OP THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BV 3269 .B8 P4 
 Pearson, Hugh, 1777-1856. 
 Memoir of Rev. Claudius 
 Buchanan, D.D. 
 
^' .i? 
 
REV. CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D. D, 
 
 77 
 
 BY REV. HUGH PEARSON, M. A. 
 
 or ST. John's college, oxford. 
 
 IN SOME PARTS CONSIDERABLY ABRIDGED; 
 AND, IN OTHERS, MUCH ENLARGED BY EXTRACTS FROM 
 
 DR. Buchanan's 
 Christian Researches in Asia. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, NEW-yOKK< 
 
 D. Faiisbdw, Primer. 
 
The Memoir of Dr. Buchanan here presented 
 to the christian public is that by Dr. Pearson, much 
 abridged in parts which cannot be of permanent 
 interest in this country; with the insertion, in the 
 order of time, of the most valuable portions of Dr. 
 Buchanan's " Christian Researches in Asia," pub- 
 lished by himself, which Dr. Pearson felt con- 
 strained to omit. AVhat is retained from Dr. Pear- 
 son is given in his own words ; except that the 
 narrative of Dr. Buchanan's life after his return to 
 England is condensed by the American editor into 
 one short chapter, with the addition of some con- 
 cluding remaiks; and, in a few instances, con- 
 necting sentences have been inserted. The divi- 
 sion of the book into parts has been dropped, and 
 the whole included in consecutive chapters. It is 
 believed that every thing of permanent value in 
 the Memoir by Pearson is retained, and that the 
 additions from the " Researches in Asia " will ren- 
 der this volume more valuable than the original ; 
 and indeed, in relation to Eastern missions, one of 
 the most instructive and useful works that have 
 been written. 
 
 3 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Chap. I. — Early life and education of Mr. Buchanan in 
 Scotland— His singular tour in England— Employ- 
 ment in the law, and serious change in his religious 
 views'— Introduction to Mr. Newton — From 1766 
 to 1791,' 9 
 
 Chap. II. — Mr. Buchanan's wish t3 enter the ministry 
 — His introduction to Mr. H. Thornton, and ad- 
 mission at Glueen's College, Cambridge— From Fe- 
 bruary to September, 1791, 36 
 
 Chap. III. — Commencement ol' Mr. Buchanan's resi- 
 dence at Cambridf^e — Elis studies and correspon- 
 dence—His ordination and appointment to India — 
 From October, 1791, to March. 1796, 54 
 
 Chap. IV. — Mr. Buchanan's voyage to India — His ar- 
 rival at Calcutta in March, 1797— Appointment as 
 chaplain at Barcackpore, and residence there till 
 November, 1799— Marriage of Mr. Buchanan in 
 the spring of that year — Appointment as one of the 
 chaplains of the Presidency — Institution of the Col- 
 lege of Fort William, and appointment of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan as viceprovost, and professor of classics, 
 in the year 1800, 103 
 
 CnAP. v.— Progress of the College — Official and cleri- 
 cal engagements of Mr. Buchanan — Voyage of 
 Mrs. Buchanan to England— College disputations 
 1* 
 
b CONTENTS. 
 
 Page. 
 
 and examinations — Orders of the Court of Direc- 
 tors for its abolition— Defence of that Institution 
 by the Marquis Weilesley ; and by Mr. Bucha- 
 nan—Return of Mrs. Buchanan to Bengal— Mr. 
 Obeck— His character and death — First series of 
 prizes offered by Mr. Buchanan to the Universi- 
 ties and public schools of the United Kingdom — 
 Mr, Buchanan's Sermons at the PresidencyChurch, 
 on the Evidences of Christianity — From January, 
 1801, to December, 1S03, 158 
 
 Chap. VI. — Order for the continuance of the College — 
 Annual disputations— Translation of the Scrip- 
 tures at the College — Prejudices against the mea- 
 sure — Institution of a fund for widows and or- 
 phans — Salutary influence of the College — Mrs. 
 Buchanan's second voyage to England — " Memoir 
 of the Expedience of an Ecclesiastical Establish- 
 ment in India" — Character of the prize discourses 
 produced by his donations — Mr. Lassar — Literary 
 and moral excellence of the College— Proposal of 
 two prizes of £500 — Dangerous illness — Death of 
 Mrs. Buchanan — Exertions for the translation of 
 the Scriptures, 211 
 
 Chap. VII. — Departure of Dr. Buchanan from Calcutta 
 to the coast of Malabar — Objects of the journey — 
 Approach to Juggernaut — A disaster — Sight of 
 Juggernaut — The temple — English residents — Fes- 
 tival — Description of the idol — Worshippers — A 
 voluntary human sacrifice — Expenses of the idol, 257 
 
 Chap. VIII. — Tranquebar mission — Ziegenbalg — Tan- 
 jore — Swartz — Kohlhoff— Rajah of Tanjore — Hin- 
 doo temples — Sunday in Tanjore — Order of wor- 
 ship — Sattianaden — His sermon — Second visit to 
 therajah— Presents— Tritchinopoly^—Pohle— Want 
 of Bibles— Madura— Ceylon—Cinnamon groves, 280 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 Page. 
 
 Chap. IX. — Syrian Christians — Their origin — Condi- 
 tion at the arrival of the Portuguese — Persecution 
 by the Portuguese — Constancy of the churches 
 in the interior — Travancore — Chinganoor — Ca- 
 thedral — Other churches — Syrian clergy — Inte- 
 resting conference — Scriptures — Versions — Litur- 
 gy of the Syrian churches — Doctrines — Metropoli- 
 tan—Letter to Henry Thornton, Esq. 304 
 
 Chap. X. — Prophecies respecting the Jews — Jerusa- 
 lem, or White Jews — Ancient record on a brass 
 plate — Black Jews — Ten Tribes — Want of the 
 Scriptures, especially the Prophets, among the 
 Jews of the East, 329 
 
 Chap. XI. — Romish church in the East — Its corrup- 
 tions — Journey to Goa — Visit to the Inquisitor — 
 Conversation respecting the Inquisition — Dr. Bu- 
 chanan insists on seeing the interior of the prison 
 — Gains permission— Escapes without injury, 352 
 
 Chap. XII.— Dr. Buchanan's return to Calcutta— State 
 of the college — Prepares a paper of " intelligence," 
 which is refused a place in the public newspaper 
 — Plan of "the Christian Institution in the East 
 for translating the Holy Scriptures" — Prepares to 
 return to England— Letter to Lord Minto — Sub- 
 stance of his Memorial to Government — Farewell 
 Sermon— Letter to Major Sandys — Visits Ceylon 
 — Crosses over to Cochin — Arrives at Bombay — 
 Malayalim Gospels— Elephanta— Sails for Eng- 
 land, 384 
 
 Chap. XIII.— Dr. Buchanan's arrival in England — 
 Seeks for Mr. Newton, but finds him dead— 'Dis- 
 appointed at not finding his "Christian Institu- 
 tion" published— Account of the adjudication of 
 his university prizes— Character of the sermons 
 and discourses— Their eflfect— Efi^ect of his " Me- 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page, 
 moir" of an ecclesiastical establishment— Pamph- 
 lets occasioned by it — Finds his daughters well 
 — Visits his mother iii Scotland— Good news from 
 India— "Star in the Eas-t " — Visit to Oxford— Se- 
 cond marriage — Life of Swartz — Sermon before 
 the Church Missionary Society— Two sermons at 
 Cambridge on commencement Sunday — Health 
 fails — Plan of a journey to Palestine — Death of 
 his wife — Effect of this bereavement on his own 
 mind, 424 
 
 Ciup XIV.— Death of TIenry Thornton, Esq.— Dr. 
 Buchanan's death — Burial — Monumental inscrip- 
 tion — Religious character— Clnalifications as a 
 writer and a speaker — Official fidelity— Social 
 virtues, - 445 
 
 Conclusion. — Remarks on certain traits of Dr. Bu- 
 chanan's character, by the American editor, 464 
 
siisKi®itia» 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Early JUatory, — Conversion, 
 
 It is by no means uncommon in the history of 
 those who have in any manner distinguished them- 
 selves among their contemporaries, to find them 
 deriving no peculiar honor from their ancestors, 
 but rather reflecting it upon them. Of the truth of 
 this observation, an instance is afforded by the sub- 
 ject of the following memoirs. But if the biogra- 
 pher of this excellent man is unable to deduce his 
 descent from the possessors of worldly rank or 
 talent, an honor which may be unjustly depre- 
 ciated as it is sometimes unduly prized, he may at 
 least assert, that his immediate progenitors were 
 endowed with more than an ordinary share of 
 christian piety ; an honor, in his estimation, of a 
 higher nature ; and a blessing, which, as he pecu- 
 liarly valued it, was not only a source of pleasing 
 and grateful recollection, but might not improbably 
 form one link in the chain of causes which led to 
 his own distinguished worth and usefulness. 
 
 Claudius Buchanan was born at Carabuslang, 
 
10 MEMCIR OF DH. DUCIIANAN. 
 
 near Glasgow, on the 12lh of Mardi, 17G6. He 
 was the son of Mr. Alexandor Eiicliaiiaii, a man of 
 respectable learning and of excellent character, 
 wlio was highly esteemed in various parts of Scot- 
 land as a hiborious and faithful teacher, and who 
 a few mf)nths previous to liis death wa* appointed 
 rector of the o^rammar-school of Falkiik. 
 
 His mother was the dauo^hter of Mr, Claudius 
 Soniers, one of the elders of the church at Cam- 
 buslang about the period of the extraordinary oc- 
 currences which t<jok place in that valley, in con- 
 sequence of the preaching of the celebrated Air. 
 Whitfield, in the year 1742, by which, it is un- 
 questionable, that many were excited to a deep 
 and lasting sense of real religion. Among this 
 number was the grandfather of the subject of this 
 memoir, whose piety was happily exemplified by 
 bis daughter, the mother of Buchanan. By both 
 these excellent persons he appears to have been 
 carefully trained, from his earliest years, in reli- 
 gious principles and habits. He is described, by 
 one of his surviving relatives, as having been dis- 
 tinguished from bis youth by a lively and engaging 
 disposition. He is said also to have recollected the 
 serious impressions which were sometimes made 
 upon his mind by the devotions of the paternal 
 roof, and by the admonitions which his grandfa- 
 ther^, from whom he derived his name, and who 
 seems to have regarded him with peculiar afiec- 
 
EARLT niSTonr. 11 
 
 lion, was accustomed to address to him occasion- 
 ally in iiis study. And though, as it will afteivvaids 
 appear, the instructions an.d example of these 
 pious relatives were not immediately pi'oductive 
 of any deciJed and permanent effect, he must be 
 added to the numl)er of those who ultimately deri- 
 ved essential benefit from having been brought up 
 "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord;" 
 and consequently, as aftbrding fresh encouragement 
 to religious parents to pursue a course which has 
 been so frequently crowned with success, and 
 which is seldom, it may be hoped, altogether in 
 vain. 
 
 In the year 1773, at the age of seven years, 
 young Buchanan was sent to a grammar-school at 
 Inverary in Argyleshire, where he received the 
 rudiments of his education, and is said to have 
 made considerable proficiency in the Latin and 
 Greek languages. He continued at Inverary till 
 some time in the year 1779, when he was invited 
 to spend the vacation with his school-fellow, John 
 Campbell, of Airds, near the island of Mull ; and 
 in the following year he received an appointment 
 as tutor to the two sons of Mr. Campbell of Dun- 
 Btafnage, one of whom was, in the year 1S03, cap- 
 tain of the East India Company's ship United 
 Kingdom. As he had then only just completed his 
 fourteenth year, the very appointment to such an 
 office is in itself honorable to his character, and 
 
12 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 his continuance in it during nearly two years may 
 suffice to show that his conduct proved satisfac- 
 tory to his employer. About this time he was 
 again under considerable impressions of a reli- 
 gious nature, which he communicated to his ex- 
 cellent grandfather, who carefully cherished them, 
 and assured him of his prayers. For a few months 
 he continued in this promising course, spending 
 much time in devotion amidst the rocks on the 
 sea-shore near which he was then residing : but 
 at length his serious thoughts were dissipated by 
 the society of an irreligious companion, and his 
 goodness, like that of many a hopeful youth, van- 
 ished " as a morning cloud, and as the early dew;" 
 nor was it till many years afterwards, that pain- 
 ful and salutary convictions led him to seek that 
 God whose early invitations he had ungratefully 
 refused. 
 
 The residence of Buchanan atDunstafTiage might 
 probably have been longer, had it not interfered 
 with a necessary attention to the progress of his 
 own education. In the year 17S2 he therefore left 
 the family of Mr. Campbell, and proceeded to the 
 university of Glasgow; where he remained during 
 that and the following year, diligently pursuing the 
 various studies of the place. Whether his academi- 
 cal course was interrupted by the failure of his pe- 
 cuniary resources, or was the result of deliberation 
 and choice, is uncertain. It appears only that he 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 13 
 
 left Glasgow in the year 1784, and went to the 
 island of Islay, for the purpose of becoming tutor 
 to the sons of Mr. Campbell of Knockmelly. In the 
 following year, from some cause, obviously not un- 
 favorable to his character, we find him removed to 
 Carradell in Kintyre, and performing the same of- 
 fice to the sons of Mr. Campbell of that place. In 
 the year 17S6, however, Buchanan returned to the 
 college at Glasgow; and a certificate in that year, 
 from the Professor of Logic, testifies not only that 
 he had regularly attended upon the public lectures 
 of that class, but that, in the usual examination and 
 exercises, he had given commendable proofs of at- 
 tention, diligence, and success in the prosecution 
 of his studies ; and that he had behaved v/ith all suit- 
 able propriety of conduct and manners. At the 
 conclusion of the academical session he returned 
 to Carradell, and resumed his employment as a tu- 
 tor ; in which capacity it is presumed that he con- 
 tinued until the commencement of the autumn in 
 the following year; when he quitted his native 
 country, under very singular circumstances, and 
 entered upon a project, on which, as it afterwards 
 appeared, depended the future tenor of his life. 
 
 It was the desire of the parents of Mr, Buchanan, 
 from his earliest years, that he should be prepared 
 for the ministry in the church of Scotland : but be- 
 ing naturally of an ardent and excursive turn of 
 mind, he, at the age of seventeen, during his first 
 
 Buchanan. <» 
 
14 MEMum OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 residence in the university of Glasgow, conceived 
 the design of making the tour of Europe on fool ; 
 that being the only method of traveling, upon which 
 his slender finances would allow him to calculate. 
 His chief view in this romantic project was, doubt- 
 less, to see the world ; yet not, as he afterwards de- 
 clared, without some vague and undefined inten- 
 tion of applying the information which he might 
 collect during his tour to some useful purpose. It 
 was not, however, till nearly four years afterwards^, 
 during which, as we have seen, he was diligently 
 employed in acquiring and imparting knowledge, 
 that a circumstance occurred, which, though it did 
 not originally suggest this design, certainly tended 
 to hasten his departure from Scotland. This was 
 an imprudent attachment to a young lady, who 
 happened to be on a visit to the family in which he 
 was then residing, and who was superior to him- 
 self in birth and fortune. The aftection was mutual, 
 but the disparity of their rank and station seemed 
 to form an insuperable barrier to their union. Mr. 
 Buchanan became in consequence very unhappy, 
 and in the height of his passion recurred to his fa- 
 vorite and long-cherished plan of a foreign tour ; in 
 the course of which, with all the sanguine expec- 
 tation and the inexperience incident to his feelings 
 and his age, he hoped to advance his fortune, and 
 returning to his native country, to obtain the object 
 of his wishes. Strange and unpromising as this pro- 
 
EARLY HISTORY. lo 
 
 ject undoubtedly was, he was eager to accomplish 
 it. But though his thoughtless ardor reconciled 
 him to. the culpable expedient of deceiving his pa- 
 rents, he was unwilling to leave them clandestine- 
 ly. For the purpose, therefore, both of avoiding 
 any opposition to his scheme, and of relieving them 
 from uneasiness, he invented a story, which, en- 
 gaged as he had long been in tuition, seemed by 
 no means improbable. He pretended that he had 
 been invited by an English gentleman to accom- 
 pany his son upon a tour to the continent ; and as 
 this engagement not only offered some present ad- 
 vantages, but held out flattering hopes of his future 
 advancement in life, not inconsistent with their ori- 
 ginal intentions, his friends consented to the pro- 
 posal, and permitted him to leave Scotland. 
 
 Of this singular expedition, and of his subsequent 
 history during several years, Mr. Buchanan long 
 afterwards gave several distinct but consistent nar- 
 ratives, from which the following account is ex- 
 tracted : After briefly mentioning the circumstances 
 which have been previously stated respecting his 
 education and studies, and the schemes which he 
 had devised for effecting his departure from his 
 native country and friends, and his intended travels 
 upon the continent, Mr. Buchanan suggests the ob- 
 vious question, how he was to accomplish such a 
 plan, destitute as he was of pecuniary resources. 
 To this he replies, that tl^e greater his difficulties 
 
16 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 were, the more romantic would his tour appear ; 
 and then proceeds as follows. 
 
 " I had the example of the celebrated Dr. Gold- 
 smith before me, who travelled through Euroj^e on 
 foot, and supported himself by playing on his flute. 
 I could play a little on the vi»)lin, and on this I 
 relied for occasional support during my long and 
 various travels. 
 
 " In August, 17S7, having put on plain clothes 
 becoming my apparent situation, I left Edinburgh 
 on foot with the intention of travelling to London, 
 and thence to the continent : that very violin 
 which I now have, and the case which contains it, 
 I had under my arm, and thus I travelled onward. 
 After I had proceeded some days on my journey, 
 and had arrived at a part of the country where I 
 thought I could not be known, I called at gentle- 
 men's houses, and farm-houses, where I was in 
 general kindly lodged. They were very well 
 pleased with my playing reels to them, (for I 
 played them better than I can now,) and I some- 
 times received five shilHngs, sometimes half a 
 crown, and sometimes nothing but my dinner. 
 Wherever I went, people seemed to be struck a 
 little by my appearance, particularly if they en- 
 tered into conversation with me. They were often 
 very inquisitive, and I was sometimes at a loss 
 what to say. I professed to be a musician travelling 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 17 
 
 through the country for his subsistence : but this 
 appeared very strange to some, and they wished 
 to know where I obtained my learning ; for some- 
 times pride, and sometimes accident would call 
 forth expressions, in the course of conversation, 
 which excliited their surprise. I was often invited 
 to stay for some time at a particular place ; but 
 this I was afraid of, lest I might be discovered. It 
 was near a month, I believe, before I arrived on 
 the borders of England, and in that time many 
 singular occurrences befel me. I once or twice 
 met persons whom I had known, and narrowly es- 
 caped discovery. Sometimes I had nothing to eat, 
 and had no where to rest at night ; but, notwith- 
 standing, I kept steady to my purpose, and pur- 
 sued my journey. 
 
 " Before, however, I reached the borders of 
 England, I would gladly have returned; but I 
 could not : the die was cast ; ray pride would have 
 impelled me to suffer death, I think, rather than to 
 have exposed my folly; and I pressed forward. 
 
 " When I arrived at Newcastle I felt tired of 
 my long journey, and found that it was indeed 
 hard to live on the benevolence of others : I there- 
 fore resolved to proceed to London by water ; for 
 I did not want to travel in my own country, but 
 on the continent. 
 
 " I accordingly embark etl in a collier at North 
 Shields, and sailed for London. On the third night 
 2* 
 
IS MEMOIR OF DR. EUCHANAN. 
 
 of the voyage wc were in danger of being cast 
 away during a gale of wind ; and then, for the first 
 time, I began to reflect seriously on my situation." 
 
 During the violence of the storm, as he after- 
 wards acknowledged to a friend, Mr. Buchanan 
 felt as if the judgment of God, as in the case of 
 Jonah, was overtaking him ; but, unlike the re- 
 penting prophet, no sooner had the tempest of the 
 elements subsided, than the agitation of his mind 
 also passed away. He arrived safely in London on 
 the second of September. 
 
 '' But by this time," he continues, in one of his 
 letters referred to, " my spirits were nearly ex- 
 hausted by distress and poverty. I now relin- 
 quished every idea of going abroad. I saw such a 
 visionary scheme in its true light, and resolved, if 
 possible, to procure some situation, as an usher, or 
 clerk, or any employment, whereby I might derive 
 a subsistence : but I was unsuccessful. I lived 
 some time, in obscure lodgings, by selling my 
 clothes and books ; for I did not attempt to obtain 
 any assistance by my skill in music, lest I should 
 be discovered by some persons who might know 
 me or my family. I was in a short time reduced to 
 the lowest extreme of wretchedness and want. 
 Alas ! I had not sometimes bread to eat. Little 
 did my mother think, when she dreamt that she 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 19 
 
 saw her son fatigued with his wanderings, and op- 
 pressed with a load of wo, glad to lie down and 
 sleep away his cares on a little straw, that her 
 dream was so near the truth ! What a reverse of 
 fortune was this ! A few months before I had lived 
 in splendor and happiness ! But even in this ex- 
 tremity of misery my eyes were not opened. I saw 
 indeed my folly, but 1 saw not ray sin ; my pride, 
 even then, was unsubdued, and I was constantly 
 anticipating scenes of future grandeur, and indulg- 
 ing myself in the pleasures of the imagination. 
 
 "' After I had worn out many months in this mi- 
 sery, observing one da}' an advertisement in a 
 news-paper for a ' clerk to an attorney,' I oflered 
 myself and was accepted. I was much liked, and 
 soon made fiiends. I then obtained a better situa- 
 tion with another gentleman in the law, and, lastly, 
 engaged with a solicitor of respectable character 
 and connections in the city, with whom I remained 
 nearly three years. During all this time I had suf- 
 ficient allowance to appear as a gentleman ; my 
 desire for going abroad gradually abated, and I be- 
 gan to think that I should make the law my profes- 
 sion for life. But, during a great part of this time I 
 corresponded with my friends in Scotland, as from 
 abroad, writing very rarely, but always giving my 
 mother pleasing accounts of my health and situation.' 
 
 Notwithstanding the preceding brief observation 
 
20 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 that his allowance from his employers enabled him 
 to make a genteel appearance, there are various 
 intimations, in a memorandum-book kept by Mr. 
 Buchanan, during a part of this period, that he was 
 frequently a sufferer from the pressure of poverty ; 
 nor is this to be wondered at, when it is known that 
 the utmost salary which he received amounted only 
 to forty pounds per annum. Accordingly, it ap- 
 pears, from several notes in the account-book 
 which has been referred to, that he was sometimes 
 under the necessity of pledging articles of clothing, 
 and in one instance his watch, for the purpose of 
 procuring a little ready money ; and even this 
 painful expedient did not always afford him such a 
 supply as to prevent him from occasionally record- 
 ing that he had been obliged to go without a break- 
 fast or a supper ; and once that he had neither 
 breakfasted nor dined. It must, however, be ac- 
 knowledged, that while this humble cash account 
 is chiefly made up of his expenditure upon the ne- 
 cessaries of life, Mr. Buchanan seems to have 
 wasted not a little of his scanty allowance on pub- 
 lic amusements ; amongst which the theatre fre- 
 quently occurs, and sometimes debating societies. 
 From one of the brief memoranda contained in 
 a pocket-book, from which the preceding circum- 
 stances are derived, and which are chiefly written 
 in Latin, it appears that Mr. Buchanan's father died 
 on the 24th of August, 178S, precisely a twelve- 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 21 
 
 month after his own departure from Scotland. 
 This event was probably communicated to him by 
 his excellent mother, and must, it may be reasona- 
 bly supposed, have awakened some peculiarly dis- 
 tressing feelings in the mind of her absent son, 
 conscious as he must have been of the deception 
 which he was practising upon their unsuspecting 
 confidence. No symptom, however, of the inge- 
 nuous shame, which, it maybe hoped, he could not 
 but occasionally feel for such misconduct, is appa- 
 rent in his diary. He merely mentions that his 
 widowed parent had written to him in the spring 
 of 17S9, upon the mournful subject of a monument 
 to his late father; to which he replied by a letter 
 dated the 12th of May, from Florence, which he 
 despatched on the 25th following. A subsequent 
 entry notices his disappointment in not again hear- 
 ing from his mother, whom, amidst all his wander- 
 ings from the path of integrity and virtue, he evi- 
 dently regarded with unfeigned reverence and 
 affection ; while another states the arrival of an 
 answer from her to a recent letter of inquiry from 
 himself, which, either from the favorable account 
 of his parent's welfare, or its salutary influence 
 upon his own mind, appears to have afforded him 
 much pleasure. 
 
 It cannot, however, be a matter of surprise to 
 any one who considers the imprudent manner in 
 which Mr. Buchanan had left his native country, 
 
22 MEMOIR OF DR. RUCIIAXAr;. 
 
 the deceit which he was practising upon his friends, 
 the faint prospect which he could reasonably en- 
 tertain of any considerable success in the world, 
 and, above all, the pious education which he had 
 received, to find that the memoranda in question 
 exhibit frequent marks of his inward perplexity 
 and unhappiness. Thus, on the 10th of May, 1789, 
 he records, in Latin, with an emphasis of expres- 
 sion which evidently proves the depth and sinceri- 
 ty of the feelings with which he wrote : " I have 
 lived, I know not how — in a state of forgetful n ess, 
 or intoxication — to this day !" And on the 15th of 
 July following, he briefly extends the same painful 
 confession to that time. Within three days after the 
 first of these dates, Mr. Buchanan was seized with 
 a severe attack of fever, during which he observes 
 that he had experienced, as might very naturally 
 be expected, most uncomfortable reflections on his 
 present situation. These, however, appear to have 
 made no deep or lasting impression upon him, but, 
 as in too many similar instances, to have vanished 
 with the temporary alarm which occasioned them. 
 Accordingly he soon afterwards states that lie had 
 on that morning written part of a letter to his mo- 
 ther, and with the careless levity which in irreli- 
 gious and impenitent minds returns, when they are 
 relieved from the immediate fear of punishment, 
 had altered his " plan of death and misfortune, to 
 that of fortune and festivity." 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 23 
 
 He laments also, that on his recovery he had 
 broken some salutary resolutions which he had 
 made during his illness, and adds, with that fretful 
 and impotent violence which characterizes those 
 who are irritated rather than humbled by the con- 
 sciousness of their weakness, and are ignorant of 
 its only effectual remedy, " I sivear I'll do so no 
 more. O ! that I knew how to persevere in good 
 resolutions, as well as to make them ! This has 
 been my failing from my infancy." Who has not 
 been compelled to make the same humiliating re- 
 flection, until acquainted with Him of whom the 
 subject of these memoirs was as yet practically ig- 
 norant I without whom we can do nothing, but by 
 whose gracious assistance the christian can do all 
 things ! 
 
 Amon^ the various notices of his feelinors and 
 engagements, which occur in these memoranda, 
 there are several, which prove that, amidst the in- 
 cessant labor of an employment which occupied 
 nearly twelve hours of each day, Mr. Buchanan oc- 
 casionally contrived to devote, a part of his scanty 
 leisure to literary pursuits. Unhappily, indeed, he 
 was at this period so little under the influence of 
 i-eligion, that the Sabbath was too often spent in 
 the study of Virgil and Horace ; though at other 
 times his reading on that sacred day appears to 
 have been of a graver nature. But the latter hours 
 of his evenings, which were not dedicated to amuse- 
 
24 MEMOTR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ment, seem to have been laudabW employed in 
 storirjg his mind witli classical and geneial know- 
 ledge, and occasionally in improving his memory 
 by artificial rules and practice. 
 
 Though the irreligious state, in which Mr. Bu- 
 chanan was at this time livinsr, led him too TCneral 
 ly to neglect public worship, his early habits still 
 induced him sometimes to enter the house of God. 
 Upon one of these occasions he appeals to have 
 been much struck with the conduct of a young 
 friend, who was so deeply alarmed while the 
 preacher was displaying the terrors of the Lord in 
 the future punishment of the wicked, that he rose 
 up, leaving his hat behind him, and walked out of 
 the church. It is understood that Mr. Buchanan 
 considere'd this person as having been afterwards 
 made spiritually useful to him. 
 
 Two short notes in the summer of the year 17S9 
 indicate that there were, even at that period, sea- 
 sons in which he thought much and seriously upon 
 his own state, and upon religious subjects; during 
 which his reflections were sometimes gloomy and 
 desponding, and resembling " the sighing of the 
 prisoner" for deliverance; and at others cheered 
 by a faint and distant hope of one day enjoying, 
 through the infinite grace of God, the comforts of 
 religion. 
 
 In the following year some traces occur, in the 
 brief journal from which the preceding circum- 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 25 
 
 Stances are extracted, of seriousness in Lis mind. 
 He notices a religious conversation witli a friend, 
 and adds, that he had in consequence thought se- 
 riously of a reformation. He mentions emphatical- 
 ly a season of private prayer, and his intention of 
 purchasing a new Bible, when he could afford it ; 
 and while he confesses, on one occasion, with evi* 
 dent regret, his disinclination to religion, and al- 
 leges as one of the immediate causes, or symptoms, 
 of this evil, the indulgence of morning slumbers, he 
 observes, on another, that he had declined the in- 
 vitation of a friend to a visit in the country on the 
 following Sunday, upon religious principle, though 
 he did not at the moment distinctly avow it. All 
 these are circumstances indicative of a mind awak- 
 ing from the deadly sleep of sin to the life of 
 righteousness, and introductory to that important 
 chano'e of sentiment and conduct which was now 
 approaching. 
 
 It is possible, indeed, that some may be at a loss 
 to understand the meaning of this language, or to 
 conceive the necessity of any other alteration in the 
 religious character of Mr. Buchanan, than the cor- 
 rection of a few venial errors and triflinsf irresfu- 
 larities, or the supply of certain obvious omissions 
 in his conduct. The determination of this question 
 must undoubtedly depend upon the general views 
 of those who consider it. In proportion as the 
 standard of practical religion is either elevated or 
 
 Buchanan. «^ 
 
2S MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 depressed, will be the judgment of every one as to 
 the actual state, at this period of his life, of the 
 suV)ject oi^ these memoirs. If slight views are en- 
 tertained of the evil of sin, of the guilt, misery, arid 
 danger of a sensual and worldly life ; and of the 
 nature and extent of christian faith and holiness; 
 the moral and religious deficiencies of Mi-. Bu- 
 chanan will certainly appear trivial and unimpor- 
 tant. But if, as the Scriptures unequivocally assert, 
 to live in the habitual neglect of God, though a 
 formal acknowledgment of his being and attributes 
 may be professed, is virtual impiety ; to avow the 
 name of christian, but to refuse the homage of the 
 heart to Jesus Christ as a Saviour, is real unbelief; 
 and occasionally to indulge in wilful sin, though 
 the external manners may be decent and correct, 
 is practical ungodliness ; then was it evidently ne- 
 cessary that a great and ?'adical cliavge should be 
 effected in Mr. Buchanan's dispositions and con- 
 duct ; then was it essential to his present and fu- 
 ture happiness that he should " repent and believe 
 the Gospel." 
 
 That this was the conviction of Mr. Buchanan 
 himself, plainly appears from his own declarations 
 in the letters from which some preceding extracts 
 have been made. " Since my coming to London," 
 he observes, " until June last, I led a very dissi- 
 pated, irreligious life. Some gross sins I avoided; 
 but pride was in my heart ; I profaned the Lord's 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 27 
 
 day without rcstVcaint, and never tlioiight of any re- 
 ligious duty. Thus I lived till within these few 
 inontlis, exactly three years since my voluntary 
 banisliment from my native country ; three tedious 
 years ; and for any thing I couhl have done my- 
 self, 1 might have remained in the same state for 
 tliirty years longer. But the period was now ar- 
 rived when the mercy of God, which had always 
 accompanied me, was to be manifested in a singu- 
 lar manner. I had a very strong sense of religion 
 wheji I was about the age of fourteen ; and I used 
 often to reflect on that period; but I had not, I 
 believe, the least idea of the nature of the Gospel. 
 It was in the year 1790 that my heart was first 
 effectually impressed, in consequence of an ac- 
 quaintance with a religious young man." 
 
 Of the person thus briefly mentioned, and of the 
 important effects which resulted from one remark- 
 able meeting with him, the following is a more 
 distinct and detailed account : 
 
 " In the month of June last," observes Mr. Bu- 
 chanan, writing in February, 1791, " on a Sunday 
 evening, a gentleman of my acquaintance called 
 upon me. I knew him to be a serious young man, 
 and out of complaisance to him I gave the conver- 
 sation a religious turn. Among other things, I 
 asked him whether he believe4 that there was 
 
28 
 
 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 such a thing as divine grace ; whether or not it 
 was a fiction imposed by grave and austere per- 
 sons from their own fancies. He took occasion 
 from this inquiry to enlarge much upon the sub- 
 ject; he spoke with zeal and earnestness, and 
 chiefly in scripture language, and concluded with 
 a very affecting address to the conscience and the 
 heart. I had not the least desire, that I recollect, 
 of being benefited by this conversation ; but while 
 he spoke, I listened to him with earnestness ; and 
 before I was aware, a most powerful impression 
 was made upon my mind, and I conceived the in- 
 stant resolution of reforming my life. 
 
 " On that evenincr I had an encjaoement which I 
 could not now approve : notwithstanding what had 
 passed, however, I resolved to go ; but as I went 
 along, and had time to reflect on what I had heard, 
 I half wished that it might not be kept. It turned 
 out as I desired : I hurried home, and locked my- 
 self up in my chamber; I fell on my knees, and 
 endeavored to pray ; but I could not. I tried agaiii, 
 but I was not able ; I thought it was an insult to 
 God for me to pray ; I reflected on my past sins 
 with horror, and spent the night I know not how. 
 The next day ray fears wore off a little, but they 
 soon returned. I anxiously awaited the arrival of 
 Sunday; but when it came I found no relief. 
 After some time I communicated my situation to 
 my religious friend : he prayed with me, and next 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 29 
 
 Sunday I went with him to liear an eminent mi- 
 nister. This was a great lelief to me ; I thought I 
 had found a physician : but, alas! though I prayed 
 often every day, and often at night, listlessness and 
 languor seized me. Sometimes hope, sometimes 
 fear presented itself, and I became very uncom- 
 fortable. 
 
 " Going one morning to a bath, I found on a 
 shelf Doddtidge's Rise and Progress of Religion 
 in the Soul. This bo«)k I thought just suited me. I 
 accordingly read it with deep attention, and prayed 
 over it. I next procured Alleine's Alarm to the 
 Unconverted, and dwelt on it for some lime. My 
 religious friend then gave me Boston's Fourfold 
 Slate. This I read carefully, and I hope it did me 
 some good. I now secluded myself entirely from 
 my companions on Sunday ; and during the week, 
 the moment business was done, I went home to 
 my studies ; and have since wholly withdiavvn my- 
 self fr(»m pleasure and amusement. In this man- 
 ner have I passed the seven last months, continu- 
 ally praying for a new heart, and a more perfect 
 discovery of my sins. Sometimes I think I am ad- 
 vancing a little, at others I fear I am farther from 
 heaven than ever. O the prevalence of habit! It 
 is not without reason that it has been sometimes 
 called a second nature. Nothing but the hand of 
 the Almighty who created me can change my 
 heart." 
 
 2* 
 
30 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " About two months ago I wrote my mother 
 some particulars of my state, and requested her 
 prayei's, for she is a pious woman. In her answer, 
 written by my sister, is tlie following passage, 
 * My mother has heard much of Mr. Newton, 
 Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, London, and wishes 
 that you would cultivate an acquaintance with him, 
 if it is in your power.' " 
 
 It was, in fact, to this venerable man that the 
 letter, from which these as well as some preceding 
 extracts have been mado, was addressed. Nor 
 must the occasion be omitted of paying a passing 
 tribute of respect to the memory of that eminently 
 pious and useful minister of Jesus Christ. The 
 chosen and highly valued friend of Cowper could 
 not indeed have been a common or uninteresting 
 character. He was, in truth, far otherwise. How- 
 ever a world, incapalile of appreciating spiiitual 
 excellence, may be disposed to treat his faith as a 
 delusion, and his character as enthusiastic, the his- 
 tory of Mr. Newton will convince the candid in- 
 quirer that the Gospel is still " the power of God " 
 to the conversion and salvation even of the chief 
 of sinners ; while the urtblemi.shed purity, the ac- 
 tive benevolence, the exemplary fidelity, and the 
 undeviating consistency of a course of more than 
 forty years, sufficiently illustrate the holy and prac- 
 tical tendency of the doctrines which he embra 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 31 
 
 ced ; and prove that the grace which brought peace 
 to his conscience, and hope to his soul, at the 
 same time effectually taught him " to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly in the world." 
 
 The lively and substantial interest which Mr. 
 Newton took in the situation and welfare of Mr. 
 Buchanan, is one amongst many other instances of 
 the christian kindness which habitually warmed 
 his heart. The person who was thus addressing 
 him was at that time an utter stranger. After men- 
 tioning, therefore, some of the particulars respect- 
 ing his family, and his early history, which have 
 been already stated, Mr. Buchanan thus proceeds : 
 
 " On the receipt of my mother's letter I imme- 
 diately reflected that I had heard there was a 
 crowded audience at a church in Lombard-street. 
 Thither I accordingly went the next Sunday even 
 ing; and when you spoke, I thought I heard the 
 words of eternal life : I listened with avidity, and 
 wished that you had preached till midnight." Mr. 
 Buchanan laments, however, that this pleasing im- 
 pression was too soon effaced ; and that, although 
 he constantly attended Mr. Newton's sermons with 
 raised expectations and sanguine hopes that he 
 should one day be relieved from the burthen which 
 then oppressed his mind, he had hitherto been dis- 
 appointed. " But," he adds, with genuine humi- 
 lity, " I have now learned how unreasonable was 
 
32 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 such an early expectation : I have been taught to 
 wait ■patmitly upon God, who wailed so long 
 for 7?ie." 
 
 " You say," he continues, " many things that 
 touch my heart deeply, and I trust your ministry 
 has been in some degree Ijlessed to me ; but your 
 subjects are generally addressed to those who are 
 already established in the faith, or to those who 
 have not sought God at all. Will you then drop 
 one word to me % If there is any comfort in the 
 word of life for such as I am, O shed a little of it 
 on my heart. And yet I am sensible that I am not 
 prepared to receive that comfort. My sins do not 
 affect me as I wish. All that I can speak of is a 
 strong desire to be converted to my God. O sir, 
 what shall I do to inherit eternal life ] I see clearly 
 that I cannot be happy in any degree, even in this 
 life, until I make my peace with God : but how 
 shall I m?ke that peace % If the world were my 
 inheritance, I would sell it to purchase that pearl 
 of great price. 
 
 " How I weep when I read of the prodigal son 
 as descmbed by our Lord ! I would walk many 
 miles to hear a sermon from the 12th and 13th 
 verses of the thirty-third chapter of the second 
 book of Chronicles."* 
 
 * The following are the affecting: verses alluded to by 
 Mr. Buchanan : " And when he was in affliction, he besought 
 the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the 
 
EARLY HISTORV. 33 
 
 After apologizing for thus intruding upon one 
 to whose attention he had no personal claim, Mr. 
 Buchanan concludes as follows : 
 
 " My heart is overburthened with grief, and 
 greatly does it distress me, that I must impart my 
 sorrows to him who has so much himself to bear.* 
 My frequent prayer to God is, that he would grant 
 you strong consolation. To-morrow is the day you 
 have appointed for a sermon to young people. 
 "Will you remember mc, and speak some suitable 
 word, that, by the aid of the blessed Spirit, may 
 reach my heart % Whatever becomes of me, or of 
 my labors, T pray God that you may prove success- 
 ful in your ministry, and that your labors may be 
 abundantly blessed." 
 
 The preceding letter was addressed to Mr. New- 
 ton anonymously ; but so simply, yet so forcibly 
 does it describe the state of a penitent, awakened 
 to a just apprehension of his sin and folly, and 
 earnestly desiring relief, that it could not fail to 
 excite in the mind of a man of so much christian 
 benevolence, a degree of lively sympathy with the 
 feelings, and of interest in the welfare, of the 
 
 God of his fathers, and prayed unto hitn : and he was en- 
 treated of him, and heard his supplication." 
 
 ♦ Mr. Newton was at this time suffering under one of the 
 severest domestic calamities. 
 
34 MEMOIR OF DR. KUCIIANAN. 
 
 writer. His letter, however, being not only without 
 any signature, but without any reference to the 
 place of his residence, the only method which oc- 
 curred to Mr. Newton of conveying any reply to 
 him was, by giving notice in his church, that if the 
 person who had written to him anonymously on 
 such a day were present, and would call upon him, 
 he should be happy to converse with him on the 
 subject of his communication. This intimati(m Mr. 
 Newton accordingly gave, and an early interview 
 in consequence took [dace between them. 
 
 " I called on him," says Mr. Buchanan, in a let- 
 ter to his mother, " on the Tuesday following, and 
 experienced such a happy hour as I ought not to 
 forget. If he had been my father, he could not 
 have expressed more solicitude for my welfare. 
 
 " Mr. Newton encouraged me much. He put 
 into my hands the naiiative of his life, and s(^me 
 of his letters; begged my careful perusal of them 
 before I saw him again, and gave me a general in- 
 vitation to breakfast with him when and as often 
 as I could." 
 
 Of the meeting immediately subsequent to this 
 first interview no account has been ]ueserved. 
 That it was mutually pleasing and satisfactory, is 
 evident from the intercourse which afterwards 
 took place between them, and which was ultimate- 
 ly productive of such important consequences. 
 
EARLY HISTORY. 35 
 
 " I cultivated," says Mr. Buchanan, " a close ac- 
 f]uaintance with Mi-. Newton, and he soon pro- 
 fessed a o^reat rea^aid for me." 
 
 The grand subject, wliich would of course imme- 
 dialely occupy the attention of both, was the reali- 
 ty and the completion of the recent change in the 
 moral and religi^.us character of Mr. Buchanan. 
 Though the public and piivate instructions of Mr. 
 Newton would, from his well known views of chris- 
 tian doctrine, incline him to exhibit to the awaken- 
 ed and trembling penitent the free and full forgive- 
 ness of the Gospel, he would doubtless urge with 
 equal solemnity and earnestness the necessity of 
 ascertaining the sincerity of his repentance, the 
 genuineness of his faith, and the stability of liis re- 
 solutions of obedience to the divine precepts. That 
 sucli was the general tenor of the counsel which 
 was impaited ujjon these occasions, plainly appears 
 from several succeeding letters of Mr. Buchanan ; 
 and though it is to be lamented tiiat those of his 
 pious C(»nespfmdent to which he refers are not now 
 to be found, it is evident, from various traces of 
 their contents, that they were admirably calculated 
 to lemove the difficulties, and to direct the conduct 
 of his new disciple. 
 
 Tlius, in the venerable person to whom the pro- 
 vidence of God had introduced him. Mi'. Buchanan 
 found an enlightened and experienced guide, a 
 
36 MEMOIR OF DR. UUCIIANAN. 
 
 wise and faithful counsellor, and at length a steady 
 and affectionate friend ; while the latter discovered 
 in the stranger who had been so remarkably made 
 known to him, one who displayed talents and dis- 
 positions which appeared to him capable of being 
 beneficially employed in the service of their com- 
 mon Lord and Master. 
 
 The change in Mr. Buchanan was radical. It 
 not only redeemed him from a sinful and worldly 
 course, but gradually introduced him to a state of 
 " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy 
 Ghost." It rendered him, in short, " a new crea- 
 ture." He felt the powerful influence of the love 
 of Christ ; and cordially acquiescing in the unan- 
 swerable reasoning of the great Apostle, '' that if 
 one died for all, then were all dead," he resolved 
 no longer to live unto himself, '' but unto Him that 
 died for him, and rose again." 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Preparation for the Jflinistrj/ — ^id of Rev* Jflr, 
 ^"ewton and ^Ir. Tliorntcn, 
 
 About a fortnight after the date of his first letter, 
 Mr. Buchanan again wrote to Mr. Newton, for the 
 
PREPARES FOR MINISTRY. 37 
 
 Durposc of communicating to him a strong inclina- 
 tion, which he had lately felt, to devote himself to 
 the ministry. 
 
 " Yesterday morning," he observes, " I went to 
 
 hear Dr. S . Near the conclusion of the service 
 
 I was insensibly led to admire this passage of the 
 prophet Isaiah, ' How beautiful are the feet of 
 them that preach the Gospel of peace !' It occur- 
 red to me, that that enviable office was once de- 
 jsigned for mc ; that I was called to the ministry, as 
 it were, from my infancy. For ray pious giand- 
 father chose me from among my mother's children 
 to live with himself. He adopted me as his own 
 child, and took great pleasure in forming my young 
 mind to the love of God. He warmly encouraged 
 my parents' design of bringing me up for the minis- 
 try. I particularly recollect the last memorable oc- 
 casion of my seeing this good grandfather. The 
 first season of my being at college I paid him a 
 visit. He lived but five miles from Glasgow. After 
 asking me some particulars relating to my studies, 
 he put the following question to me ; ' What end 
 I had in view in becoming a minister of the Gos- 
 pel V I hesitated a moment, thinking, I suppose, 
 of some temporal blessing. But he put an answer 
 into my mouth. ' With a view, no doubt,' said he, 
 ' to the glory of God.' I recollect no other particu- 
 lar of the conversation but this. It made a strong 
 
 Buchanau. 4 
 
38 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCllANAX. 
 
 impression on my mind, and even oflcn recuiTCtl 
 to my thoughts in the midst of ray unhappy years ; 
 and lastly, I thought of my present profession and 
 prospect in life. It suddenly came into ray mind 
 that I might yet be a preacher of the Gospel. I 
 began to consider tlie obstacles that had hitherto 
 deterred me from attempting it ; but they appeared 
 to have vanished. 
 
 ** These things passed rapidly through ray mind.. 
 I wondered that 1 had not thought of them before. 
 Your suggestion occurred to me, and I seemed 
 clearly to perceive the hand of providence in my 
 not having been articled to the law. I now beheld 
 it as an unkindly and unprofitable study ; a pro- 
 fession I never cordially liked, and was thankful 
 that I might shake it oft" when I pleased. These 
 reflections filled me with delight, and, as I walked 
 home, the sensation increased ; so that by the time 
 I entered my chamber, my spirits were overpower- 
 ed, and I fell on my knees before God, and wept. 
 What shall I say to these things 1 At first 1 feared 
 this change of sentiment might be some idle whim 
 that would soon vanish. But when I began to de- 
 liberate calmly, reason pleaded that the plan wa» 
 j)0ssible ; and the wisdom and power of God, and 
 my love to him, pleaded that it was probable. I 
 thought that I, who had experienced so much of 
 the divine mercy, was peculiarly engaged to de- 
 clare it to others. After fervent prayer, I endeavor- 
 
PREPARES FOR MIMSTRY. 39 
 
 ed to commit myself and my services into llie bands 
 of Him who alone is able to direct me. 
 
 " This day I still cberish the idea with delight. 
 But I am much discouraged when I rellect on my 
 weak abilities, my slender knowledge, my defective 
 expression, and my advanced age. I am now f(jui - 
 and-tvventy, and if I prosecute this new desire, I 
 must return to the studies of fourteen." 
 
 At the close of this letter Mr. Buchanan express- 
 es the lively interest with which he had read Mr. 
 Newton's narrative of his own life. " I am the per- 
 son," he says, " out often thousand, who can read 
 it aright ; for I can read it with self-application. 
 What a balm to a wounded conscience are your 
 healing leaves ! To-day I have felt a tranquillity 
 of mind to which I have been lono; a stranger. I 
 trust this peace has a right foundation." 
 
 It appears, that upon an early interview with 
 Mr. Newton, in consequence of the preceding let- 
 ter, he warmly approved the rising disposition of 
 his young friend to change his profession, and to 
 devote himself to the ministry of the Gospel. 
 
 *' He received me," says Mr. Buchanan, " with 
 open arms; and in his family worship remember- 
 ed me in a very aflecting manner, and prayed for 
 the divine direction in his counsels to mo. We thou 
 
40 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAIV. 
 
 passed a considerable time together. He obsen'ed 
 that this was a remarkable season with me, but 
 that I must leave every thing with God ; that I 
 must use the means which he had appointed for 
 those who aspire to his service ; that 1 must devote 
 the principal part of my leisure hours to medita- 
 tion and prayer, and the remainder to the study of 
 the languages ; that I must persevere in this course 
 for a considerable time, and then, if it pleased 
 God, he would open a door to me. ' In the mean- 
 time,' added Mr. Newton, ' I would advise you to 
 acquaint your mother with every circumstance of 
 your situation, and to request, in the first instance, 
 her advice and approbation.' " 
 
 To this suggestion Mr. Buchanan yielded with- 
 out hesitation, and employed a great part of seve- 
 ral nights in communicating to his affectionate pa- 
 rent an ingenuous narrative of his proceedings 
 from the period of his departure from Scotland to 
 the present time. At the close of this varied his- 
 tory, in which he strongly condemns himself for his 
 past misconduct, he thus expresses himself: 
 
 " And now, my dear mother, how are you affect- 
 ed by this account ] Is your heart ready to wel- 
 come the return of your long lost son, or does it le- 
 ject, with just indignation, so much unworthiness ? 
 Whatever may be your emotions, I pray God, who 
 
rTlEPAIirS FOR MIMRTRT, 41 
 
 lins been so gracious to me, to bless this dispensa- 
 lion to you. The veil whicli was between us is at 
 length rent, and I am now in peace ; for, believe 
 nie, I have not enjoyed a day of peace since I left 
 my father's house. I once tiiought I would rather 
 sjiffer torture than betray my secret ; but ray ' si- 
 news of iron ' are now become like those of a child. 
 Nothing less than what I have suffered could have 
 softened so hard a heart as mine ; and not even 
 that, unless accompanied by the power of God." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan had no sooner made this disclo- 
 sure to his excellent mother, than he communicated 
 the result to Mr. Newton in a letter, which closes 
 in the following terms : 
 
 " My desires of entering the ministry still con- 
 tinue, and I think increase. Blackstone says some- 
 where, that to have a competent knowledge of the 
 lawre'quires ' the lucubrations of twenty years.' I 
 once had the low ambition of being such a lawyer, 
 but I am now so impressed with the dignity and 
 importance of the office of the ministry, that I 
 would with pleasure sit down to-morrow and de- 
 vote, not the lucubrations of twenty years alone, 
 but all my life to it. But, alas ! my present situa- 
 tion militates much against my wishes. O that He, 
 who has led me thus far, would graciously direct 
 mv steps !'* 
 
 4* 
 
42 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 During the three following months Mr. Bu- 
 chanan continued his employment in the law ; di- 
 ligently and devoutly cultivating the spirit of real 
 religion, and anxiously revolving in his mind the 
 practicability of accomplishing his wishes respect- 
 ing the change of his profession. In the month of 
 July, however, he addressed another letter to Mr. 
 Newton, who was then absent from London, in 
 which he laments, with much humility and feeling, 
 the painful discoveries which he had been making 
 in self-knowledge, and the slowness of his progres? 
 in his christian course. " I have but sipped," he 
 modestly observes, " at Salem's spring — nee f ante 
 labra prolviy He then informs his kind corres- 
 pondent and friend, that his late letters from Scot- 
 land had afforded him much comfort. " My mo 
 ther," he says, " writes thus : 
 
 " The hint you gave me in your last, of your 
 probably joining the church of England, causeJ 
 me, at first, some uneasiness. I hope you will for 
 give this. I find now that the difference betweeu 
 the two churches consists in discipline only, not in 
 doctrine. I am, the?-ef()i-e, easy in mind, which- 
 ever way the providence of God may see fit to 
 {Tuide you. I am happy that you consulted your 
 Bible, and sought the Lord's direction upon this 
 occasion. If you cast your buiden upon him, he 
 will direct you aright. Since you were a boy, if 
 was impressed upon my min^l that some time or 
 
PREPARES FOR MINISTRY. 43 
 
 Other you would be a good man. I own, of late 
 years, I was beginning to lose my hope, particu- 
 larly on the supposition of your going abroad. I 
 thought, this is not God's usual way of bringing 
 sinners to himself. But the word of consolation 
 often came in remembrance, that God is a God 
 ' afar oft? O how merciful has he been to you, and 
 how merciful to us, in concealing youi- miserable 
 situation till srrace brouj^ht it to lis^ht ! I do believe 
 the discovery a year ago would .... but these 
 recollections are painful ; therefore I forbear. 
 What comforting letters have you sent us ! Could 
 a thousand pounds a-year have afforded an equal 
 consolation 1 Impossible. It might, indeed, have 
 tied us down faster to the earth, but it could not 
 have set our hearts upon the unsearchable riches 
 that are in Christ Jesus. Your friends in Glasgow 
 are rejoicing with us : some of them saying, ' Had 
 the good old people (meaning his grandfather and 
 mother) been alive, how would this have revived 
 them !' Among your grandfather's papers I find 
 the enchased letter, written by Mr. Maculloch to 
 him in a time of distress, when the sins of his 
 youth oppressed him. Read it with care, and may 
 God grai:t a blessing in the perusal." 
 
 It was surely with good reason that Mr. Bucha- 
 nan adderl, " It is not the smallest of my comfnts 
 that I have such a mother as this ;" who, though 
 
44 MHMOIR OF DR. DUCIIAN'AN. 
 
 evidently grieved at his past misconduct, was, a.s 
 lie afterwards expressed it, " overwhelmed with 
 joy, that her son, who was lost, had been found." 
 It appears, by the subsequent part of this letter^ 
 that Mr. Buchanan had a short time before been 
 introduced, by the kindness of liis friend, to the 
 notice of a gentleman to whose munificent patron- 
 age he was afterwards indebted for the means of 
 accomplishing the prevailing desire of his heart, in 
 entering upon the ministry of the Gospel in the 
 cimrch of England. This was the late Mr. Henry 
 Thornton ; who, to talents of a superior order, 
 and to various and extensive acquirements, devo- 
 ted durinof a laborious and honorable course to the 
 most important duties of public life, united a warm 
 and enlightened attachment to genuine Christian- 
 ity ; which, while it formed the basis of his reli- 
 gious character, not only supplied the rule and the 
 motives of his general conduct, but prompted him, 
 in an especial manner, to support with calm and 
 steady zeal whatever a remarkably sound and vi- 
 gorous understanding deemed calculated to pro- 
 mote the glory of God and the present and future 
 happiness of his fellow-creatures. It was to this 
 distinguished person that Mr. Buchanan, happily 
 for himself and for others, was now made known 
 and recommended. Mr. Newton had been laree- 
 ly indebted to the friendship and patronage of 
 the excellent father of this gentleman ; and justly 
 
PREPARES FOR MIMSTRY. 45 
 
 thouglit tliat he couUl not render a more import- 
 ant service to his young friend, or one which might 
 eventually be more useful to the world, than by 
 introducing him to the son ; who, with higher 
 mental powers, inherited that enlarged and gene- 
 rous spirit of benevolence which had associated, 
 in almost every mind, the name of Thornton* 
 with that of philanthropy and christian charity. 
 
 The liberal education which Mr. Buchanan had 
 already received, and his advanced age a.s a stu- 
 dent, naturally led his friends to wish that it might 
 be practicable for him to obtain ordination without 
 so long a preparation as a residence at an English 
 university for a degree would require. The bishop, 
 however, to whom an application was made for 
 this purpose, discouraged any such plan, and it 
 was accordingly abandoned. It was afterwards 
 thought that holy orders might be procured for 
 Mr. Buchanan at an early period, on the condition 
 of his going abroad ; and Mr. Thornton desired 
 him to consider whether his health would allow 
 him to accept the chaplaincy of the colony at 
 Sierra Leone. To this proposal Mr. Buchanan, 
 after requesting Mr. Newton's advice, signified his 
 cordial assent ; but, for reasons which do not ap- 
 pear, this design was also relinquished. For a 
 short time the mind of Mr. Buchanan seems to 
 have been somewhat depressed by the failure of 
 these attempts. 
 
 * See Cowper'a " Charity." 
 
46 MEMOIR or DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Notwithstanding," he says, at the close of tha 
 letter last quoted, " your endeavors in my behalf, 
 I have little expectation that you will succeed. 
 Providence, I think, has a few more trials and dif- 
 ficulties for me to encounter before I am led into 
 so pleasant a path ; and 1 know that they are need- 
 ful to make me more humble." 
 
 He felt, too, the absence of his paternal friend 
 and guide, and looked around among his acquain- 
 tance for a companion in vain. " I have but one 
 .serious friend," he observes, " and him I only see 
 once in a week or fortnight. Next to the blessing 
 of communion with God on eailh, must surely be 
 the society of his children. Yet I shall not com- 
 plain if I can enjoy the former privilege ; for then, 
 llle solus turba erity^ 
 
 Amidst these discouraging circumstances, how- 
 ever, Mr. Buchanan assures his venerable corres- 
 pondent that he was never so truly happy in his 
 life, having been guided into " the way of peace," 
 relying on the direction of divine providence, and 
 being animated " by ' the hope set before him.' " 
 
 But it was not long before the kindness of the 
 generous patron to whom he had been introduced 
 opened to him a prospect which his most sanguine 
 expectations had never ventured to anticipate : in- 
 stead of any further attempt to obtain ordination 
 
 ♦ God shall be my all in all. 
 
rKKTARLS rt)R MI.MSTKY. 47 
 
 for him under his present circumstances, Mr. Thorn- 
 ton determined to send him to the University of 
 Cambridge at his o\tri expense ; that he might thus 
 enter the churcli witli every possible advantage, 
 ind be prepared for a liigher and more extensive 
 sphere of usefulness than any for which he could 
 otherwise be qualified. This resolution was scarce- 
 ly less honorable to the character of Mr. Buchanan 
 than to the liberality of his patron, whose discrimi- 
 nating judgment aftbrded no slight presumption in 
 favor of any one to whom his protection was ex- 
 tended, and whose penetration was, in the present 
 instance, amply justified by the event. 
 
 Early in the month of September Mr. Buchanan 
 communicated to his mother, and his friend Mr. 
 Newton, who was still in the country, the joyful 
 news of Mr. Thornton's munificent intention. He 
 had been so much depressed by the failure of for- 
 mer plans, and the present offer so far exceeded 
 any hopes which he had indulged, that he was at 
 first almost tempted to think it a delusion ; but on 
 Mr. Thornton's assuring him personally of the reali- 
 ty of the proposal, which he appears to have orisri- 
 nally made to him by letter, he received it with 
 those mingled feelings of gratitude and humility 
 which were the surest pledges that the benevolent 
 exertions of his patron would not be made in vain. 
 
 " I was emancipated," he writes to Mr. Newton, 
 
48 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " from the law a few days ago, and am now will- 
 ing to enter into the eternal bonds of the Gospel. 
 I have been endeavoring to arrange my studies, in 
 some measure, preparatory to my going to Cam- 
 bridge ; but I find so much to do, that I know not 
 where to begin. I wish to devote my greatest at- 
 tention to the Bible, and am desirous of adopting 
 some regular plan in studying it; but I cannot 
 please myself, and I am a perfect stranger to the 
 system which is usually followed. The Bible ap- 
 pears to me like a confused heap of polished stones 
 prepared for a building, which must be brought 
 together, and each of them fitted to its place be- 
 fore the proportion and symmetry of the temple 
 appear. I would fain hope that the foundation- 
 stone is laid with me ; but the raising of the super- 
 structure appears an arduous undertaking, and the 
 pinnacle of the temple is quite out of sight, even 
 in idea. I conjectured that probably the articles 
 and creeds of the church contain the first principles 
 of the oracles of God ; and on this presumption I 
 have begun to prove all the articles of my faith by 
 Scripture. Whether I am right in this mode of 
 study I know not. 
 
 " I never felt myself in more need of divine di- 
 rection than now. When I consider myself so evi- 
 dently called forth on the Lord's side, my heart is 
 lUint ; and I am apt to say, ' Who is sufficient for 
 these things V I find I am unable to go through 
 
rRCPAUES rOR MIMSTRY. 49 
 
 the important studies before me, unless I am led 
 <5very step. At present it appears to me that my 
 sole business at the university is contained in one 
 line of St. Paul, ' to be enriched with all utterance, 
 »nd all knowledge ;' or in other words, ' to be elo- 
 quent, and mighty in the Scriptures;' which are 
 isaid to have been the accomplishments of the 
 preacher ApoUos. But I find that 1 must attend to 
 various branches of human learning, for which at 
 present I have no relish. Alas ! sir, if St. Paul had 
 «ent Timothy and Titus to such a college as this, 
 ihey would have complained to him of such a plan. 
 But he would perhaps have answered, as he does 
 Bomevvhere, ' Till I come, give attendance to read- 
 ing' — ' that ye may know how ye ought to answer 
 every man.' " 
 
 The sentiment expressed in the latter part of the 
 preceding extract will not appear extraordinary to 
 ihose who consider the state of Mr. Buchanan's 
 mind at this period, and the one great object which 
 &e had in view in accepting Mr. Thornton's offer of 
 i, university education. The same train of thought 
 occurs in his next letter to Mr. Newt(m ; and al- 
 though he afterwards acquiesced, upon principle, in 
 the usual course of university studies, it may not 
 De without its use to develope somewhat more fully 
 nis present dispositions and feelings. 
 
 Bucbauan. ^ 
 
50 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCIIAAAN, 
 
 •' Permit me," he observes to bis first excellent 
 friend, " to thank yoii for your letter. It is a mark 
 of your regard, of which I am unworthy, and has 
 affixed a seal to the truth of your interest in my 
 welfare, which I hope will never be broken. Liko 
 Hezekiah, I spread it before the Lord, but with a 
 different purpose ; not to avert a curse, but to im- 
 prove a blessing. The words in Hezckiali's letter 
 were * to reproach the living God ;' but the words 
 in ray letter were to assure me that his name is 
 hve ; that he is very gracious, and that I should 
 serve him with a cheerful heart. I have prayed that 
 I may be enabled to do so. Your letter is a silent 
 monitor, wdiich I hope at the university often to 
 consult. It will, I trust, serve as a counterpoise to 
 the parade of worldly wisdom, and teach me to re- 
 verse the motto of the schools, Ubi fldlosophus 
 cessat, illic incipit theologus* Chrysostom was of 
 your opinion ; he says, Owcv a-apia, Geow, cvkcti xi^'^ 
 aod-i^coTTivusA 1 think' SO too ; but I also think that the 
 fault is not in the studies, but in the manner of 
 pursuing them. If a student could wed himself to 
 the Bible, and court the sciences merely as hand- 
 maids to her, I think this would do very well ; but 
 when we are seized by the cacocthes philosojyhandiX 
 
 * Where the philo;?opher ends, the theologian begins. 
 t Where the wisdom of God L>«, human wisdom will nor 
 be wantingf, 
 X Thirst of philosophy. 
 
PREPARE! FOR IIINISTRT. 61 
 
 and devote ourselves to what Luther calls the idohi 
 carnalium studiorum* our taste becomes vitiated. 
 Since I received your letter 1 have seeu something 
 of this. 
 
 " I was introduced yesterday to the acquaintance 
 of a clergyman's son, who has been two years at 
 
 • college, Cambridge. His father, I understand, 
 
 sent him to that college that he might be under the 
 care of religious tutors. From this account I hoped 
 to find him a suitable companion ; but I soon dis- 
 covered that he had no inclination to talic of divi- 
 nity, or of any thing that bore relation to it. His 
 whole conversation turned on experimental philo- 
 sophy and mathematics. I have not seen a young 
 man so mathematic-mad in my life. During the 
 whole evening I spent with him, his head was (as 
 Omicron expresses it) continually wool-gathering 
 after rhomboids and parallelograms. He assures 
 me that if I do not study mathematics very dili- 
 gently, I shall have no chance, at the end of my 
 course, of obtaining * the honors.' I told him than 
 I had heard college fame was very intoxicating ; 
 that perhaps it might be prudent to sip gently of 
 it ; and that, as for myself, if I could pass my ex- 
 amination with a mediocrity of applause, I should 
 be content. He observed that seven hours a day 
 studying mathematics would be sufficient for t/iat. 
 
 * Idolatry of science. 
 
52 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " How much reason is there for that ' double 
 guard of prayer and close walking with God ' 
 which you mention, in order that I may be ena- 
 bled to pass through this fire unhurt ! It is happy 
 for me that I am not under my own guidance. It 
 seems it is necessary for me to be somewhat, 
 ' learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians ;' but I 
 trust it is that I may be able to see and set forth 
 ' the wisdom that is from above ' in a more trans- 
 cendent light. 
 
 " The method you propose for my studying the 
 Bible approves itself much to my judgment, and 
 I desire to follow it. I have begun it this day in a 
 solemn manner. O that my ardor for contemplating 
 the truths of Scripture may never abate ! 
 
 " What you say of a daily retrospect of my past 
 life is an instructive lesson. Is it possible that for 
 forty years it should have been so with you ] 1 
 fear I shall come far short of this ; and yet how 
 much reason have I to sing of the mercies of the 
 Lord all the day long 1 Is there any one of hi? 
 children who is more indebted to him as the God 
 of providence and of grace than I am 1 Who can 
 ' sing of mercy and of judgment ' as I can, when 
 I remember him from the land of my nativity, al^ 
 the way by which I have been led 1 How few ar<» 
 there who would believe that a man could be found 
 capable of displaying so extraordinary an act of 
 munificence as that with which Mr. Thornton is 
 
FREPARES FOR MiriSTRT. ;5.1 
 
 now honoring rne ? "Were I possessed of both th« 
 Indies I could scarcely do more for myself than ho 
 is now doing. And how unworthy I am of all this ] 
 When I think of these things, it is the grief of my 
 heart that I cannot more admire and love that gra- 
 cious Saviour, who has so highly favored me. As 
 yet I have a very imperfect view of what I have 
 passed through ; but I trust these things will be 
 shown me as I shall be able to bear them. 
 
 " Mr. Thornton intends that I shall go to Queen's 
 college ; chiefly, I believe, because he is acquaint- 
 ed with the President, Rev. Isaac Milner, D. D. 
 and thinks that circumstance may be advantageous 
 to me. I am happy to hear so favorable an account 
 of Cambridge. It will be an encouragement for 
 me to maintain my ground when I see some around 
 me who dare to be singular. It shall be my endea- 
 vor to attend to your advice with respect to my 
 conduct to my superiors. I shall often pray to be 
 endued with a meek and quiet spirit ; and endea- 
 vor implicitly to comply with every rule and every 
 injunction in the university, for the Lord's sake.'* 
 
 6« 
 
54; MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Residence at Cambridge Iniversity, 
 
 Such were the views with which, in the autumn 
 of 1791, Mr. Buchanan was admitted a member of 
 Queen's college, Cambridge. " The day of my 
 leaving London," he observes in a letter to his 
 brother, " was very solemn. It was on Monday, 
 the 24th of October, exactly four years and two 
 months since my entering that city. But with 
 what a different spirit did I leave it, compared 
 with that with which I entered it ! Had 1 seen at 
 that time, in the book of providence, all that I was 
 about to do and to suffer in that city, I suppose I 
 should hardly have dared to approach it : but God 
 wisely conceals from us a knowledge of the future. 
 
 " On the morning and evening preceding my 
 leaving London, I was earnest in prayer for a 
 blessing on my intended journey and its conse- 
 quences. One request in particular was, that I 
 might be favored with the acquaintance of some 
 pious companions in my studies. To this prayer I 
 had an early answer. A gentleman set out with 
 me from London in the same coach for Cambridge. 
 He studied two seasons at Glasgow, as I did; 
 then, like me, passed some years in vanity ; and 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 55 
 
 now comes to the university to qualify himself for 
 preacliing Clirist, as I hope I do. This singular 
 similarity in our circumstances occasioned a liap- 
 piness of which none but ourselves could partake." 
 With a modesty and regard to frugality which 
 reflect upon him much credit. Mr. Buchanan was 
 at first disposed to enter as a sizer ; but upon the 
 representations of the tutors, and of the friends to 
 whom he had been recommended, he determined 
 on being admitted as a pensioner. In a letter to 
 Mr. Newton, written soon after his arrival at Cam- 
 bridge, he very feelingly describes the perplexity 
 which he had anticipated from the contrariety of 
 the studies to which he was called, to the prevail- 
 ing dispositions of his mind. Until he was actually 
 at college he cherished the hope of being permit- 
 ted to devote his chief attention to divinity, and to 
 the mathematics only secondarily. But he found 
 that the reverse was expected from him ; and that 
 the excellent friends, to whom his patron had in- 
 troduced him, were quite as strenuous as his tutors 
 in representing to him the necessity of complying 
 with the established course of study in the uni- 
 versity. Independently of the repugnance which 
 Mr. Buchanan felt to this plan from the ])eculiarly 
 serious frame of his mind at this period, he feared 
 that by yielding to it he should disappoint the ex- 
 pectations of the friends who had sent him tf) 
 Cambridge, and eventually frustrate the great ob- 
 
56 MEMOIR OF DR. nUCnAXAN. 
 
 ject which he and they mutually had in view. The 
 comparatively advanced age, too, at w^hich he en- 
 tered, the university, would naturally tend to 
 strengthen this apprehension, and to dispose him 
 to dedicate his time exclusively to theological pur- 
 suits. The state of doubt and uneasiness produced 
 by these circumstances affected both his spirits 
 and his health ; but after stating the reasonings of 
 his Cambridge friends, and his own feelings and. 
 inclinations, he expressed to his respected corres- 
 pondent his resolution to follow that course of con- 
 duct, which, after mature deliberation, should ap- 
 pear to him to be the path of duty. 
 
 In the case of students in general, entering at 
 the usual period at either university with a view to 
 the clerical office, however religiously they may 
 be disposed, there can be no doubt either as to 
 the duty or the wisdom of devoting their chief 
 attention to the prescribed studies of the place. A 
 competent acquaintance with the learned langua- 
 ges, and with the stores of historical and ethical 
 knowledge which they contain ; the principles of 
 sound reasoning, and the elements, at least, of 
 seneral science, are essential to the formation of 
 an enlightened and able theologian. The basis of 
 such a character must, indeed, be deeply laid in ar». 
 experimental acquaintance with real religion ; and 
 it were devoutly to be wished that this wera 
 always considered an indispensable qualificatior 
 
XT CAMDRIDUE. 57 
 
 in the candidate for the ministry, and that more 
 effectual encouragements and facilities were af- 
 forded in our universities for its attainment. But 
 if to the spirit of piety be not added tlie advanta- 
 ges which are to be derived from the wise and 
 temperate pursuit of human learning, there is 
 great danger that religion itself will suffer in the 
 hands of those who are thus unprepared to teach, 
 to defend, and to adorn it. In the present instance, 
 Mr. Buchanan was already possessed of such a 
 share of learning as might have been sufficient to 
 qualify him for the discharge of the ordinary du- 
 ties of a christian minister ; but it was obviously 
 desirable that this should be strengthened and en- 
 larged by fresh accessions at the seat of science, to 
 which the providence of God had so remarkably 
 conducted him. Nor was it long before his judg- 
 ment was convinced by the arguments of his 
 friends, that the very honor of religion required 
 his acquiescence in such a measure ; and that, 
 however the a]>pointed studies of the university 
 might appear to be foreign to the important pur- 
 pose for which he had entered it, they would ulti- 
 mately tend in the most effectual manner to pro- 
 mote it. Among those who concurred in this sa- 
 lutary advice was Mr. Newton himself; and to 
 him Mr. Buchanan early in the following year an- 
 nounced his disposition to yield to their sugges- 
 tions. 
 
6S MEMOIR or DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " I think," he observes, " that ray way is clearer 
 than it was, and I hope soon to have little doubt of 
 my path of duty at college. Your letter helped to 
 pave the way for me. I have now taken up the 
 study of the mathematics ex animo, that is, from a 
 persuasion that God wills it. And for them I have 
 made a sacrifice of some other studies truly dear 
 to me. I tried, for a time, to continue them both, 
 but I found it impossible ; so that now, that por- 
 tion of the day which I have set apart for divine 
 things is extremely short, compared with what I 
 once thought it would be ; and yet I dare not tell 
 some of my friends here that it is so long." 
 
 It will be readily imagined that Mr. Buchanan 
 had various difficulties to encounter on commencing 
 his academical course. He had indeed been re- 
 ceived by the Vice-President, in the absence of 
 Dr. Milner, and by the tutors, with much attention 
 and kindness ; but having been entirely unacquaint- 
 ed with the mathematics before his entrance at col- 
 lege, it was only by hard study that he could con- 
 trive to keep pace with the lectures. " I once 
 thought," he says, " that I should have been oblig- 
 ed to acknowledge my inability, and to have fallen 
 behind, and was wishing for the last day of term 
 as eagerly as ever truant did for a holiday. How 
 ever, I was enabled to keep my ground, and my 
 difficulties were never known, even to my tutor 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 5Q 
 
 This vacation will give me room to have some lit- 
 tle beforehand ; so that I hope to pass with more 
 ease and credit through the succeeding terms." 
 
 From the time of his coming to college, accord- 
 •ng to the information of a contemporary friend, 
 Mr. Buchanan was exceedingly regular and studi- 
 ous, keeping but little company, for the sake, he 
 supposes, of economy, both as to expense and time. 
 
 His situation, too, was at first peculiarly unplea- 
 eant, from finding scarcely a single companion 
 whose sentiments and habits were cong^enial with 
 his own. His indisposition to general visits even 
 rendered him the subject of much animadversion. 
 But from this trial he was shortly relieved by the 
 praise which he received from his tutor for a Latin 
 theme, the composition of which, though he had 
 written nothing in that language for some years, 
 was pronounced to be superior to that of any other 
 student. He was in consequence treated with much 
 additional respect by his fellow-collegians, was al- 
 lowed to visit them upon his own terms, and even 
 received several applications to assist them in their 
 studies, which served as a stimulus to his own ex- 
 ertions. 
 
