CHAPTER - VII HISTORY OF SERAMPORE MISSION Missionary enterprise undoubtedly occupies an important place in the history of education in modern India. The field is a vast one and offers many faces of study. In this connection the pioneering role of the Serampore Missionaries, notably of the Trio - Carey, Marshman and Ward deserved special attention. In this context a little life history of the pioneers is very much important which is given here. William Carey founded Baptist Missionary Society in Britain, the first of its kind in that country in 1793. His mission was to preach the Gospel and convert believers to Christianity. Carey s missionary programmes naturally were cented round preaching, teaching and translating scriptures. Carey established a charity school first for the poor native boys in Madnbutty (North Bengal) as soon as he was able to settle there in 1794. He had plans to consolidate and expand his educational exertions in the rural areas of North Bengal. He wrote in a letter We have formed a plan to set up two colleges for the education of twelve youths in each. I had some months ago set up a school but the poverty of the natives caused them frequently to take away their children to work. To prevent this we intend to cloth and feed them, and educate them Sanksrit, Persian etc. In Carey s missionary programme charity school was in the first place. In a letter to his son William Carey (Jr.) he wrote in 1811, One of the first things to be done there (Cutwa) will be to open a Charity School. To his forth son Jabez also, who went to Amboyana in 1814, Carey instructed him in the same way. Carey s programme, thus, had always been associated with education. At the fag end of the 18th Century, the Baptist Missionary Society of England, sent four other missionaries, Marshman, Ward, Bransdon and Grant to join Carey, Fountain and Thomas in Bengal. They arrived here on the 13th of October, 1799. As they had no license to enter British East India Company s 46
territory, the new missionaries took shelter in the tiny settlement of Denmark, Serampore, which was on the western bank of the river Hooghly, 20 Km. north of Calcutta. The Danish Governor, Colonel Bie, took them under his protection and permitted them gladly to settle there for their missionary work. Carey joined the new missionaries in Serampore. He arrived there on the 10th of January, 1800 and on the same day founded Serampore Mission. The Baptist Missionaries of Serampore, rendered services of great value in promoting the growth of Bengali language, literature and vernacular education, in the early part of the nineteenth century. Fortunately for us, in recounting the services of the Baptists, we have an excellent account to rely on, namely, Rev. J. C. Marshman s History of Serampore Mission otherwise known as Life and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward, in two volumes. We learn from this account that William Carey, the founder of the Serampore Mission, first came to this country as a representative of the Baptist Missionary Society of England in company with Dr. John Thomas and landed at Calcutta on November 11, 1793. The attitude of the East India Company s authorities was anything but friendly to the Missionaries at this time. Carey therefore, left the city and after going through various ordeals, he at last reached the North Bengal town Malda on the 15th June, 1794, where being invited bey George Udny, he took charge of a small indigo factory and settled at a place called Mudnabutty, about thirty miles from Malda. The European indigo planters, it should be pointed out here, had penetrated into the interior of the country quite early in British rule. Some among them like George Udny, John Ellerton and George Fernandez had started small native schools in their estates for providing elementary education to their native tenants. John Ellerton the most well-known among them, had started a native school at Goamulty in Malda even before Carey s arrival. Subsequently, Ellerton started several elementary schools at Malda during the years 1803-1805. He wrote a Bengali treatise named Gooro Sishya or Description of the Creation through Question and Answer of a Preceptor and a Disciple and translated the New Testament in Bengali. Both of these works published from the Serampore Mission Press, were widely used in the 47
