"This prohibition is to us extremely distressing; and is rendered more so, by the encouraging circum-attack of fever, in about a fortnight's illness. After stances among the natives, which we have already mentioned.

tonishing.

Assam languages. I am now printing a dictionary of | ceive that his exertions must have been truly asthe Bengali, which will be pretty large, for I have got to two hundred and fifty-six pages quarto, and am not nearly through the first letter. That letter, however, begins more words than any two others. I am contemplating, and indeed have been long collecting materials for, a universal dictionary of the oriental languages, derived from the Sanscrit, of which that language is to be the ground-work, and to give the corresponding Greek and Hebrew words. I wish much to do this, for the sake of assisting biblical students to correct the translation of the Bible in the oriental languages, after we are dead, but which can scarcely be done without something of this kind; and perhaps another person may not, in the space of a century, have the advantages for a work of this nature that I now have. I, therefore, think it would be criminal in me to neglect the little that I am able to do while I enjoy them."

In 1812, the mission at Serampore suffered a dreadful loss, which threatened, for a time at least, to put a check to their operations. The printing office connected with the mission premises was totally consumed by fire, and all the property, amounting to sixty or seventy thousand rupees, was destroyed; nothing was saved but the printing presses. This calamity excited a lively interest in behalf of the mission, and a subscription was commenced among its friends in India, which speedily amounted to a considerable sum. Thus encouraged by the kindness of Christian friends, Dr Carey and his brethren prosecuted, with renewed ardour, the high and holy duties of their mission. To his individual labours Dr Carey thus alludes, in a letter dated March 20, 1813, addressed to Mr Fuller :

"I was never so closely employed as at present. I have just finished for the press my Telinga grammar; the last sheet of the Punjabi grammar is in the press. I am getting forward with my Kurnata grammar; indeed it is nearly ready for the press. I am also preparing materials for grammars of the Kashmeer, Pushto, and Billochi languages, and have begun digesting those for the Orissa. The care of publishing and correcting Felix's Burman grammar lies on me, besides learning all these languages, correcting the translations in them, writing a Bengali dictionary, and all my pastoral and collegiate duties. I therefore can scarcely call an hour my own in a week. I, however, rejoice in my work, and delight in it. It is clearing the way, and providing materials for those who succeed us to work upon. I have much for which to bless the Lord. I trust all my children know the Lord in truth. I have every family and domestic blessing I can wish, and many more than I could have expected. The work of the Lord prospers. The Church at Calcutta is now become very large, and still increases. The mission, not withstanding its heavy losses, has been supported, and we have been enabled, within one year from a very desolating calamity, to earry on our printing to a greater extent than before it took place. I wish we could have communicated to you our real situation, on the day you received the news of the fire. It would have greatly raised your drooping spirits could you have looked forward, or could you have known how we had been supported till then."

The following year, Dr Carey states, in a letter to the same correspondent, that the number of languages into which the Scriptures were either then translated or were still under translation, by the Serampore Missionaries, was twenty-six. And when we consider, that the labour of correcting and revising all of these translations devolved upon Dr Carey himself, we may readily con

In 1817 a misunderstanding arose between the Serampore Missionaries and the Parent Society in England, which ultimately, after ten years, led to the dissolution of the connection which had hitherto subsisted between them. It is impossible, within the limits allotted to this sketch, to enter fully into the nature of this dispute; suffice it to state that the society recommended a new, and, as they imagined, a more satisfactory investment of the mission property, and that a number of gentlemen in England should be associated in the trust with the Missionaries themselves. To this arrangement Dr Carey and his brethren declined to accede; and, backed by the Danish government, to which Serampore belonged, they invested the property in a way more agreeable to their own wishes. This disagreement, however, did not, in the slightest degree, interrupt the labours of the Missionaries. They continued instant in prayer, and in every good work. And, accordingly, actuated by the most benevolent and philanthropic views, we find Dr Carey instituting, in 1820, an Agricultural Society in India, under the patronage of the GovernorGeneral, Lord Hastings.