 No sooner, however, had Mr. Buchanan deter- 
 mined on the diligent pursuit of his academical 
 studies, than the wakeful spirit of piety by which 
 he was animated made him anxious to o:i5ard 
 
60 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAxNAN. 
 
 against the possible dangers to vvbich such a plan 
 might expose hira. For this purpose he cultivated 
 the acquaintance of the more serious students at 
 different colleges ; and at his solicitation they 
 agreed to meet regularly for the purpose of read- 
 ing the New Testament, and conversing practical- 
 ly upon some chapter which had been selected. 
 Their meetings were begun and ended with prayer. 
 Mr. Buchanan was also invited to spend an hour 
 on Sunday evenings at the rooms of one excellent 
 person,* who has been distinguished during many 
 years for his active and zealous support of religion 
 in Cambridge, and to whom a numerous body of 
 clerical and other students have been successively 
 indebted for the most important instruction and 
 encouragement during their academical progress. 
 Of the kindness of this gentleman, and of the be- 
 nefit which he derived from his conversation and 
 example, Mr. Buchanan wrote to more than one 
 of his friends in terms of the highest respect and 
 gratitude. 
 
 " These engagements," he says to one of them, 
 *' prove something of a counterbalance to the ef- 
 fects of human learning, and preserve my mind 
 from being wholly absorbed in philosophy and me- 
 taphysics. Besides," and the remark affords a strik- 
 ing proof of the sobriety as well as fervor of his 
 
 * The late Rev. Charles Simeon. 
 
AT cAMnRincr. 61 
 
 piety, " I have the opport unity, every morning and 
 t^vening, of attending chapel prayers, which, of it- 
 fcelf, I consider a great blessing." 
 
 " I often meditate," he adds, " on the vanity of 
 life, and the insufficiency of the world to confer 
 iiappiness. Were I assured of my interest in the 
 Kedeemer, I should long for my departure. What 
 is there to detain me here ? I have no tie to this 
 world, no earthly possession, no person, if I except 
 my mother, for whose sake I desiie to live, no idol 
 of any hind. What then should induce me to lin- 
 ger here, groaning, as I do daily, with sin, and 
 combating a powerful spiritual enemy ] Nothing 
 ought to urge me to stay, but a desire to promote 
 the glory of God among men. But this desire is 
 with me so weak at present, as scarcely to deserve 
 the name. It is but a spark. This is my unhappi- 
 ness. Yet the goodness of God may, in his own 
 ume, fan it into a flame." 
 
 Such was the resolution with which Mr. Bu- 
 chanan engaged in the study of the mathematics, 
 that at the close of his second term he found him- 
 self inferior to none in the lecture-room. He had, 
 at the same time, though contrary to the usual cus- 
 tom, paid equal attention to the classical and logical 
 lectures ; but very reasonably doubted whether he 
 should be able to continue the same application to 
 so many different objects. 
 
 Buchanan. ^ 
 
62 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Your good sense," he says to one of his cor- 
 respondents, " will show you, when reflecting on 
 my present situation, that I have much need of that 
 wisdom which is profitable to direct. Weak in spi- 
 rit, weak in body, and beset by hard study, which 
 I know by experience to be a weariness to the 
 flesh, what can I do but commit myself and all my 
 cares to Him who hath hitherto cared for me, and 
 will lead me, though blind, by a way I know not % 
 By such a way is he now leading me. I know not 
 whither his goodness is conducting me : I trust it 
 is to his service : and yet there is such an ocean of 
 mathematics and abstruse study which intervenes 
 between me and usefulness in the ministry, that, 
 like the Israelites, I stand on the sea-shore think- 
 ing it impossible to get over ; but I think also that 
 I hear the Lord by his providence, which introdu- 
 ced me to the studies of this place, say, ' Go for- 
 ward.' This I am resolved to do till his goodness 
 illuminate my mind, so that I shall be enabled to 
 discover the errors (if any) of my path. If any, 
 did I say 1 I know that there are many ; but I 
 need grace to abandon them when I see them ; I 
 hope Cambridge University will prove a good 
 school of Christ to me. I knew little of myself till 
 1 came here." 
 
 Notwithstanding his complaint as to the unfa- 
 vorable eflect of his studies upon his devotional 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 6j 
 
 feelings, he occasionally experienced very different 
 and more pleasing impressions. 
 
 " I ought," he observes, writing to Mr. Newton 
 not long afterwards, " to thank you for your letter. 
 There is an indescribable something which per- 
 vades the whole of it, and seems to intimate that 
 all is peace and tranquillity within the mind of the 
 writer. What an enviable frame of spirit does lie 
 possess who walks with God ! About a fortnight 
 ago a dawn of that light, with which I suppose the 
 Lord irradiates the souls of those that walk with 
 him, shone upon my mind, and by its lustre showed 
 me some things I had not seen before. I prayed 
 often that this impression of love might not leave 
 me. But, alas ! it did leave me ; no doubt it was 
 my own fault. I would walk three times round the 
 globe to attain it again : but no such great thing is 
 required of me ; I have only to believe : n/s-Tjya, 
 
 " After what you have said on the subject of dis 
 appointment, I am resolved never to be disappoint- 
 ed. But it is a resolution which I fear I cannot keep. 
 Let me pray for grace. If I possessed this foun- 
 tain, all the streams would be mine ; and among 
 the rest, the christian grace of considering nothing 
 in the providence of God a disappointment." 
 
 • Lord, I believe, help thou my uabelief." 
 
64 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCUAXAX. 
 
 On the approacli of the long vacation, Mr. Bu- 
 chanan had some thoughts of spending a few weeks 
 at Lynn, in Norfolk, for the benefit of his health, 
 which had been impaired by his close application 
 to study. 
 
 Mr. Newton had also invited hiin to pass a part 
 of the vacation in London ; and in the letter which 
 conveyed this invitation, an extract from which 
 Mr. Buchanan communicated to his brother, his 
 kind friend expressed himself as follows : 
 
 " Our acquaintance was providential indeed ! 
 but it is a providence for which I hope ever to be 
 thankful ; and to account it one of the chief honors 
 and pleasures of my life, to have been made in- 
 strumental in bringing you forward. May you be 
 kept in the mind you express, to prefer ' a grain 
 of humility to a mountain of gold ;* and you will 
 be like the tree described in the first Psalm, and 
 Jeremiah 17, when my head is laid in the dust. I 
 hear well of you from all quarters." 
 
 The relaxation, however, thus proposed, both in 
 Norfolk and London, as well as the offer of an ex- 
 cursion with a Cambridge friend, Mr. Buchanan, 
 with commendable self-denial, thought it most ex- 
 pedient to decline, and determined on accepting 
 the indulgence granted him of remaining in college 
 during the whole vacation. 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 65 
 
 " It would be very pleasing," lie says, '* to make 
 a short tour with a proper companion ; but I think 
 I could not do it without danger to myself. If I 
 were somewhat advanced in the christian life, and 
 more stable in the way of truth, I perhaps might ; 
 but at present I cannot, I dare not trust the deceit- 
 fulness of my own heart. In the retirement of a 
 college I am unable to suppress evil thoughts and 
 vain wishes ; how then must it be abroad 1 Besides, 
 I find that the art of study is difficult to attain. I 
 must serve a long apprenticeship to it ere I am a 
 good proficient. The greatest danger lies in break- 
 ing the thread of attention. On whatever study my 
 mind is fixed, that study I can with pleasure re- 
 sume ; but if an interval of a. day intervene, my at- 
 tention is disengaged. I am conscious that I have 
 lost a day as to that study, and find it irksome to 
 begin de novo. But if instead of a day, an interval 
 of a week or month should intervene, it would be 
 a herculean labor to resume it j and nothing could 
 smooth the way but a conviction that the interrup- 
 tion was from necessity ; then, indeed, my duty 
 would remove the obstacle. 
 
 " That you may have some idea of the nature of 
 my present studies, I shall subjoin the calendar 
 of a day. 
 
 i after 4 to 8, Devotional Studies. 
 
 8 to 9, Breakfast and Recreation. 
 
 6* 
 
66 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 9 to 2, Mathematics. 
 
 2 to 4, Dinner and Recreation. 
 
 4 to G, Classics. 
 
 6 to 7, Enji^agements, or Recreation. 
 
 7 to 9, Classics, or Logic, &c. 
 9 to 10, Devotional Studies. 
 
 10 to i after 4, Sleep." 
 
 Few persons would be disposed to think, on 
 reviewing the preceding distribution of his time, 
 that Mr. Buchanan had, at this early period of his 
 academical course, assigned too small a portion to 
 studies directly connected with his future profes- 
 sion. This is, however, the reflection which he im- 
 mediately suggests to his friend ; expressing his 
 fears, which were certainly groundless, lest his pa- 
 tron should say that he had not sent him to Cam- 
 bridge to learn geometry; and, above all, lest the 
 science which he was thus diligently pursuing 
 should not ultimately reward him. It would, in- 
 deed, he says, be distressing to him to appear un- 
 qualified for his office as a preacher; " but then I 
 hope," he adds, " I sliall make more commendable 
 proficiency in my divine studies when I undertake 
 them. This hope alone enables me to persevere in 
 my present course." 
 
 *' I apprehend," continues he, " that a student 
 should lahor as for his daily broad ; not choosing 
 the study he may like best, for then it would be no 
 labor^ but learning the great lesson of self-denial 
 
AT CAMHRIDCE. 67 
 
 by taking up the study he likes least, if it be best 
 for him. If I can by nine hours' study a day serve 
 my heavenly Master as faithfully as I served Mr. 
 D , I think he will give me my hire." 
 
 Having received a paternal reply from Rev. Mr. 
 Newton, he again thus writes to his venerable 
 friend : 
 
 " Rather than you should have a moment's un- 
 easiness lest the purity of my heart should be taint- 
 ed by mathematics, I would throw every mathe- 
 matical book I have into the fire. For, compared 
 with the word of truth, they are as dross to fine 
 gold. In a certain degree they may be useful, and 
 to that degree I would desire them ; and I hope to 
 be led so far, and no farther. At first I disliked 
 them ; but considering them as a nauseous medicine 
 which might do me some good, I took them up. 
 You, too, bade me. After a while they became 
 more palatable, and at length a pleasing study. 
 For this I was exceedingly thankful, as they were 
 in the way of my duty. But now, as I have arrived 
 at a certain length in them, and have in view very 
 soon to enter on an important office which requires 
 much preparation, 1 think it will be right — not to 
 relinquish them wholly — but so to circumscribe 
 them, and my other academical exercises, as to 
 afford me a considerable proportion of the day (the 
 
68 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 half, if possible) for ' the preparation of the Gospel 
 of peace/ 
 
 " I do not mean to put this sudden resolution 
 into practice till I know whether it be right. From 
 some experience, I know myself to be weak, inju- 
 dicious, inconstant, changeable. I shall therefore 
 prosecute my studies as usual, till I hear from you. 
 Having acquired somewhat of a reputation for my 
 attention to college studies, if I can preserve it, it 
 will be a desirable thing ; if not, I cannot help it ; 
 I willingly sacrifice it to 'a better name.' 
 
 " You do me great honor in the proposal you 
 have made. I would rather serve you in your old 
 age than a sceptre-bearing king. But I much fear 
 that my services at so early a period will be weak 
 and inadequate. It is like taking a babe out of his 
 cradle to support the steps of his aged parent. 
 But I am in God's hands : whatever he sees fit for 
 me to do, I hope he will incline my heart and 
 enable me to do it. But as I cannot expect that 
 he will work a miracle by qualifying me for his 
 service at once, it is certainly my duty to resort to 
 the means noiVy and i:>ray for his blessing on his 
 own studies. Surely I ought not to procrastinate. 
 
 *' You ask me whether I would prefer preach- 
 ing the Gospel to the fame of learning % Ay, that 
 would I, gladly. Were I convinced it was the will 
 of God that I should depart this night for Nova 
 Zembla, or the antipodes, to testify of Him, I 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 ^i 
 
 would not wait for an audit, or a college exit. 
 There is nothing to be found here to satisfy my 
 mind. There are indeed many gaudy vanities of 
 specious appearance, pleasing to my fleshly eye ; 
 but if 1 know my own heart, the Lord Jesus is at 
 this moment more lovely to me than the loveliest 
 object which the eye can see or fancy paint. And 
 though I know him not as I could wish, yet is ho 
 precious. He is that pearl which I would willingly 
 buy at the price of all the laurels which science 
 ever bore. But I speak this in his strength. I 
 wish not to be tried with wealth, honor, or the 
 applause of men. A laurel even in preaching the 
 Gospel might intoxicate my brain, and drown ray 
 humble dependence on God in Lethe. Then, like 
 Lucifer, should 1 preach humility ! Lord, ray af- 
 fections are ?iow in thy possession. O, keep them 
 there ! 
 
 "You ask me what are my views ? Dear sir, 
 what views can I have 1 God has his views con- 
 cerning me : I have none. Tie best knows why he 
 brought me hither : I know not. Once I used to 
 think, that as he had wrought so wondrously for 
 me, he surely meant me for an eminent preacher 
 of the Gospel. Pride dictated this. I now have no 
 such high thoughts of myself. 1 am in some de- 
 gree sensible, that if I ever serve the Lord at all, 
 I shall be one of his weakest servants. Nor are 
 these mere disqualifying speeches. 1 have reason 
 
70 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAXAJC. 
 
 to fear that I am much more deficient than you 
 apprehend. Nevertheless, with all my defects, I 
 know the divine power. I have laid my hand to 
 the plough ; he can make me useful! 
 
 " You desire to know whether I would accept 
 ordination before I take my degree, if it could be 
 procured 1 Yes, without any hesitation, if I thought 
 it was the will of God. Were I to submit it to our 
 friends here, they would unanimously dissuade it ; 
 but I do not feel myself at liberty to consult them. 
 In order to have it in my power to assist you as 
 soon as possible, I would gladly receive ordination 
 before the prescribed time ; but in that case I should 
 desire immediately to alter my plan of study, and 
 prepare myself a little, who need so much prepa- 
 ration. 
 
 " If my purpose of beginning the studies of di- 
 vinity be proper and practicable, could you give 
 me the outline of what you conceive to be best 
 worthy my attention m primordio ?* Mr. S. I 
 know, will also be glad to lend me every assist- 
 ance. 
 
 " A new desire of preaching the Gospel has cer- 
 tainly sprung up in my heart, accompanied by 
 ideas I do not recollect to have had before. I 
 hope it is no delusion. As yet it has produced 
 noble effects on my heart and views. But in a 
 
 ♦ As first in order. 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 7l 
 
 month's time I shall be better able to say whether 
 it be of God or no." 
 
 Though it can scarcely be doubted that con- 
 tinued and exclusive efforts would have rendered 
 Mr. Buchanan successful in the competition for 
 academical honors ; there are but few, perhap?, 
 who, under all the circumstances of his case, will 
 not consider him as having piously, if not wisely 
 judged, in abandoning that flattering pursuit; and 
 in resolving to devote a larger proportion of his 
 time to studies more congenial to his taste and 
 feelings, and more directly subservient to his 
 ultimate destination. 
 
 At the close of the long vacation, Mr. Buchanan 
 accordingly communicated this determination to 
 Mr. Newton. 
 
 " I fear, however," he says, " that it will be dif- 
 ficult for me to conceal the change, as I must un- 
 dergo two examinations next year, which will 
 abundantly scrutinize my proficiency ; besides, I 
 have many competitors, who will exult when they 
 see me halt. But I tnjst I shall be enabled to make 
 every necessary sacrifice. What is my fame com- 
 pared with that of the Gospel % My desire is, that 
 my light may so shine before men, that they seeing 
 my good works, may glorify my Father who is in 
 heaven." 
 
72 MEMOIR or PR. BUCHANAN', 
 
 The continuation of tliis letter shows the since- 
 rity of this profession, and the anxiety which Mr. 
 Buchanan felt to fulfil it. 
 
 " How happy should I be, did I always know 
 what these good works are. It is strange that I 
 should err when I have the Bible to direct me ; 
 but I find that it requires much of divine teaching 
 to apply the general rules of Scripture to particu- 
 lar cases. For instance, I would gladly know 
 whether it is the will of God that I should asso- 
 ciate with my fellow-students more than I do. 
 Whether I ought to separate myself, or mingle 
 with them, endeavor to obtain some weight among 
 them, and correct their manners, and seek oppor- 
 tunities of speaking for God. Some of them, per- 
 haps, never heard the terms of the Gospel in their 
 lives. If I were * wise as a serpent,' I might possi- 
 bly, under God, entwine some of them in the net of 
 the Gospel. Of late this subject has been much on 
 my mind, and I have been earnest in prayer that I 
 may be made useful to some of them. At my rooms 
 they have always acted with the strictest decorum ; 
 scarcely a faulty word has .been spoken ; and I 
 know not but I might have been a restraint upon 
 them at their own. My principal reason for resist- 
 ing their frequent invitations, is a fear lest I should 
 lose time in idle conversation, or be unawares led 
 into undue compliances. This latter operated much 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 73 
 
 "Witli me. I have been surprised that my conduct 
 did not draw upon me their opon reproach. But 
 the Lord ' tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.* 
 Last year I was extremely weak, ill-grounded in 
 the truth, arfd perhaps should have sunk under 
 much opposition. During- this vacation I trust I have 
 obtained more spiritual strength ; and perhaps 1 
 shall soon have occasion to exercise it." 
 
 Li compliance with his request, Mr. Newton 
 had recommended several books to Mr. Buchanan 
 for the commencement of his theoloojical studies. 
 To this point he therefore next refers. 
 
 " I propose to confine myself to three branches 
 of divinity during the following year ; namely, the 
 Bible, Bishop Pearson on the Creed, and Mr. Si- 
 meon's Lectures on Revealed Religion. He went 
 through a course of natural religion last year. My 
 reason for beginning with Pearson is, because Dr. 
 Hey gives public lectures on that author, which I 
 wish to attend, if my college avocations permit.'* 
 
 • 
 In addition to the motives which have been al- 
 ready stated for relaxation in his mathematical 
 studies, Mr. Buchanan again mentions in this let- 
 ter the importance of health. '^^ I see," he observes, 
 " many around me Vv^hose usefulness is abridged 
 by the want of it. Mr. L. and Mr. R. men of abi- 
 
 Buclianaii. » 
 
74 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAXA.\', 
 
 lity, are both lying hy. I begin to think, that if, at 
 the expiration of my academic course, I have good 
 health, some knowledge of the Bible, and some 
 zeal, I may prove as useful as some who have 
 great abilities, great eloquence, and — an asthma !" 
 
 The paragraph immediately following contains 
 the first specific intimation of the important and 
 interesting sphere of ministerial labor to which 
 the providence of God was conducting him. 
 
 '' Mr. and Mrs. G. passed through Cambridge 
 lately. Mr. S. and I dined and supped with them. 
 I hope the conversation of that evening was useful 
 to me. From hearing various accounts of the apos- 
 tolic spirit of some missionaries to the Indies, and 
 of the extensive field for preaching the Gospel 
 there, I was led to desire that I might be well 
 qualified for such a department, in case God should 
 intend me for it. Hence the origin of my three de- 
 siderata above mentioned — scripture knowledge, 
 some zeal, and srood health." 
 
 The subject of elocution is that to which Mr. 
 Buchanan next adverts in this letter : 
 
 I have read many codicils in my time, but I 
 never read any one with such pleasure as that an- 
 nexed to your letter. Do you think it possible that 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 75 
 
 I ever shall be able to preach extempore from the 
 pulpit 1 You know my defect in conversation. 1 
 scarcely know a person of any education who is so 
 much at a loss in ordinary expression as I am. My 
 fault is not that of Demosthenes, else there might 
 be hope of amendment. I have no natural defect 
 in the organs of speech ; but I can never find apt 
 words to express my ideas without much premedi- 
 tation. I have a pretty large stock of words in my 
 head, but they are seldom used : so that when I 
 am able to draw some of them out, they appear 
 quite strange to me. I fancy I have some hundreds 
 which I never used in my life. This partly arises 
 from our Scottish mode of education — reading 
 much and speaking little ; but chiefly, I suppose, 
 from my being secluded from society for so many 
 years. During my residence in London, I lived, 
 like the Spectator, in silence. My business was to 
 write, not to speak. Since my coming to Cam- 
 bridge, I have passed most of my time in silent 
 study. On an average I suppose I have not spoken 
 half an hour a day, including both lectures and 
 conversation. So you see that taciturnity is a dis- 
 ease in me ; an evil habit of five years' standing. 
 When a boy I could scold well enough, but 1 do 
 not think I could scold now. In conversation I am 
 naturally cheerful, and therefore I must speak, 
 whether I can do it well or ill : but I ascribe the pa- 
 tience of my company to my cheerfulness, not to 
 my diction. 
 
76 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Though I never mentioned it to you, there 
 has scarcely been a subject more on my mind, 
 since providence opened to me a view of the 
 pulpit, than this of public speaking. I was in hopes 
 that I should have had some opportunity of im- 
 provement at Cambridge, but I have none. Mr. S. 
 regrets that there is no person in Cambridge who 
 teaches elocution, and he regrets it much on my 
 account. He has kindly proposed to me to read to 
 him once a fortnight. This is my only resource at 
 present. I have little advantage from my college 
 companions. Most of them speak ill, and read 
 worse. All I can do is to read aloud by myself oc- 
 casionally. I am persuaded that it would be worth 
 a student's while to spend two or three hours a 
 day, for iome years previous to his entering into 
 the ministry, in the attainment of that accomplish- 
 ment which distinguished the preacher Apollos. I 
 have often thought how glad I should be if oratory 
 were introduced into my college-course instead of 
 mathematics. Mr. Thornton's desires on this head 
 should be an additional inducement to me to ap- 
 ply diligently to this study." 
 
 Though the peculiar circumstances of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan's birth and education may account for hia 
 complaint and anxiety upon the subject of elocu* 
 tion, it is but too notorious, that those who do not 
 labor under his disadvantages are frequently as de- 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 77 
 
 ficient, and not seldom much more so, in this im- 
 portant accomphshment. 
 
 He soon after says to Mr. Newton, " I have been 
 indulging myself a little in writing a sermon. It is 
 
 for Mr. S 's perusal ; that he may be able to 
 
 judge of my improvement, if I am spared to write 
 another next year. It is on the matter and manner 
 of a preacher of the Gospel : ' And he spake bold- 
 ly in the name of Jesus.' Acts, 9 : 29. I have just 
 
 delivered it to Mr. S . I fear he will think it 
 
 a rhapsody ; and what makes it worse, it is twenty- 
 seven pages long. I fancy that youthful sermon- 
 writers are generally at a loss how to begin, and 
 when they do begin, they know not where to stop." 
 
 At the close of the term he again writes : " I 
 have now done with all our lectures, and I am glad 
 of it. Though I found some things here and there 
 which flattered the earthly mind, and pleased vain- 
 glorious reason, yet in all my researches have I 
 found nothing like — ' Come unto me all ye that la- 
 bor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' 
 Perhaps your good memory will remind you that 
 I stole this idea from Archbishop Leighton. Agree- 
 ably to your recommendation, I am now reading 
 the Praelections of that good man : and I must say 
 that I have seldom met with such genuine Chris- 
 tianity in such a classical dress. 
 
 " The college have lately appointed me their 
 librarian. This is an office rather of trust than of 
 7* 
 
78 MEMOIR OF Dll. BUCHANAN. 
 
 emolument. My business is easily done, as I am 
 only required to give in an account of the state of 
 the library once a year. Many good divines of the 
 last century have found a place in it. Halyburton's 
 life has engaged my attention for a few days past. 
 His work on the Spirit" (which had probably 
 been recommended to him by Mr. Newton) " I 
 cannot find." 
 
 The following letter to Mr. Newton, dated May 
 30, 1793, conveys sentiments and consolations too 
 interesting to be omitted : 
 
 " It gives me great pleasure to hear that you 
 are still supported in health and strength sufficient 
 for the discharge of your ministerial labors. I hope 
 that you will continue to be refreshed abundantly 
 with the divine presence ; and I pray, that as your 
 body yields to weakness and the infirmities of age, 
 your spirit may derive new strength from our Re- 
 deemer's fulness. 
 
 " I sometimes find myself indulging a wish that 
 your experience in your evening hour may be sin- 
 gularly joyful to you ; and that your death may 
 preach as powerfully as your life has done. But I 
 believe self prompts us sometimes to too sanguine 
 expectations respecting our friends. Let us not 
 dictate, but wait and see the salvation of the Lord. 
 He will conduct you in the path n^ost suitable to 
 his own glory, your good, and our edification. 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 79 
 
 " We have lately had an illustrious instance of 
 God's goodness to his children at the hour of death. 
 
 Mrs. , of this place, was a woman of eminent 
 
 piety, cheerful in disposition, and of elegant man- 
 ners. She was but twenty-five years of age. I was 
 introduced to her family about a twelvemonth ago, 
 and have diligently cultivated her acquaintance 
 ever since. Soon after her rising from her confine- 
 ment, she discovered that she was in a rapid con- 
 sumption ; and in a few weeks the strength of the 
 malady seemed to forbid all hope of life. Her bo- 
 dily pains were extreme, so that she frequently 
 expressed a desire to be with the Lord ; but she 
 had yet two ties to earth — her husband and her 
 child. The child she was soon enabled to give up, 
 but the husband — this she confessed to be a trial 
 indeed. However, after strong cries and tears, she 
 obtained a victory here also. She afterwards re- 
 covered from a trial of another kind with an ani- 
 mating faith in her Redeemer's love, and an assur- 
 ance of the joy about to be revealed. This was on 
 Sunday morning at five o'clock. In half an hour 
 after, she intimated that her departure was at 
 hand. It was now that she experienced the truth 
 of the promise of dying strength for a dying hour. 
 For, though unable to speak, yet she discovered 
 her inward joy by such animation of countenance 
 as delighted her surrounding friends. And when 
 her mother and sister spoke to her of her approach- 
 
80 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ing happiness, her eyes seemed to glisten with 
 new fire. ' What a joyful Sabbath you will have 
 to-day,' said her sister. Her looks seemed to reply, 
 * A joyful Sabbath indeed; an eternal Sabbath!* 
 In a few minutes afterwards she waved her hand 
 in token of her abundant entrance into the joy of 
 her Lord. And like your dear E. C* she met 
 death with a smile, which kept possession of her 
 features until she was consigned to the grave. 
 
 " I would not have dwelt so long on this subject, 
 were it not that my esteem for the deceased was 
 great. 
 
 " Perhaps you would call it affectation, if I did 
 not tell you that the college have adjudged to me 
 the first prize for the best Latin declamation on 
 ' the stage.' 
 
 " I believe I must pass this summer out of Cam- 
 bridge. I think of going to London about the be- 
 ginning of July, that I may have a few lessons in 
 English pronunciation, in compliance with Mr. 
 Thornton's desire. 
 
 " I have been assaulted of late from various 
 quarters, both from without and from within ; but 
 I bless God, that while I pray over the Bible I 
 am enabled to triumph over my enemies. I delight 
 in the Bible. When my heart is melted within me< 
 and my soul sick with the combat between the 
 
 • Eliza Cunningham. See American Tract No. 83. 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 81 
 
 contempt of the ungodly and the remains of my 
 own pride, then the Bible affords a comfort no 
 other book can give." 
 
 In a similar strain as to his increasing love of 
 the Holy Scriptures, and in peculiarly strong and 
 lively terms as to the general state of his mind 
 concerning religion, he thus writes to the same 
 correspondent in the month of June following : 
 
 " I see you still have a godly jealousy over me, 
 respecting the bent of my studies. I must make 
 you easy on that head. I can now inform you that 
 the attention I pay to the classics or mathematics 
 is comparatively very little ; so little, that I some- 
 times fear that (in my present place) I neglect 
 them too much. And I can further inform you, and 
 I thank God for enabling me, that the cause of my 
 being thus lukewarm in these studies, is, that I 
 may redeem time for studying the Scriptures, the 
 value of which knowledge I see more and more. 
 At present I can read the Bible when I can read 
 nothing else. Some of my other studies are truly a 
 cross to me." 
 
 What an unquestionable proof of a spiritual 
 mind in an academical student is such a declara. 
 tion as this ! He thus continues : 
 
 " I dare not tell you what I am, but I can tell 
 you what I pray for. 
 
82 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " I pray that I may be content to be of no re- 
 putation among men, knowing that if I am truly 
 wise, I must become a fool among the ungodly ; 
 that I may patiently submit to indignity and re- 
 proach for Christ's sake, and that my whole life 
 may be devoted to his service ; that for this pur- 
 pose I may diligently improve the talent commit- 
 ted to me, however little it may be ; and that 
 when I go forth into the ministry, I may not seek 
 self, but Christ ; content to be unnoticed, dead to 
 the censure or applause of men, alive to God and 
 his concerns, and chiefly solicitous that my preach- 
 ing (however rude I may be in speech) may be 
 powerful in awakening souls. 
 
 " These are my prayers in 1793, as to the event 
 of my studies. I trust the Lord that he will keep 
 me ; that he will put his fear in my heart, that I 
 may not depart from him. 
 
 '* You talk to me of academical reputation and 
 dignity. If I were Regius Professor of Divinity 
 to-morrow, I would resign the dignity to any man 
 for a little brokenness of heart. The summit of 
 my ambition (if I know my own mind) is, to be 
 daily more conformed to Christ, to be enabled to 
 follow that great Sufferer, and to rejoice to be 
 counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake. 
 
 " As to my future situation in the ministry, to 
 which you allude at the close of your letter, that 
 subject is very little in my thoughts. God has done 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 88 
 
 the greater ; shall he not do the less ? If he means 
 me to preach his Gospel, then is the pulpit pre- 
 pared, and the flock which I must tend. At present 
 I feel ready to go wherever he pleases to send 
 me ; whether to India, America, New Holland, or 
 if there be any other land more remote. I have al- 
 ready seen life in various shapes ; and if I have 
 been enabled to bear with difficulties when without 
 God in the world, much more when engaged in his 
 service, aided by his Spirit and supported by his 
 presence. 
 
 " If the Lord will, I should be well pleased to 
 enter his service under your advice and example. 
 I hope that the first year I stay with you I shall 
 learn humility ; the second, humility ; the third, 
 humility. 
 
 " Mr. S. and Mrs. M. beg their love to you ; and 
 so does he, who is, with great respect and affec- 
 tion, yours." 
 
 The note inscribed by Mr. Newton on the pre- 
 ceding letter, strongly attests the pleasure with 
 which he perused it ; nor can it be generally read 
 without a lively impression of the glowing and de- 
 voted piety of its author. Two months afterwards 
 we find him in London, replying to a letter from 
 Mr. Newton, then in the country, in which his aged 
 friend, under the painful remembrance of the tran- 
 sitory nature of eaithly enjoyments, though by no 
 
84 MEMOIR OF DR. RfCHANAN. 
 
 means in the spirit of disappointment and conrl* 
 plaint, had declared that of a happiness which had 
 subsisted forty years, nothing then remained but 
 the recollection ; that the years he had passed, 
 blessed as they had been by the sunshine of pro- 
 vidence and grace, might be numbered with the 
 years before the flood. After dwelling on the war- 
 fare which he found it necessary to wage between 
 ^^ spiritual self and carnal self," he says : 
 
 " Co7iiinunion tvith God, in private prayer, is, I 
 conceive, the best strengthener of the soul ; and 
 communion with the world is its greatest weakener. 
 The result, then, appears to be this t To dedicate 
 as much time as possible to acts of communion 
 with God. But Archbishop Leighton says, that the 
 desire of this sacred communion grows with its 
 exercise. Every encouragement, therefore, is held 
 out to this mode of attack and defence, since plea- 
 sure Und profit conspire to recommend it. Prayer, 
 then, I must consider as the christian's palladium, 
 and as a present reward. 
 
 " Surely an hour iu the morning, and an hour in 
 the evening, is not too much for communion with 
 God. But as to the season of prayer, I do not 
 think that some manage this weU. They pray early 
 in the morning, and laic at night. This may be ne- 
 cessary in families engaged in business ; but I 
 speak of ministers. Do you not tliink that an hour 
 
At CAMBRtDOS. S5 
 
 of devotion before we engage in company in the 
 afternoon, -^vould have a tendency to correct and 
 animate an evening's conversation 1 
 
 '* Pardon this dissertation on prayer. I really 
 had no design to trouble you with it when I began 
 the letter.** 
 
 To reflections such as the preceding, as solid 
 and judicious as they are spiritual and instructive, 
 no serious reader will object. Nor will the follow- 
 ing account of the death of one of Mr. Buchan- 
 an's sisters, v/hich occurs in a letter to Mr. New- 
 ton, from Cambridge, at the close of his second 
 long vacation, be deemed uninteresting : 
 
 '' It was about a year and a half ago, on her re- 
 turn .from boarding-school, that her piety first ap- 
 peared, though on her death-bed she confessed that 
 her heart had been inclining to God nearly two years 
 before that time. About three months since she was 
 seized by a consumption, which has now given her 
 a happy release from all sin and all sorrow.'* 
 
 A letter still remains, written by Mr. Buchanan 
 from Cambridge to his dying sister, for the pur- 
 jiose of cheering and supporting her under her 
 early departure from the world, the piety and fra- 
 ternal affection of which will sufficiently recom* 
 mend the following extracts : 
 
 Buchanan S 
 
6^ MExMom OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 *' I rejoice to hear that you are about to chtef 
 into the joy of your Lord ; to behold the Saviour 
 whom you love, face to face ; to be clothed by 
 him in a spotless robe, and presented to the Father 
 as an heir of everlasting glory. 
 
 " Let me encourage you to pass over Jordan's 
 iiood with a resolute step, undismayed ; let me re- 
 mind you of the promise of Him to whom the 
 death of his saints is precious. Let me enforce the 
 immutable love of your God, and proclaim to you 
 the truth of your Redeemer. You have already 
 known him as the ivaij ; on your death-bed you 
 will find him the truth ; and he will quickly wel- 
 come you to the gate of Zion as the eternal life. 
 
 " My dear sister, be of good cheer; lay hold of 
 Jesus as the anchor of your soul. Was it ever 
 heard that any one who fled to him for refuge was 
 deserted in a tiying hour % Was it ever known that 
 he suffered one of his sheep to be plucked out of 
 his hand ] Has he not said, * I will never leave 
 thee nor forsake thee V ' When thou passest 
 through the waters, I will be with thee ;' * Fear 
 not, thou art mine.' These are exceeding great and 
 precious promises, on which you may safely rest. 
 If your faith be weak, yet waver not. The pro- 
 raise is to the weak as well as to the strong ; yea, 
 to all those who can say, * Thou knowest, Lord, 
 that I love thee.' 
 
 " While you have life, magnify the praises of 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 87 
 
 Him who hath called you with such a holy calling. 
 Evince to the world that the Bible is not a cun- 
 ningly-devised fable. Seek to glorify God in your 
 death, and assuredly he will give you faith to do 
 it. Sjieak from your dying bed of the things of the 
 kingdom to which you are hastening ; impart your 
 views of the vanities of life, for the benefit of those 
 who survive you. Pray that a double portion of 
 your spirit may rest upon your brother, that he may 
 gladden your eyes at the last day with a view of 
 many souls whom he has brought with him to glory. 
 Leave him such exhortations, encouragements, and 
 reproofs, as an immediate prospect of heaven may 
 inspire you to give. 
 
 '' And now let me conduct you as far as I can, 
 even to the gates of Jerusalem. Many a song will 
 be sung, many a harp be strung, on your entrance 
 into the kingdom of heaven. Who is this that I see 
 foremost to welcome you 1 Is it not your grand- 
 father or your father 1 My dear sister, what joy is 
 this ! They, accompanied by a heavenly host, con- 
 duct you to your Saviour, your King, and your 
 God. Then your glory begins ; you are crowned 
 with honor and immortality. You join in the never- 
 ending song of ' Worthy the Lamb, 'and drink of 
 ; the pleasures which are at God's right hand for 
 evermore." 
 
 i The preceding pious and animated address did 
 
88 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 not arrive until the relative, for whose consolation 
 it was intended, was beyond the reach of human 
 joy or sorrow. 
 
 The account, however, which Mr. Buchanan, in 
 the words of another sister, gives to Mr. Newton 
 of the last trying scene, is peaceful aud encouraging: 
 
 " She now," he says, " in faith looked forward 
 to her rest, and spent much of her time in reading 
 the Scriptures, and in prayer. 
 
 '' On the evening of the day she died, she said 
 to her mother, ' I think that my hour is now come.' 
 Her mother was surprised at this, as there appear- 
 ed no visible change in her countenance. She im- 
 mediately began to pray, and prayed long. Her 
 mother overheard some of her words. She prayed 
 * that she might be found in Christ ; that she might 
 have a title to that covenant which is well-ordered 
 and sure.' About the conclusion of her prayer 
 death appeared to be fast approaching. She begged 
 that the family might come round her bed ; and 
 then began to exhort them, and to speak to them 
 of the kingdom of God. Her mother, observing 
 that her last moment was now at hand, asked her 
 if she had any thing to say to her brother at Cam- 
 bridge. * Yes,' said she ; ' tell him, be sure you tell 
 him,' (repeating it emphatically,) * that I die trust- 
 ing in the Lord Jesus Christ.' She then lifted up 
 both her hands, and looking up to heaven, commit 
 
AT CAMIJIIIDGE. 89 
 
 ted herself to the Lord, her eyes streaming with 
 joy ; which, having done, she sunk on the pillow 
 and expired. 
 
 " The manner of her death," continues Mr. 
 Buchanan, " has given my mother a comfort in- 
 expressible. 
 
 " I know nothing which has had a jjreater ten- 
 dency to animate me in my christian course than 
 this triumph of my sister. O were the work done 
 which my Father hath given me to do, how gladly 
 should I accompany her ! 
 
 " I hope you are at present a large partaker of 
 the consolations of the Spirit. Though I am young, 
 I know thus much, that without those consolations 
 there is no happiness. What a blessing, that the 
 pleasures of holiness begin on this side the grave !" 
 
 Early in the year 1794 Mr. Newton made the 
 first direct proposal to Mr. Buchanan of a voyage 
 to India. His leply was as follows : 
 
 " I request you to accept my thanks for the af- 
 fectionate letter which I have just now read. I 
 have only time to say, that with respect to my go- 
 ing to India, I must decline giving any opinion. 
 It would argue a mind ill-instructed in the school 
 of Christ, to pretend to decide on an event so 
 important and unexpected ; an event which will 
 doubtless give a complexion to the happiness and 
 usefulness of every hour of my future life. 
 8* 
 
90 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " It is with great pleasure I submit this matter 
 to the determination of yourself, Mr. Thornton, and 
 Mr. Grant. All I wish to ascertain is the will of 
 God. I hope that the result of your deliberations 
 will prove to be his will. Were I required to say 
 something, I should observe that I feel myself very 
 ill qualified for the arduous situation in question. 
 My intimate friends know that my plan of college 
 study was, to attend more immediately to acade- 
 mical learning the two first years, and to prepara- 
 tion for the ministry in the third and last, upon 
 which I am but now entering. I think that our re- 
 gard for the glory of God requires us to endeavor 
 to find a person of acknowledged ability in things 
 both human and divine, who has already approved 
 himself such an one as might successfully resist 
 gainsayers, and prosecute his mission with energy. 
 A beginner, particularly if he be of slender capa- 
 city and attainments, will naturally shrink from 
 such a situation, fearing lest he should tarnish the 
 honor of his embassy by an unskilful or ungraceful 
 negotiation. 
 
 " On the contrary, if the Lord does with me as 
 with Jeremiah, and bids a child go and teach a 
 great nation, it would be vain to plead my incapa- 
 city, since, if he sends me, he will certainly ' touch 
 my mouth.' Only I would observe, that in the pre- 
 sent state of Christianity it would appear that as 
 strict attention ought to be paid to human means in 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 91 
 
 our endeavors to promote the success of the Gos- 
 pel, as if it were merely a human dispensation. 
 
 " I trust that every word of the above is dictated 
 by a regard to God's honor, and not my own. 
 
 " That his honor may be greatly promoted by 
 the result of your deliberations is the prayer of 
 
 " C B ." . 
 
 The judgment as well as the piety of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan's reply to this proposal desen'es to be no- 
 ticed, and affords a satisfactory indication of his 
 qualifications for the important station to which it 
 refers. The following sentiments expressed in a 
 subsequent letter are equally pleasing : 
 
 " With respect to my going to India, I am still 
 in a strait between two. Some considerations in- 
 cline me to stay ; others persuade me to go, as be- 
 ing far better. Being unable to judge for myself, I 
 submit it to the divine direction with perfect re- 
 signation. So gracious is He who ' careth for me* 
 in this respect, that your determination, whether 
 for or against my going, will be alike agieeable to 
 me. I am equally ready to preach the Gospel in 
 the next village, or at the ends of the earth." 
 
 Such was the elevated spirit of piety which ac- 
 tuated Mr. Buchanan eaily in this year. As it ad- 
 vanced, he wrote thus to Mr. Newton : 
 
92 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " We have had Mrs. U and Mr. C 's fa- 
 mily at Cambridge for a few days. It gives me 
 great pleasure to see piety gladden with its pre- 
 sence our learned walls. Pride and superstition 
 have doubtless built most of our colleges ; but I am 
 inclined to think that genuine piety founded some 
 of them. A solitary walk in such places has a ten- 
 dency to excite elevated tlioughts of God, and of 
 his goodness to man through successive ages. 
 
 ** My purpose in troubling you with this letter 
 was to say that I bear that affection for you a child 
 beareth to his father, a desire to conceal his faults, 
 (if he has any) and to magnify his virtues ; that I 
 hope to be preserved from the snares and cares of 
 this world, and thereby enabled to adorn that Gos- 
 pel which you first wished me to profess. 
 
 " That you are blessed with health, and stayed 
 by the comforts of the Gospel in your declining 
 years, is to me a frequent theme of praise. In phi- 
 losophy and human science the mind loses its vi- 
 gor by old age ; but in religion, in divine science, 
 we are taught to believe that youth will be restored, 
 and new attainments acquired. Fortunatus ille se- 
 nex, qui codicola vivity* 
 
 It is probable that Mr. Buchanan passed the 
 greater part of the long vacation of this year at 
 
 ♦ Happy the aged man who lives as already an inha. 
 bitant of heaven. 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 93 
 
 Cambridsre. No letter, indeed, occurs in liis cor- 
 respondence with Mr. Newton from the com- 
 mencement to the close of that period ; but the 
 following interesting communication from one of 
 his most valued friends and relatives seems to con- 
 firm this conjecture : 
 
 " I first became acquainted with him," observes 
 this gentleman, " at Cambridge, in the summer of 
 the year 1794. We were almost the only two re- 
 sidents in our respective colleges of Queen's and 
 St. John's ; he being engaged in studying for or- 
 ders, and I in prepaiing for my bachelor's degree. 
 1 had often heard of him from a common friend, 
 as being a very distinguished member of a debat- 
 ing society, called the Speculative, or quaintly 
 the Spec, consisting of a number of under-gradu- 
 ates from different colleges, especially Trinity and 
 Queen's, who used to meet at each other's rooms 
 to discuss various moral, political, and sometimes 
 religious questions. He was represented to me as 
 eminent among the speakers for acuteness and flu- 
 ency, and for piety of sentiment ; but as a retired 
 character, who scarcely ever mixed with any other 
 persons at such social meetings as were usual in 
 the college. 
 
 '* We met accidentally in our solitary walks, and 
 entered into conversation ; which brought on an 
 interchange of visits. We often walked together 
 
94 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 during the short time after our first meeting that 
 he continued at Cambridge. I well remember to 
 this moment a particular conversation which took 
 place in one of our walks on a fine summer's eve- 
 ning, and can trace in my recollection some of the 
 fields through which we rambled, little thinking 
 that we should ever be so closely united in the 
 bonds of domestic affection, or that if I survived 
 him, I should have to drop the tear of hallowed 
 regi'et over the grave of a brother. 
 
 " He greatly surprised me on that occasion by 
 strongly condemning the vanity of the pursuits of 
 ambition, in which I was then hotly engaged, co- 
 veting too earnestly university honors. I defended 
 my side, in which self was so deeply concerned, 
 with much warmth and positiveness ; but when I 
 was left alone, I could not altogether shake off the 
 impression which his serious, solemn, and scrip- 
 tural mode of argumentation had left upon my 
 mind." 
 
 The same learned and excellent person adds, 
 with reference to this period of Mr. Buchanan's 
 life : ** I remember, in a letter to a common friend, 
 some remarks on the necessity and efficacy of 
 faith in the blood of Christ ; and of his hopes that 
 he had experienced something of it, which were in 
 a great measure new to us both, and affected me 
 considerably." 
 
AT CAMBRIDOB. 95 
 
 It is pleasing to reflect, that the writer of the 
 preceding passages, after having succeeded in the 
 attainment of the highest of those academical ho- 
 nors of which he was then so ardently in pursuit, 
 should at no distant period have been led to adopt 
 the religious views which he once combated ; and 
 after the lapse of many years, have been permit- 
 ted again to hold " sweet converse" with him to 
 whom he first became known under such interest- 
 ing circumstances, and to contribute to do honor to 
 his memory as a friend and brother. 
 
 We are now approaching the termination of 
 Mr. Buchanan's academical course. On the 30th 
 of November in this year he wrote to Mr. Newton 
 us follows : 
 
 ** I have just finished my mathematical career. 
 Previous to taking our degrees, an examination is 
 held in our respective colleges for the purpose of 
 ascertaining our success in science, and a prize of 
 five guineas awarded to the best proficient. This 
 j)rize has been adjudged to me. I take no public 
 honor in mathematics." 
 
 He was evidently intent upon an object which 
 he deemed of far higher importance than the ho- 
 nors of the university, as the following conclusion 
 of the letter sufficiently testifies : 
 
 "It is said that those who travel heavenwards 
 
96 MEMOIR O? Dft. BtCHANAM* 
 
 acquire new strength from the toil of the way i 
 Iter instaurahit vires. I wish I found it so. I clani' 
 ber up hill with difficulty. It may be I have not laid 
 aside every weight ; or, perhaps, I have not used 
 the proper * lamp to my path.' If so, it is a 
 great happiness that the weariness of the way re- 
 proves me. 
 
 " To . ♦ . . i I wish to be remembered, as to 
 fellow-pilgrims, who in their journey to the holy 
 land have learned to sympathise with those whose 
 knees are feeble, and who travel slowly. Perhaps 
 to some of them, or to you, * the delectable moun- 
 tains ' are already in view ; if so, ' the shining 
 ones ' are at hand, to conduct you to the holy city ; 
 where, I hope, ere long, you will meet 
 
 " Your very affectionate son, C. B." 
 
 In the month of May, 1795, Mr. Buchanan in- 
 formed Mr. Newton, who was now anxiously look- 
 ing forward to his ordination, that he ^vas to take 
 his degree at the ensuing commencement, that is, 
 on the 8th of July, and that his ordination studies 
 would engage his attention for the next two months. 
 These anticipations were fulfilled ; and on the se- 
 cond week in September he wrote to his excellent 
 friend, under whose experienced guidance he was 
 about shortly to enter upon the important work of 
 the ministry, in the following terms : 
 
 " I had a letter from the Bishop's secretary this 
 
AT CAMBRIDGE. 97 
 
 morning. His lordship approves of my credentials. 
 Thursday next is appointed for the examination, 
 and Lord's day following for the ordination. I 
 propose to leave Cambridge on Tuesday evening 
 by the mail, which will be in town early next morn- 
 ing ; and I shall j^roceed to Fulham without stop- 
 ping, that I may have the remainder of the day 
 and next morning to myself. So it is not probable 
 that I shall see you till Monday following. 
 
 *' I demand your prayers for one who is about to 
 enter on the ministry. Fray, that when the bishop 
 lays his hands upon my head, I may devote myself 
 a martyr for Him who hung upon the cross for me." 
 
 In this strong and affecting language did Mr. 
 Buchanan express the feelings with which he was 
 about to dedicate himself to the service of his Re- 
 deemer. It is not often, perhaps, that so deep an 
 impression of the love of Christ is felt by the can- 
 didate for the sacred office ; but, though the dis- 
 position of every one ought to be similar, the case 
 of Mr. Buchanan was doubtless somewhat pecu- 
 liar. The steps by which he had been led to the 
 ministry of the Gospel, and the hints which had 
 more than once been given of his probable em- 
 ployment in a foreign country, tended to inspire 
 him with the purpose and the resolution which he 
 thus briefly but forcibly described. It can scarcely 
 be doubted that the diary, in which he had been 
 
 BucbauaQ, « ^ 
 
G8 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 accustomed, from the year 1790, to record both the 
 events of his life and his private reflections, con- 
 tained a more detailed account of his feelings and 
 sentiments upon this interesting occasion ; but the 
 loss of that valuable memorial deprives us of any 
 farther particulars respecting it, and compels us to 
 be contented with the simple fact, that after an ex- 
 amination, which appears to have been more than 
 ordinarily satisfactory, Mr. Buchanan was ordain- 
 ed a deacon, on Lord's day, the 20th of September, 
 1795, at Fulham, by the late pious and excellent 
 Bishop Porteus. Immediately after this admission 
 into holy orders, he entered upon his engagement 
 as curate to Mr. Newton, and continued, during a 
 few succeeding months, to discharge the humble 
 and unobtrusive duties which he had previously so 
 well described. 
 
 Early, however, in the year 1796, the friends by 
 whose christian kindness and liberality he had 
 been introduced into the ministry, conceiving that 
 his talents might be more advantageously employ- 
 ed abroad, recurred to the plan which had for some 
 time been more or less in their view, and resolved 
 to endeavor to obtain for him the appointment of a 
 chaplain in the service of the East India Com- 
 pany. Application was accordingly made to a dis- 
 tinguished director, Charles Grant, Esq. accompa- 
 nied by such testimonials as amply certified the 
 qualifications of Mr. Buchanan for the office to 
 which he was recommended. 
 
APPOINTED TO INDIA. 99 
 
 The certifitate of the President and Fellows of 
 Queen's College was transmitted to Mr. Gi ant by 
 Dr. Milner, with the following letter, in which the 
 learned president took the opportunity of bearing 
 a more particular and decisive testimony to the 
 merits of Mr. Buchanan : 
 
 " CIueen's Collkgk, Cambridge, March 8, 1796. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I enclose you the college's testimo- 
 nial of Mr. Buchanan's good behavior, which is 
 expressed in general temis : but if it were needful 
 to be more particular, I could add a great deal. 
 In my judgment, much may be expected from his 
 ability, industry, and discretion. He has an un- 
 common zeal for every thing that is praiseworthy, 
 and this zeal is tempered and directed by a sound 
 and well-informed understandins^. His orood sense 
 and attainments must procure him respect every- 
 where. He will be certainly on the watch for op- 
 portunities to do good. Mr. Buchanan obtained 
 both classical and mathematical prizes at college. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, yours, Isaac Milnek. 
 
 " To Charles Grant, Esq. London." 
 
 In consequence of the various testimonies to his 
 abilities as a scholar, his attainments as a divine, 
 and his general character for temperate and well- 
 directed zeal for the honor of God and the welfare 
 of mankind, Mr. Buchanan was appointed one of 
 
100 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the chaplains lo the East India Company, on Wed- 
 nesday, March 30, 1796. When introduced to the 
 Court of Directors, for the purpose of taking the 
 .oaths usual upon similar occasions, he was address- 
 ed by the chairman, the late Sir Stephen Lushing- 
 ton, on the importance of his office, and on the du- 
 ties imposed on a minister of religion in India ; and 
 so lively a recollection did he retain of this unex- 
 pected but very laudable charge, that he more than 
 once referred to it in the course of his future life. 
 He thus mentions the address of the honorable 
 chairman many years after it had been delivered : 
 
 " The venerable baronet observed, that French 
 principles w^ere sapping the foundation of Chris- 
 tianity and of social order ; and he earnestly incul- 
 cated on me the duty of defending and promoting 
 the principles of the christian religion by every 
 proper means. I was much affected by the solem- 
 nity of the occasion, and by the energy and feeling 
 with which the address was delivered : and the 
 subject of the charge itself made a great impres- 
 sion on my mind, particularly when meditating on 
 it afterwards, during my voyage." 
 
 Soon after the appointment of Mr. Buchanan to 
 India, he received priest's orders from the Bishop 
 of London ; and in the month of May went down 
 to Scotland, in order at once to revisit his family 
 
APPOINTED TO INDIA. 101 
 
 and again take leave of tbem previously to his ap- 
 proaching voyage to India. 
 
 The feelings of both parties upon this meeting 
 were, it may be readily imagined, of a mixed but 
 very interesting nature. Nearly nine years had 
 elapsed since Mr. Buchanan, partly impelled bj 
 disappointed affection, and partly by the flattering 
 visions of a youthful imagination, had left his native 
 country and sojourned in a strange land. During 
 that long interval many remarkable events had oc- 
 curred. One of his earthly parents was no more; 
 but he had, like the prodigal, returned to his hea- 
 venly Father, and by him he had been distinguished 
 by peculiar marks of kindness and favor. After 
 having suffered many external hardships and much 
 inward distress, he had been relieved in no ordi- 
 r.ary manner from both, by the providence and 
 grace of God. Opportunities had been afforded 
 him, which he had diligently improved, of acquir- 
 ing the treasures of human science and learning ; 
 and with a mind thus richly stored, and a heart 
 deeply impressed with the inestimable value of the 
 Gospel, he had been called to the work of the mi- 
 nistry, and had now the prospect of being permit- 
 ted " to preach among the gentiles the unsearch- 
 able riches of Christ." The emotions of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan during his journey to Scotland, under these 
 remarkable circumstances, must have been pecu- 
 liarly affecting. While a " new song" had been put 
 9* 
 
102 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 into his mouth, of joy and thanksgiving, it would 
 be somewhat damped by the recollection of past 
 sorrows, the pain of his approaching departure 
 from his kindred and country, and the anticipation 
 of future labors and trials. The feelings of his wi- 
 dowed mother and surviving brethren would be 
 scarcely less chequered by joy and sorrow. De- 
 lighted as they must have been by the return of 
 their beloved relative, enriched with divine and 
 human knowledge, and honored by an appointment 
 which more than realized their highest wishes and 
 expectations, the pleasure of their intercourse with 
 him would be not a little clouded by the thought 
 of its transient nature, and the prospect of a long, 
 perhaps, as to this world, a final separation in a far 
 distant land. Such, we may justly suppose, were 
 the mutual feelings and reflections of Mr. Buchanan 
 and his family during his short abode with them at 
 this interesting period.. He appears to have re- 
 mained in Scotland till the first week in June, 
 when he returned to London to complete the pre- 
 parations for his voyage. On the 3d of July he 
 preached for Mr. Newton at St. Mary Woolnoth ; 
 and terminated, by a pious and affectionate fare- 
 well, his short connection with the congregation 
 of his dear and venerable friend. 
 
VOYAGK TO INDIA. 103 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 First four years in India, 
 
 Mr. Buclianan left London for Portsmouth on 
 Saturday the 30th of July, and on the 11th of Au- 
 gust following embarked on board the Busbridge, 
 East-Indiaman, commanded by Capt. Dobree, and 
 sailed for Bengal. During the course of his exten- 
 sive voyage he was diligently employed in acquir- 
 ing useful knowledge, and in endeavoring to pro- 
 mote the improvement of his various companions 
 and fellow-passengers. 
 
 The principal subjects of his studies were, pro- 
 bably, such as bore an immediate reference to the 
 work of the ministry, and to his peculiar destina- 
 tion in India ; but the only traces of them which 
 now remain, consist of some common-place books, 
 one of which is dated at sea, in January, 1797, 
 near the island of St. Paul, containing abridg- 
 ments of chemistry, from Lavoisier ; of botany, 
 from Rousseau and Martin ; of the history of Den- 
 mark and Sweden, and miscellaneous observations, 
 chiefly of an historical nature. 
 
 Of his employments, views, and feelings, in the 
 early part of his voyage, the following letter to 
 Mr. Newton presents an interesting account : 
 
104 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ** BUSBRIDGE, EaST-Tn'DUMAN, t 
 
 " At sea, off the Canaries, Aug. 27, 1796. J 
 
 " My dear Sir, — I take the opportunity of 
 wi'iting to you by the Polyphemus, a 64 gun ship, 
 which, after convoying us safely to this latitude, 
 returns now to England. We have had a monsoon 
 all the way. We took our departure from the 
 Lizard, and in eight days made the island of Ma- 
 deira ; a shorter passage than the East-India fleet 
 has ever had. In two days we hope to arrive at 
 the trade-winds ; indeed, the captain thinks we 
 have them already. About the end of September 
 we expect to reach the Cape, from which place 
 you will probably hear from me. I enjoy good 
 health on board. I was sea-sick for about a week. 
 Every body pays me much attention. I am in- 
 structing some in science, some in classical know- 
 ledge, some in the belles-lettres, and all, I hope, 
 in christian truth. I do not expect to be so useful 
 in preaching sermons to them as in conversation. 
 The captain supports a very consistent character. 
 He is the friend of virtue, and I doubt not but he 
 will continue to arm my endeavors with his power. 
 All his officers are in proper subjection to him, 
 and exert their authority in the ship in accommo- 
 dating me. 
 
 " We have more than a dozen officers of the 
 army going out as passengers. I have some weight 
 with them ; but there are many divisions among 
 
VOYAGE TO INDIA. 106 
 
 themselves. They have been challenging already, 
 and probably duels may follow. 
 
 " We are now about twenty sail. The frigate 
 L'Oiseau accompanies us to the Cape, and will 
 probably carry home our letters. 
 
 " One day lately an enemy appeared in sight, 
 and we began to think of an engagement. Then 
 was the time for examining myself, and learning 
 what was my object in a voyage to India. Indeed, 
 unless we have some confidence that the Lord is 
 with us, our hearts must sink in despair on such 
 occasions. But where we can believe that He is 
 leading us out on his oxen service, we have nothing 
 to fear from an enemy, or from the dangers of the 
 sea. On the contrary, the faithful ser\'ant must 
 rejoice that his Lord will come so soon, and lead 
 him to that rest which he seeks for in vain on 
 earth, 
 
 " When the enemy came nearer they discover- 
 ed that we had a superior force, and bore away. 
 " I hope Miss C. and the rest of your house are 
 happy. They have great advantages, which I trust 
 they improve. They live in the house of peace and 
 instruction. They, with you, will, I hope, shortly 
 inherit your mansion in the skies. 
 
 " It is with me as I expected. I feel little differ- 
 ence in mind, whether navigating the ocean or 
 sitting quietly in Coleraan-street. It would appear 
 as if I had lost all relish for earthly pleasure. No 
 
106 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 novelty excites my attention. My countenance is 
 acquiring a grave settled cast. I feel as if nothing 
 could give joy to my soul but freedom from the 
 body. And yet being sensible that I may remain 
 long on duty here, I often inquire of myself how 
 I am to pass the heavy hours. Perhaps a closer 
 walk with God, greater activity in his service, and 
 some species of affliction hitherto unfelt, may at 
 length unloose my bonds, and give me that en- 
 joyment of life to which I have so long been a 
 stranger. I have great hopes indeed from enter- 
 prising a little in my Master's service, and fighting 
 with courage for his honor. I shall write to you 
 from time to time, and acquaint you how it is 
 with me. 
 
 " It will be a remarkable day when you and I 
 meet in heaven. I dare not say, Sero redeas ;* be- 
 cause I trust that you are ' ready.' I fear you will 
 have learnt many a song in heaven before I come. 
 But let me not despond. What saith the Scripture 1 
 Ui dies, sic rohii,r.\ 
 
 " May you be preserved in your old age, so that 
 your Lord may be glorified in the ending, as in the 
 beginning of your christian life. 
 
 " Forgive me all my faults, and believe me to 
 be, my dear sir, your affectionate son, 
 
 •• C. Buchanan." 
 
 • May your arrival be long delayed. 
 t As thy day is, so shall thy strength be. 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 107 
 
 On the ISth of November, some weeks later 
 than he had expected, the fleet arrived at the Cape 
 of Good Hope. On the 1 0th of December it again 
 sailed, and readied Madras on the 17th of Febru- 
 ary ; and on the 10th of March Mr. Buchanan 
 landed at Calcutta, two days before the completion 
 of the 31st year of his age. 
 
 On his arrival at the capital of the British pos- 
 .•^essions in India, he was hospitably received by the 
 Rev. David Brown, and resided for a short time in 
 his family. He then took a house in DuiTumlollah, 
 where, however, he continued but two months, 
 being at the end of that time appointed chaplain at 
 Barrackpore, a military station about sixteen miles 
 above Calcutta. 
 
 By this arrangement, which, however usual ac- 
 cording to the rules of the East India service, he 
 does not appear to have anticipated, Mr. Buchanan 
 found himself placed in a situation by no means 
 congenial with his taste and feelings, and affording 
 but few opportunities for the exercise of his mi- 
 nistry. Barrackpore possessed no place for public 
 worship ; and divine service was never required 
 by the military staff to which he was attached. 
 
 This unexpected seclusion from active duty, 
 combined with the influence of an enervating cli- 
 mate, which he very soon began to feel, and of so- 
 ciety for the most part unfriendly to religion, pro- 
 duced in Mr. Buchanan a considerable depression 
 
108 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN'. 
 
 of spirits, and even gave occasion to some of his 
 friends in Europe to attribute his comparative in- 
 activity on his arrival in India to abatement of zeal 
 rather than, as the truth required, to causes over 
 which he could exercise no control. 
 
 When Mr. Buchanan arrived at Calcutta Mn 
 I^rown w^as one of the two chaplains of the presi- 
 dency. He held also the chaplaincy of the garri- 
 son. Some of Mr. Buchanan's friends in England 
 conceived that the latter appointment might have 
 been transferred to him ; or that he might have 
 officiated at the mission church. As to the garrison, 
 it appears that motives of delicacy and kindness 
 towards Mr. Brown, with whom he lived from the 
 first on the most friendly and affectionate terms, 
 prevented him from soliciting such an arrange- 
 ment ; and the mission church was then occupied 
 by the Rev. Mr. Ringeltaube, a clergyman of the 
 Lutheran church, who had been sent to India un- 
 der the patronage of the Society for promoting 
 Christian Knowledge. No sooner, however, had 
 Mr. Ringeltaube abandoned this post, as he shortly 
 afterwards did, than Mr, Buchanan participated 
 with Mr. Brown the gratuitous labor of the mission 
 church. It appears also that he occasionally per- 
 formed divine service in his house at Barrackpore ; 
 probably as often as he could obtain an audience. 
 The following letter will explain the confidential 
 nature of Mr. Buchanan's intercourse with Mr. 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 109 
 
 Brown. The former part of it relates to a proposed 
 measure respecting an evening lecture at one of 
 the churches in Calcutta, and to the chaplaincy of 
 Fort William : the latter will exhibit a most inte- 
 resting and instructive picture of the mind of the 
 writer, and will throw considerable light on some 
 of the preceding observations. 
 
 " Barkackpore, June 9, 1797. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — 1 have just received yours. I 
 understood your last very well. I meant to say in 
 answer, that to levy a contribution for the current 
 expenses of the lecture would be very painful to 
 me ; equally so as a contribution for personal sup- 
 port. 
 
 " When I mentioned my idea of gratuity for pro- 
 fessional duties, it was to explain my delicacy about 
 pecuniary subscription. I had no allusion to the sen- 
 timents of others. If I were in your situation, it is 
 probable that I should do as you do. 
 
 " I think the justice you owe your family in an 
 expensive situation, demands that you be very well 
 satisfied with the propriety of giving up the chap- 
 laincy of the Fort, as long as it is agreeable to the 
 rules of the service that you should retain it ; and 
 as long as you can perform the service it requires 
 as well as any other. 
 
 " Let us now talk on the subject of your former 
 letter a little. 
 
 Buchanan. J-^ 
 
IJO MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAxV. 
 
 " I tliirik you speak of yourself with more difli- 
 (lence, or rather despondency, than you ought. 
 How do you know that your Thursday evening lec- 
 ture is not the most useful of all your ministrations 1 
 And with respect to industry, have you not much 
 reason to be thankful, that, after a ten years' resi- 
 dence in this deteriorating country, you feel your- 
 self so much alive to the ministry of Christ ] And 
 is it not another reason for thankfulness, that you 
 have been preserved from seeking great things for 
 yourself? I think you very happy indeed, that you 
 have nothing to do with this world ; but that your 
 chief work is to make proof of your ministry, as the 
 Lord shall prosper it. As splendid a crown awaits 
 him who shall do a little in this country, as him 
 Avho shall do much at home. 
 
 " It is not probable that you or I shall live long. 
 What seek we then ? There is no fame for us here. 
 There is some reproach, whether we he faitliful or 
 not. So that we lose nothing by being faithful. I 
 am so young in these things that I do not know 
 any thing about them. I have only entered the wil- 
 derness. But I apprehend much. I would gladly 
 enter Canaan without encountering ^ the greatness 
 of the v/ay.' Were it the will of God, and were he 
 to give me faith and strength for it, I would to- 
 7)wrTow, with great joy, leave this world and all it 
 offers. Were I sure it would not entangle and de- 
 stroy me at last, I would rather stay and endeavor 
 
AT BARRACK rORE. Ill 
 
 to do soraelhing for God ; but I am not sure of that. 
 
 " I often compare myself, in my present exile, to 
 John, in the island of Patmos. Would that, like 
 him, I had finished my course, and had only to con- 
 template ' the new heavens !* But I am a stranger 
 to suffering ' for the word of God, and the testimo- 
 ny of Jesus Christ,' 
 
 " I sigh much for that singleness of mind and 
 purity of heart, and love to God, which distinguish 
 the disciple of Christ. And I often wonder whether 
 it is to be effected by keen affliction in body and 
 spirit, or by the ' power of the word of God, divid- 
 ing asunder like a two-edged sword,' or by long 
 fighting and sorrowful experience slowly teaching, 
 and endiniT with a doubt whether I am tauirht. 
 
 " Amidst the multitude of my thoughts, ' the 
 Lamb that was slain ' is my only hope ! 
 
 " How frequent is the character of a semi-serious 
 christian ! There is a state, in which some have 
 been held for many years : a state, whose nature 
 was never rightly understood by those around them, 
 nor by themselves ; sometimes looking to the word 
 of God, and sometimes to the world; sometimes 
 animated by a zeal to live holily, and sometimes 
 sinking under a particular sin. From such a state 
 they have at length emerged ; and shone, in the 
 evening of life, with a splendor which has dazzled 
 all around. 
 
 " I hope that Mr3. Brown is in good health and 
 
112 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 spirits. Buxtorf came safe up the river. I am sor- 
 ry to find that that silent critic, the white ant, has 
 perused almost every page. 
 
 " I remain, dear sir, yours very affectionately,. 
 
 " C. Buchanan.'^ 
 
 The preceding letter scarcely requires a com- 
 ment. Who can avoid perceiving in it evident 
 traces of a generous, a spiritual, and a heavenly 
 mind 1 Who can help lamenting that such a man 
 should, for a time, have been placed in circum- 
 stances so unfavorable to the attainment of the 
 great object which he had in view in accepting an 
 appointment in India; or indulging a hope that a 
 time would come when the providence of God 
 would open to him a way to greater exertions and 
 more extensive usefulness 1 
 
 Though Mr. Buchanan's retirement at Barrack- 
 pore did not, however, admit of very active em- 
 ployment in the duties of his ministry, it afforded 
 him a valuable opportunity for private study, 
 which he diligently and successfully improved. 
 
 His common-place books, at this period, evince 
 the same laudable desire of increasing his store of 
 useful knowledge which we have already wit- 
 nessed. Some remarks in one of them prove his 
 anxiety to fortify himself against the dangers of 
 worldly society, to which he was then considera- 
 bly exposed, and to attain the important art of 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 113 
 
 living " in and out of the world at the same time ;" 
 of " using this world as not abusing it." Upon 
 this point he quotes a passage from Mr. Addison, 
 which appears to express the object he was him- 
 self endeavoring to attain. " We shall never bo 
 able," observes that sensible and elegant writer, 
 " to live to our satisfaction in the deepest retire- 
 ment, until we learn to live, in some measure, to our 
 satisfaction amidst the noise and business of life." 
 
 Other parts of the same book contain reflections 
 on the Persian language ; on the improvement of 
 time ; on the value of christian friendship; on pu- 
 rity of conscience ; on the propagation of the Go.s- 
 pel, and on the happiness of heaven. 
 
 The following extract of a letter to Mr. Henry 
 Thornton, dated the 25th of July, 1797, gives a 
 pleasing view of one important branch of jMr. Bu- 
 chanan's studies at Barrackpore : 
 
 " As the friend of ray hcghming studies, you will 
 naturally be desirous to know in what way they 
 have been continued since my arrival in India. I 
 am now proceeding in a work which I began when 
 I last enjoyed retirement, namely, a serious, and, I 
 may say, laborious examination of the Scriptures 
 in the original tongues. My inquiries are not so 
 much philological as practical. The meaning of the 
 Holy Spirit in Scripture is the 'one thing need- 
 ful' for the student, and I hope it will be tlie sub- 
 10* 
 
114 MEMOIR OF DR. RUCHANAN\ 
 
 ject of many a joyful ivf»,x'jL* to me. This severity 
 of investigation reminds me of my mathematical 
 vigils. Some have considered that interval at col- 
 lege as the most useful era in the history of the 
 mind. It shows what powers of application the 
 soul possesses on a subject it loves ; even such ap- 
 plication as Paul recommends to Timothy, wha 
 was engaged in my present studies — iv tstcjc t<rBu 
 ' Exist, or live in them.* 
 
 " This, sir, is a climate which tries the mind like- 
 a furnace. Deteiioration seems inherent in Indian 
 existence. Were God to grant me a peculiar bless- 
 ing, it v/ould be the habit of industry whilst I re- 
 main in this country. I have observed, in reading 
 the lives of the good, that the most eminent were 
 inen famed for their industry. I have observed^ 
 too, that few of them had to encounter what Boi- 
 leau calls the dangerous career of wit and genius. 
 The wisdom of God is shown in choosing for them 
 that disposition of mind which is best suited to a 
 sedulous and bumble perusal of his eternal word ; 
 for genius hath ever been a foe to industry. 
 
 " I have aMoonshee in the house to instruct me 
 in the Hindostanee and Persian languages. Not 
 knowing what may be the purpose of God con- 
 cerning me, I have thought it my duty to attend 
 early to the languages of the country, and to the 
 
 * " I have found it I" 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. ll^* 
 
 constitution^ civil and religious, of the mixed peo' 
 pic in it." 
 
 Amidst this diligent improvement of his retire^ 
 nient at Barrackpore, Mr, Buchanan, however, en- 
 tered with lively interest into every thing around 
 him connected with real religion, and embraced 
 Avith much warmth of feeling every occasion which 
 presented itself, either of kindness or of service. 
 
 Of this the following extract from a letter to a 
 lady at Edinburgh, on the death of her son, fs a- 
 pleasing and satisfactory proof. It is dated from 
 Calcutta, December 4, 1797, and was enclosed in 
 another, in which she was kindly requested, before 
 she opened it, to prepare her mind for intelligence 
 which would, at first, deeply affect her, but which 
 she would afterwai'ds acknowledge had given her 
 such a theme for rejoicing as she had never before 
 possessed : 
 
 " I had no thoughts of writing to you at this 
 time ; but I have news for you from heaven. Your 
 beloved E. has 'fought the good fight; he has 
 finished his course ; he has kept the faith.' His 
 spirit took its flight at 12 o'clock. About' three 
 weeks ago he visited me at Barrackpore, where he 
 stayed a day or two. He was then in good health. 
 Our conversation was much on spiritual subjects. 
 He told me his heart felt the first powerful impres- 
 
116 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sion of religion when on his passage to this coun- 
 try ; and that since his arrival God had been very 
 gracious to him. Finding this country not only un- 
 favorable to health, but to holiness of life, he had 
 lono; deliberated whether he ought not to return to 
 Europe, and had at length resolved to do so, be- 
 lieving it to be the will of God. He anticipated 
 the joy of conversing with those amongst his friends 
 at Edinburgh who knew the Lord, and wondered 
 that he had not ' made more of them ' while among 
 them. But he has now a better society. 
 
 " Next day he returned to Calcutta, and on the 
 Sabbath following I went down to preach. My 
 subject was, ' The triumph of the christian in be- 
 ing able to submit his soul to the darkest dispen- 
 sations of God.' On that day your son took the sa- 
 crament for the second time in this country. On 
 the evening of the same day the Rev. Mr. Brown 
 preached, ' On the consolations of the soul which 
 cordially assents to being justified by faith.' This 
 was the last sermon your beloved child ever heard ; 
 and he told me it was sweet to the ear, and inex- 
 pressibly rich to his soul. On the next day he was 
 taken ill. Our most able physician here. Dr. Hare, 
 from Edinburgh, attended him. During that week 
 we had no aj)prehensions of his fever being dan- 
 gerous. Before my return to Bariackpore on Mon- 
 day last, I passed the morning with him. We then 
 conceived hopes of his soon being well. He sat by 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 117 
 
 me on the sofa for an hour. We talked about his 
 passage to his native country ; for the ship was 
 now ready to sail ; but I perceived that his mind 
 was dwelling on his passage to the lieanenly coun- 
 try. He spoke much of the consolations arising 
 from converse with God during sickness. * How 
 amazing is it,' said he, * that the Lord should have 
 called me to such knowledge and to such grace 
 before I die ! India has been a happy land to me.' 
 When I left him, he said he hoped he should be 
 able to come to church next Sunday. Not hearing 
 from his brother of his being worse, I did not re- 
 turn to Calcutta till yesterday. In the evening I 
 preached, but did not see him in his usual seat. 
 When I called this morning I found that he had 
 just entered into rest. His countenance is placid 
 and serene in death, like the state of his mind be- 
 fore his dissolution. 
 
 " Such^ my dear madam, has been the happy 
 death of your son. You are a happy mother, to 
 have had such a son ! He has left a noble testimony 
 to the Gospel in this place ; and his memory will 
 be long cherished by many. His brother loved him 
 affectionately, and is inconsolable at his loss. His 
 conversation and example have been of use to 
 many. He preached to them in his life, and he 
 preached to them by his death. Admire therefore 
 the dispensation of God in leading him to this 
 country. It was not for evil, but for much good." 
 
lis MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Tuesday, 5. — This morning, at eight o'clock, I 
 committed to the earth the remains of your dear 
 son. It was a solemn occasion. I was much affected 
 at seeing so many persons attend it. Most of them 
 were only acquainted with his character ; but they 
 wished to show some respect to the memory of one 
 of those few who ' wear white garments in this 
 Sardis.' The Rev. Mr. Brown was chief mourner ; 
 but yet he rejoiced that the Lord had lent your 
 child so long to us, and that now ' he had taken 
 him from the evil to come.' " 
 
 Early in the ensuing year he wrote to Mr. Grant 
 in the following terms : 
 
 " Calcutta, Feb. 6, 1798. 
 