Mission Schools of those days. Soon after arrival at Mudnabutty, Carey like the indigo planters of Malda started a native school' as his first such attempt for providing the rudiments of elementary education to the children of the local peasantry. It was in the nature of a small boarding school where he proposed to feed, cloth and educate a limited number, giving them tuition in Sanskrit, Persian and Bengali and instructing them in various branches of useful knowledge and in the doctrines and duties of Christianity. We learn from Rev. Marshman s authority that instruction in the Indian languages was at this time given with the help of Indian Pandits and Maulvis, but Carey had already started learning Bengali while in the ship on his way to India. He did not take time long to acquire sufficient command over this language so that we find him compiling his first Bengali treatise in the year 1800. But Carey s school differed materially from the indigenous pathsalas in that whereas the later were secular in character and did not include any denominational teaching Carey provided instruction in Christianity and this revealed his proselytizing motive clearly. From Rev. Marshman s authority we learn that Carey s first school did not immediately attract scholars. From his own letter written to Rev. Fuller in England, dated 22nd June, 1797 we come to know that this school did not last long and broke up after the defection of Ram Boshu, his private secretary, and further that a school was set up again but this attempt also was not very successful. On the date of Carey s letter to Fuller only 13 scholars attended his school but he hoped that Other doubtless will soon come in. Regarding the instruction imparted in this school, we come to know that the pupils wrote part of the scriptures for their exercise and learnt common arithmetic. We are told that Carey intended to introduce some other brances of useful knowledge of which the Hindus are very ignorant. Apparently he meant to teach in his school subjects like History, Geography, Moral Fables, Natural History etc. which did not form part to the traditional course taught in the indigenous schools. A letter which Carey addressed to the Mission authorities in England 48
on January 10, 1799 shows that his native school at Mudnabutty at that date consisted of nearly forth scholars - few orphans among them. It was supported by Carey and Fountain and a part of its income was derived from subscriptions raised at Malda. Regarding the nature of instruction provided in this school we come to know that the pupils Learned to read and write especially part of the scriptures, and to keep accounts. These attainments do not appear to be in any was different from those of the scholars in the indigenous schools. But Carey had been already thinking of introducing some other branches of useful knowledge, perhaps at a more appropriate time later on. His motive behind his efforts to establish schools was of course, dominated by missionary considerations. But along with this he had educational aims also. As he himself said, he wanted his schools, To promote curiosity and inquisitiveness among the rising generation, qualities which are so seldom found in the natives of Bengali. Apparently, the supposed absence of Curiously and inquisitiveness among native children was to be remedied by imparting eventual conversion of the natives to Christianity. John Thomas : Mr. Thomas had been educated for the medical profession and having obtained an appointment in the service of the East India Company, proceeded to Calcutta in 1783 as a Surgeon. Unable on his arrival to discover any one of a congenial Christian spirit, he advertised, as he said, for a Christian who would assist in promoting a knowledge of Jesus Christ in and around Bengal. Mr. Chambers responded to the notice and offered to encourage the translation of the New Testament into the Persian and Moorish languages. This movement however led to no result, and Mr. Thoma returned to England. He embarked as a Surgeon for the second time, and on his arrival in Calcutta was introduced to Mr. Grant, who was delighted with him piety and zeal, and raised a subscription to enable him to quite the Company s service, and devote his attention to the heathern. A missionary station was thus formed at Goamalty, near Malda, where he applied himself diligently to the Bengalee language, into which he translated a portion of the New Testament. He was employed for three years itinerating through the district and made considerable impression on the minds of several natives. In 1792, 49
for various reasons, he determined to visit England, and seek assistance for the establishment of a Mission in Bengal. On arriving he heard of the formation of a Missionary Society in his own denomination and after correspondence and consultation he was accepted as a missionary to India. In company with Mr. Carey he proceeded to Calcutta, landing there in November 1793. After remaining some months in Calcutta he removed to Malda where he took charge of a indigo factory. He was afterwards engaged in superintending some sugar factories in Berrbhoon. In all his secular engagements he never neglected the instruction of the heathen. In December, 1800, while at Serampore he was so overjoyed at the accession of a hopeful convert that he began to exhibit symptoms of insanity and was placed in an Asylum. After a month s residence here he was restored to mental health and proceeded to Dinajpore to take charge