it was qm«3j°f!Ca,cutla- Tll,s !ed 10 ,heir residence, in the
natural that they should think of Mr. Carey in^11 Damsh “ttlcment of Senmporc.a place
the first instance. The obstacles in the way f?fdl llM Slncc derncd lts chlef
of such an enterprise were then far greater than fR® !,5. hewS tl,e se3t of lhis missi™- This re¬
now. Tho individuals thus associated had bat
little influence beyond the small provincial circle
in which they moved. Not one among them
......
шмп, и
inn mipuMiuie,
ш
ascertain, Dul m which
шоу
inoveo.
гид
one among mem t,« ■ * : ?. . .ey-
it appears certain that hq^vgjj^WeJ^fuic.bc.lcft yvas at all acquainted, with .tho.delnils .pf business. approved by the Damsh got-
England fur India', to read his Bible in at least
semi languages, including his native tongue,
“ •h® year 1787, Mr. Caroy, having boen
invited to become pastor of the Baptist church at
Leicester, removed thither, and entered on his
new charge early in the following year. In this
more public station, his zeal and unromiticd la¬
bors endeared hint to men of piety, while his
eager pursuit of learning attracted tho notice and
secured the respect of all who could appreciate
true worth and intellectual vigor. Among these,
the Rev. Thomas Robinson, for many years the
useful and exemplary vicar of St. Mary’s in that
town, treated him with peculiar kindness, gave
him freo access to his library, and thus laid tho
foundations of a friendship, equally honorable to
both parties, which subsisted till tho death of
Mr. Rubinson.
Origin of Monthly Concert.
“ Previously to the entranco of Mr. Carey on
the duties of a Christian pastor, certain ministers
of tlm denomination to. which he belonged had
mutually agreed, at the suggestion of the Rev.
John Sutcliff, of OInoy, to devoto an hour, on
the evening of the first Monday in every month,
to social prayer, for the revival of religion and
the success of tho gospel. This proposal was
adopted at a meeting held at Nottingham in
June, 1784, and it was so congenial with the
feelings of Mr. Caroy, that, not content with
holding a meeting at tlm stated period, ho cstab
lished, among his own friends at Leicester, an
additional scrvico of tho
ззше
character, which,
for tho convenience of some of their number who
resided in the counliy, was held on the market-
day.
Memoralk Sermon,
To tho great subject of missions, indeed,
his mind was drawn with increasing earnestness
from day to day; and ho conversed on this inter¬
esting theme with his brethren in the ministry,
till they became imbued with similar views. On
a visit to Biimingham, ho introduced his favorite
lopie in tho company of one of the friends of tho
late excellent Samuel Pearce, who urged hint to
prepare his thoughts fin publication, accompany-'
ttoval, however undesirable at the time, was ev-
icjjntly. conducive to the establishment and future
prosperity of their undertaking. Their, object
necessarily involved in such an undertaking ; and
tho great disinclination of Mrs. Carey to leave
her native land, formed, in his case, a groat and
peculiar difficulty. But he consulted not with
(lesh and blood. 'Brethren,' said he, when, at
tho close of a day spent in fasting and prayer,
the decisive question was proposed, if lie were
willing to go forth on this untried and hazardous
service : ‘ Brethren, if you send mo among can¬
nibals, I will go!’
Т1шз,
in the spirit of sim¬
ple faith in the Redeemer, ho commenced that
sublime and benevolent career, in which for forty
years Ire was enabled to persevere, so much to
the benefit of his fellow-men, and to the glory of
God Ills Saviour.
“ While the conductors of tho new society
wCro yet undecided as to the spliero to be select¬
ed for their operations, they heard of a Mr.
Thomas, who had spent somo years in Bengal,
and who was endeavoring to raiso a fund in Lon¬
don fot a mission to that part of
Ию
British
colonial empire. This determined their course.
Mr. Thomas was chosen as tho colleague of Mr,
Carey; they were solemnly designated to the
missionary enterprise at Leicester, on tho 20th
of May, 1793; and on tho 13th day of June fol¬
lowing, the two missionaries embarked on. board
a Danish Indiainan, accompanied by Mr. Carey’s
whole family, his wife having given her consent,
if accompanied by her sister, and tho latter also
being willing to join tho party.
Trials.
“ On their arrival at Calcutta, in November,
1793, two events occurred, both highly discour¬
aging. They discovered that a native, in whom
they expected to meet with a convert to Christi¬
anity, had relapsed into idolatry ; and n small in¬
vestment which they had taken with them as a
means of their support and establishment wns
sunk, with the boat which contained it, in the
Hooghly. Mr. Carey was thus left, with his
wife qnd children, in a foreign land, far distant
from bis native country, among pooplo of a
strango speech, and suddenly deprived of nearly
all means of subsistence. But, even in thjs ex¬
tremity, his faith in God did not fail, He pro-
eraor,; Colonel' Hie';” adequate' protection' was
afforded them ; the town and surrounding country
were more populous than Mr. Carey’s former
station; and, above all, far greater facilities were
enjoyed for printing the sacred scriptures in the
native languages.
Manner of Spending Time.
The manner in which ho was. accustomed to
spend his time, may bo gathered fiom a letter to
a friend.
I rose this morning at a. quarter before six,
lead a chaplet in the Hebrew Bihle, and spent
the time till seven in private addresses to God.