 " My dear Sir, — I have now been near a year 
 in this country, and have not yet had the satisfac- 
 tion of hearing from you. I wish to know what 
 you think of my voyage to the East. I seem to 
 have come out under rather unfavorable auspices. 
 No feature of my mission is very agreeable. But I 
 view the whole as the counsel of the Almighty; 
 and I know that in his plan there is great beauty, 
 though I may not perceive it. 
 
 " I have passed this last year in military society, 
 or in solitude. And as I shall shortly be station- 
 ed up the country, I cannot expect any material 
 change during life. But if I rightly improve the 
 
AT n4KKACKI>ORE. 119 
 
 Opportunities I may have, I shall do well. What I 
 lament most is the effect this inactive life has on 
 my mind. You will not be surprised if both my 
 moral and intellectual powers suffer by it. The 
 climate no doubt has its effect in this hebetatiou 
 of the soul ; and I hope I shall recover from it 
 in time. 
 
 " I suflfered a long struggle before I could resign 
 myself passively to my unexpected destination. 
 But the struggle is now over ; and I view myself 
 as one who has run his race ; to whom little more 
 is left to do. I have known some, who, in such a 
 case, would have extricated themselves with vio- 
 lence, and sought other labors in the Gospel. But 
 ijt will require a very evident interposition of God 
 indeed to bring me out of this Egypt, now that he 
 has placed me in it : I shall esteem myself high- 
 ly favored if I be enabled to pass my days in it 
 with a pure conscience, endeavoring to do a little 
 where much cannot be done. 
 
 '■ I take the liberty of enclosing a bill for fifty 
 pounds for my mother, which I request you will be 
 BO good as to send to her after it is accepted. 
 
 " I beg to be remembered to all your family, and 
 to Mr, and Mrs. Thornton, and remain, dear sir, 
 
 " Yours, with much respect and gratitude, 
 
 " C. BUCHAVAN." 
 
 Besides the unfavorable inlluence of the climate 
 
120 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 tiponhis heallh, Mr, Buchanan was, doubtless, dis* 
 appointed in the silence and obscurity to which his 
 station at Barrackpore had consigned him, and 
 which he imagined would be shortly rendered still 
 more hopeless by his removal to a greater distance 
 from Calcutta, in the interior of the country. It is 
 certain, also, that he felt the want of sympathy and 
 encouragement from some of his friends in Eng-* 
 land. They had very reasonably formed conside- 
 rable expectations of his exertions to promote the 
 cause of religion in India; and their distance from 
 the scene prevented them from being fully aware 
 of the circumstances which had hitherto retarded 
 them. Yet, amidst it all, his calm submission to 
 what he believed to be the will of God, his refusal 
 to step beyond the prescribed limits of his duty as 
 a military chaplain, and his pious reference of him- 
 self and his services to the divine disposal, prove, 
 that whatever might be his discouragements, his 
 heart was " right with Grod," and that he was faith- 
 fully employing the " talent" at that time commit- 
 ted to his trust. 
 
 The history of Mr. Buchanan's first appointment 
 in India will not be in vain, if it serve to check in 
 any who may be similarly situated, either abroad 
 or at home, the too natural disposition to despon- 
 dency or haste ; and to lead them, in the conscien- 
 tious improvement of present opportunities, to wait 
 patiently for farther openings, and in the mean- 
 
AT BARRACKPORr. 121 
 
 time to *' hope in God ;" and if it tend to abate in 
 those who may be observing them, any impatience 
 of their backwardness in fulfilling even just expec- 
 tations ; and lo teach them that chaiity, which, con- 
 cerning the substantially ])i()us and sincere, " hopeth 
 all things." 
 
 In July following, by the overland despatch, 
 Mr. Buchanan wrote shortly to Mr. Grant to the 
 following effect : 
 
 " Lord Mornington has been here near six weeks. 
 As yet he maintains much dignity in his govern- 
 ment. He goes regularly to church, and professes 
 a regard for religion. He has been at Bariackpore 
 for ten days past. He was surprised when I told 
 him that we never had divine service there, or at 
 any other station. He was still more surprised 
 when he heard there were horse-races here on 
 Sunday morning. 
 
 " The apostolic Obeck is well, and affectionately 
 remembers all your family. He succeeds to Swartz 
 in the title to our reverence and esteem. Remem- 
 ber me to Mr. Thornton, the friend of my studies." 
 
 Mr. Obeck, thus favorably introduced, and whose 
 name frequently occurs in Mr. Buchanan's letters, 
 was a native of Germany, for many years employ- 
 ed as steward in Mr. Grant's family during his re- 
 sidence in India. The piety and fidelity of this good 
 
 Buchanan. H 
 
122 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 man were rewarded by the liberal support and 
 fiiendly regard of his patron to the day of his death. 
 Under the same cover he thus wrote to Mr. Si-' 
 meon, of Cambridge : 
 
 " I thought to have passed my life near you ; but, 
 thus it is. You first, I think, proposed a voyage to 
 me ; but you did not mean to consign me to si- 
 lence, or to a camp ! We may yet see the wisdom 
 of God in showing me a path through the mighty 
 waters. As my health returns, my services may be 
 called for. 
 
 " Remember me to Mrs. B. She alone opposed 
 my coming to India. Tell her not to triumph. She 
 has not seen to the encV 
 
 Three months after the despatch just detailed, 
 Mr. Buchanan again wrote at some length to Mr. 
 Newton. In the former part of his letter he re- 
 peats, with some additional circumstances, what he 
 had before communicated respecting his situation 
 and prospects, chiefly with a view to convince his 
 friends hi England, tnat however desirous he might 
 be of more effective services in the ministry, the 
 attempt was, at that time, impracticable. In proof 
 of this he mentions, that before Sir John Shore, 
 now Lord Teignmouth, left India, Mr. Brown pro- 
 cured an order of council that the military in the 
 garrison should attend at the Presidency church 
 
AT DARRACKPORE. 123 
 
 every Sunday morning at six o'clock, there bcinir 
 no chapel or service in the gariison itself. Strong 
 opposition was made to this order, on the ground 
 that the troops would suffer in their health by 
 marching in tlie sun. They attended a few Sundays, 
 hut at last the clamor became so violent that the 
 order was revoked, and the triumph over religion 
 considered complete. Mr. Buchanan states this cir- 
 cumstance in order to show how unavailing any 
 transfer of the chaplaincy of the ganison to him- 
 self, could it with propriety have been effected, 
 would have proved as to the great object of his in- 
 creased usefulness. He adds, however, that when 
 he was in Calcutta on a Lord's day, he usually 
 performed service at th.e hospital ; where, though 
 there was no regular audience, there was always a 
 succession of hearers. It appears also by this letter, 
 that as Pvlr. Buchanan had no immediate prospect 
 of being himself placed in Calcutta, he was endea- 
 voring, and with some success, to improve the reli- 
 gious views of one of the chaplains of the Presi- 
 dency, who seemed desirous of dischai-ging his 
 duty with fidelity. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan next adverts to Rev. Dr. Carey, 
 Baptist missionary, of whom he speaks in terms of 
 much commendation. His own expectations re- 
 specting the conversion of the Hindoos were, at 
 this period, by no means sanguine. Of Dr. Carey, 
 therefore, he remarks, that he was then chiefly em- 
 
124 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ployed ill laying the foundation of future useful- 
 ness. '' He is," says Mr. Buchanan, '' translating 
 the Bible into the Bengal tongue. This, like 
 Wickliff's first translation, may prove the father of 
 many versions." How extensively this anticipation 
 has been realized, it vi^ould be unnecessary to in- 
 terrupt this narrative particularly to state. 
 
 " But," continues Mr. Buchanan, '' a rapid spread 
 of the Gospel is not to be expected in India. You 
 have heard that Mr. Swartz was useful in the 
 southern part of Hindostan. It is true. But Mr. 
 sSwartz entered upon the labors of others. The 
 Gospel has been preached in that quarter for near 
 a hundred years past. We may begin here now, as 
 the Danes began there a century ago. Zeal, and 
 labor, and the lapse of years, will no doubt produce 
 the usual fruit. In the revolution of this century 
 ' the dawn^ of the Gospel has appeared in India. 
 After many centuries have revolved, there may be 
 a general light. 
 
 '' But I wish not that any prudential considera- 
 tions from what lias been, or from what m^iy proha- 
 hly be, should check the missionary ardor of the 
 day. Nothing great since the beginning of the 
 world has been done, it is said, without enthusiasm. 
 I am, therefore, well pleased to see multitudes of 
 serious persons,* big with, hope, and apt to com- 
 
 * This probably referred to the London Missionary So-- 
 ciety. 
 
AT BARRACKPORE, 125 
 
 municate; fori think it will fiirtlicr tlie Gospel. 
 Instead of thirty missionaries, I wish they coukl 
 transport three hundred. liut let them remember 
 that no man turned of thirty can learn to speak a 
 new lanouai^e n-dl. No Ene;lishman turned (tf 
 twenty, who is only acquainted with the labials 
 and dentals of his mother tongue, can ever acquire 
 an easy and natural use of the nasals and gutturals 
 of the Bengal language. 
 
 " Mr. Swartz, the apostle of the East, is dead. I 
 wrote him a Latin letter a short time before his 
 death. I wished to write his life, but they refuse 
 to send me materials.* Have you heard of the an- 
 cient Obeck, in Calcutta'? IMr. Grant will tell you 
 about him, Mr. Obeck in Calcutta, is like Lot in 
 Sodom. I asked him one day if he could produce 
 ten righteous to save the city ? He said he was 
 not sure he could produce ten, but thought he 
 could produce five." 
 
 It cannot be doubted that both these excellent 
 men partook too largely of the spirit of the prophet, 
 who thought that he was the only true worshipper 
 of Jehovah in a corrupt and degenerate age. It is 
 at least certain that Calcutta has added greatly, 
 
 * Some years afterwards Mr. Buchanan procured tlie do- 
 cuments he at this time requested; though other circum- 
 stances prevented him from ma];in^' use cf them as he had 
 intended, 
 
 11* 
 
126 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 within the last few years, to the' number of itr 
 * righteous ' inhabitants ; and not a few in conse- 
 quence of the labors and example of the subject of 
 these memoirs. 
 
 " My last fever," Mr. Buchanan continues, " pro'- 
 duced a deafness, which is not yet gone. It is very 
 inconvenient to me ; and Dr. Hare says that it 
 may remain a long time. The schoolmen say, the' 
 loss of all the senses is death. By the loss of hear- 
 ing, I certainly feel the loss of the fifth part of life. 
 Wlien nature takes away one sense, they say, she" 
 adds to the rest. But when disease takes away one, 
 it injures the rest. At least I think so. I feel that 
 a sense of infirmity cows the mental powers, and 
 thereby hinders their exertion. 
 
 " When you see Mr. Thornton, tell him I often 
 think that he has great need of faith to believe the 
 Scripture, which says, ' Cast thy bread upon the 
 waters, and thou shalt find it after many days.^ 
 Many days have elapsed, and yet the bread he 
 threw to me is not returned. Adieu. 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 The admirable friend and patron to whom Mr. 
 Buchanan thus alludes, was the reverse of any 
 thing impatient or unreasonable in his expectations 
 from others ; and his habit of scattering his benefi- 
 cence widely and liberally was combined "v/ith a 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 12'7 
 
 Spirit of faith which could wait long for the promis- 
 ed fruit, and in many cases be satisfied with leav- 
 ing his various work with God. In the present in- 
 stance, however, he lived to reap, after ''not many 
 days," a nch reward of his labor. 
 
 In writing to Mr. Grant, in January, 1799, the 
 following passage occurs, which, though brief, 
 shows both Mr. Buchanan's anxiety to promote 
 the interests of religion in India, and his lively sa- 
 tisfaction at any public regulations which promised" 
 to be auxiliary to that important object : 
 
 " I wrote to Mr. H. Thornton by the Montrose, 
 on the Sth instant. In that letter I ventured to say 
 in what way you might probably be of service ta 
 us here. But you will be the best judge of the pro- 
 priety of the measure ; though perhaps circum- 
 stances have now a complexion rather different 
 from what they had when you left the country. 
 
 " Your moral regulations of May last are come,* 
 and not before they were wanted ; they have been 
 just published, and are well received. I ought not 
 to say published. Lord M.'s delicacy induced him 
 to communicate them by circular letter. They 
 ought to have been proclaimed from the house-top." 
 
 * Referring chiefly to a proclamation against Sunday 
 horse-racing, and to the erectioQ of chapels at some of the 
 military stations. 
 
128 BfEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 On the 1st of February, Mr. Buchanan, after in- 
 forming Mr. Elliott of the arrival of his eldest son 
 in India, thus intimates the commencement of the 
 system which the Governor General was now con- 
 templating with respect to the junior servants of 
 the Company : 
 
 '' Lord JMornington aids us here. He no longer 
 leaves it at the option of the young men whether 
 they will study or not. An examination at the ex- 
 piration of three years hence is to decide on all 
 pretensions to new appointments. 
 
 " I hope you received the letter in which I 
 expressed a wish that you would send out all the 
 periodical works issued in the style of literary re- 
 views. These are necessary for me. Without them 
 I know not what books to order for this country. I 
 am constantly applied to by families, religious, mo- 
 ral, and dissipated, to name books for them. I have 
 already inundated them with Barruel, Paley, Wat- 
 son, Wilberforce, and the Pursuits of Literature. 
 I sit here in secret, and do what I can. A few of 
 the reviews will not do ; but all will tell me the 
 truth. Watch the press for me. You cannot do me 
 a greater favor, or perhaps your sons here more 
 good. I want both annual reviews from 17S9, the 
 era of the new philosophy in operation^ 
 
 A few days after the date of the preceding let- 
 ter, he wrote to one of his Camhndge frkvAn upon 
 
AT BARItACKPORE. 129 
 
 a variety of topics connected with their mutual 
 pursuits, and interspersed witli remarks on India. 
 Tiiis letter exhibits the impressive sense which the 
 writer entertained of the paramount importance of 
 Christianity, and of the duty of active exertions to 
 ])romote tlie moral and religious welfare of man- 
 kind on the part of himself and such men as the 
 college friends to whom he refers. Many of his ob- 
 servations display both acuteness and elevation of 
 thouG^ht, and much knowledQ;-e of the world. 
 
 " CArxcTTA, Feb. 4, 1799. 
 
 After rallying his friend on his remaining at 
 college instead of marrying, he expresses himself 
 thus : " A man advances, perhaps, till he becomefi 
 Bachelor of Arts ; but after that he is retrograde 
 for ever. Is not this generally true ? You may per- 
 haps continue to advance in verbiage, but you will 
 go back in life. Your endeavors to fulfil the great 
 purposes for which you were sent into the world 
 will grow daily more feeble, and your view of those 
 purposes will at length be utterly lost. 
 
 " But whither then shall we go, if you divorce 
 us from our learned ease ? Why, go to London. 
 Take a curacy, or take a chapel. Call forth your 
 leaming and put your eloquence to use. Sluice the 
 fountain so long embanked at college stagnant and 
 green, and permit the waters to rush abroad, to 
 fertilize many a plant and gladden the vale. Go 
 
130 MEMOIR OF DR, BUCIIANAxV. 
 
 fortli and stem the torrent of infidelity with a re- 
 sistless eloquence ; and let rne hear your voice on 
 the banks of the Granges. To what purpose have 
 you labored at Quinctilian, if you do not now lift 
 up your voice and proclaim the glad tidings of the 
 everlasting Gospel '? At present I see you and D. 
 lisping with pel^bles in your mouths on the banks 
 of the Cam. But I hope one day to hear your 
 thunder from the rostrum. I hope to see you * wield- 
 ing at will' your awful assemblies, and exciting 
 them v/ith a more than Demosthenic power to re- 
 sist the invading foe, the new philosophy. I hope 
 to see you do more. In the more grateful and co- 
 pious manner of the Roman orator, you will, like 
 scribes well instructed in the kingdom, bring forth 
 things new and old to confirm the believing, con- 
 vince the doubtful, and heal the wounded spirit ; 
 ever displaying this your great and endless theme, 
 the power of grace in awakening to life the torpid 
 soul ; and, in your previous studies, ever sitting by 
 the fountain of truth, ot-«^j» pi^a-ci ?ru^iviy that 'foun- 
 tain flowing with persuasives,' the Bible : so will 
 your orations have less of the lamp^ and more of 
 that heavenly fire which alone can make tliem 
 profitable to your hearers. 
 
 " How astonished you will be that my first pages 
 to you from Milton's ' remote Bengala ' should be 
 on such subjects as these ! You, no doubt, expect- 
 ed to hear 
 
AT BARRACKPORE, 131 
 
 " Of moving accident by flood and field ; 
 " And of the cannil)al.s that each olher eat, 
 " The anthropophagi ." 
 
 *' But I have not patience with all these subjects. 
 You must send out some of those fellows who can 
 write a tour through AValcs, or Gogmagog Hills. 
 They will so astonish you ! Besides, I am not writing 
 to freshmen. I am writing to the learned. And all 
 the mirahiUa^ I could describe to you are already 
 described in Queen's College library. But I must 
 make some allowance for the different eifects of an 
 absolute and a partial view of tinners. The truth \?, 
 that the traveller who sees new things every day, 
 sees new things with indifference. The passion of 
 curiosity is so constantly excited that it loses its 
 power. The ' nil admirari 'f seizes us much sooner 
 with respect to objects of sense than objects of re- 
 flection. J3eside?, where all is new, the mind knows 
 not where to rest. It cannot embrace all, and it 
 studies none. This is particularly the case with 
 many young men just arrived in India. They are 
 wonder-struck ; they suffer a kind of mental pa- 
 roxysm ; they ask questions for a while ; but they 
 find there is no end of subjects of wonder ; and at 
 length they arc tired with wondering. The man of 
 reflection will examine these subjects at his lei- 
 
 * Wonders. 
 
 t JN'olhing more to be adiriired. 
 
130 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sure, but the 0/ jrowoi* would no longer wonder, if 
 the moon were to fall ; they would suppose it was 
 the way with the Bengal moons. 
 
 '* The most useful lesson I have learnt from tra- 
 vel is, that the world, or all that is in it, cannot sa- 
 tisfy the soul of man. Many years ago, my chief 
 ambition, as you know, was to make the tour of 
 Europe, But how liUle does this idea appear ! As 
 a village is the world to a child, so Europe was the 
 world to me. But Europe is now become a village ; 
 and the globe itself, which seems to have revolved 
 under my eye, has no longer its former extent, no- 
 velty, or importance. My ambition seeks now to 
 explore new worlds. And were the Deity to gratify 
 my wish, and permit me to traverse the planetary 
 globes around us, yet how circumscribed would be 
 my view, how limited my knowledge ! The solar 
 system is but a point in the universe ! What then 
 is natural knowledge '{ Like space, it has no limit. 
 Let us return then to our village, and view its in- 
 habitant ; 
 
 His knowledge suited to his state and place, 
 His time, a nioment; and a point, his space. 
 
 And this is equally true, whether you live but a 
 few years, confined to your native spot, or live 
 three ages, and traverse the world around. /■ 
 
 ♦ The niuhitude. 
 
AT D-MIRACKPORE. 133 
 
 " This thought casts a trarisient gloom over sci- 
 ence and all human knowledge. It is confined and 
 uncertain, and therefore unsatisfying. It is now 
 that the mind turns with pleasure from the works 
 of God to his word. The works of God indeed de- 
 clare his glory ; but the mind cannot comprehend 
 them, nor be satisfied with surveying them. But 
 the word of God quenches the thirst. It is that 
 fountain which can alone satisfy the capacious soul 
 of man. 
 
 " Infidelity raged here with great violence for- 
 merly, but it is rather on the d(fcnsive now. It was 
 fashionable for a time to allege that oriental re- 
 search was not favorable to the truth of Christiani- 
 ty ; but the contrary is found to be the case. As far 
 as my own inquiries have gone I can truly say, ' I 
 have seen the star, and worshipped in the East.' In 
 the study of eastern history and learning there is 
 endless proof of the truth of both the Old and New 
 Testaments. 
 
 " I suppose you have heard of the grandeur of 
 English life in India. To live in the first circle in 
 India is to live at court. There is nearly the same 
 dignity of etiquette, elegance of equipage, and va- 
 riety of entertainment. Every lady is handed to 
 table according to her rank ; and — no grace is said ! 
 
 '* What chiefly astonishes an Englishman (I 
 should have said a Scotchman) is the profusion of 
 meat on the tables. We sit down to hecatombaean 
 
 Buchnnaa, A* 
 
134 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 feasts. But you will not wonder at this, when you 
 hear that the price of a sheep is but half a crown* 
 We have no drinJdng here ; no bacchanalian feasts. 
 "Wine is a drug. AVherever we go, we expect to 
 find plenty of claret and Madeira; and he who 
 would think it a compliment to urge another to 
 drink, would be accounted a vulgar fellow, just im- 
 ported from a military mess-room, or a literary 
 combination-room. 
 
 " Must I say something of the natives ] Their 
 general character is imbecility of body, and imbe- 
 cility of mind. Their moral powers are and have 
 been for ages in a profound stupor ; and there is 
 seldom an instance of their being awakened. A 
 partial attempt, or rather experiment, is now mak- 
 ing on them by some christian teachers. The Hin- 
 doo mind seems at present to be bound by a satanic 
 spell ; and it v/ill require the co-operation of a more 
 than human power to break it. But divine co-ope- 
 i-ation implies human endeavor. Many ages must 
 then elapse before the conversion of India is ac- 
 complished. 
 
 " With respect to moral action, the Hindoos pay 
 as little attention to their own religion as a rule of 
 life, as the English do to theirs ! Your profession 
 of the christian religion is a proverbial jest through- 
 out the world. 
 
 " The Hindoo is born blind ; but you put out 
 your own eyes. Loose piinciples and sensual in- 
 
AT BARKACKPORE. 135 
 
 diligence first dim them, and then the ' drop serene* 
 of the new philosophy quenches the orb. 
 
 " A residence in this country adds much to the 
 personal dignity of the European. Here the labor 
 of a multitude is demanded for the comfort of one : 
 and it is not so much demanded as voluntarily 
 given. In no other country can we so well see the 
 homage which matter gives to mind. Generally, 
 however, it is but the homage which black pays to 
 white. This is the grand argument for keeping the 
 Hindoos in a state of mental depression. The hy- 
 perborean Scotchman, broiling under a perpendi- 
 cular sun, needs some leramina labor um ;* and the 
 state of the Hindoo minds is admirably calculated 
 to take care of our bodies. 
 
 " You know the character of the Hindoo super- 
 stition. It is lascivious and bloody. I know n-o epi- 
 thet that embraces so much of it as either of these 
 two. Of the first I shall say nothing : I shall not 
 pollute the page with a description of their caprine 
 orgies in the interior of their temples, nor the em- 
 blems engraved on the exterior. 
 
 " Their scenes of blood are not less revolting 
 to the human mind. Human sacrifice is not quite 
 abolished. The burning of women is common ; 1 
 have witnessed it more than once. 
 
 " This power of self-sacrifice is given thera from 
 
 ♦ Relaxation. 
 
136 MEMOIR OF Oli. nUCHANAN'. 
 
 insensibility of mind, and from that alone. Just as 
 a child may be persuaded to plunge into danger 
 which infant reason cannot see, so the Hindoo, of 
 childish capacity, is persuaded to destroy his exist- 
 ence ; he views neither death nor life in their 
 true light. 
 
 " All comparison, therefore, between the forti- 
 tude of the christian martyr and the madness of 
 the Hindoo is nugatory and absurd." 
 
 Some hints in the preceding letter respecting 
 marriage, imply that Mr. Buchanan was not, at 
 this time, indifferent to that subject. He had hith- 
 erto been too much occupied with study, and with 
 his entrance upon his professional career, to in- 
 dulge any thoughts respecting it ; but his affection- 
 ate and social disposition, and the comparative so- 
 litude in which he was compelled to live, convinced 
 him of the expediency of entering into the married 
 state. This important change in his condition took 
 place on the 3d of April, 1799, on which day Mr. 
 Buchanan married Miss Mary Whish, third daugh- 
 ter of the Rev. Richard Whish, then rector of 
 !^orthvvold, in Norfolk. 
 
 Upon this interesting event it may be best to 
 allow Mr. Buchanan to speak, as usual, for himself. 
 He thus writes to Mr. Newton about two months 
 after his marriage : 
 
 " Miss Majy V/hish and her elder sister (after- 
 
AT BARRACKrORE. 137 
 
 ^vards married ta Major Pnole) came ont to India 
 about five months ago with their aunt, Mrs. San- 
 dys, wife of Captain Sandys, Commissary of stores 
 in Calcutta. The younger of these ladies was so 
 much disgusted with the dissipation of India, that 
 she would gladly have returned single to England. 
 I did not see her till two months after her arrivaL 
 But we had not lx?en loag acquainted before she 
 confessed that she had found a friend who could 
 reconcile lier to India. I did not expect that I 
 should have ever found in this country a young 
 woman whom I could so much approve. Mrs. Bu- 
 chanan is not yet nineteen. She has had a very 
 proper education for my wife. She has docility of 
 disposition, sweetness of temper,, and a strong pas- 
 sion for retired life. 
 
 " She is religious, as far as her knowledge goes ;; 
 and her knowledge is as great as, I suppose, yours 
 or mine was at her age. Our marriage was sanc- 
 tioned by the approbation of all who knew her and 
 who knew me. 
 
 " I have now been married two months, and 
 every successive day adds something to confirm the 
 felicity of my choice, and the goodness of God in, 
 directing it. 
 
 " Mrs. Buchanan has read many of your letters to 
 me, and hopes you will mention her name in your 
 next. She is now reading the ' Christian Character 
 12* 
 
I3» JfEMOin OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Exemplified,' published by you, and aspires to the 
 spirit and piety of the lady whose character it is. 
 " I still reside at-Barrackpore, where it is now 
 probable I shall remain some years. But I must 
 take no thought for to-morrow. Years, days, and- 
 hours are not mine. Moments, how sacred !" 
 
 In replying to some inquiries of his correspond- 
 ent, Mr. Buchanan proceeds to mention, what, in 
 the prospect of continuing at Barrackpore, must 
 have been peculiarly painful to him, that it was 
 thought no chapel would be built there, under the 
 new arrangement relative to that subject, as no 
 European regiment was, at any time, ordered to- 
 that station. Under these circumstances he men- 
 tions that he was anxious to take every opportu- 
 nity of assisting Mr. Brown at Calcutta. 
 
 " You will have heard, by this time," he con- 
 tinues, " the fate of the expedition to Otaheite. 
 The missionaries, banished by the natives, fled tO' 
 Botany Bay. One of them, I hear, is lately arrived 
 in Calcutta, from Port Jackson. I hope this South- 
 sea scheme will not discourage the missionary so- 
 cieties. They have done no harm : and if they 
 send out their next mission with less carnal eclat, 
 and more Moravian diffidence, they may, perhaps, 
 do some good. Their chief fault was in the selec- 
 tion of the men. 
 
AT BARRACKPORE. 139 
 
 " Lord Morningtoii is taking measures to send 
 home all Frenchmen and republicans. I was ap- 
 plied to lately, in a kind of official way, to give 
 some account of the Baptist missionaries. It was 
 asked, What was their object ] How supported 'i 
 Whether they were not of republican principles ? 
 As I had some good data for speaking favorably 
 of Mr. Carey, I confined myself to him. I stated 
 the origin of the Tranquebar mission, and its suc- 
 cess under Swartz, and I represented Carey as en- 
 deavoring to do in Bengal, what Swartz did in the 
 Deccan. He called upon me lately in his way to 
 Calcutta. He considers himself as sowing a seed 
 which haply may grow up and bear fruit. He is 
 prosecuting his translation of the Scriptures. This 
 is a good work. It will be useful to those Hindoos 
 who are somewhat influenced by christian instruc- 
 tion, and particularly useful to Hindoo children 
 biought up in christian schools. 1 told Mr. Carey 
 that I thought he could not emph^y his time better 
 than in translating the Scriptures. I explained to 
 him, from sources with which he seemed unac- 
 quainted, the plan and progress of the Tamulian 
 Scriptures, and the circumstances attending the 
 publication. 
 
 " And now, my dear sir, pray for us. Under my 
 Mary's care, I improve in health and spirits." 
 
 In the autumn of this year Mr. Buchanan in- 
 
140 MEMOm OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 formed Mr. Grant that he had been recommended 
 to accept a vacant chaplaincy at Bombay. '' Being 
 altogether ignomnt," says he, "of the particulars,. 
 I wrote to Mr. Fawcett, the accountant general 
 there, (who v/ishes me to go,) to explain fully to me 
 the nature of the situation. If it be the chaplaincy 
 to the Presidency, I shall accept it." He adds :. 
 " There is to be a relief of staff this ensuing Novem- 
 ber. "Whether I shall be included in it, I know not." 
 It is probable that Mr. Buchanan's inquiry re- 
 specting the chaplaincy at Bombay proved unsatis- 
 factory. However this may have been, the provi- 
 dence of God shortly afterwards introduced him; 
 to a sphere of labor in Calcutta which was equally 
 adapted to his talents and his wishes.- Towards 
 the close of the year Lord Mornington appointed' 
 him a third chaplain to the Presidency, and he im- 
 mediately entered upon the duties^ of that office. 
 
 One of the earliest occasions of public service to- 
 which Mr. Buchanan was called after this appoint- 
 ment, was in February, ISOOj when he preached 
 a sermon at the new church, before Lord Morn- 
 ington and the principal officers of the government^ 
 on a day appointed for " a general thanksgiving 
 for the late signal successes obtained by the naval 
 and military forces of his Majesty and of his allies ; 
 and for the ultimate and happy establishment of 
 the tranquillity and security of the British posses- 
 sions in India.^^ 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 141 
 
 This sermori was so highly approved that Mr. 
 Buchanan received the thanks of the Governor Ge- 
 neral in council, with a direction that it should be 
 printed ; and it was undoubtedly a production which 
 well deserved that honor. It was founded on the 
 11th verse of the 2Jst Psalm : " For they intended 
 mischief against Tiiee ; and imagined such a de- 
 vice, as they are not able to perform :" and con- 
 tains a luminous and impressive view of the prin- 
 ciples, progress, and effects of the new French phi- 
 losophy, to which Mr. Buchanan justly attributed 
 the awful struggle in which this country was then 
 engaged. The following j)assages from this dis- 
 course show the ability and judgment, as well as 
 the piety of its author : 
 
 " The contest in which our country has' been so 
 long engaged has, in one particular, been of essen- 
 tial service to her. It has excited a greater respect 
 for christian institutions and christian principles* 
 A long period of internal tranquillity and security 
 had induced an indifference about religion which 
 was rapidly gaining ground, and was making room 
 for that infidelity which our enemies wished to sub- 
 stitute. But the critical situation in which the na- 
 tion was placed, and the dangers that threatened 
 her, led men to review their principles, and to con- 
 sider seriously by what means she might be saved. 
 Hence there is now a growing regard for christian 
 
142 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCIIANA??. 
 
 ordinances. Tliere Is now a more general acknow- 
 ledgment of the providence of God ; more attention 
 is paid to moral character ; more care is taken in 
 forming the minds of youth ; and more ample means 
 of instruction are afforded to the common people.. 
 
 " In tlie anxiety that prevails in the mother- 
 country about the principles of all who are con- 
 nected with her, she will naturally be interested to 
 know what is the state of religion amongst lis, 
 ' How/ she will ask, ' amidst all this revolution of 
 opinion and practice which agitates the world, is 
 that distant society affected ? Are they altogether 
 free from infidel principles % And does the public 
 spirit of the people show itself in combating these 
 principles, and in maintaining a respect for chris- 
 tian institutions V 
 
 '' However this subject might have been over- 
 looked in the infancy of our settlements, it becomes^ 
 now a matter of public consequence. The import- 
 ance we are daily acquiring in the eyes of the 
 world, and the destructive effects of irreligion in 
 other countries, make it proper that we should 
 show that we yet profess the faith of our country, 
 and that we are yet willing to be accounted a chris- 
 tian community. 
 
 " On this subject we think there can be but one 
 sentiment. Men of sense and of responsible situa- 
 tion, who love their country, and who know the 
 danger of the new principles, will not, we are per- 
 
At CALCUTTA. 143 
 
 Suaded, be averse to sliow this countenance to the 
 christian religion. Such example is of the more 
 consequence, on account of the great number of 
 young persons who are yearly added to our socie- 
 ty. These persons are denied those opportunities 
 of instruction they enjoyed at home ; and they ar- 
 rive at so early au age, that, in general, their prin- 
 ciples are formed and fixed hert. And when it is 
 considered that they are hereafter to fill the offices 
 in the govei'nment of the country, and are to be 
 themselves the guardians of the public principles, 
 it will certainly appear of consequence that their 
 minds should be impressed with a respect for those 
 religious and moral observances on which the fu- 
 ture safety and happiness of the country depend. 
 
 " Scepticism and infidelity are not now so well 
 received in society as they once were. It was for- 
 merly thought a mark of superior understanding to 
 })rofess infidelity. It was thought a proof of some 
 learning to think differently from others on reli- 
 gious subjects. 
 
 " Eut we have now seen, that the most illiterate 
 and most abandoned of the human race can be 
 infidels. 
 
 " We have also seen, that there is no supersti- 
 tion more irrational in its effects, no fanaticism 
 more degrading to the human mind, than the fana- 
 ticism of infidelity. 
 
 " We have further seen the moral effects of in* 
 
144 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN, 
 
 fidelity ; effects flowing directly from it, acknow- 
 ledging no other source. And after what we have 
 seen of these effects, we think no man can add to 
 his respectability in society, either for understand- 
 ing or for moral character, by avowing himself to 
 be an advocate for infidelity. 
 
 " But we trust that the great body of our socie- 
 ty is yet animated by christian principles, and that 
 they are ready to make common cause with their 
 country in defending these principles to the utter- 
 most, 
 
 " Some will doubt, and some will disbelieve, but 
 it is an eternal truth, that the christian religion is 
 the rock on which rests our existence as a civilizecj 
 nation ; on which rest our social blessings, and our 
 individual happiness. Take away this rock, and 
 you give your country to convulsion and endies:? 
 disgrace. Built on this rock, she has withstood the 
 violence of the storms that have so long assailed 
 her. Secure and tranquil in the midst of the tem- 
 pest, she stands at this hour firm and impregnable, 
 while those w-ho built on the ' sands of infidelity * 
 have been overthrown." 
 
 Copies of Mr. Buchanan's thanksgiving sermon 
 were distributed by order of goveirnment in every 
 part of British India, and sent home to the direc- 
 tors of the East India Company. 
 
 ^* You may easily conceive," says Mr. Buchanan, 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 145 
 
 writing- to a friend in England, well acquainted 
 with the prevalence of sceptical piinciples at tliat 
 period in India, "the astonisluTient of men at these 
 religious proceedings. However, all was silence 
 and decei!t ac(juiescence. 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 tlie same thing to piaise the French 
 as to praise inlidelity." 
 
 The importance of this public recognition of 
 Christianity as the only basis of civil prosperity, 
 was soon perceived in the increasing attention to 
 personal religion : 
 
 " Our christian society," adds Mr. Buchanan to 
 the same friend, " flourishes. Merit is patronized, 
 immoral characters are marked ; and young men of 
 good inclinations have the best opportunities of im- 
 provement." 
 
 The same happy effects were thus distinctly sta- 
 ted by Mr. Brown, in a memorial on the general 
 state of society in Calcutta, drawn up some years 
 afterwards for the information of the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 
 " These solemn acts," observes that excellent 
 man, " and the public thanksoivings, which took 
 place for the fust time under Marquis Wellesley's 
 
 *> 
 
146 MEMOIR OF* DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 government, awakened a religious sense of thing?! 
 in many ; and led to an open and general acknow- 
 ledgment of the divine providence, which has been 
 highly beneficial to the interests of true religion 
 and virtue." 
 
 On Mr. Buchanan's removal to Calcutta^ he thus 
 resumed the account of his studies and proceed- 
 ings, in a letter to Mr, Henry Thornton : 
 
 '' The plan of study I formed about two years 
 and a half ago has not suffered any material altera- 
 tion since. I soon, however, discovered the small 
 value of the Persian and Hindostanee languages to 
 me, and was contented with a superficial acquaint- 
 ance with them. My scriptural studies I pursue 
 with my first purpose, and I hope I shall continue 
 to pursue them to the day of my death. My gene- 
 ral studies have been much diversified by corres- 
 pondence in different parts of India, on subjects 
 classical, mathematical, and theological. The latter 
 has been the most laborious and generally the most 
 pleasant. This subject is often forced upon me. 
 But I have seldom permitted myself to defend 
 Christianity. 1 have usually acted on the offensive, 
 and attacked infidelity. This is a very unpleasant 
 mode to the infidel. During the last year I received 
 many anonymous letters, particularly from young 
 persons, on polemical divinity ; but the correspond- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 147 
 
 ence has generally ended in real names. In conse- 
 quence, I am often applied to for books, and have 
 expended much in purchasing valuable works at 
 our dear market. Small religious tracts are of little 
 service to those with whom I have to do. 
 
 " My public ministrations have been rare, but 
 perhaps not so rare as from my situation might be 
 expected. Of the three years I have been in India, 
 including the number of times I have officiated at 
 the hospital in Calcutta, and in ray own house at 
 Barrackpore, I have preached on an average once 
 a fortnight. 
 
 '* My great affliction since I came to India has 
 been had health. I feel a languor of constitution, 
 and a difficulty of respiration, which no medical 
 aid has yet been able to remove. This I sometimes 
 think has taken away one-half of the energy and 
 usefulness I might have preserved or acquired in a 
 cooler region. But this also is the dispensation of 
 God ; and it has added to me that, which else- 
 where I might not have found." 
 
 In a letter, however, to Mr. Newton, about the 
 same time, Mr. Buchanan observes, " I have en- 
 joyed better health this year than in any former ; 
 and I trust that I shall be strengthened and spared 
 for some service." 
 
 During the first six months of the year ISOO, the 
 plan of a collegiate institution had been formed by 
 
148 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Lord Mornington, (who, in consequence of the 
 splendid successes of liis policy in the Mysore, had 
 been created Marquis Wellesley,) for the purpose 
 of promoting the literary improvement of the 
 you!)ger civil servants of the Company. This im- 
 portant measure, in the arrangement and conduct 
 of which Mr. Buchanan was so essentially concern- 
 ed, he thus mentioned in the month of June, in a 
 letter to Mr. Grant : 
 
 *' Lord Wellesley is at present engaged in foand- 
 ino- a coUeofe for the instruction of the young: civil 
 servants in eastern literature and general learning. 
 He desired me to draw out a sketch of the consti- 
 tution of the college, which I did. And now Mr. 
 Barlow has instructed me to draw up a minute as 
 a justification of the measure. Lord Wellesley 
 proposes that Mr. Brown should be the provost of 
 the college ; and he is certainly the fittest man in 
 Calcutta for that office. I had him in my mind 
 when drawing up the duties of provost. There 
 will be about eight or ten professors. No promo- 
 tion in the service, but through the medium of this 
 institution. The students to remain at college for 
 three or five years. Prizes and honors to be propos- 
 ed for those who distinguish themselves, and de- 
 grees to be taken to qualify for certain offices." 
 
 Some allusion is made to the subject introduced 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 149 
 
 in the preceding extract, in the two following let- 
 ters from Mrs. Buchanan, which, as they exhibit a 
 pleasing and faithful picture of a most amiable 
 woman very early removed from this world, it may 
 not be uninteresting to insert before we proceed 
 to a more enlarged view of the college of Fort 
 William, or Calcutta. 
 
 The first is addressed to Mr. Newton, and is da- 
 ted Calcutta, June 24, ISOO : 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Mr. Buchanan assures me that 
 you will excuse the liberty I take in writing to you. 
 I have long wished to acknowledge the debt I owe 
 you for your valuable works. They have been 
 blessed to many, and I trust will be also blessed to 
 me. But I believe I am still more indebted to you 
 as the friend, father, and instructer of my beloved 
 husband ; as such, I must consider you as the in- 
 strument, under God, of my present happiness. 
 
 " You will be glad to hear that Mr. B.'s health 
 is of late much improved ; but I am alarmed lest 
 his approaching labors should be too much for him. 
 We have reason to believe that he will be appoint- 
 ed a professor in the new college. He himself 
 wishes to decline it, but his friends do not see how 
 it is possible, as he has taken an active part in the 
 institution. It is supposed that he may have his 
 choice of three professorships. Classics, Mathema- 
 tics, or the Belles-lettres. I believe his intention is 
 13* . 
 
t 150 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 to accept of a situation in college, if it be easy; 
 but if not, to decline it on the plea of health. 
 
 *' Dear sir, I cannot expect to see you in this 
 world, may I therefore request you to send your 
 blessing to me and my little girl. 
 
 " I desire my love to your niece, and remain, 
 my dear sir, yours, with christian affection, 
 
 " Mary Buchanan." 
 
 The second of these letters is to Mr. Elliott ; 
 and- while it expresses with equal simplicity the 
 advancing piety of her own mind, it recognizes the 
 support which Lord Wellesley was then affording 
 to reHgion in Calcutta. It is of the same date with 
 the former. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — Your letter to Mr. Buchanan, in 
 which you mention our marriage, gave me real 
 pleasure. And as you expressed a wish that I 
 should write to you, I take this opportunity to thank 
 you for your affectionate congratulations. You 
 have reason indeed to congratulate me. It is the 
 happiest circumstance in my life that I ever came 
 to India, where I have been united to one whose 
 endeavors God has been pleased to bless, in lead- 
 ing me to some knowledge of the everlasting Gos- 
 pel. It is a new Gospel to me, and I seem to live 
 in a new world, differing far more from my old 
 world than India differs from England. May I re- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 151 
 
 quest your prayers tliat this good work may be 
 carried on in my lieart, and tliat it may issue in 
 honor to my beloved husband, and to his ministry 
 here 1 He lias mucli to encourage him in the work 
 of llie Gospel. There is an evident change in the 
 face of the society here, even in the short time 
 since I aroved ifi the country. Lord Wellesley 
 seems inclined to support the christian religion by 
 cccnj means. Vital religion also is incieasing. It 
 seems to be fostered under the wing of that gene- 
 ral sanction to Christianity which has lately been 
 given. This is the only place in India where reli- 
 gion is countenanced. We have now many respec- 
 table families here in which piety meets with real 
 encouragement. I remain, dear sir, yours, with 
 much esteem, Mary Buchanan." 
 
 By the despatch which conveyed the two pre- 
 ceding letters, Mr. Buchanan sent another remit- 
 tance to his mother, to the comfort of whose de- 
 clining years he was afterwards enabled still more 
 largely to contribute. 
 
 On the ISth of August, ISOO, the College of 
 Fort WdHaiu, which had been virtually in opera- 
 tion since the 4th of May, was formally establish- 
 ed by a minute in council,* in which the Governor 
 
 * See " The College of Fort William, in Bengal," pub- 
 lished by Mr. Buchanan in 1805. 
 
152 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 General detailed at length his reasons for such an 
 institution. Tlie important part which Mr. Bu- 
 chanan took in the conduct of that establishment 
 will sufficiently justify the following brief abstract 
 of the able and interesting document referred to. 
 The British possessions in India, said his lord- 
 ship, now constitute one of the most extensive and 
 populous empires in the world. The immediate 
 administration of the government of the various 
 provinces and nations composing this empire is 
 principally confided to the European civil servants 
 of the East India Company. Upon them, in con- 
 sequence, devolve the duties of dispensing justice 
 to millions of people of various languages, manners, 
 usages, and religions ; of administering a vast and 
 complicated system of revenue throughout districts 
 equal in extent to some of the most considerable 
 kingdoms in Europe ; and of maintaining civil 
 order in one of the most populous and litigious 
 regions of the world. They can, therefore, no 
 loncrer be considered as the aofents of a commer- 
 cial concern ; they are, in fact, the ministers and 
 officers of a powerful sovereign, and must be view- 
 ed in that capacity, with a reference, not to their 
 nominal, but to their real occupations. Their edu- 
 cation should consequently be founded in a general 
 knowledge of those branches of literature and 
 science which form the basis of the education of 
 persons destined to similar offices in Europe. To 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 153 
 
 this fouTidation should be added an intimate ac- 
 quaintance vvitli the history, languages, customs, 
 and manners of the people of India, with the Mo- 
 hammedan and Hindoo codes of law and religion, 
 and with the political inteiests and relations uf 
 Great Jjritain in Asia. They should be regularly 
 instructed in the principles and system which con- 
 stitute the foundation of that wise code of regula- 
 tions and laws enacted by the Governor General 
 in council, for the purpose of securing to the people 
 of this empire the benefit of the ancient and esta- 
 blished laws of the country, administered in the 
 spirit of the British constitution. Finally, their 
 early habits should be so formed as to establish in 
 their minds such solid foundations of industry, 
 prudence, integrity, and religion, as should effec- 
 tually guard them against those temptations and 
 corruptions with which the nature of the climate 
 and the peculiar depravity of the people of India 
 will surround and assail them in every station, es- 
 pecially upon their first arrival in India. The early 
 discipline of the service should be calculated to 
 counteract the defects of the climate and the vices 
 of the people, and to form a natural barrier aoainst 
 habitual indolence, dissipation, and licentious indul- 
 gence : the spirit of emulation in honorable and 
 useful pursuits should be kindled and kept alive 
 by the continual prospect of distinction and reward, 
 of profit and honor ; nor should any precaution be 
 
154 
 
 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 relaxed in India which is deemed necessary in 
 England to furnish a sufficient supply of men 
 qualified to fill the high offices of the state with 
 credit to themselves and with advantage to the 
 public. 
 
 An additional motive for such an institution as 
 was then meditated, was derived from the acknow- 
 ledged fact, that at this period the erroneous and 
 pestilent principles of the French revolutionary 
 school had reached the minds of some individuals 
 in the service of the Company in India ; and that 
 the state, as well of political as religious opinions, 
 had been in some degree unsettled. An institu- 
 tion, therefore, tending to fix and establish sound 
 and correct principles of religion and government 
 in the minds of the junior servants of the Com- 
 pany at an early period of life, was the best secu- 
 rity that could be ])rovided for the stability of the 
 British power in India. 
 
 After discussing the practicability of forming 
 any adequate establishment in England for the 
 purpose of duly educating such a body of men as 
 had been described, and determining that it could 
 not be obtained otherwise than in India, the Go- 
 vernor General concluded by declaring, that a col 
 lege was by this minute in council founded at For' 
 William, for the better instruction of the junioi 
 civil servants of the Company in such branches of 
 literature, science, and knowledge, as might be 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 155 
 
 deemed necessary to qualify them for the discharge 
 of the duties of the different offices constituted for 
 the administration of the government of the British 
 possessions in the East Indies. 
 
 Tlie general reasons upon which the Marquis 
 Wellesley proceeded in the formation of this im- 
 portant institution, must be admitted to be charac- 
 terized by the soundest views of a liberal arid en- 
 lightened jDolicy. Whatevej: diflerence of opinion 
 may exist as to the extent or detailed arrangement 
 of the establishment, there can scarcely be any as 
 to the principles upon which it was founded. The 
 success, too, of the institution, as will be hereafter 
 seen, fully justified the wisdom of the original plan, 
 and reflects the hidiest honor on its distinsfuished 
 author. 
 
 The immediate government of the college was 
 vested in a Provost and Vice-Provost, and three 
 other oflicers, to whose notice every part of the pri- 
 vate conduct of the students, their expenses, their 
 connections, their manners, and morals, were to be 
 subject. Professorships were established in the lan- 
 guages chiefly spoken and used in the different pro- 
 vinces of India, in Hindoo and Mohammedan law, 
 in the regulations and laws enacted at the several 
 presidencies for the civil government of the British 
 territories, in political economy, and particularly 
 the commercial institutions and interests of the 
 East India Company, and in various branches of 
 
156 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 literature and science. There was also to be a con- 
 siderable establishment of learned natives attached 
 to the college; some of whom were to be employ- 
 ed in teaching the students, others in making trans- 
 lations, and others in composing original works in 
 the oriental tongues. 
 
 The excitements to exertion in the college of 
 Fort William were of the highest and most effec- 
 tive nature ; and its nfloral, economical, and reli- 
 gious discipline, such as was admirably calculated 
 to promote all that is virtuous, dignified, and use- 
 ful in civil society. This latter most important 
 branch of the institution was, in an especial man- 
 ner, confided to the provost and vice provost, who 
 were thus honorably introduced to the public no- 
 tice b}'^ its noble founder. 
 
 " Fortunately," observes his lordship, *' for the 
 objects of the institution, the Governor General has 
 found at Calcutta two cleigymen of the church of 
 England eminently qualified to discharge the du- 
 ties of ])ruvost and vice-provost. To the former 
 office he has appointed Mr. Brown, the Company's 
 first chaplain, and to the latter, Mr. Buchanan. 
 Mr. Brown's character must be well known in Eng- 
 land, and particularly so to some members of the 
 Court of Directors ; it is in every respect such as to 
 satisfy the Governor General that his views, in this 
 nomination, will not be disappointed. He has also 
 formed the highest expectations from the abilities, 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 157 
 
 learning, temper, and morals of Mr. Budianan, 
 ^vhose characler is also well known in England, 
 and particularly to Dr. Porteus, Bishop of London, 
 and to Dr. Milner, Master of Queen's College in 
 the University of Cambridge." 
 
 A body of statutes was afterwards compiled and 
 promulgated by Marquis Wellesley, which regu- 
 lated the admission of students and professois, the 
 lectures, exercises, examinations, and public dis- 
 putations, and every other branch of the college 
 business. The office of the provost, and, virtually, 
 of the vice provost, was expressed in the follow- 
 in sr terms ; 
 
 ** It shall be the peculiar province and sacred 
 duty of the provost governing the college at Fort 
 William, to guard the moral and religious interests 
 of the institution, and vigilantly to superintend the 
 conduct and principles of all its members. 
 
 " Divine service shall be performed in the col- 
 lege chapel at such times as the provost shall ap- 
 point." 
 
 Provision was also made Ly the statutes for ap- 
 plying the internal authority of the superior officers 
 of the college, to strengthen and confirm within 
 our eastern possessions the attaclunent of the civil 
 servants of the Company to the laws and coustitu- 
 
 Buchanan. 14 
 
158 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 tion of Great Britain, and to maintain and uphold 
 the christian religion in that quarter of the globe. 
 
 The appointment of the superior officers of the 
 college was notified in a Calcutta gazette extraor- 
 dinary on the 20th of September, ISOO, though 
 they were not formally admitted to their offices 
 till the 24th of April following. Towards the close 
 of the former year an advertisement was publish- 
 ed in different parts of India, announcing the esta- 
 blishment of the colleoe, and invitinor men of learn- 
 ing and knowledge, moulvies, pundits, and moon- 
 shees, to Calcutta, for the purpose of submitting 
 to an examination, with a view to the choice of 
 some as teachers in the college. About fifty na- 
 tives, and subsequently a larger number, were in 
 consequence attached to it. . 
 
 Lectures in the Arabic, Hindostanee, and Per- 
 sian languages, commenced in the month of No- 
 vember, 1800 ; and the first regular term opened 
 on the 6th of February following. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Two years in Calcutta — Collfge of Fort W*illiam — Pub- 
 lic engagements and plans. 
 
 With the commencement of the year ISOl Mr. 
 Buchanan entered upon his important and labori- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. l.')9 
 
 ous duties as vice-provost and professor of classics 
 in the college of Fort William. His health and spi- 
 rits had hitherto been more or less depressed ; nor 
 was the former likely to be improved by the vari- 
 ous weighty engagements which now devolved 
 upon him. A work, however, had at length been 
 assigned to him, both in the college and as one of 
 the chaplains of the Presidency ; which, while it 
 demanded his utmost talents and exertions, deep- 
 ly interested his feelings, and animated him with 
 the hope of becoming extensively useful in India. 
 Early in this year he thus wrote to Mr. Grant : 
 
 " Since my last to you nothing of importance 
 has occurred here. The resfulation concerninsf the 
 college has been carried into effect, and the insti- 
 tution has already acquired energy and tranquillity. 
 We have about a hundred students ; the greater 
 part of whom promise to distinguish themselves. 
 There are as remarkable instances of application 
 here, as I have known at Cambridge. 
 
 " Both the churches are generally full, particu- 
 larly in the cold weather. The college chapel has 
 punkas, which will probably draw a great number 
 of the townspeople during the hot season. Lord 
 Wellesley has fitted up a pew for himself in chapel- 
 
 " Mr. Obeck breakfasted with Mrs. Buchanan 
 this morning, and pleased her much with the ac- 
 count he gave of you and your family for a series 
 
160 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 of years in this country. The old man still retaias 
 his faculties in vigor, and is sti-ong in body. His 
 office at present is the distribution of four or five 
 hundred rupees a month to the poor. The cold 
 meat of college suppoits a great number of poor 
 Portuguese and English. 
 
 " Some of the college students have already 
 made most distinguished proficiency in the oriental 
 languages. By the statutes they must be able to 
 hold public disputations in these languages on a 
 given subject. Ten of the first proficients go out 
 the first year, and twenty the second. The spirit of 
 emulation, of interest, and of fame, is excited in a 
 very remarkable degree. No impropriety of con- 
 duct is known. All is silence, and study, and deco- 
 rum. They all dine in the college hall, in the pre- 
 sence of the professors. 
 
 " There are some instances of a serious spirit of 
 religious inquiry among the students. 
 
 " Lord AVellesley wants some persons of distin- 
 guished ability in science and classics to superin- 
 tend in college, and thinks, properly, that they 
 should, if possible, be clerical men. 
 
 '' Mr. Brown is in a precarious state of health at 
 present ; and I have never been strong. No such 
 field is any where to be found for learning and 
 piety as that which Calcutta at this time exhibits." 
 
 In the month of June follov/ing Mr. Buchanan 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 161 
 
 thus resumes his. account of the two subjects of 
 Indian intelligence most interesting to himself, the 
 church and the college, in a letter to Mr. Grant, 
 and announces Mrs. Buchanan's approaching re- 
 turn to England. 
 
 " Our church continues in much the same slate 
 in which I described it to be in my last. We have 
 had an addition of some communicants, chiefly 
 from college. The church thins a little always in 
 the hot months of May and June. Lord W. has 
 proposed to use punkas and tatties ; and it is pro- 
 bable that we shall have recourse to them next 
 season. 
 
 " The college still goes on with spirit and ener- 
 gy. Some of the students will leave it, and enter 
 on the service in December, 1801, (this year.) I 
 see clearly that all our future professors and ex- 
 aminers will be taken from among those who have 
 been students. It is with the greatest difficulty 
 that we can find in the whole service examiners in 
 the various languages who have confidence to face 
 the students. So that we have been obliged to take 
 our examiners from among the professors, which is 
 rather contrary to the statutes." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan appears to have detained this let- 
 ter till after the 3d of July, on which day the first 
 public examination of the college students took 
 14* 
 
162 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 place. The name of liis young friend, Mr. William 
 Elliott, appeared at the head of the first class in 
 the Persian and Hindostanee languages, and in 
 Nagree writing, and in the first class of Arabic. 
 Mr. Buchanan speaks also of the good conduct and 
 distinguished proficiency in the languages of some 
 other young men as being above all praise. He 
 then adverts to the health of Mrs. Buchanan, who 
 since her return from Pulo Penang had experien- 
 ced a return of her consumptive complaint, which 
 made it necessary for her to try the efiect of her 
 native air. " Should her health," he adds, " be re- 
 stored, she will return to India, after a short resi- 
 dence with her family." 
 
 Accordingly on the 25th of July, ISOl, Mrs. Bu- 
 chanan embarked for England, taking with her 
 their eldest daughter, Charlotte, and leaving the 
 youngest, Augusta, then not quite six months old, 
 with Mr. Buchanan. Her voyage was stormy, and 
 otherwise perilous and painful ; but she reached 
 her native country in safety on the eighteenth of 
 February, 1S02. 
 
 She was the bearer of a letter to one of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan's friends, in which he mentions that the re- 
 gular attendance of the greater number of the stu- 
 dents on divine worship, and still more decisive 
 proofs of serious impressions amongst them, had 
 given him new ardor and new hope that the col- 
 lege of Fort William would prove a religious as 
 well as a literary blessing to many of them. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 163 
 
 Mr. "Buchanan then observes in reply to a sug- 
 geslion of Ijis correspondent, whether he might not 
 have attempted to preach to tlie Hindoos, that, m- 
 de])endent]y of various other impediments, it was 
 inconsistent with the lulcs prescribed to him as a 
 chaplain of the Company;* but that, altliough he 
 had not converted any natives, he had been honor- 
 ed as the instrument of the conveision of souls in 
 India, and had seen some of them die in the faith. 
 
 The fiiend to whom Mr, Buchanan was writing 
 had also hinted tliat some of his English corres- 
 pondents were disappointed at so seldom hearing 
 from him. To this he thus satisfactorily replies : 
 
 " I had such a numerous body of friends and ac- 
 quaintances, literary and religious, in Scotland and 
 in England, that I found it was in vain to attempt 
 a correspondence with them all in my infirm state 
 of health. 1 have therefore scarcely written to any 
 one but to yourself, Mr. Newton, and Mr. Grant. 
 I have less time now than ever ; and even my let- 
 ters to you will be less frequent. The chief labor 
 of the churches is devolving fast upon me. My re- 
 ligious correspondence in India is greater than at 
 
 ♦ It must be remembered that a considerable change with 
 respect to religion has taken place in India since the period 
 to which this observation refers, and that what was then a 
 subject of the most jealous suspicion. ii> now regarded with 
 more liberal and chrisliau feelings. 
 
164 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 any former time. The whole direction of the col- 
 lege lies with me ; every paper is drawn up by me ; 
 and every thing that is printed is revised by me. 
 In addition to this, I give Greek and Latin lectures 
 four days in the week during term ; and I must 
 visit and receive visits on an average twice a day. 
 " You desired me to say something in self-de- 
 fence, else I should not have given you the above. 
 I am yet an unprofitable servant, very unworthy 
 the lowest place in my Master's vineyard ; and I 
 am supported chiefly at times by the feeble hope 
 that the Lord, who works by any means, will be 
 pleased to work even by rae." 
 
 From the time that Mr. Buchanan removed to 
 the presidency he generally preached at one or 
 other of the churches in Calcutta once, and some- 
 times twice, on the Sabbath. It appears also, from 
 a book of memoranda, in which he briefly noticed 
 his engagements during the five most active years 
 of his residence in India, that he occasionally 
 preached the weekly evening lecture, which had 
 been established by Mr. Brown. In writing to a 
 friend at Cambridge, Mr. Buchanan observed that 
 the consrregations at the new church were more 
 numerous than those at St. Mary's, more elegant, 
 equally critical, and perhaps not less intelligent. 
 To address such audiences with acceptance and 
 effect must consequently have demanded much la- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 1G5 
 
 boric. US preparation. At tlie mission cl-.urcli the 
 congregations were chiefly composed of those who 
 simply sought christian instruction and edification. 
 
 Of tlie general tenor of liis discourses at bolli 
 places, some idea may be formed from tlie preced- 
 ing view of his character and sentiments. A few 
 notices of tlie sul)jects of liis pleaching occur 
 amongst the memoranda just referred to. The fol- 
 lowing are some of tliem : " The inward witness to 
 Christianity," from 1 John, 5:10. '' The barren 
 fig-tree," at the close of the year ISOl. " In Adam 
 all die," on tlie Easter following. " The second 
 Adam." •' Jairus." " On knowledge." " We 
 preach Christ crucified." " The second advent." 
 *' Abraham seeking a country." '' St. Paul at 
 Athens." '"If then ye be risen with Christ, seek 
 those things which are above." 'Jliese are indeed 
 but scanty memorials of Mr. Buchanan's labors in 
 Calcutta as a preacher. Some specimens, however, 
 of his sermons will hereafter be adduced. 
 
 Scarcely more numerous or detailed traces re- 
 main of the other great branch of his employment, 
 as vice provost and classical professor in the col- 
 lege of Fort William. Although Mr. Brown, as the 
 senior chaplain of the presidency, accepted the 
 office of provost, and in both capacities was zealous 
 and indefatigable in his endeavors to promote the 
 interests of religion in Calcutta, the superinten- 
 dence and practical government of the college rest- 
 
166 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ed upon Mr. Buchanan. Occasional notices occur 
 in these imperfect records, of the books in which 
 he lectured during different terms, as well as of his 
 sermons. Homer and Virgil, Longinus and Demos- 
 thenes, Terence and Juvenal, Livy, Horace, and 
 Xenophon, are among the authors enumerated as 
 occupying the attention of the students of Fort 
 WilHam. Independently of his lectures in these 
 and other classical writers, Mr. Buchanan's me- 
 moranda notice frequent communications with 
 Lord Wellesley and the council of the college 
 upon points of internal discipline and arrangement, 
 the composition of various public orders, letters, 
 and other papers and documents, the revision of 
 college essays and books connected with the insti- 
 tution, and attendances at the terminal examina- 
 tions, disputations, and subsequent distribution into 
 classes of the students. 
 
 The time necessarily employed in these multi- 
 plied labors, in maintaining a correspondence in 
 India and Europe, and in visits of ceremony, friend- 
 ship, or charity, and amongst the latter some are 
 mentioned to the orphan and other schools in and 
 near Calcutta, will suffice to prove, that no sooner 
 were these opportunities of active service and use- 
 fulness presented to Mr. Buchanan, than he em- 
 braced them with a des:ree of ardor, dilig^ence, 
 and perseverance, which reflects the highest honor 
 on his principles and his practice. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 1G7 
 
 It will not, however, be a subject of surprise to 
 those who are aware of the high standard by which 
 such men as Mr. Brown and Mr. Buchanan are ac- 
 customed to measure their obligations, to find that 
 neither of them was satisfied with his endeavors to 
 fulfil them. We have already had proof of their 
 mutual anxiety upon these important points. And 
 we have now to witness another of a still more in- 
 teresting nature, in a reply of Mr. Buchanan to a 
 communication from Mr. Brown, who was then at 
 Chanderna2:ore, where he had been residino^ some 
 months for the benefit of his health. This valu- 
 able testimony to the pastoral feelins:s of both is 
 as follows : 
 
 " Calcutta, Nov. 29, 1801, 
 " My dear Sir, — I received your letter last night. 
 I envy much the zealous affection which animates 
 your mind, and would gladly go up to Chanderna- 
 gore also, to obtain the same. Old Mr. Newton, 
 Avhen in the country, used to think that London 
 was Sardis ; but when he came up to tcnvn, he 
 found there a great assembly walking in white ; and 
 so he joined them. I have thought more seriously 
 in Calcutta than ever I did at Barrackpore. But 
 what I have been (at any period of my life) is so 
 little like what I would wish to be, that I cannot 
 contemplate it without remorse. I do not know 
 that I ever had what christians call ' zeal.' I recol- 
 
163 MEMOIR OP DH. EirciIANAN*. 
 
 lect lliat I expected it won]d grow when I entered 
 the ministry ; but I had scarcely entered the minis- 
 try, and preached a few times, when I was sent to 
 this country. 
 
 ** I never knew, as you do, what it was to preach 
 profitably and zealously for a season. That is u 
 work I have to begin ; and how to begin it I l;now 
 not. I need an unction from on high, which I 
 anxiously look for ; and yet in looking for this, I 
 look for that which I never knew as most have 
 known it. 
 
 '^ One thing urges me sometimes to press for- 
 ward with hope ; and that is, that all I hear and 
 all I say appears to rae to be so very unlike what 
 it ought to be, that I imagine something belter 
 might be attempted. And yet were the Spirit in- 
 deed to descend, we cannot expect that God, who 
 v/orkcth by natural means, should suddenly add 
 the eloquent mouth and new powers of memory 
 and understanding. The holy skill of preaching ap- 
 pears to be the fruit of long experience and con- 
 verse among God's people. And in Calcutta, as in 
 every other place, the able minister of the New 
 Testament can only be made by nightly and wake- 
 ful meditation, patient study, and prayer producing 
 self-denial. 
 
 '' It appears to rae that it was never intended 
 that the Gospel should flourish in the heart and 
 mouth of any minister who did not make it the 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 169 
 
 * one thin?,' the sole point of heartfelt recurrence. 
 But when it is made so, I can easily conceive how 
 the tender plant grows a great tree with spreading 
 branches and refreshing fruit. Then, no doubt, 
 even a mind naturally barren bears exuberant 
 ideas, and is constantly forming lively images ; and, 
 though the mouth be rude in speech, the full heart 
 becomes vocal, and utters the ' word in season.' 
 
 *' Whether either of us will be able thus to make 
 the Gospel the ' one thing,' time will show. ' He 
 that warreth,' ought not to ' entangle himself with 
 the affairs of this life.' But do we 2var ? Time 
 enough for the soldier to disencumber himself 
 when he begins to fight. It is easy to throw off a 
 college; but it is very difficult to take up the 
 church. But when the church spirit appears, it will 
 soon conquer the college. 
 
 " The grand question is, ought not means to be 
 used to mature that spirit which we desire % We 
 read ' that a good soldier of Jesus Christ entangleth 
 himself not with the affairs of this life, that he may 
 please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier ;' 
 or, as Guyse explains it, * he must not follow any 
 civil calling, unprofitable reading, or unnecessary 
 relaxation, to entangle his thoughts and swallow 
 up his time ;' (superintending a college is a civil 
 calling, Latin and Greek is unprofitable reading, 
 and lying in bed after five in the morning is unne- 
 cessary relaxation ;) * but his whole lime, words, 
 
 Buchanan. 15 
 
170 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 thoughts, and actions must be employed, like a 
 soldier's, on his calling, that he may please Him 
 who hath chosen and authorized him to fight.' 
 
 " How far, in what manncM-, and in what particu- 
 lars, St. Paul would obey the spirit of this passage, 
 were he in your situation or mine, I really cannot 
 tell. Were he here, he would be warring. After 
 we have warred for some time, we also shall know. 
 * O that I knew the will of God in this matter/ 
 .saith Augustine ; ' but I am not worthy to know 
 his will. This ignorance is the fruit of my back- 
 sliding.' 
 
 " One thing seems probable, that no sudden suc- 
 cess will appear from any sudden change of our 
 style of address or manner of preaching. It arises 
 usually from the impression of private character 
 and manner of life. Private character alone will 
 confirm the public sermon. The holy life of the 
 minister is the good alterative among men. 
 
 "* As to myself, it is my only desire to be of some 
 service to the church of Christ before I die ; and 
 I would gladly seize any means, by change of situ- 
 ation or otherwise, which would enable me to do 
 so. As to this world, there is no object (if I know 
 my own heart at all) which I have in view ; nei- 
 ther of family, of fortune, of situation, of leavii^g 
 this country, or continuing in it. I have chiefly to 
 complain of a languid and heartless constitution, 
 both in body and mind, which makes me to bear 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 171 
 
 easily with all things, and to have little pleasure in 
 any thing. This loss of energy and life has been 
 occasioned paitly by a continued course of ill 
 health, partly by the untowaid circumstances in 
 my situation since I arrived in the country, but 
 chiefly by the natural contagion of unchristian 
 manners. 
 
 " I am, however, at this time more independent 
 of society I dislike, than at any former period since 
 my arrival in India; and I liope to be yet more so. 
 Whether by resigning college appointments, se- 
 cluding myself from the world, and preaching 
 twice a week, I should be of more service than by 
 maintaining a public situation, is a question I can- 
 not answer. What may be impossible and impro- 
 per now, may be possible and proper hereafter. 
 
 " However, the chief consideration at present is 
 the state of the heart. How is the soul with God 1 
 I endeavor by prayer to restore it daily, relying 
 (though feebly) on the aid of the Mediator, won- 
 dering sometimes that I am not worse, oppressed in 
 spirit at a view of the past, and hoping for better 
 days. 
 
 " I shall ever be ready to accede to any plan you 
 can suggest for the furtherance of our ministry. 
 You say you ' long to launch out into the fulness 
 of Christ.' So do I. But these words are too apos- 
 tolic for me at present. In order to launch forth 
 like * * ♦ I should need not only a new effusion 
 
172 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 of the Holy Spirit, hut those natural abilities which 
 generally accompany such an effusion, in order to 
 make it useful. Circumstances seem to admonish 
 me, that the ' still small voice,' and not ' the rush- 
 ing mighty wind,' is my province in the Gospel. 
 What another school than Calcutta would have 
 produced, I know not. But I shall be blessed, if 
 o^race be griven unto me to do what o^ood I can, 
 consistently and steadily in my various situations. 
 Unhappily, collegiate avocations usurp much of my 
 time. But let us beware of repining at the neces- 
 sity of spending time in this way, till we become 
 confident that, were all our time at our own dispo- 
 sal, we should spend it in a better. 
 
 " I earnestly pray that we may both be rightly 
 directed in our labors in this vineyard, that we may 
 see some fruit in others, and enjoy the comfort 
 ourselves of faithful ministers of the Gospel. I think 
 better days are at hand. 
 
 " In this hope I remain, my dear sir, very affec- 
 tionately yours, C. Buchanan.'* 
 
 It is not among the least interesting circum- 
 stances relative to this exquisite letter, that it ex- 
 hibits both its author and the friend to whom it 
 was addressed, in a country which at that time pos- 
 sessed no ecclesiastical superior, amidst multiplied 
 engagements of the most honorable and useful na- 
 ture, and under the pressure of infirm health in an 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 173 
 
 enervating climate, earnestly occupied, not in de- 
 vising some method of relieving themselves from 
 the burthen of their employments, in framing plau- 
 sible apologies for the indulgence of case and in- 
 dolence, or in schemes for the attainment of wealth ; 
 but affording mutual examples of self-inquiry, re- 
 proaching themselves with the lukewarmness of 
 exertions which some, perhaps, had already ac- 
 counted excessive ; and exciting each other to more 
 animated and abundant labors in the service of 
 their Lord and Master. Yet such is the impressive 
 sense which every faithful minister of the Gospel 
 entertains of his obligations and his duties, of the 
 love of Christ and the value of souls, of the uncer- 
 tainty of opportunity and life, and the approach of 
 an eternal world, that while many who observe 
 him may imaa:ine that he is indul^ins: in selfcom- 
 placency and satisfaction in the review of his ex- 
 ertions, he is in fact humbling himself before God, 
 and in the confidence of private friendship, at the 
 recollection of his numerous deficiencies. 
 
 How well Mr. Buchanan understood the nature 
 of true pastoral zeal, together with what he justly 
 calls ' the holy skill of preaching;* how highly he 
 estimated both, and how perfectly he was acquaint- 
 ed with the means by which they may be cultivated 
 and beneficially exercised, is evident from his dig- 
 nified and eloquent observations upon those im- 
 portant points. They can scarcely be read without 
 15* 
 
174 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 producing a powerful conviction that personal pie- 
 ty, of a vigorous and exalted character, must form 
 the basis of any reasonable hope of success as a 
 preacher of the Gospel ; that it is " the heart of the 
 wise," which must communicate persuasion to his 
 lips ; and that it is the " doctrine and the life coin- 
 cident," which can alone be expected to constitute 
 the divine art of wiiming souls to God. 
 
 The humility which breathes throughout the 
 whole letter, the disinterestedness of the writer's 
 views, the ardent desire which he expresses of 
 more decisive usefulness, and the obscure intima- 
 tion of a purpose, which was gradually becoming 
 more definite and mature, of endeavoring more 
 effectually to promote the extension of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom in the East, cannot fail to be 
 observed by every thoughtful reader ; and while 
 they serve to illustrate the character of Mr. Bucha- 
 nan, and the principles which he professed, are 
 well calculated to excite others to the imitation of 
 such an example. 
 
 A few days after the date of the preceding letter, 
 Mr. Buchanan wrote to Mr. Grant as follows : 
 
 " Mr. Brown and his family have been on the 
 river for their health for five or six weeks past. 
 Our churches during this cold season are more 
 crowded than I ever saw them before. Even on 
 Wednesday evening there are a great number. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 175 
 
 and craod is done. Some of the students attend on 
 
 o 
 
 that evening. Their presence warms the heart of 
 old Mr. Obeck. They know and visit him. ' How 
 would Mr. Grant rejoice,'* he sometimes says, 'to 
 see these things !' The pillars are removed, and a 
 number of additional seats made, to accommodate 
 the many who come." 
 
 On the 20th of January, 1S02, it appears, by a 
 brief memorandum, that Mr. Buchanan, in taking 
 liis usual evening's exercise, suffered a severe fall 
 from his horse. " He came down," he says, " at 
 full gallop, and I was thrown over his head and 
 stunned. He seemed to tumble over me. Mercy ! 
 mercy !" 
 
 Though Mr. Buchanan complained for several 
 weeks of the effects of his fall, he was sufficiently 
 recovered to preach, yet not without much weak- 
 ness and pain, the next evening. 
 
 During the whole of this month Mr. Buchanan 
 was employed in making various arrangements 
 preparatory to the anniversary of the commence- 
 ment of the college on the 6th of February. On 
 that day public disputations were held in the Per- 
 
 * For the history of the mission church, and of the pecu- 
 liar interest which Mr. Grant would feel in its prosperity, 
 the reader is referred to the " Memorial Sketches " of Mr. 
 Brown. 
 
176 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sian, Bengalee, and Hindostanee languages, in the 
 presence of the supreme council and many other 
 distinguished persons ; the jirizes and honorary re- 
 wards adjudged at the preceding examinations 
 were distributed, and a speech was delivered by 
 Sir George Barlow, the acting visiter in the ab- 
 sence of Marquis Wellesley ; in which, after ex- 
 pressing his satisfaction at the zeal and ability of 
 the officers and professors of the college in ihedis- 
 charcre of their public duties, and at the dislin- 
 guished proficiency of many of the students, as 
 well as their exemplary conduct, he observed that 
 the establishment of the college had already excited 
 a general and most beneficial attention to oriental 
 languages, literature, and knowledge ; and avowed 
 his conviction, that by diligently availing them- 
 selves of the advantages afforded by the institution, 
 the students would enjoy the animating prospect 
 of being eminently useful to their country, by aid- 
 ing it in fulfilling the high moral obligations attend- 
 ant on the possession of its Indian empire ; on the 
 discharge of which the prosperity and permanence 
 of that empire must equally depend. 
 