of an indigo factory. Here he died on the 13th of October, 1801. (Abridged from Carey, Marchman and Ward ). William Carey : William Carey was born in Northamptonshire, August 17, 1761. His parents being in humble circumstances, he was brought up to the trade of a shoemaker. A semon by Mr. Scott, the commentator, is said to have been the means of his conversion, after which he first became a village school-matter, and then the pastor of a small Baptist Church. At an early period of his religious career he was imbued with a spirit of missionary enterprise far in advance of the times in which he lived. His heart was greatly drawn out to the heathen world and he continued both with pen and voice to urge his views upon the attention of his brethren in the ministry. Nothing less than his sublime earnestness and unflagging zeal would have brought success : this at length rewarded him, when in October, 1792 the Baptist Missionary Society was organized. Mr. Carey at once with great gladness of heart offered his services to the Society and with Mr. Thomas, was appointed to India. After many vexatious delays and much self-denial in order to secure funds. (Mrs. Carey having consented to accompany him on condition that her sister should also go) the party left England, June 13, 1793. Arriving in Calcutta November they took up their residence there : but before a month Mr. Carey was constrained to seek some cheaper residence. He removed to 50
Bandel, about 25 miles up the river, but as this was in the neighbourhood of European society, he proceeded with Mr. Thomas to Nuddea, but returned after a brief journey to Calcutta. Here he was reduced to great distress, and with his family removed for a time to Soonerbuns. He was rescued from this most unfavourable position through the efforts of Mr. Thomas, and the superintendence of an indigo factory was offered him. He accepted at once and removed to Mudnabutty, distant thirty miles from Malda. In this secluded spot he passed more than five years of his life, preaching to the workmen of the factory, itinerating in the villages, etc. His principal attention was devoted to the translation of the New Testament into Bengali, for printing which a press was purchased in Calcutta. The press was set up at Mudnabutty, and is still preserved in the Serampore College. On the arrival of Mr. Ward and his companions in 1799, Mr. Carey then at Kidderpore (a village which he had purchased) was not disposed to change his residence, but, influenced mostly by Government opposition, he yielded, and removed with his family to Serampore, where he arrived January 10, 1800. Soon after he became a teacher of the Bangalee language in the College of Fort William, entering upon the duties of his office May 12, 1801. Shortly after he was likewise appointed teacher of the Sanskrit language : and compiled grammars of both languages. He was also diligently engaged in translations. In 1807, on the remodelling of the College, Mr. Carey was raised to a professorship, and his allowance increased to Rs. 1,000 per month. On the 8th of March, 1807, he received the diploma of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University, in United States, a title of which he was well worthy. His wife having died several years previous, Mr. Carey was married again in 1808. In July, 1809, he completed the publication of the Bangalle Bible; and was at once seized with a fever which brought him rapidly to the brink of the grave : the fever was at length subdued and he gradually recovered his strength. He continued to labour with unabated zeal. Amidst all his missionary, biblical and literary labors, he never lost sight of the material interests of the country. In April, 1820, he drew up the prospectus of the Agricultural Society of India which was organized soon after, chiefly through his efforts. On the 30th of May, 1821, he was visited with the loss of his second wife, who had been of 51
Eminent service to him in the translation of the scriptures. During 1823 he was married the third time. In July, 1823 his labors were still further augmented by accepting the office of Government translator in the Bengalee language : he also edited a Grammar and a Dictionary of the Bootan language, and completed his Bangalee Dictionary. In the course of the year he was elected a fellow of the Linnacan Society, a member of the Geological Society, and a corresponding member of the Horticultural Society of London. On the 8th of October he was again brought near death, but was gradually restored to health. During the year 1833 he experienced several severe attacks of illness and it was evident that his constitution was exhausted by his forty years of licessant labor in the climate of Bengal, without a visit to England, or even a voyage to sea to recruit his strength. After he had completed the last revision of the Bengalee translation, he felt that his course was run, and his work