I then attended family prayer with the servants,
in Bengalee. While tea was getting ready, I
read a little in Peisian with a Moonshi, who was
waiting when I left my bed-room ; read also, be¬
fore breakfast, a portion of the scripture ir> Hin-
dqsthance. Tho moment breakfast was over,
sat down to the translation of the Ramayuna
from Sungskrit, with a pudit, who was also
waiting, and continued this translation till ten
o'clock, at which hour I went to college, and at¬
tended the duties there till between one and two
o'clock. When Iroturned home, I examined a
proof-sheet of the Bengalee translation of Jere¬
miah, which took till dinner time. After dinner,
translated, with tho assistance of the chief pundit
of the college, the greater part of tho eighth
ohapter of Matthew into Sungskrit. This em¬
ployed me till six o'clock. After six, sat down
with a Telinga pundit (who is translating from
the Sungskrit into tho language of
Ыз
country)
to learn that language. At seven I began tn
collect a few previous thoughts into the farm of
a sermon, and preached in English at half past
seven. About forty persons present, and among
them one of the puisne judges of the Sudder
Dewany Adawlut. After sermon, I got a sub¬
scription from him of five hundred rupees, to¬
ward erecting our new
р1зеа
of Worship ; he is
an exceedingly friendly man. Preaching was
over, and the congregation gone by nine o'clock.
I then sat down and translated the eleveulli chap¬
ter of Ezekiel into Bengalee, and this lasted till
near eleven ; and .norv I sit down. to writo.to you;
After this, I conclude the evening by reading a
chapter in the Greek Testament, eommending
myself to God. I have never- more time in the
day than this, though the exercises ivj '
Wonderful Acquirements?'
The wonderful' results of his labor, and the
closing scenes of his life; we alluded, to in Hie
following passages.
"By steady ‘perseverance in a coupe of ex¬
ertion like this, Dr. Carey was enabled to qccon*
plish a vast amount of philological bbor, all
того
or. less, auhservient to the great design of
transferring the inspired oracles into as .many of
the . oriental longues
аз
possible. HisMahralta
grammar, already merilionedi was followed by a
Sungskrit grammar, extending to
того
than, a
thousand quarto pages, in 1800 ; a Mahratta dic¬
tionary, 8vo, in 1810; a Punjabee grammar, 8vo,
in 1812; a Telinga grammar, 8vo, in 1814; be¬
sides the Ramayuna, in the original text, care¬
fully collated with the most authentic manu¬
scripts, in three volumes, quarto, which appeared
between the yean 1806 and 1810.
“His philological works of a later date are, a
Bengalee dictionary, in three volumes, 4to, 1818,
of which a second edition was published in 1825,
and another in 8vo, in 1827-1830;' aBhotanla
dictionary, 4io, 1820; also a grammai of the
same language, edited by him and Dr. Mare li¬
man. A dictionary of the Sungskrit, nearly
teacy for press, was consumed in a fire which
destroyed the Serampore priming-office. in 1812.
It is not known that lhis work was ever resumed;
nor bid the doctor complete a more extensive un¬
dertaking than all, ‘which, he had not only pro¬
jected, hut for which he had collected materials ;
this was 1 A Universal Dictionary of the Orien¬
tal languages derived from the Sungshrit,’ on the
plan of Johnson's lexicon, with tho synonyms in
the different affiliated tongues, with the Hebrew
and Greek terms of ‘a coirespcndent meaning.
“Great as were these achievements in the
field of orienial literature, they were entirely
eubordiaate to, and surpassed by, the exertions
of Dr. Carey ifftho province of biblical transla¬
tion. The versions of the ‘sacred scriptures, in
the preparation of which he took an aciive and
laborious part, include the Sungskrit, Hindoo,
Brijbhossa, Mabra'.la, Bengalee, Ooiiya, Teiin-
ga, Kumata, Maldivian, Gujaralto, Buloshee,
Pushtoo, Punjabee, or Shikb, Kaehmeer, As¬
sam, Barman, Pali, or Magudha, Tamul, Chin--
galese, Armenian, Malay, Hindosthanee, and
Persian. In six of these tongues, the whole
scriptures of the Old and New Testaments have
been printed and circulated , the New Testament
has appeared in twenty-three) languages; besides
various dialects, in. which smaller portions of the
sacred text have been printed. Tha whole num¬
ber is stated at forty; and if to these be added
the Chinese Bible, translated by D’r. Marshman,
we are probably below the truth when we state
that the Serampore press was honored to be the
instrument, in about thirty years, of rendering
the word of God accessible to three hundred
millions of human beings, or about one-third the
population of the world.
Death. '
“For many years the health of Dr, Carey,
notwithstanding occasional attacks of fever, was
far more vigorous than usual among European
residents in India, His habits of early rising,
exercise in the open air, and great simplicity ,in
diet, with a flow of -natural spirits which gained
for him the appellation of ‘ the. cheerful old
man,’ doubtless .contributed, to this, and were the
subordinate causes of lengthening a life .so valu¬
able to the church and to the world. At length
his strength began to decline under the weight
of years, nnd incessant application to his. public
ministerial duties, till in September, 1833, a
stroko nf apoplexy prostrated his remaining en¬
ergies, nnd led his friends to anticipate his speedy
removal. Through the hot season, he was con¬
fined to his bed in a state of: great helplessness,
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