 The various occupations, however, of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan did not induce him to forget his friends in 
 Europe. Early in the year 1S02 his income being 
 now considerably augmented, he, with that filial 
 piety which marked his character, authorized his 
 mother to draw upon his agents for the sum of 
 three hundred pounds annually. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 177 
 
 With Mrs. Biiclianan, whose arrival in England 
 has been mentioned, he maintained a frequent cor- 
 respondence. In one of his letters he gave lier an 
 interesting sketch of his early life, some circum- 
 stances of which he does not appear to have pre- 
 viously communicated to her, and which he observ- 
 ed might form a good commentary on Isaiah 42 : IG. 
 " I will bring the blind by a way that they knew 
 not, I will lead them in paths that they have not 
 known : I will make darkness light before them, 
 and crooked things straight. These things will I 
 do unto them, and not forsake them." 
 
 Having brought down his history to the time at 
 which he was writing, he concludes with the fol- 
 lowing reflections on his present views and pur- 
 poses, the piety, beauty, and affection of which can- 
 not but be generally admired : 
 
 " Such, my dearest Mary, has been my varied 
 life, and such the wonderful providence which has 
 watched over me during so long a period. I pray 
 that, now I am settled, I may be enabled to show a 
 heart fixed on my Saviour, and on the ministration 
 of his word. I feel that nothing in this world can 
 afford me any delight equal to what I hope to find 
 in the labor of the everlasting Gospel. No fortune 
 or rank in life can ever, I think, give any solid 
 comfort to my soul : nothing but heavenly draughts 
 can quench my thirst. 
 
178 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " My infirm constitution aclmonislies me not to 
 expect to enjoy life, as some speak, and I am 
 thankful for every barrier vvliich God erects against 
 my taking up my lest in this wilderness. Let U9 
 then, my dear Mary, live for the day, seeking that 
 heavenly peace which is always attainable. We 
 have learnt from our past experience, that * our 
 times are in his hands,' and we shall confess at the 
 end that ' He hath done all things well.' 
 
 " I feel a deep sense of the importance of my 
 present situation, and of the necessity of using the 
 tabnt committed to my charge ; the uncertainty of 
 having such an useful sphere of action much long- 
 er, or my health continued, or my reputation sup- 
 ported ; these things excite me to greater exertions 
 while it is called ' to-day.' 
 
 ** The society of religious people here pray that 
 I may be enabled to do something for the Gospel. 
 I am now in better health than formerly. My spi- 
 rits are more alive. My desires after a regular life 
 increase, and I trust my hopes in the Gospel will 
 be fulfilled. You, my beloved wife, can now pray in 
 faith : a sense of religion has visited you. Che- 
 rish it as the life of your soul. Esteem it the pearl 
 of great price, far exceeding in value the joys of 
 your family, or the wealth of the Indies. I know 
 that gay society at home will impede your progress 
 for awhile, but these difficulties are useful in prov- 
 ing and trying us, and bringing us forth like gold 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 179 
 
 purified in the fiie. It is not precisciiess of exter- 
 nal c<tiiclnct, but communion with God in prayer 
 which forms the christian's character. If you con- 
 tinue to approach tlie throne of grace witli as much 
 earnestness as you used when on the great waters, 
 you will gradually arrive at a holy state of mind, 
 pui^ satisfaction of soul, and inexpressible delight 
 in the contemplation of the Gospel. Christ will be 
 formed in you, and you will begin to learn the 
 breadth, and length, and height, and depth of his 
 unsearchable riches, 
 
 '* All you have to do is to give your testimony to 
 the truth of real religion, when opportunities shall 
 be afforded, in modesty and simplicity; alleging 
 that the Gospel is not m form, but in power ; and 
 that we must all suffer a change of heart before 
 we can enter the kingdom of God. This is the 
 truth which I maintain in my preaching, and it is 
 found to be the only effectual doctrine to reach the 
 hearts of men." 
 
 The close of this truly interesting letter affords 
 a most substantial proof of the practical infiuence 
 of Mr. Buchanan's principles, and of the sincerity 
 of the religious professions and purposes which 
 precede it : 
 
 " By the last ships I s^t four hundred pounds 
 to Mr. H. Thornton, being the amount of his ex- 
 pense on my own account at college for four years, 
 
180 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN, 
 
 at one hundred pounds per annum. He never ex* 
 pected that I should repay him, but God has put it 
 in my power, and therefore it is my duty. 
 
 " I told him I only sent it back to the fountain 
 from whence it would probably soon flow again iu 
 some act of benevolence. 
 
 " I also sold him that I meant to devote five hun- 
 dred pounds for the support of a young man at the 
 university, of religious character and good ability, 
 who might be in poor circumstances, and whom 
 he, or Mr. Newton, or Dr. Milner, president of 
 Queen's college, should select. At the same time 
 I remitted an order on Messrs. Boehm & Co. to 
 Mr. T. for paying the sum of 6£125 per annum, by 
 half yearly instalments, for this purpose : and I ex- 
 pressed a wish that the young man might prove an 
 honor to the Gospel, and become an useful laborer 
 in his Master's vineyard. 
 
 '' While it is in my power, I wish to do some 
 good thing for the Gospel of my blessed Lord. 1 
 may soon be called hence. May I be able to de- 
 vote my heart to his glory while I stay ! 
 
 " May we be grateful stewards of God's bless- 
 ings, so abundant and unlooked for ! And may we 
 continue daily to remember the wonderful way in 
 which we have been led from our early years to 
 this day !" • 
 
 Various motives might have suggested to many 
 
AT CALCUTTA. ISl 
 
 men, possessed of lucrative appointments, the pro- 
 priety of restoring to a patron the sum which might 
 have been expended in preparing them for their 
 stations. Such a step, however, might not have 
 Deen distinguished by promptness, and still less by 
 any act of spontaneous liberality. In both these 
 respects the conduct of Mr. Buchanan was of a 
 very elevated and generous character. It was but 
 a short time that he had enjoyed an abundant in- 
 come ; he had already two children, for whom he 
 could as yet have made but very little provision; 
 he was affording a liberal allowance to his mother; 
 his own health was precarious, and that of his 
 wife was subjecting him to the expense of a voy- 
 age to England, with a view to her return to In- 
 dia ; the principal source of his emoluments was of 
 an uncertain nature, and had, in fact, though then 
 unknown to him, been already considerably dimi- 
 nished. Gratitude, however, to his earthly bene- 
 factor, and love to his divine Lord and Master, in- 
 duced him, notvv'ithstanding many plausible mo- 
 tives at least to defer his purpose, at once to dis- 
 charge a debt of kindness, and to fulfil a truly 
 christian design ; and under these impressions he 
 
 communicated to Mr. Thornton the arrancrement 
 
 o 
 
 which has been already detailed. The sense which 
 that gentleman entertained of Mr. Buchanan's con- 
 duct was probably expressed in a letter to him- 
 
 Buchanan. 16 
 
182 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 self: but the only memorial of it which remains is 
 in the following letter to a mutual friend : 
 
 " London, Dec. 24, 1802. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — I called at your house the other 
 day, and if I had met with you I should have in- 
 formed you of the letter which I have received 
 from Mr. Buchanan. He remits in it iive hundred 
 and twenty pounds ; of which four hundred is in- 
 tended as a repayment to myself of the four years* 
 allowance which I made to him at college, and the 
 remaining sum is to be applied in a manner which 
 he directs. He moreover gives me a letter to a 
 house in London, desiring them to pay me an an- 
 nual sum for four years, for the education of such 
 young man for the ministry as I, Mr. Newton, and 
 Dr. Milner may select. 
 
 '' I am not quite clear whether Mr. Buchanan, at 
 the time of writing the letter, was apprised of all 
 that diminution of his income v/hich the orders sent 
 out from hence for suspending the institution of the 
 college will produce *, and I feel some doubt, on 
 this account, whether either to take or to keep the 
 four hundred pounds. I shall thank you for any in- 
 formation on this point which you may possess; as 
 well as for the mention of any promising young 
 man for education at college, with a view to the 
 ministiy of the church. I would also request you 
 to take some occasion of expressing to Mr. Bu- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 183 
 
 clianaii tlie satisfaction which 1 felt at tliis mark of 
 integrity, or of something more than integrity, as I 
 ouglit to temi it, in his conduct. It has raised him 
 in the opinion both of myself and others, and it will 
 not, as I am persuaded, be one of the acts of which 
 he will repent whenever he may come to die. For 
 my own part I shall always hold that his children 
 will have some claim upon me in consequence of 
 the return of this money, in the event of their fall- 
 ing into pecuniary difficulties ; and Pioyidence, I 
 am well persuaded, is wont to provide for those 
 who, without robbing or neglecting their own 
 household, avoid the common eagerness to lay up 
 for them. 
 
 " I am, dear sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 " H. Thornton." 
 
 It may be satisfactory to add to the preceding 
 letter, that Mr. Buchanan's liberal offer was ac- 
 cepted ; and that a young man, approved by the 
 three friends to whom the selection was referred, 
 was aftenvards supported during the usual term 
 of residence at the University of Cambridge; who 
 is now filling with ability and credit a very useful 
 station in the church. 
 
 While the members of the college of Fort Wil- 
 liam were zealously and successfully occupied in 
 the prosecution of their labors, the Governor Ge- 
 neral in council, on the 15th of June, 1802, receiv- 
 
1S4 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN 
 
 ed with the utmost concern the commands of the 
 Court of Directors for the immediate aholition of that 
 important institution. On the 22d following, Lord 
 Wellesley communicated this despatch to Mr. Bu- 
 chanan, who, in common with every other friend 
 of the college, deeply lamented this unexpected 
 determination ; and directed him to consider of a 
 reply to the reasons upon which it was professedly 
 orrounded. The Governor General was at all times 
 
 o 
 
 fully competent to the defence of his own measures, 
 though he might, and probably did, avail himself of 
 the talents and information of those around him 
 upon every great question. It is sufficient to ob- 
 serve that, in a letter* to the chairman of the Court 
 of Directors, dated the 5th of August, 1802, cha- 
 racterized by the same ability which had distin- 
 guished his minute in council, Marquis Wellesley 
 submitted to the Court a general view of the prin- 
 ciples by which his conduct had been regulated re- 
 lative to the establishment of the college, and of 
 the measures which he had pursued on, what his 
 lordship termed, the present '' most painful and 
 afflicting occasion." 
 
 In directinsf the immediate abolition of the col- 
 
 o 
 
 lege of Fort William, the Governor General ob- 
 served, the letter of the honorable Court appeared 
 to acknowledge with approbation the liberal and 
 
 ♦ See " The College of Fort William," p. 65. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 185 
 
 e-nligbtened spirit of the institution, the just prin- 
 ciples t)n wliich it was founded, and the im])oitant 
 ends to wliich it was directed. The objections 
 stated by the Court against the continuance of the 
 establishment were apparently confined to its ex- 
 pense, and to the pressure of that charge on the 
 ])resent circumstances of the Company's finances 
 in India. The iirst object therefore of Lord Wel- 
 lesley wa«, by a minute detail of facts, to convince 
 the Court that the expenses already incurred on 
 account of the college had not been more consider- 
 able than was required by the magnitude of the 
 objects proposed by the institution ; that those 
 expenses had been actually defrayed by new re- 
 sources destined to that express purpose ; and that 
 provision had been secured for defraying the future 
 current expenses of the college, without interfer- 
 ing with any other branch of the public service, 
 and without diminishing the scale of their com- 
 mercial investments. 
 
 It appeared, however, to be manifestly the inten- 
 tion of the Court of Directors that some establish- 
 ment for the better instruction of the civil sen'ants 
 at each of the presidencies should subsist in India; 
 the outlines of which had been traced in their let- 
 ter to the Governor General. His lordship, there- 
 fore, next proceeded to compare the actual ex- 
 pense and ascertained benefit of the institution 
 then subsisting at Fort William, with the probable 
 16* 
 
186 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 expense and probable benefit of the seminaries by 
 which the Court intended to supersede that insti- 
 tution. The result of this comparison was stated 
 to be, that the necessary effect of the latter plan 
 would be to involve the expense of a triple esta- 
 blishment for every branch of study alike requi- 
 site at each of the three presidencies, which must 
 equal, and would probably exceed, the total current 
 charges, on the highest estimate, of the college of 
 Fort Wdliam. 
 
 The Governor General further directed the par- 
 ticular attention of the court to the benefits already 
 derived to their civil service from the operation 
 and effect of the system of study and discipline 
 constituted and enforced by the college of Fort 
 William. The general progress of the students, his 
 lordship declared, in the oriental languages and li- 
 terature, had exceeded the most sanguine expecta- 
 tions of the examiners, who had always been se- 
 lected from the ablest oriental scholars actually at 
 Calcutta, and whose voluntary aid had been afford- 
 ed to support the discipline, and to improve the 
 course of study and the mode of instruction pur- 
 sued in the institution. A spirit of emulation had 
 been excited among the students, as unexampled 
 in its scope and ardor, as it was propitious to the 
 future government of India. The institution had 
 already corrected many of the defects which Lord 
 Wellesley had found in the younger branches of 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 187 
 
 the civil service upon his arrival in India, and had 
 reclaimed to "industrious and laborious pursuits 
 many of the junior servants who were disposed 
 to pursue courses of a contrary tendency. That a 
 general disposition to economy and regularity then 
 prevailed among the students ; that principles of 
 due subordination had also been established among 
 them with the happiest success ; and that the 
 young men then composing the body of the stu- 
 dents at Fort William afforded the most auspicious 
 hope that the local administration of India, for se- 
 veral years to come, would be amply provided with 
 instruments properly qualified to accomplish all 
 the purposes of a wise, just, and benevolent go- 
 vernment. 
 
 Though these and other considerations might 
 have induced the Governor General to suspend the 
 execution of the order for the abolition of the col- 
 lege, and to refer the question to the further plea- 
 sure of the court, the peculiar character and spirit 
 of its commands, and the nature of the institution, 
 seemed to require their immediate execution. To 
 this his lordship accordingly proceeded ; but in ful- 
 filling this painful duty a most serious and difficult 
 question arose with regard to the time when the 
 abolition of the college should take effect. The de- 
 termination of this question involved principles so 
 deeply affecting the welfare, future prospects, and 
 just expectations of the students, and also the con- 
 
188 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sideration due to the situation of tlie professors and 
 teachers, and of the numerous learned natives at- 
 tached to the institution, that Lord Wellesley felt 
 himself compelled to declare that the abolition of 
 the college of Fort William must be gradual; and 
 that the institution should not terminate previously 
 to the 31st of December, 1S03, when the great 
 body of the students then attached to the college 
 would have coinpleted the course which they had 
 so successfully commenced. His loi'dship finally 
 observed, that he had been partly induced to pro- 
 tract the existence of the institution, from the hope 
 that his preceding representation might prove the 
 means of inducing the Court of Directors to review 
 their late orders, and to restore to their civil ser- 
 vice in India the inestimable advantages which 
 must be destroyed by the destruction of the college, 
 and to suffer it to remain unaltered until he should 
 have the opportunity of reporting in person to the 
 court the condition and elfects of the institution, 
 and of submitting to them such details as might 
 enable them to exercise their final judgment on 
 the whole plan. 
 
 In the spring of this year Mr. Buchanan receiv- 
 ed letters from his wife, whose health appeared to 
 be considerably restored by her visit to her native ' 
 country, announcing her intention of leaving Eng- 
 land in the month of January. " This," said he, 
 in a letter to the friend in whose family she had 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 189 
 
 resided some months during her visit, " was joyful 
 intelHgence to me. In two or three months hence, 
 I may be blessed with seeing her again. When she 
 mentions her affectionate intimacy with your fa- 
 mily, she writes in tears. But I see evidently that 
 it is the Gospel union which so powerfully awak- 
 ens her heart in speaking of the happiness of her 
 residing with you. I expect that she will do good 
 in Carmarthen, and I hope she will do good in 
 Calcutta. She comes out to a promising scene of 
 joy ; to see her little Augusta, now grown up a 
 healthy and talkative girl ; calling out for mamma 
 for two years past in vain. And she comes out to 
 many who love and respect her, and to some who 
 have learnt durino- her absence to love ' the excel- 
 
 o 
 
 lent of the earth.' 
 
 " I have now a house in the country, about three 
 miles from Calcutta, on the banks of the river, 
 where she may sleep occasionally, and retire from 
 company. I spend three or four solitary evenings 
 every week in Garden Reach. The change of place 
 and air refreshes me for the labors of the succeed- 
 ing day. Augusta and I play together in the groves, 
 and then return by water to Calcutta. A gentle- 
 man leaving India sent me his boat as a present to 
 Mary when she comes out. I find the river air very 
 salutary and renovating, and perhaps she will find 
 it so too. But our pleasures at Clapham or on the 
 Ganges are transitory. May they be so tempered 
 
190 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCIIANAIV. 
 
 with prayer as to prepare us both for the pleasures 
 of that ' other country,' where there will be no se- 
 paration, and where the inhabitants will never say, 
 * I am sick !' Mrs. B, mentions the circumstances 
 of your illness with a lively concern mingled with 
 a sensation of pleasure. Her hours passed by your 
 sick couch were delightful. Providence hath well 
 ordered her steps. It may be, indeed, that I shall 
 never see her ; or that I shall contemplate her de- 
 parting spirit for a short time in her emaciated 
 frame. But then God hath made with her a cove- 
 nant well ordered and sure! Thus it is with my 
 house. And this is my joy. Thus God hath blessed 
 our short sojourn together ; and the end will be an 
 eternal song of glory to his redeeming love !" 
 
 Though the fears which Mr. Buchanan express- 
 es with so much tenderness and piety as to the 
 probably short period of his reunion with his wife 
 were but too well founded, it is pleasing to reflect 
 that he was gratified by again seeing her in India. 
 She embarked on board the Carmarthen in the 
 month of February ; and, as Mr. Buchanan had 
 anticipated, the piety of her mind was displayed 
 during the voyage by her endeavors to promote 
 the religious improvement of two young ladies, 
 one of whom had been placed under her protec- 
 tion. Mrs. Buchanan had a more favorable voyage 
 than in returning to Europe, and arrived safely at 
 Calcutta on the 24th of August. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 191 
 
 The remainder of the letter, from which an in- 
 teresting passage respecting Mrs. Buchanan has 
 just been extracted, is occupied with the import- 
 ant subject of the college of Fort William ; in 
 wliich, though some things occur similar to those 
 which have been already stated from the public 
 letter of Lord Wellesley, many additional facts and 
 sentiments are contained, more particularly with 
 reference to Mr. Buchanan himself, which it may 
 be proper to inseit. 
 
 " You say," he continues, " that you hear the 
 college is abolished. It has been long abolished in 
 London, but it still exists here, in greater spirit 
 and utility than ever ; and it must continue to ex- 
 ist (though perhaps under a different name) as 
 long as the British empire reigns in India. To 
 send a young man adrift in the upper provinces, 
 without any knowledge of the languages, and with- 
 out any ofllicial preparation, is now utterly impos- 
 sible. The good sense of young men themselves 
 would deprecate it. Every one here sees that the 
 body of civil servants educated these three years 
 in the college of Fort William will by and by gov- 
 ern India. INIany of them are already approaching 
 to the most responsible situations. The body of 
 juniors that follow, if left in their native ignorance, 
 will be held in comparative contempt, and must 
 ever feel the injustice done to them. 
 
192 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " The directors wish the institution to be called 
 a seminary, and then they will support it. I have 
 no objection to the name, provided that the young 
 men are taught ; and they must be taught in future. 
 You might as well think of abolisliing the schools 
 in London, as abolishing schools in Calcutta. Thus 
 much then has been effected by the institution of 
 ihe college. Education has been proved to be use- 
 ful in India. Of the students who have just left 
 college, only eight out of thirty have contracted any 
 debt. Many of them have saved money ; a thing 
 unheard of in India, and by the old civil servants 
 accounted impossible. This is the point to which 
 the public attention is turned. The reign of na- 
 tive money lenders is now at an end. But a school 
 or seminary directed by native moonshees, and des- 
 titute of the high and respectable jurisdiction of 
 learned and religious men, would never be able to 
 effect this desirable purpose. The authority and 
 the honors of a college are alone competent to re- 
 strain a body of young men of good famihes and 
 flattering prospects in this luxurious and deteriora- 
 ting country. That ever such an objection as that 
 of expense should have been urged by the direc- 
 tors appears to me unaccountable. The expense, 
 whatever it has l;een, is now amply liquidated ; 
 and in a manner more favorable to the interests of 
 the Company than if the sum had been paid into 
 their treasury ; with some advantage of health, of 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 193 
 
 morals, and of learning, and with some coercion of 
 the native ascendancy, which has ever been deemed 
 the bane of the British administration in India. 
 
 " Satisfied, however, with the good which has 
 been done by the institution, we wait submissively 
 for the period of its regular dissolution ; which 
 will be in December next. Even were it to con- 
 tinue in its present state, or in one yet more im- 
 ])roved and respectable, I should not desire to bear 
 apart in it. I have weak health. My heart seeks 
 to be disengaged from collegiate labors, and to find 
 rest and refreshm.ent in the one spiritual work of 
 the everlasting Gospel. Fortune or fame cannot 
 add an hour's happiness to my present existence ; 
 but they may inteiTupt it. I feel a secret pleasure 
 in the purpose of the directors to abolish the col- 
 lege, as it respects myself ; but I feel at the same 
 time that its continuance under other men would be 
 favorable to ray evangelical labors in this country. 
 
 " In perfect confidence, therefore, that God will 
 order all things aright, in time, manner, and event, 
 1 implore the direction of his Spirit to improve 
 ' the passing day.' My chief source of despondency 
 at times is the want of fellow-laborers, of learned 
 and serious men, in this vineyard, where there is 
 so numerous a body of well educated young men. 
 
 " I would willingly at this moment give 50,000 
 rupees for two religious and respectable young 
 men established in the church of Calcutta, and ca- 
 
 Buclianan. * ' 
 
194 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN". 
 
 pable of conducting the studies of the college. Fore- 
 seeing where we were likely to fail, I took early 
 measures to procure such from home, both by ad- 
 dressing Lord Wellesley and by writing myself. 
 But we have not succeeded. But this also is direct- 
 ed by an all- wise providence ; and he will accom- 
 plish his glory by any means." 
 
 The number of Mr. Buchanan's coirespondents 
 was this year increased by the return to Europe 
 of Major Sandys, who, in a season of severe domes- 
 tic affliction, had been led to search the Scriptures 
 for consolation ; and to whom the preaching of Mr. 
 Brown and Mr. Buchanan had been blessed as the 
 means of brins^ins^ him to the knowledge of the 
 Gospel, from the proud holds of philosophical in- 
 fidelity. To this gentleman, with whom Mr. Bu- 
 chanan afterwards maintained an uninterrupted and 
 affectionate intercourse, he wrote, in the month of 
 June, as follows : 
 
 " I suppose you will have seen all your friends 
 by this time, and settled your plans. I am anxious 
 to know how you find yourself after a year's resi- 
 dence in England. We do as usual in Calcutta. 
 Serious religion appears to increase. Mr. Obeck is 
 yet alive, but declining fast. He begs his blessing 
 on you, whom he calls ' a young man,' and wishes 
 you a long christian life. You are quite forgotten 
 by the gay world here, even , by those who used to 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 195 
 
 feast with you sometimes. Those who are always 
 asking me about you are the poor people who 
 knew you but half a year. 
 
 " . . . . and .... are laboring at their docks 
 and accounts, thinking often of England, and some- 
 times of another world. 
 
 " The whole settlement is at present in agita- 
 tion, giving Lord \V. a public entertainment. The 
 hawk as usual on the steeple looks down in amaze- 
 ment at the bustle. It costs sixty thousand rupees. 
 
 " .... is sick. He has had many attacks. She 
 seeks comfort at church ; and he begins to think, 
 perhaps, that he can obtain it no where else. 
 
 " But your interest in all these Calcutta matters 
 will weaken every month. That the Gospel is ho- 
 nored will be to you the most welcome and the 
 most interesting news. Adieu, my dear Sandys." 
 
 The followinsr is an extract from a second letter 
 
 o 
 
 of Mr. Buchanan to Major Sandys, dated early in 
 September : 
 
 " Your letter from St. Helena I have just re- 
 ceived by Mrs. Buchanan, who arrived there the 
 day after you had sailed. Mary is much improved 
 in health, and greatly matured in spiritual know- 
 ledge, strength, and grace, which is the chief theme 
 of my happiness. Her missing you was a keen dis- 
 appointment at the moment. But she soon reflected 
 
196 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHAXAN. 
 
 that God had ordered it for wise and gracious pur- 
 poses, and then she submitted She opened your 
 letters to me which she found at Major Greentree's. 
 These letters astonished her beyond measure. She 
 thought that you had yet been a man of the world, 
 (for she had not heard that your affliction had been 
 sanctified to you,) but behold she found you to be a 
 child of God ; your understanding illuminated with 
 knowledge, and your heart expanding with love, 
 hope, joy, zeal, and all the charities. She lamented 
 that she had no christian near her to whom she 
 might, in pious confidence, communicate the happy 
 news. So she disburdened her heart by writing a 
 letter to me. 
 
 " I was rejoiced to find by your letters that the 
 Gospel is still glorious in your view, and that the 
 world and its vanities had not obscured the hea- 
 venly vision. May this happy state be ever yours 
 without alloy or reverse, but such as may be neces- 
 sary to confirm, and strengthen, and perfect you in 
 the inner man." 
 
 By a letter of the same date as the preceding, 
 Mr. Buchanan communicated to Mr. Elliott an af- 
 fecting but consoling account of the death of his 
 son, who, in consequence of his distinguished pro- 
 ficiency in oriental learning, had been appointed by 
 Marquis Wellesley secretary to an embassy to 
 Arabia ; but who, after having fulfilled with great 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 197 
 
 ability the duties of his mission, fell a victim to a 
 fever in that country, and as a mark of peculiar 
 honor, was interred in the garden of the Imam of 
 Senna. 
 
 To the same friend Mr. Buchanan again wrote 
 in the course of the month, as follows : 
 
 " Your letter by Mrs. Buchanan I received about 
 a month ago, since which time no ship for Europe 
 has sailed. I thank you for the ' Christian Obser- 
 ver.' You wish me to furnish some papers for it. 
 Mr. Thornton wrote to me on the same subject ; but 
 I answered him that my present avocations will not 
 permit it. A period of leisure may perhaps soon be 
 granted to me. But this is not the only objection to 
 my furnishing you with the life of Mr. Swartz. He 
 left no papers ; and those persons are now removed 
 who could give the best information. He also de- 
 precated posthumous praise ; and was in constant 
 dread of fame. He concealed often from Mr. Obeck 
 (his only friend at one time) his favored seasons 
 from on high. 
 
 " Mrs. Buchanan is quite surprised to find so 
 'much vital religion amongst us. My responsibility 
 in college is greater at present than formerly ; but 
 the answer of the court will determine many 
 points ; and as far as relates to myself, they can- 
 not help determining them to my satisfaction. 
 
 " We are carrying on a successful war against 
 17* 
 
198 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the Mahrattas, fighting against them in three differ- 
 ent quarters, and obtaining three victories at the 
 same time. The Hindoos are happy that Jugger- 
 naut, their famous place of worship, has fallen into 
 our hands, for our imposts will not be so great as 
 those of the former possessors of the adjoining 
 district." ^ 
 
 The occasional notices which have occurred in 
 Mr. Buchanan's letters respecting the pious and 
 excellent Mr. Obeck, have probably excited a wish 
 in the minds of most readers to know something 
 of the closing scene of his life, as well as some far- 
 ther particulars of his character. In the month of 
 May Mr. Buchanan thus wrote to Mr. Grant : 
 
 " The departure of the aged Obeck appears to 
 be at hand — at least he thinks so, and bids me im- 
 part to you his blessing while his understanding 
 remains. He was carried into church last night, 
 (Wednesday's lecture,) but was so much revived 
 by the service and view of his brethren that he 
 walked out with assistance. His only food at pre- 
 sent is bread dipped in wine. 
 
 '' Under this decay of body his mind is more vi- 
 gc»rous than ever. He has, within this last year, as- 
 sumed a very intrepid tone in rebuking sin, and 
 remonstrating with the lukewarm, and in defining 
 a holy life in India. But he has great joy among 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 199 
 
 the true disciples, and his spiritual comforts have 
 of late been abundant." 
 
 Towards the end of the month of August follow- 
 ing Mr. Buchanan thus describes to the same 
 friend the progress of Mr. Obeck's decline : 
 
 " The good Obeck is yet alive ; but his loins are 
 girt for the heavenly journey. He is confined to his 
 room, and cannot attend church. But the church 
 attends him. He listens with delight to the voice 
 of praise in the adjoining building on the Sunday 
 and Thursday evenings. 
 
 " We have arranged all his temporal affairs to 
 his satisfaction. He has given us his text for his 
 funeral sermon ; in preaching which, I fear ray 
 spirits will fail me. It is difficult to speak of the 
 deceased, father to the surviving children." 
 
 This venerable man was now very fast approach- 
 ing his end. Early in September he felt a presenti- 
 ment that he should not live to the close of that 
 month ; and accordingly, on the 24th, Mr. Buchanan 
 thus announced his death to his respected friend 
 and benefactor : , 
 
 " The aged Obeck has at last departed. For 
 some weeks before, he almost daily expected his 
 dismission. He had no spiritual conflict at his last 
 
200 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 hour, but manifested constantly peace, joy, and 
 high assurance. He was sensible to the last ; and 
 when he could not speak, he testified his exultation 
 of soul by pressing ardently to his breast his fellow- 
 saints. He left to you and your family his solemn 
 blessing. I send you a paper containing some no- 
 tice of his death. 
 
 " Just before Mr. Obeck's death I preache'd his 
 dying sermon in the mission church, from these 
 words : ' The time of my departure is at hand. I 
 have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, 
 I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up 
 for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord 
 the righteous Judge shall give me at that day ; and 
 not to me only, but unto all them also who love his 
 appearing.* 
 
 '' Mr. Brown will preach his funeral sermon next 
 Sunday evening." 
 
 Of what Mr. Buchanan styles Mr. Obeck's dy- 
 ing sermon it may not be uninteresting to many 
 readers to insert an extract ; both as it contains a 
 pleasing and animated sketch of the life and cha- 
 racter of that exemplary christian, and as it may 
 afford a specimen of the spirit of Mr. Buchanan's 
 preaching upon such occasions. 
 
 ** This excellent man does not speak of mani- 
 festations and visions of glory, which have some- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 201 
 
 times attended the death of good men ; but he ma- 
 nifests a calm, rational, and placid spirit, founded 
 on the basis of an immovable faith, yet accompa- 
 nied by such ardor of expression, and by such an 
 assurance of hope, as would abash philosophy 
 itself. • 
 
 " He has none of those doubts which are often 
 found on a death-bed. He has not those fears and 
 misgivings of conscience which the unstable and 
 careless christian often experiences. He has none 
 of those fearful forebodings which harass the soul 
 of the despiser of religion in his last hour. He is 
 a stranger to that gloomy despair which often 
 haunts the soul of the man who has passed through 
 life the slave of ambition or the votary of pleasure. 
 No, his last moments are the happiest of his life. 
 His ambition through life has been to obtain * that 
 honor which cometh from God;* and his pleasure 
 has been, in serving God with his whole heart ; in 
 loving his neighbor as himself; in forgiving his 
 enemies ; and in praying for those who persecute 
 and despitefully use the professor of the Gospel 
 of Christ. 
 
 " Do you inquire on wlmtjaith these good works 
 and this holy disposition were founded ] Let me 
 express to you his faith, collected chiefly from his 
 own words : 
 
 " * I am a sinner, saved by the mercy of God in 
 Christ. By nature I am impure and unholy. Nothing 
 
202 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 in me, no merit of mine, could make me the object 
 of God's distinguishing grace. But I believed the 
 woi-d of God, and I was enabled to offer up my 
 prayers at an early age, that he would open my 
 understandingr and lead me to a knowledo^e of his 
 truth. And his promise was fulfilled to me, (as it is 
 fulfilled to every serious inquirer,) ' Ask, and it 
 shall be given unto you ; seek, and ye shall find.' By 
 degrees the mysteries of the Gospel were opened 
 to my view. I beheld myself a lost and undone 
 soul, lying with a multitude in a world of wicked- 
 ness ; subject to the just wrath of God. But I at 
 the same time heard of the offer made to a perish- 
 ing world by the Saviour Christ. I beheld the 
 whole world overwhelmed by a flood of sin and 
 misery, and the ark of redemption floating on the 
 waters. Every page of the Gospel showed me that 
 there was no salvation but by the ark Christ ; that 
 his atonement on the cross was the only atonement 
 for my past and future sins ; that his gracious Spirit 
 influencing my soul was the only preservative from 
 my evil passions and from an ensnaring world ; and 
 that his mediation alone procures our access to 
 God, and warrants an answer to our prayers. 
 
 '* ' Thus,' said he, ' the perusal of the word of 
 God was blessed to my soul. I received it in its 
 plain and obvious meaning ; and I have had a con- 
 stant experience of its truth through my past life. 
 It has been a light to my steps and a lantern to 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 203 
 
 my paths. Its peculiar doctrines appear now all 
 light and glory to my soul. I know tliat the denun- 
 ciatioHS of God against the despisers of his Gospel 
 will be expressly executed ; and I know that his 
 promises of glory to the righteous will be fulfilled 
 in a way that " eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither hath entered into the heart of man ;" and 
 the anticipation of this glory is to me unutterable. 
 My prayer at my last moments is, that this power 
 of the Gospel may be felt more and more at this 
 j)lace ; that the blessing of God may rest on this 
 church ; that the ministers may labor in the word 
 with zeal and faithfulness; and that the hearers 
 may receive the word preached with meekness and 
 affection ; that so the testimony of the Gospel may 
 prevail, and the church of Christ may begin to 
 flourish in this dark corner of the world. 
 
 " ' I leave,' said he, ' my blessing on this church. 
 
 " ' As to my numerous family, I leave them with 
 scarcely the means of subsistence ; but I leave 
 them dependent on that gracious providence which 
 has supported me from youth to age, in a state of 
 apparent poverty and yet possessing abundance. 
 I leave my children to God as to a surviving Father, 
 who will care for them as he hath cared for me, 
 and will, I trust, bless my instructions to the salva- 
 tion of their souls. 
 
 " ' As to myself, my hope is in heaven. The pro- 
 mises of God are in a manner already fulfilled to 
 
204 MEMOIR OF DPw BUCHANAN. 
 
 me. His truth and faithfulness are demonstrated 
 to my soul. By his mercy " I have fought the 
 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
 the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a 
 crown of righteousness, which the Lord the right- 
 eous Judge shall give me at that day ; and not to 
 me only, but imto all them also who love his ap- 
 pearing.' 
 
 '' Such, my brethren, are the sentiments, the ex- 
 pressions, and the heavenly hope of this good man. 
 He now lies on his death-bed in the house adjoin- 
 ing this church, and endeavors to join the praises 
 of the conofreg^ation with his feeble voice. He could 
 even now confirm every sentiment respecting him 
 which I have uttered ; and he could confirm them 
 with an energy and eloquence of which I am in- 
 capable. 
 
 " Who is there in this assembly who is not ready 
 to say, ' Let me also die the death of the righteous ; 
 and let my last end be like his .?' " 
 
 In the same month in which the preceding ser- 
 mon was preached, Mr. Buchanan was called to 
 perform a similar ofiice on occasion of the death of 
 Mr. Archibald Edmonstone, of the board of trade, 
 who left behind him a noble testimony to his faith 
 in the Gospel. " His last words," says Mr. Bu- 
 chanan, in mentioninsf the event in a letter to a 
 friend, " were these, * Blessed be the God and Fa- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 205 
 
 iher of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his 
 abundant mercy hath begotten me again unto a 
 lively hope, through the resurrection of his Son 
 Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance in- 
 corruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.' 
 These words his brother has directed to be en- 
 graven on his tomb." 
 
 The manner in which Mr. Edmonstone, who 
 tlien filled one of the most confidential situations 
 under the Presidency of Bengal, and is celebrated 
 for his oriental learninof, classical taste, and culti- 
 vated understanding, described Mr. Buchanan's 
 funeral sermon on his brother, is too honorable to 
 him to be omitted. It occurs in a note from Mr. 
 Edmonstone to his friend Captain Baillie, profes- 
 sor of the Arabic language and of Mohammedan law 
 in the college of Fort William, and is as follows : 
 
 " Sunday, Sept. 11, 1803. 
 
 " My dear B , I am returned from hearing 
 
 a most affecting and impressive discourse, delivered 
 by Mr. Buchanan with a degree of feeling that 
 does honor to his heart, on the occurrence of last 
 week. I am anxious that Mr. B. should know how 
 grateful I feel for this high tribute of respect to the 
 memory and virtues of a beloved brother, and 7 
 therefore entreat you to express to Mr. B. my sin- 
 cere gratitude for this distinguished mark of his 
 regard for him. Tell him that he has afforded to 
 
 Buchanan. 1^ 
 
206 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 my mind a real consolation, and that I trust I shall 
 ever after be the better for the affectinsr and forci- 
 ble manner in which he has held forth to imitation 
 the example of a life of true piety and virtue. Fur- 
 ther, I request that you will convey to Mr. B. my 
 earnest wish (if it be not improper) that he will 
 allow me to transcribe his discourse, both for the 
 jiurpose of retaining it for my own use and benefit, 
 and of transmitting a copy of it to those in Europe 
 who will indeed need the consolation for such an 
 irreparable loss which so distinguished a testimony 
 to the merits of a son and a brother is calculated to 
 afford. Never does a clergyman appear more con- 
 spicuously respectable than when he combines 
 with the public duties of his calling the offices of 
 humanity and consolation ; and never while I live 
 will the memory of Mr. B.'s solemn and eloquent 
 discourse on this melancholy occasion, nor the gra- 
 titude and respect for him which it has excited, be 
 obliterated from the mind of your ever affectionate 
 
 " N. B. Edmonstone. 
 
 " To Captain Baillie." 
 
 It was in the summer of this year that Mr. Bu- 
 chanan first thought of proposing certain subjects of 
 2>rizeco??ij)ositio/i,, connected with the civilization and 
 moral improvement of India, to the universities of 
 the United Kingdom. With this laudable in- 
 tention he waited on the Governor General, and 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 207 
 
 having obtained his lordship's approbation of the 
 plan, lie, on tlie 20th of October, despatched letters 
 to the vice chancellors and principals of the univer- 
 sities of Oxford and Cambridge, of Edinburgh, 
 Glasgow, St. Andrew's, and Aberdeen, to the pro- 
 vost of Trinity college, Dublin, and to the head 
 masters of Eton, Westminster, and the Charter 
 House schools, containing the following proposals : 
 For the best essay in English prose on " the best 
 means of extending the blessings of civilization 
 and true religion among the sixty millions, inhabi- 
 tants of Hindostan, subject to British authority ;" 
 in each univeisity, one hundred pounds. For the 
 best English poem on '' the revival of letters in the 
 East," sixty pounds. For the best Latin ode or 
 poem on " Collegium Bengalense," twenty-five 
 pounds ; and the same sum for the best Greek ode 
 on " lina-^aj ?»?.'"* The sum of fifty pounds each 
 for the best Latin and Greek poems was offered to 
 the successful candidate at each of the public 
 schools. 
 
 No less a sum than sixteen hundred and fifty 
 pounds was thus appropriated by Mr. Buchanan to 
 this benevolent and patriotic purpose. The unusual 
 nature and munificent extent of his offers induced 
 some to suppose, either that they were not made 
 simply at his own suggestion and responsibility, 
 
 , ♦ *' Let there be light." 
 
208 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 or that lie must have been actuated by motives of 
 ostentation and vanity. With respect to the propo- 
 sals themselves, they undoubtedly originated solely 
 with Mr. Buchanan, and were supported exclu- 
 sively by his own liberality. He was ever a man 
 of a larsre and grenerous mind, fertile in devisintr 
 plans of usefulness, and prompt in seizing the firsr 
 opportunity of executing them. He was anxious tc 
 extend in this country the knowledge of the cha 
 racter and effects of the great collegiate institution 
 which he had been called to superintend ; and the 
 recent victories of our armies in the Peninsula 
 having enlarged and confirmed our eastern empire, 
 he was desirous of awakening and directing the 
 minds of his countrymen at home to the duty and 
 the opportunity of promoting the moral and politi- 
 cal welfare of our fellow-subjects in India. Publi- 
 city and inquiry were therefore his great objects ; 
 publicity, not as to his own character or fame, for 
 this he knew might have been far more certainly 
 obtained by more obvious and less costly means, 
 but as to the great and philanthropic design which 
 he had in view ; and this induced him to endeavor 
 to interest in his plan even the higher forms in our 
 public schools. The result of his liberal proposals 
 must be reserved to the period of their reception 
 and success in this country. 
 
 In the month of November following Mr. Bu- 
 chanan first communicated his thousrhts on the ex- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 209 
 
 pediency of an ecclesiastical establishment f(jrBn- 
 tish India, in letters to the archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, and to the rest of the episcopal bench, having 
 previously submitted them to Marquis Wellesley. 
 The reply which he received, from the late Bishop 
 Porteus confirmed and encouraged him in his de- 
 termination to bring that important subject fully 
 before the public. 
 
 It was in the course of this year also that Mr. 
 ]]uchanan obtained the sanction of the Governor 
 General to the building of a new church in Cal- 
 cutta. But the extensive plans of Lord Wellesley 
 respecting the college, and other political concerns, 
 prevented the execution of this design. 
 
 A few circumstances which occur in Mr. Bucha- 
 nan's letters to Mr. Grant and Major Sandys to- 
 wards the end of this year, may here be added. 
 To the former he thus wrote in October and De- 
 cember : 
 
 '* The venerable Obeck had not been dead many 
 weeks, when his old friend Mr. Gericke, that valu- 
 able man, took his departure also. The church at 
 Madras is in great affliction ; for there is no one to 
 fill his place. Letters have come to us for help. 
 But we can give none. I do not know what ac- 
 quaintance you may have with that mission ; but 
 attention to it appears to me highly important in 
 the present state of things. If there were any mis- 
 IS* 
 
210 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sionary like-minded withGericke within your reach, 
 we could from Calcutta add something to his sala- 
 ry, if that be desirable." 
 
 To Major Sandys Mr. Buchanan wrote as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 " We are passing through an eventful season in 
 India. The order of the day is victory, and the 
 Mahratta power is at length destroyed. The whole 
 peninsula is now under British dominion. I have 
 taken advantage of the crisis, in endeavoring to 
 excite our universities at home to plead the cause 
 of eastern civilization. 
 
 '' Mary improves in health daily. She has no 
 sanguine wish to return to England ; and it is a 
 subject on which I never think. My health conti- 
 nually bids it, but nothing else. Providence will in 
 due time unlock every difficulty, and make our 
 purpose and duty clear." 
 
 The character of the audience usually assem- 
 bling at the presidency church has been already 
 noticed. It has also been observed that, a few years 
 previous to this period, the spirit of infidelity or of 
 religious indifference was lamentably general in 
 our eastern capital ; and the infection still remained 
 amonor some, who, from neglected education, or 
 the influence of circumstances and habits peculiar- 
 ly unfriendly to Christianity, were scarcely aware 
 of the nature of religious sentiment and feeling. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 211 
 
 Amongst other subjects, therefore, of discourse 
 more directly suited to those who acknowledged 
 the great truths of the Gospel, Mr. Buchanan occa- 
 sionally addressed those who doubted of its divine 
 authority ; and the perspicuity and force with which 
 he stated its various evidences tended materially 
 to extend and confirm the conviction of its truth. 
 The importance of such discourses is much height- 
 ened from the consideration of their probable effect 
 on the minds of the numerous young men who as 
 yet continued to be assembled from the three pre- 
 sidencies at the college of Fort William, and who 
 might be justly expected to cany with them to 
 their different stations, throughout India, those 
 sound principles of christian faith and practice 
 which they had heard thus ably and eloquently in- 
 culcated. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Two yeartl* further residence in Calcutta — The Ccl^ 
 lege — Translations of the Scriptures — Extensive <fe- 
 signs of usefulness. 
 
 The college of Fort William, according to the 
 regulation of Lord Wellesley, in obedience to the 
 
212 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 decision of the Court of Directors, was to close on 
 the 31st of December, 1S03. It was, however, a 
 very gratifying circumstance to the friends of that 
 institution, that on the 3d of January, 1S04, a des- 
 patch announced to the Governor General the de- 
 termination of the court that the college should for 
 the present continue on its original footing. The 
 business and examinations of the students accord- 
 ingly proceeded in their usual train, or rather with 
 additional spirit. 
 
 *' An example of idleness," says Mr. Buchanan 
 in a letter to a friend, " is a rare thing. The ap- 
 pointments to the service continue to be made ac- 
 cording to the college list, that is, according to 
 merit." 
 
 The annual disputations in the oriental languages 
 were held this year on the 20th of September, in 
 the presence of the Governor General, accompa- 
 nied, as usual, by the principal officers of the pre- 
 sidency, with the addition, on this occasion, of So- 
 liman Aga, the envoy from Bagdad. The subjects 
 of the disputations were, " the Shanscrit, as the pa- 
 rent language of India," in Hindostanee ; " the figu- 
 rative sense of the poems of Hafiz," in Persian; 
 " the utility of translations of the best works extant 
 in the Shanscrit into the popular languages of In- 
 dia," in Bengalee j and, in Arabic, " the importance 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 213 
 
 of the Arabic to a grammatical knowledge of the 
 Persian language." A declamation was afterwards 
 pronounced in Shanscrit, for the first time, by one 
 of the students, which was followed by a speech in 
 the same language by Rev. Mr. Carey, the mode- 
 rator and professor. 
 
 Prizes were at the same time awarded for thft 
 best English essays on " the utility of the Persian 
 language in India," on " the progress of civiliza- 
 tion in India under the British government," and 
 on " the decline and fall of the Mohammedan em- 
 pire in India." Honorary rewards of books were 
 also adjudged to the best proficients in the Greek 
 aftd Latin classics, and in the French langruasre. 
 
 The several compositions of this year were after- 
 wards published in the third volume of the " Pri- 
 raiticG Orientales." 
 
 In the speech with which Marquis Wellesley 
 closed the proceedings of the day, his lordship de- 
 clared that in each successive year the standard of 
 comparative merit had been progressive in the 
 highest classes of the college, and expressed his 
 cordial satisfaction at the proficiency and good con- 
 duct of the students. 
 
 " The observance of all the statutes," said his 
 lordship, " is equally essential to the interests and 
 honor of the students ; nor is their duty confined 
 merely to the diligent pursuit of the prescribed 
 
214 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 course of study. The intention of the statutes is 
 not only to provide instruction in the oriental lan- 
 guages, and in the several branches of study im- 
 mediately connected with the performance of offi- 
 cial functions, but to prescribe habits of regularity 
 and good order. My principal jDurpose in found- 
 ing this institution w^as, to secure the junior ser- 
 vants of the Company from all undue influence in 
 the discharge of their official functions, and to in- 
 troduce them into the public service in perfect 
 freedom and independence, exempt from every 
 restraint, excepting the high and sacred obligations 
 of their civil, moral, and religious duty." 
 
 In the course of the year 1S04 several circuni- 
 stances occurred, connected with Mr. Buchanan 
 and the college of Fort William, which will be 
 best introduced by a few extracts from his letters. 
 He thus wrote to Major Sandys in the month of 
 February : 
 
 " We are much the same in church, state, and 
 college, as when you left us ; only, in respect to 
 myself, my various labors have increased, are in- 
 creasing, and, I fear, will not be diminished. 
 
 " I am literally left alone in many matters of a 
 public nature, particularly in a battle now fighting 
 (the worst I have yet had) with Mussulman and 
 Hindoo prejudices ag^ainst translations of the. Scrip- 
 tures, Their clamor has assailed the grovernment. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 215 
 
 Lord Wellesley and INIr. Barlow are neuter; but 
 the old civil servants fan the flame, A folio vo- 
 lume would not detail the particulars; but I trust 
 you will soon hear of the good effect. In the mean- 
 time I am growing infirm in body, and long for 
 more holy employ than that of hewing wood only 
 for our future sanctuary in India. I know that 
 wliat is doing is useful ; but spiritual comforts do 
 not accompany the occupation in the degree I de- 
 sire and look forward to, when I have peace from 
 public conflict." 
 
 The particular circumstance to which Mr. Bu- 
 chanan probably referred in the preceding extract, 
 was a memorial which about this time was ad- 
 dressed to the Governor General in consequence 
 of the following subject having been proposed, 
 among others, for discussion by the students of the 
 college, at the annual disputations which have been 
 just mentioned : viz. " The advantage which the 
 natives of this countiy might derive from transla- 
 tions, in the vernacular tongues, of the books con- 
 taining the principles of their respective religions, 
 and those of the christian faith," 
 
 There certainly appears to be no ground of of- 
 fence to the natives of India in the foreofoino: thesis. 
 A christian might rather have objected to it as pla- 
 cing his most holy faith too much upon a level with 
 heathen and Mohammedan error. A memorial 
 
Si6 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 was, however, addressed to the Governor General 
 on the part of the Mohammedan moonshees, and of 
 a number of the Mussulman inhabitants of Calcutta, 
 remonstrating against this supposed infringement 
 of the toleration afforded to them by the British 
 government. In reply. Marquis Wellesley signi- 
 fied to the memorialists that although he perceived 
 no principle of an objectionable tendency in the 
 foregoing thesis, yet, with a view to prevent all 
 apprehension on the part of the natives, he had 
 prohibited the intended disputation upon that 
 subject. 
 
 Some years afterwards this incident was ap- 
 jjealed to on the part of the Bengal government in 
 support of some measures tending to discourage or 
 suppress the exertions of missionaries. Upon which 
 occasion Mr. Buchanan observed* that the memo- 
 rial probably originated in the suggestions of some 
 individuals at that time connected with the govern- 
 ment and the college, who appeared to entertain a 
 degree of morbid tenderness for the religious feel- 
 ings of the natives. 
 
 These gentlemen had from the beginning been 
 hostile to a most important work which had been 
 carrying on in the college : viz. the translation of 
 the Scriptures into the oriental languages by na- 
 
 * See his " Apology for promoting Christianity in In- 
 dia," p. 102. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 217 
 
 lives and Europeans. So great was their jealousy 
 on this subject, that there existed a kind of com- 
 promise between the friends and the opponents of 
 this salutary measure, that if the Bible were print- 
 ed for christians, the Koran should be printed for 
 Mohammedans. It is to this honorable contest 
 that Mr. Buclianan refers in the letter last quoted ; 
 and, happily for the interests of Christianity, he 
 was decidedly successful. Within the following 
 year a commencement was made in the translation 
 of the Scriptures into several languages. The first 
 versions of any of the Gospels in Persian and Hin- 
 dostanee which were printed in India, issued from 
 the press of the college of Fort William.* 
 
 Of these and other translations of the Scriptures 
 then projected and undertaken, only a very incon- 
 siderable part was executed at the public expense. 
 The sole charge incurred by the college in the de- 
 ])artment of sacred translation was for the Grospel 
 of St. Matthew in Persian and Hindostanee ; with 
 this exception, the extensive biblical works succes- 
 sively announced from this institution was carried 
 -on at the private expense of those members of the 
 college, amongst whom the provost and vice-pro- 
 vost held the first rank, and others, who deemed 
 it to be of the highest importance to promote the 
 diffusion of sacred literature in Asia. 
 
 * Dr. Carey's 'Ji edition was issued as early as 1803. 
 Buchaaan. 19 
 
21S MEMOIR OF PR. BL'ClIA\Af<r, 
 
 A second occurrence in tliis year marked an im-r 
 proved state of moral feeling in Calcutta, and par' 
 ticularly illustrates the salutary influence of tho 
 college of Fort AVilliam. It is thus mentioned by 
 Mr. Buchanan in a letter to !»Iajor Sandys, in the 
 month of August ; 
 
 " The institution of a ci\i\ /imd for widoics ami 
 orphans agitates this service at present. The old 
 uentlemen wish to include black illeG:itimate chil- 
 dren. The junior servants, who are now or have 
 been in college, almost with one voice exclaim 
 against a measure which they conceive would have 
 a tendency to sanction vice, and to countenance an 
 illicit connection with native women. The ques- 
 tion is now referred to the vote of every individual 
 in the service. In the meantime one of my old. 
 scholars has written a letter to the service ; in which 
 he complains of their violation of the divine law, 
 and requests them to revert to the principles of 
 
 lionor and chastity. Mr. M is in the Governor 
 
 General's office, and is supported by the young 
 school, by ail the college, by the Governor Gene- 
 ral, and by all the friends of revealed religion. Ca- 
 ricature prints, exhibiting the mover of the subject, 
 with a black child in his arms, pleading its cause 
 in full assembly, while a black dye behind urges 
 him forward ; and various other devices mark the 
 popular question, and promise to brand the immo- 
 
Af C\Ltvi"tA: 219 
 
 ral practice. It is said that the affliction and shamo 
 of the ulcl service arc extreme ; and that they exe- 
 crate the college and its fruits, and hope that the 
 Court of Directors will now see how unfriendly it 
 is to ancient institutions ! 
 
 " What the' result aS to the fund will be I know 
 not." 
 
 This, ho^vever, Mr. Buchanan stated to the pub- 
 lic in the following year, in some remarks on " The 
 College of Fort William." '' The contest," he ob- 
 serves, '' was maintained for a considerable time, 
 by printed correspondence, and the fund was at 
 length established withuvt the opprobrious clause. 
 But a fe\t years ago," adds Mr. Buchanan, " any 
 man who should have ventured to resist such a 
 measure on the ground of religious or moral pro- 
 priety, would have become the jest of the whole 
 service. He must be an entire stranger to what is 
 passing in Bengal, who docs not perceive that the 
 ct»llege of Fort William is sensibly promoting an 
 amelioration of the European chiiracter as well as 
 the civilization of India." 
 
 The activity of Mr. Buchanan^s mind respecting 
 objects which he deemed imjDortant to the interests 
 of morals and religion, may be collected, not only 
 from the preceding circumstances, but from various 
 hints in bis correspondence and diary. 
 
220 MEMOIR OF DR. BrClIANAN'. 
 
 Thus, at the close of the letter from v/hich the 
 foregoing extract was made, he says, " I have al- 
 ways some plans relating to church or college in 
 his excellency's hands; and generally in arrear. 
 But when he does take them up, it is with the pro- 
 per attention." A memorandum also occurs in the 
 same year, in which Mr. Buchanan notices a con- 
 sultation which he had lately held with Sir George 
 Barlow on a jjublie thanksgiving, probably on ac- 
 count of the victorious termination, of the Mahratta 
 war, on the subject of a cenotaph for those who^ 
 had fallen in battle, and respecting an order for the 
 better observance of the Sabbath. 
 
 Amidst his various labors, however, the domes- 
 tic trial with which Mr. Buchanan had been already 
 exercised, was renewed by the reappearance, early 
 in the summer of this year, of alarming consump- 
 tive symptoms in Mrs. Buchanan. In the course of 
 the autumn she became so ill that her life was for 
 a short time despaired of; and on her partial re- 
 covery, being strongly urged to proceed a second 
 lime to Europe, she at length very reluctantly con- 
 sented. 
 
 Preparations were accordingly made for this 
 purpose, and in October Mr. Buchanan briefly 
 mentions in his diary that he had been on board 
 the Lady Jane Dundas to look at Mrs. B.'s cabin. 
 She did not, however, leave Calcutta till the 22d of 
 January following, when Mr. Buchanan accorapa- 
 
XT CALCUTTA. 221 
 
 filed ^et and her youngest daughter to the ship at 
 Kedgeree ; and on the 2ath the fleet sailed for 
 Madras, leaving him once more to return to a soli- 
 tary home, full of tender but melancholy musings, 
 hoping almost " against hope " for some favorable 
 effect from lier voyage, but rather endeavoring to 
 prepare his mind for a contrary result. His memo- 
 randa testify the warmth of afiection with which he 
 again followed Mrs. J3uchanan, by frequent notices 
 of the letters which he wrote to her weekly, and 
 sometimes almost daily, and of whi^h it is much to 
 be regretted that not a vestige remains. 
 
 It wa.-? at the anxious period which immediately 
 f)recedGd her departure from India, that Mr. Bu- 
 chanan resolved to employ apart of the very limit- 
 ed leisure which his ministerial and collegiate du- 
 ties allowed, to prepare a work which had long 
 been the subject of his thoughts, and the import- 
 ance of which is now universally acknowledged. 
 This was what he afterwards entitled, '' A Memoir 
 of the Expediency of an Ecclesiastical Establish- 
 ment for British India." 
 
 The design of his " Memoir" was indeed, as he 
 afterwards declared, first suggested to him by the 
 late excellent Bishop Porteus ; wdio had, he said, 
 ^' attentively surveyed the state of our dominions 
 in Asia," and had expressed his " conviction of the 
 indispensable necessity of an ecclesiastical esta- 
 blishment for our Indian empire.'' lie was encou- 
 19* 
 
222 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCUANAN- 
 
 raged also, as he added, " by subsequent commu- 
 nications with Marquis Wellesley, to endeavor to 
 lead the attention of the nation to this subject." 
 The mauuscript of this work was transmitted to 
 England in the spring, and jHiblished in the au- 
 tumn of the year IS05. 
 
 Before we proceed, however, with the conside- 
 i-ation of his " Memoir," it will be proper to recur 
 to the prizes proposed by Mr. Buchanan to the uni- 
 versities and some of the public schools of the Uni- 
 ted Kingdom. They were accepted in the summer 
 of ISO 4 by the several bodies to which they were 
 aiTered, with the exception of the univer&ity of 
 Oxford ; by which they were declined, on the 
 ground of certain objections in point of form. The 
 prize compositions were directed to be delivered 
 to the respective judges towards the end of the 
 year ; and early in the following spring the prizes 
 were awarded to the successful candidates. Of the 
 compositions which were thus honored, the greater 
 number were afterwards published, as well as a 
 few others which had proved unsuccessful. In the 
 university af Cambridge the prize for the Greek 
 ode was adjudged to Mr. Pryme, of Trinity col- 
 lege ; and at Eton to Mr. Rennell, afterwards Fel- 
 low. of Kino's colleo:e. At the same distino^uished 
 school Mr. Richards obtained the prize for the best 
 Latin verses on the college of Fort William. 
 
 In Seotland three Latin poems were also pub- 
 
AT CALCUTTA, 223 
 
 Jished by Mr. Mac Arthur, Mr, Adamson, and Dr, 
 Brown, of which the two former were thought 
 worthy of the prize by the universities of Glasgow 
 and Aberdeen. The composition, however, which 
 reflected the highest honor on its author, and on 
 the occasion which called it forth, was the English ' 
 poem on " the restoration of learning in the East," 
 by Charles Grant, Esq. then Fellow of Magdalen 
 college, Cambridge, The poetical talents, the clas- 
 sical and oriental learning, the elevated sentiments,- 
 and the rich and varied command of language dis- 
 played in this prize composition, attracted general 
 admiration ; and tended materially to promote the- 
 design which the proposer of the subject had in 
 view, by directing the public attention to the revi- 
 val of learning on the banks of the Ganges, and by 
 exciting it to the duty and the privilege of improv- 
 ing the condition of the degraded natives of Hin- 
 dostan, and of spreading throughout our oriental 
 empire the blessings of literature and religion. A 
 second poem on this subject was published at the 
 request of the examiners, by the Rev, Francis 
 Wrangham, of Trinity college. 
 
 Essays on " the best means of civilizing the sub- 
 jects of the British empire in India, and of diffusing 
 the lii^ht of the christian relij^ion throuo;hout the 
 eastern world," were published by the Rev. Wil- 
 liam Cockburn, Fellow of St. John's college, and 
 Christian Advocate in the university of Cambridge, 
 
§24 SfEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 to' wlrom the prize was assigned ; by Mr. Wratig'- 
 liam, who with laudable ze'al eiigaged" in the prose 
 ^s well as in the poetical competition ; by Dr. Ten- 
 nant, then lately returned as a military chaplain- 
 from India ; and by Messrs. Mitchell and Bryce, to 
 whom the prize was respectively adjudged by the' 
 ilniversities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.- 
 
 These essays Vv'ere, with one exception, the pro- 
 duction of studious and speculative men, whose at- 
 tention was probably first directed to the subject 
 by Mr.- Buchanan's proposal to the learned bodies^ 
 of which they were members. Whilst it could 
 scarcely, therefore, be expected that they should- 
 sUggest any detailed practical arrangements for the 
 civilization and instruction of the natives of Hin- 
 dostan, they exhibited considerable historical and 
 political research, together with enlightened and 
 benevolent views of the dutf of Great Britain to 
 promote the important objects submitted to their 
 discussion, and concurred in recommending the 
 adoption of certain direct means for diffusing the 
 blessings of Christianity in India. They possessed 
 the' additional merit of contributing to bring before 
 the public inquiries tending to ameliorate the moral 
 and religious condition of our oriental empire. 
 
 The utility of the labors of missionaries, and the 
 establishment of schools, was recognized by seve- 
 ral of the writers last mentioned. The considera- 
 tion, however, of an ecclesiastical establishment 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 225 
 
 was resen'ed for Mr. Buchanan himself; whose 
 " Memoir" upon that subject was intended to point 
 out the expediency of such a measure, " both as 
 the means of perpetuating the christian religion 
 among our own countrymen, and as a foundation 
 for the ultimate civilization of the natives." 
 
 The first part of this work exhibited the very in- 
 adequate state of the clerical establishment in India 
 at that period, for the great purposes of the instruc- 
 tion and religious communion of our resident coun- 
 trymen. In the second part, after describing in just 
 and forcible terms the pride, immorality, and bi- 
 gotry of the Mohammedans, and the vices, enormi- 
 ties, and barbarities of Hindoo superstition and 
 idolatry, Mr. Buchanan discussed at some length 
 the practicability and the policy of attempting to 
 civilize and improve them. In tliis part of his work 
 he exhibited the character of the Hindoos in a dif- 
 ferent point of view from that in which they had 
 been generally regarded. He asserted that their 
 apathy is extreme, and that no efforts to instruct 
 them, except such as partook of a compulsory na- 
 ture, ought to be considered as attended with dan- 
 ger to the British government ; that their prejudi- 
 ces are daily weakening in every European settle- 
 ment ; that they are a divided people ; that they 
 are less tenacious of opinion than of custom ; and 
 that to disseminate new principles among them is 
 by no means so difficult as it is frequently repre- 
 
226 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 sented. In obviating objections founded on the 
 supposed impolicy of civilizing our Indian sub- 
 jects, Mr. Buchanan, however, advanced to higher 
 ground : 
 
 " The progressive civilization of India," he ob- 
 serves, '' will never injure the interests of the East 
 India' Company. But shall a christian people, ac- 
 knowledging a providence in" the rise and fall of 
 empire, regulate the policy of future times, and 
 neglect a piesent duty, a solemil and imperious 
 duty, exacted by their religion, by their public 
 principles, and by the opinion of the christian na- 
 tions around them ? Or can it be gratifying to" the 
 English nation to reflect that they receive the riches 
 of the East on the terms of chartering immoral su^ 
 perstition ?" 
 
 "The' appeal was unanswefable, and produced' a' 
 cc)r responding- impression upon the })ublic mind. 
 
 The third part of Sir. Buchanan's merfioir strong- 
 I)' conlirmed his arguments as to the practicability 
 of his proposed plan, by a view of the progress 
 already made in civilizing the nations of Hindostan.- 
 Many interesting facts were here stated relative to 
 the existence of Christianity in India from the ear- 
 liest ages, and particularly respecting the native 
 christians on the coast of Malabar, who, notvvith- 
 (Stamling the accounts givcii- of them by a few 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 227 
 
 learned men, were 'now, for the first time, promi- 
 nently introduced to tlie knowledge of the Englisli 
 j)ul)lic. Tlie labors of the Danish miysionaries, 
 Ziegenhalg and Grundler, and of tlie apostolic 
 Swartz, were also commemorated ; and the laud- 
 able and truly christian addresses of King George 
 I. and Archbishop AVake to the farmer excellent 
 men were exhibited as models of imitation to po- 
 litical and ecclesiastical governors of the present 
 
 An appendix to the memoir contained a variety 
 of important information on tlie superstitions of the 
 Hindoos, tending powerfully to correct llie erro- 
 neous opinion so commonly entertained of them at 
 this period, as a mild, humane, and inoffensive race. 
 
 Such was briefly the nature of tlie novel and in- 
 teresting work which Mr. Buchanan transmitted to 
 England in the year 1805, for publication. It was 
 calculated, from the peculiar subjects of which it 
 treated, to excite general attention, and to provoke 
 both discussion and animadversion. 
 
 It had long been an object of anxiety to the su- 
 perintendents of the college of Fort William to 
 obtain a version of tlie Seripturcs in the Chinese lan- 
 guage. After many fruitless inquiries, they in this 
 year succeeded in procuring the assistance of Mr. 
 Lassar, a native of China, and an Armenian chris- 
 tian, whose name is now well known as a learned 
 
S2S MExMOiR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 professor of that language. Mr. Lassar arrived at 
 Calcutta in a commercial capacity, and having met 
 with some difficulties, he became know^n to Mr. 
 Buchanan, who, appreciating his talents, gene- 
 rously liberated him from his embarrassments, and 
 engaged him at a stipend of three hundred rupees 
 per month, to devote himself to the translation of 
 the Scriptures, and to the instruction of a Chinese 
 class, formed of one of the elder and three of the 
 junior members of the missionary establishment at 
 Serampore. The expected reduction of the col* 
 lege rendering it inexpedient that Mr. Lassar 
 should be attached to that institution, this stipend 
 was afforded for about three years at the sole ex- 
 pense of Mr. Buchanan. To his liberality, there- 
 fore, must be chiefly ascribed the progress which 
 has been made in that quarter towards supplying 
 the vast empire of China with a translation of the 
 sacred volume into its own extraordinary language. 
 The name of Mr. Buchanan appears in the year 
 1S05 in the list of members of the Asiatic Society. 
 Pie had probably been elected previously to that 
 period, and if he did not contribute to the curious 
 and valuable '' researches " of that learned body, it 
 was not so much from any want of interest in their 
 labors, as from the pressure of his various employ- 
 ments, which allowed him only to devote his leisure 
 to inquiries which were exclusively of an ecclesi- 
 astical and ielis:iou3 nature. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 829 
 
 Two letters to one of his friends in this year con- 
 tain proofs of the paternal anxiety with which Mr. 
 Buchanan watched over the progress of the stu- 
 dents of Fort William. The weekly reports of the 
 ditferent pn»fessors as to tlie proficiency of their 
 classes were delivered to him every Saturday. 
 Their representations, whether favorable or other- 
 wise, were by him communicated to the college 
 council, and ultimately through them, or himself, 
 as their organ, to the Governor General. Mr. Bu- 
 chanan mentions several instances of the beneficial 
 effects of this watchful superintendence in stimula- 
 ting even those who would otherwise have re- 
 mained incorrigibly indolent to diligence and exer- 
 tion. In a few cases the discipline which had been 
 originally announced was firmly and impartially 
 enforced ; sometimes, but very rarely, by absolute 
 removal from college, and the consequent loss of 
 promotion in the service ; at others, by the kind 
 intervention of Mr. Buchanan with the Governor 
 General, in cases which admitted of apology or 
 excuse, by permission to retire, and an appoint- 
 ment which sufficiently marked the circumstances 
 of inferiority in which the neglect of college duties 
 had issued. Upon one such occasion Mr. Bucha* 
 nan thus writes : 
 
 " It would have given me great satisfaction to have? 
 been able to send you such gratifying letters as I 
 Buchanan. 20 
 
230 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 have often written, and am now writing, to various 
 families in England, Scotland, and Ireland, respect- 
 ing their sons who have passed a long period in dili- 
 gent study, acquired honors, and then lucrative 
 appointments. But it has been ordered otherwise. 
 Perhaps all will be well. Poor . . . ." (speaking 
 of a student who had lately died,) "had certainly 
 been cherishing solemn and serious purposes the 
 fortnight before his death ; and he no doubt died 
 
 the child of many prayers may yet prove 
 
 himself to be the child of religious parents. Their 
 case, however, speaks loudly to us who are fathers, 
 leaching us to walk with humility and fear before 
 God, committing our children to him in prayer 
 and tears, and with much wrestling for a blessing 
 on them when they depart from us. The world 
 says, ' He who hath children hath given pledges 
 to fortune.' The christian knows how this is to be 
 translated." 
 
 Upon the general subject of religion in Calcutta 
 Mr. Buchanan srave the followinor encoura^ino^ ac- 
 counts to one of his correspondents : 
 
 *' We have had divine service at the mission 
 church, lately, for the settlement. The punkas 
 make it very pleasant ; but it was found to be too 
 small for the auditory, many families going away 
 every Sunday morning, seats being in general oc- 
 cupied an hour before service. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 23l 
 
 " You will be glad to hear that still per- 
 
 fieveres in listening to sacred things, as do many 
 other young political servants whom you do not 
 know. The demand for religious books, particu- 
 larly of evangelical principles, has been very great 
 these two last years. INIessrs. Dring told me they 
 had sold an investment of fifty Svo Bibles in th(r 
 course of three months " 
 
 In a subsequent letter he says : *' On account of 
 the increase of our couGTesrations we are about to 
 
 o o 
 
 have two morning services on Sunday, the first at 
 seven o'clock, in the old church, and the second at 
 the usual hour of ten, at the new. This is very 
 agreeable to a great majority. Only Mr. Brown 
 and myself will oillciate at the old church. We 
 shall of course (at leavSt I shall) continue to offi- 
 ciate as usual at the new." 
 
 About this time Mr. Buchanan thus mentions to 
 a friend and relative the mixed nature of the con- 
 gregations in Calcutta : 
 
 '' \Vc have some of all sects in our congrega- 
 tions ; Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Me- 
 thodists, Armenians, Grreeks, and Nestorians. And 
 some of these are part of my audience at the Eng- 
 lish church. 
 
 " I must lie down awhile and dictate to an ama- 
 nuensis, for it is very hot. The thermometer is to- 
 day near 110. 
 
232 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " used in former life to prosecute all 
 
 he took in hand with enthusiasm. He thought no- 
 thing done right if" not done with all his might. So, 
 perhaps, it is in his religion and private life. He i* 
 actuated by a pure, genuine enthusiasm. Eternity, 
 lie says, has opened to his view, and he would save 
 the sQuls of men. We shall judge him by his woiks 
 a few years hence. 
 
 " When the Hindoo had laid down the pen, and 
 I had got up from my couch, he asked me what 
 kind of a thing a Methodist was. I told him that it 
 was a christian man in the little isle of Britain, who 
 prayed too much, and was ' righteous overmuch !' 
 The lad stared, and said, how can that be 1 So it is, 
 said I ; behold that man, (pointing to 's pic- 
 ture,) who is reputed a Methodist in England, and 
 is a subject of ridicule on account of his excessive 
 godliness. ' Among us,' replied the Hindoo, * he 
 would thereby acquire the more reverence and 
 veneration.' " 
 
 At the close of one of the preceding letters Mr. 
 Buchanan expressed his fears as to the result of 
 some public measures concerning which he had 
 formed sanguine expectations ; but not long after- 
 wards he wrote in a more animated, and, as before, 
 in a prophetic strain. 
 
 '* The war seems to be now near its close ; and 
 it will probably be followed by a long reign of 
 
AT CAlCUtTA. 23tT 
 
 peace \n India. Having obtained complete domi- 
 nion over it, wc shall then bless it with the word 
 of life ; and Christ \Vill be once more glorified in 
 the East." 
 
 The fourth armnal disputations in the oriental 
 latiGToasfes in the collesfc of Fort William were held 
 this year in the month of February, in the presence 
 of Marquis Wellesley and the superior member.-? 
 of the governntent. Upon this occasion it was main- 
 tained in Hindostanee, that " the oriental languages 
 are studied with more advantasrie in India than in 
 England, and with greater advantage to the public 
 service.'^ And in Persian, that that language is of 
 more utility in the general administration of the 
 British empire in India than the Hindostanee. In 
 addition to declamations in Bengalee and Arabic, 
 one was pronounced for the first time in the Mah- 
 ratta language. In the speech which Lord Welles- 
 ley delivered after the distribution of the prize."^ 
 and honorary rewards, his lordship observed that 
 the general zeal, industry, and spirit of study in 
 the C(jllege had not declined, notwithstanding the 
 contraction of the sphere of emulation and compe- 
 tition by the separation which had now taken place 
 of the gentlemen of the establishments of Fort St. 
 George, (Madras,) and Bombay. 
 
 " Since the last meeting," continued his lord- 
 ship, " the promotion of oriental knowledge in the 
 BritisV. service in India has proceeded with in- 
 20* 
 
234 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN- 
 
 creased success by the progress of the studies and 
 labors of the gentlemen of this college. 
 
 " The attention also of the officers and students^ 
 of the college appears to have been successfully 
 directed to those important objects of discipline,- 
 regularity, and good order, which formed an essen- 
 tial part of my recent admonitions from this place^ 
 
 " The most eminent and brilliant success in the 
 highest objects of study will prove an inadequate 
 qualification for the service of the Company, and 
 of our country in India, if the just application of 
 those happy attainments be not secured by a so- 
 lid foundation of virtuous principles and correct 
 conduct." 
 
 In consequence of the reduction in the extent of 
 the college of Fort William, refeired to in the pre- 
 ceding speech, the Governor General thought it 
 expedient, by a minute in council, dated the 30th 
 of April, 1805, to declare that the duties at present 
 committed to the provost and vice-provost of the 
 college might be performed in future by one offi- 
 cer only, with the designation of provost. His ex- 
 cellency, however, deemed it to be proper, in con- 
 sideration, as he was pleased to express it, " of the 
 highly meritorious and useful services rendered to 
 the college by the present provost and vice-provost, 
 Mr. Brown and Mr. Buchanan," to postpone the 
 adoption of this arrangement until a vacancy should 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 235 
 
 occur in one of those offices, provided tliat tlic ho- 
 norable the Court of Directors should be pleased 
 to sanction the continuance of the allowances to the 
 provost and vice-provost until that time. 
 