accomplished. On Monday morning, the 9th of June 1834, he passed gently a way to the better world. (Vide Memoir of William Carey. By Eustace Carey : Carey, Marshman and Ward : and other volumes). John Fountain - John Fountain was a resident of London & appointed to the Mission in Bengal. He embarked on one of the Company s ships, rated as a servant, and entered India without attracting notice. He joined the Mission at Mudnabutty towards the close of 1796. He removed with Mr. Varey to Serampore in 1800, where, on the 20th of August of the same year, he died. Joshua Marshman - Joshua Marshman was born at Westbury Leigh in Wiltshire, England April 20, 1768. As he grew up his reading became somewhat extensive, and when he was fifteen he spent several months in the shop of a London book-seller. Shortly after his return be united with the Baptist Church in his native village. In 1791 he was not happily married. In 1794 he removed to Bristol where he was baptized, and where he passed through a course of study in the Academy. The perusal of the Periodical Accounts which recorded the labors of Mr. Carey gradually turned his mind to missionary labor in India, and when it was known that the Society was in need of labourers for that field, he offered his services and was accepted. In company with Ward, Brunsdon and Grant he embarked May 19, 1799, and 52
reached Serampore on October 13th of the same year. On the 18th of May, 1800 Mr. and Mrs. Marshman opened two boarding schools which soon yielded a handsome income. On the 1st of October he delivered his first address to the natives in Bangalee. In July, 1801, he visited Jessore, which soon after became a mission station. At the beginning of 1806. Mr. Marshman commenced the study of Chinese, with the view of translating the Scriptures into that language. For fifteen years he devoted himself of this arduous task and he has the merit of having carried the first Chinese translation of the Bible through the press. Mr. Marshman was eminently successful in collecting funds for the new Chapel in Bow Bazar, Calcutta : in less than ten days he secured 1,100 from those altogether unconnected with his own denomination. In 1808 he waited in person on every gentleman of eminence in Calcutta, and obtained no less that 2,300 to aid in the printing of the scriptures. Two years later, in 1810, he published the first volume of his English translation of the works of Confucius, with a preliminary dissertation on the language of China : a monument of literary enterprise. Mr. Marshman s literary labors had attracted much attention in America, and in the month of June, 1811, he was honoured with the diploma of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University. In the year 1814 he published his Clavis Sinica, or Key to the Chinese language. the result of eight years of study. About the year 1815 he published his memorable pamphlet entitled, Hints relative to native schools, together with an Outline of an Institution for their Extension and Management. The plan described in the pamphlet for the extension of vernacular schools succeeded beyond the most sanguine expectation. Within a year or two 45 schools were established within a circle of 20 miles around Serampore, in which 2,000 children were taught. On the 31st of May, 1818, the first number of the Sumachar Durpan, or Mirror of News was issued from the Serampore Press, conducted chiefly by Mr. Marshman. In the same year the missionaries also commenced the publication of a monthly magazine which was denominated the Friend of India, a name which has been associated with the periodical publications of Serampore for more than half a century. They also about this time issued the prospectus of the Serampore College, which was drawn up by Mr. Marshman. In June, 1820. Mr. Marshman 53
commenced the publication of a Quarterly Friend. These journals from the beginning took a an active part in the discussion of all subjects of public interest. During the years 1820-21. Mr. Marshman was engaged in his celebrated discussion with Rammohan Roy, on the doctrine of the Atonement. The controversy attracted much attention and was beneficial to the interests of Christian truth. The chief object to which his attention was directed at this time was the completion of the Chinese version of the Bible on which he had been engaged fourteen years, and the last sheet of which left the press in December 1822. A copy of it was presented to the British and Foreign Bible Society at their annual meeting in May, 1823. In January, 1826, in the interests of the Serampore College, Mr. Marshman proceeded to England, where he landed on June 17th. He visited prominent cities in Great Britain, addressing large audiences and awakening a deep interest in the work at Serampore. He also visited Denmark and in a personal interview with the King obtained the royal sanction to the charter of the College. Form Copenhagen he proceeded