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CHAPTER VI.

Dawn of the Nineteenth Century-The Protestant Church in BengalBrown-Buchanan-Henry Martyn-Corrie-Thomason.

Ar the dawn of the nineteenth century, though in the provinces of India there were few signs of the presence of Christianity, in Calcutta a great and important change was every year becoming more perceptible. The ministrations of some pious clergymen, and the practical encouragement of Lord Wellesley, may have done much to foster the growth of the true religion at the Presidency; but the French Revolution had done still more to arrest the progress of infidelity and impiety. Scepticism had once been the fashion in India; but the brutal excesses of that great struggle, which had convulsed all Europe, filled the minds of Anglo-Indians with disgust and detestation; and the doctrines professed by the revolutionary leaders, though at one time received amongst them with consideration and encouragement, now began to sicken and alarm. The reaction was sudden-but salutary. "The awful history of the French Revolution," wrote Mr. Brown, in 1805, "prepared the minds of our countrymen to support the principles of religion and

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loyalty which our late Governor-General considered it his most sacred duty to uphold with the weight of his authority; he resolved, to use his own words, to make it be seen that the Chrisian religion was the religion of the State; and, therefore, at different times, he appeared in his place as chief representative of the British nation, attended to church by all the officers of Government, to give the Christian religion the most public marked respect of the Governor of the country." And referring to a somewhat earlier period, Claudius Buchanan wrote to a friend in England, "It became fashionable to say that religion was a very proper thing, that no civilized state could subsist without it; and it was reckoned much the same thing to praise the French as to praise infidelity."* The Governor-General went regularly to Church ; the principal people of the settlement soon followed him there, and the place, which had once been said to be fit only for the reception of stable-boys and low Portuguese, began to open its doors wide to the quality, and to require enlargement for the accommodation of the people of condition who flocked to the temple they had once avoided and the priest they had once despised.

Those opening years of the present century were,

And, in a thanksgiving sermon, preached about the same time (1800) -copies of which were distributed throughout the country by order of Government, to the great astonishment of the Company's servants, the same truth was set forth with still greater emphasis. "The contest in which our country has been so long engaged hath, in one particular,

been of essential service to her. It has excited greater respect for Christian institutions and Christian principles. Scepticism and infidelity are not now so well received in society as they once were. It was formerly thought a mark of superior understanding to profess infidelity," &c. &c,

EFFECTS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

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indeed, important ones in the history of Christianity in the East. "The state of society among our countrymen here," wrote Mr. Corrie, in 1806, "is much altered for the better within these few years. The Marquis Wellesley openly patronised religion; whether from motives of State policy or not, it is not ours to judge. He, on every possible occasion, made moral character a sine quâ non to his patronage, and sought for men of character from every quarter to fill offices of trust. He avowedly encouraged, and contributed to, the translation of the Scriptures into the native languages, and wherever he went paid a strict regard to divine worship on the Sunday." And Mr. Brown has recorded a conversation which took place, a short time before, between himself and Sir J. D. (D'Oyly) which is still more significant. "Sir J. D., by whom I was seated, said, 'it was very true that the worst opinion had been formed of us at home, and though he had written the truth to his friends, he did not think he should be believed, prejudices ran so high.' He then told me his own feelings and grateful wonder on finding the society here so highly improved from what he had left it so many years before; and further observed that there was no society in England, which he had seen, more correct in all respects. He added, you have full churches, and the most serious attentive audiences I ever saw; and in company I never hear an offensive expression. I believe there is nothing like it in any part of the world." And yet a few years before, Mr. Obeck, when asked by Buchanan if he could produce "ten

righteous to save the city," replied that he was not sure he could produce ten, but he thought he could produce five.*

That the ministrations of David Brown and Claudius Buchanan conduced in no small measure to this consolatory change, it would be manifest injustice to those eminent servants of God to deny. Mr. Brown, during a quarter of a century, laboured, with scarcely a week's intermission, in the same oncedeserted field. Other ministers belonged to India— he was wholly of Calcutta. There was all his work done; there he died; there he was buried. By unwearied industry and unfailing zeal; by a steady and consistent course of conduct; by a life of ministerial activity and personal holiness, he achieved more than many, who have had the advantage of more lustrous talents and more exalted station, have proved themselves able to accomplish. He arrived in India when things were at their worst; he lived out a quarter of a century pregnant with the most consoling changes; and the sorrow which was felt for his death, and the reverence entertained for his memory, declare the good part which he had taken in bringing those happy changes about.

Sketching the progress of Christianity in Calcutta, during the concluding years of the last century, I have sufficiently shown the difficulties with which Mr. Brown had to contend and the triumph which he achieved over them. The history, indeed, of the

*Mr. Obeck had been steward in the family of Mr. Charles Grant. He was, at the time to which we are referring, one of the oldest inhabi

tants of Calcutta, and one of the most pious men in the city. He died in 1803, in his 75th year.

RESULTS OF BROWN'S MINISTRY.

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religious improvement of the European community of Calcutta, during the quarter of a century which followed the transfer of the Mission Church to the new body of trustees, is the history of Mr. Brown's life. In the results of his teaching we read the carcer of the man. In all other respects his life was most uneventful. For five and twenty years he was never more than once absent from his post; and then but for a brief passage up the river. Between Calcutta and Aldeen his life was spent; between the Mission and St. John's church his labours were divided. Having been appointed a presidency chaplain, his Sabbath duties were most onerous. Twice he officiated every Sunday at the Mission Church; once at the cathedral; once in the fort. At one period, he had a school in his own house. He was a constant attendant at the hospital and the gaol; an active agent of the Bible and Church Missionary Societies in the East; and ever zealous in his efforts to promote the translation of the Scriptures. In the religious progress of the European community he found his reward. He lived to see the streets opposite to our churches blocked up with carriages and palanquins, and to welcome hundreds of communicants to the supper of the Lord. He lived to see the manners and conversation of those by whom he was surrounded purified and elevated; the doctrines of his master openly acknowledged in word and deed, where once they had been scouted by the one and violated by the other. And when he died it was in the full security that his mantle had descended to more than one who