 By the same minute the Governor General re* 
 scinded that part of the original regulation of the 
 college by which pensions were to be eventually 
 granted to certain of its officers, including the pro- 
 vost and vice-provost, until the farther pleasure of 
 the Court of Directors should have been received. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan, believing that "good men in Eng- 
 land were yet in ignorance respecting the purpose 
 or effects of this institution," compiled in the spring 
 of 1S05, and transmitted, together with his Eccle- 
 siastical Memoir, to this country, where it was pub- 
 lished towards the end of the year, a treatise enti- 
 tled " The College of Fort William in Bengal." 
 The volume contains the official papers and the li- 
 terary proceedings of the college during its first 
 four years ; the public examinations in regular se- 
 ries, with a list of the students who had entered on 
 service, and a register of those who had obtained 
 degrees of honor ; a catalogue of works in the ori- 
 ental languages and literature, published by mem- 
 bers of the colles^e since its commencement ; the 
 names and offices of those who had borne any part 
 in the conduct of the institution ; and some remarks 
 by the editor' on the primary establishment of the 
 college, and on the operation of its first four years. 
 
236 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 In these remarks, ]\Ir. Buchanan, after noticing 
 the necessity and importance of such an institution, 
 which had been proved by its triumph over the 
 most powerful and systematic opposition, observes 
 that the j^uhlication of a hundred original volumes 
 in the oriental languages and literature in the term 
 of four years, is no inconsiderable proof of the 
 flourishing state of th& college as a literary insti- 
 tution. That was,- however^ but one of its subordi'^ 
 iiate objects. 
 
 Towards the end of the year 1804, and the com- 
 mencement of the fallowing year, a considerable 
 degree of opposition to the doctrines inculcated by 
 Messrs. Brown and Buchanan had been manifested 
 by two or three of the other chaplains of the Presi- 
 dency. Mr. Buchanan was in consequence induced 
 to preach a series of discoirrses on the doctrinal 
 articles of the church of England. These sermons 
 were of a very superior order, and were produc- 
 tive of a corresponding efteet in cheeking the cla- 
 mor which had given birth to them. 
 
 In prosecution of the design which Mr, Buchan'an 
 had conceived of efiectually exciting the public at- 
 tention to the obligations of Great Britain to pro- 
 mote the religious welfare of its oriental dominions, 
 and which he had already partially executed by the 
 proposal of his first series of prizes, and the publi- 
 cation of his own " Memoir j" he on the fourth of 
 June, 1S05, addressed to the vice-ebancellors of the 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 237 
 
 universities of Oxford and Cambridge the proposal 
 of the following subjects of prize composition : 
 
 " For the best work in English prose, embracing 
 the following subjects : 
 
 " I. The 'probable design of the Divine Provi- 
 dence in subjecting so large a portion of Asia to 
 the British dominion. 
 
 ** ir. The duty, the means, and the conse- 
 quences of translating the Scriptures into the ori- 
 ental tongues, and of promoting christian know- 
 ledge in Asia. 
 
 " III. A brief historic view of the progress of the 
 Gospel in different nations since its first promul- 
 gation ; illustrated by maps, showing its luminous 
 tract throughout the world ; with chronological no- 
 tices of its duration in particular places." 
 
 The candidates were permitted to prefix such 
 title to the proposed work as they might think pro- 
 per; and the munificent prize offered by Mr. Bu- 
 clianan upon this occasion to each university was 
 the sum of five hundred pounds. He directed that 
 the prizes should be determined on the fourth of 
 June, 1807, being the anniversary of the birth of 
 our venerable sovereign ; " whose religious exam- 
 ple," Mr. Buchanan added, *' had extended its in- 
 fluence to that remote part of his empire." 
 
 The letters conveying intelligence of these very 
 
238 MEMOIR OF r>R. BUCIIAXAN. 
 
 liberal offers were received towards the close of the 
 year. They were soon afterwards accepted by both 
 universities ; and the spring of the year 1807 was 
 appointed as the period for the delivery of the 
 prize compositions to the judges who were to de- 
 termine their merits. 
 
 A few days subsequent to the date of these pro- 
 posals to the English universities, and not long be- 
 fore the departure of Marquis Wellesley from Ben- 
 gal, Mr. Buchanan communicated to his lordship 
 his wish to be absent from Calcutta during four 
 months, for the benefit of his health, which his re- 
 sidence and labors in India had considerably ira- 
 pau ed ; and for the purpose of proceeding to the 
 coast of Malabar, with a view of obtaining infor- 
 mation relative to certain religious objects, which 
 were particularly specified in his letter, and will be 
 hereafter fully detailed. 
 
 With this request the Governor General signi- 
 fied officially his ready compliance, together with 
 his entire approbation of Mr. Buchanan's intended 
 journey. It was added that the governments of 
 Fort St. George and Bombay would be requested 
 to afford him every assistance, as well in the pro- 
 gress of his journey, by the accommodation of the 
 dawk bearers, or other conveyances of government, 
 as in the prosecution of his inquiries on the coast 
 of Malabar. 
 
 While Mr. Buchanan was preparing for this im- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 239 
 
 )^irtant and interesting journey, lie was, for the 
 ])resent, prevented from fulfilling his intentions by 
 a serious illness, the approach of which he first per- 
 ceived on the 13th of August. He was well enough 
 to meet Lord AVollesley at dinner the next day, 
 and on the two following complained only of weak- 
 ness and languor. On the 17th a decided attack 
 of fever came on ; and on the 19th danger was ap- 
 piehended by his physician. 
 
 Of tliis alarming illness a brief but remarkable 
 memorial has been preserved in the hand-writing 
 of jNlr. Brown, who appears to have attended and 
 watcheJ over his valued friend and coadjutor with 
 fraternal anxiety and affection. The feelings and 
 sentiments of Mr. Buchanan at this trying season, 
 as described in the paper alluded \o, are such as, 
 while they may surprise a certain class of readers, 
 will appear to better judges to be the genuine effu- 
 sions of a pious mind alive to the apprehended so- 
 lemnities of a dying hour. 
 
 Ou the evening of the 20th of August Mr. Bu- 
 j-.hanan spoke much to his friend of his state and 
 views ; said that he had been looking for his hope 
 in the Bible, and that he had found it in the 51st 
 Psalm, and in the history of the penitent thief upon 
 the cross. He at the same time gave directions to 
 Mr. Brown respecting the college, his papers, and 
 his affairs. The next day Mr. Buchanan was still 
 more strongly impressed with the idea that he 
 
240 MEMOIR or DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 should not recover. Under this persuasion, he men- 
 tioned the place in which he wish^jd to be interred, 
 made some observations respecting his books, and 
 desired that his sermons might be published after 
 the arrival of his "Memoir" in India. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan next adverted to his experience 
 and views as a christian ; declared his entire renun- 
 ciation of his own merits as any ground of accept- 
 ance with God, lamented his unprofitableness, and 
 spoke of himself in terms of the deepest humility. 
 He then asfain referred to the church and to the 
 
 o 
 
 college, and suggested various hints respecting 
 both. After this he recurred to his present feelings 
 and circumstances. He expressed his fear of living, 
 and his desire of being received as the least and 
 lowest of the servants of God. He was anxious to 
 glorify him by his death, and prayed to be pre- 
 served from the enemy at the last hour, that he 
 might not do or say any thing to weaken the testi- 
 mony he had borne to the truth in that place. 
 There was nothing, he said, upon earth, for which 
 he had a wish, besides his wife and children ; that 
 she was much before him in experimental know- 
 ledge, and had been twice on the wing to leave the 
 world ; (he knew not, alas ! that she had in fact al- 
 ready taken her flight !) that his children would be 
 brought up in the nurture and admonition of the 
 Lord ; that if sent to Scotland, they would be in 
 the heart of Sunday-schools and of true religion ; or 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 241 
 
 that ill England the . . .'s, atid other friends who 
 feared God, would take care of tliem. After thus 
 speaking of his children, Mr. Buchanan alluded to 
 a painful letter which he had lately received from 
 one (jf his correspondents ; and lamented what he 
 considered his unkindness in forbearing to encou- 
 ] age him during the labors of the last five years. 
 He then expressed a hope that his death would 
 prove useful to two persons whom he particularly 
 named. 
 
 On the morning of the 22d Mr. Brown, on en- 
 tering his sick chamber, found him still fixed in his 
 opinion that he should die, and opening his spiri- 
 tual state to another christian friend. He then took 
 a review of the way in which the providence of 
 God had led him from his earliest years ; and gave 
 hiy friends a brief sketch of his history : the roman- 
 tic project of his youth ; his residence in London ; 
 his conversion to the faith and practice of a real 
 christian ; his career at Cambridge ; his voyage to 
 India; and his comparative banishment during the 
 first three years of his residence in that country. 
 At this critical period, Mr. Buchanan observed, his 
 call by Lord Wellesley to the chaplaincy of the 
 presidency, and the subsequent establishment of 
 the college, had given him an important work to 
 perform ; that his preaciiiiig, indeed, had been un- 
 satisfactory to himself; but that his spiritual labors 
 and opportunities in college, though desultory, had 
 
 Euclianau. ^1 
 
24S MEMOIR DP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 often afforded him comft)rt. He added, says Mn 
 Brown, " that I must preach," probably intending 
 his funeral sermon, " though he felt himself un- 
 worthy to choose a text ; yet that it must be from 
 these words, ' Being justified by faith, we have 
 peace with God,' " 
 
 "After praying earnestly/' continues Mr. Brown, 
 ** for some time, he lay quite still, and then with 
 great tranquillity and satisfaction said, ' What a 
 happy moment ! Now I am resigned ; now I de- 
 sire not to live. I am unworthy of this.' He then 
 spoke of his hope, and said that he could only be 
 saved by grace." 
 
 After this conversation Mr. Buchanan mentioned 
 his wishes concerning his funeral and monument, 
 and spoke of his departure from the world as a 
 happy deliverance from the evils which he foresaw 
 he should have to encounter if he were to return 
 to Europe. Alluding to his intended journey, which 
 his present illness had prevented, he said, " I am 
 now about to travel, not an earthly journey, but still 
 to ' unknown regions of the Gospel.* 1 sliall now 
 })ass over the heads of old men laboring usefully 
 for Christ ; and at this early period be advanced 
 to see what 'eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
 neither have entered into the heart of man,' and 
 behold discoveries of the glory of Christ, ' God ma- 
 nifest in the flesh,' who hath come to us, and kindly 
 
AT CAtCUTTA, 2 13 
 
 taken us by the hand. He will lift us out of the 
 deep waters, and set us at his own right hand. I 
 once saw not the things I now see ; I knew not the 
 Gospel. Now I pray that the little I have known 
 may be perfected, and that God would complete 
 his work on my soul." 
 
 Mr. Brown adds that hi.s apparently dying fiiend 
 was almost continually praying, in a humble, sub- 
 missive, patient, and fervent tone, for mercy and 
 grace through Jesus Christ ; and, with the apostle^ 
 that God might be glorified by his life or death. 
 
 Such is the interesting and instructive memorial 
 which remains of this alarming illness of Mr. Bu- 
 chanan. While it demonstrates the excellence and 
 the solidity of the principles which could thus sup- 
 port him, it must surely excite in the mind of every 
 reader a conviction of their value, and an earnest 
 desire to possess the same eonsofetian in a seasort 
 of similar trial. 
 
 Of the progress of his recovery nothing is parti- 
 cularly recorded. The fever appears gradually to 
 have subsided ; and on the 4th of September he 
 was so far restored as to be able to remove to Bai- 
 rackpore for change of air, and afterwards to Sook- 
 sagur, about forty miles above Calcutta. The re- 
 membrance, however, of his illness, and the im- 
 pressions which an anticipated death-bed had made 
 upon his mind, instead of being obliterated, as- ir^ 
 too many instances, by returning health, were- ever 
 
244 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 afterwards cherished and retained. The scene was, 
 perhaps, intended to prepare him for the painful 
 trial which was approaching; and both, as we shall 
 shortly perceive, produced the happy effect of 
 quickening him in his christian course, and of ren* 
 dering him even more zealous and unwearied in 
 the service of his heavenly Master. 
 
 One of Mr. Buchanan's first exertions of reco- 
 vered health was in writing the following reply to 
 a pious man, who appears to have been known to 
 him dui'ing the early part of his residence in Eng- 
 land, and to have been employed as a humble 
 preacher of the Gospel. It was found among the 
 papers of the late Mr. Henry Thornton, to whom 
 it had probably been sent by the person to whom it 
 was addressed, for the purpose which the letter it- 
 self will explain. The christian kindness and hu- 
 mility which it breathes sufficiently authorize its 
 insertion* 
 
 CALCUTT.i, September 3d, 1805. 
 
 '* My DEAft Friend, — I received your letter by 
 
 Mr. B about five years ago, and in consequence 
 
 took him into my house for some time. The young 
 man is in the army, and conducts himself, I hear, 
 with propriety. I am sorry to find that my answer 
 to your letter on that occasion has never reach- 
 ed you. 
 
 " A few days ago I received your letter of the 
 
AT CALf,UTTA, 245 
 
 4th of Nove«iber, ISOl, by Mr, Taylor, a mission- 
 ary to India. In that letter you mention that you 
 are still poor; and, what is better, that you preach 
 the G-ospel to the poor. After so long an interval, 
 it gives me great pleasure to learirthat you are yet-v 
 found faithful, and that in the midst of your poverty ^ 
 you have ftumd the ' unsearchable riches,' Your 
 heavenly Father knoweth best what is good for 
 you ; and he hath, no doubt, led you hitherto in 
 that narrow and peculiar path which was suited to 
 your state, and; necessary for the advancement of 
 his glory. 
 
 " 1 have, on the other hand", been led in a broader 
 road and a more- dangerous way. If I have been^ 
 preserved, if I am yet, in any measure, faithful iii, 
 dispensing the Gospel, and in promoting by va- 
 riotis means the interests of Christ's- kingdom, it is 
 mercy ; far more distinguished mercy, as- it appears^ 
 to me, than that which has been manifested in you.. 
 The Gospel is not without its witness even in this 
 place. The company of the faithful is increasing^ 
 and the oppoi'tunities of publishing the good tid- 
 ings are multiplying. 
 
 " I enclose- to you a note on my agents in Lon- 
 don for tifty pounds. I should send you more if I 
 thought it would do you any good^ If you should 
 want more, ask -Mr. Henry Thornton for ft^ and I 
 will repay him. 
 
 " I was much pleased with your account of your 
 21* 
 
246 MEMOIR OF DTI. nrCHANAN. 
 
 aged father. I think, on the whole, you have reason 
 to be thankful that your family are so well disposed 
 of in the course of years and worldly revolution, 
 it seemeth good to providence to keep you all in a 
 strait estate ; and that is the general dispensation-. 
 to God's favored people. 
 
 " That you may be blessed yourself, and continue 
 to be a blessing to others, is the prayer of, 
 " Dear sir, jour sincere friend, 
 
 " C. Buchanan."" 
 
 During the temporary retreat of Mr. Bachanaw 
 at Sooksagur for the re-establishment of his health, 
 he was diligently employed in Hebrew, Syriac, and 
 Chaldaic studies, with various accompaniments of 
 rabbinical and other commerjtators. In the midst,, 
 however, of this occupation, he v/as interrupted by 
 the aiflictinor intellio^ence of the death of Mr*. Bu- 
 chanan. This distressing, though in some measure 
 expected event, had taken place on the ISth »f 
 June, on board the East-India ship in which she 
 was returning to England, off the island of St, 
 Helena. Of Mr. Buchanan'^s feelings upon this 
 mournful occasion, as well as respecting his own 
 late illness, the two following letters will afford an 
 affecting and truly interesting picture. The first is 
 to his friend Colonel Sandys : 
 
 "SooKSAGi/R, near Calcutta, Oct. 22, 1805. 
 " My dear Sandys, — I have been at this place 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 247 
 
 for some time past, in the hope of getting a little 
 strength. I was visited by a fever about two 
 months ago, and was despaired of for a day (^r 
 two. But the prayers of the righteous were oftur- 
 ed up, and my days have been prolonged. It was 
 with a kind of reluctance I felt myself carried back 
 by tlie refluent waves to encounter again the 
 storms of this life, for I had hoped the fight was 
 done. Although unprofitable has been my life, and 
 feeble my exerlio!is, yet I was more afraid of the 
 trials to come, if I should survive, than of depart- 
 ing to my rest, if it was the will of God. I had 
 made a disposition of my fortune to Mary and her 
 pious purposes, (for she too had undertakings in 
 view,) believing that she would be much more use- 
 ful than I could. My first care on my convales- 
 cence was to write to her an account of that event. 
 In a few days afterwards the Calcutta Indiaman 
 arrived from St. Helena, and brought me the news 
 of my dear Mary's decease ! Before she went away 
 1 perceived that her affections were nearly wean- 
 ed from this world ; and she often sr.id that she 
 thought God was preparing her for his presence in 
 glory. She was greatly favored in her near access 
 to God in prayer; and she delighted in retirement 
 and sacred meditation. She was jealous of herself 
 latteily when she anticipated the happiness of our 
 all meeting in England, and endeavored to chastise 
 the thousht. 
 
248 MEMOIR. QE DR. DUSHANAX.- 
 
 ''^Her suife rings were great, but she aecGUfite<i 
 Rer consolations greater ^ and she used to admire 
 the goodness of God to her in bringing her to a 
 knowledge of the truth at so early an age. It was 
 her intention,- had she lived to reach Eaigland, to- 
 have gone down with her two little girls to visit 
 you ; saying, ' We shall behold each other as- two- 
 new creatures.' You had been accused to her of 
 being too peculiar, and she wished to see what 
 was amiss. 
 
 " When she found her dissolution drawing near^ 
 she solemnly devoted her two little girls to God^. 
 and prayed that he would be their Father, and 
 bring them up in his holy fear, and preserve them< 
 from the vanities of this evil world. She said she- 
 could willingly die for the souls of her children ; 
 and she did die in the confident hope of seeing 
 them both in glory. 
 
 " Having had it in ooiitemplation to follow my 
 dear Mary to England next year, I had let my 
 house at Garden Reach to- Sir John> D'Oyly. I 
 had alsa sold my furniture, horses, &c'.- previously 
 to my proceeding to Malabar.. But in the mean- 
 time I fell sick.; and now that I have recovered, I 
 mean to defer my journey to the coast till the new 
 government be settled. Sir George Barlow is at 
 present up the country ; Mr. Udny is deputy-go- 
 vernor. Both of them are warm supporters of re- 
 ligious improvement in India>. aad I trust they will 
 
AT CAt.CUTTA. 249 
 
 cIo goo(]. They know nothing of my ' Memoii/ 
 nor any one else but Mr. Brown. 
 
 " The B.'s here are affectionately concerned in 
 my recovery, and pay me every attention in their 
 power. I do not know whether I shall go to Eng- 
 land next year or not ; I am now a desolate old 
 man, though young in years. But my path will, I 
 doubt not, be made ' clear as the noon day.' 
 
 " By your late letters I see that you are ' flour- 
 ishing like a palm-tree.' How often have you 
 passed the palm-tree in India, without comparing 
 it to the righteous man ! 
 
 '* My dear Mary's name and character was lat- 
 terly well known among the excellent of the earth ; 
 and her memory has left a fragrance for years to 
 come." 
 
 Mr. Buchanan then mentions the lamented and 
 unexpected death of the Marquis Cornwallis, who 
 had lately arrived to resume the government of the 
 country, which had been already so signally bene- 
 fited by his former administration : 
 
 " The body," he observes, of this illustrious no- 
 bleman, " had no honoiable interment ; neither a 
 clergyman to reail the office, nor a coffin to put it 
 in. Thus ended his earthly name and greatness. 
 God promised to Jacob, as a temporal blessing, that 
 his son Joseph ' should close his eyes.* It is indeed 
 
250 ME-.MOIP. OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 fi blessing to have a righteous son or daughter to- 
 hallow our remahis in death. May you have thaf 
 son, and I that daug;^hter ! 
 
 " Yours affectionately, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 The second of the two letters relative to the 
 death of Mrs. Buchanan is to another friend, who 
 well knew her worth, and sincerely sympathized 
 with Mr., Buchanan under his loss. 
 
 " SooKSAGUR, 24th Oct. 1805. 
 
 •* My dear SiR,r— Your letter of March 18th, of 
 this yeai', addressed to my dear Mary, arrived here 
 about a month ago. A few days afterwards I re- 
 ceived the account of her death. 
 
 " You will rejoice to hear that, when she was 
 preparing to leave India, she considered herself as 
 preparing for another and- better country thaft 
 England. 
 
 "^ She enjoyed latterly much coram union with 
 God in prayer; and often-, when she came out of 
 her closet, the gleam on her countenance evinced 
 her peace and acceptance. The words- of some 
 kymn to her Redeemer were often on her lips.. 
 You, I believe, knew enough of her to make you 
 consider this portrait of her last days to be true. 
 She died at the age of twenty-five. She considered 
 that the period of her sufferings (only, she said^ 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 251 
 
 ihi^ec or four years) was very short, and wondered 
 at the goodness of God in so early calling her to 
 his glory. She lamented that she could never be 
 ' made perfect by suffering;' and therefore viewed 
 the end of her probation with great comfort, and 
 latterly with joyful anticipation. She expressed 
 and felt strong affection towards you and your 
 family. In the last page of your letter to Mrs. Bu- 
 chanan, you remind her of ihe promise, * Be thou 
 faithful unto death, and 1 will give thee a crown of 
 life.' These words were prophetic. You wrote 
 them on the ISth of March; and on the 18th of 
 June, three months after, she, I trust, received the 
 crown. 
 
 '' I have been at this place lor some weeks past, 
 in the hope of acquiring a little strength after my 
 late illness. I am now perfectly well, and propose 
 to return to C^llcutta to resume my public duties 
 in a few days. 
 
 " During the period of my retirement I have 
 been chiefly employed in researches in the He- 
 brew and Syriac Scriptures. I happily met with 
 some valuable Syriac volumes on my way up hi- 
 ther. While I was thus enjrasfed, the news of 
 Mrs. Buchanan's death arrived ! I found some con- 
 solation in writing a few lines to her memory in 
 the Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, and Latin languages | 
 which I inscribed on a leaf of her own Bible : the 
 best monument that I could erect ; for her boriy 
 was buiied in the deep. 
 
252 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAIVAN^ 
 
 " I sometimes think that, had I my two little 
 girls to play with, I should be happy, even in this 
 <lreary land. My chief solace is in a mind con- 
 stantly occupied ; and this is the greatest temporal 
 blessing I can expect, even unto the end. I could 
 relate to you scenes of tribulation and keen perse- 
 cution in regard to others and to myself: but these 
 could give you no pleasure, and I wish not to think 
 of them. 
 
 " Hov/ little do you all knov/ of Calcutta, or of 
 ivhat is doing or has been done here ; as little eveo 
 as of the court of Pekin ! 
 
 " Of the many letters you wrote to us during the 
 tv/o last years I think we received only two. My 
 next to you, if I live to write another, will proba- 
 bly be from Tajrrohane. 
 
 ** I remain^ my dear sir, very affectionately yours> 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 The disapprobation with which the extensive 
 nature of the college of Fort William had beett 
 viewed by the Court of Directors, had long prepar- 
 ed its superintendents to expect a reduction of it3 
 establishment. Anticipating, therefore, the suspen- 
 sion of that department in it which had hitherto- 
 been instrumental in promoting translations of the 
 Scriptures into the oriental languages, they were 
 anxious to make some provision for the continua- 
 tion af these important works. With this view. 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 253 
 
 they resolved to encourage individuals to proceed 
 with versions of the Scriptures by such means as 
 they could command ; purposing, at the same time, 
 jiot to confine this encouragement to Bengal, but 
 to extend it to every part of the East where fit in- 
 strumenls could be found. Mr. Buchanan particu- 
 larly determined to devote his influence, as vice- 
 provost of the college, in aid of the translations 
 then in the hands of the missionaries at Seram- 
 pore, and to endeavor to excite the public interest 
 ill their favor. For this purpose, jcarly in the year 
 1S06, he drew up " proposals for a subscription for 
 translating the Holy Scriptures " into fifteen ori- 
 ental languages ; containing a prospectus of Indian 
 versions, and observations on the practicability of 
 the general design. To these proposals, composed 
 chiefly from materials furnished by the missiona- 
 ries, their names were subscribed ; and in the 
 month of March copies were distributed liberally in 
 India and in England ; in this country to the Court 
 of Directors, to the bench of Bishops, to the univer- 
 sities, to Lord Teignmouth, as President of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, and to some 
 other public bodies, as well as to many private gen- 
 tlemen. In India, copies were transmitted to nearly 
 the whole of the principal civil and to many of the 
 military officers in the Company's service, from 
 Delhi to Travancore j to many of whom the mis- 
 sion at Serampore was previously unknown. Mr. 
 
 BucbaiiRD. '-'^ 
 
254 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Buchanan obtained permission at the same time 
 to send the proposals, in his official character as 
 vice-provost of the college, free of expense, to all 
 parts of the empire ; and he accompanied them in 
 most instances with letters, which amounted to 
 about one hundred, from himself 
 
 It was plainly implied in the proposals, that the 
 undertaking would enjoy the countenance and sup- 
 port of the college ; and it was doubtless on this 
 ground that the concuirence of the public was 
 principally obtained. That expectation was accord- 
 ingly expressed in the following terms : 
 
 " Our hope of success in this great undertaking 
 depends chiefly on the patronage of the college of 
 Fort William. To that institution we are much in- 
 debted for the progress we have already made. 
 Oriental translation has become comparatively 
 easy, in consequence of our having the aid of those 
 learned men from distant provinces in Asia, who 
 have assembled, daring the period of the last six 
 years, at that great emporium of eastern letters. 
 These intdiigent strangers voluntarily engage with 
 us in translating the Scriptures into their respective 
 languages; and they do not conceal their admira- 
 tion of the sublime doctrine, pure precept, and di- 
 vine eloquence of the word of God. The plan of 
 these translations was sanctioned at an early pe- 
 1 iod by the most noble the Marquis Wellesley, the 
 
AT CALCUTTA. <,bi) 
 
 great patron of useful learning. To give the chris- 
 tian Scriptures to the inhabitants of Asia is indeed 
 a work which every man who believes these Scrip- 
 tures- to be from God will approve. In Hindoslan 
 alone there is a great variety of religions ; and 
 there are some tribes which have no certain cast or 
 religion at all. To render the revealed religion ac- 
 cessible to men who * desire ' it, to open its eternal 
 sanctions and display its pure morals to those who 
 ' seek a religion,' is to fulfil the sacred duty of a 
 christian people, and accords well with the humane 
 and generous spirit of the English nation." 
 
 Another passage of the document from which 
 the preceding extract is taken, announced, in India 
 the formation and the proffered friendship of the 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, as furnishing 
 material encouragement to the proposed undertak- 
 ing. Thus accredited and patronized, the address 
 from the missionaries at Serampore was advertised 
 in the government gazettes, and published through- 
 out India ; and such was the approbation with which 
 it was received that in a short time the sum of six- 
 teen hundred pounds was subscribed in aid of the 
 intended translations. 
 
 The communication of the proposals in question 
 to the British and Foreign Bible Society was made 
 by Mr. Buchanan in the month of March. He at 
 the same time recommended that a sermon should 
 
256 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 be preached before the Society, '* on the subject of 
 oriental translations;" antl with the zeal and libe- 
 rality which had now so frequently marked all his 
 proceedings, requested '' that the reverend preach- 
 er would do him the honor to accept the sum of 
 fifty pounds on delivery of a printed copy of the 
 sermon to his agents in London, for the college of 
 Fort Vv^illiam, in Bengal." This proposition was 
 at first acceded to by the committee of the Society ; 
 and the Rev. John Owen, one of its able and inde- 
 fatigable secretaries, was requested to become the 
 preacher. It was, however, upon reconsideration, 
 unanimously agreed, that, as the measure did not 
 fall strictly within the professed object of the So- 
 ciety, and might open a door to practical irregula- 
 rities, it would not bo expedient to sanction its 
 adoption. The generous offer of Mr. Buchanan 
 was, in consequence of this decision, respectfully 
 declined. 
 
 A similar proposal was transmitted by Mr. Bu- 
 chanan to the Vice-Chancellors of the universities 
 of Oxford and Cambridge, that two sermons should 
 be preached before each of those learned bodies, 
 on the translation of the Scriptures into the orien- 
 tal languages, by such persons as the universities 
 should appoint ; accompanied by a request that 
 each of the four preachers would accept the sum of 
 thirty guineas, on the similar condition of the deli- 
 very to his agents of a printed copy of the sermon 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 257 
 
 for the collejre of Fort Vv'illiam. These adJitional 
 
 o 
 
 offers to the universities were in each case accepted. 
 In the course of the preceding year Mr. Buchan- 
 an received from the university of Glasgow, of 
 which he had been formerly a member, a diploma 
 conferring upon him the degree of Doctor in Di- 
 vinity, and afterwards received a similar honor from 
 the university at Cambridge. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Tattr on Vie JVialabar Coaet — JTuggeniaut — JPemale 
 Sacrifice. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan was now again looking forward 
 to his long projected journey to the south of the 
 peninsula. On the 12th of March, 1806, he thus 
 WTOte to a friend in England : 
 
 " I proceed to Malabar in a few weeks. My 
 delay has been chiefly occasioned by the difficulty 
 of my resigning appointments and offices here, 
 where there is no one to receive them. And even 
 now, if I get off fairly, I shall wonder. 
 22* 
 
9.5S MEMOIR OP DR. EUCUANAN. 
 
 " I Still continue in my purpose of going home 
 about the end of this year. So that I shall possi- 
 bly see you and your family once more." 
 
 On the 22d of March Dr. Buchanan obtained 
 leave of absence from the government for six 
 months, together with renewed assurances of the 
 countenance and assistance formerly promised ; but 
 his preparations for his journey were again inter- 
 rupted by a return of ague and fever. This attack 
 was, however, less serious and of shorter duration 
 than the former; so that at the end of the month 
 he was able to wait upon the Governor General, 
 who kindly oiTered to accommodate him with one 
 of his tents for his intended journey to the coast. 
 During the month of April Dr. Buchanan conti- 
 nued his preparations for his approaching absence ; 
 attended an examination of the Chinese class at 
 Serampore, and made arrangements for the per- 
 formance of his clerical duties. His last sermon, 
 previously to his departure, was from the beautiful 
 address in the Revelation of St. John (chap. 3 : 7- 
 13) to the church at Philadelphia, which he pro- 
 bably considered as in some respects appropriate to 
 that at Calcutta. Dr. Buchanan spent several of 
 the days immediately preceding his journey with 
 Mr. Udny, who appears to have entered with 
 much interest into his views for the promotion of 
 Christianity in India. The late learned and la- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 259 
 
 mented Dr. Leyden had at one time propo.^ed to 
 accompany Dr. Buchanan in his tour; but this 
 plan, though it would doubtless have proved mu- 
 tually agreeable and beneficial, was finally aban- 
 doned. 
 
 The design of this extensive and laborious jour- 
 ney cannot be better explained than in the words 
 of Dr. Buchanan, in his " Christian Researches in 
 Asia :" 
 
 " In order to obtain a distinct view of the state 
 of Christianity and of superstition in Asia," he says, 
 " the superintendents of the college had, before 
 this period, entered into correspondence with in- 
 telligent persons in different countries, and from 
 every quarter (even from the confines of China) 
 they received encouragement to proceed. But, as 
 contradictory accounts were given by different wri- 
 ters concernino' the real state of the numerous tribes 
 
 o 
 
 in India, both of christians and natives, the author 
 conceived the design of devoting the last year or 
 two of his residence in the East to purposes of lo- 
 cal examination and inquiry. 
 
 " The principal objects of this tour were to in- 
 vestigate the state of superstition at the most cele- 
 brated temples of the Hindoos ; to examine the 
 churches and libraries of the Romish, Syrian, and 
 Protestant christians ; to ascertain the present 
 state and recent history of the eastern Jews ; and 
 
260 MEMOIR OF DR, 3UCHANAN. 
 
 to discover what persons might be fit instruments 
 for the promotion of learning in their respective 
 countries, and for maintaining a future correspon- 
 dence on the subject of disseminating the Scrip- 
 tures in India." 
 
 Such were the important views with which Dt. 
 Buchanan entered upon his intended journey. It 
 is no disparagement to travels undertaken from 
 motives either of personal curiosity or of public 
 utility, to assert that the tour which Dr. Buchanan 
 was meditating, derived, from its disinterested and 
 sacred objects, a peculiar degree of dignity and 
 value. If our great philanthropist, Howard, was 
 justly eulogized by a late celebrated statesman for 
 his indefatigable and self-denying exertions in " tra- 
 velling over land and sea," not to gratify his taste 
 or to extend his fame, but " to remember the for- 
 gotten, to attend the neglected, and to visit the 
 forsaken," it is not too much to say, that although 
 the labors of that eminent person were more vari- 
 ous and continued, it required, in a man of infirm 
 and precarious health, like Dr. Buchanan, a degree 
 of zeal and resolution to enter upon his projected 
 journey which reflects upon him the highest honor. 
 And although in each case the love of God and of 
 man was the prevailing motive, the object of the 
 one was, in proportion to its extent, as much more 
 important than the other, as inquiries into spiritual 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCUEa. 261 
 
 wants with a view to their relief are more weighty 
 than those which concern temporal necessities, and 
 as interests of eternal duration are more momen- 
 tous than any which are bounded by the narrow 
 limits of time. It must be remembered, too, that, 
 with the exception of the accommodations afforded 
 him by the kindness of the Governor General, and 
 the hospitality of the British residing at the different 
 stations through which he passed. Dr. Buchanan's 
 extensive tour was undertaken exclusively at his 
 own expense. 
 
 On the 3d of May Dr. Buchanan left Calcutta on 
 his way to the south ; and on his arrival the same 
 day at Fulta, forty miles below that city, he wrote 
 to Colonel Sandys as follows : 
 
 " My dear Sandys, — I am thus far on my jour- 
 ney to Malabar, I propose to visit Juggernaut first, 
 and hope to be there early in June, when the grand 
 festival of the K.utt Jattra takes place. Sir Georgo 
 Barlow has been so good as to lend me some of the 
 Governor General's small tents, so that I shall tra- 
 vel very comfortably. My inquiries, you know, 
 have a threefold aspect, Hindoos, Jews, and Chris- 
 tians. The bands of infidelity and superstition are 
 loosening fast, and Calcutta is by no means the 
 place it was when you were here. 
 
 " I have heard this morning that the flpet from' 
 England, which went to the Cspe, is expected at 
 
262 MEMOIR OF DR. EUCHANAN. 
 
 Madras every day, as one of the ships is already 
 arrived. In this fleet your friend Mr. Martyn is 
 passenger. Mr. Jeffries has been appointed to act 
 as my substitute In the new church in ray absence, 
 which will be about six or eight months, if, indeed, 
 I should ever return ; for my route is full of danger 
 and difficulty to one infirm as I am. With some 
 view, I trust, to the glory of God, I have purposed ; 
 but it is He who must dispose of me and my ob- 
 jects as shall seem to him best. 
 
 " I remain, my dear Sandys, very affectionately 
 yours, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan, from the time of his arrival at 
 Juggernaut, kept a regular journal of his tour, from 
 which we now extract the narrative of his visit to 
 the temple of that prince of idols as given by him- 
 self in his " Christian Researches." 
 
 " BuDDnucK in Oriasa, May 30, 1806. 
 "We know that we are approaching Jugger- 
 naut (and yet we are more than fifty miles from 
 it) by the human bones which we have seen for 
 some days strewed by the way. At this place we 
 have been joined by several large bodies of pil- 
 grims, perhaps two thousand in number, who have 
 come from various parts of northern India. Some 
 of them, w^ith whom I have conversed, say that 
 
cnnrsTiAx researches. 263 
 
 tliey have been two months on their march, travel- 
 ling slowly, in the hottest season of the year, with 
 their wives and children. Some old persons are 
 among them who wish to die at Juggernaut. Num- 
 bers of pilgrims die on the road, and their bodie.4 
 generally remain unburied. On a plain by the river, 
 near the pilgrims' caravansera at this place, there 
 are more than a hundred skulls. The dogs, jackals, 
 and vultures seem to live here on human prey. 
 The vultures exhibit a shocking tamencss. The ()b- 
 spene animals will not leave the body sometimes 
 till we come close to them. This Buddruck is a 
 horrid place. Wherever I turn my eyes I meet 
 death in some shape or other. Surely Juggernaut 
 cannot be worse than Buddruck." 
 
 " In sight of Juggernaut, June 12. 
 " Many thousands of pilgrims have accom- 
 panied us for some days past. They cover the road, 
 before and behind, as far as the eye can reach. At 
 nine o'clock this morning the tem.ple of Jugger- 
 naut appeared in view at a great distance. When 
 the multitude iirst saw it they gave a shout, and fell 
 to the ground and worshipped. I have heard no- 
 thing to-day but shouts and acclamations by the 
 Huccessive bodies of pilgrims. From the place 
 where I nov/ stand T have a view of a host of peo- 
 ple hke an army encamped at the outer gate of 
 the town of Juggernaut, where a guard of soldiers 
 
204 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 is posted to prevent their entering the town until 
 they have paid the pilgrim's tax. I passed a devo- 
 tee to-day who laid himself down at every step, 
 measuring the road to Juggernaut by the length of 
 his body, as a penance of merit to please the gods." 
 
 " Oater Gate of Juqgeknaut, June 12. 
 " A disaster has just occurred. As I ap- 
 
 proached the gate the pilgrims crowded from all 
 quarters around me, and shouted, as they usually 
 did when I passed them on the road, an expression 
 of welcome and respect. I was a little alarmed at 
 their number, and looked round for my guard. A 
 guard of soldiers had accompanied me from Cut- 
 tack, the last military station, but they were now 
 about a quarter of a mile behind with my servants 
 and the baggage. The pilgrims cried out that they 
 were entitled to some indulgence; that they were 
 poor, they could not pay the tax ; but I was not 
 aware of their design. At this moment, when I 
 was within a few yards of the gate, an old Sanyas- 
 see, (or holy man,) who had travelled some days by 
 the side of my horse, came up and said, ' Sir, you 
 are in danger ; the people are going to rush through 
 the gate when it is opened for you.' I immediately 
 dismounted, and endeavored to escape to one side; 
 but it was too late. The mob was now in motion, 
 and with a tumultuous shout pressed violently to- 
 wards the gate. The guard within seeing ray dan- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 205 
 
 ger, opened it, and the multitude rushing through, 
 carried me forward in a torrent a considerable 
 space, so that I was literally borne into Jugger- 
 naut by the Hindoos themselves. A distressing 
 scene followed. As the number and strength of 
 the mob increased, the narrow way was choked up 
 by the mass of people, and I apprehended that 
 many of them would have been suffocated or 
 bruised to death. My horse was yet among them. 
 But suddenly one of the side-posts of the gate, 
 which was of wood, gave way and fell to the 
 ground. And perhaps this circumstance alone pre- 
 vented the loss of lives. Notice of the event was 
 immediately communicated to Mr. Hunter, the su- 
 perintendent of the temple, who repaired to the 
 spot, and sent an additional guard to the inner 
 gate, lest the people should force that also; for 
 there is an outer and an inner gate to the town of 
 Juggernaut ; but both of them are slightly con- 
 structed. Mr. Hunter told me that similar acci- 
 dents sometimes occur, and that many have been 
 crushed to death by the pressure of ihe mob. He 
 added, that sometimes a body of pilgrims, consist- 
 ing chiefly of women and children and old men, 
 triisting to the physical weight of their mass, will 
 make what he called a charge on the armed guards, 
 and overwhelm them ; the guards not being willing, 
 in such circumstances, to oppose their bayonets." 
 
 Buchauou. '^«^ 
 
266 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " Juggernaut, June 14. 
 
 " 1 have seen Jusro^ernaut. The scene at 
 
 Buddruck is but the vestibule to Juggernaut. No 
 record of ancient or modern history can give, I 
 think, an adequate idea of this valley of death ; it 
 may be truly compared with the ' valley of Hin- 
 nom.' The idol called Juggernaut has been consi- 
 dered as the moloch of the present age ; and be is 
 justly so named, for the sacrifices offered up to him 
 by self-devotement are not less criminal, perhaps 
 not less numerous, than those recorded of the mo- 
 loch of Canaan. Two other idols accompany Jug- 
 gernaut, namely Boloram and Shubudra, his bro- 
 ther and sister ; for there are three deities worship- 
 ped here. They receive equal adoration, and sit on 
 thrones of nearly equal height." 
 
 " This morning I viewed the temple ; a stu- 
 pendous fabric and truly commensurate with the 
 extensive sway of * the horrid king.' As other tem- 
 ples are usually adorned with figures emblematical 
 of their religion, so Juggernaut has representations 
 (numerous and various) of that vice which consti- 
 tutes the essence of his worship. The walls and 
 gates are covered with indecent emblems, in mas- 
 sive and durable sculpture. I have often visited the 
 sand plains by the sea, in some places whitened 
 with the bones of the pilgrims ; and another place 
 a little way out of the town, called by the English 
 the Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 267 
 
 cast forth, and where dogs and vultures are ever 
 seen.* 
 
 " The grand Hindoo festival of the Rutt Jattra 
 takes place on the ISth inst. when the idol is to be 
 brought forth to the people. I reside during my 
 stay here at the house of James Hunter, Esq. the 
 Company's collector of the tax on pilgrims, and su- 
 perintendent of the temple, formerly a student in 
 the college of Fort William ; by whom I am hos- 
 pitably entertained, and also by Capt. Patton and 
 Lieut. Woodcock, commanding the military force. 
 Mr. Hunter distinguished himself at the college by 
 his proficiency in the oriental language. He is a 
 gentleman of polished manners and of classical 
 taste. The agreeable society of these gentlemen is 
 very refreshing to my spirits in the midst of the 
 present scenes. I was surprised to see how little 
 they seemed to be moved by the scenes of Jugger- 
 
 * The vultures generally find oat the prey first, and begin 
 with the intestines ; for the flesh of the body is too firm for 
 their beaks immediately after death. But the dogs soon re- 
 ceive notice of the circumstance, generally from seeing the 
 Hurries or corpse- carriers returning from the place. On the 
 approach of the dogs the vultures retire a few yards and 
 wait till the body be sutficiently torn for easy deglutition. 
 The vultures and dogs often feed together, and sometimes 
 begin their attack before the pilgrim be quite dead. There 
 are four animals which are sometimes seen about a carcass, 
 the dog, the jackal, the vulture, and the hurgeela, or adju- 
 tant, called by Pennant the gigantic crane. 
 
26S MEMOIR OF DR. U'JCIIANAN, 
 
 naut. They said they were now so accustomed to 
 them they thought little of them. They had almost 
 forgot their first impressions. Their houses are on 
 the sea-shore about a mile or more from the tem- 
 ple. They cannot live nearer on account of the of- 
 fensive effluvia of the town. For, independently ot 
 the enormity of the superstition, there are other 
 circumstances which render Juggernaut noisome 
 in an extreme degree. The senses are assailed by 
 the squalid and ghastly appearance of the famish- 
 ed pilgrims, many of whom die in the streets of 
 want or of disease ; while the devotees with clot- 
 ted hair and painted flesh are seen practising their 
 various austerities and modes of self-torture. Per- 
 sons of both sexes, with little regard to conceal* 
 ment, sit down on the sands close to the town in 
 public view, and the sacked bulls walk about 
 among them and eat the ordure^ 
 
 " The vicinity of Juggernaut to the sea probably 
 prevents the contagion which otherv/ise would be 
 produced by the putrefactions of the place. There 
 is scarcely any verdure to refresh the sight near 
 Juggernaut ; the temple and town being nearly en- 
 compassed by hills oi sandy which has been cast up 
 in the lapse of ages by the surge of the ocean. All 
 
 ♦ This singular fact was pointed out to me by the gentle- 
 men here. There is no vegetation for the sacred bulls on the 
 fciand plains, 'i'bey are {^fS. generally with vegetal^Ies from 
 the hands of the pilgrims. 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 269 
 
 13 barren and desolate to the eye ; and in the ear 
 there 13 the never-intermitting sound of the roar- 
 ing sea." 
 
 " JuaoERNAUT, June 18. 
 
 " I have returned home from witnessing a 
 
 scene which I shall never forget. At twelve o'clock 
 of this day, being the great day of the feast, the 
 moloch of Hindostan was brought out of his tem- 
 ple amidst the acclamations of hundreds of thou- 
 sands of his worshippers. When the idol was placed 
 on his throne a shout was raised by the multitude, 
 such as I had never heard before. It continued 
 equable for a few minutes, and then gradually died 
 away. After a shoit interval of silence a murmur 
 was heard at a distance ; all eyes were turned to- 
 wards the place, and, behold, a grove advancing ! 
 A body of men, having green branches or palms 
 in their hands, approached with great celerity. The 
 people opened a way for them ; and when they had 
 come up to the throne they fell down before him 
 that sat thereon and worshipped. And the multi- 
 tude again sent forth a voice 'like the sound of a 
 great thunder.' But the voices I now heard were 
 not those of melody or of joyful acclamation ; for 
 there is no harmony in the praise of moloch's wor- 
 shippers. Their number indeed brought to my mind 
 the countless multitude of the Revelations ; but 
 their voices ?ave no tuneful hosannah or halleluiah ; 
 
270 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 but rather a yell of approbation, united with a kind 
 of hissing ap;)lause.* I was at a loss how to ac- 
 count for this latter noise, until I was directed to 
 notice the women, who emitted a sound like that 
 of whistlings with the lips circular and the tongue 
 vibrating : as if a serpent would speak by their or- 
 gans, uttering human sounds. 
 
 " The throne of the idol was placed on a stupen- 
 dous car or tower about sixty feet in height, rest- 
 ing on wheels w4iich indented the ground deeply, 
 as they turned slowly under the ponderous ma- 
 chine. Attached to it were six cables, of the size 
 and length of a ship's cable, by which the people 
 drew it along. Upon the tower were the priests 
 and satellites of the idol surrounding? his throne. 
 The idol is a block of wood, having a frightful 
 visage painted black, with a distended mouth of a 
 bloody color. His arms are of gold, and he is 
 dressed in gorgeous apparel. The other two idols 
 are of a white and yellow color. Five elephants 
 preceded the three towers, bearing towering Hags, 
 dressed in crimson caparisons, and having bells 
 hanging to their caparisons, which sounded musi- 
 cally as they moved. 
 
 " I went on in the procession close by the tower 
 of moloch, which, as it was drawn with difficulty, 
 'grated on its many wheels harsh thunder.'! After 
 
 * See Milton's Pandemonium, book x. 
 
 t Two of the military genthmen had mounted my ele- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 271 
 
 a few minutes it stopped ; and now the worsliip of 
 the god began. A high priest mounted the car in 
 front of the idol, and pronounced liis obscene stan- 
 zas in the ears of the people ; who responded at in- 
 tervals in the same strain. ' These songs,' said he, 
 ' are the delight of the god. His car can only- 
 move when he is pleased with the song.' The car 
 moved on a little way and then stopped. A boy of 
 about twelve years was then brought forth to at- 
 tempt something yet more lascivious, if peradven- 
 ture the god would move. The ' child perfected 
 the praise ' of his idol with such ardent expression 
 and gesture, that the god was pleased, and the 
 multitude, emitting a sensual yell of delight, urged 
 the car along. After a few minutes it stopped 
 again. An aged minister of the idol then stood 
 
 pliant that they might witness the spectacle, and had brought 
 him close to the tower ; but the moment it began to move, 
 the animal, alarmed at (he unusual noise, took fright and 
 ran off through the crowd till he was stopped by a wall. 
 The natural fear of the elephant lest he should injure hu- 
 man life was remarkably exemplified on this occasion. 
 Though the crowd was very closely set, he endeavored in 
 the midst of his own terror to throw the people off on both 
 sides with his feet, and it was found that he had only trod 
 upon one person. It was with great concern I afterwards 
 learnt that this was a poor woman, and that the fleshy part 
 of her leg had been torn off. There being no medical per- 
 son here, Lieut. Woodcock Vv'ith great humanity endeavored 
 to dress the wound, and attended her daily; and Mr. Hun- 
 ter ordered her to be supplied with every thing that might 
 conduce to her recovery. 
 
272 MEMOia OF D3.. BUCHANAN. 
 
 up, and with a long rod in his hand, which he mov- 
 ed with indecent action, completed the variety of 
 this disgusting exhibition. I felt a consciousness 
 of doing wrong in witnessing it. I was also some- 
 what appalled at the magnitude and horror of the 
 spectacle ; I felt like a guilty person on whom all 
 eyes were fixed, and I was about to withdraw. 
 But a scene of a different kind was now to be pre- 
 sented. The characteristics of moloch's worship 
 are obscenity and blood. We have seen the former ; 
 now comes the blood. 
 
 •' After the tower had proceeded some way, a 
 pilgrim announced that he was ready to offer him- 
 self a sacrifice to the idol. He laid himself down 
 in the road before the tower as it was moving 
 along, lying on his face, with his arms stretched 
 forwards. The multitude passed round him, leav- 
 ing the space clear, and he was crushed to death 
 by the wheels of the tower. A shout of joy was 
 raised to the god. He ia said to s7nile when the 
 libation of the blood is made. The people threw 
 cowries, or small money, on the body of the vic- 
 tim, in approbation of the deed. He was left to 
 view a considerable time, and then carried by the 
 Hurries to the Golgotha, where I have just been 
 viewing his remains. How much I wished that the 
 proprietors of India stock could have attended the 
 wheels of Juggernaut and^een this peculiar source 
 of their revenue." 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 273 
 
 " JooGERNiUT, June 20, 
 
 ♦' Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood 
 *' Of' human isacrifice, and parents' tears," 
 
 Milton. 
 
 The lionid solemnities still continue. Yes- 
 
 terday a woman devoted herself to the idol. She laid 
 herself down on the road in an oblique direction, 
 so that the wheel did not kill her instantaneously, 
 as is generally the case, but she died in a few 
 hours. This morning as I passed the place of skulls 
 nothing remained of her but her bones. 
 
 " And this, thought I, is the worship of the Brah- 
 mins of Hindostan ! And their worship in its 
 sublimest degree ! What then shall we think of 
 their private manners and their moral principles ! 
 For it is equally true of India as of Europe. If you 
 would know the state of the people, look at the 
 state of the temple. 
 
 " I was surprised to see the Brahmins, with their 
 heads uncovered in the open plain, falling down in 
 the midst of the Sooders before ' the horrid shape,* 
 and mingling so complacently with ' that polluted 
 cast.' But this proved what I had before heard, 
 that so great a god is this that the dignity of high 
 cast disappears before him. This great king recog- 
 nizes no distinction of rank among his subjects. 
 All men are equal in his presence." 
 
274 aiExMom of dr. buchanan. 
 
 " JcoGERNAUT, June 21: 
 " The idolatrous processions continue for some 
 days longer, but my spirits are so exhausted by the 
 constant view of these enormities, that I mean to 
 hasten away from this place sooner than I at first 
 intended. I beheld another distressing scene this 
 morning at the place of skulls ; a poor woman ly- 
 ing dead, or nearly dead, and her two children by 
 her looking at the dogs and vultures which were 
 near. The people passed by without noticing the 
 children. I asked them where was their home. 
 They said ' they had no home but where their mo- 
 ther was.' O, there is no pity at Juggernaut ! no 
 mercy, no tenderness of heart in moloch's king- 
 dom ! Those who support his kingdom err, I trust, 
 from ignorance. ' They know not what they do.' 
 
 '* As to the number of worshippers assembled 
 here at this time no accurate calculation can be 
 made. The natives themselves, when speaking of 
 numbers at particular festivals, usually say that a 
 lack of people (100,000) would not be missed. I 
 asked a Brahmin how many he supposed were pre- 
 sent at the most numerous festival he had ever wit- 
 nessed. * How can I tell,* said he, * how many 
 grains there are in a handful of sand ]' 
 
 " The languages spoken here are various, as 
 there are Hindoos from every country in India, but 
 the two chief languages in use by those who are 
 resident are the Orissa and the Telinga. The bor- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 275 
 
 der of the Telinga country is only a few miles dis 
 tant from the tower of Juggernaut." 
 
 " Chilka Lake, June 24, 
 
 " I felt my mind relieved and happy when 
 
 I had passed beyond the confines of Juggernaut. 1 
 certainly was not prepared for the scene. But no 
 one can know what it is who has not seen it. From 
 an eminence on the pleasant banks of the Chilka 
 Lake (where no human bones are seen) I had a 
 view of the lofty tower of Juggernaut far remote ; 
 and while I viewed it, its abominations came to 
 mind. It was on the morning of the Sabbath. Ru- 
 minating long on the wide and extended empire 
 of moloch in the heathen world, I cherished in my 
 thoughts the design of some christian institution, 
 which, being fostered by Britain, my christian coun- 
 try, might gradually undermine this baleful idola- 
 try, and put out the memory of it for ever."* 
 
 " Before proceeding to show the happy effects 
 of Christianity in those provinces of India where it 
 
 ♦ The annual expenses of the idol Juggernaut, prese^ntcd 
 tc the English governmc7it, are, by the cfRcial accounts, 
 69,61G rupees, or 8,702 pounds sterling; including 36,115 
 rupees for expense of the table of the idol, and 10,057 for 
 wages of his servants, among whom are the courtezans 
 kept for the service of the temple. Mr. Hunter informed 
 me that the three " state carriages" were decorated this 
 year (in June, 1806) with upwards of 200 pounds sterling 
 worth of Ensrlish broadcloth and baize. 
 
276 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 has been introduced, it may be proper," says Dr. 
 Buchanan in his narrative, " to notice in this place 
 that other sanguinary rite of the Hindoo supersti- 
 tion, the Female Sacrijice.'' 
 
 He proceeds to present in detail a statement of 
 " the number of women burned alive on the fune- 
 ral pile of their husbands within thirty miles round 
 Calcutta in six months, from " April 15 to October 
 15, 1S04," the total of which is " one liuiidred imd 
 fficen. The following account," he adds, " will 
 give the reader some idea of the flagitious circum- 
 stances which sometimes attend these sacrifices : 
 
 " Calcutta, September 30, 1807. 
 
 " A horrid tragedy was acted on the 12th instant, 
 near Barnagore (a place about three miles above 
 Calcutta.) A Koolin Brahmin, of Cammar-hattie, 
 by name Kristo Deb Mookerjee, died at the ad- 
 vanced age of ninety-two. He had twelve wives* 
 and three of them were burned alive with his dead 
 body. Of these three, one was a venerable lady, 
 having white locks, who had been long known in 
 the neighborhood. Not being able to walk, she 
 was carried in a palanquin to the place of burning, 
 and was then placed by the Brahmins on the fune- 
 ral pile. The two other ladies were younger; one 
 
 * The Koolin Brahmin is Ihe purest of all Brahmins, and 
 is privileged to marry as many wives as he plea?es. 
 
rURTSTIAN RESEARCHES. 277 
 
 cf tlicm of a very pleasing and interesting counte- 
 nance. The old iad y was placed on one side of the 
 dead husband, and the two other wives laid them- 
 selves down on the other side ; and then an old 
 Brahmin, the eldest son of the deceast;d, ap})lied 
 Ilia torch to the pile with unaverted face ! The 
 })ile suddenly blazed, for it was covered with com- 
 l)ustibles; and this human sacrifice was completed 
 amidst the din of drums arid cymbals, and the 
 shouts of Brahmins. A person present observed, 
 ' Surely if Lord Minto were here, who is just come 
 from England, and is not used to see women burn- 
 ed alive, he would have saved these three ladies. 
 The Mohammedan governors saved whom they 
 pleased, and suffered no deluded female to commit 
 suicide without previous investigation of the cir- 
 cumstances and official permission. 
 
 " In a discussion which this event has produced 
 in Calcutta, the following question has been asked, 
 Who was guilty of the blood of the old lady ? 
 For it was manifest that she could not destroy her- 
 self. She was carried to be burned. It was also al- 
 leged that the Brahmin who fired the pile was not 
 guilty, because he was never informed by the Eng- 
 lish government that there was any immorality in 
 the action. On the contrary, he might argue that 
 tlie English witnessing this scene daily, as they do, 
 without remonstrance, acquiesced in its propriety. 
 The government of India was exculpated, on the 
 
 Buclianaii. ~4 
 
273 MEMOIR OF DPw. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ground that the governmenl at home never sent 
 any instructions on the subject ; and the Court of 
 Directors were exculpated because they were the 
 agents of others. It remained that the proprietors 
 of India stocks, who originate and sanction all pro- 
 ceedings of the Court of Directors, were remotely 
 accessary to the deed. 
 
 " The best vindication of the great body of pro- 
 prietors is this : that some of them never heard of 
 the female sacrifice at all ; and that few of them are 
 acquainted with the full extent and frequency of 
 the crime. Besides, in the above discussion it was 
 taken for granted that the Court of Directors had 
 done nothing towards the suppression of this enor- 
 mity ; and that the Court of Proprietors have 
 looked on without concern at this omission of 
 duty. But this, perhaps, may not be the case. The 
 question then remains to be asked, Have the Court 
 of Directors, at anytime, sent instructions to their 
 government in India to report on the means by 
 which the frequency of the female sacrifice might 
 be diminished, and the practice itself eventually 
 abolished ] Or have the. propiietors of India stock, 
 at any time, instructed the Court of Directors to at- 
 tend to a point of so much consequence to the charac- 
 ter of the Company and the honor of the nation 7 
 
 " That the abolition is practicable has been de- 
 monstrated, and that too by the most rational and 
 lenient measures ; and these means have been point- 
 ed out bv the Brahmins themselves. 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 279 
 
 " Hail Marquis Wellesley remainefl m India, and 
 been permitted to complete his salutary plans for 
 the improvement of that distant empire, (for lie did 
 not finisli one half of the civil and political regula- 
 tions which he had in view, and had actually com- 
 menced,) the female sacrifice would probably have 
 been by this time nearly abolished. The humanity 
 and intrepid spirit of that nobleman abolished a yet 
 more criminal practice, which was considered by 
 the Hindoos as a religious rite, and consecrated by 
 custom, I mean the sacrifice of children. His 
 lordship had been informed that it had been a cus- 
 tom of the Hindoos to sacrifice children, in conse- 
 quence of vows, by drowning them, or exposing 
 them to sharks and crocodiles; and that twenty- 
 three persons had perished at Saugor in one month, 
 (January, 1801,) many of whom were sacrificed in 
 this manner. He immediately instituted an in- 
 quiry into the principle of this ancient atrocity, 
 heard what natives and Europeans had to say on 
 the subject, and then passed a law, ' declaring the 
 practice to be murder, punishable by death.' The 
 law is entitled ' A Regulation for preventing the 
 Sacrifice of Children at Saugor and other places, 
 passed by the Governor General in Council on the 
 20th of August, 1S02.' The purpose of this regu- 
 lation was completely effected. Not a murmur 
 was heard on the subject, nor has any attempt of 
 the kind come to our knowledge since. It is im- 
 
2S0 ^LEMOia OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 possible to calculate the number of human lives 
 that have been saved by this humane law of Mar- 
 quis Wellesley. Now it is well known that it is as 
 easy to prevent the sacrifice of women as the sa- 
 crifice of children. Has this fact ever been denied 
 by any man who is competent to offer a judgment 
 on the subject 1 Until the supreme government in 
 Bengal shall declare that it is utterly impracticable 
 to lessen the frequency of the immolation of fe- 
 males by any means, the author will not cease 
 
 TO CALL THE ATTENTION OF THE ENGLISH NATION 
 
 CHAPTER Vm. 
 
 Christian HesearcTtes — Tanjore — Ceylon, 
 
 Dr. Buchanan proceeding towards Madras, was 
 seized with a partial relapse of fever j but being 
 restored by the blessing of providence on the kind 
 attentions of the natives into whose hands he had 
 
 * It is gratifying to add, that laws have since been enact- 
 ed prohibiting female sacrifice in BritiiJh India, though it 
 continues in other parts of India with scarcely diminished 
 frequency. 
 
CHRISTIAN' RESr:ARCnES. i-Sl 
 
 fallen, he an ived at that city, and the capital of that 
 jjresidency, on the 31st of July. He then proceeded 
 to Tranquebar, where he dates from Ziegenbalg's 
 church, August 25th. Of his visit to tliis spot, con- 
 seciated by the memory of the first christian mis- 
 sionaries to India, and of hia subsequent arrival and 
 discoveries at Tanjorc, he has given, in his " Re- 
 searches," the following narrative : 
 
 " The first protcstant mission in India was 
 founded by Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, a man of 
 erudition and piety, educated at the university of 
 Halle, in Germany. He was ordained by the learn- 
 ed Burmannus, bishop of Zealand, -in his twenty- 
 third year, and sailed for India in 1705, In the se- 
 cond year of his ministry he founded a christian 
 church among the Hindoos, which has been ex- 
 tending its limits to the present time. In 1714 he 
 returned to Europe for a short time, and on that 
 occasion was honored with an audience by his ma- 
 jesty George I. who took much interest in the suc- 
 cess of the mission. He was also patronized by the 
 Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which 
 was superintended by men of distinguished learn- 
 ing and piety. The king and the Society encou- 
 rnged the oriental missionary to proceed in his 
 translation of the Scriptures into the Tamul tongue, 
 whicli they designated ' the grand work.' This was 
 indeed THE grand work ; for wherever the Scrip- 
 24* 
 
232 MEMOIR 01' DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 tures are translated into the vernacular tongue, and 
 are open and common to all, inviting inquiry and 
 causing discussion, they cannot remain ' a dead let- 
 ter.' When the Scriptures speak to a heathen in 
 his own tongue, his conscience responds, ' This is 
 the v^^ord of God.' How little is the importance of 
 a version of the Bible into a new language under- 
 stood by some ! The man who produces a transla- 
 tion of the Bible into a new language, (like Wick- 
 liif, and Luther, and Ziegenbalg, and Carey,) is a 
 greater benefactor to mankind than the prince who 
 founds an empire. For the ' incorruptible seed of 
 the word of God ' can never die. After ages have 
 revolved, it is still producing new accessions to 
 truth and human liappiness. 
 
 " In the year 1719 Ziegenbalg completed the 
 Bible in the Tamul tongue, having devoted four- 
 teen years to the work, and the same year entered 
 into his rest. After he had finished his course, he 
 was follow^ed by other learned and zealous men, 
 upwards of fifty in number in the period of an hun- 
 dred years, among whom were Schultz, laenicke, 
 Gericke, and Swartz, whose ministry has been 
 continued in succession in different provinces unto 
 this time. The following are extracts from the jour- 
 nal of the author's tour through these provinces : 
 
 " TfiANauEBAR, Aug. 25, 180G. 
 " Tranquebar was the first scene of the protest- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 283 
 
 ant mission in Imlia. Tiiere are at present three 
 missionaries here superintending the Hindoo con- 
 gregations. Yesterday I visited the churcli built by 
 ZiEGENCAT.G. His body lies on one side of the al- 
 tar, and that of" his fellow- missionary, Guundlv.r, 
 on the other. Above are the epitaphs of both, writ- 
 ten in Latin and engraved on plates of brass. The 
 church was consecrated in 17 IS, and Ziegenbalg 
 and his companion died in two years after. They 
 laid the foundation for evangelizing India, and then 
 departed, ' haviniT finished the work which was 
 given them to do.' I saw also the dwelling-house 
 of Ziegenbalg, in the lower apartment of which 
 the registers of the church are still kept. In these 
 I found the name of the first heathen convert re- 
 ceived by him, and recorded in his own hand-writ- 
 ing in the year 1707. 
 
 '' In Ziegenbalg's church, and from the pulpit 
 where he stood, I first heard the Gospel preached 
 to a congregation of Hindoos in their own tongue. 
 The missionaries told me that religion had suffered 
 much in Tranquebar of late years from European 
 infidelity. French principles had corrupted the 
 Danes, and rendered them indifferent to their own 
 religion, and therefore hostile to the conversion 
 of the Hindoos. ' Religion,' said they, ' flourishes 
 more among the natives of Tanjore and in other 
 provinces where there are few Europeans, than 
 here or at Madras ; for we find that European ex- 
 
284 MEMOIR OF DR. EUCIIANAN. 
 
 ample in the large towns is the bane of christian 
 instruction.' 
 
 '' One instance of hostility to the mission they 
 mentioned as having occurred only a few weeks 
 before my arrival. On the 9th of July, 1756, the 
 native christians at Tranquebar celebrated r jubilee, 
 in commemoration of the ffdetU year since the 
 christian ministers brought the Bible from Europe. 
 The present year, 1S06, being the second fiftieth, 
 preparations were made at Tranquebar for the se- 
 cond jubilee on the 9th of last month; but the 
 French principles preponderating in the govern- 
 ment, they would not give it any public support ; 
 in consequence of which it was not observed with 
 that solemnity which was intended. But in other 
 places, where there were few Europeans, it was 
 celebrated by the native christians with enthusiasm 
 and every demonstration of joy. When I expressed 
 my astonishment at this hostility, the aged mis- 
 sionary, Dr. John, said, ' I have always remarked 
 that the disciples of Voltaire are the true enemies 
 of missions, and that the enemies of missions are, 
 in general, the disciples of Voltaire.' " 
 
 «' Tanjore, Aug. 30, 180G. 
 " On my entering this province I stopped an 
 hour at a village near the road ; and there I first 
 lieard the name of Swartz pronounced by a Hin- 
 doo. Y/hen I arrived at the capital I waited on 
 
CHRISTIAN' liESEARCHES. 2SiJ 
 
 'Major Blackbume, the British resident at the court 
 of Tanjore, who informed me that the rajah had 
 appointed the next day at 12 o'clock to leceive my 
 visit. On the same day I went to Swartz's gar- 
 den, close to the christian village, where the Rev. 
 Mr. Kohloft' resides. Mr. Kohloft' is the worthy 
 successor of Mr. Swarlz ; and with him I found 
 the Rev. Dr. John and Mr. Horst, two other mis- 
 sionaries who were on a visit to Mr. Kohloff. 
 
 " Next day I visited the rajah of Tanjore, in 
 company with Major Blackburne. When the first 
 ceremonial was over, the rajah conducted us to the 
 grand saloon, which was adorned by the portraits 
 of his ancestors ; and immediately led me up to the 
 portrait of Mr. Swartz. He then discoursed for a 
 considerable time concerning that ' good man,* 
 whom he ever revered as ' his father and guardian.' 
 The rajah speaks and writes English very intelli- 
 gibly. I smiled to see Swartz's picture amongst 
 these Hindoo kings, and thought with myself that 
 there are many who would think such a combina- 
 tion scarcely possible. I then addressed the rajah, 
 and thanked him, in the name of the church of 
 England, for his kindness to the late Mr. Swartz, 
 and to his successors, and particularly for his re- 
 cent acts of benevolence to the christians residing 
 within his provinces. The missionaries had just 
 informed me that the rajah had erected ' a college 
 for Hindoos, Mohammedans, and Christians ;' in 
 
2S6 MEMOIR OF DR. RUCIIANAN. ^ 
 
 which provision was made for the instruction of 
 ^ fifty christian children.' His highness is very de- 
 sirous that I should visit this college, which is only 
 about sixteen miles from the capital. Having heard 
 of the fame of the iincient Shanscrit, and Mahratta 
 library of the kings of Tanjore, I requested his 
 highness would present a catalogue of its volumes 
 to the college of Fort William ; which he was 
 pleased to do. It is voluminous, and written in 
 the Mahratta character ; for that is the proper lan- 
 guage of the Tanjore court. 
 
 " In the evening I dined with the resident, and 
 the rajah sent his band of music, consisting of eight 
 or more vinas, with other instruments. The vina, 
 or hee)i, is the ancient instrument which Sir Wil- 
 liam Jones has described in his interesting descant 
 on the musical science of the Hindoos, in the Asi- 
 atic Researches, and the sight of which, he says, 
 he found it so difficult to obtain in northern India. 
 The band played the English air of ' God save the 
 King,' set to Mahratta words, and applied to the 
 Maha Rajah, or great king of Tanjore. Two of 
 the missionaries dined at the resident's house, to- 
 G^ether with some English officers. Mr. KohlofF 
 informed me that Major Blackburne has promoted 
 the interests of the mission by every means in his 
 power. Major Blackburne is a man of superior 
 attainments, amiable manners, and a hospitable dis- 
 position ; and is well qualified for the important 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 287 
 
 Station he has long held as English resident at this 
 court. 
 
 " On the day following I went to view the Hin- 
 doo temples, and saw the great black bull of Tan- 
 jore. It is said to be of one stone hewn out of a 
 rock of granite, and so large that the temple was 
 built around it. While I surveyed it I reflected on 
 the multitude of natives, who, during the last hun- 
 dred years, had turned away their eyes from this 
 idol. When I returned I sat some hours with the 
 missionaries, conversing on the general state of 
 Christianity in the provinces of Tanjore, Tritchino- 
 poly, Madura, and Palamcottah. They want help. 
 Their vineyard is increased, and their laborers are 
 decreased. They have had no supply from Germa- 
 ny in the room of Swartz, laenicke, and Gericke ; 
 and they have no prospect of further supply, except 
 from the Society for Promoting Christian Know- 
 ledge ; who, they hope, will be able to send out 
 English preachers to perpetuate the mission." 
 
 " Tanjore, Sept. 2, 1806. 
 " Last Sunday and Monday were interesting 
 days to me at Tanjore. It being rumored that a 
 friend of the late Mr. Swartz had arrived, the peo- 
 ple assembled from all quarters. On Sunday three 
 sermons were preached in three different langua- 
 ges. At eight o'clock we proceeded to the church 
 built by Mr. Swartz within the fort. From Mr. 
 
2SS MEMOIR OF Bti. EUCHANAX. 
 
 Swartz's pulpit I preached in English from Mark 
 13; 10, 'And the Gospel must first be published 
 among all nations.* The English gentlemen here 
 attended, civil and military, with tlie missionaries, 
 catechists, and British soldiers. After this service 
 was ended, the congregation of Hindoos assembled 
 in the same church and filled the aisles and porch- 
 es. The Tamul service commenced with some 
 forms of prayer, in which all the congregation 
 joined with loud fervor. A chapter of the Bible 
 was then lead. and a hymn of Luther's suncr. After 
 a short extempore prayer, during v/hich the whole 
 congregation knelt on the floor, the Rev, Dr. John 
 delivered an animated discourse in the Tamul 
 tongue, from these words, * Jesus stood and cried, 
 saying, if any man thirst, let liim come to me and 
 drink.' As Mr. Whitefield, on his first "-oino' to 
 Scotland, was surprised at the rustling of the leaves 
 of the Bible, which took place immediately on his 
 pronouncing his text, (so different from any thing 
 he had seen in his own country,) so I was surpris- 
 ed here at the sound of the iron pen engraving 
 the palmyra leaf. Many persons had their ollas in 
 their hands writing the sermon in Tamul short- 
 hand. Mr. Kohloil" assured me that some of the 
 elder students and catechists will not lose a word 
 of the preacher if he speak deliberately.* This, 
 
 * It is well knoTvn that natives of Tanjore and Tra- 
 vancore can write llnenfly v/hat is .spoken deliberately. 
 
CHKISTIAN lU.SLAnCIIES. 289 
 
 ihoujjlit I, is more than some of the students at our 
 English universities can do. This aptitude of the 
 people to record the words of the preacher ren- 
 ders it peculiarly necessary ' that the priest's lips 
 should keep knowledge.' An old rule of the mis- 
 sion is, that the sermon of the morning should bo 
 read to the schools in the evening, by the c'atechist, 
 from his palmyra leaf. 
 
 '' Another custom obtains among th(ini which 
 pleased me much. In the midst of the discourse 
 the preacher sometimes puts a question to the con- 
 gregation, who answer it without hesitation, in one 
 voice. The object is to keep their attention awake, 
 and the minister generally prompts the answer him- 
 self. Thus, suppose that he is saying, ' My dear 
 brethren, it is true that your profession of the faith 
 of Christ is attended with some rejDroacb, and that 
 you have lost your cast with the Brahmins. But 
 your case is not peculiar. The man of the world is 
 tlie man of cast in Europe, and he despises the 
 humble and devout disciple of Christ, even as your 
 Brahmin contemns the Sooder. But, thus it hath 
 been from the beginning. Every faithful christian 
 must lose cast for the Gospel ; even as Christ him- 
 self, the Forerunner, made himself of no reputa- 
 tion, and was despised and rejected of men. In 
 like manner you will be despised ; but be of good 
 
 They do not look much at their ollas while writing. The 
 fibre of the leaf guides the pen. 
 
 DiK'ituiiun. ^^ 
 
200 MICMOIR or DR. CUCIIAXAN. 
 
 cheer, and say, tliough we have lost our cast and in- 
 heritance arnonfTst men, we shall receive in heaven 
 a new name and a better inheritance through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord. He then adds, ' What, my be- 
 loved brethren, shall you obtain in heaven V They 
 answer, ' A new name and a better inheritance, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord.' It is impossible 
 for a stranger not to be affected with this scene. 
 This custom is deduced from Ziei^enbals^, who 
 proved its use by long experience. 
 
 '* After the sermon was ended I returned with 
 the missionaries into the vestry or library of the 
 church. Here I was introduced to the elders and 
 catechists of the conorreo^ation. Anions^ others came 
 Sattianaden, the Hindoo preacher, one of wliose 
 sermons was published in England some years ago 
 by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. 
 He is now advanced in years, and his black locks 
 have orrovvn ofrav. As 1 returned from the church 
 I saw the christian families going back in crowds 
 to the country, and the boys looking at their ollas. 
 What a contrast, thought I, is this to the scene at 
 Jugfaernaut ! Here there is becoming: dress, hu- 
 mane affections, and rational discourse. I see here 
 no skulls, no self torture, no self-murder, no dogs 
 / and vultures tearing human flesh ! Here the chris- 
 tian virtues are found in exercise by the feeble- 
 minded Hindoo, in a vigor and purity which will 
 surprise those who have never known the native 
 
CnniSTIAN r.ESEARCMES. 201 
 
 character but miJer tlin j^eatest disadvnnlat^ep., as 
 in Bengal. It certainly surprised myself, and ulieii 
 1 reflected on llie moral conduct, upright dealinu:, 
 and decoroiis manners of the native christians (»f 
 Tanjore, T found in my breast a new evidence of 
 the peculiar excellence and benign influence of 
 the christian faith. 
 