to Paris and then to England. After several months of labor and travel he embarked for India in February 19, 1829 and launched at Serampore on the 19th of May. For several years he was earnestly engaged in teaching and literary work. At the beginning of 1831 his health began to fail. The death of his colleague, Mr. Carey, in 1834, inflicted a blow on his enfeebled constitution : and in 1835 he took a journey to the sanatorium of Chirra Poonjee. During 1836, his health was precarious : his spirits rose and sunk with the prospects of the mission, and these prospects where then not of the brightest. In 1837 it became evident that his days of labor were about to be ended. About the middle of the year he was disabled from all public services. He grewweaker until early in December when he was called to enter into rest. (A bridged from Carey, Marshman and Ward. ). Hannah Marshman - Hannah Marshman, the fist woman missionary in India, came to Bengal with there husband Joshua Marshman. She was really fortunate as the period in which her English years were cast, witnessed seeds quickening and many movements stirring. It was good for her to be born at a time when men wearying of the artificiality of life were rebounding to 54
simplicity and spontaneity. The wonderland of trees, flowers, plains, hills became to her an open book. Hennah Marshman was born in Bristol on 13th May, 1767. She was the only daughter of John and Rachel Shephard. Her parents died when she was very young and she was brought up by her maternal grandfather. She was married to Mr. Joshua Marshman at Braton Church on the 8th August, 1791. She lost her first two children within a short time, but two others (John B. Aug. 1794) and Sushan (b. Dec. 7, 1798) survived to come with Mr. and Mrs. Marshman to Bengal in 1799. Joshua and Hannah joined Ward, Brandon and Grant for the voyage to Bengal. The band of the missionaries embarked in May 1799. On October 13, 1799 the party reached Serampore. They had a plan to join Carey in North Bengal, but due to East India Company s hostility to missionary work and assurance of protection by the Danish Governor Col. Ole Bie of Serampore, they decided to settle at Serampore under the Danish fla. Carey with his family came down from North Bengal to join them and they established the Serampore Mission Jan. 10, 1800. Immediately after settlement, Hannah opened a boarding school for European and Eurasin Girls at Serampore and undertook the major share of a maintaining the joint family of the missionaries. Like othe missionaries she deposited her earnings from the school to the common fund of the Mission and took a small allowance for her own family. Thus, Hannah became a part and parcel of the Serampore Mission family sharing fully its joys, woes and worries. To recover her poor health and to give all possible publicity to Serampore s endeavours in England Hannah visited England during 1820-22. She returned to Serampore with john Mack and William Ward in 1822. Immediately after her return she took the initiative to open schools for the Indian girls in Serampore and its surrounding villages. Earlier in 1806 she took a leading part in opening a charity school for Eurasian girls in Calcutta by the Benevolent Society of Calcutta formed by the Serampore Missionaries. 55
All through her life she was closely connected with the activities of the Serampore Mission, but concluding years of Hannah were not at all peaceful and happy. The disunion of the Serampore Mission and decline of its activities after 1830 were much painful to her. Among the first band of the Serampore Missionaries she survived for the longest period and her stay at Serampore was also for the longest time. She had to suffer much for her children though some of them were well placed in life. Her eldest son John very determinedly held the helm of the College after the deaths of Carey and Joshua Marshman. She was much disappointed to find her girls schools declining after 1840, but was pleased to notice that her ideals had been taken up by the liberal natives to start such schools in the villages. She breathed her last on 5th March, 1847. The Friend of India in its obituary note (11 March, 1847) observed,... she was enabled to close a life a extraordinary duration, activity and usefulness by bearing her testimony to the value of Christian Truth and vitality of Christian hope. William Ward : William Ward was born at Derby, October 20, 1769, the son of a carpenter, who died while he was a child. At an early period while only an apprentice, he discovered considerable mental ability and was afterwards employed in journalism for six years, first at Stafford, and afterwards at Hull. At the place last named he became decidedly religious, was publicity baptized, and commenced his theological studies with a view to the Christian ministry. Shortly after Society called for laborers for India, and Mrs. Ward was one of the four to respond. Landing at Serampore, he with his co-laborers was soon busily engaged in missionary work : he set the first types of the Bengalee Bible with his own hands and presented Mr. Carey with the first sheet of the New Testament on the 18th of March, 1800, In October he went out to preach alone in Bengalee. Neither of his colleagues it is said, ever obtained that mastery of the colloquial language which he acquired. On the 10th of May, 1801, Mr. Ward was married to the widow of Mr. Fountain. Towards the close of 1810 he published the first edition of his work on the History, Literature, and Mythology of the Hindoows, including a minute description of their manners and customs, and Translation 56