While thus engaged in promoting the temporal as well as spiritual well-being of the people, among whom his lot was cast, this devoted servant of Christ was again visited with a most afflictive calamity, in the death of his second wife. This was a bereavement of no ordinary kind. « My loss," says he, "is irreparable. If there ever was a true Christian in this world she was one." Dr Carey had now attained a very high eminence as an oriental scholar, and every day was adding fresh stores to his philological knowledge. For many years he had held the office of a professor in the college of Fort-William. With his labours in this department Government were completely satisfied, and in 1823 he received the additional appointment of translator of the regulations of the Governor-General in council, into the Bengali language. Nor were his high literary attainments unappreciated in his own country. At the

same time when the Government of India was rewarding his faithful services, various learned societies in England were enrolling his name among their honorary members. Amid all these well-earned distinctions, however, he continued the same simple, humble Christian as before. Trials are the invariable lot of the true believer, and more especially when, as in the case of Dr Carey, he is held in high estimation among men. We have already recorded various instances in which the All-Wise saw meet to subject his honoured servant to painful discipline; and in his latter days he was by no means exempted from salutary chastisement, which, under the divine blessing, tended to promote his advancement in holiness and meetness for heaven. On one occasion, more particularly, in 1823, his life was endangered by an accident which happened to him, while on his way to officiate at Calcutta. It pleased God, however, to restore him, after some months confinement, to his wonted health and activity, with the exception of a partial lameness, which continued till his death. During this illness he had the gratification of learning that he had been unanimously elected to the presidentship of the Agricultural Society of India; an institution which he had been mainly instrumental in forming.

SKETCHES OF THE PARISH.

After Dr Carey's recovery from the severe accident | surmount all difficulties, and to accomplish the great to which we have referred, though his general health and glorious work for which, in the providence of God, was good, he was subject to occasional attacks of fever he had been raised up. and other ailments, which convinced him that his end was approaching. Under this impression he directed his whole energies to the completion of the Bengali version of the Scriptures. With the New Testament, in that language, his labours as a translator commenced, and with the final revision of it they were brought to a close. The faith and holiness of this eminent missionary became more conspicuous as death drew near. Of this his son Jonathan has given strong proof in his brief account of the last days of his illustrious parent.

BY THE PASTOR OF THE PARISH OF E-K.
No. III. PART I.

[From an Address delivered on the beginning of
January 1833.]

"This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you."-EX DUS xii. 2.—— How Is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship. "I have kept nothing back that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house.“* LUKE XVI. 2. ACTS xx. 20.

and fail of the father of our race, and to the train of evils
which it has entailed on us-to his expulsion from the
garden of the Lord; for "he drove out the man, and
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim and
a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the
way of the tree of life "and to the accumulated and
accumulating wickedness of man upon the earth, till the
Lord God Jehovah sent the waters of a flood to sweep
away "a world of transgressors." In the history of the
new world of men, after the subsiding of the waters,
we pointed generally, and as becoming the place and
exercise in which we were engaged, at their dispersion,
their settlement, and their places of habitation.
we followed particularly, and with wary steps, the
patriarchs in their life and wanderings, from Abram's
first journeying toward Canaan, to the last and mourn-
ful act of the sons of Israel in a land of strangers.
Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old;
and they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in
Egypt." Chap. i. 26.

"He had just finished a new edition of his translation, in the Bengali language, of the New Testament, and then remarked that his work was done, that he had nothing more to do but to wait the will of his I. PUBLICLY. In the course of the four last years, Lord. Often would he recur to missionary work in you will remember that we have had before us, now, India, and say, What hath the Lord wrought!' But nearly one-half of the whole of the Old Testament of his own labours he spoke with much modesty; and Scriptures. In the book of the Genesis, or creation of viewed himself as an unprofitable servant, needing conall things, we glanced at the history of the world, and tinually the grace of his Saviour. Notwithstanding the history of the Church. The history of the world, his weakness, he would still sit up at his desk, where we saw as it were divided into two parts; the first conhe was accustomed to labour; and though he could not taining the whole history of the old, and the second do much, he corrected a few proofs for the press, and presenting us with a part and portion of the new world. spent much time in reading. Often, during his illness, In that of the old, comprehended in the first seven chaphe lamented his unprofitableness, and was fearful heters, we directed your attention principally to the creation should prove a burden to others. While in this helpless situation, he was visited by many of his friends, who knew and esteemed his character, and came to condole with him. On one occasion, a minister of his arquaintance called to see him; and, asking him how he felt as to his hopes regarding a future world, his reply was, I cannot say I have any very rapturous feelings; but I am confident in the promises of the Lord, and wish to leave my eternal interests in his hands,-to place my hands in his, as a child would in his father's, to be led where and how he please.' In this frame of mind he continued during the whole of his illness. He suffered from extreme debility, but was free from pain, more or less, for six months; but such was his complaint, that it was necessary to keep him very quiet. On more than one occasion his approaching end was immediately expected, but he revived. So much was he at length reduced, that he could not turn himself on his bed. For several weeks all that he could articulate was, Yes, or No, to questions put to him. On the night before his death he breathed hard and was restless; but there were no particular symptoms of dissolution. In the morning, very early, he continued the same, but as the day dawned, it was evident he was sinking. He remained in this state till about seven o'clock, when his spirit took its flight to the regions of eternal bliss, where sin, sorrow, and suffering can no more affect him. The next morning his remains were followed to the Serampore mission burialground by a large train of mourners. Notwithstanding it was a wet morning, several gentlemen from Calcutta attended; as did also two officers, and the chaplain of the Governor General, sent from Barrackpore by the lady of the Governor, to pay the last tribute of respect to his memory; and about seven o'clock the body was committed to the earth, in the certain hope of a resurrection on the last day.