 *• At four o'clock in tlie afternoon we attended 
 divine service at the chapel in the mission garden 
 out of the fort. The Rev. Mr. Horst preached in 
 the Portuguese language. The organ here accom- 
 panied the voice in singing. I sat on a granite 
 stone which covered the grave ^of Swartz. The 
 epitaph is in English verse, written by the present 
 rajah, and signed by him, ' Serfogee.' In the even- 
 ing Mr. Kohloft' presided in the exercise in the 
 schools, on which occasion the Tamul sermon was 
 repeated, and the boys' ollas examined. 
 
 '■ In consequence of my having expressed a 
 wish to hear Sattianaden preach, Mr. Kohlofl" had 
 given notice that there would be divine service 
 next day, Monday. Accordingly the chapel in 
 Swartz's garden was crowded at an early hour. 
 .Sattianaden delivered his discourse in the Tamul 
 language, with much natural eloquence, and witii 
 visible effect. His subject was the ' marvellous 
 light.' He first described the pagan darkness, then 
 the light of Ziegenbalg, then the light of Swartz, 
 and then the heavenlv light, ' when there shall be 
 
292 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCITAXAN. 
 
 no more need of the light of the sun, or of the 
 moon.' In quoting a passage from Scripture, he 
 desired a lower minister to read it, listening to it 
 as to a record ; and then proceeded to the illustra- 
 tion. The responses by the audience were more 
 frequently called for than in the former sermon. 
 He concluded with praying fervently for the churcli 
 <»f England. After the sermon I went up to Sattiana- 
 den, and the old christians who had known Swartz 
 came around us. They were anxious to hear some- 
 thing of the progress of Christianity in the north of 
 India. They said they had heard good news from 
 Bengal. I told them that the news was good, but 
 that Bengal was exactly a hundred years behind 
 Tanjore. 
 
 I have had long conversations with the mission- 
 aries relating to the present circumstances of the 
 Tanjore mission. It is in a languishing state at this 
 moment, in consequence of the war on the conti- 
 nent of Europe. Two of its sources have dried up, 
 the royal college at Copenhagen, and the orphan 
 house at Halle, in Germany. Their remaining re- 
 source from Europe is the stipend of the Society 
 for Promoting Christian Knowledge ; whom they 
 never mention but with emotions of gratitude rmd 
 affection. But this supply is by no means comnuMi- 
 surate with the increasing number of their churches 
 and schools. The chief support of the mission is 
 derived from itself Mr. Swartz had in his life-time 
 
CHRISTIAN RESi:.vnciir.s. 293 
 
 acquired a considerable property, through the kind- 
 ness of the English government and of the native 
 princes. When he was dying, he said, ' Let the 
 cause of Christ be my heir.' When his colleague, 
 the pious Gericke, was departing, he also bequeath- 
 ed his property to the mission. And now Mr. Kohl- 
 of!' gives from his private funds an annual sum ; 
 not that he can well afford it; but the mission is 
 so extended that he gives it, he told me, to pre- 
 serve the new and remote congregations in exist- 
 ence. He stated that there were upwards of ten 
 thousand protestant christians belonging to the 
 Tanjoi'e and Tinavelly districts alone, who had 
 not among them one complete copy of the 
 Bible ; and that not one christian perhaps in a 
 hundred had a New Testament ; and yet there are 
 some copies of the Tamul Scriptures still to be sold 
 at Tranquebar ; but the poor natives cannot afford 
 to purchase them. When I mentioned the designs 
 of the Bible Society in England, they received the 
 tidings with very sensible emotions of thankfulness. 
 Mr. Hoist said, * If only every tenth person were 
 to obtain a copy of the Scriptures, it would be an 
 event long to be remembered in Tanjore.' They 
 lamented much that they were destitute of the. aid 
 of a -printing- press, and represented to me that the 
 progress of Christianity had been materially retard- 
 ed of late years by the want of that important aux- 
 iliary. They have petitioned the Society for Pro- 
 2o» 
 
294 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 rnoting Christian Knowledge to send them one. 
 They justly observed, If you can no longer send us 
 missionaries to preach the G ospel, send us the means 
 of printing the Gospel. The Tranquebar mission 
 and the Madras mission have both possessed print- 
 ing-presses for a long period ; by the means of 
 which they have been extensively useful in distri- 
 buting the Scriptures and religious publications in 
 several languages. The mission press at Tranque- 
 bar was established by Ziegenbalg. From this 
 press, in conjunction with that at Halle, in Germa- 
 ny, have proceeded volumes in Arabic, Syriac, 
 Hindostanee, Tamul, Telinga, Portuguese, Danish, 
 and English. I have in my possession the Psalms 
 of David in the Hindostanee language, printed in 
 the Arabic character; and the History of Christ in 
 Syriac, intended probably for the Syro-Romish 
 christians on the sea-coast of Travancore, whom a 
 Danish missicmary once visited — both of which vo- 
 lumes were edited by the missionaries of Tranque- 
 bar. There is also in Swartz's library at Tanjore 
 a grammar of the Hindostanee language in quarto, 
 published at the same press ; an important fact 
 which was not known at the college of Fort Wil- 
 liam when Professor Gilchrist commenced his use- 
 ful labors in that language." 
 
 " Tanjore, September 3, 1806. 
 " Before I left the capital of Tanjore the rajah 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 29o 
 
 was pleased to honor me with a second audience. 
 On this occasion he presented to me a very strik- 
 ing likeness, painted by a Hindoo artist at the Tan- 
 jore court. The missionary Dr. John accompanied 
 me to the palace. The rajah received him with 
 much kindness, and presented to him a piece of 
 gold cloth. Of the resident missionary Mr. Kohloff, 
 whom the rajah sees frequently, he spoke to me in 
 terms of high approbation. This cainiot be very 
 agreeable to the Brahmins ; but the rajah, though ho 
 yet professes the Brahminical religion, is no longer 
 obedient to the dictates of the Brahmins, and they 
 arc compelled to admit his superior attainments in 
 knowledge. I passed the chief part of this morn- 
 ing in looking over Mr. Swartz's manuscripts and 
 books : and when I was coming away Mr. KohlofT 
 presented to me a Hebrew Psalter, which had been 
 Mr. Swartz's companion for fifty years ; also a brass 
 lamp which he had got first when a student at the 
 college of Halle, and had used in his lucubrations 
 to the time of his death ; for Mr. Svvartz seldom 
 'preached to the natives without jrrevioiis study. I 
 thought I saw the image of Swartz in his successor. 
 Mr. Kohloff is a man of great simplicity of man- 
 ners, of meek deportment, of ardent zeal in the 
 cause of revealed religion and of humanity. He 
 walked with me through the christian village close 
 to his house ; and I was much pleased to see the 
 aflectionate respect of the people towards him ; the 
 
296 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 young people of both sexes comini^ forward from 
 the doors, on both sides, to sahite him and receive 
 his benediction." 
 
 " September 4, 1806. 
 
 " Leaving Tanjore, I passed through the woods 
 inhabited by the collaries (or thieves) now human- 
 ized by Christianity. When tliey understood who 
 I was, they foilov/ed me on the road, stating their 
 destitute condition in regard to religious instruc- 
 tion. They were damoruua for Bibles. They sup- 
 plicated for teachers. 'AVe don't want bread or mo- 
 ney from you,' said they, ' but we want the word 
 of God.' Now, thought 1, whose duty is it to attend 
 to the moral wants of this people ] Is it that of the 
 English nation, or of some other nation 1" 
 
 " Tkitchinopoly, September 5. 
 " The first church built by Swartz is at this place. 
 It is called Christ's church, and is a large building, 
 capable of containing perhaps two thousand peo- 
 ple. The aged missionary, the Rev. Mr. Pohle, 
 presides over this church, and over the native con- 
 gregations at this place. Christianity flourishes; but 
 I found that here, as at other places, there is a 
 'famine of Bibles.' The jubilee was celebrated on 
 the 9th of July, being the hundredth year from the 
 arrival of the messengers of the Gospel. On this 
 occasion their venerable pastor preached from 
 
CHRISTIAN RnsEARciirs. 297 
 
 Matt. 2S : 19 ; ' Go ye therefore, and teacli all na- 
 tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' At tliis 
 station there are about a thousand English troops. 
 Mr. Pohle being a German, does not speak Eng- 
 lish very well ; but he is reverenced for his piety 
 by the English ; and both officers and men are 
 glad to hear the religion of their country 'preached in 
 any way. 0\\ a Sunday morning I preached in 
 Christ's church to a full assembly, from these 
 words, * For we have seen his star in the East, and 
 are come to worship him.' Indeed what I had 
 seen in these provinces rendered this text the most 
 appropriate I could select. Next day some of the 
 Eng^lish soldiers came to me, desirins: to know 
 how they might procure Bibles. ' It is a delight- 
 ful thin?,' said one of them, ' to hear our own reli- 
 gion preached by our own countryman,' I am in- 
 formed that there are at this time above twenty 
 English regiments in India, and not one of them 
 has a chaplain. The men live without religion, 
 and then they bury each other. O England, Eng- 
 land, it is not for thine own goodness that provi- 
 dence giveth thee the treasures of India ! 
 
 " I proceed hence to visit the christian churches 
 in the provinces of Madura and Tinavelly." 
 
 " The friends of Christianity in India have had 
 it in their power to afford some aid to the christian 
 
298 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 churches In Tanjore. On the 1st ofJanuary of the 
 present year (ISiO) the Rev. Mr. l^rown preached 
 a sermon at Calcutta, in whicli he represented the 
 petition of the Hindoos for Bibles. A plain state- 
 ment of the fact was sufficient to open the hearts of 
 the public. A subscription was immediately set 
 on foot, and Lieut. General Hewitt, commander in 
 chief, then deputy governor in Bengal, subscribed 
 c£250. The chief officers of government and the 
 principal inhabitants of Calcutta raised the sub- 
 scription in a few days to the sum of c£1000 ster- 
 ling. Instructions were sent to Mr. Kohloff to 
 buy up all the copies of the Tamul Scriptures, to 
 distribute them at a small price amongst the na- 
 tives, and to order a new edition to be printed off 
 without loss of time." 
 
 On the 14th of September at Madura, where 
 Dr. Buchanan '' passed three days among its ruins 
 and antiquities," and which he says is " aline sta- 
 tion for the Gospel," he addressed a letter to Mr. 
 Grant, chiefly occupied with the state of missions 
 supported by the Society for Promoting Christian 
 Knowledge, which he had visited. Passing through 
 Ramnad Pooram, he then visited the island of 
 Ramisseram, " the Ju^Qrernaut of the south," and 
 from thence crossed to Ceylon. His notices of that 
 island embrace passages of his journal, written at 
 Columbo, eighteen months later, as he was return- 
 ing from Calcutta to England. 
 
CItniSTIAN RCSnARCIIES. 209 
 
 " jArFNA-PATAM, in Ceylon, Sept. 27, ISOC. 
 
 " From the Hindoo temple of Ramisseram 1 
 crossed over to Ceylon, keeping close to Adam's 
 bridge. I was surprised to find that all the boatmen 
 were christians of Ceylon. 1 asked the helmsman 
 what religion the English piofessed who now gov- 
 erned the island. He said he could not tell, only 
 that they were not of the Portiiguese or Dutch re- 
 ligion, I was not so much surprised at his igno- 
 rance afterwards as I was at the time. 
 
 " I have had the pleasure to meet here with 
 Alexander Johnstone, Esq. of the supreme court 
 of judicature, who is on the circuit; a man of large 
 and liberal views, the friend of learning and of 
 Christianity. He is well acquainted with the lan- 
 guage of the country and with the history of the 
 island ; and his professional pursuits afford him a 
 particular knowledge of its present state ; so that 
 his communications are truly valuable. It will be 
 scarcely believed in England that there are here 
 protestant churches under the king's government 
 which are without ministers. 
 
 " In the time of Baldceus, the Dutch preacher 
 and historian, there were thirty-two christian church- 
 es in the province of Jaffna alone. At this time 
 there is not one protestant European minister in 
 the whole province. I ought to except Mr. Palm, 
 a solitary missionary, who has been sent out by the 
 London Society, and receives some stipend from 
 
300 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the British government. I visited Mr. Palm at his 
 residence a few miles from the town of Jaffna. He 
 is prosecuting the study of the Tamul language ; 
 for that is the language of this part of Ceylon, from 
 its proximity to the Tamul continent. Mrs. Palm 
 has made as great progress in the language as her 
 husband, and is extremely active in the instruction 
 of the native women and children. I asked her if 
 she had no wish to return to Europe, after living 
 so long among the uncivilized Cingalese. ' No/ 
 she said; ' she was all the day long happy in the 
 communication of knowledge.' Mr. Palm has taken 
 possession of the old protestant church of Tilli- 
 pally. By reference to the history, I found it was 
 the church in which Baldaeus himself preached (as 
 he himself mentions) to a congregation of two 
 thousand natives ; for a view of the church is given 
 in his work. 
 
 '' Most of those handsome churches, of which 
 views are given in the plates of Baldaeus's history, 
 are now in ruins. Even in the town and fort of 
 Jaftha, where there is a spacious edifice for divine 
 worship, and a respectable society of English and 
 Dutch inhabitants, no clergyman has yet been ap- 
 ]>ointed. The only protestant preacher in the town 
 of .Jaffna is Christian David, a Hindoo catechist 
 sent over by the mission of Tranquebar. His chief 
 ministrations are in the Tamul tongue ; but he 
 sometimes preaches in the English language, which 
 
CHRISTIAN UESEARCHES. 301 
 
 he speaks with tolerable propriety, and the Dutch 
 and English resort to him. 1 went with the rest to 
 his church ; when he delivered extempore a very 
 excellent discourse, which his present majesty 
 George III. would not have disdained to hear. And 
 this Hindoo supports the interests of the English 
 church in the province of Jaffna. The Dutch mi- 
 nisters who formerly officiated here have gone to 
 Hatavia or to Europe. The whole district is now 
 in the hands of the Romish priests from the college 
 of Goa, who, perceiving the indifference of the 
 English nation to their own religion, have assumed 
 quiet and undisturbed possession of the land. And 
 the English government, justly preferring the Ro- 
 mish superstition to the worship of the idol Boodha, 
 thinks it rii^ht to countenance the catholic relitrion 
 in Ceylon. But whenever our church shall direct 
 her attention to the promotion of Christianity in 
 the East, I know of no place which is more worthy 
 of her labor than the old protestant vineyard of 
 .raffna-patam. The Scriptures are already prepared 
 in the Tamul language. The language of the rest 
 of Ceylon is the Cingalese or Ceylonese." 
 
 " CoLUMBo, in Ceylon, March 10, 1808. 
 " I find that the south part of the island is 
 
 in much the same state as the north, in regard to 
 christian instruction. There are but two Enf^lish 
 clergymen in the whole island. ' What wonder,' 
 
 Buclianuii. -t) 
 
 I 
 
302 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 said a Romish priest to me, ' that your nation 
 should be so little interested about the conversion 
 of the pagans to Christianity, when it does not even 
 give teachers to its own subjects who are already 
 christians V I was not surprised to hear that great 
 numbers of the protestants every year go back to 
 idolatry. Being destitute of a head to take cogni- 
 zance of their state, they apostatize to Boodha, as 
 the Israelites turned to Baal and Ashteroth. It is 
 perhaps true that the religion of Christ has never 
 been so disgraced in any age of the church as it 
 has been lately by our official neglect of the pro- 
 lestant church in Ceylon. 
 
 " In returning from the country I passed through 
 the groves of Chmamon, which extend nearly a 
 mile in length. Ceylon is believed by some of the 
 easterns, both Mohammedans and Hindoos, to have 
 been the residence of the first man, (for the Hin- 
 doos have a first man and a garden of Eden as 
 well as the christians,) because it abounds in ' trees 
 pleasant to the eyes and good for food,' and is 
 famous for its rare metals and precious stones. 
 ' There is gold, bdellium, and the onyx-stone.' 
 The rocky bridge which connects this happy island 
 with the main land is called Adam's Bridge ; the 
 lofty mountain in the middle of the island, every 
 where visible, is called Adam's Peak ; and there 
 is a sepulchre of immense length which they call 
 Abel's Tomb. All these names were given many 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 303 
 
 ages before the introduction of Christianity from 
 Europe. The cinnamon trees love a sandy soil. 
 The surface of the ground appeared to be entirely 
 sand. I thought it wonderful that the most valua- 
 ble of all trees should grow in luxuriance in such 
 an arid soil without human culture. I compared 
 them in my mind to the Ceylon christians in their 
 present state, who are left to flourish by themselves 
 under the blessing of heaven, without those exter- 
 nal and rational aids which have been divinely ap- 
 pointed to nourish the church of Christ." 
 
 "CoLUMBo, March 11, 1808. 
 " I have conversed with intelligent persons on the 
 means of translating the Scriptures into the Cinga- 
 lese laniruao^e. The whole of the New Testament 
 has been translated, but only three books of the 
 Old Testament. But even this portion has been 
 translated almost in vain, for there is no supply of 
 books for the use of the people. I reflected with as. 
 tonishment on the fact that there are, by my com- 
 putation, 500,000 natives in Ceylon professing Chris- 
 tianity, and that there should not be one complete 
 copy of the Holy Scriptures in the vernacular 
 tongue. Samuel Tolfry, Esq. head of a civil de- 
 partment in Columbo, is a good Cingalese scholar, 
 and is now engaged in compiling a Cingalese dic- 
 tionary. I proposed to him to undei take the com- 
 pletion of the Cingalese version, which is easily 
 
304 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 practicable, as there are many learned Cingalese 
 christians in Columbo. He professed himself ready- 
 to engage in the work provided he should receive 
 the sanction of the government. I mentioned to 
 him a conversation I had had with General Mait- 
 land, and his favorable sentiments on the subject ; 
 and added, that a correspondence would be imme- 
 diately commenced with him from Calcutta con- 
 cerning the work, and funds apportioned for the 
 execution of it. Alexander Johnstone, Esq. who is 
 now in Columbo, has furnished me with his senti- 
 ments on the best means of reviving and maintain- 
 ing the protestant interest in Ceylon. Did his pro- 
 fessional avocations permit, Mr. Johnstone is him- 
 self the fit person to superintend the translation 
 and printing of the Scriptures. It is a proof of the 
 interest which this gentleman takes in the progress 
 of christian knowledge, that he has caused Bishop 
 Porteus' Evidences of Christianity to be translated 
 into the Cingalee tongue, for distribution among 
 the natives." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Syrian Christians in India, 
 
 Dr. Buchanan having returned from Ceylon to 
 the continent in October, lS06,his '' Christian Re- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEAIICHES. 305 
 
 searches" give the following highly interesting facts 
 respecting the numerous Syrian churches in liidta : 
 
 " The Syrian christians inhabit the interior of 
 Travancore and Malabar, in the south of India ; and 
 have been settled there from the early ages of 
 Christianity. The first notices of this ancient people 
 in recent times are to be found in the Portuguese 
 histories. When Vasco de Gama arrived at Cochin, 
 on the coast of Malabar, in the year 1503, he saw 
 the sceptre of the christian king ; for the Syrian 
 christians had formerly regal power in Malay-ala.* 
 The name or title of their last king was Beliarte; 
 and he dying without issue, the dominion devolved 
 on the king of Cochin and Diamper. 
 
 " When the Portuguese arrived they were agree- 
 ably surprised to find upwards of a hundred chris- 
 tian churches on the coast of Malabar. But when 
 they became acquainted with the purity and sim- 
 plicity of their worship they were offended. ' These 
 churches,' said the Portuguese, ' belong to the 
 pope.' ' Who is the pope V said the natives ; ' wc 
 never heard of him.' The European priests were 
 
 * Malay-ala is the proper name for the \vhole country of 
 Travancore and Malabar, comprehending the territory be- 
 tween the mountains and the sea, from Cape Comorin to 
 Cape Illi or Dilly. The language of these extensive regions 
 is called Malayalim, and sometimes Malabar. "VVe shall 
 use the word Malabar, as being of easier pronunciation. 
 26* 
 
306 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 yet more alarmed, when they found that these 
 Hindoo christians maintained the order and disci- 
 pline of a regular church under episcopal jurisdic- 
 tion ; and that for thirteen hundred years past they 
 had enjoyed a succession of bishops appointed by 
 the patriarch of Antioch. ' We,' said they, ' are of 
 the true faith, whatever you from the west may be ; 
 for we come from the place where the followers 
 of Christ were first called christians.' 
 
 " When the power of the Portuguese became 
 sufficient for their purpose, they invaded these 
 tranquil churches, seized some of the clergy, and 
 devoted them to the death of heretics. Then the 
 inhabitants heard for the first time that there was a 
 place called the inquisition ; and that its fires had 
 been lately lighted at Goa, near their own land. 
 But the Portuguese, finding that the people were 
 resolute in defending their ancient faith, began to 
 try more conciliatory measures. They seized the 
 Syrian bishop Mar Joseph and sent him prisoner 
 to Lisbon : and then convened a synod at one of the 
 Syrian churches called Diamper, near Cochin, at 
 which the Romish archbishop Menezes presided. 
 At this compulsory synod one hundred and fifty 
 of the Syrian clergy appeared. They were accused 
 of the following practices and opinions : * That they 
 had married wives ; that they owned hut two sacra- 
 ments, baptism and the hordes supper; that they 
 neither invoiced sai?its, nor worshipped images, no? 
 
CIIRISTI.W RESEARCHES. 3C7 
 
 believed in jmrgatury : and that they had no other 
 orders or names of dignity in the church than bi>liop, 
 priest, and deacon.' These tenets they were called 
 on to abjure, or to suffer suspension from all church 
 benefices. It was also decreed that all the Syrian 
 books on ecclesiastical subjects that could be found 
 should be burned ; ' in order,' said the inquisitors, 
 ' that no pretended apostolical monuments maij re- 
 main.^ 
 
 " The churches on the sea-coast were thus com- 
 pelled to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope : 
 but they refused to pray in Latin, and insisted on 
 retaining their own language and liturgy. This 
 point they said they would only give up with their 
 lives. The pope compromised with them : Menezes 
 purged their liturgy of its errors : and they retain 
 their Syriac language, and have a Syriac college 
 unto this day. These are called the Syro-Romaii 
 churches, and are principally situated on the sea- 
 coast. 
 
 " The churches in the interior would not yield 
 to Rome. After a show of submission for a little 
 while, they proclaimed eternal war against the in- 
 quisition ; they hid their books, fled occasionally to 
 the mountains, and sought the protection of the 
 native princes, who had always been proud of their 
 alliance. 
 
 " Two centuries had elapsed without any parti- 
 cular information concerning the Syriau christiarj3 
 
303 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 in the interior of India. It was doubted by many 
 whether they existed at all ; but if they did exist, 
 it was thought probable that they must possess some 
 interesting documents of christian antiquity. The 
 author conceived the design of visiting them, if prac- 
 ticable, in his tour through Hindostan. He pre- 
 sented a short memoir on the subject in 1805, to 
 Marquis Wellesley, then Governor General of In- 
 dia ; who was pleased to give orders that every fa- 
 cility should be afforded to him in the prosecution 
 of his inquiries. About a year after that nobleman 
 had left India, the author proceeded on his tour. It 
 was necessary that he should visit first the court 
 of the rajah of Travancore, in whose dominions the 
 Syrian christians resided, that he might obtain per- 
 mission to pass to their country. The two chief ob- 
 jects which he proposed to himself in exploring the 
 state of this ancient people were these : First, to 
 investigate their literature and history, and to col- 
 lect biblical manuscripts. Secondly, if he should 
 find them to be an intelligent people, and well ac- 
 quainted with the Syriac Scriptures, to endeavor 
 to make them instruments of illuminating the 
 southern part of India, by engaging them in trans- 
 lating their Scriptures into the native languages. 
 He had reason to believe that this had not yet been 
 done ; and he was prepared not to wonder at the 
 delay, by the reflection how long it was before his 
 own countrymen began to think it their duty to 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEAIlCIirS. ',]()0 
 
 make versions of the Scriptures lor the use of other 
 nations. 
 
 " Palace of Travancore, Oct. 19, 180C. 
 " I have been now a week at the palace of Tri- 
 vanduram, where the rajah resides. A letter of in- 
 troduction from Lieut. Colonel Macaulay, the Bri- 
 tish resident at Travancore, procured me a proper 
 reception. At my first audience his highness was 
 very inquisitive as to the objects of my journey. 
 As I had servants with me of different casts and 
 languages, it was very easy for the Brahmins to 
 discover every particular they might wish to know 
 in regard to my profession, pursuits, and manner 
 of life. When I told the rajah that the Syrian chris- 
 tians were supposed to be of the same religion 
 with the English, he said he thought that could not 
 be the case, else he must have heard it before ; if 
 however it was so, he considered my desire to visit 
 them as being very reasonable. I assured his high- 
 ness that their Shaster and ours was the same, and 
 showed him a Syriac New Testament which I had 
 at hand. The book being bound and gilt after the 
 European manner, the rajah shook his head and 
 said he was sure there was not a native in his do- 
 minions who could read that book. I observed that 
 this would be proved in a few days. The dewan 
 (or prime minister) thought the character something 
 like what he had seen sometimes in the houses of 
 
310 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the Sooriani. The rajah said he would afford me 
 every faciHty for my journey m his power. He put 
 an emerald ring on my linger, as a mark of his 
 friendship, and to secure me respect in passing 
 through his country ; and he directed his dewan to 
 send proper persons with me as guides. 
 
 " I requested that the rajah would be pleased to 
 present a catalogue of all the Hindoo manuscripts 
 in the temples of Travancore to the college of Fort 
 William in Bengal. The Brahmins were very averse 
 to this; but when I showed the rajah the cata- 
 logues of the books in the temples of Tanjore, 
 given by the rajah of Tanjore, and those of the 
 temple of Ramisseram, given me by order of the 
 rannie (or queen) of Ramnad ; he desired it might 
 be done : and orders have been sent to the Hindoo 
 college of Trichoor for that purpose."* 
 
 " Chinganoor, a Church of the Syrian 
 
 Christians, Nov. 10, 1806. 
 
 " From the palace of Travancore I proceeded 
 to Mavely-car, and thence to the hills at the bottom 
 of the his^h grhauts which divide the Carnatic from 
 Malay-ala. The face of the country in general, in 
 the vicinity of the mountains, exhibits a varied 
 
 * These three catalogues, together with that of the rajah 
 of Cochin, which the author procured afterwards, are now 
 deposited in the college of Fori William, and probably 
 contain all the Hindoo literature of the south of India. 
 
CHRISTIAN RLS£.iRCHES. 311 
 
 Bcene of liill and dale and winding streams. These 
 streams fall from the mountains and preserve the 
 vallies in perpetual verdure. The woods produce 
 pepper, cardamoms, and cassia, or common cinna- 
 mon ; also frankincense and other aromatic gums. 
 What adds much to the grandeur of the scenery in 
 this country is, that the adjacent mountains of Tra- 
 vancore are not barren, but covered w^ith forests of 
 teak wood — the Indian oak, producing, it is said, 
 the largest timber in the world. 
 
 " The first view of the christian churches in this 
 sequestered region of Hindostan, coimected with 
 the idea of their tranquil duration for so many 
 ages, cannot fail to excite pleasing emotions in the 
 mind of the beholder. The form of the oldest 
 buildings is not unlike that of some of the old pa- 
 rish churches in England ; the style of building in 
 both being of Saracenic origin. They have sloping 
 roofs, pointed arch windows, and buttresses sup- 
 porting the walls. The beam.s of the roof being 
 exposed to view are ornamented, and the ceiling 
 of the choir and altar is circular and fretted. In the 
 cathedial churches the shrines of the deceased bi- 
 shops are placed on each side of the altar. Most 
 of the churches are built of a reddish stone, squar- 
 ed and polished at the quarry ; and are of durable 
 construction, the front wall of the largest edifices 
 being six feet thick. The bells of the churches are 
 cast iu the founderics of the countrv r some of 
 
312 MEMOIR OF Dll. BUCHANAN'. 
 
 them arc of large dimensions, and have inscriptions 
 in Syriac and Malay-alim. In approaching a towii 
 in the evening, I once heard the sound of the bells 
 among the hills; a circumstance which made me 
 forget for a moment that I was in Hindostan, and 
 reminded me of another country. 
 
 " The first Syrian church which I saw was at 
 Mavely-car : but the Syrians here are in the vici- 
 nity of the Romish christians, and are not so sim- 
 ple in their manners as those nearer the mountains. 
 Tliey had been often visited by Romish emissaries 
 in former times : and they at lirst suspected that I 
 belonged to that communion. They had heard of 
 the English, but strangely supposed that they be- 
 longed to the church of the pope in the west. 
 They had been so little accustomed to see a friend, 
 that they could not believe that I was come with 
 any friendly purpose. Added to this, 1 had some 
 discussions with a most intelligent priest in regard 
 to the original language of the four Gospels, which 
 he maintained to be Syriac; and they suspected, 
 fiom the complexion of my argument, that I wish- 
 ed to weaken the evidences for their antiquity.* 
 
 * ' You concede,' said the Syrian, ' that our Saviour spoke 
 in our language ; how do you know it^' From Syriac ex- 
 pressions in the Greek Gospels. It appears that he spoke 
 Syriac when he walked by the way (Ephphatha,) and -when 
 he sat in the house (Talitha Cumi,) and when he was upon 
 the cross (Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani.) The Syrians were 
 pleased when they heard that we had got their language in 
 
CHRISTIAN RKSfLirXIIES. 313 
 
 Soon however the gluom and suspicion siibsiJed ; 
 they gave ine tlie right hand of fellowship in the 
 primitive manner ; and one of their number was 
 
 ourEngHsh books. The priest observed that these last tvere 
 not the exact words, but 'Ail, Ail, himono sabachthani.' T 
 answered that the word must hav^e been very like Eli, fur 
 one said, ' He calleth for Elian.'' '• True,' said he, ' but yet it 
 ■vvas more likely to be yli7, Ail, (pronounced II or Eel,) lor 
 //iZ, or Uila, i.s old Syriac for vinegar ; and one thought he 
 -wanted vinegar, and filled immediately a sponge with it. 
 Bui our Saviour did not want the medicated drink as they 
 supposed. But,' added he, • if the parables and discourses of 
 our Lord were in Syriac, and the people of Jerusalem com- 
 monly used it, is it not marvellous that his disciples did not 
 record his parables in the Syriac language, and that they 
 should have recourse to the Greek V I observed that the 
 Gospel was for the world, and the Greek was then the uni- 
 versal language, and therefore Providence selected it. ' It 
 is very probable,' said he, ' that the Gospels were translated 
 immediately afterwards into Greek, as into other langua- 
 ges ; but surely there must have been a Syriac original. 
 The poor people in Jerusalem could not read Greek. Had 
 they no record in their hands of Christ's parables which 
 they had heard, and of his sublime discourses recorded by 
 St. John after his ascension V I acknowledged that it was 
 generally believed by the learned that the Gospel of St. 
 Matthew was written originally in Syriac. ' So you admit 
 St. Matthew 7 You may as well admit St. John. Or was one 
 Gospel enough for the inhabitants of Jerusalem % I con- 
 tended that there were many Greek and Roman words in 
 their own Syriac Gospels. ' True,' said he, ' Roman words 
 for Roman things.' They wished, however, to see some of 
 these words. The discussion afterwards, particularly in re- 
 ference to the Gospel of St. Luke, was more in my favor, 
 
 Buchanan. *• 
 
 k 
 
314 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 deputed to accompany me to the churches in the 
 interior. 
 
 '' When we were approaching the church of 
 Chinganoor, we met one of the cassanars, or Syrian 
 clergy. He was dressed in a white loose vestment 
 with a cap of red silk hanging down behind. Be- 
 ing informed who he was, I said to him in the Sy- 
 riac language, ' Peace be unto you.' He was sur- 
 prised at the salutation ; but immediately answered, 
 ' The God of peace be with you.' He accosted the 
 rajah's servants in the language of the country to 
 know who I was ; and immediately returned to the 
 village to announce our approach. When we ar- 
 rived I was received at the door of the church by 
 three kasheeshas, that is presbyters, or priests, who 
 were habited in like manner in white vestments. 
 Their names were Jesu, Zecharias, and Urias, 
 which they wrote down in my journal, each of 
 them adding to his name the title of kasheesha. 
 There were also present two shumsJianas, or dea- 
 cons. The elder priest was a very intelligent man, 
 of reverend appearance, having a long white beard, 
 and of an affable and engaging deportment. The 
 three principal christians or lay elders belonging 
 to the church were named Abraham, Thomas, and 
 Alexandros. After some conversation with my at- 
 tendants they received me with confidence and af- 
 fection ; and the people of the neighboring villages 
 came round, women as well as men. 
 
CIIRISTI;VN RESEARCHES. 315 
 
 " The slc^ht of the women assured me tliat I was 
 
 o 
 
 once more (after a long absence from England) in 
 a christian country. For the Hindoo women, and 
 the Mohammedan women, and in short all women 
 who are not christians, are accounted by the men 
 an inferior race ; and, in general, are confined to 
 the house for life, like irrational creatures. In every 
 countenance now before me I thought -I could dis- 
 cover the intelligence of Christianity. But at the 
 same time I perceived, all around, symptoms of 
 poverty and political depression. In the churches 
 and in the people there was the air of fallen great- 
 ness. I said to the senior priest, ' You appear to 
 me like a people who have known better days.' 
 * It is even so,* said he ; * we are in a degenerate 
 state compared with our forefathers.' He noticed 
 that there were two causes of their present decay. 
 ' About three hundred years ago an enemy came 
 from the west bearing the name of Christ, but 
 armed with the inquisition, and compelled us to 
 seek the protection of the native princes. And the 
 native princes have kept us in a state of depression 
 ever since. They indeed recognize our ancient 
 personal privileges, for we rank in general next to 
 the nairs, the nobility of the country ; but they have 
 encroached by degrees on our property, till we 
 have been reduced to the humble state in which 
 you find us. The glory of our church has passed 
 away ; but we hope your nation will revive it again.* 
 
516 MEMOIR. OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " I observed that ' the glory of a cliurcli could 
 never die, if it preserved the Bible.' ' We have 
 preserved the Bible/ said he ; ' the Hindoo princes 
 never touched our liberty of conscience. We were 
 formerly on a footing with them in political power ; 
 and they respect our religion. We have also con- 
 verts from time to time ; but in this christian duty 
 we are not so active as we once were : besides, it is 
 not so creditable now to become christian in our 
 low estate.' He then pointed out to me a Nam- 
 boory Brahmin, (that is, a Brahmin of the highest 
 cast,) who had lately become a chiistian, and as- 
 sumed the white vestment of a Syrian priest. ' The 
 learning too of the Bible,' he added, * is in a low 
 state amongst us. Our copies are few in number, 
 and that number is diminishing instead f)f increas- 
 ing ; and the writing out a whole copy of the sacred 
 Scriptures is a great labor where there is no profit 
 and little piety.' I then produced a printed copy 
 of the Syriac New Testament. There was not one 
 of them who had ever seen a printed copy before. 
 They admired it much ; and every priest, as it came 
 into his hands, began to read a portion, which he 
 did fluently, while the women came around to hear. 
 I asked the old priest whether I should send them 
 some copies from Europe. ' They would be worth 
 their weight in silver,' said he. He asked me whe- 
 ther the Old Testament was printed in Syriac as 
 well as the New. I told him it was, but 1 had not 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 317 
 
 a copy. They professed an earnest desire to obtain 
 some copies of the whole Syriac Bible, and asked 
 whether it would be practicable to obtain one copy 
 for every church. ' I must confess to you,' said 
 Zecharias, ' that we have very few copies of the 
 prophetical Scriptures in the church. Our church 
 languishes for want of the Scriptures.' But he add- 
 ed, ' the language that is most in use among the 
 people is the Malayalim, (or Malabar,) the verna- 
 cular language of the country. The Syriac is now 
 only the learned language and the language of the 
 church : but we generally expound the Scriptures 
 to the people in the vernacular tongue.' 
 
 " I then entered on the subject of the transla- 
 tion of the Scrijytia'cs. He said ' a version could 
 be made with critical accuracy ; for there were 
 many of the Syrian clergy who were perfect mas- 
 ters of both languages, having spoken them from 
 their infancy. ' But,' said he, ' our bishop will re- 
 joice to see you, and to discourse with you on this 
 and other subjects.' I told them that if a transla- 
 tion could be prepared, I should be able to get it 
 printed, and distribute copies among their fifty-five 
 churches at a small price. ' That indeed would give 
 joy,' said old Abraham. There was here a murmur 
 of satisfaction among the people. If I understand 
 you right, said I, the greatest blessing the English 
 church can bestow upon you is the Bible. ' It is 
 so,' said he. ' And what is the next greatest V said I. 
 27* 
 
318 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ' Some freedom and personal consequence as a 
 people :' by which he meant political liberty. ' We 
 are here in bondage like Israel in Egypt.' I ob- 
 served that the English nation would doubtless re- 
 cognize a nation of fellow-christians, and would be 
 happy to interest itself in their behalf as far as our 
 political relation with the prince of the country 
 would permit. They wished to know what were 
 the principles of the English government, civil and 
 religious. I answered that our government might 
 be said to be founded generally on the principles 
 of the Bible. 'Ah,' said old Zecharias, ' that must 
 be a glorious government which is founded on the 
 principles of the Bible.' The priests then desired 
 I would give them some account of the history of 
 the English nation, and of our secession from their 
 enemy the church of Rome. And in return I re- 
 quested they would give me some account of their 
 history. 
 
 " My communications with the Syrians are ren- 
 dered very easy, by means of an interpreter whom 
 I brought with me all the way from the Tanjore 
 country. He is a Hindoo by descent, but is an in- 
 telligent christian, and was a pupil and catechist 
 of the lale Mr. Swartz. The Rev. Mr. Kohloff" re- 
 commended him to me. He formerly lived in Tra- 
 vancore, and is well acquainted with the vernacu- 
 lar tongue. He also reads and writes English very 
 well, and is as mucli interested in favor of the Sy- 
 
CHRISTIAN RrSEAltCIlES. 319 
 
 rian christians as I myself. Besides Mr. Swartz's ca- 
 techist, there are two natives of Travancore here, 
 who speak the Hindostanee language, which is fa- 
 miliar to me. My knowledge of the Syriac is suffi- 
 cient to refer to texts of Scripture ; but I do not 
 well understand the pronunciation of the Syrians. 
 1 hope to be better acquainted with their language 
 before I leave the country." 
 
 " Rannhel, a Syrian Church, Nov. 12, 1806; 
 " This church is built upon a rocky hill on the 
 banks of the river, and is the most remote of all 
 the churches in this quarter. The two kasheeshas 
 here are Lucas and Mattai (Luke and Matthew.) 
 The chief lay members are Abraham, Georgius, 
 Thoma, and Philippus. Some of the priests accom- 
 pany me from church to church. I have now visit- 
 ed eight churches, and scarcely believe sometimes 
 that I am in the land of the Hindoos, only that I 
 now and then see a Hindoo temple on the banks 
 of the river. I observed that the bells of most of 
 the churches were within the building, and not in 
 a tower. The reason they said was this. When a 
 Hindoo temple happens to be near a church, the 
 Hindoos do not like the bell to sound loud, for they 
 say it frightens their god. I perceive that the Syri- 
 an christians assimilate much to the Hindoos in the 
 practice of frequent ablutions for health and clean- 
 liness, and in the use of vegetables and light food 
 
320 MEMOIR OF DE. BUCHANAN. 
 
 *' I attended divine service on Lord's day. Their 
 liturgy is that which was formerly used in the 
 churches of the patriarch of Antioch. During the 
 prayers there were intervals of silence ; the priest 
 praying in a low voice, and every man praying for 
 himself These silent intervals add much to the so- 
 lemnity and appearance of devotion. They use in- 
 cense in the churches ; it grows in the woods 
 around them ; and contributes much, they say, to 
 health, and to the warmth and comfort of the church 
 during the cold and rainy season of the year. At 
 the conclusion of the service a ceremony takes 
 place which pleased me much. The priest (or bi- 
 shop, if he be present) comes forward, and all the 
 people pass by him as they go out, receiving his 
 benediction individually. If any man has been 
 guilty of any immorality, he does not receive the 
 blessing ; and this, in their primitive and patri- 
 archal state, is accounted a severe punishment. In- 
 struction by preaching is little in use among them 
 now. Many of the old men lamented the decay of 
 piety and religious knowledge, and spoke with 
 pleasure of the record of ancient times. They have 
 some ceremonies nearly allied to those of the 
 Greek church. 
 
 " The doctrines of the Syrian christians are few 
 in number, but pure, and agree in essential points 
 with those of the church of England : so that, al- 
 though the body of the church appears to be igno- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 521 
 
 rant, ami furmal, and dead, there are individuals 
 \vho are alive to righteousness, who are distinguish- 
 ed from the rest by their purity of life, and are 
 sometimes censured for too rigid a piety. 
 
 *' Tlie following are the chief doctrines of this 
 ancient church : 
 
 '' 1. They hold the doctrine of a vicarious atone- 
 ment for the sins of men by the blood and merits 
 of Christ, and of the justification of the soul before 
 God ' by faith alone' in that atonement. 
 
 " 2. They maintain the regeneration, or new birth 
 of the soul to righteousness, by the influence of the 
 Spirit of God, which change is called in their books, 
 from the Greek, the metanoia, or change of mind. 
 
 " 3. In regard to the trinity, the creed of the Sy- 
 rian christians accords with that of St. Athanasius, 
 but without the damnatory clause. In a written 
 and official communication to the English resident 
 of Travancore, the metropolitan states it to be as 
 follows : 
 
 '^ We believe in the Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, three persons in one God, neither confound- 
 ing the persons nor dividing the substance, one in 
 three, and three in one. The Father generator, the 
 Son generated, and the Holy Ghost proceeding. 
 None is before or after the other; in majesty, ho- 
 nor, might, and power, co-equal ; unity in trinity, 
 and trinity in unity.' He then proceeds to disclaiui 
 the different errors of Arius, Sabellius, Macedo- 
 
322 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 nius, Manes, Marcianus, Julianus, Nestoriu3, and 
 the Chalcedonians ; and concludes, ' That in the 
 appointed time, through the disposition of the Fa- 
 ther and the Holy Ghost, the Son appeared on 
 earth for the salvation of mankind ; that he was 
 born of the Virgin Mary, through the means of the 
 Holy Ghost, and was incarnate God and man.* 
 
 '* In every church, and in many of the private 
 houses, there are manuscripts in the Syriac lan- 
 guage : and I have been successful in procuring 
 some old and valuable copies of the Scriptures and 
 other books, written in different ages and in dif- 
 ferent characters." 
 
 " Cande-nad, a church of the Syrian christians, 
 November 23, 1806. 
 
 " This is the residence of Mar Dionysius, the 
 metropolitan of the Syrian church. A great num- 
 ber of the priests from the other churches had as- 
 sembled, by desire of the bishop, before my arrival. 
 The bishop resides in a building attached to the 
 church. I was much struck with his first appear- 
 ance. He was dressed in a vestment of dark red 
 silk ; a large golden cross hung from his neck, and 
 his venerable beard reached below his girdle. Such, 
 thought I, was the appearance of Chrysostom in 
 the fourth century. On public occasions he wears 
 the episcopal mitre, and a muslin robe is thrown 
 over his under-garment ; and in his hand he bears 
 
CllttlaTlAN HESEARCUES. 323 
 
 the crosier, or pastoral staiT. He is a man of high- 
 ly respectable character in his church, eminent for 
 his piety, and for the attention he devotes to his 
 sacred functions. I found him to be far superior in 
 general learning to any of his clergy whom I had 
 yet seen. He told me that all my conversations 
 with his priests since my arrival in the country had 
 been communicated to him. ' You have come,' said 
 he, ' to visit a declining church, and I am now an 
 old man : but the hope of its seeing belter days 
 cheers my old age, though I may not live to see 
 them.* I submitted to the bishop my wishes in re- 
 gard to the translation and printing of the Holy 
 Scriptures. ' I have already fully considered the 
 subject,' said he, ' and have determined to super- 
 intend the work myself, and to call the most learn- 
 ed of my clergy to my aid. It is a work which will 
 illuminate these dark regions, and God will give 
 it his blessing.' I was much pleased when I heard 
 this pious resolution of the venerable man ; for I 
 had now ascertained that there are upwards of 
 200,000 christians in the south of India, besides 
 the Syrians, who speak the Malabar language. The 
 next subject of importance in my mind was the 
 collection of useful manuscripts in the Chaldaic 
 and Syriac languages ; and the bishop was pleased 
 to say that he would assist my inquiries and add to 
 my collection. He descanted with great satisfac- 
 tion on the hope of seeing printed Syriac Bibles 
 
324 MEMOIR OP DK. EUCUANAN- 
 
 from England, and said they would be ' a treasure 
 to his church.' " 
 
 Of the preceding account of Dr. Buchanan's first 
 visit to the coast of Malabar, the following letter 
 to Mr. Henry Thornton comprises a brief but ani- 
 mated sketch, which, notwithstanding the repeti- 
 tion of a few particulars, will not, it is presumed, 
 prove uninteresting to any : 
 
 " Cochin, December 24, 1806. 
 
 " Dear Sir, — In August or September last I ad- 
 dressed a letter to you from the pagoda of Sering- 
 ham, near Tritchinopoli. Since that period I have 
 visited Ceylon, and. many places in southern Coro- 
 mandel and in the province of Malabar. I passed 
 a week at the palace of the rajah of Travancore, 
 who aids me very liberally in all my pursuits. The 
 Brahmins and present minister had taught the 
 young man (he is only twenty-five) to oppress the 
 christians. But he promises milder treatment in 
 future. This favorable change is produced by the 
 exertions of Colonel Macaulay, the resident, who, 
 I am happy to say, is much alive to the interests 
 of religion. 
 
 " From the sea-coast I proceeded into the inte- 
 rior of the country, to visit the ancient Syrian chris- 
 tians who inhabit the hills at the bottom of the great 
 mountains of Malayala. The weather was cool and 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 325 
 
 pleasant. The country is picturesque and highly 
 cultivated, diversified with hill and dale and wind- 
 insf streams. These streams fall from the moun- 
 tains, and preserve the vallies in perpetual verdure. 
 The christians received me courteousl}', seeing I 
 travelled in some state, escorted by the rajah*s ser- 
 vants* But when they found my object was to look 
 into their books and religion, they surveyed me 
 with doubtful countenance, not well understanding 
 how an Englishman could have any interest in the 
 christian religion. And the contrary was only prov- 
 ed to them by long and serious discussion, and by 
 the evidence of facts which for the first time came 
 to their knowledge. But when their doubts had 
 been dispelled, they sent deputies with me, who 
 introduced me to all the other churches. No Eu- 
 ropean, or even Romish priest, had ever, as they 
 told me, visited that remote region. There are no 
 Romish churches in its vicinity, and the rajah gives 
 no permission to Europeans to travel into the in- 
 terior of his country. 
 
 " The Syrian is still their sacred language, and 
 some of the laymen understand it; but the Malay- 
 alim is the vulgar tongue. I proposed to send a 
 Malayalim translation of the Bible to each of the 
 churches ; and they assured me that every man 
 who could wiite would be glad to make a copy for 
 his own family. They also tigreed to establish 
 schools in each paiish for christian instruction, 
 
 Bychauan. *^ 
 
326 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 which are to be under the direction of the four 
 chief elders of each parish, and in which the Bible 
 in the vulgar tongue is to be a principal class-book. 
 
 '' Their doctrines are not, in essentials, at vari- 
 ance with those of the church of England. They 
 desire an union, or at least such a connection ag 
 may be practicable or desirable for the better ad- 
 vancement of the interests of Christianity in India, 
 
 " As to manuscripts, I have succeeded far be- 
 yond my most sanguine expectations. 
 
 " It had been supposed that the Roman Catholics 
 had destroyed in 1599 all the Syrian books. But it 
 appears that they did not destroy one copy of the 
 Bible; and I have now in my possession some MSS. 
 of the Scriptures of a high antiquity. The collation 
 of these with our western copies is very interest- 
 ing. There are some other MSS. which were not 
 condemned by the synod of Menezes. I have also 
 found some old Hebrew MSS. biblical and hisr 
 torical. 
 
 " It is sufficiently established by the concurrence 
 of oral tradition with written records, that the Jews 
 were on this coast before the christian era. 
 
 " I propose to send home some Syrian youth ta 
 England for education and ordination, if practica- 
 ble. And I take with me to Bengal a Malayalim, a 
 Syrian, and a Jewish servant. They will, however, 
 be but nominal servants. I should have engaged 
 them as rqqonshces ; but I see there is no college 
 now in Bengral. 
 
CllRISTfAM ftESEARCHES. 327 
 
 " The Roman Catholics here were at first very 
 jealous of my attention to the Syrians. The Romish 
 bishop, however, who is a hurt vivant* perceiving 
 that my chief object was to diffuse the Scriptures 
 among the people, began to think that it might be 
 politic in him to circulate thern among his people 
 too, and to please the English rather than the in- 
 cj^uisition. Colonel Malcaulay thinks the bishop will 
 adopt the measure the moment we seriously pro- 
 pose it. He lives in some state, and fires a salute 
 of eleven guns on occasion. 
 
 " Cochin is rich in Hebrew literature, and I am 
 purchasing what is to be sold. 
 
 " The rajah of Cochin has followed the example 
 of the rajahs of Travancore, of Tanjore, and the 
 ranny of Ramnad, and Ramisseram, in giving me 
 catalogues of the Shanscrit books in the temples. I 
 hope the Coorga rajah will do the same. 
 
 " This opening of the pagodas is a new scene in 
 India. Mr. Swartz was the remote instrument. He 
 opened the rajah of Tanjore's heart; and the rajah 
 of Tanjore opened the pagodas, those chambers of 
 imagery, the emblem of the heart. 
 
 " The rajah of Tanjore wishes me to visit him 
 again. If practicable, I shall open a correspondence 
 ^ith him. 
 
 " I propose to leave this coast in a fortnight, and 
 
 * Good liver. 
 
328 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAJT. 
 
 proceed to Bombay, from whence I shall probably 
 go across to Benares, and thence down to Calcutta 
 by the Ganges. 
 
 " Having arrived at the extreme boundary of my 
 tour, and accomplished its object, I thought it 
 would be acceptable to you to have some short no- 
 tices of it. Be pleased to tell Mr. Newton that I 
 am well. I wrote him a long letter from Tanjore. 
 It is with pleasure 1 see that, amidst the agitations 
 of the world, he is tranquil, and at peace, and near- 
 ly arrived at the haven where he would be. Mar 
 Dionysius, the bishop of the Syrians in the moun^ 
 tains, has somewhat of Mr. Newton's manner and. 
 appearance ; only that the bishop has a venerable 
 long beard, which reaches below his girdle, an<i 
 through which you may see a large gold cross beam- 
 ing at intervals. He is now seventy-eight years of 
 age, amiable in his temper, and devout according 
 to his knowledge. 
 
 " I read at this place, in Hayley^s third volume, 
 Cowper's correspondence with Mr. Newton, and 
 was pleased to see the name of the good man ho- 
 nored. 
 
 " I remain, dear sir, 
 
 *^ Very sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
CHRISTIAN' RESEARCHES. 329 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 *fcic8 in India. 
 
 We proceed to give, from the pen of Dr. Bu- 
 chanan himself, the results of his " Researches " 
 respecting the Jews in India. 
 
 '* There are three remarkable prophecies con- 
 cerning the Jews : 
 
 1. '' * The children of Israel shall abide many- 
 days without a king, and withoiit a prince, and 
 without a sacrifice, and without an image, and 
 without an ephod, and without teraphim.' Hosea, 
 3 : 4. 
 
 2. " * The Loi'd shall scatter thee amcmg all peo- 
 ple, from the one end of the earth even unto the 
 oilier,' Deut. 29 : 64 ; and yet 'the people shall 
 dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned amongst the 
 nations.' Numbers, 23 : 0. 
 
 3. '* ' Thou shalt become an astonishment, a pro- 
 verb, and a by-word among all the nations whither 
 the Lord shall lead thee. Among these nations 
 thou shalt find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy 
 foot have rest.' Deut. 28 : 37, 65. 
 
 " The first of these prophecies is very remarka- 
 ble ; ^ox whoever heard of a nation ' abiding many 
 
330 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 days ^ without its civil. and religious polity, and sur- 
 viving its political existence I The very assertioa 
 seems to involve an absurdity. Did the Egyptians, 
 Chaldeans, Greeks, or Romans survive their civil 
 and religious polity i 
 
 " The second prediction is not less singular thar> 
 the former ; for if the Jews v/ere to be received 
 among the nations of the earth, why should they 
 not ' be reckoned with the nations ]' Would any 
 man, in a remote age, venture to foretell that there 
 was a certain nation which, in- the ages to come, 
 would be received and tolerated by all other na- 
 tions merely to be persecuted I 
 
 "But the third prophecy is such as must afford 
 a contemplation to infidelity to the- end of time* 
 The Jews were to- become ' aa astonishment, and 
 a proverb, and a by-word among all nations,' be- 
 cause they shed the blood of the Saviour of the 
 world. Now it is not surprising that christians 
 should reproach them for such a crime.. But how 
 should we expect that they would be * trodden 
 down of the heathen world ' who never heard of 
 such a Saviour 1 Behold the Hindoo at this day 
 punishing the Jew without knowing the crime of 
 which he has been guilty ! 
 
 " These three prophecies have been manifestly 
 fulfilled ; and if we had no other evidence, this is 
 sufficient to prove ' that there is a God, and that hev 
 hath made a revelation to man.* ^ 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 331 
 
 " There- is a fourth propliecy concerning thia^ 
 people whicli will shortly be accomplished. The 
 prophet Hosea, after foretelling that the children of 
 Israel should abide many days without a king, adds- 
 these words: 'Afterward shall they return and-^ 
 seek the Lord their God, and David their king;.' 
 and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the lat- 
 ter days." Hosea, 3 : 5. 
 
 " Tlie question which is now in the mouth of 
 every christian, is that which was asked in the vi- 
 sion of the prophet Daniel on the same subject r 
 ' How lone: shall it be to the end of these wonders V 
 Daniel, 12 : 6. AVhen shall the ' indignation against 
 the holy people be accomplished 1' Daniel, 11 : 31 ; 
 that they may ' return and seek the Lord their 
 God, and David their king.' 
 
 " To Daniel the prophet, and to John the evan- 
 gelist, was given a revelation of the g>'eat events 
 of the general church to the end of time. Daniel 
 foretells that the christian church shall be oppress- 
 ed by the persecuting powers for ' a time, times, 
 and the dividing of a time.' Daniel, 7 : 25. The 
 same f)eriod he assigns for the accomplishment of 
 the indignation against the holy people Israel. 
 * One said, How long shall it be to the end of these 
 wonders ? And I heard the man clothed in linen, 
 which was upon the waters of the river, when he 
 held up his right hand and his left hand unto hea- 
 ven, and sware by Hira that liveth for ever, that it 
 
J32 MEMOIR OP I5R. BtCUANAN. 
 
 shall be for a ti?ne, times aiid' a half; and when he 
 shall have accomplished to scatter the power of 
 the holy people, all these things shall be fulfilled/ 
 Daniel, 12 : 7. Now the same form of words is 
 used in the Revelation of St. John to express the-- 
 duration of the papal and Mohammedan powers. 
 Oppressed by them, the church of Christ was to- 
 remain desolate in the wilderness ' ^ov du time ^ times f 
 and half of ^timeJ Rev. 12 : 14. Every one who 
 is erudite in sacred prophecy will understand that 
 this great period of Daniel and St. John commen-^ 
 ces at the same era, namely, the rise of the perse- 
 cuting powers, and that its duration is 1,260 years. 
 
 " Here then are three great events hastening ta 
 their period — the extinction of the papal dominion ; 
 the subversion of the Mohammedan por/er ; and 
 ' the accomplishment of the divine indignation 
 against the holy people,'- or the return of the people 
 of Israel ' to seek the Lord their God, and David 
 their king.' 
 
 *' Our blessed Saviour has not left an event of 
 this importance without notice. ' The Jews,' saitb 
 he, ' shall be led away captive into all nations ; and 
 Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the gentiles, 
 until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled.' Luke, 
 21: 24. What these ' times of the gentiles' are, our 
 Lord has explained in his subsequent revelation to 
 St. John. ' The court which is without the temple 
 is given unto the gentiles ; and the holy city shall 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHED. 333 
 
 tliey tread under foot forty and two months /' or, in 
 prophetical language, at a day for a year, 12C0 
 years. Rev. 1 1 ; 2. 
 
 " The apostle Paul has also recorded this event. 
 ' I would not, brethren, that yc should be ignorant 
 of this mystery, that blindness, in part, is happened 
 to Israel, until the fulness of the gentiles be come 
 in ; and so all Israel shall be saved.' Rom. II : 25. 
 The fulness of time for the conversion of the gen- 
 tiles will be come in, when the Mohammedan and 
 papal obstructions are removed. Such events as 
 the fall of the pope in the West, and of Moham- 
 med in the East, both of whom persecuted the 
 Jews to death, will probably be the means of 
 awakening the Jews to consider the evidences of 
 that religion which predicted the rise and fall of 
 both. 
 
 " But the grand prophecy of the apostle Paul 
 on this subject, is that which respects the canse^ 
 qucnce of the conversion of the Jews. ' The re- 
 ceiving of the Jews,* saith he, ' what shall it be 
 to the world but life fiom the dead V Rom. 11 : 15. 
 Dispersed as they are in all countries, and speak- 
 ing the languages of all countries, they will form a 
 body of preachers ready prepared ; and they need 
 only say, ' Behold the Scriptures of God in our 
 possession ; read our history there, as foretold three- 
 thousand years ago, and read the events in the an- 
 nals of nations. We are witnesses to the world. 
 
^'34 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN\ 
 
 And the world to us. Let the whole race 6f man- 
 kind unite and examine the fact.' ' All ye inhabi- 
 tants of the world and dwellers on the earth, see 
 ye, when the Lord lifteth up an ensign on the moun- 
 tains; and when he bloweth a trumpef, hear ye.' 
 Isaiah, 18 : 3. Thus will their preaching be to the 
 world ' life from the dead.' 
 
 " But if the conversion of Israel is to take place 
 when the papal and Mohammedan powers have 
 fallen, (and who does not see that these events are 
 near at hand 1) it might be expected that some" 
 signs of conciliation between Jews and christians 
 would now begin to be visible. And is not this the 
 fact '? Christians in all countries bes^in to consider 
 that ' the indignation' against the holy people' iS 
 nearly accomplished. Many events dieclare it. The 
 indignation of man is relaxing. The prophecies 
 have been fulfilled regarding it. The great crime at 
 Calvary has been punished by all nations ; and we 
 BOW hear the words of the prophet addressing us, 
 ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your 
 God ; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry 
 unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her 
 iniquity is pardoned.' Isaiah, 40 : 1. This is the di-^ 
 vine command. And behold, christians begin now, 
 for the first time, to ' speak comfortably to Jeru- 
 salem.' 
 
 " While the author was in the East, the state of 
 fche Jews, who are dispersed in different countries. 
 
CHRISTIAN nESEARClIES. 335 
 
 frequently occuj^ied his thoughts. He had heard 
 that they existed in distinct colonies in certain parts 
 of India ; that some of them had arrived long be- 
 fore the chiistian era, and had remained in the 
 midst of llie Hindoos, to this time, a distinct and 
 separate people, persecuted by the native princes, 
 from age to age, and yet not destroyed ; ' burning,' 
 like the bush of Moses, and * not consumed;' and 
 lie had a strong desire ' to turn aside and see thi^; 
 great sight.' His mind was impressed with the con- 
 viction that their preservation, in such a variety of 
 regions, and under such a diversity of circumstan- 
 ces, could be only effected by the interposition of 
 divine providence, which reserved them, thus dis- 
 tinct, for some special and important purpose. And 
 since the period of time for the accomplishment of 
 this purpose was considered by many to be fast ap- 
 proaching, he wished to hear the sentiments of the 
 Jews from their own lips, and to learn their actual 
 impressions as to tlieir present circumstances and 
 future hopes. 
 
 "' 111 his memorial respecting the Syrian chris- 
 tians, presented to Marquis Wellesley, the author 
 also noticed the existence of an ancient colony of 
 Jews on the coast of Malabar, particularly at Co- 
 chin ; and as this place had recently become a part 
 of the British emf)ire, by conquest from the Dutch, 
 Lord William Bentinck, then governor of Madras, 
 who had received letters from the supreipe govern* 
 
336 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ment, was pleased to direct the civil officer, who 
 had charge of the department of Cochin, to afford 
 him every aid in the prosecution of his researches. 
 His first tour to Cochin was in November, 1S06, 
 and he remained in the country till February, 1807. 
 He again visited it in January, 1S08. He has only 
 room here to introduce a few notes from his Jour- 
 nal." 
 
 " CocHrN, Feb. 4, 1807. 
 " I have now been in Cochin, or its vicinity, for 
 upwards of two months, and have got well ac- 
 quainted with the Jews. They do not live in the 
 city of Cochin, but in a town about a mile distant 
 from it, called Jews' Town. It is almost wholly in- 
 habited by the Jews, who have two respectable 
 synagogues. Among them are some very intelligent 
 men, who are not ignorant of the present history 
 of nations. There are also Jews here from remote 
 parts of Asia, so that this is the fountain of intelli- 
 gence concerning that people in the East; there 
 being constant communication by ships with the 
 Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the mouths of the 
 Indus. The resident Jews are divided into two 
 classes, called the Jerusalem, or White Jews, and 
 the ancient, or Black Jews. The White Jews reside 
 at this place. The Black Jews have also a syna- 
 gogue here ; but the great body of that tribe inha- 
 bit towns in the interior of the province. I have 
 now seen most of both classes. My inquiries refer- 
 
CHRISTIAN KLSEAUCIIES. 337 
 
 red cliiefly lo their antiqiiitf/^ theii- mnnusrript.s^ and 
 their sentiments concerning the 'present state of their 
 nation. 
 
 The Jerusalent, or IV/iitc Jews. 
 
 '* On my inquiry into the antiquity of th(3 AV^iiitc 
 Jews, they first delivered to me a narrative, in the 
 Hebrew lunj^uagc, of their arrival in India, which 
 has been handed down to them from their fathers ; 
 and then exhibited their ancient brass pb.te, con- 
 taining their charter and freedom of residence 
 given by a king of Malabar. The following is the 
 narrative of the events relating to their first arrival : 
 
 " * After the second temple was destroyed, 
 (which may God speedily rebuild !) our fathers, 
 dreading the conqueror's wrath, departed from Je- 
 rusalem, a numerous body of men, women, priests, 
 and Levites, and came into this land. There were 
 among them men of repute for learning and wis- 
 dom ; a!id God gave the people favor in the sight 
 of the king who at that time reigned here, and he 
 granted them a place to dwell in, called Cranga- 
 nor. He allowed them a patriarchal jurisdiction 
 within the district, with certain privileges of nobi- 
 lity ; and the royal grant was engraved, according 
 to the custom of those days, on a plate of brass. 
 This was done in the year from the creation of the 
 
 Buchanan. «•*' 
 
.>38 MEMOm OF DR. DUCnANAN. 
 
 world 4250, (A. D. 190,) and this plate of brass we 
 stiU liave in possession. Our forefathers continued 
 at Cranganor for about a thousand years, and the 
 number of heads who governed were seventy-two. 
 Soon after our settlement other Jews followed us 
 from Judea ; and among these came that man of 
 great wisdom, Rabbi Samuel, a Levite of Jerusa- 
 lem, with his son. Rabbi Jehuda Levita. They 
 brought with them the silver trumpets made use of 
 at the time of the Jubilee, which were saved when 
 the second temple was destroyed ; and we have 
 heard from our fathers that there were engraven 
 upon those trumpets the letters of the ineffable 
 Name. There joined us also from Spain and other 
 places, from time to time, certain tribes of Jews 
 who had heard of our prosperity. But, at last, dis- 
 cord arising among ourselves, one of our chiefs 
 called to his assistance an Indian king, who came 
 upon us with a great army, destroyed our houses, 
 palaces, and strong holds ; dispossessed us of Cran- 
 ganor, killed part of us, and carried part into cap- 
 tivity. By these massacres we were reduced to a 
 small number. Some of the exiles came and dwelt 
 at Cochin, where we have remained ever since, 
 suffering great changes from time to time. There 
 are amongst us some of the children of Israel 
 (Beni-Israel,) who came from the country of Ash- 
 kenaz, from Egypt, from Tsoba, and other places, 
 besides those who formerly inhabited this country.* 
 
CHRISTIAN UESEARCHES. 339 
 
 " Tlie native annals of Malabar confiiTn the foro- 
 g(jing account in tlie princi[)al circumstances, as do 
 the Moliammedan histories of the later ages; for 
 the Mohammedans have been settled here in great 
 numbers since the cightli century. 
 
 " The desolation of Cranganor the Jews de- 
 scribe as being like the desolation of Jerusalem in 
 miniature. They were first received into the coun- 
 try with some favor and confidence, agreeably to 
 the tenor of the general prophecy concerning the 
 Jews ; for no country was to reject them : and after 
 they had obtained some wealth, and attracted the 
 notice of men, they were precipitated to the lowest 
 abyss of human suffering and reproach. The reci- 
 tal of the sufferings of the Jews at Cranganor re- 
 sembles much that of tlie Jews at Jerusalem, as 
 given by Joseph us. 
 
 " I now requested they would show me their 
 brass plate. Having been given by a native king, 
 it is written, of course, in the Malaharic language 
 and character; and is now so old that it cannot be 
 well understood. The Jews preserve a Hebrew 
 translation of it, which they presented to me : but 
 the Hebrew itself is very difficult, and they do not 
 agree among themselves as to the meaning of some 
 words. I have employed, by their permission, an 
 engraver at Cochin, to execute a fac-simile of the 
 original plate, on cf)pper. This ancient docuraen: 
 
340 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN* 
 
 begins in the following manner, according to the 
 Hebrew translation :* 
 
 " ' In the peace of God, the King, which hatlr 
 made the earth according to his pleasure. To this 
 God, I AIRVl BHAHMIN, have lifted up my 
 liand, and have granted by this deed, which many 
 
 Imndred thousand years shall run, I, dwelling 
 
 in Cranganor, have granted, in the thirty-sixth year 
 of my reign, in the strength of power I have grant- 
 ed, in the strength of power I have given in inhe- 
 ritance, to JOSEPH RABBAN' 
 
 '' Then follow the privileges of nobility ; such as 
 permission to ride on the elephant j to have a he- 
 rald to <?o before to announce the name and disTii- 
 ty ; to have the lamp of the day ; to walk on carpets 
 spread upon the earth > and to have trumpets and 
 cymbals sound before him. King Airvi then ap- 
 points Joseph Rabban to be ' chief and governor 
 of the houses of congregation (the synagogues) and 
 of certain districts, and of the sojourners in them.' 
 What proves the importance of the Jews at the 
 period when this grant was made, is, that it i^ 
 signed by seven kings as witnesses. ' And to this- 
 are witnesses, king Bivada Cubertin Mitadin, and 
 he is king of Travmn^ore. King Airle Nada Mana 
 
 * The original is engraved on both sides of the plate, the- 
 fac-simile fonr>s two plates. These, with the Hebrew trani«- 
 iation, are now deposited in the public library at the uni- 
 versity of Cambridge, 
 
CHRMTIAN RESVrAIl^'lIES^ 241 
 
 Vikriin, an(3 he is the Samnrin. Kinc^ ^*el()da Xada 
 Archarin Shatii>, and he is king of Argot.'' Tlie 
 remaining four kings are those of Palgatcheri/, Co- 
 lastri, Carhinath, and Varac/ia/fgur. Tliere is no 
 date in this document, further than wJiat nujy he 
 collected from the reigu of the piince and the 
 names of the royal witnesses. Dates are not usual 
 in old Malabaric writings^ One fact is evident, that 
 the Jews must have existed a considerable time in 
 the country before they could have obtained such 
 a grant. The tradition before mentioned assigns 
 for the date of the transaction, the year of the cre- 
 ation 4250, which is, in .Jewish computation, A. 1). 
 490. It is well known that the famous Malabaric 
 king, Ceram Fcrumal, made grants to the Jews, 
 christians, and Mahommedans during his reign ; 
 but that prince flourished in the eighth or ninth 
 centur}'. 
 
 The Black Jews, 
 
 '* It IS only necessary to look at the countenance 
 of the Black Jews to be satisfied that their ances- 
 tors must have arrived in India many ages before 
 the White Jews. Their Hindoo complexion, and 
 their very imperfect resemblance to the European 
 Jews, indicate that they were detached from the 
 parent stock in Judeamany years before the Jews 
 in the west, and that there have been intermarria- 
 29* 
 
342 MEMOIR OF DR. BtfC IfANX'I*. 
 
 ges with families not Israelltish. I ba-d lieTJrtd tliat 
 those tribes which had passed the Indus have as- 
 similated so much to the customs and habits of the 
 countries in which they live, that they may be 
 sometim-es seen by a traveller v/ithcmt being recog- 
 nized as Jews. In the interior towns of Malabar I 
 was not always able to distinguit>h the J ew froHV 
 the Hindoos. I hence perceived how easy it may 
 be to mistake the tribes of Jewish descent amoiig' 
 the AfTghans and other nations in the northern- 
 parts of Hindostan. The White Jews look upo» 
 ihe Black Jews as^an inferior race, and as not of a 
 'jmre cast ; which plainly demonstrates that they 
 do not spring from a common stook in India.- 
 
 " Th« Black Jews communicated to me much 
 interesting intelligence concerning their brethren, 
 the ancient Israelites,- in the East ;- traditional in- 
 deed in its nature, but in' general illustrative of 
 true history. They recounted the names of many 
 other small colonies resident in northern India, 
 Tartary, and China, and gave me a written list of 
 sixty-jive places, I conversed with those who had 
 lately visited many of these stations, and were 
 about to return again. The Jews havfe a never- 
 ceasing communication with each other in the East. 
 Their families indeed are generally stationary, be- 
 ing subject to despotic princeSybut the men move 
 tnuch about in a commercial capacity, and the same 
 individual will pass through many extensive coun- 
 
ClfftlSTIAN RESEARCHES. o W* 
 
 tries ; so that when any thing interesting to the 
 nation of the Jews takes place, tiie rumor \vil^ 
 pass rapidly throihghout all Asia-. 
 
 " I inqirired concerning their brethren, the Teni 
 Tribes, They sai<l that it was- commoi'ily belicve«i 
 among them, that the great body of the [sraclite.s- 
 are to be ftmnd in ('haldea, and in the^onntries' 
 contiguous to it, being the very places whither they 
 were first carried into captivrty j that some few fa- 
 milies hail migrated into regions more remote, bs 
 to Cochin and Kaj^^poor, in India, and to other' 
 places yet farther to the E>ast ; but that the bulk 
 of the nation, thougli now much reduced in num- 
 ber, had not to this day removed two tliousanc^ 
 miles from Samaria. 
 
 " Among the Black Jcavs I could not find many 
 copies- of the Bible. They informed me that in 
 certain places of the remote dispersion their 
 brethren have but some small portions of the Scrip- 
 tures, and that the i^roplmtkal books were rare ; 
 but that they themselves, from their vicinity to the 
 White Jews, have been supphed, from time to 
 time, with thfe whole of the Old Testament. 
 
 *' From these communications I plainly perceive 
 the important duty which now devolves on chris- 
 tians possessing the art of j^rbdlng, to send to the 
 Jews in the East copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, 
 and particularly of ihe prophctkal books. If only 
 the prophecies of haialt and Daniel were publish- 
 
344 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ed among them, the effect might be great. They 
 do not want the law so mach. But the prophetical 
 books w^ould appear among them with some no- 
 velty, particularly in a detached form, and could 
 be easily circulated through the remotest part 
 of Asia. 
 
 *' I have had many interesting conferences with 
 the Jews'^n the subject of their present state ; and 
 have been much struck with two circumstances, 
 their constant reference to the "DESOLATION of 
 Jerusalem, and their confident hope that it will be 
 one day REBUILT. The desolation of the Holy 
 City is ever present to the minds of the Jews, 
 when the subject is concerning themselves as a 
 nation ; for, though without a king and without a 
 country, they constantly speak of the uyiity of their 
 nation. Distance of time and place seems to have 
 no effect in obliterating the remembrance of the 
 desolation. I often thought of the verse in the 
 Psalms, ' If I forget thee» O Jerusalem, let my 
 right hand forget her cunning.' They speak of Pa- 
 lestine as being close at hand, and easily accessible. 
 It is become an ordinance of their rabbins in some 
 places, that when a "man builds a new house, he 
 shall leave a small part of it unfinished, as an em- 
 blem of ruin, and write on it these words, Zecher 
 Lacliorchan, i. e. In MEMORY of the DESO- 
 LATION. 
 
 " Their hopes of rebuilding the walls of Jerusa- 
 
CHRISTIAN nEsr-Artcucsf. "io 
 
 1cm llie third and /r/A/ time, under the auspices of 
 tlic Messiah, or of a second Cyrus before his coui- 
 ing, are always expressed with great Confidence. 
 They have a general impression that the period of 
 their hberation from the heathen is not very re- 
 mote; and they consider the present commotions 
 in the earth as gradually loosening their bonds. ' It 
 is,' say they^ ' a sure sign of our appfoaching re- 
 storation, that in almost all countries there is a ^e- 
 nrml relaxation of the persecution against us.' I 
 pressed strongly upon them the propliecies of Da- 
 niel. In fofmer times that prophet was not in re- 
 pute among the Jews, because he predicted the 
 coming of the Messiah at the end of ' the seventy 
 weeks;' and his book his been actually removed 
 from the list of prophetic writings, and remains to 
 this day among the Hd^iograplia, such as Job, the 
 Psalms, the Proverbs, Ruth ; but he now begins to 
 be popular among those who have studied him, be- 
 cause he has predicted that the final ^accomplish- 
 ment of the indignation against the holy people ' 
 is near at hand. The strongest argument to presa 
 upon the mind of a Jew, at this period, is to ex- 
 ]ilain to his conviction Daniel's period of 1260 
 years ; and then to show the analogy which it bears 
 to the pei-iod of the Evangelist John, concerning 
 the papal and Mohammedan powers, with the state 
 of which the Jews are well acquainted. 
 