from their principal works. for which he had been collecting materials since his arrival in the country. Concerning this well known work it has been truly remarked. The value of this rich store of information, which exhibits an unemployed acquaintance with the interior economy of native society, has not been diminished by fifty years of subsequent investigation, and the work continues to maintain its character as the most complete and accurate record yet published on these topics. It has passed through a number of editions. In 1818, impaired health necessitated a voyage to England. During the voyage he partly composed a volume entitled Reflections on the Word of God for every day in the year, to be used in family Devotions. While at home he travelled, wrote and lectured in behalf of his brethren at Serampore and the perishing millions in India. Being the first missionary who had ever returned to England from the East he received in every circle a most enthusiastic welcome. He visited various parts of England, Scotland and Wales, and besides other labors succeeded in rising 3,000 for the Serampore College. He paid a visit to Holland; and spent three months in America where he was heartily welcomed, and where he raised Rs. 20,000 for the College. Returning to England he embarked for India in May, 1821. During the voyage he employed his time in writing farewell letters to his friends in England and America, which he was subsequently prevailed on to publish : His work went through three editions. He reached Serampore, October 20, 1821 : resumed charge of the secular department of the Mission, and of the printing office, and worked the nineteen presses with increased diligence in the printing of the Scriptures and tracts; but the object to which he gave his chief attention was the training of the more advanced youths in the College for missionary duties. He revised and published his Reflections and began another literary work. He was enabled for a few months to resume his labors with all the vigour of renewed health, when his career was suddenly terminated by an attack of cholera. On Wednesday evening the 5th of March, 1823, he preached the evening lecture, apparently in good health, the next day he attended to some work, but was seized with cramps in the afternoon, and expired on Friday, at the age of 53. (Vide Carey, Marshman and Ward. ). 57
William Lewis Grant : William Lewis Grant was a resident of Bristol. In company with Messrs Marshman, Ward and Brunsdon he landed at Serampore on the 13th October, 1799. The dampness of the house occupied by the missionary party caused Mr. Grant to be attacked with a severe cold which brought on a fever, from the effects of which he died on the 31st of October of the same year. Daniel Bransdon : Daniel Bransdon was one of the four Missionaries who came in 1799. He died in Calcutta on the 3rd of July, 1801, at the early age of 24. Felix Carey : Felix Carey was the eldest son of Dr. Carey. He was born in England several years before Dr. C. came to India. In 1807 he offered his services to assist in the establishment of a Mission in Burmah : and in company with Mr. Chater Proceed to Rangoon, at the close of the year. Hearing that he had introduced vaccination at Rangoon, the King of Ava order him to proceed to the capital and vaccinate the royal household. He went to Bengal for supplies, and on Rangoon received orders to bring with him the press which had been established there. The vessel in which he embarked was upset by a squall in the river, and his wife and two children were drowned. The Press was lost. He resided some time at the court and proceeded to Bengal as the representative of the King, but incurring his displeasure he was not able to return to Rangoon. After leaving Burmah he led a wandering life on the eastern frontier of Bengal for three years when he returned to Serampore. From this time to the date of his death, in 1822, he continued to labor in connection with the Serampore missionaries. John Chamberian : John Chamberiam was sailed for India with his wife, by way of America, in May, 1802, and reached Serampore, January 27, 1803. His progress in acquiring the language was very rapid. Early in 1804 he was stationed at Cutwa. Here he met with severe domestic afflictions, but continued to labor for five years. On the 16th of November, 1810, Lord Minto granted a passport to Messrs. Chamberlain and Peacock and with the approval of their breathern they proceeded to Agra to form a station. On account of 58