Thus died, on the 9th of June 1834, one of the most eminent scholars and devoted Missionaries that has ever

set foot on the shores of India. In talents, erudition, and piety, Dr Carey has had few equals, and if we consider the adverse influences with which, at the outset of his career, he was called to contend, we may well admire the splendour of that genius and the force of that Christian principle by which he was enabled to

But

In the history of the Church, (chap. iv. 26,) we considered the work of redemption in many respects similar to the work of creation. In the work of creation it is said, "God called the light day, and the darkness he called night; and the evening and the morning were the first (one) day." chap. i. 5. In the work of redemption, as in creation, we observed, that the evening and the morning form one day, even "the day of salvation." The evening, in its degrees of darkness, precedes the morning in its degrees of increasing light. You remember we said, that the first promise to our first parents appeared to us as in the first faint glimmering twilight of the evening, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (chap. iii. 15.) And that the same promise was made once, (chap. xii. 3,) and again, (chap. xviii. 18,) and a third time, (chap. xxii. 18,) to the father of the faithful, and appeared to us as in the third watch of the night, under the uncertain light of a setting moon; but by him it was seen more clearly, "for in this be saw the day of Christ, and when he saw it he was glad." And lastly, that the self-same promise was repeated to Isaac, (chap. xxvi. 4,) and to Jacob the son of Isaac, (chap. xxviii. 14,) and yet again by the spirit of prophecy

*1829-1832, from the time we commenced these Sketches.

through the dying Jacob to one of the most highly |
favoured of his sons, (chap. xlix. 8,) "Judah, thou art
he whom thy brethren shall praise... thy father's children
shall bow down before thee...the sceptre shall not de-
part from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of
the people be." In this we saw, as it were, the first
streaks of the dawn; and the bright and the morning
and under stood it as spoken by him "whose
eyes were open," and said, "I shall see him, but not
now; I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come
a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the
children of Seth." (Num. xxiv. 17.) Yes, Christians!
we have seen his star in the east, and are come this
day to worship him."

star;

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After having thus locked on the history of the world, and into the work of redemption as given in this inspired history of the Church, we saw, by the little light we had obtained, some substantial shadows of the promised coming reality, some of which we may little more than mention to bring back again the past to your remembrance before you. Adam, then, we observed, 66 was the figure of him who was to come," (Rom. v. 14;) "as it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven." (1 Cor. xv. 45, 47.) The days of his coming were shadowed forth by the days of Noah, as we find in the words of Him who was the truth and the light of the world: As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Mat. xxiv. 37.) The order and immutability of his priesthood is pointed out by both a prophet, (Psalm cx. 4,) and an apostle, (Heb. viii. 1.) Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." And, finally, we observed to you, in the way of application, and in bringing down the Old Testament to the New, "that you are come to Jesus, the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." (Heb. xii. 24.) Such is a faint outline of the book of the Genesis, or creation of all things, as we had it before us; and we trust that "the filling up" will again, this day, pass before you in review, with a strong desire to search accurately "to see whether these things be so.'

Old Testament." There is Moses the prophet, (Acts iii. 22;) there is Aaron the priest, (Heb. iv. 14, &c. ;) there is the lamb for the burnt-offering, (John i. 29;) there is the manna which was rained from heaven, (Rev. ii. 17;) there is the rock in Horeb, (1 Cor. x. 4;) there are the tabernacle, the ark, the mercy-seat, the shew bread, &c. In a word, there seem to be all the members which make up the complete shadow of the substance of good things to come; and the Exodus of Israel, from the land of servitude, shadows forth our deliverance from worse than Egyptian bondage.