 " 1 passed throngh the burial ground of the 
 
346 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Jews the other day. Some of the tombs are hand- 
 somely constructed, and have Hebrew inscriptions 
 in prose and verse. This mansion of the dead is 
 called by the Jews, Beth Haiim, or ' The House of 
 the Living!' 
 
 " Being much gratified with my visit to the Jews 
 of Malabar, and desirous to maintain some commu- 
 nication with them, I have engaged a very respect- 
 able member of their community to accompany 
 me with his servant to Bengal, and to remain with 
 me in the capacity of Hebrew Tnoonshee, or teacher, 
 nntil my return to England. Observing that in the 
 houses of the White Jews there are many volumes 
 of printed Hebrew, mostly of the fifteenth and six- 
 teenth centuries, which are rarely met with in Eng- 
 land, I have employed MlsraJti, that is the name of 
 my moonshee, to collect some of the most va- 
 luable. 
 
 '* At the beginning of the following year, (ISOS) 
 the author visited Cochin a second time, and pro- 
 ceeded afterwards to Bombay, where he had an op- 
 portunity of meeting with some very intelligent 
 men of the Jewish nation. They had heard of his 
 conferences with the Cochin Jews, and were desi- 
 rous to discuss certain topics, particularly the pro- 
 phecies of Isaiah ; and they engaged in them with 
 far more spirit and frankness, he thought, tharf their 
 brethren at Cochin had done. They told him that 
 if he would take a walk to the bazar in the suburb. 
 
ciiRi.sTiAN RnsnARciiLa. 347 
 
 without tlio walls of Bombay town, lie would find 
 a synagogue without a Scpher Tora, or Book of'the 
 Law. He (lid so, and found it to be the case. The 
 minister and a few of the Jews assembled and 
 showed hitn their synagogue, in which there were 
 some loose leaves of prayers in manuscript^ but no 
 Book of the Law. The author did not understand 
 that they disapproved of the Law'; but they had 
 no copy of it. They seemed to have little know- 
 ledge of the Jewish Scriptures or history. This only 
 proved what he had been often told, that small 
 portions of the Jewish nation melt away from time 
 to time, and are absorbed in the mass of the heathen 
 world. Nor is this any argument against the truth 
 of the prophecy, which declares that they should 
 remain a separate and distinct people ; for these 
 are mere exceptions. Conversions to Christianity in 
 the early ages would equally militate against the 
 prediction taken in an absolute sense." 
 
 " The tribes of Israel are no longer to he inquired 
 after hy name. The purpose for which they were 
 once divided into tribes was accomplished when 
 the genealogy of the Messiah was traced to the 
 stem of David. Neither do the Israelites them- 
 selves know certainly from what families they are 
 descended. And this is a chief argument against 
 the Jews, to which the author never heard that a 
 Jew could make a sensible reply. The tribe 
 
34S MEMOIR OF Dll. BUCHANAN. 
 
 of Jiulah was selected as that from which the 
 Messiah should come ; and behold, the Jews do 
 7Wt know which of them arc of the tribe of Judah ! 
 
 " When the author mentioned that it was the 
 opinion of some that the ten tribes had migrated 
 from the Chaldean provinces, he was asked to what 
 country we supposed they had gone, and whether 
 we had ever heard of their moving in a great army 
 on such an expedilion. 
 
 " It will be easy perhaps to show that the great 
 body of the ten tribes remain to this day in the 
 countries to which they were first carried captive. 
 If we can discover where they were in the first 
 century of the christian era, which was seven hun- 
 dred years after the carrying away to Babylon, 
 and again where they were in the fifth century, we 
 certainly may be able to trace them up to this 
 time. 
 
 " Joseph us, who wrote in the leign of A'^espa- 
 sian, recites a speech made by king Agrippa to 
 the Jews, wherein he exhorts them to submit to 
 the Romans, and expostulates with them in these 
 words : * What, do you stretch your hopes beyond 
 the river Euphrates % Do any of you think that 
 your fellow-tribes will come to your aid out of 
 Adiahene ? Besides, if they would come, the Par- 
 thian will not permit it.' Jos. de Bell. lib. ii. c. 28. 
 We learn from this oration, delivered to the Jews 
 themselves, and by a king of the Jews, that the 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES 3iO 
 
 ten tribes were tlien captive in Media, under the 
 Persian princes. 
 
 "In tlie fifth century, Jerome, author of the Vul- 
 gate, treating of the dispersed Jews, in his Notes 
 upon ITosea, has these words : ' Unto this day tlie 
 ten tribes are subject to the kings of the Per- 
 sians, nor lias their captivity ever been loosed.* 
 Tom. vi. p. 7. And again he says, * The ten 
 tribes inhabit at this day the cities and mountains 
 of the Medes.' Tom. ^^. p. SO. 
 
 " There is no room left for doubt on this subject. 
 Have we heard of any expedition of the Jews 
 ' going forth from that country, since that period, 
 like the Goths and Huns, to conquer nations?* 
 Have we ever heard of their rising in insurrection 
 to burst the bands of their captivity ] To this day, 
 both Jews and christians are generally in a state of 
 captivity in these despotic countries. No family 
 dares to leave the kingdom without permission of 
 ihc kinjr."* 
 
 o 
 
 Mohammedanism reduced the number of the 
 Jews exceedingly : it was presented to them at the 
 point of the sword. We know that multitudes of 
 christians received it ; for example, * the seven 
 churches of Asia;' and we may believe that an 
 equal proportion of Jews were proselyted by the 
 
 * Joseph Emin, a christian well known in Calcutta^ 
 wished to bring his family from Ispahan ; but he could not 
 effect it, though our government interested itself in his 
 behalf. 
 
 Buchanan. 30 
 
350 BIEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 same means. In the provinces of Cashmlre and 
 Aflgbanistan some of the Jews submitted to great 
 sacrifices, and they remain Jews to this day : but 
 the greater number yielded, in the course of ages, 
 to the power of the reigning religion. Their coun- 
 tenance, their language, their names, their rites 
 and observances, and their history, all conspire to 
 establish the fact.* We may judge, in some de- 
 gree, of the number of those who would yield to 
 the sword of Mohammed, and conform, in appear- 
 ance at least, to what was called a sister religion^ 
 from the number of those who conformed to the 
 christian religion, under the influence of the inqui- 
 sition in Spain and Portugal. Orobio, who was 
 himself a Jew, states in his history that there were 
 upwards of twenty thousand Jews in Spain alone, 
 who, from fear of the inquisition, professed chris 
 tianity, some of whom were priests and bishops. 
 The tribes of the Affghan race are very numerous, 
 and of different castes ; and it is probable that the 
 proportion which is of Jewish descent is not great. 
 The Affghan nations extend on both sides of the 
 Indus, and inhabit the mountainous region com- 
 mencing in western Persia. They differ in lan- 
 
 * Mr. Forster was so much struck with the general ap- 
 pearance, garb and manners of the Cashmirians, as to think, 
 without any previous knowledge of the fact, that he had 
 been suddenly transported among a nation of Jews. See 
 Fonter's Travels, 
 
CHRIST.AN RESEARCHES. 351 
 
 guage, customs, religion, and countenance, and 
 have little knowledge of each other. Some tribes 
 have the countenance of the Persian, and some of 
 the Hindoo ; and some tribes are evidently of Jew- 
 ish extraction, 
 
 " Calculating then the number of Jews who now 
 inhabit the provinces of ancient Chaldea, or the 
 contiguous countries, and who still profess Juda- 
 ism ; and the number of those who embraced Mo- 
 hammedanism, or some form of it^ in the same re- 
 gions ; we may be satisfied ' That the greater part 
 of the ten tribes, which noiu exlat, are to be found 
 in the countries of their first captivity.' 
 
 " On the author's return to England he foun(3 
 that a society had been instituted for the conversion 
 of the Jews; and he was not a little surprised to 
 bear that some christians had opposed its institu- 
 tion. He was less surprised at this, however, when 
 he was informed that objections had been brought 
 against the society for the circulation of the Bible. 
 It is possible to urge political arguments against 
 Christianity itself. Such a spirit as this does not 
 seem entitled to much courtesy; for it springs di- 
 rectly from this assumption, that the Bible is not 
 from God, or that there is something greater than 
 truthy 
 
352 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Popery in India^^Inquiiition at Goa. 
 
 In connection with the preceding results of Dr. 
 Buchanan's first tour on the coast of Malabar, we 
 give his own sketch of Vopery in India, and parti- 
 cularly of his visit to the Inquisition at>Goa, made 
 after he had left Calcutta for his native land. 
 
 " In passing through the Romish provinces in 
 the East, though the author had before heard much 
 of the papal corruptions, he certainly did not ex- 
 pect to see Christianity in the degraded state in 
 which he found it. Of the priests it may truly be 
 said that they are, in general, better acquainted 
 with the Veda of Brahma than with the Gospel of 
 Christ. In some places the doctrines of both are 
 blended. At Aughoor, situated between Tritchino- 
 poly and Madura, he witnessed (in October, 1806) 
 the tower of Juggernaut employed to solemnize a 
 nominally christian festival. Tlie old priest Jose- 
 phus accompanied him when he surveyed the ido- 
 latrous car and its painted figures, and gave him a 
 particular account of the various ceremonies which 
 are performed, seemingly unconscious himself of 
 any impropriety in them. 
 
CIIRISTFAN RESEAReHES. 353 
 
 ''While the author viewed these corruptions in 
 different places, and in diOerent forms, he was al- 
 ways referred to the inqmsition at Goa, as the foun- 
 tain-head. He had long cherished the hope that he 
 should be able to visit Goa before he left India: 
 His chief objects were the following : 
 
 ''' I. To ascertain whether the inquisition actual- 
 ly refuse to recognize the Bible among the Romish 
 churches in India. 2. To inquire into the state and 
 jurisdiction of the inquisition, particularly as it 
 affected British subjects. 3. To learn what was 
 the system of education for the priesthood ; and 4. 
 To examine the ancient church libraries in Goa, 
 which were said to contain all the books of the first 
 printing. 
 
 " He will select from his journal, in this place, 
 chiefly what relates to the inquisition. He had 
 learnt from every quarter that this tribunal, for- 
 merly so well known for its frequent burnings, was 
 still in operation, though under some restrictions 
 as to the jniLlicitt/ of its proceedings, and that its 
 power extended to the extreme boundary of Hin- 
 doatan. That, in the present civilized state of chris- 
 tian nations in Europe, an inquisition should exist 
 at all undsr tlieir authority, appeared strange ; but 
 that a papal tribunal of this character should ex- 
 ist under the implied toleration and countenance 
 of the British government ; that christians, being 
 subjects to the British empire; and inhabiting the 
 30* 
 
S54 MEMOIR OF Dn, BUCHANAN. 
 
 British territories, should be amenable to its power 
 and jurisdiction, Was a statement which seemed to 
 be scarcely credible i but, if true, a fact which 
 demanded the most public and solemn represen- 
 tation." 
 
 " Go.4, Convent of the Augusiinians, Jan. 23-, 180&. 
 
 " On my arrival at Goa I was received mto the 
 house of Capt. Schuyler, the British resident. The 
 British force here is commanded by Colonel Adams, 
 of his majesfy'sr 78th regiment, with whom I was- 
 formerly well acquainted in Bengal.* Next day I 
 was introduced by these gentlemen to the Viceroy 
 of Goa, the Count de Cabral. I intimated to his ex- 
 cellency my wish to sail up the river to- old Goa,t 
 (where the inquisition is,) to which he politely ac- 
 ceded. Major Pareira, of the Portuguese estab-- 
 iishment, who was present, and to whom I hadlet- 
 
 * The forts in the harbor of Goa "w'ere then occupied by 
 the British troops. 
 
 t There is old and new Goa. The old city is about eisfht 
 miles up the river. The viceroy and the chief Portuguese 
 inhabitants reside at new Goa, which is at the mouth of the 
 river, within the forts of the harbor. The old city, where 
 the inquisition and the churches are, is now almost entirely 
 deserted by the secular Portuguese, and is inhabited by the 
 priests alone. The unhealthiness of the place, and the as- 
 cendency of the priesis, are the causes assigned for aban- 
 doning the ancient city. 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 355 
 
 ters of introduction from Bengal, offered to accom- 
 pany me to the city, and to introduce me to the 
 archbishop of Goa, the primate of the Orient. 
 
 " I had communicated to Colonel Adams, and to 
 tlie Britisli resident, my purpose of inquiring into 
 the state of the inquisition. These gentlemen in- 
 ft)rmed me that I should not be able to accomplish 
 my design without difficulty, since every thing re- 
 lating to the inquisition was conducted in a very 
 secret manner, the most respectable of the lay 
 Portuguese themselves being ignorant of its pro- 
 ceedings ; and that, if the priests were to discover 
 my object, their excessive jealousy and alarm 
 "tvould prevent their communicating with me, or 
 satisfying my inquiries on any subject. 
 
 "On receiving this intelligence I perceived that 
 it would be necessary to proceed with caution. I 
 was, in fact, about to visit a republic of priests ; 
 whose dominion had existed for nearly three cen- 
 turies; whose province it was to prosecute here- 
 tics, and particularly the teachers of heresy ; and 
 from whose authority and sentence there was no 
 appeal in India.* 
 
 * I u-as informed that the viceroy of Goa Ms no authority 
 over the inquisition, and that he himself is liable to its cen- 
 sure. Were the British government, for instance, to prefer 
 a complaint against the inquisition to the Portuguese gov- 
 ernment at Goa, it could obtain no redress. By the very- 
 constitution of the inquisition, there is no power in India 
 that can invade its jurisdiction, or even put a question to it 
 on any subject. 
 
356 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " It happened that Lieut. Kempthorne; com- 
 mander of bis majesty's brig Diana, a distant con- 
 nexion of my own, was at this time in the harbor. 
 On his learning that I meant to visit old Goa, he 
 offered to accompany me, as did Captain Sterling, 
 of his majesty's 4Sth regiment,, which is now sta- 
 tioned at the forts. 
 
 " We- proceeded up the river in the British re* 
 sident'^s barge, accompanied by Major Pareira, 
 who was well qualified, by a thirty years' residence, 
 to oive information concernincT local circumstances. 
 From him I learned that there were upwards of 
 two hundred churches and chapels in the province 
 of Goa, and upwards of two thousand priests. 
 
 " On our arrival at the city* it was past twelvi 
 o'clock : all the churches were shut ; and we wen 
 told that they would not be opened again till twt 
 o'clock. I mentioned to Major Pareira that I in 
 tended to stay at old Goa some days ; and that I 
 
 * We entered the city by the palace- gate, over which if 
 the statue of ¥as'.o de Gama, who first opened India to tho 
 view of Europe. I had seen at Calicut, a iev! weeks before, 
 the ruins of the Samorin's palace, in which Vasco de Ga- 
 ma was first received. The Samorin was the first native 
 prince against whom the Europeans made war. The empire 
 of the Samorin has passed away ; and the empire of hir 
 conquerors has passed away ; and now imperial Britain ex 
 ercises dominion. May imperial Britain be prepared to 
 give a good account of her stewardship, when it shall be 
 said unto her, " Thou mayest be no longer steward." 
 
CJURISTIAN RESEARCHES. 35? 
 
 should be obliged to him to find me a place to 
 sleep in. He seemed surprised at this intimation, 
 and observed that it would be difficult for me to 
 obtain a reception in any of the churches or con- 
 vents, and that there were no private houses ihf||| 
 which I could be admitted. I said I could sleep 
 any where. I had two servants with me, and a tra- 
 velling bed. When he perceived that I was serious 
 in my purpose, he gave directions to a civil officer 
 in that place to clear out a room in a building 
 which had been long uninhabited, and which was 
 then used as a warehouse fur goods. Matters at 
 this time presented a very gloomy appearance ; 
 and I had thoughts of returning with my compa- 
 nions from this inhospitable place. In the mean- 
 time we sat down in the room I have just men- 
 tioned to take some refreshment, while Major 
 Pareira went to call on some of his friends. During 
 this interval I communicated to Lieut. Kemp- 
 thorne the object of my visit. I had in my ])ocket 
 ' Dellon's Account of the Inquisition at Goa;'* 
 and I mentioned some particulars. While \VG were 
 conversing on the subject, the great bell of the ca- 
 
 * Monsieur Dellon, a physician, was imprisoned in the 
 dungeon of ihe inquisition at Goa for two )'ears, and wit- 
 nessed an auto da fe, when some heretics were burned, at 
 which time he waliced barefoot. After his release he wrote 
 the history of his confinement. His descriptions are in ge- 
 neral very accurate. 
 
358 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAN-AN". 
 
 thedral began to toll ; the same which Dellon 
 observes always tolls before day-light on the morn- 
 ing of the Auto da Fe. I did not myself ask any 
 questions of the people concerning the inquisition ; 
 ft; Mr. Kempthorne made inquiries for me : and 
 he soon found out that the Santa Csisa, or Holy 
 Office, was close to the house where they were then 
 sitting. The gentlemen went to the window to 
 view the hornd' mansion ; and I could see the indig- 
 nation of free and enlightened men arise in the 
 countenances of the two British officers, while they 
 contemplated a pkce where formerly their own 
 countrymen were condemned to the flames, and in- 
 to which they themselves might now suddenly be 
 thrown, without the possibility of rescue. 
 
 "At two o'clock we went out to view the churches, 
 which were now open for the afternoon service ; 
 for there are regular daily masses ; and the bells 
 began to assail the ear in every quarter. 
 
 " The magnificence of the churches of Goa far 
 exceeded any idea I had formed from the previous 
 description. Goa is properly a city of churches ; 
 and the wealth of provinces seems to have been ex- 
 pended in their erection. The ancient specimens 
 of architecture at this place far excel any thing 
 that has been attempted in modern times in any 
 other part of the East, both in grandeur and in 
 taste. The chapel of the palace is built after the 
 plan of St. Peter's at Rome, and is said to be an 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 359 
 
 accurate model of that paragon of architecture. 
 The church of St. Dorrjinic, the founder of the in- 
 quisition, is decorated with paintings of Italian 
 masters. St. Francis Xavier lies enshrined in a 
 monument of exquisite art, and his coffin is enchas- 
 ed with silver and prt^cious stones. The cathedral 
 of Goa is worthy of one of the principal cities of 
 Europe ; and the church and convent of the Au- 
 gustinians (in which I now reside) is a noble pile 
 of building, situated on an eminence, and has a 
 magnificent appearance from afar. 
 
 " But what a contrast to all this grandeur of the 
 churches is the worship offered in them ! I have 
 been present at the service in one or other of the 
 chapels everyday since I arrived, and I seldom see 
 a single worshipper but the ecclesiastics. Two 
 rows of native priests kneeling in order before the 
 altar, clothed in course black garments, of sickly 
 appearance and vacant countenance, perform here, 
 from day to day, their laborious masses, seemingly 
 unconscious of any other duty or obligation of life. 
 
 " The day was now far spent, and my companions 
 were about to leave me. Wliile I was considering 
 whether I should return with them, Major Pareira 
 said he would first introduce me to a priest high in 
 office, and one of the most learned men in the place. 
 We accordingly walked to the convent of the Au- 
 gustinians, where I was presented to Josephus a 
 Doloribus, a man well advanced in life, of pale vis» 
 
360 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 age and penetrating eye, rather of a reverend ap- 
 pearance, and possessing great fluency of speech 
 and urbanity of manners. At first sight he pre- 
 sented the aspect of one of those acute and pru- 
 dent men of the world, the learned and respectable 
 Italian Jesuits, some of whom are yet found, since 
 the demolition of their order, reposing in tranquil 
 obscurity in diHTerent parts of the East. After half 
 an hour's conversation in the Latin language, dur- 
 ing which he adverted rapidly to a variety of sub' 
 jects, and inquired concerning some learned men 
 of his own church, whom I had visited in my tour, 
 he politely invited me to take up my residence 
 with him during my stay at old Goa. I was high- 
 ly gi'atified by this unexpected invitation ; but 
 Lieut. I&mpthorne did not approve of leaving me 
 in the hands of the inquisitors. For judge of our 
 sui-prise when we discovered that my learned host 
 was one of the inquisitors of the holy office, the se- 
 cond member of that august tribunal. in rank, but 
 the first and most active agent in the business of 
 the department. Apartments were assigned to me 
 in the college adjoining the convent, next to the 
 rooms of the inquisitor himself; and here I have 
 been now four days at the very fountain-head of 
 information in regard to those subjects which I 
 wished to investigate. I breakfast and dine with 
 the inquisitor almost every day, and he generally 
 passes his evenings in my apartment. As he con- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 361 
 
 sitlera my inquiries to be chiefly of a literary na- 
 lure, he is perfectly candid atid communicative on 
 all subjects. 
 
 " Next day after my arrival I was introduced by 
 my learned conductor to the archbishop of Goa. 
 We found him reading the Latin letters of St. 
 Francis Xavier. On my adverting to the long dura- 
 lion of the city of Goa, while other cities of Euro- 
 peans in India had suffered from war or revolution, 
 the archbishop observed that the preservation of 
 Goa was 'owing to the prayers of St. Francis Xa- 
 vier.' The inquisitor looked at me, to see what I 
 thought of this sentiment. I acknowledged that 
 Xavier was considered by the learned among the 
 English to have been a great man. What he wrote 
 himself bespeaks him a man of learning, of origi- 
 nal genius, and great fortitude of mind ; but what 
 others have written for him and of him has tarnish- 
 ed his fame, by making him the inventor of fables. 
 The archbishop signified his assent. He afterwards 
 conducted me to his private chapel, which is deco- 
 rated with images of silver, and then into the archi- 
 episcopal library, which possesses a valuable collec- 
 tion of books. As I passed through our convent, in 
 returning from the archbishop's, I observed among 
 the paintings in the cloisters a portrait of the famous 
 Alexis de iMenezes, archbishop of Goa, who held 
 the synod of Diamper, near Cochin, in 1599, and 
 burned the books of the Syrian christians. From 
 
 Buchanan. <ji 
 
362 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the inscription underneath I learned that he was 
 the founder of the magnificent church and convent 
 in which I am now residing. 
 
 " On the same day I received an invitation to dine 
 with the chief inquisitor, at his house in the coun- 
 try. The second inquisitor accompanied jne, and 
 we found a respectable company of priests and a 
 sumptuous entertainment. In the library of the chief 
 inquisitor I saw a register, containing the present 
 establishment of the inquisition at Goa, and the 
 names of all the officers. On asking the chief inqui- 
 sitor whether the establishment was as extensive 
 as formerly, he said it was nearly the same. I had 
 hitherto said little to any person concerning the in- 
 quisition, but I had indirectly gleaned much infor- 
 mation concerning it, not only from the inquisitors 
 themselves, but from certain priests whom I visited 
 at their respective convents ; particularly from a 
 father in the Franciscan convent, who had himself 
 repeatedly witnessed an Auto da Fe." 
 
 " Goa, Augustinian Convent, Jan. 26, 1808. 
 *' On Sunday, after divine service, which I at- 
 tended, we looked over together the prayers and 
 portions of Scripture for the day, v/hich led to a dis- 
 cussion concerning some of the doctrines of Christi- 
 anity. We then read the third chapter of St. John's 
 Gospel in the Latin Vulgate. I asked the inquisitor 
 whether he believed in the influence of the Spirit 
 
CHRISTIAN' RESEARCHES. 363 
 
 there spoken of. He distinctly admitted it; con- 
 jointly however, he thought, in some obscure sense, 
 with icater. I observed that water was merely an 
 emblem of the purifying effects of the Spirit, and 
 could be but an emblem. We next adverted 
 to the expression of St. John, in his first Epis- 
 tle : ' This is he that came by ivater and hlood, 
 even Jesus Christ : not by water only, but by 
 water and blood:' — blood to atone for sin, and 
 water to purify the heart; justification and sanctifi- 
 cation : both of which were expressed at the same 
 moment on the cross. The inquisitor was pleased 
 with the subject. I referred to the evangelical doc- 
 trines of Augustin, (we were now in the Augustin- 
 ian convent,) plainly asserted by that father in a 
 thousand places, and he acknowledged their truth. 
 I then asked him in what important doctrine he 
 differed from the protestant church ] He confessed 
 that he never had a theological discussion with a 
 protestant before. By an easy transition we passed 
 to the importance of the Bible itself to illuminate 
 the priests and people. I noticed to him, that after 
 looking through the colleges and schools, there ap- 
 peared to me to be a total eclipse of scriptural light. 
 He acknowledged that religion and learning were 
 truly in a degraded state. I had visited the theolo- 
 gical schools, and at every place I expressed my 
 surprise to the tutors, in presence of the pupils, at 
 the absence of the Bible, and almost total want of 
 
364 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 reference to it. They pleaded the custom of the 
 place and the scarcity of copies of the book itself. 
 Some of the younger priests came to me afterwards, 
 desiring to know by what means they might pro- 
 cure copies. This inquiry for Bibles was like a ray 
 of hope beaming on the walls of the inquisition. 
 
 "I pass an hour sometimes in the spacious li- 
 brary of the Augustinian convent. There are many 
 rare volumes, but they are chiefly theological, and 
 almost all of the sixteenth century. There are few 
 classics, and I have not yet seen one copy of the 
 original Scriptures in Hebrew or Greek." 
 
 " GoA, Augustinian Convent, Jan. 27, 1808. 
 
 " On the second morning after my arrival I was 
 surprised by my host, the inquisitor, coming into 
 my apartment clothed in black rohes from head to 
 foot ; for the usual dress of his order is white. He 
 said he was going to sit on the tribunal of the holy 
 office. ' I presume, father^ your august office does 
 not occupy much of your time.* ' Yes,' answered 
 he, ' much. I sit on the tribunal three or four days 
 every week.' 
 
 " I had thought, for some days, of putting Del- 
 Ion's book into the inquisitor's hands ; for if I could 
 get him to advert to the facts stated in that book, I 
 should be able to learn, by comparison, the exact 
 state of the inquisition at the present time. In the 
 evening he came in, as usual, to pass an hour iti 
 
CIIRISTIAX RESEARCHES. 365 
 
 my apartment. After some conversation I took the 
 pen in my hand to write a few notes in my journal ; 
 and, as if to amuse him while I was writing, I took 
 up Dellon's book, which was lying with some others 
 on the table, and handing it across to him, asked 
 him if he had ever seen it. It was in the French 
 language, which he understood well. ' Relation de 
 rinquisition de Goa,' pronounced he, with a slow 
 articulate voice. He had never seen it before, and 
 began to read with eagerness. He had not proceed- 
 ed far before he betrayed evident symptoms of un- 
 easiness. He turned hastily to the middle of the 
 book and then to the end, and then ran over the 
 table of contents at the beginning, as if to ascertain 
 the full extent of the evil. He then composed him- 
 self to read, while I continued to write. He turned 
 over the pages with rapidity ; and when he came 
 to a certain place, he exclaimed, in the broad Ita- 
 lian accent, ' Mendaciura, mendacium !'* I request- 
 ed he would mark those passages which were un- 
 true, and we should discuss them afterwards, for 
 that I had other books on the subject. ' Other 
 books !' said he, and he looked with an inquiring 
 eye on those on the table. He continued readiilg 
 till it was time to retire to rest, and then begged to 
 take the book with him. 
 " It was on this night that a circumstance happen- 
 
 • It is false. 
 31» 
 
366 MEMOm OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 ed which caused ray first alarm at Goa. My ser- 
 vants slept every night at ray chamber door, in 
 the long gallery which is common to all the apart- 
 ments, and not far distant from the servants of the 
 convent. About midnight I was waked by loud 
 shrieks and expressions of terror from some per- 
 son in the gallery. In the first moment of surprise 
 I concluded it must be the Alguazils of the holy 
 office seizing my servants to carry them to the in- 
 quisition. But, on going out, I saw ray own ser- 
 vants standing at the door, and the person who had 
 caused the alarm (a boy of about fourteen) at a lit- 
 tle distance surrounded by some of the priests, who 
 had come out of their cells on hearing the noise. 
 The boy said he had seen a sjjcctre, and it was a 
 considerable time before the agitations of his body 
 and voice subsided. Next morning at breakfast the 
 inquisitor apologized for the disturbance, and said 
 the boy's alarm proceeded from a ' phantasma ani- 
 mi,' a phantasm of the imagination. 
 
 "After breakfast we resumed the subject of the 
 inquisition. The inquisitor admitted that Dellon's 
 descriptions of the dungeons, of the torture, of the 
 mode of trial, and of the Auto da Fe v/ere, in gene- 
 ral, just ; but he said the writer judged untruly 
 of the motives of the inquisitors, and very unchar- 
 itably of the character of the holy church ; and I 
 admitted that, under the pressure of his peculiar 
 suffering, this raight possibly be the case. The in- 
 quisitor was now anxious to know to what extent 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 3G7 
 
 Dellon's Look had been circulated in Europe. 1 
 told him that Picart had published to the world ex 
 I racls from it, in his celebrated work called ' Reli- 
 gious Ceremonies ;' together with plates of the sys- 
 tem of torture and burnings at the Auto da Fe. I 
 added that it was now generally believed in Eu- 
 rope that these enormities no longer existed, and 
 that the inquisition itself had been totally suppress- 
 ed ; but that I was concerned to find that this was 
 not the case. He now began a grave narration to 
 show that the inquisition had undergone a change 
 in some respects, and that its terrors were miti- 
 gated.* 
 
 ♦" The following were the passages in Mr. Dellon's narra- 
 tive to which I wished particularly to draw the attention of 
 the inquisitor. Mr. D. had been thrown into the inquisi- 
 tion at Goa and confined in a dungeon ten feet square, 
 where he remained upwards of two years without seeing 
 any person but the gaoler who brought him his victuals, ex- 
 cept when he was brought to his trial, expecting daily to 
 be brought to the stake. His alleged crime was, charging 
 the inquisition with cruelty, in a conversation he had with 
 a priest at Daman, another part of India. 
 
 " ' During the months of November and December I heard 
 every morning the shrieks of the unfortunate victims who 
 were undergoing the question. I remembered to have heard, 
 before I was cast into prison, that the Auto da Fe was gen- 
 erally celebrated on the first Sunday in Advent, because on 
 that day is read in the churches that part of the Gospel in 
 which mention is made of the last judgment ; and the in- 
 quisitors pretend by this ceremony to exhibit a lively em- 
 blem of that awful event. I was likewise convinced that 
 there were a great number of prisoners besides myself, the 
 
363 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAxX. 
 
 " I had already discovered, from written or print- 
 ed documents, that the inquisition of Goa was 
 suppressed by. royal edict in the year 1775, and 
 
 profound silence which reigned within the walls of the 
 building having enabled me to count the number of doors 
 which were opened at the hours of meals. However, the 
 first and second Sundays of Advent passed by without my 
 hearing of any thing, and I prepared to undergo another 
 year of melancholy captivity, when I was aroused from my 
 despair on the 11th of January by the noise of the guards 
 removing the bars from the doors of my prison. The Al- 
 caide presented me with a habit, which he ordered me to 
 put on, and to make myself ready to attend him when he 
 should come again. Thus saying, he left a lighted lamp in 
 my dungeon. The guards returned about tvvo o'clock in 
 the morning, and led me out into a long gallery, where I 
 found a number of the companions of my fate drawn up 
 in a rank against a wall. I placed myself among the rest, 
 and several more soon joined the melancholy band. The 
 profound silence and stillness caused them to resemble sta- 
 tues more than the animated bodies of human creatures. 
 The women, who were clothed in a similar manner, were 
 placed in a neighboring gallery, where we could not see 
 them ; but I remarked that a number of persons stood by 
 themselves at some distance, attended by others who wore 
 long black dresses, and who walked backwards and for- 
 wards occasionally. I did not then know who these were ; 
 but I was afterwards informed that the former were the 
 victims who were condemned to be burned, and the others 
 were their confessors. 
 
 '"After we were all ranged against the wall of this 
 gallery, we received each a large wax taper. They then 
 brought us a number of dresses made of yellow cloth, with 
 the cross of St. Andrew painted before and behind. This 
 is called the San Benito. The relapsed heretics wear an- 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 369 
 
 established again in 1770. The Franciscan father 
 before mentioned witnessed the annual Auto da 
 Fe, from 1770 to 1775. * It was the humanity 
 
 other species of robe, called the Sarnarra, the ground cf 
 which is gray. The portrait of the sufferer is painted up- 
 on it, placed upon Imrning torches, with flames and de- 
 mons all round. Caps were then produced called carr/7r/kZ5, 
 made of pasteboard, pointed like sugar-loaves, all covered 
 over with devils and flames of fire. 
 
 •' • The great bell of the cathedral began to ring a little be- 
 fore sunrise, which served as a signal to warn the people of 
 Qoa to come and behold the august ceremony of the Auto 
 da Fe ; and then they made us proceed from the gallery 
 one by one. I remarked as we passed into the great hall, 
 that the inquisitor was sitting at the door with his secretary 
 by him, and that he delivered every prisoner into the hands 
 of a particular person who is to be his guard to the place 
 of burning. These persons are called Parrians, or god- 
 fathers. My godfather was commander of a ship. I went 
 forth with him, and as soon as we were in the street, I saw 
 that the procession was commenced by the Dominican 
 Friars ; who have this honor, because St. Dominic found- 
 ed the inquisition. These are followed by the prisoners, who 
 walk one after the other, each having his godfather by his 
 side and a lighted taper in his hand. The least guilty go 
 foremost : and as I did not pas? for one of them, there were 
 many who took precedence of me. The women were mixed 
 promiscuously with the men. We all walked barefoot, and 
 the sharp stones of the streets of Goa wounded my tender 
 feet, and caused the blood to stream ; for they made us 
 march through the chief streets of the city : and we were 
 regarded every where by an innumerable crowd of people, 
 who had assembled from all parts of India to behold this 
 spectacle ; for the inquisition takes care to announce it 
 long before, in the mast remote parishes. At length we ar- 
 
370 MEMOIPw OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 and tender mercy of a good king,' said the old 
 father, ' which abolished the inquisition.' But im- 
 mediately on his death the power of the priests 
 
 rived at the church of St. Francis, which was, for this time, 
 destined for the celebration of the act of faith. On one 
 side of the altar was the grand inquisitor and his counsel- 
 lors, and on the other the viceroy of Goa and his court. 
 All the prisoners are seated to hear a sermon. I observed 
 that those prisoners who wore the horrible carrochas came 
 in last in the procession. One of the Augustin monks as- 
 cended the pulpit, and preached for a quarter of an hour. 
 The sermon being concluded, two readers went up to the 
 pulpit, one after the other, and read the sentences of the 
 prisoners. My joy was extreme when I heard that my 
 sentence was not to be burnt, but to be a galley slave for 
 five years. After the sentences were read, they summoned 
 forth those miserable victims who were destined to be im- 
 molated by the holy inquisition. The images of the here- 
 tics who had died in prison were brought up at the same 
 time, their bones being contained in small chests covered 
 with flames and demons; An officer of the secular tribu- 
 nal now came forward and seized these unhappy people, 
 after they had each received a slight blow upon the breast 
 from the Alcaide, to intimate that they were abandoned. 
 They were then led away to the bank of the river, where 
 the viceroy and his court were assembled, and where the 
 faggots had been prepared the preceding day. As soon as 
 they arrive at this place, the condemned persons are asked 
 in what religion they choose to die ; and the moment they 
 have replied to this question the executioner seizes them 
 and binds them to the stake in the midst of the faggots. 
 The day after the execution the portraits of the dead are 
 carried to the church of the Dominicans. The heads only 
 are represented, (which are generally very accurately 
 drawn: for the inquisition keeps excellent limners for the 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES 371 
 
 acquired the ascendant under the queen dowa- 
 ger, and the tribunal was re-established, after a 
 bloodless interval of five years. It has continued 
 in operation ever since. It was restored in 1779, 
 subject to certain restrictions, the chief of which 
 are the two following, ' that a greater number of 
 witnesses should be required to cofivict a criminal 
 than were before necessary ;' and ' that the Auto 
 da Fe should not be held publicly as before ; but 
 that the sentences of the tribunal should be execu- 
 ted privately within the walls of the inquisition.' 
 " In this particular the constitution of the new 
 inquisition is more reprehensible than that of the 
 old one ; for, as the old father expressed it, ' Nunc 
 sigillum non revelat inquisitio.'* Formerly the 
 friends of those unfortunate persons who were 
 thrown into its prison had the melancholy satisfac- 
 tion of seeing them once a year walking in the pro- 
 cession of the Auto da Fe ; or, if they were con- 
 demned to die, they witnessed their death, and 
 mourned for the dead. But now they have no means 
 of learning, for years, whether they be dead or alive. 
 The policy of this new code of concealment appears 
 to be this, to preserve the power of the inquisition, 
 and at the same time to lessen the public odium of 
 its proceedings in the presence of British dominion 
 
 purpose,) surrounded by flames and demons ; and under' 
 neath is the name and crime of the person who has been 
 burned." Rr.Mion dt V Inquisition de Goa, chap. xxiv. 
 ♦ The inquisition is now secret. 
 
372 MF.MOia OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 and civilization. I asked the father his opinion con* 
 cerning the nature and frequency of the punish- 
 ments within the walls. He said he possessed no 
 certain means of giving a satisfactory answer ; that 
 every thing transacted there was declared to be 
 ' sacrum et secretum.'* But this he knew to be 
 true, that there were continually captives in the 
 dungeons ; that some of them are liberated after 
 long confinement, but that they never speak after- 
 wards of what passed within the place. He added, 
 that, of all the persons he had known who had been 
 liberated, he never knew one who did not carry 
 about with him what might be called ' the mark of 
 the inquisition ;' that is to say, who did not show, 
 in the solemnity of his countenance, or in his pecu- 
 liar demeanor, or his terror of the priests, that he 
 had been in that dreadful place. 
 
 " The chief argument of the inquisitor to prove 
 -the melioration of the inquisition was the superior 
 humanity of the inquisitors. I remarked that I did 
 not doubt the humanity of the existing officers j but 
 what availed humanity in an inquisitor 1 he must 
 pronounce sentence according to the laws of the 
 tribunal, which are notorious enough ; and a le- 
 lapsed heretic must be burned in the flames or con« 
 fined for life in a dungeon, whether the inquisitor 
 be humane or not. But if, said I, you would satisfy 
 
 • Sacred and secret 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 373 
 
 my mind completely on this subject, ' show me the 
 inquisition.' He said it was not permitted to any 
 person to see the inquisition. I observed, that mine 
 might be considered as a peculiar case ; that the 
 character of the inquisition and the expediency of 
 its longer continuance had been called in question ; 
 that I had myself written on the civilization of In- 
 dia, and might possibly publish something more 
 upon that subject, and that it could not be expected 
 that I should pass over the inquisition without no- 
 tice, knowing what I did of its proceedings ; but at 
 the same time I should not wish to state a single 
 fact without liis authority, or at least his admission 
 of its truth. I added, that he himself had been 
 pleased to communicate with me very fully on the 
 subject ; and that in all our discussions we had been 
 actuated, I hoped, by a good purpose. The coun- 
 tenance of the inquisitor evidently altered on re- 
 ceiving this intimation, nor did it ever after wholly 
 regain its wonted frankness and placidity. After 
 some hesitation, however, he said he would take 
 me with him to the inquisition the next day. I was 
 a good deal surprised at this acquiescence of the 
 inquisitor, but I did not know what was in his mind. 
 Next morning, after breakfast, my host went to 
 dress for the holy office, and soon returned in his 
 inquisitorial robes. He said he would go half an 
 hour before the usual time, for the purpose of show- 
 ing me the inquisition. The buildings are about a 
 
 Buchanan. ^^ 
 
374 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 quarter of a mile distant from the convent, and we 
 proceeded thither in our manjeeU* On our arrival 
 at the place, the inquisitor said to me, as we were 
 ascending the steps of the outer stair, that he hoped 
 I should be satisfied with a transient view of the 
 inquisition, and that I would retire whenever he 
 should desire it. I took this as a good omen, and 
 followed my conductor with tolerable confidence. 
 
 " He led me first to the great hall of the inquisi- 
 tion. We v/ere met at the door by a number of 
 well dressed persons, who, I afterwards understood, 
 were the familiars and attendants of the holy office. 
 They bowed very low to the inquisitor and looked 
 with surprise at me. The great hall is the place in 
 which the prisoners are marshalled for the proces- 
 sion of the Auto da Fe. At the procession described 
 by Delion, in which he himself walked barefoot, 
 clothed with the painted garment, there were up- 
 wards of one hundred and fifty prisoners. I tra- 
 versed this hall for some time, with a slow step, re- 
 flecting on its former scenes, the inquisitor walking 
 by my side in silence. I thought of the fate of the 
 multitude of my fellow-creatures who had passed 
 
 * The manjeel is a kind of palankeen common at Goa; 
 It is merely a sea cot suspended from a bamboo, which is 
 borne on the heads of four men. Sometimes a footman runs 
 before, having a staff in his hand, to which are attached 
 little bells or rings, which he jingles as he runs, keeping 
 lime with the motion of the bearers. 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEAECHES. 375 
 
 through this place, condemned by a tribunal of their 
 fellow-sinners, their bodies devoted to the flames 
 and their souls to perdition ; and I could not help . 
 saying to him, ' Would not the holy church wish, in 
 her mercy, to have those souls back again, that she 
 might allow them a little further probation V The 
 inquisitor answered nothing, but beckoned me to 
 go with him to a door at one end of the hall. By 
 this door he conducted me to some small rooms, 
 and thence to the spacious apartments of the chief 
 inquisitor. Having surveyed these, he brought me 
 back again to the great hall ; and I thought he 
 seemed now desirous that I should depart. 
 
 " ' Now, father,' said I, * lead me to the dungeons 
 below ; I want to see the captives.' ' No,' said he, 
 ' that cannot be.' I now began to suspect that it 
 had been in the mind of the inquisitor, from the be- 
 ginning, to show me only a certain part of the in- 
 quisition, in the hope of satisfying my inquiries in 
 a general way. I urged him with earnestness, but 
 he steadily resisted, and seemed to be offended, or 
 rather agitated, by my importunity. I intimated to 
 him plainly, that the only way to do justice to his 
 own assertions and arguments regarding the pre- 
 sent state of the inquisition, was to show me the 
 prisons and the captives. I should then describe 
 only what I saw ; but now the subject was left in 
 awful obscurity. * Lead me down,' said I, ' to the 
 inner building, and let me pass through the two 
 
376 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAX. 
 
 hundred dungeons, ten feet square, described by 
 your former captives. Let me count the number of 
 your present captives and converse with them. I 
 want to see if there be any subjects of the British 
 government to whom we owe protection. I want 
 to ask how long they have been here, how long it 
 is since they beheld the light of the sun, and whe- 
 ther they ever expect to see it again. Show me the 
 chamber of torture; and declare what modes of 
 execution or of punishment are now practised 
 within the walls of the inquisition in lieu of the 
 public Auto da Fe. If, after all that has passed, fa- 
 ther, you resist this reasonable request, I shall be 
 justified in believing that you are afraid of expos- 
 ing the real state of the inquisition in India.' To 
 these observations the inquisitor made no reply, 
 but seemed impatient that I should withdraw. * My 
 good father,* said I, * I am about to take my leave 
 of you, and to thank you for your hospitable atten- 
 tions, (it had been before understood that I should 
 take my final leave at the door of the inquisition, 
 after having seen the interior,) and I wish always 
 to preserve on my mind a favorable sentiment of 
 your kindness and candor. You cannot, you say, 
 show me the captives and the dungeons ; be pleased 
 then merely to answer this question, for I shall be- 
 lieve your word : How many prisoners are there 
 now below in the cells of the inquisition V The in- 
 quisitor replied, ' That is a question which I cannot 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 377 
 
 answer.' On his pronouncing these words I retired 
 hastily towards the door, and wished him lareweU. 
 We shook hands with as much cordiality as we 
 could at the moment assume ; and both of us, I be- 
 lieve, were sony that our parting took place with a 
 clouded countenance. 
 
 " From the inquisition I went to the place of 
 burning in the Campo Santo Lazaro, on the river 
 side, where the victims were brought to the stake 
 at the Auto da Fe. It is close to the palace, that 
 the viceroy and his court may witness the execu- 
 tion ; for it has ever been the policy of the inquisi- 
 tion to make these spiritual executions appear to be 
 the executions of the state. An old priest accompa- 
 nied me, who pointed out the place and described 
 the scene. As I passed over this melancholy plain, 
 I thought on the difference between the pure and 
 benign doctrine which was first preached to India 
 in the apostolic age, and that bloody code which, 
 after a long night of darkness, was announced to it 
 under the same name ! And I pondered on the 
 mysterious dispensation which permitted the minis- 
 ters of the inquisition, with their racks and flames, 
 to visit these lands before the heralds of the Gospel 
 of peace. But the most painful reflection was, that 
 this tribunal should yet exist, unawed by the vici- 
 nity of British humanity and dominion. I was not 
 satisfied with what 1 had seen or said at the inqui- 
 sition and I determined to go back again. The in- 
 32* 
 
378 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 quisitors were now sitting on the tribunal, and I had 
 some excuse for returning ; for I was to receive 
 from the chief inquisitor a letter, which he said he 
 would give me before I left the place, for the Bri- 
 tish resident in Travancore, being an answer to a 
 letter from that officer. 
 
 " When I arrived at the inquisition, and had as- 
 cended the outer stairs, the door-keepers surveyed 
 me doubtingly, but suffered me to pass, supposing 
 that I had returned by permission and appointment 
 of the inquisitor. I entered the great hall, and went 
 up directly towards the tribunal of the inquisition, 
 described by Dellou, in which is the lofty crucifix. 
 I sat down on a form and wrote some notes, and 
 then desired one of the attendants to carry in ray 
 name to the inquisitor. As I walked up the hall I 
 saw a poor woman fitting by herself, on a bench by 
 the wall, apparently in a disconsolate state of mind. 
 She clasped her hands as I passed, and gave me a 
 look expressive of her distress. This sight chilled 
 ray spirits. The familiars told me she was waiting 
 there to be called up before the tribunal of the in- 
 quisition. While I was asking questions concerning 
 her crime, the second inquisitor came out in evident 
 trepidation, and was about to complain of the intru- 
 sion, when I informed him I had come back for the 
 letter from the chief inquisitor. He said it should 
 be sent after me to Goa, and he conducted me with 
 a quick step towards the door. As we passed the 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 379 
 
 poor woman I pointed to her, and said to him, with 
 some emphasis, ' Behold, father, another victim of 
 the holy inquisition!' He answered nothing. When 
 we anived at the head of the great stair he bowed, 
 and I took my last leave of Josephus a Doloribus 
 without uttering a word. 
 
 " The foregoing particulars concerning the inqui- 
 sition at Goa are detailed chiefly with this view : 
 that the English nation may consider whether there 
 be sufficient ground for presenting a remonstrance 
 to the Portuguese government on the longer conti- 
 nuance of that tribunal in India ; it being notorious 
 that a great part of the Romanists are now under 
 British protection. ' The Romans,' says Montesquieu, 
 
 * deserved well of human nature, for making it an 
 article in their treaty with the Carthaginians, that 
 they should abstain from sacrificing their children to 
 their gods.' It has been lately obser^'ed by respect- 
 able writers, that the English nation ought to imi- 
 tate this example, and endeavor to induce her allies 
 
 * to abolish the human sacrifices of the inquisition;* 
 and a censure is passed on our government for their 
 indifference to this subject.* The indifference to the 
 inquisition is attributable, we believe, to the same 
 cause which has produced an indifference to the re- 
 ligious principles which first organized the incjuisi- 
 tion. The mighty despot who suppressed the inqui- 
 
 ♦ Edinburgh Review, No. XXXII. p. 449. 
 
3S0 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAXAN. 
 
 sition in Spain was not swayed probably by very 
 powerful motives of humanity, but viewed with 
 jealousy a tribunal which usurped an independent 
 dominion ; and he put it down on the same princi- 
 ple that he put down the popedom, that he might 
 remain pontiff and grand inquisitor himself. And 
 so he will remain for a time, till the purposes of pro- 
 vidence shall have been accomplished by him. But 
 are we to look on in silence, and to expect that fur- 
 ther meliorations in human society are to be effect- 
 ed by despotism, or by great revolutions 1 ' If,' say 
 the same authors, ' while the inquisition is destroy- 
 ed in Europe by the power of despotism, we could 
 entertain the hope, and it is not too much to enter- 
 tain such a hope, that the power of liberty is about 
 to destroy it in America ; we might even, amid the 
 gloom that surrounds us, congratulate our fellow- 
 creatures on one of the most remarkable periods in 
 the history of the progress of human society, the 
 FINAL ERASURE of the inquisitionJ'ro/71 the fact of the 
 earth.^ It will indeed be an important and happy 
 day to the earth, when this final erasure shall take 
 place ; but the period of such an event is nearer, I 
 apprehend, in Europe and America, than it is in 
 Asia ; and its termination in Asia depends as much 
 on Great Britain as on Portugal. And shall not 
 Great Britain do her part to hasten this desirable 
 time \ Do we wait, as if to see whether the power 
 of infidelity will abolish the other inquisitions of the 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 381 
 
 earth 1 Shall not we, in the meanwhile, attempt to 
 do something, on Christian principles, for the honor 
 of God and of humanity 1 Do we dread even to ex- 
 press a sentiment on the subject in our legislative 
 assemblies, or to notice it in our treaties 1 It is 
 surely our duty to declare our wishes, at least, for 
 the abolition of these inhuman tribunals, (since we 
 take an active part in promoting the welfare of 
 other nations,) and to deliver our testimony against 
 them in the presence of Europe. 
 
 " This case is not unlike that of the immolation 
 of females ; with this aggravation in regard to the 
 latter, that the rite is perpetrated in our own teni- 
 tories. Our humanity revolts at the occasional de- 
 scription of the enormity ; but the matter comes 
 not to our own business and bosoms, and we fail 
 even to insinuate our disapprobation of the deed. It 
 may be concluded then, that while we remain silent 
 and unmoved spectators of the flames of the widow's 
 pile, there is no hope that we shall be justly affected 
 by the reported horrors of the inquisition.* 
 
 *' Goa will probably remain the theological school 
 to a great part of India, for a long period to come. 
 It is of vast importance to the interests of Chris- 
 tianity in the East, that this source of instruction 
 should be purified. The appointed instrument for 
 
 * The Lord be praised, that, even before Dr. Buchanan's 
 appeal reached Britain, this horrible inquisition was abo- 
 lished. 
 
382 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 effecting this is the Bible. This is ' the salt which 
 must be thrown into the fountain to heal the waters.* 
 There are upwards of three thousand priests be- 
 longing to Goa, who are resident at the place, or 
 stationed with their cures at a distance. Let U3 
 send the holy Scriptures to illuminate the priests of 
 Goa. It was distinctly expressed to the author, by 
 several authorities, that they would gladly receive 
 copies of the Latin and Portuguese Vulgate Bible 
 from the hands of the English nation. 
 
 In concluding the narrative of his '* Christian 
 Researches," Dr. Buchanan says, " the author has 
 found his mind frequently drawn to consider the 
 extraordinary difference of opinion which exists 
 among men of learning in regard to the importance 
 and obligation of communicating religious know- 
 ledge to our fellow-creatures. And he has often 
 heard the question asked by others. What can be 
 the cause of this discrepancy of opinion 1 For that 
 such a difference does exist is most evident ; and' 
 is exemplified at this moment in some of the most 
 illustrious characters for rank and learning in the 
 nation. This is a problem of a very interesting 
 character at this day, and worthy of a distinct and 
 ample discussion, particularly at the seats of learn- 
 ing. The problem may be thus expressed : ' What 
 /power is that which produces in the minds of some 
 persons a real interest and concern in the welfare 
 of their fellow- creatures ; extending not only to 
 
CHRISTIAN RESEARCHES. 3S3 
 
 the comfort of their existence in this world, but to 
 their felicity hereafter ; while other men who are 
 apparently in similar circumstances as to learning 
 and information, do not feel inclined to move one 
 step for the promotion of such objects ]' The latter, 
 it may be, can speculate on the philosophy of the 
 human mind, on its great powers and high dignity, 
 on the sublime virtue of universal benevolence, on 
 the tyranny of superstition, and the slavery of ig- 
 norance : and will sometimes quote the verse of the 
 poet, 
 
 "Homo sum : huniani nil a me alienum puto :"♦ 
 
 but they leave it to others, and generally to the 
 christian in humble life, to exercise the spirit of 
 that noble verse. This is a very difficult problem ; 
 and it has been alleged by some that it cannot be 
 solved on any known principles of philosophy. 
 
 " It can only be solved by the practical regard 
 paid to the last charge of HIM * who ascended up 
 on high :' Go, teach all natimis. Hence proceeds the 
 new and extended benevolence, gieatness of mind, 
 and pure and heavenly charity, which distinguish 
 that man whose heart has been impressed by the 
 grace of God. How solemn his sense of duty ! 
 How ardent to declare the glory of his Saviour ! 
 His views for the good of men, how disinterested 
 and enlarged ! It is but too evident that all our 
 
 ♦I am a man, and have the claims of humanity. 
 
384 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Bpeculations concerning a divine revelation, atiJ 
 the obligation imposed on us to study it ourselves or 
 communicate it to others, are cold and uninterest- 
 ing, and excite not to action, * until, through the 
 tender compassion of God, the Day-spring from on 
 high visit us, to give light to them that sit in dark- 
 ness ;' to humble our hearts at the remembrance 
 of our sins against God, and to affect them with a 
 just admiration of his pardoning mercy." 
 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 €lo6ing labors in India-^Hetur-.i to JSngland* 
 
 Dr. Buchanan, having completed his first and 
 principal tour on the Malabar coast, sailed from 
 Cochin on the 6th of February, 1S07, and arrived 
 safely at Calcutta on the 15th of March. On his 
 return he found that the College of Fort William, 
 which had flourished nearly seven years, during 
 which period it had been productive of the most 
 important benefits both to the service of the East 
 India Company and to oriental learning and reli- 
 gion, had been reduced within very narrow limits 
 on the first of January. The offices of Provost 
 and Vice-Provost were abolished, and the profes- 
 sorships restricted to three : viz. the Hindostanee, 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 3S5 
 
 Bengalee, and Perso- Arabic ; it being intended 
 that the students should only be attached to it, on 
 an average, for a single year. 
 
 The public letter of the Court of Directors which 
 conveyed this order was dated in May, and reach- 
 ed Calcutta in December, 1S06. On its arrival Mr. 
 Brown, deeply impressed with the importance of 
 the moral discipline which had hitherto been ex- 
 ercised in the College of Fort William, and which 
 was now superseded, felt it to be his duty to sub- 
 mit his sentiments upon the subject to the Gover- 
 nor General, and accompanied his representations 
 -with the offer of continuing to superintend the in- 
 stitution, and, if that were deemed necessary, to 
 officiate without salary. 
 
 In making this communication to Sir George 
 Barlow, Mr. Brown referred to his highly esteemed 
 colleague, Dr. Buchanan, as follows : 
 
 " 1 particularly regret that there should be a 
 necessity for any material change during the ab- 
 sence of the Vice-Provost, without his concurrence 
 or knowledge, from consideration of his having, 
 throughout, so eminently devoted his superior ta- 
 lents, with the utmost zeal and by every exertion, 
 for the benefit of the public service in the success 
 of the college. In his absence I take it upon me 
 to communicate faithfully my thoughts, and to sub- 
 mit them, with respect and deference, to the consi- 
 deration of the honorable the Governor General." 
 
 Buchanan. Ou 
 
386 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANANi 
 
 Sir George Barlow, on receiving the represen- 
 tation and offer of Mr. Brown just referred to, ex 
 pressed himself deeply struck and gratified by his 
 philanthropy and disinterestedness, and assured 
 him that " he should consider of his proposal." No 
 farther notice of it, however, appears to have been 
 taken ; but the new modification of the college 
 immediately took place, and the offices of Provost 
 and Vice-Provost were accordingly abolished. 
 
 The labors, the influence, and the income of Dr. 
 Buchanan were, in consequence of this arrange- 
 ment, materially diminished. The reduction of the 
 former was not only grateful to his taste and incli- 
 nation, but necessary to his health ; while that of 
 the latter affected him only as it tended to abridge 
 his means and opportunities of usefulness. The 
 subject occurs but once in his various correspon- 
 dence with his friends, and is then stated merely 
 as a matter of information, in which he did not 
 seem to be particularly interested. 
 
 His grand object was the promotion of Christi- 
 anity in India. This he had kept steadily in view 
 during the period of his Vice-Provostship ; for this, 
 us we have already seen, he made some provision 
 when anticipating its abolition ; and it was in pur- 
 suance of the same important object that he under- 
 took the extensive journey through which we have 
 lately accompanied him. 
 
 During his voyage, or immediately after his re- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 
 
 387 
 
 turn to Calcutta, Dr. Buchanan had drawn up a 
 paper, under the title of " Literary Intelligence," 
 containing a sketch of his proceedings on the coast 
 of Malabar, which he was desirous of publishing 
 both at Madras and Calcutta, for the information 
 of those who were interested in the promotion of 
 christian knowledge in India. To the great sur- 
 prise, however, of Dr. Buchanan, and of many of 
 the most learned and respectable persons' at both 
 Presidencies, it was not thought expedient to per- 
 mit such a publication to be inserted in the govern- 
 ment gazette. It was, in consequence, printed and 
 circulated in a different form ; and, without pro- 
 ducing any of the ill effects which some had antici- 
 pated, it conveyed intelligence which was as grati- 
 fying to the friends of learning and religion in In- 
 dia as the same information afterwards proved to 
 persons of a similar character in England.* 
 
 Of the several objects of Dr. Buchanan's tour, it 
 was stated to be one, to discover fit instruments for 
 the promotion of learning, and for the dissemina- 
 tion of the Scriptures in India. It may now be ob- 
 served, that it was in the course of his journey that 
 
 * The *' Literary Intelligence " appears, however, to have 
 been admitted into the Bombay Gazette, by which means it 
 reached Eurooe. It was afterwards published in England 
 by the late Bishop Porieus. See Dr. Buchanan's Apology 
 lor Promoting Christianity in India, p. 87; and Owen's 
 History of the British and Foreign Bible Societv. vol. i. 
 p. 320. 
 
38S MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 he first thought of a plan which might effectually 
 accomplish that object. The reader will probably 
 recollect the meditation of Dr. Buchanan on the 
 banks of the Chilka Lake, where, on the morning of 
 the Sabbath, while reflecting on the painful scene 
 which he had just witnessed, with the lofty tower of 
 Juggernaut still in distant view, he conceived the 
 design of a" Christian Institution " which might 
 gradually counteract, and at length extinguish the 
 idolatry of the eastern world. The historian of the 
 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire informs us 
 that he first conceived the thought of his elaborate 
 and eloquent work amidst the ruins of the capitol. It 
 was an association of a more sublime and sacred na- 
 ture which suggested to Dr. Buchanan the design 
 of the institution, the general plan of which he then 
 briefly described. Soon after his return to Calcutta 
 he employed himself in digesting and arranging its 
 form and constitution : its title was, " The Christian 
 Institution in the East, or the College for translat- 
 ing the Holy Scriptures into the Oriental Tongues." 
 It was dedicated to all good men, to be an instru- 
 ment in their hands of extending the knowledge 
 of revealed religion by the translation of the holy 
 Scriptures, and was placed under the immediate 
 patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury, as 
 President of the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and of the Society for 
 promoting Christian Knowledge. One of its sub- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 3S9 
 
 ordinate objects was to print small tracts on ceitaia 
 branches of art and science, fitted for popular use 
 and improvement. 
 
 The various instruments of the institution were 
 next enumerated, comprising the venerable bishop 
 «jf the Syrian church in Malayala ; the British and 
 Danish missionaries throughout India ; Judah Mis- 
 rahi, a learned Jevi' of Cochin, engaged by Dr. Bu- 
 chanan as a translator of the New Testament into 
 Hebrew ; Professor Lassar for the Chinese lan- 
 guage ; and the late Rev. Henry Martyn, with two 
 learned coadjutors, natives of the East, for the Per- 
 sian, Arabic, and Hhidostanee languages. With the 
 exception of Mr. Martyn, who arrived at Calcutta 
 during the absence of Dr. Buchanan, he stated that 
 he had visited all the before-named persons at their 
 respective residences, and had informed himself as 
 to their abilities and principles. 
 
 It was not intended to form an expensive esta- 
 blishment ; but that a professor should be stationetl, 
 as a literary agent of the college, in each of the prin- 
 cipal provinces of the East, to study a particular lan- 
 guage, to collect information, to correspond with 
 the society at home, to compose and to print books, 
 and to instruct the natives in printing. The literary 
 agents were in general to be paid for ivorh done ; 
 that is, for translations or for printing previously 
 agreed for and faithfully executed. Care was also 
 to be taken that, in cases where t.ranslalions of the 
 33* 
 
390 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Scriptures should be intrusted to the members of 
 any paiticular sect, their exclusive tenets should 
 not find admission into the work. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan proposed that the name of the in- 
 stitution should not be derived from any church or 
 sect in Europe, but from the religion itself, the 
 knowledge of which it was intended to diffuse ; and 
 that the instruments which it would recogjnize in 
 promoting this great design should be of all nations. 
 
 He next observed that, in order to secure its re- 
 sources from failure, and that there might always 
 be a copious supply of fit persons for the work, it 
 was expedient that the institution should possess 
 an organized body in England, and that its establish- 
 ment should be sufficiently respectable to attach to 
 it men of rank and learning. The college of the 
 Propaganda at Rome owed its efficiency and per- 
 petuity chiefly to its liberal establishment. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan grounded the necessity and im- 
 portance of this christian institution upon a view 
 of the present state of the Brahminical superstition 
 at the chief temples of the Hindoos, and particu- 
 larly at Juggernaut ; and in order to convey to his 
 readers in England some idea of the spirit and ef- 
 fects of the religion of Brahma, he added some ex- 
 tracts from the journal of his visit to that place. 
 
 Provision was made for the transmission of co- 
 pies of every work published by the institution in 
 India to certain libraries in Great Britain; and it 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 391 
 
 was stated thai thirty-one volumes had accordingly 
 been forwarded by the packet which conveyed the 
 work in question. It was added that Dr. Buchanan 
 would for the present continue to superintend the 
 affairs of the institution. 
 
 Such is the outline of the college for oriental trans- 
 latiun conceived by Dr. Buchanan. His intention, 
 in short, was to establish a British Propaganda, 
 which, in proportion to the extent of its objects, 
 should be superior to that at Rome, the fame of 
 which still survives in Asia. Objections would pro- 
 bably have occurred to different persons with re- 
 spect to some cf the provisions of this institution ; 
 and it was obviously never considered by its author 
 as incapable of alteration and improvement. Its de- 
 sign and general plan were undoubtedly excellent, 
 and would probably have been received with much 
 approbation. 
 
 Upon its original formation,* Dr. Buchanan pro- 
 posed to the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, as 
 extensively engaged in translating the Scriptures, 
 that they should accordingly associate, merely in 
 that character, with other fellow-laborers in differ- 
 ent parts of India; that the missionary pursuits, 
 properly so called, and the individual establish- 
 ments of each society, should remain peculiar and 
 private, as before ; but that the translators of the 
 
 • See his Apology for promoting Christianity in India, 
 p. 70. 
 
202 MLMOIR OF DR. nroii.WAN. 
 
 Scriptures should act in concert, and maintain an 
 amicable correspondence with each other, under 
 the general direction of the superintendent, \vh<» 
 would be responsible for the views and proceed- 
 ings of the institution at large. The intention of 
 This proposal was clearly not to supersede the me- 
 ritorious labors of the Baptist missionaries; but 
 to render them more effective, by incorporating 
 them in one great and comprehensive plan for the 
 same important object, and by rescuing their ope- 
 rations from the appearance of any thing private or 
 sectarian, and investing the united labors of the 
 learned translators throughout India with a more 
 public and national character. 
 
 It may readily be imagined that the society at 
 Serampore might feel some hesitation, and even 
 reluctance, in acceding to this proposition, after the 
 publicity which Dr. Buchanan had given to their 
 extensive plan of oriental translation; and it was, 
 perhaps, expecting too much, that they should 
 voluntarily abandon the " vantage ground " which 
 they were thus occupying. However this may be, 
 the Baptist missionaries declined the proposal ; and 
 the name of " the christian institution " was in con- 
 sequence but partially assumed. The other branches 
 of which it was intended to be composed, includ- 
 ing, besides those already named, one of the most 
 distinguished oriental scholars of the present age, 
 the late learned and lamented Dr. Levden, who 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 393 
 
 undertook the translation of the Scriptures into the 
 several dialects of the Malayan Archipelago, were 
 generally associated, after Dr. Buchanan's depart- 
 ure from India, under the superintendence of the 
 late Rev. Mr. Brown. 
 
 The " Christian Institution " was, however, car- 
 ried but very imperfectly into execution. On the 
 arrival of the manuscript in England, though it was 
 printed in pursuance of Dr. Buchanan's instruc- 
 tions, some of his friends, to whom the work was 
 communicated, conceived that its publication was 
 inexpedient, and might even produce consequences 
 injurious to the general cause of Christianity in In- 
 dia. Under these impressions they took upon them- 
 selves to suppress the publication of the work, more 
 especially as Dr. Buchanan had announced his in- 
 tention of returning to this country in the course of 
 the following year. Their determination was doubt- 
 less guided by a sincere desire to promote the great 
 object of his labors ; and it will be seen that he 
 acquiesced in their judgment. 
 
 It is gratifying to reflect that, though this noble 
 and magnificent design was never carried fully in- 
 to effect, the mere proposal and publication of a 
 scheme of so much benevolence, and calculated to 
 effect benefits so rich and extensive for the heathen 
 world, had a tendency to enlarge and elevate the 
 views of christians, and was doubtless a means of 
 essentially promoting the cause of Christianity in 
 the East. 
 
391 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. , 
 
 In the course of the ensuing month Lord Minto, 
 who had long been expected, arrived as Governor 
 General in Bengal. In a letter to Colonel Macau- 
 lay, on the 17th of August, Dr. Buchanan notices his 
 lordship's good example, and attendance on dii'ine 
 worship, and his attention to himself. " He wishes 
 me," be adds, " to communicate fully with him on 
 all the subjects which he knows have long engaged 
 my attention." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan's next letter to Colonel Macaulay i 
 is dated September 15th, and contains some inte- 
 resting notices respecting his intended journey over- 
 land to Europe, and the progress of the Malayalim 
 translation of the Scriptures. It refers, however, 
 at the close, to a painful subject, which is after- 
 wards more fully explained. 
 
 '* My DEAR Sir, — I had the pleasure to receive 
 the copies of your correspondence with government 
 regarding the discipline of the churches. Every 
 additional letter you write on that subject is au 
 additional pin to the tabernacle. 
 
 " If I should go by Persia, I am prepared to spend 
 twelve thousand rupees in presents. But I hope 
 to be able to travel by the route of Bussorah, Mo- 
 sul, and Aleppo. I proceed to Bombay in the 
 IMetcalfe, Captain Isaacke, who will sail from this 
 place about the 10th or 15th of the next month, 
 October. If practicable, he will set me down at 
 Cochin. If not, 1 shall first arrange mutters at Bom- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. ')95 
 
 boy, and then come down to Goa (which I wish 
 much to visit) and to Cochin. 
 
 " I am greatly obliged to you for your letter of 
 the 2d of August, containing Colonel Capper's sen- 
 timents on a journey through Persia and Armenia. 
 His remarks are highly interesting, and may be 
 useful to me hereafter. I am more afraid of the 
 French than of the Persians. 
 
 "Within the last few days arrived your eight 
 packets of the holy Gospels, translated into the 
 Malayalim language. They have been contempla- 
 ted with mingled affection and admiration by the 
 missionary corps. David Grant is now employed 
 in reading them through, and prefixing the titles to 
 the books, and numbering the chapters in English. 
 People wonder here at this rapid fruit of my visit 
 to Malayala. But yours is the praise, not mine. 
 
 " As we have po fount of Malayalim types ready 
 cut in Bengal, I mean to take the MS. with me to 
 Bombay, and to have it printed there under the 
 superintendence of Sir James Mackintosh. 
 
 " The translators may take their rest now for a 
 little while. Until we can ascertain the accuracy 
 of the translation of the Gospels, we need not pro- 
 ceed to the Epistles. You may therefore settle ac- 
 counts with the translators. I request you will thank 
 them in my name for what has been done, and in- 
 form them that I expect they will shortly resume 
 their operations. 
 
396 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " I am on the eve, I fear, of a rupture with this 
 government. The cause is the Gospel. They are 
 endeavoring to restrain the exertions of the mis- 
 sionaries in Bengal. I have not yet interfered ; and 
 I trust it w^ill not be necessary, for I love peace 
 and not war, particularly at the moment of my 
 leaving the country. But I shall do my duty, and 
 leave the event to God. 
 
 "I am, my dear sir, yours sincerely, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 On the 22d of September Dr. Buchanan wrote 
 to his two daughters. The following passage from 
 his letter alludes to their lamented mother in a pe- 
 culiarly affecting manner : 
 
 " I am now about to quit India, and to go home 
 to see you. I propose to leave Calcutta in the course 
 of next month. If I find it dangerous to go home 
 over-land, I shall proceed from Bombay by sea. I 
 shall probably sail over those waters where your 
 dear mother lies. Do you not know that at the re- 
 surrection of the dead she will come forth with a 
 * glorious body V Though it be ' sown in dishonor, 
 it is raised in glory.' Of this you may read in the 
 Bible and in the burial service. Your mother will 
 come forth with a * glorious body ;* for she was a 
 good woman, and remembered her Creator in the 
 days of her youth. Perhaps I shall die too before I 
 reach England. You ought therefore to pray that 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 397 
 
 God would preserve my life, if it be his will, (for I 
 desire to do his will in all things,) that I may see 
 you, and show you the affection of a father, and re- 
 ceive the affection of daughters, and lead you on- 
 ward with myself to that happy state vvhither your 
 mother is gone before you." 
 
 It is gratifying to reflect that this affectionate 
 and pious father was permitted to realize the de- 
 lightful prospect which he thus anticipated. The 
 following extract is from a letter to Colonel Macau- 
 lay, dated October 12 : 
 
 *' The attack I announced to you in my last has 
 not been yet made. I wish you v/ere at my side 
 during the storm. I have friends, but they are not 
 soldiers. I am tlie forlorn hope, and yet I have not 
 twelve men. Nay, more, my friends tell me I shall 
 certainly be killed. 
 
 " The assault however must be made, but whe- 
 ther by silent escalade at the midnight watch, or 
 by heavy and hot battery at noon-day, I have not 
 yet determined. I think the latter. You shall hear 
 in a letter dated on or about the 1st of November, 
 me vivcjite, ct Deo volcntey * 
 
 Not long after his return from the coast of Mala- 
 bar, Dr. Buchanan preached a series of discourses 
 
 * If I live and the Lord will. 
 Buchanau. ^4 
 
39S MKMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN'. 
 
 in the Presidency church, on the subject of the 
 christian 2^>'02)hecics ; which proved so acceptable 
 to some of the congregation, that they expressed a 
 wish that he would permit them to be printed ; ob- 
 serving that, as he was about to return to Europe, 
 they hoped he would bequeath these discourses, as 
 a parting memorial, to his friends. To this request 
 Dr. Buchanan acceded, and accordingly made pre- 
 jDarations for their publication. These sermons re- 
 lated chiefly to the divine predictions concerning 
 the future universal propagation of the Gospel, and 
 were intended to excite the public attention to that 
 important subject, as well as to animate and encou- 
 rage those who, from the purest motives, were la- 
 boring to promote the knowledge of Christianity in 
 India. Nothing could be more legitimate or lauda- 
 ble than such a design, conducted as it was by Dr. 
 Buchanan, not in the spirit of violence and fanati- 
 cism, but of calm discussion and reasonable and 
 benevolen-j exertion. On transmitting, however, an 
 advertisement to the government gazette, announc- 
 ing the intended publication of his discourses, Dr. 
 Buchanan was surprised to find that the insertion 
 of it was refused, and that an order had been issued 
 to the printers of the other newspapers, forbidding 
 them to publish the obnoxious notice. Shortly after- 
 wards he received a letter from the chief secretary 
 to the Presidency, desiring that he would transmit 
 the manuscript of his sermons on the prophecies for 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 399 
 
 the inspection of government. To this unexpected 
 demand Dr. Buchanan gave no immediate answer. 
 It had long been the subject of painful observa- 
 tion to him, that on the departure of the Marquis 
 Wellesley, during whose administration the spirit 
 of promoting learning and religion in India had 
 been general and ardent, a directly contrary dispo- 
 sition was manifested, as if it had been previously 
 restrained by his presence. This first appeared un- 
 der the administration of Sir George Barlow, and 
 liad been acquiring strength ever since. Lord Minto 
 had now assumed the supreme government ; and 
 as several measures were adopted which appeared 
 to Dr. Buchanan to operate very unfavorably for 
 the interests both of learnino: and relifjion, he deem- 
 cd it his duty, before he quitted Bengal, to address 
 a memorial to his lordship, in which he particularly 
 directed his attention to the character and tendency 
 of those measures ; and, in so doing, explained his 
 reasons for declining to comply with the wishes of 
 government respecting his sermons on the prophe- 
 cies. The memorial was introduced to Lord Minto 
 by the following letter : 
 
 " To the Right Honorable Lord Minto, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 ** My Lord, — I beg leave respectfully to submit 
 to your lordship some particulars regarding the pre- 
 sent state of the christian relisrion in Bens^al, which 
 I have thought it my duty to communicate for your 
 lordship's information at this time. 
 
400 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 " I trust you will do me the justice to believe 
 that it is with the utmost reluctance I trouble your 
 lordship with a letter on such a subject so soon af- 
 ter your entrance on this government, when, as yet, 
 few, if any of the circumstances noticed in it can 
 have come to your lordship's knowledge. 
 
 '' I have no other view in soliciting your atten- 
 tion to them, but the advancement of learning and 
 religion. Perhaps no one has addressed your lord- 
 ship on the subject since your arrival ; and there 
 are certainly many particulars, regarding their pre- 
 sent state, which it is of importance your lordship 
 should know. 
 