disagreement with the Military authorities he was sent back to Serampore, after a lapse of eighteen months. Shortly after he returned to the north-west, and took up his residence at Sirdhana : but in 1814, was again removed by the Government from the North-Western Provinces. Mr. Chambers lain soon after made choice of Monghyr as his station, and there passed the remaining years of his life. Having declined in health, he sailed for England with the hope of recovery but died on the passage, in 1821. John Clark Marshman : John Clark Marshman, the son of Dr. Joshua Marshman, was one of the eminent statement of 19th century India. George Smith considering him one of the twelve statesmen of India wrote. John Clark Marshman is the only non-official of the twelve statement of the country and as such was the first to receive the order of the Star of India. He was born on 18th August, 1794 in Bristol and came to Bengal with his parents in 1799. He received his education at his father s school in Serampore and also learnt Chinese language with his father. He joined the Serampore Mission s work in 1815 and started to implement its educational and journalistic works. He was the editor of the Digdurshan and the Samachar Darpan and Assistant Secretary of Serampore Native Schools. He took the charge of the press and the Paper Manufactory after the death of William Ward. He visited Europe in 1821-22. After the separation of the Serampore Mission s commercial endeavours, he took full charge of the press and paper factory and after the death of his father (1837) the entire responsibility of the College. He maintained the College alone upto 1855 and then handed over it to the Baptist Missionary Society of England. In 1835 he published Friend of India as a weekly newspaper which became India s one of the most important organs in the 19th Century. He wrote a large number of books on various subjects. He returned to England in 1855 and devoted the rest of his life in various welfare works for India. He breathed his last in London on 8th July, 1877. Beginning And Spread Of Serampore Mission Activities : When the Serampore Mission was founded on January 10, 1800, there 59
were six families, viz. 1) Mr. and Mrs. Carey with their four children, 2) 2) Mr. and Mrs. Marshman with three children. 3) Mr. Ward. 4) Mr. and Mrs. Fountain. 5) Mr. and Mrs. Brundson. 6) Mrs. Grant with two children. In all, there were ten adults and nine children in the missionary settlement at that time. Quite obviously, the other missionaries, especially Joshua Marshman and William Ward, who along with Carey formed the famous Serampore Trio looked to Carey as their leader and guide. Infact in the preceeding six years, God had given Carey the basic knowledge necessary for the establishment of the Mission in Serampore. He had learnt to solve all kinds of problems, studied Indian languages and acquired some knowledge of the Indian soul. God had so far worked his purpose out and had prepared him so well that he could here after only expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. Doubt less, Carey was soon to put Serampore on the world map and make it one of the most famous place in the world as the cradle of modern missions. Carey was anxious to put Serampore Mission on a sound and permanent footing. Perhaps, the earlier example of the failure of the Moravin missionaries at Serampore was before him. His first task was, therefore, to work out a plan. Infact, Carey never worked without a plan as well as a strategy and structure to put that plan in action. In the very first week, along with his colleagues, he prepared a plan of living for them. S.Pearce Carey, in his biography of William Carey, states that Carey derived his plan from The accepted text book of Moravian Missions, published in English in 1788. He further observes that Carey Still believed in the Moravian plan of communal settlements as best assuring economy, efficiency and fraternity. Carey s experiment in communal living at Serampore began with his clever move of knitting six families into one. He knew very well how easily friction of all kind might arise, if they lived independently, and that might disturb their co-operation and destroy their cause. Although Carey s plan of community living was derived from the Moravians, Carey also diverted his 60
