The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & MissionarySmith, George
Religion
The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & Missionary
Smith, George
Carey, William, 1761-1834; Missions -- India
"Apr. 4, 1803.--This morning early we went to attend the wedding of
Krishna Prosad with Onunda, Krishna's second daughter. Krishna gave
him a piece of ground adjoining his dwelling, to build him a house, and
we lent Prosad fifty rupees for that purpose, which he is to return
monthly, out of his wages. We therefore had a meeting for prayer in
this new house, and many neighbours were present. Five hymns were
sung: brother Carey and Marshman prayed in Bengali. After this we went
under an open shed close to the house, where chairs and mats were
provided: here friends and neighbours sat all around. Brother Carey
sat at a table; and after a short introduction, in which he explained
the nature of marriage, and noticed the impropriety of the Hindoo
customs in this respect, he read 2 Cor. vi. 14-18, and also the account
of the marriage at Cana. Then he read the printed marriage agreement,
at the close of which Krishna Prosad and Onunda, with joined hands, one
after the other, promised love, faithfulness, obedience, etc. They
then signed the agreement, and brethren Carey, Marshman, Ward,
Chamberlain, Ram Roteen, etc., signed as witnesses. The whole was
closed with prayer by brother Ward. Everything was conducted with the
greatest decorum, and it was almost impossible not to have been
pleased. We returned home to breakfast, and sent the new-married
couple some sugar-candy, plantains, and raisins; the first and last of
these articles had been made a present of to us, and the plantains were
the produce of the mission garden. In the evening we attended the
monthly prayer-meeting.
"Apr. 5.--This evening we all went to supper at Krishna's, and sat
under the shade where the marriage ceremony had been performed. Tables,
knives and forks, glasses, etc., having been taken from our house, we
had a number of Bengali plain dishes, consisting of curry, fried fish,
vegetables, etc., and I fancy most of us ate heartily. This is the
first instance of our eating at the house of our native brethren. At
this table we all sat with the greatest cheerfulness, and some of the
neighbours looked on with a kind of amazement. It was a new and very
singular sight in this land where clean and unclean is so much
regarded. We should have gone in the daytime, but were prevented by
the heat and want of leisure. We began this wedding supper with
singing, and concluded with prayer: between ten and eleven we returned
home with joy. This was a glorious triumph over the caste! A Brahman
married to a soodra, in the Christian way: Englishmen eating with the
married couple and their friends, at the same table, and at a native
house. Allowing the Hindoo chronology to be true, there has not been
such a sight in Bengal these millions of years!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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