The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & MissionarySmith, George
Religion
The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & Missionary
Smith, George
Carey, William, 1761-1834; Missions -- India
filled the yard, and lined the street. We brought the remains of our
dear brother out, whose coffin Krishna had covered within and without
with white muslin at his own expense; then, in the midst of the silent
and astonished multitude, we improved the solemn moment by singing a
hymn of Krishna's, the chorus of which is 'Salvation by the death of
Christ.' Bhairub the brahmàn, Peroo the mussulman, Felix and I took up
the coffin; and, with the assistance of Krishna and William, conveyed
it to its long home: depositing it in the grave, we sung two
appropriate hymns. After this, as the crowd was accumulating, I
endeavoured to show the grounds of our joyful hope even in death,
referring to the deceased for a proof of its efficacy: told them that
indeed he had been a great sinner, as they all knew, and for that
reason could find no way of salvation among them; but when he heard of
Jesus Christ, he received him as a suitable and all-sufficient Saviour,
put his trust in him, and died full of tranquil hope. After begging
them to consider their own state, we prayed, sung Moorad's hymn, and
distributed papers. The concourse of people was great, perhaps 500:
they seemed much struck with the novelty of the scene, and with the
love and regard Christians manifest to each other, even in death; so
different from their throwing their friends, half dead and half living,
into the river; or burning their body, with perhaps a solitary
attendant."
Preaching, teaching, and Bible translating were from the first Carey's
three missionary methods, and in all he led the missionaries who have
till the present followed him with a success which he never hesitated
to expect, as one of the "great things" from God. His work for the
education of the people of India, especially in their own vernacular
and classical languages, was second only to that which gave them a
literature sacred and pure. Up to 1794, when at Mudnabati he opened
the first primary school worthy of the name in all India at his own
cost, and daily superintended it, there had been only one attempt to
improve upon the indigenous schools, which taught the children of the
trading castes only to keep rude accounts, or upon the tols in which
the Brahmans instructed their disciples for one-half the year, while
for the other half they lived by begging. That attempt was made by
Schwartz at Combaconum, the priestly Oxford of South India, where the
wars with Tipoo soon put an end to a scheme supported by both the Raja
of Tanjore and the British Government. When Carey moved to Serampore
and found associated with him teachers so accomplished and enthusiastic
as Marshman and his wife, education was not long in taking its place in
the crusade which was then fully organised for the conversion of
Southern and Eastern Asia. At Madras, too, Bell had stumbled upon the
system of "mutual instruction" which he had learned from the easy
methods of the indigenous schoolmaster, and which he and Lancaster
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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