plan in certain respect from the Moravians. Moravians had a Head or a Housefather for their community living but Carey deliberately planned otherwise. Foregoing his own claim to headship or housefathership, he founded the Serampore brotherhood on Equality for each, pre-eminence for none; rule by majority, submission to that rule; allocation of function by collective vote.... S. P. Carey is also right when he made such remark : This democratic basis of the Mission and the family was a secret of its strength. In fact here lies one of the main causes of terrible schism. Hence to avoid such schism, Carey advertently avoided appointing any one as head or chairman. He would surely have them call no master, least of himself. One was their master, even Christ. The Serampore Missionaries lived as a close community and, from the beginning, entered into voluntary agreement whereby all were equal. It was agreed that no one should engage in any private trade or other ventures and whatever might be earned, by the school, the press, or in any other way, should be put into the common fund; any surplus went towards the expansion of the work of the mission. It was also agreed that the common expenses were to be met from the common fund thus created was To be applied at the will of the majority, to the support of their widow and family of such, as might be removed by death. Carey was made treasurer. All the books were also pooled and John Fountain was made librarian. Since the compositor family had no officially appointed head, the management of the household and domestic finance was entrusted to each missionary in turn for one month. Although the missionaries unanimously adopted a pattern of community life, there is always a danger in this kind of communal system of misunderstandings or quarrels arising among the several families. Carey was well aware of this danger since they were but human and knew their weaknesses. It was precisely for this reason they set apart Saturday evening, every week, for settling any differences or misunderstandings that might arise during the week and also for renewing their pledge of mutual love. On that day, they 61
also wet for prayer and for allocating duties for the next seven days. To a certain extent, these duties settled themselves. This open treatment was so successful that towards the end of the second year Carey could declare, We have not had a complaint for several months. Should one be made, it is sure to be amicably settled. It was understood that they would find their own means of making of livelihood in the country of their service, and actually this is what had happened. Carey earned money through his Professorship, Marshmans through their schools and Ward through his press. Whatever they earned was deposited into the common fund. When the mission was founded, publication of the Scriptures was on the top of their agenda. So, they immediately set up the printing press, which Carey had purchased for 40 while he was at Mudnabati. Ward, an expert in printing, was made in assisted by Daniel Brundson and Felix Carey, Carey s eldest son. Ward set up the types with his own hands and in three months he was able to present the first sheet of the New Testament (March, 1800). Besides printing translations of Carey and tracts for preaching, he also undertake commercial jobs of the Danish Government, of East India Company and also from private persons. In the course of time this press witnessed a rapid and enormous expansion. Meanwhile, Marshman, assisted by his wife Hanna, opened on May, 1,1800, two boarding schools for the European and Anglo-Indian children, one for boys and the other for girls. William Carey was pleasantly surprised when he was offered an appointment as tutor at the Fort William College in Calcutta. Rightly, he did not accept this proposal without detailed discussion with his colleagues. They were however, enthusiatic that he should accept it provided that it did not interfere with the work of the Mission. Of course, there were some benefits in accepting this appointment by the British Government. The immediate benefit was financial as would get a salary of Rs. 500/- per month. The second benefit of that the Mission, through Carey s appointment, had almost a Government Seal of approval. Thirdly, it would give an opportunity to Carey 62
in his study of Indian languages and in his translation as many learned teachers from all over India were found in the college. Being thus appointed, Carey wrote, Our English friends may now be at ease respecting our safety. Carey did not mind his appointment as tutor and not as Professor as he was a Dissenter. Lord Wellesly himself approved Carey s appointment when the Governor General was presented with a copy of Carey s Bengal New Testament, it was graciously received. On May 4, 1810 Carey took up his new duties. From August 1807 he was appointed as Professor of Sanskrit and Marathi with a salary of Rs. 1000/- per month. It is doubtless Carey s experiment in communal living was successful. It was his examplary and dynamic leadership that greatly contributed to the success of his experiments. He was a man of God who could only Expect great things from God and attempt great things for God. 63