We remarked, that Leviticus and Numbers made us acquainted with the nature of the Levitical priesthood, (Heb. vii.,;) with the character of the seed of Abraham, which should be as the stars of heaven for multitude; with their ceremonies, their marshallings, their journeyings, and their observances in the wilderness.

We also remarked that "Deuteronomy" is so called from "containing a repetition of the law.” We pointed, 1st, at some of the reasons which we thought we saw for the repetition of the law in this book; and, 2dly, at some of the particular honours which were evidently conferred on the book itself. 1st, The law was probably repeated because the men to whom and for whom it had at first been delivered, were reduced to a few, to a very few, for "their carcasses had fallen in the wilderness;" because Moses himself was also now about to lay down the earthly house of his tabernacle; "to rest from his labours that his works might follow him;" that, therefore, before he leaves the new generation he gives them a new edition of all the old law, with the exception of what had been delivered for the priests, thus teaching them that " precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little," Isaiah xxviii. 10. 2d, To the honour of this book, it was to be written upon great stones, plastered over with plaster, when the people had passed over the Jordan, to enter on their promised possession, (ch. xxvii. 2.) It was to be read with solemnity, every seventh year, at the feast of tabernacles, in the place which Jehovah himself should choose, "before all Israel, in their hearing," (ch. xxxi. 10.) It was to be copied by every king that should sit on the throne of Israel, and it was required of him that he should read therein all the days of his life, that he might learn to fear the Lord his God, and "to keep all the The Exodus, or departure of Israel from Egypt, to words of this law," (ch. xvii. 18, 19.) And it was out of drop the past for the present, furnishes us with a par- this book that our Lord brought all his answers to the ticular history of the Church of God for about the space tempter, in the wilderness, as when he said, "It is of one hundred and forty-five years, viz., from the death written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God; and of Joseph in Egypt, till the erection of the tabernacle again, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him in the wilderness. This history of the Church, we only shalt thou serve," (Matt. iv. 4-7-10.) Finally, remarked, sets her before us, troubled on every side, we observed, and with this we ended the first year of yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; per- the four, with regard to all these books we have had secuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroy-before us, that the moral law is still the rule of duty, ed." But you will remember, that we divided this book into two particular portions. We saw the first, containing a history of the fulfilment of the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the preceding book of inspiration; and saw it as a demonstration of this: "the Lord is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent; hath he said it, and will he not do it? Hath he spoken it, and will he not bring it to pass?" (ch. i.-xviii.) We considered the second as a little book of ordinances and laws, which that people were to observe and walk by all the days of their life: and, in the words of the great prophet of Israel, we urged upon each of you what we are commanded to enforce: "Thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." (ch. xix.-xl.) In this book, indeed, we saw both the law and the Gospel. "In it," says one, "there are more types of Christ, than perhaps in any other book of the

and that it is binding on Jew and Gentile, on Greek and Barbarian, on bond and free; "that the ceremonial law was the shadow of good things to come; but the body is of Christ."

The first book after the five books of Moses is honoured with the honourable name of him who was an eminent type of that Jesus who leads his people to the Canaan above. The book of the thirteen Judges of Israel, afforded us much interesting as well as useful information, and from it we gathered for ourselves, as men and as Christians, doctrines, precepts, and examples, remarking, "that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as described in the books which have their names from the principal parts they detail, were spread out to us as on a map. That chart, we apprehend, you saw at the time distinct

ly marked and defined with its proper boundaries, and the little colouring we attempted to spread over the whole, will, we trust, bring the past before the eyes of your memory and your faith, so as that things temporal may suggest to you things spiritual, and teach you also of things that are eternal. Yes! the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were to us as the shadows of the kingdom of grace and of glory. And, in conclusion, at the end of another year, we were brought with the subject, to present the prayer we had been taught in our infancy : "Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen."

The little volumes of Ezra and Nehemiah we next looked into, as descriptive of the second Exodus of God's people from captivity and bondage. In these we saw much that was interesting in the political and ecclesiastical history of the Jews. But, my friends, we trust you found the interesting to be the practically useful; "for you know that whatever was written aforetime, was written for our instruction."

The history of Queen Esther, as a sequel to those two, unfolded to us the wonderful workings of the providence of God. The common reader, we observed, like the common observer of passing time, indicated by the moving pointers on the dial of his watch, may rest satisfied with the facts themselves, as they pass solitarily or in succession before him, but the old and experienced disciple in the school of Christ endeavours to look into what is hid from the eyes of the multitude, and after his inspection you may hear him humbly confess, in the words of the prophet, "that he seeth, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel." (Ezek. i. 16.)

66

The book of Job, we observed, had brought us into the deeper waters of the sanctuary. At first, they were as waters to the ankle,' but, proceeding onward, they became as "waters to the knees;" and having come thus far, we began to experience, indeed, that they were as waters up to the loins." (Ezek. xlvii. 3, 4.) But you will remember how we first considered briefly the history of the book itself, and looked, next, with devoted attention, into its sacred and interesting contents, and concluded with stating some of its uses to the Church in general, and some lessons to be learned from it, by certain individuals in particular. And in the application, for with the ending of the book we nearly ended another year, we took a reflective glance on the religion of the patriarchs, and, in a farewell word, put you in remembrance of what had been said by the Apostle James; "Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy." (chap. v. 11.)

|

speaking of these delightful compositions, and of the pleasure and profit he experienced in studying them, in the following eloquent and devotional language: "Now could the author flatter himself that any one would take half the pleasure in reading the following exposition, which he hath taken in writing it, he would not fear the loss of his labour. The employment detached him from the bustle and hurry of life, the din of politics, and the noise of folly; vanity and vexation flew away for a season; care and disquietude came not near his dwelling. He arose, fresh as the morning, to his task; the silence of the night invited him to pursue it; and he can truly say that food and rest were not preferred before it. Every Psalm improved infinitely upon his acquaintance with it, and no one gave him uneasiness but the last; for then he grieved that his work was done. Happier hours than those which have been spent in these meditations on the Songs of Zion, he never expects to see in this world. Very pleasantly did they pass, and moved smoothly and swiftly along; for when thus engaged he counted no time. They are gone, but have left a relish and a fragrance upon the mind, and the remembrance of them is sweet.'

44

During the summer months, when I knew you had but little time for reading and research, I brought before you some of the beautiful parables of our blessed Lord and Redeemer, that from them you might improve on what was spread before you on the book of nature, as you ascended the hill, or followed your occupation on the plains, for, by means of nature in these parables, he gently leads his disciples "to nature's God." I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand. My father, who gave them me, is greater than all; and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one.' "Behold a sower went forth to sow, and some seeds fell by the way side; some fell upon stony places; some fell among thorns; others fell into good ground."

With these expositions, and during the same period of time, we have had before us a series of discourses, which we shall now arrange for you in the following order. "The fool hath said in his heart there is no God... Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth... He is thy Lord, and worship thou him...... Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve... Yea, thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind... But remember that God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.'

We considered next, and at particular length, the divinity and incarnation of the Messiah, Christ. We dwelt on his sufferings and death,-his resurrection and ascension, with the offices which he executes as our Redeemer, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation.

During the winter and spring months of the year which is past, when I thought you had leisure to read After having spoken particularly of the unity of God, and to meditate, I directed your attention and devotion (Deut. vi. 4.) we brought before you a part of the to the holy inspired book of Psalms. We viewed that mysterious doctrine of the Trinity, with our statements book together, as an epitome or abridgement of the and illustrations solely from Scripture. "For there are whole Bible, both of the law and of the Gospel. We three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, hope, in God, that if any good impressions were made, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one." they have not been effaced. Oh! study still this little manual of devotion. And let the feelings of your heart be expressed with your lips, in the words it contains; "Oh how do I love thy law ! it is my meditation all the day; through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way." To invite you still more to the delightful and useful exercise, listen to the words of one, (the learned Salmasius,) who was about to leave the world, for it is then that a man will most feelingly speak the truth, and it is then that his words will certainly be most seriously attended to: "I have lost a world of time; if I had one year more I would spend it in reading David's Psalins and Paul's Epistles." Oh! hear also the pious and learned Bishop Horne,

99.66

We followed up these discourses, with an account of the "personality," works," "gifts," graces," and "fruits" of the Holy Spirit. During the bygone year, the following doctrines, as the foundation, along with precepts, in application, to the building us up in our most holy faith, occupied a considerable portion of

See the whole of Bishop Horne's beautiful Preface to his Commentary on the Book of Psalms.