 ** Being about to leave India, I feared lest I should 
 hereafter reproach myself if I withheld any thing 
 at this time which I conceived might be useful, par- 
 ticularly as I have been farther encouraged to ad- 
 dress your lordship by your known condescension 
 in receiving any communications which are honest- 
 ly intended. 
 
 " I have the honor to be, my lord, with much 
 respect, your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 " C. Buchanan. 
 
 " Calcutta, Nov. 9, 1807." 
 
 The memorial which accompanied the preceding 
 letter, and which was published some years after- 
 wards* by Dr. Buchanan, in his own vindication 
 
 * See his Apology for Promoting Christianity in Indix 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 401 
 
 and defence, evinces, as it has been well observed, 
 " the temperate firmness of a man, who, knowing 
 that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation, 
 is neither asliamed to profess nor afraid to defend 
 it." It is introduced by a statement of the circum- 
 stances which have been just mentioned as having 
 led to this address to the Governor General. Dr. 
 liuchanan gave full credit to the officers of his lord- 
 ship's government, of whose conduct respecting the 
 christian religion he complained, that they were 
 actinnf according: to the best of their iudofment; but 
 
 O CD JO' 
 
 adds, with much force and propriety of expression, 
 " not to promote Christianity may, in certain cir- 
 cumstances, be prudent; but to repress Christian- 
 ity will not, I think, in any case, be defended." 
 
 In reference to the charge that the missionaries 
 applied abusive epithets to Mohammed, Dr. Bu- 
 chanan says, '' The successful method of preaching 
 is by argument and affectionate address ; and I pre- 
 sume this has been their general method during 
 the fourteen years of their mission. At the same 
 time christian teachers are not to speak with reve- 
 rence or courtesy of Juggernaut or Mohammed ; 
 they must speak as the Scriptures speak ; that is, 
 of false gods as false gods, and of a lying prophet 
 as a lying prophet. The Mohammedans apply abu- 
 sive epithets and vulgar curses to the idolatry of the 
 Hindoos and to the faith of Christians ; and these 
 epithets are contained in books : the government 
 34* 
 
402 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 might, on the same principle, have been assailed 
 with the petitions of Christians and Hindoos against 
 the Mohammedans. 
 
 The complaint, however, of the Mohammedans 
 produced various restrictions on the proceedings of 
 the missionaries, w^hich were defended on the plea 
 that the public faith had been pledged to leave the 
 natives in the undisturbed exercise of their religions. 
 If by not disturbing the natives in the exercise of 
 their religion it is meant that we are to use no 
 means for diffusing Christianity among them, then, 
 observed Dr. Buchanan, " this pledge has been vio- 
 lated by every government in India, and has been 
 systematically broken by the East India Company 
 from the year 1698 to the present time. The char- 
 ter of 1698 expressly stipulates that they shall use 
 means to instruct the Gentoos, &c. in the christian 
 religion. Nor in this is there any thing at variance 
 with the pledge in question. It is a very different 
 thing to apply arguments to the mind and violence 
 to the body ; to civilize and humanize, to address 
 the understandings and affections of subjects, and 
 to interfere with their superstitions by compulsory 
 acts." 
 
 As to his discourses on the prophecies, he had, at 
 the opening of his memorial, professed that he would 
 willingly transmit them to the perusal of the Go- 
 vernor General, and that he should be happy to re- 
 ceive such observations on them as his lordship's 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 403 
 
 learning and candor might suggest ; but he de- 
 clined submitting them to the opinion and revision 
 of the officers of government, especially as "it 
 would be a bad precedent. I would not," he says, 
 " that it should be thought that any where in the 
 British dominions there exists any thing like a civil 
 inquisition into matters purely religious. 
 
 " It is nearly two months," he adds, " since I re- 
 ceived the letter from government on this matter, 
 and I have not yet communicated my intentions. I 
 now beg leave to inform your lordship that I do 
 not wish to give government any unnecessary of- 
 fence. I shall not publish the prophecies. 
 
 '' At the same time I beg leave most respectfully 
 to assure your lordship that I am not in any way 
 disappointed by the interference of government on 
 this occasion. The supposed suppression of the 
 christian prophecies has produced the consequence 
 that might be expected. The public curiosity has 
 been greatly excited to see these prophecies ; and 
 to draw the attention of men to the divine predic- 
 tions could be the only object I had in view in no- 
 ticing them in the course of my public ministry. 
 Another consequence will probably be, the prophe- 
 cies will be translated into the lanoruagres of the 
 East, and thus pave the way, as has sometimes 
 happened, for their own fulfilment." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan closed his memorial with entreat- 
 ing Lord Minto, in case any circumstance should 
 
404 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 afford a pretext for renewing the attr^^ •:>£ to sup- 
 press the translation of the Scripturt s th??t ihe 
 Chinese translation, in which he felt j)eculiai'y in- 
 terested, might at least be spared ; and with ui- 
 fering any farther evidence or explanation of the 
 facts asserted in his letter which his lordship might 
 require. This offer, however, Lord Minto did not 
 condescend to accept. He did not even honor Dr. 
 Buchanan with a single word of reply. Instead of 
 considering the memorial as a communication in- 
 tended to inform his lordship on subjects with which 
 he was likely to be unacquainted, he viewed it as 
 disrespectful to his government, and transmitted it, 
 by the very fleet which conveyed Dr. Buchanan 
 himself to England, to the Court of Directors, ac- 
 companied by a commentary, of which Dr. Bucha- 
 nan remained perfectly ignorant till some years af- 
 terwards ; when, with many other documents rela- 
 tive to Christianity in India, it was laid upon the 
 table of the House of Commons, and thus at- 
 tracted his notice. The Bengal government, how- 
 ever, not having thought proper to pay any atten- 
 tion to his memorial, Dr. Buchanan deemed it to 
 be his duty to transmit a copy of it to the Court of 
 Directors, which he did immediately before his de- 
 parture from Calcutta, accompanied by a letter, in 
 which he expressed his hope that some general 
 principles on the comparative importance of reli- 
 gion in political relations in India, might be estab- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 405 
 
 lished at home, and transmitted to our eastern go- 
 vernment for their guidance. Dr. Buchanan con- 
 cluded his address to the honorable court by re- 
 calling to their notice the solemn charge which he 
 had received about eleven years since from their 
 chairman, the late Sir Stephen Lushington, the te- 
 nor of which has been already stated. " In obedi- 
 ence to these instructions," observes Dr. Buchanan, 
 " I have devoted myself much to the advancement 
 of the christian religion and of useful learning 
 since my anival in India ; using such means as I 
 was possessed of, and directing the opportunities 
 which have offered to the accomplishment of that 
 object. I am yet sensible that I have fulfilled very 
 imperfectly the injunctions of your honorable court. 
 It suffices, however, for my own satisfaction, if what 
 I have done has been well done ; that is, with ho- 
 nesty of purpose and with the sanction of truth.. In 
 my exhibition of the religious and moral state of 
 British India I might have palliated the fact, and 
 presented a fair picture where there was nothing 
 but deformity ; but, in so doing, I should not have 
 done honor to the spirit of the admonitions of your 
 venerable chairman now deceased. And however 
 grateful it may be for the present moment to sup- 
 press painful truths, yet as my labors had chiefly 
 reference to the benefit of times to come, I should 
 not, by such means, have conciliated the respect 
 of your illustrious body twenty years hence." 
 
406 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Under these impressions Dr. Buchanan request- 
 ed that the court would be pleased to investigate 
 fully his proceedings with respect to the promotion 
 of Christianity in India, that the company at large 
 might be enabled justly to appreciate them ; and 
 that he might be encouraged (if it should appear 
 that encouragement were due) to prosecute an un- 
 dertaking which seemed, he said, to have com- 
 manded the applause of all good men, and which 
 had certainly commenced with omens of consider- 
 able success. 
 
 The preceding letter to the Court of Directors 
 was not published with the memorial to the go- 
 vernment at Bengal, nor does it seem to have been 
 noticed by the court. Neither of those addresses, 
 however, though unacknowledged at the time, was 
 unproductive of effect. In Bengal a more favorable 
 disposition on the part of the government towards 
 the promotion of Christianity shortly afterwards 
 appeared; and the reply of the Court of Directors 
 to the representations of the Governor General in 
 council, though not friendly to Dr. Buchanan, was 
 strongly marked by those enlightened and liberal 
 views which he had been so anxious to see estab- 
 lished for the guidance of our Indian governments. 
 The favorable change which took place in the 
 conduct of the Bengal government towards the mis- 
 sion at Serampore, is, however, chiefly to be as- 
 cribed to the memorial presented by the mission- 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 407 
 
 aries themselves to the Governor General in coun- 
 cil ; which, when published a few years afterwards 
 in this country, excited general admiration. 
 
 The painful transaction which has now been 
 detailed was nearly the last of a public nature in 
 which Dr. Buchanan was engaged in Calcutta. The 
 time was now approaching for his second and final 
 departure from that city. Accordingly, in the month 
 of November, he preached his farewell sermon to 
 the congregation at the mission church, from the 
 words of St. Paul to the Philippians, chap. 1 : 27, 
 " Only let your conversation be as becometh the 
 Gospel of Christ ; that whether I come and see you, 
 or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that 
 ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving 
 together for the faith of the Gospel." From this ap- 
 propriate and interesting passage Dr. Buchanan 
 delivered a discourse remarkable for the import- 
 ance of the practical truths which it enforced. After 
 an introductory view of the origin and progress of 
 the church at Philippi, Dr. Buchanan considered 
 the two particulars of which the parting request of 
 the apostle to his favorite converts consists. The 
 first respects the holy practice which they were ex- 
 horted to maintain. 
 
 " Without a highly moral conversation," observ- 
 ed Dr. Buchanan, " a congregation of christians 
 cannot be said to have substance or being ; for faith 
 
408 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCUANAV. 
 
 without works is dead. Unless the world see some- 
 thing particular in your works, they will give you 
 no credit for your faith ; or rather, they will not 
 care what your faith may be. In such circumstances 
 your faith will give them no trouble. But when 
 ' wonderful works ' appear, they will begin to ask 
 what ' power hath produced them.' In this very 
 epistle the apostle calls the christians at Philippi 
 ' the sons of God,' and the ' lights of the world ;* 
 and he expresses his hope that their conduct would 
 be correspondent with these noble and distinguish- 
 ing appellations." 
 
 " Now," continues Dr. Buchanan, *' when this 
 light shineth to the world, even the light of a holy 
 life and conversation, it will be manifested by these 
 two circumstances : First, it will not be agreeable 
 to some ; and, secondly, some will misrepresent 
 your motives, or attach to your conduct an evil 
 name, accusing you of hypocrisy or of unnecessary 
 strictness. And if no man allege any thing of this 
 kind against you, if the worst of men make no de- 
 rogatory remark on your conduct, then may you 
 doubt whether you are walking in the steps of the 
 faithful servants of Christ. They all were marked 
 out by the world, as being in a greater or less de- 
 gree singular and peculiar in their conduct, as 
 persons swayed by other principles and subject to 
 other laws. If these things be so, you will perceive 
 how little concerned you ought to be about the 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 409 
 
 praise of man, or the honor which cometh from the 
 world." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan then proceeded to the second part 
 of the apostle's exhortation ; and, in urging the 
 duty of " striving for the faith of the Gospel," he 
 observed, " this will appear strange to nominal 
 christians, both preachers and hearers. But when 
 once a man's heart comes under the influence of 
 the grace of God, he will discover (perhaps in old 
 age for the first time) that it is his duty, and it will 
 be his pleasure, to promote the faith of the Gospel 
 by every way ; by his means, by his influence, by 
 his exhortation, by his example. Every tnie disci- 
 ple of Christ, however humble his situation or pe- 
 culiar his circumstances, will find opportunities of 
 doing something for the faith of the Gospel. And, 
 indeed, the poor often enjoy means of usefulness 
 which, from many causes, are denied to their su- 
 periors." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan next directed the attention of his 
 hearers to the apostle's rule for the successful pur- 
 suit of this gieat object, '' that ye stand fast in one 
 spirit, with one mind — that they should preserve 
 unity, unity in the faith and in the church ; and 
 then noticed the nature of that faith for which chris- 
 tians ought to strive. The sermon was concluded 
 by a faithful and solemn exhortation to the young 
 and to the old, to those who doubted as to " the 
 true way," to the sinner and the saint, to strive to 
 
 CuchaiinD. *>0 
 
410 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 obtain, and, having obtained, to adorn and recom- 
 mend the faith of the Gospel, " It only remains," 
 added Dr. Buchanan, ** that I implore the solemn 
 benediction of God on this congregation. 
 
 " I pray that the word of Christ may 'run and 
 be glorified' amongst you; that from this place, as 
 from a fountain, streams of truth may flow far and 
 wide ; that you may be ever blessed with wise and 
 learned instructors, ' able ministers of the New 
 Testament,' who shall take delight in dispensing 
 the word of life and in tending the flock committed 
 to their care ; and, finally, that the honor of your 
 church may ever be preserved pure from any stain, 
 that ye may uphold a conduct ' blameless and 
 harmless,' as examples to men, as * the lights of the 
 world :' striving: together, with one mind and in 
 one spirit, for the faith of the Gospel." 
 
 Such was the simple but impressive strain in 
 which Dr. Buchanan took leave of the congregation 
 which contained the greater proportion of religious 
 persons in Calcutta. His farewell at the Presi- 
 dency church was probably of a different nature, 
 though characterized by the same pastoral fidelity 
 and practical wisdom. There were, doubtless, some 
 in each congregation from whom he would regret 
 to be separated, and many who would lament his 
 departure. Mr. Brown would particularly feel the 
 loss of his able and affectionate coadjutor and friend, 
 with whom he had taken " sweet counsel " in the 
 
AT CALCUTTA. 411 
 
 house of God, and had shared the burthen and the 
 heat of many a laboiious day. Of the sentiments 
 entertained by this excellent man respectinrr his 
 learned and valuable colleague, the following brief 
 extract from a confidential letter to his brother, 
 written just as Dr. Buchanan was on the eve of his 
 departure from Calcutta, will be a sufficient testi- 
 mony : 
 
 " I know no man in the world who excels him 
 in useful purpose, or deserves my friendship more. 
 Perhaps there is no man in the world who loves 
 him so much as 1 do, because no man knows him 
 so well. Further, no man I believe in the world 
 would do me service like him. We have lived to- 
 gether in the closest intimacy ten years, without a 
 shade of difference in sentiment, political or reli- 
 gious. It is needless to add, without ajar in word 
 or deed. He is the man to do good in the earth, 
 and worthy of being metropolitan of the East." 
 
 The private and unaffected nature of the letter 
 from which the preceding passage is extracted, the 
 well known simplicity and integrity of the writer's 
 character, and the perfect competency of his testi- 
 mony, render this warm and energetic tribute to 
 the merit of his friend peculiarly valuable. To se- 
 parate from such a colleague must have been a 
 subject of sincere regret to him. But, with this and 
 a few other exceptions, Dr. Buchanan's ties to In- 
 dia were neither strong nor numerous. The society 
 
412 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 of Calcutta is necessarily fluctuating. One of the 
 most important branches of his employment no 
 longer existed : he had laid the foundation of a 
 great work for the promotion of Christianity in 
 India, which he could in future more advantage- 
 ously forward and defend in his native country ; 
 and thither he felt attracted by the associations of 
 early and maturer life, by filial duty, and paternal 
 affection. For this return, therefore, after making^ 
 a variety of arrangements to ensure the continuance 
 of the works carrying on under what he considered 
 to be the '' Christian Institution," more particularly 
 of the Chinese class at Serampore, he at length 
 prepared. 
 
 On the 27th of November Dr. Buchanan left Cal- 
 cutta, and reached Fulta the next day ; and from 
 this place he wrote to Colonel Sandys as follows : 
 
 ** Dear Sandys, — I am thus far on my way to 
 Europe. I sail in the Baretto to Goa, to look into 
 the inquisition there and examine the libraries. 
 Thence I proceed to Bombay. 
 
 " A few days ago I received your letter of the 
 28th of May, 1807, dated from Northwold, contain- 
 ing the signatures of the little girls. They write 
 very well, and have made a flattering progress in 
 their education. I am much obliged to you for your 
 particular account of the two children, which is 
 very correct, I believe, and very pleasing. Being 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 413 
 
 long estranged from them, and hearing none con- 
 verse about them, I seldom think of them now com- 
 23aratively ; but when we meet again I suppose we 
 shall fall in love. 
 
 " You observed, in some of your late letters, 
 that you heard I was likely to be married again. It 
 so happens that I have not once thought of it. It is 
 possible that I may marry some time after my arri- 
 val in England ; but yet I would avoid it, for some 
 reasons : it is a subject I think not of. 
 
 " Instead of love and marrias^e, 1 am eno;ag:ed in 
 war and fightings. I have been obliged to address 
 this government publicly on its hostility to religion 
 and to its progress in India. All Calcutta wondered 
 what step government would take. In the midst of 
 this strange scene I paid a farewell visit to them 
 all, and left every creature, from the Governor Ge- 
 neral to the pilots, on good terms. 
 
 " I have now finished my labors, and pray that 
 God may bless them. 
 
 " I have been down here for eight days, waiting 
 the despatch of the ship. The Calcutta people have 
 not been uninterested in my late contention with 
 the government ; and I hear some of them have 
 called a ship by my name since I came down here. 
 The ' Christian Institution in the East ' is unknown 
 in Calcutta to this hour, though active in its ope- 
 ration. " Yours affectionately, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 35* 
 
414 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 The ship in which Dr. Buchanan sailed left Sau- 
 gor on the 9th of December ; but no memorial of 
 his voyage occurs until the 23d of that month, when 
 he wrote to Mr. Brown as follows, from Columbo, 
 in the island of Ceylon : 
 
 " Ceylon again ! In crossing the Gulf of Manaar 
 we encountered a gale and put into Columbo. I 
 had requested the captain to touch here when I left 
 Calcutta, and now he was obliged of necessity. I 
 have been well on board and well treated. Many 
 causes for thankfulness as usual. The Adele was 
 taken by the Russell the day before we came up to 
 her, and we had parted convoy. In the Gulf of Ma- 
 naar we were about to throw over our cargo when 
 the gale abated. 
 
 "On my arrival here many of the chief persons 
 waited on me. From my having touched last year 
 at so many Dutch settlements, I found all the fami- 
 lies knew me. I have only been here three days, 
 having arrived on Monday last, and the ship pro- 
 ceeds on her voyage on Friday. I have some 
 thoughts of letting her go, and following at my lei- 
 sure ; for I find there is something for me here to 
 do. What a field for English, Dutch, and Cingalese 
 preachers in this fertile and renowned land ! 
 
 *' I propose to proceed straight to Cochin from 
 this place. Sir James Mackintosh is on the Malabar 
 coast, I hear, with his family. Two Bombay civil 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 415 
 
 servants now here wish me to travel by land from 
 Cochin to Goa. They have been judges and collec- 
 tors for fourteen years on that coast, and allege 
 they know more about the christians than any other 
 persons in India. Tljey complain much of the un- 
 due influence of Goa, exercised sometimes cruelly 
 on all christians who are not Catholics. Mr. B. car- 
 ries me out to-day to his country house, to visit 
 some of the Cingalese christian churches. 
 
 " My affectionate regards to all your family." 
 
 By the date of his next letter Dr. Buchanan ap- 
 pears to have left the Baretto, in which he original- 
 ly embarked from Calcutta, and to have exchanged 
 that ship for the Canton ; from which, on the 26th 
 of December, he thus wrote off" Cochin to Colonel 
 Macaulay : 
 
 " I had flattered myself with the hope of being 
 landed here, but the commander of the ship cannot 
 wait, and I am disappointed. He has engaged to 
 put me down at Goa, where I propose to re- 
 main some time, and from whence I shall write to 
 you particularly. I left Calcutta on the Sth inst. 
 and touched at Columbo, where I staid some days, 
 and found flattering assurances of support in our 
 evangelizing plans for that island. There is less 
 prejudice there than in the Company's settlements. 
 This is the third time that I have visited Ceylon ; 
 
416 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 SO that the people begin to think I have some seri- 
 ous design against them. 
 
 '* In my last I believe I informed you that I was 
 stand'mg in the breach. I have now the pleasure to 
 announce that the battle has been fought. Long 
 consultations were held how to proceed : it was at 
 last decreed that I should be permitted to depart 
 in peace. 
 
 " I have the copy of the Malayalim Scriptures 
 with me, and mean to print when at Bombay : five 
 thousand copies will suffice for a beginning, I 
 suppose. 
 
 " I hope to see you before I leave India ; but I 
 do not know at this moment where or how. May all 
 our resolves and purposes be acceptable to the di- 
 vine will ! 
 
 " Mr. Johnstone, judge at Columbo, will furnish 
 me with some important official documents relating 
 to the state of Christianity in that island. The Go- 
 vernor was absent ; but Major Maitland (Lord Lau- 
 derdale's son) came to inform me that he would re- 
 turn in two days, if I would stay to see him. I could 
 not stay ; but I communicated to him that, if he 
 would give to the Cingalese translation of the 
 Scriptures his countenance, I would give money ; 
 and Judge Johnstone would find instruments. Mr. 
 J. is an excellent Cingalese scholar himself." 
 
 Notwithstanding the disappointment of which 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 417 
 
 Dr. Buchanan expressed his expectation at 1*116 
 commencement of the preceding letter, we find 
 him two days afterwards safely landed at Cochin, 
 and under the roof of his friend, Colonel Macaulay. 
 He thus writes to Mr. Brown : 
 
 •' CocuiN, Dec. 28, 18C7. 
 
 " On the 24th, Christmas eve, we left Columbo, 
 crossed the Gulf of Manaar on Christmas-day, and 
 arrived here on the 27th, yesterday. I found all my 
 Jews .and Christians in fine health and spirits, and 
 highly gratified at my unexpected arrival. 1 reside 
 with Colonel Macaulay. After passing some time 
 in these regions he accompanies me up the coast, 
 by land, through all the christian territories, as far 
 as Cananore, perhaps Mangalore, whence I pro- 
 ceeded by sea to Goa. 
 
 " The Jews have lately had a meeting about the 
 prophecies ; and I am about to call another San- 
 hedrim on the subject before I go. It is a strange 
 event. 
 
 " I am happy I have visited this place a second 
 time. May God direct all these things to his own 
 glory and to the good of men ! I have need of 
 watchfulness and prayer. Much lies before me ere 
 I leave India yet, if ever I leave it. 
 
 " Tell H. that the poor Jews, blind, lame, and 
 halt, are come this morning, exclaiming, as usual, 
 ' Jehuda Ani.' I wish I could impart a better 
 
418 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 gift than silver or gold. The Rajah of Travan- 
 core has desired I will visit him. I do not know 
 what to do. The Rajah of Cochin has offered to 
 come over to see me. Ambassadors from the Syrian 
 christians are expected to-morrow." 
 
 On the 2d of January, 180S, Dr. Buchanan left 
 Cochin, accompanied by Colonel Macaulay, on a 
 second tour upon the coast of Malabar. On the 14th 
 he wrote to Mr. Brown, from Tellicherry, an inte- 
 resting account of their progress ; and his next let- 
 ter to that esteemed friend is dated " Goa, 25th 
 January, from the great hall of the inquisition." It 
 contains an account of his bold and interesting vi- 
 sit to that metropolis of the Roman Catholic reli- 
 gion in the East, similar to that already inserted 
 from his " Christian Researches." 
 
 The suggestion in the published extracts from 
 his journal, as to the propriety of an interference 
 on the part of the British government with that of 
 Portugal, for the abolition of the dreadful tribunal 
 of the inquisition, had been happily anticipated, but 
 did not render his animated appeal upon that sub- 
 ject superfluous ; while his inquiries relative to 
 the moral and religious state of the Romish and 
 Syro-Romish churches on the coast of Malabar led 
 to efforts to disseminate the holy Scriptures, for 
 the instruction and illumination of that numerous 
 and long-neglected body of Christians. 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 419 
 
 *' In two hours after leaving the inquisition," 
 says Dr. Buchanan, in his letter to Mr. Brown, " I 
 reached New Goa. The alarm of ray investigations 
 had gone before me. The English came to inquire 
 wliat I had seen and heard, and 1 told them all. 1 
 staid a day or two with them, and embarked in a 
 pattamar (an open boat) for Bombay. The wind 
 was contrary, and I was ten days on the voyage. 
 1 touched at three different places on the Pirate 
 coast; Gheria, the celebrated fort of Severndroog, 
 &;c. One day we were driven out to sea, and in con- 
 siderable danger. At length, however, on the 6th 
 of February 1 reached Bombay." 
 
 On his arrival at this Presidency Dr. Buchanan 
 was kindly received by Governor Duncan, and 
 took up his abode at the house of Mr. Forbes. He 
 experienced the utmost civility from the principal 
 persons of the settlement, and was particularly gra- 
 tified by the attentions of Sir James Mackintosh. 
 " I passed five hours," he observes, in a letter to 
 Colonel Macaulay, " with Sir James in his library. 
 It is uncommonly numerous and valuable. He is a 
 friend to religion, and professes a desire to support 
 me in all useful plans for India." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan had taken with him to Bombay 
 the manuscript translation of the four Gospels into 
 the Malayalim language, which had been completed 
 by the Syrian bishop and his clergy, and transmit- 
 ted to Colonel Macaulay, intending to print it at 
 
420 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 his own expense, an excellent fount of types hav- 
 ing been recently cut at that place. Governor 
 Duncan, however, and others, expressing their 
 wish to contribute to the design, it was left in the 
 hands of Mr. Money and Mr. Forbes, with instruc- 
 tions regarding the appropriation of the funds ; and 
 they were authorized to pay all expenses necessa- 
 rily incurred in translating the Scriptures into the 
 Malayalim language. 
 
 " It would take a fortnight," writes Dr. Buchan- 
 an to Colonel Macaulay, Feb. 27, " to detail what 
 passed during my fortnight at Bombay. 
 
 " 1 have taken my passage in the Charlton, and 
 have secured the first officer's cabin, which is large 
 and commodious, for myself and Master Drum- 
 mond. We have ten ladies on board, and Dr. Pou- 
 get, of Surat, a man of information. 
 
 " Your friend, Ribeymar, the chief inquisitor, re- 
 ceived me very kindly, and made a feast on the last 
 day but one of my stay, at which were present the 
 whole staff' of the Santa Casa. He said he would 
 answer your letter. The * thieveless errand' I had 
 to visit the inquisition a second time, was to in- 
 quire whether the chief inquisitor had written his 
 letter. 
 
 " I did not touch at Cananore or Mangalore. I 
 was afraid of losing the inquisition and my passage. 
 
 " On my arrival in England I shall not fail to 
 give you some account of affairs, if I mix with men, 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 421 
 
 which I much doubt ; for I am tired of fighting, 
 and sigh for quiet and retirement. 
 
 " I remain, my dear sir, very sincerely yours, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 It may be satisfactory to add, that the letter 
 from tlie chief inquisitor to Colonel Macaulay, above 
 referred to, strongly expressed his respect for that 
 gentleman, and the pleasure which he had received 
 from Dr. Buchanan's visit, notwithstanding the 
 freedom of his inquiries and observations. 
 
 In another short communication to Colonel Ma- 
 caulay, about the same time, Dr. Buchanan men- 
 tions a pleasing mark of kindness which had been 
 shown him by one of his friends at Calcutta, and 
 informs him of a proposal which he had made rela- 
 tive to one of the most stupendous and interesting 
 objects of curiosity in India. 
 
 " Mr. Speke has sent a beautiful large quarto 
 Bible after me, as a keepsake. He had heard that I 
 had complained of my sight in reading small print 
 at night. And this is my last communication with 
 the learned of Calcutta. Hoc Dens fecit* 
 
 " I have put them on restoring Elephanta at 
 Bombay. 1 found the cavern and figures in a state 
 of progressive annual dilapidation. Mr. Money has 
 taken up the subject warmly. If government does 
 not execute it, I have proposed a subscription, with 
 
 ♦ This God hai> done, 
 Bucbaoan. 36 
 
422 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 a promise of five hundred rupees as soon as the 
 work shall commence under a scientific superin- 
 tendent. I have left a memorandum of the subjects 
 of improvement and re-edification, according to my 
 idea. I have a reason for wishing that the Trinity 
 in Unity at Elephanta may remain while this lower 
 world exists." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan thus adverts to the same extra- 
 ordinary remains of antiquity, in writing to Mr. 
 Brown : 
 
 *' I have visited Elephanta; a more wonderful 
 work than the pyramids of Egypt. But the works 
 of Providence are yet more wonderful ; at least, 
 so I should esteem them ; for, in every region and 
 in every clime the loving-kindness of God is mag- 
 nified in my experience. May his grace also be 
 magnified in me ! My love to all your family.'* 
 
 On the 13th of March the Charlton arrived ofl' 
 Point de Galle, from which place Dr. Buchanan 
 again wrote a few lines to Mr. Brown. 
 
 " I had intended," he says, " to have published 
 my letter to the archbishop of Goa at this place. 
 But if we do not go on shore I shall have no oppoi^ 
 tunity. I shall therefore publish it at home.* 
 
 * On his arrival in England Dr. Buchanan found it un- 
 necessary to publish this letter, the inquisition at Goa hav- 
 ing been abolished. 
 
RETURN TO ENGLAND. 423 
 
 " I have extensive commissions for sending good 
 books and Bibles to Bombay, Malabar, and Ceylon. 
 For, it' they have no preachers, they must read. 
 
 " All is well on board this ship, and I hope some 
 good will be done. 
 
 " With unfeigned prayers for the best of spirit- 
 ual blessings on you and your family, 
 
 " I remain my de^r sir, very affectionately yours, 
 
 " C. Buchanan." 
 
 To Colonel Macaulay Dr. Buchanan wrote the 
 next day as follows : 
 
 " My Dear Sir, — We have just arrived at this 
 place, and see the Bengal fleet ready to sail ; so 
 that I have only time to bid you farewell. We staid 
 three days at Columbo, one of which I passed with 
 General Maitland at Mount Lavinia. After long 
 and interesting conversations he was pleased to 
 promise that he would recommend to his majesty's 
 government ' an ecclesiastical establishment for the 
 island of Ceylon.* By the next despatch he will 
 send me, under cover to the bishop of London, co- 
 pies of all the papers I wanted relating to the eccle- 
 siastical state of the island for the last two centu- 
 ries. He has agreed to support the translation of 
 the Scriptures into the Cingalese language. I re- 
 sided with the honorable Mr. Twisleton, whom I 
 found well disposed to second all my views. Mr. 
 
424 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Heywood did more. I think he is disposed to be 
 zealous as a pastor to his people. I shall corres- 
 pond, I hope, with both. They are surprised at 
 the Governor's full acquiescence in the above im- 
 portant measures. I hope he will not retract. 
 
 " I received your letters for your brother, which 
 I hope to deliver into his hands. I am much obliged 
 to you for your introduction to him. 
 
 " The fleet is now under weigh for St. Helena. 
 Farewell. C. Buchanan." 
 
 " H. C. Charlton, Point de Galle 
 March 14, 1808." 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 
 Hesidence in England after Ms Jtetttrn from India, 
 
 When Dr. Buchanan arrived in England, as 
 mitrht have been expected, he immediately direct- 
 ed his steps to the dwelling of his dear friend, Mr. 
 Newton ; but, alas ! this venerable man was not 
 there to salute him — he had been buried for 
 more than seven months. His first feelings, there- 
 fore, on reaching London, were of the mournful 
 kind. 
 
IN ExN'GLAND. 425 
 
 Having calculated much upon the effect of the 
 memoir of the " Christian Institution " which he 
 had transmitted to England that it might be pub- 
 lished, he made his second call to Cadell, his book- 
 seller ; but here again he was disappointed ; for it 
 now appeared that his friends, to whom he had 
 communicated the document, had judged it inex- 
 pedient, in the excited state of the public mind re- 
 specting India, to publish it ; and had taken upon 
 themselves the responsibility of withholding it from 
 the press. Although he acquiesced in their act, yet 
 it was evidently no small disappointment to Dr. Bu- 
 chanan that this paper had not been put into the 
 hands of the public. 
 
 Having arrived on his native island, he could not 
 repress his desire to make every consideration of 
 business or friendship give way to his filial piety. 
 Learning that his aged mother still lived, he has- 
 tened to Scotland to perform his duty of honoring 
 her who gave him birth ; and who, on account of 
 her piety and good sense, was in all respects de- 
 serving the affection of her son. From Glasgow, 
 while on this visit, he writes, " I preached in the 
 English church here to a crowded auditory. The 
 Presbyterians came to hear me, notwithstanding 
 the organ^ 
 
 After his return from Scotland he visited Mr. 
 Cecil, who was now in a low state of health. Dr. 
 Buchanan, in giving an account of this visit, in a 
 36* 
 
426 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 letter to a friend, says : " Notwithstanding his 
 weakness, he seems to feel a singular pleasure in 
 hearing me talk on oriental subjects, and the diffu- 
 sion of the Gospel generally." 
 
 He was greatly delighted with the apparent ef- 
 fect which his prizes had produced. The premium 
 of c£500, which he had given to the University of 
 Oxford, was adjudged to Hugh Pearson, the author 
 of this memoir. 
 
 In Cambridge some circumstances occurred to 
 prevent a decision. Doctors Milner, Jowett, and 
 Outram, had been appointed judges ; and of all the 
 compositions sent in, they were of opinion that not 
 one deserved so magnificent a prize. But, a few 
 days after the prescribed time had expired, t^iey 
 received a piece, by the Rev. J. W. Cunningham, 
 which they unanimously preferred to all the rest ; 
 and to which the examiners would, without hesi- 
 tation, have adjudged the prize, had it been pre- 
 sented within the limited time ; but, as the matter 
 stood, they did not feel authorized to do so with- 
 out the special permission of Dr. Buchanan. This 
 being a case of delicacy, he did not think proper 
 to make any decision on the point ; but as the uni- 
 versity were unwilling to resume the consideration 
 of the subject, he offered to bear the expense of 
 printing Mr. Cunningham's essay. 
 
 Two sermons were preached at Cambridge, by 
 the Rev. Francis Wrangham, of Trinity College, 
 
IN ENGLAND. 427 
 
 and the Rev. John Dudley, of Clare Hall, pur- 
 suant to the proposal of Dr. Buchanan, on the 
 " Translation of the Scriptures into the Oriental 
 Languages." Two sermons were also preached 
 on the same subject before the University of Ox- 
 ford, by the Rev. Dr. Barrow, of Queen's College, 
 and the Rev. Edward Nares, of Merton College ; 
 all of which were published. 
 
 The authors of all these discourses insisted on 
 the duty of translating the Scriptures into the lan- 
 guages of the East ; and all maintained that it was 
 obligatory on Great Britain to attempt, by every 
 wise and rational method, to promote the know- 
 ledge of christia^nity in India. 
 
 The " Memoir" on the expediency of an Ec- 
 clesiastical Establishment in India, produced a 
 powerful sensation. The subject was to many en- 
 tirely new, and at the same time was regarded as 
 very important. Before his return to England, a 
 hostile spirit towards the author had been enkindled 
 in the minds of many, who considered the whole 
 enterprise as fraught with danger to the English 
 possessions and power in the East. It is a remarka- 
 ble coincidence, that at the very time when efforts 
 were made in India to impede the translation of 
 the Scriptures into the dialects of the country, and 
 to restrain the efforts of missionaries there, a formi- 
 dable attack, from the same spirit, was made in 
 England, with a view to check the ardor which had 
 
428 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 been infused into the minds of multitudes in favor 
 of both these interesting objects. This attack was 
 commenced by a pamphlet entitled, *' A Letter to 
 the Chairman of the East India Company on the 
 Danger of Interfering in-the Religious Opinions of 
 the Nations of India ; and on the Views of the Bri- 
 tish and Foreign Bible Society as directed to India." 
 This pamphlet, though published anonymously, 
 was afterwards avowed by Thomas Twining, Esq. 
 a senior merchant of the Bengal establishment. 
 And he declared his intention of bringinor the sub> 
 ject before the Court of Directors. The Bible 
 Society was ^ly vindicated from the charges 
 brought against it, by the Rev. John Owen, one of 
 its secretaries ; and the great work of diffusing the 
 Bible in India had able advocates in the lamented 
 Rev. Andrew Fuller, Rev. Robert Hall, Dr. Adam 
 Clarke, and others. 
 
 The prejudice and alarm which had been excited 
 by Mr. Twining's pamphlet was increased by the 
 publication of two pamphlets by Major Scott War- 
 ing, who inveighed with great violence of language 
 against the Bible Society, the Baptist missionaries 
 in Bengal, and against the '' Memoir" of Dr. Bu- 
 chanan. But the friends of religion in England 
 were not inactive nor unsuccessful in checking 
 this rising spirit of jealousy and hostility, occa- 
 sioned by these intemperate publications. 
 
 This controversy, however, did not terminate 
 
IN ENGLAND. 429 
 
 here. In the year 1808 it was renewed by the pub- 
 lication of a pamphlet entitled, " A Vindication of 
 the Hindoos from the Aspersions of the Rev. C. 
 Buchanan, M. A. wilh a Refutation of his Argu- 
 ments for an Ecclesiastical Establishment in Bri- 
 tish India. By a Bengal Officer." This extraordi- 
 nary publication was distinguished by the bold 
 avowal, that the Hindoo system little needs the 
 ameliorating hand of the christian dispensation to 
 render its votaries a sufficiently correct and moral 
 people for all the useful purposes of civilized so- 
 ciety. This military author bent all his force to 
 prove the excellence of the moral and religious 
 doctrines of the Hindoos, and to defend the moral 
 character of the Hindoos themselves. But with 
 great pretensions, and some partial knowledge 
 of the state of affairs in India, he betrayed much 
 local isrnorance, and manifested a total disres^ard 
 of the practical influence of the Brahminical reli- 
 gion, and a total deficiency in all enlarged views 
 and general reasonings. 
 
 The friends of the propagation of Christianity in 
 the East again came forward and vindicated the 
 cause of Christianity and of missions. The venera- 
 ble Bishop Porteus wrote some remarks on Mr. 
 Twining's pamphlet, which were published anony- 
 mously ; and in which, in a strain of animated and 
 well-directed irony, he defended the measures of 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society, and what 
 
430 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 the bishop termed " Dr. Buchanan's invaluable 
 Memoir." 
 
 Next appeared Mr. Cunningham's essay " On 
 the duty, means, and consequences of introducing 
 the Christian Religion among the native inhabit- 
 ants of the British dominions in the East." This was 
 a part of the work which the author had submitted 
 to the University of Cambridge, as a candidate for 
 Dr. Buchanan's prize ; of which some account has 
 been given. The main argument of this able and 
 elaborate essay was founded on the malignant and 
 pernicious nature of the Hindoo superstitions. 
 
 Mr. Cunningham's essay was followed by the 
 prize dissertation of the Rev. Hugh Pearson, which 
 contributed in no inconsiderable degree to enlight- 
 en the public mind on this momentous question. 
 
 One other work remains to be noticed, of singu- 
 lar excellence and authority, entitled, " Considera- 
 tions on the practicability, policy, and obligation 
 of communicating to the nations of India the know- 
 ledge of Christianity." This was the production of 
 Lord Teignmouth ; who, together with the princi- 
 ples of christian piety and benevolence, brought to 
 the consideration of this weighty subject that cor- 
 rect and extensive local knowledge and practical 
 wisdom and experience which were the result of 
 the high stations he had occupied in India. 
 
 The important services of one periodical publi- 
 cation, in ably and effectually pleading the cause 
 
IN ENGLAND. 431 
 
 of Christianity, ought not to- pass unnoticed. It will 
 be readily understood, that reference is made to 
 the Christian Ohsfrver. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan found his two daughters well, and 
 so grown that he could scarcely recognize them. 
 
 It was not long after his arrival in England be- 
 fore he received some gratifying communications 
 from India, in a letter from his friend. Rev. Mr. 
 Brown. Governor Minto, in his speech, delivered 
 at the public examination of the students of Fort 
 William College, Feb. 21, 1S03, spoke in terms of 
 liigh commendation of their progress in oriental 
 literature ; and especially gave high praise to the 
 proficiency, in the Chinese language, of the Baptist 
 missionaries at Serampore. " I must not omit," said 
 his lordship, " to commend the zealous and perse- 
 vering labors of Mr. Lassar, and of those learned 
 and pious persons associated with him, who have 
 accomplished, for the future benefit, we may hope, 
 of that immense and populous region, Chinese ver- 
 sions, in the Chinese character, of the Gospels of 
 Matthew, Mark, and Luke ; throwing open that 
 precious mine, with all its religious and moral trea- 
 sures, to the largest associated population in the 
 world." To which Mr. Brown added, that Lord 
 Minto now patronized all the translations of the 
 Scriptures into the Eastern languages, and had 
 himself become a subscriber to some of those which 
 were then in the press at Serampore. 
 
432 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Brown he writes : " People 
 imagine that I am meditating war. Nothing is far- 
 ther from my thoughts. I am at present reading 
 the Bible, and studying some sermons for poor peo- 
 ple. [ stand remote from the world. I do not even 
 know whether the Court of Directors pays my fur- 
 lough allowance. But on this and other subjects I 
 shall be able to say more after I have been a year 
 in the country. 
 
 '* The Chinese printing " (sent to him by Mr, 
 BroWn) "is very admirable. You are cheaper too 
 than I was when I gave four annas for every cha- 
 racter. The arrival of Mr. Thomason will brighten 
 your prospects. I told Mrs. M. her prayers would 
 bring good men. 
 
 " Mr. B. here is very useful as an evangelist. I 
 shall enclose to you an account of the death of his 
 daughter, aged 14. He lost four children in a year, 
 and preached nobly to the hearts of his large con- 
 gregation during the whole period. So you see good 
 men have their trials on the banks of the Severn, 
 as well as on the Ganges. 
 
 "You will regret to hear that Henry Kirke 
 White was first proposed to Mr. Thornton," (mean- 
 ing for Dr. Buchanan's benefaction to some student 
 at the university,) " and," for reasons which do not 
 appear, " was rejected." 
 
 On the 26th of February he jireached his sermon 
 
IN ENGLAND. 433 
 
 entitled, " The Star in the East." This was tlie 
 first of those well-directed and successful eflfoita 
 which Dr. Buchanan made, after his arrival in 
 England, to enlighten and arouse the public mind 
 in regard to the great object which had so fully 
 occupied his attention in India. Tiiis sermon was 
 preached in the parish church of St. James, Bristol, 
 for the benefit of the Church Missionary Society. 
 The effect, when delivered from the pulpit, and 
 when issued from the press, was great and salu- 
 tary. No modern sermon, perhaps, has produced a 
 greater effect. The high encomium of Sabat, alas ! 
 was not verified by the event ; but none but God 
 can read the heart. The most promising blossoms 
 are often nipped, and the most sanguine hopes dis- 
 appointed. Thus it was in the days of the apostles, 
 and thus it has been ever since. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan now paid a visit to the University 
 of Oxford, and expresses himself well pleased with 
 the cordial reception which he received from many. 
 The object of the visit was in subservience to his 
 one object of pursuit ; he wished to look into the 
 public libraries, and especially to examine the ori- 
 ental manuscripts deposited there. In this venera- 
 ble seat of learning Dr. Buchanan spent ten days, 
 receiving many civilities from the masters and fel- 
 lows of colleges. 
 
 He also paid a visit to Hertford College, insti- 
 tuted by the East India Company, for the study of 
 
 Buchanan. «>♦ 
 
434 ftlEMOlR OP DR. BCCHAN'APT. 
 
 the Oriental languages. Of this institution he says, 
 " I returned yesterday from Hertford College, with 
 which I was much pleased. Of course it owes its 
 present efficiency to a wise selection of professors. 
 Dealtry alone would do honor to any institution." 
 
 In August, 1S09, Dr. Buchanan visited Scarbo- 
 rough, where he preached to crowded and admiring 
 audiences; and it was earnestly desired by many, 
 that as he had now relinquished all thoughts of re- 
 turning to India, he should exercise his ministry in 
 this place. 
 
 It was here that he became acquainted with the 
 interesting family of Mr. Thompson, of Kirby Hall, 
 of which he had heard much, and with which he 
 soon formed a close alliance ; for, in February, 
 1810, he was united in marriage to his second wife, 
 the daughter of Mr. Thompson. He was attracted 
 to this lady by her eminent piety, her active bene- 
 volence, and her filial duty and affection. This con- 
 nection, for a while, fixed his residence in York- 
 shire ; and while he remained at Moat Hall he 
 performed the duties of a pastor to the parish of 
 Ouseburn. His friends at Bristol, however, were 
 solicitous that he should return and occupy Wel- 
 beck chapel. The friend who first introduced him 
 to this chapel, finding him eminently qualified to be 
 a preacher in a city congregation, formed the plan 
 of building a chapel for him in one of the western 
 parishes of London. This scheme met with his en- 
 
IS ENGLAND. 435 
 
 tire approbation ; owing, however, to some unfore- 
 seen impediments, the design was not carried into 
 effect. 
 
 On occasion of the kinij havinnf reached the fifti- 
 eth year of his reign, Dr. Buchanan preached seve- 
 ral sermons ; which wcie published and widely 
 circulated, and greatly admired. They were enti- 
 tled, "Jubilee Sermons." 
 
 In this year he received again communications 
 from Rev. Mr. Brown, representing India as in a 
 tranquil state, and even prosperous, Mr. Brown, in 
 his letter, dwelt with delight and energy on the ex- 
 ertions of Henry Martyn and his associates. 
 
 He also received a letter from Mr. Kolhoff, at 
 Tanjore, informing him that Mr, Horst had been 
 engaged in collecting materials for the life of Mr. 
 Swartz, agreeably to his request, and had about ten 
 sheets of written notes ; which he would have de- 
 spatched by this opportunity, had he not discovered 
 several important omissions which he was desirous 
 of supplying. He also informed him of the agree- 
 able fact, that the Court of Directors had granted 
 seven hundred pagodas, in addition to their for- 
 mer five hundred, to aid in supporting protestant 
 schools. 
 
 It has been stated that Dr. Buchanan desired to 
 write the life of Swartz ; and indeed he had it 
 much at heart to exhibit to the christian commu- 
 nity the character of this eminent and successful 
 
436 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCIIAXAN. 
 
 missionary, and had commenced the work, when 
 lie heard that another had undertaken it.* 
 
 On the 12th of June, this year, Dr. Buchanan 
 preached the anniversary sermon before the Church 
 Missionary Society. It was a grand occasion ; and 
 the sermon was every way suitable to such an oc- 
 casion ; and something of its impression on the au- 
 dience may be inferred from the fact, that the col- 
 lection amounted to nearly c£400. The text was, 
 " Ye are the lis^ht of the world." This sermon was 
 also published and widely circulated, and read with 
 interest and profit on both sides of the Atlantic. 
 
 His next public service which deserves to be 
 particularly mentioned, was his two sermons preach- 
 ed, on commencement Sunday, before the Univer- 
 sity of Cambridge. Speaking of them himself, in a 
 letter to a friend, he says, '* I preached for three 
 quarters of an hour in the morning, and above half 
 an hour in the afternoon. There was the most so- 
 lemn stillness. The church was crowded. 
 
 " The Tuesday following the bishop of Bristol 
 came up to me in the senate house, and thanked 
 me for the discourses, and expressed a hope that 
 they would be published. Others did the same. 
 Dean Milner, who is vice-chancellor, informed me 
 soon afterwards, that he thought himself authorized 
 to grant the imjjrimatur of the university for their 
 
 * The life of Swartz has been since written by the Rev. 
 Hugh Pearson, the author of this memoir. 
 
I.\ ENGLAND. 437 
 
 publlcalion; and I am preparing ihcm for the press 
 accordingly. I mean to publish important matter 
 as an appendix." 
 
 These discourses were entitled, " The Euas op 
 Light," founded on Gen. 1 : 3, "Let there be 
 light." They arc admirable sermons, highly ani- 
 mated and instructive. He makes three eras of 
 Gospel light. The first, when the Gospel was pub- 
 lished throughout the world by the apostles ; the 
 second, the era of the reformation; and the third, 
 our own times. 
 
 In speaking of this last he says, " Christianity 
 hath again, after a lapse of many ages, assumed its 
 true character as the ' light of the world.' We 
 now behold it animated by its original spirit, which 
 was to extend its blessings to ' all nations.' The 
 Scriptures are preparing in almost every language, 
 and preachers are going forth into almost every 
 clime. Within the period of which we speak men 
 have heard the Gospel in their own tongue where- 
 in they were born." In India, throughout many of 
 its provinces; in different parts o^ Africa ; in the 
 interior o^ Asia : in the western parts oi America ; 
 in New Holland ; in the isles of the Pacific Sea; 
 in the West Indies; and in the regions of G^z-re??- 
 Ia?id and Labrador; Malays, Chinese, Persians, 
 arjd Arabians, begin now to hear, or read in " their 
 own tongues the wonderful works of God." 
 
 Dr. Buchanan, before he concluded these dia- 
 37* 
 
438 MEMOIR OP DB, BUCHANAN. 
 
 courses, addressed to an audience not much accus- 
 tomed to hear plain evangehcal truths, thought it 
 his duty to give his emphatic testimony to the ne- 
 cessity and reality of that spiritual change incul- 
 cated in the Scriptures. '' This change of heart,'* 
 says he, " ever carries vv^ith it its own witness ; and 
 it alone exhibits the same character among men of 
 every clime. It bears the fruit of righteousness ; it 
 affords the highest enjoyment of life which was 
 intended by God or is attainable by man. It inspires 
 the soul with a sense of pardon and acceptance 
 through the Redeemer. It gives peace in death, 
 and sure and certain hope of the resurrection unto 
 eternal life !" 
 
 Upon his first visit to Cambridge, after his return 
 from India, he presented to the public library of 
 the University twenty-five valuable oriental manu- 
 scripts, which he had collected on the coast of Ma- 
 labar, principally biblical, written in the Hebrew, 
 Syriac, and Ethiopic languages. 
 
 In February, 1811, Dr. Buchanan had a slight 
 paralytic stroke, affecting his voice and his right 
 hand. As the spring approached his illness did not 
 disappear but continued ; and his physicians pro- 
 nounced the disease to be a nervous weakness ; for 
 the removal of which a cessation from study was 
 necessary. 
 
 Not wishing to remain unoccupied and useless, 
 he now projected 2, journey to Palestine; which, 
 
IN ENGLAND. 43'J 
 
 while it might be a means of restoring liis health, 
 would furnish the opportunity of collecting much 
 important information respecting the religious state 
 of that interesting country. His chief object, a.s he 
 expressed it, was, to make inquiries respecting the 
 churches, the Scriptures, and the translation of the 
 Bible into the languages of the nations. But when 
 he formed this noble plan he was not conscious of 
 the debilitated state of his constitution. The jour- 
 ney was therefore never undertaken. By the advice 
 of his physicians he now tried the waters of Bux- 
 ton ; and it was while using these waters he com- 
 posed and preached his pleasing sermon, entitled, 
 " The waters of Bethesda;" which was also given 
 to the public through the press. 
 
 Though Dr. Buchanan*s health continued to de- 
 cline, his mental powers remained unimpaired ; and 
 the following passage from a letter, dated Kirby 
 Hall, April 13, 1S12, gives a delightful intimation 
 of the heavenly state of his mind. " I am now seek- 
 ing the comfort of the holy Scriptures and their 
 promises, and love to contemplate Augustine and 
 Luther. I look forward to nothing in this life but 
 tliese two things, repentance icith hitter tears for jpast 
 sins, and joy in tlic Holy Ghost. These two bless- 
 ings I am encouraged to look for, for they are pro- 
 mised to sinners ; they are the ' gifts to the rebel- 
 lious.' In the meantime I pray to do the will of 
 God, and to use my voice, my pen, or my feet, as 
 
440 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 he wishes me, while these members have any 
 strength for his service." 
 
 Thus was God evidently preparing him for an- 
 other sore domestic bereavement, which, by the 
 workings of his inscrutable providence, he was now 
 called to endure. 
 
 After the birth of a son, which did not live, his 
 wife seemed to recover well from her confinement; 
 but these favorable appearances were of short du- 
 ration : she was called away by her Father in hea- 
 ven. Concerning this event. Dr. Buchanan, in writ- 
 ing to a friend, April 1, IS 1 3, says : 
 
 " Long before her last illness, my dear Mary had 
 frequently contemplated the probability of her dy- 
 ing in early life. Her delight was to talk of things 
 heavenly and spiritual ; and her studies were al- 
 most entirely religious. Her spirits seemed to have 
 been much chastened by personal and by domestic 
 suffering ; and her affections were gradually losing 
 their hold of this world. After her last confinement 
 her heart appeared to be devoted to God in a par- 
 ticular manner. 
 
 " She seemed to enjoy prayer and religious con- 
 verse in a high degree, notwithstanding her indis- 
 ])osition and high fever. We mutually expressed 
 the hope of devoting ourselves to the service of 
 God, for the time to come, more affectionately and 
 actively than we had done in time past. She look- 
 
IN EN'GLAND. 441 
 
 ed forward certainly to the comfort of eujoyirii^ 
 more the life of a saint on earth, but I do not think 
 she expected so early to be a saint in heaven. 
 
 " On the night previous to her death she sat on 
 the couch in my study. She begged I would 
 give her the Bible, and a little table, and a candle. 
 She read one of the Psalms very attentively ; the 
 46th, beginning, " God is our refuge and strength, 
 a very present help in trouble." And when I took 
 the Bible out of her hand, finding it open at that 
 Psalm. I read it to her, as a portion of our even- 
 ing religious exercise. 
 
 " On the morning of the day on which she died, 
 after I had kneeled by her bed-side, as usual, and 
 prayed with her, and had left her, she desired her 
 maid to read a hymn to her. She began one, but 
 said, ' It is a funeral hymn.' She replied, ' A fune- 
 ral hymn will suit me very well.' 
 
 '' About an hour after she was brought to my 
 study, and took her seat in the arm-chair. About 
 one o'clock her father and mother came to visit 
 her. After her father had staid some time, he and 
 I went out in the carriage for an hour, while her 
 mother remained with her. On our return her mo- 
 ther took her leave, and I accompanied her down 
 stairs to the carriage. On my coming up, my dear 
 Mary had just got up from her chair, and walked 
 over to the couch with a quick step, assisted by her 
 nurse. I immediately supported her in my arms. 
 
442 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCIIANAJf. 
 
 Slight faintings succeeded, but they were moment- 
 ary. She complained of a pain near her heart. On 
 my saying, I hoped it would soon be over, she re- 
 plied, " O no, it is not over yet ! — What is this that 
 has come upon me 1 Send for mamma. After a few 
 minutes' struggle she sat up in the couch with much 
 strength ; and looking towards the window she 
 uttered a loud cry that might have been heard at a 
 considerable distance. She then drank a little wa- 
 ter ; and immediately after drinking, without a 
 groan or a sigh, fell upon my breast. 1 thought she 
 had only fainted ; but her spirit that moment had 
 taken its flight. 
 
 " Thus died my beloved wife. She was ready 
 for the summons. She had long lived as one who 
 waited for the coming of the Lord. Her loins were 
 girded, her lamp was burning, and the staff was in 
 her hand ; she had nothing to do but depart." 
 
 About this time Dr. Buchanan heard of the death 
 of two of the most excellent men who ever visited 
 India, Rev. Mr. Brown and Henry Martyn. His 
 remark, in a letter to a friend, is : " These good 
 men have ascended up on high in the vigor of age 
 and life. Let us aspire to follow them, and join the 
 assembly of the first-born !" His own heart was too 
 much in heaven to grieve unreasonably for the de- 
 parture of his pious friends. His attachment to 
 his wife seems to have been very tender, but the 
 
IN ENGLAND. 443 
 
 Stroke hacl no other efiect than to wean him more 
 and more from the world. Among his '' Private 
 Thovights " we find the following : 
 
 " My first emotions of thankfulness (when I could 
 seek subjects of thankfulness) were, that her last 
 trial was so short. It was given me to witness fur 
 my soul's health, I trust; and it was awful indeed, 
 but it was short. 
 
 *' I suffer chielly from the reflection, that I did 
 not commune with Iter more frc(iui'ntJ]) and directly 
 on the state of her .io?d. God ordained her personal 
 and domestic sufferings to mature her for her ap- 
 proaching change. Mature in my lieart, blessed 
 Saviour! this affliction, and enable me to obey the 
 new commandment, ' that ye love one another.' 
 This love, exercised towards a wife or child, ac- 
 quires a double force ; natural affection co-operat- 
 ing with spiritual love." 
 
 Under another date he adds: '' I am now ena- 
 bled to pray three times a day ; and am not, as 
 usual, drawn hastily from my knees. I have long 
 prayed for a spirit of grace and supplication, and 
 now the Lord hath been pleased to give it by means 
 that I did not expect. 
 
 *' The chief petitions of my heart have been : 
 
 " That God would strike the well of my affec- 
 tions, and cause the waters to flow : 
 
 " That I might open my mouth in the cause of 
 God. Hitherto my lips have been locked up in a 
 
444 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 torpid silence. There is indeed much that is con- 
 stitutional in this taciturnity ; and my late nerv^ous 
 indisposition has greatly increased it. Like Hooker, 
 I can scarcely look my children or servants in the 
 face. I have prayed that this unaccountable vi'eak- 
 ness may be removed ; that I may become vocal 
 I'or God at all times and in all places ; that I may 
 look earnestly into the eyes and countenances of 
 men, and seek anxiously their salvation ; that I 
 may never forget the agonizing looks and pow^er- 
 ful voice of my dear wife in the struggle of death. 
 
 " That I may learn to seek the glory of God as 
 the first object of my conversation in the vs^orld, 
 and to pray earnestly for the conversion of all men. 
 Let me look on every person whom my eyes be- 
 hold with benevolence, loving my neighbor as my- 
 self, and utter a mental prayer for that person, 
 * May this be a vessel of mercy prepared unto 
 glory!' 
 
 " That the Spirit of grace and supplication may 
 never depart from me ; and that God may hear 
 rny morning, noontide, and evening supplication, 
 during every day of my pilgrimage. That I may 
 fix my love, hope, and affections on God, and ob- 
 tain that fellowship which I learn, from Scripture, 
 is attainable by men in the present state. Amen." 
 
FUNERAL OF Bill. THORNTON. 445 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 J}r> BuchanatCs Death, — Character, — Conclusion* 
 
 One of the last public acts of Dr. Buchanan's 
 life was the sad duty of attending the funeral of 
 his most excellent and highly esteemed friend, 
 Henry Thornton, Esq. In the following letter to 
 Cglonel Macaulay, this event is noticed : 
 
 *' Broxjbourne, Thursday, Jan. 19. 
 
 " My dear Friend, — On my return from York- 
 shire this morning, where I have been for a fort- 
 night on a visit to my family, I found your letter 
 of the 11th inst. lyino: on my table. 
 
 *' The first intimation I had of Mr. Thornton's 
 illness was on Monday last at Carleton Hall Work- 
 shop. On my arrival here I found your letter, and 
 one from Mr. John Thornton confirming the pain- 
 ful intelligence. I was just going to sit down to re- 
 juest that he would communicate to his uncle my 
 feelings on the occasion, and my request to go to 
 town to visit him, if he had strength to see me, 
 when, casually looking into the paper, I found that 
 he had died on Tuesday. All I can now do is to 
 attend the funeral of this good man, my earliest 
 and most particular friend and benefactor. I have 
 requested Mr. John Thornton to let me know on 
 33 
 
446 MEMOIR or DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 what day the funeral takes place. In case of mis- 
 take, will you have the goodness to mention to me 
 the time and place, and I shall go out early in the 
 morning and return in the evening, as my present 
 work will not permit me conveniently to be abse. 
 a night. 
 
 " I desire to thank you most unfelgnedly for 
 your kindness to the two Cochin Jews. 
 
 '' With kindest regards to Mrs. M. I am very af- 
 fectionately yours, C. BuciiAx\AN." 
 
 It was upon the solemn and affecting occasion 
 thus referred to, that the author of these memoirs 
 met Dr. Buchanan for the last time. A crowd of 
 other friends, distinguished by their talents, rank, 
 and piety, united in lamenting the loss of the emi- 
 nent person around whose tomb they were assem- 
 bled. Amidst that mourning throng, it will readily 
 be believed by those who recollect his obligations 
 to Mr. Thornton, as well as his just appreciation 
 of the various excellencies of his revered friend, 
 that no one shed more sincere tears over his grave 
 than Dr. Buchanan. Doubtless he then felt, as 
 he seemed to feel, in common with a multitude 
 of other persons, that another of those ties by 
 which he had been linked to this world was de- 
 stroyed. The writer of these pages remembers, 
 with sensations of melancholy yet pleasing regret- 
 the peculiarly holy and heavenly strain of conver 
 
FUNERAL or MR. THORNTON. 447 
 
 eation wltli which Dr. Buchanan cheered and edi- 
 fied his friends on the evening oi" that moujtiful 
 day, and on the morning of his return into Hert- 
 fordshire ; Jittle tliinking tliat it would be tiie last 
 opportunity of their enjoying that privilege. 
 
 Of this short and affecting visit to Clapham, the 
 following interesting anecdote has been communi- 
 cated by a friend at whose house Dr. Buchanan 
 took up Lis abode : 
 
 " He was relating to me," observes this gentle, 
 man, " as we walked together from the church- 
 yard where we had deposited the mortal remains 
 of Henry Thornton, the course he was pursuing 
 with respect to the ])rinting of the Syiiac Testa- 
 ment. He stated that his solicitude to render it 
 correct had led him to adopt a plan of revision 
 which required him to read each sheet five times 
 over before it went finally to the printer. The par- 
 ticulars of the plan I do not very distinctly lemern- 
 ber. It was, however, something of this kind : he 
 first prepared the sheets for the press ; when the 
 proof was sent, he read it over attentively, insti- 
 tuting a comparison with the original, and looking 
 into the various readings, Sec. A revise was sent 
 him, which he carefully examined, making correc- 
 tions. This was submitted to Mr. Yeates. AVhen 
 it came from him he read it again, adopting such 
 of his suggestions as he thought right. AVheu 
 
448 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHAXAX. 
 
 the printer had made the requisite corrections he 
 sent a fresh revise, after being read, to Mr. Lee, 
 and re-perused it when it came from him. A third 
 revise was then procured, which he again examin- 
 ed before it was finally committed to the press. 1 do 
 not know that I am precisely accurate in this state- 
 ment, but it was something of the above description. 
 " While giving me this detail, he stopped sud- 
 denly and burst into tears. I was somewhat alarm- 
 ed. When he had recovered himself, he said, ' Do 
 not be alarmed. I am not ill ; but I was completely 
 overcome with the recollection of the delight which 
 I had enjoyed in this exercise. At first I was dis- 
 posed to shrink from the task as irksome, and ap- 
 prehended that I should find even the Scriptures 
 pall by the frequency of this critical examination ; 
 but, so far from it, every fresh perusal seemed to 
 throw fresh light on the word of God, and to con- 
 vey additional joy and consolation to my mind.* " 
 
 How delightful is the contemplation of a servant 
 of Christ thus devoutly engaged in his heavenly 
 Master's work, almost to the very moment of his 
 transition to the divine source of light and truth 
 itself! 
 
 The pious and elevated frame of Dr. Buchanan's 
 mind is evident from another incident which occur- 
 red at this time. 
 
 In passing through London, on his return to 
 
FUNERAL OP MR. THORNTON. 449 
 
 Broxbournc, he spent a few hours with a friend 
 wliom he had met upon the solemn occasion of ilie 
 preceding day. In the course of their conversation 
 liis friend observed, how afiecting was the conside- 
 ration of the removal of so many great and good 
 men, whom they liad lately had occasion to lament, 
 in the prime of life and in the midst of their use- 
 fulness. To this observation Dr. Buchanan replied, 
 '* So long as they were still on earth, and the divirie 
 will was not known, it was our duty fervently to 
 pray for their recovery and lengthened life ; but, 
 when once that will has been discovered by the 
 event, we should rejoice and praise God that he 
 has received them to himself, and hasten to follow 
 them to his heavenly kingdom." It was not long 
 before he himself afforded another illustration of 
 this remark, which, though not unfrequently made, 
 was peculiarly characteristic of that spirit of calm 
 and habitual submission to the will of God, and of 
 lively faith in the realities of an eternal world, by 
 which he was distinafuished. 
 
 The extreme severity of the weather had excited 
 some apprehensions in the minds of many as to 
 the probable ellect of Dr. Buchanan's exposure to 
 it during some hours of the preceding day. He did 
 not, however, appear at the time to have snfTeicd 
 by it, and leached Broxbourne on the 2oih of Ja- 
 nuary in safety. 
 
 On the 1st of February he wrote to Mrs. Thomp- 
 
450 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 son informing her of the solemn scene at which he 
 had lately been present, describing the numerous 
 and respectful attendance at the funeral of Mr. 
 Thornton, and expressing his earnest desire to fol- 
 low him to the same blessed inheritance. 
 
 This was the last communication of Dr. Bucha- 
 nan to his distant friends. The time of his depar- 
 ture was now fast approaching. He continued, how- 
 ever, his christian undertaking to the last. On his 
 return from Yorkshire he had proceeded with the 
 preparation of the Syriac version of the Acts of 
 the Apostles, and had advanced, on the day pre- 
 ceding his death, to the twentieth chapter, in which 
 the zealous and affectionate apostle, in his address 
 to the elders of Ephesus, expresses his conviction 
 of his final separation from his friends, in these re- 
 markable words : " And now, behold, I know that 
 ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the 
 kingdom of God, shall see my face no more." The 
 chapter which thus closed the labors of Dr. Bu- 
 chanan, and in which he seemed to bid farewell to 
 every earthly association, was but too prophetic of 
 the event which was about so shortly to take place. 
 Of his few remaining days, and of his sudden re- 
 moval to that higher world, for which he had long 
 been ripening, the following letter to the Rev. Mr. 
 Kerapthorne, from his confidential servant, who 
 was his only attendant in Hertfordshire, though 
 unavoidably inadequate to the anxious wishes of 
 
ins DEATH. 4-51 
 
 his friends, affords a minute and railhfnl ac- 
 count : 
 
 " BiiOXBouuNK, Feb. 12, 1S15. 
 
 " Rev. Sir, — In case of your not havinc; been 
 made acquainted, tlirougli the public papers, with 
 the decease of Dr. Buchanan, I feel it my duty lo 
 write to you on the subject. 
 
 " The doctor's state of health, as you may liave 
 understood, had improved durin'^ his residence 
 here up to the time of his late visit to Yorkshire ; 
 but the fatigue of that journey, probably added to 
 an attendance, in a week after his return, in l)ad 
 weather, at the funeral of Mr. Henry 'I hornton, 
 brought on an apparently slight indisposition, which 
 the doctor himself, I believe, considered merely a 
 cold. On Thursday last, however, while making a 
 morning's call on some of the neighbors, he was 
 taken with something of a fainting fit, which passed 
 off without his considering it of consequence enough 
 to require medical assistance. As the sickness came 
 on again towards evening, I took the liberty to dis- 
 obey his orders, and to send for the medical gentle- 
 man whose skill had so much appeared in the im- 
 provement of the doctor's health in the preceding 
 months. This gentleman was with him about nine 
 o'clock in the evening, and did not express any ap- 
 prehension of danger. Dr. Buclvman retired a little 
 past ten, saying he was better ; and, as he expected 
 to get a little sleep, wished me not to disturb him 
 
452 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCIIAXAN. 
 
 to take the seconri medicine till he rung the bell. 
 About half-past eleven, sitting on the watch for the 
 summons, I fancied I heard something of an hic- 
 cough ; which induced me to enter the chamber, 
 and to inquire if he was worse. He signified he icas 
 worse. On which I instantly alarmed the family 
 and sent for assistance ; and then returned to the 
 bedside, where he appeared laboring under a spasm 
 in the breast. He intimated a wish for me to hold 
 his head ; and in this posture, without struggle or 
 convulsion, his breath appeared to leave him ; so 
 that before twelve, by which time Mr. Watts, the 
 printer, Mr. Yeates, and a few other neighbors 
 were with me, we were obliged to conclude that 
 our excellent friend's spirit had joined the glorified 
 saints above. I should have mentioned that, on re- 
 turning home in the moi'ning after the fit. Dr. Bu- 
 chanan seemed lame on the left side ; but, as it 
 went off, he did not think it of any consequence. 
 I have reason to think it might be a third attack of 
 paralysis. The medical man, on coming after his 
 dissolution, said it did not surprise him. A letter 
 was immediately forwarded, by express, to com- 
 municate the melancholy intelligence to my mas- 
 ter's family in Yorkshire ; from whence some one 
 is hourly expected. Mr. JNIacaulay was also written 
 to, and Mr. Simeon at Cambridge. On Saturday 
 Mr. Babington, the member for Leicester, came 
 down, and approved of the precaution and arrange- 
 
IH.S DEATH. 4.'»3 
 
 raents taken immediately after his tleparture ; botli 
 as to putting seals on the drawers, study, &:c. ike. 
 " With the greatest respect, 1 beg to subscribe 
 myself, Rev. Sir, your most obedient faithful ser- 
 vant, T. Vaux." 
 
 Such was the sudden summons by which, on tlie 
 9th of February, 1S15, in the 49th year of his age, 
 this eminent servant of God was called to his hea- 
 venly rest. To himself it could scarcely be said to 
 be unexpected. The debilitated constitution which 
 he brought from India, and the repeated shocks it 
 had subsequently sustained, led him habitually to 
 regard his continuance in life as extremely uncer- 
 tain and precarious ; while his various afflictions, 
 personal and domestic, had tended to withdraw his 
 thoughts and affections from the world, and to fix 
 them on spiritual and eternal objects. We have seen 
 that in fulfilling the important engagement which 
 terminated his earthly course, he evidently appear- 
 ed to be working while it was called " to-day," and 
 to be constantly anticipating the near approach of 
 "the nieht" in which he could no Ion crer work. 
 Of his habitual preparation for the hour of his de- 
 parture, no one can entertain a doubt who has 
 marked the scriptural foundation of his faith, and 
 the unquestionable evidences of its sincerity in the 
 long and uniform tenor of his truly christian career. 
 Jt might, perhaps, have been desirable, both fur 
 
454 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 himself and for others, that some interval, however 
 short, had been vouchsafed ; in which this " good 
 and faithful servant " of his Lord might have had 
 an opportunity of renewing his repentance, of tes- 
 tifying his faith, of perfecting his patience, of puri- 
 fying and exalting his charity, of bidding a more 
 solemn and express farewell to " things seen and 
 temporal," of preparing more deliberately and de- 
 voutly for an immediate entrance upon " things 
 unseen and eternal." Such an interval, however, 
 so precious to the generality of mankind, and usu- 
 ally so important, the divine wisdom did not see fit 
 to grant to the subject of these memoirs. Neither, 
 indeed, can it be said to have been necessary. The 
 readers of the preceding narrative have already 
 observed Dr. Buchanan in India, upon what he 
 believed would prove his death-bed ; and they have 
 witnessed the deeply penitent, yet resigned and 
 peaceful frame of mind which he then exhibited. 
 Such, as we are evidently authorized to conclude, 
 only of a mature and heavenly nature, would have 
 been his testimony and his feelings, had he been 
 allowed again to express them. In the absence, 
 however, of any such opportunity, we must be con- 
 tented to recur to that scene ; and, together with 
 the recollection of his subsequent " work of faith, 
 and labor of love, and patience of hope," endeavor 
 to enter into the full meaning of the following brief 
 sentence, which occurs amidst a few other '' pri- 
 
HI3 CHARACTER, 455 
 
 vate thoughts," and in which its author appears 
 plainly tt) have anticipated the probability of some 
 final stroke, which should impede the exercise of 
 his faculties, and prove the prelude to his depavt- 
 ure. " If," said he, *■' my mind and memory should 
 be affected by illness of body, I shall look to my 
 head, Christ. I am but a member." From any 
 painful infliction of this kind Dr. Euchanan was 
 mercifully spared ; and, after having paid the last 
 sad tribute of affection to the friend and benefactor 
 of his early years, was removed almost contempo- 
 raneously and reunited to him and to other kin- 
 dred spirits of the "just made perfect," in regions 
 where sickness and sorrow, change and separation, 
 are for ever unknown. 
 
 In consequence of a wish he had expressed to 
 Mrs. Thompson, not long before his death, the re- 
 mains of Dr. BuchanaTi were removed from Brox- 
 bounie to Litlle Ouseburn, in Yorkshire, and depo- 
 sited near those of his second lamented wife. A 
 monumental inscription, written by the Rev. W. 
 Kichardson, of York, records in plain but expres- 
 sive language the leading particulars of his life and 
 character.* 
 
 In reviewing the history of Dr. Buchanan, our 
 attention must be first directed to his religious clia- 
 racter. It was this which originally introduced him 
 
 • Sec the end of the volurac. 
 
456 MEMOIR OP DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 to our notice, and by this lie was principally dis- 
 tinguished throughout his benevolent and useful 
 career. The deep and solemn impression of reli- 
 gion, which, through the grace of God, was made 
 upon his mind in his twenty-fourth year, formed 
 the commencement of a life devoted to the service 
 of Christ. We have traced the effects of this great 
 spiritual change in the course of his studies at the 
 University of Cambridge, during his various labors 
 in India, and his continued exertions after his return 
 to Britain. Amidst these diversified scenes and en- 
 gagements, an energetic conviction of the infinite 
 importance and value of the Gospel, and a lively 
 sense of his own obligations to that grace which 
 had made him effectually acquainted with its bless- 
 ings, were the commanding principles which actu- 
 ated his conduct. 
 
 Those who know little of real Christianity may, 
 perhaps, attribute his earnestness and activity in 
 religion, as they would that of the great apostle 
 himself, to enthusiasm, zeal for proselytism, or the 
 love of fame. But the whole tenor of this narrative 
 sufl^iciently proves that no corrupt, weak, or worldly 
 motives swayed his mind. The great object to 
 which he devoted his life engaged him in an un- 
 ceasing contest with the principles and the preju- 
 dices of those whom a regard to his worldly inte- 
 rest would have led him carefully to conciliate ; 
 and, though his benevolent exertions undoubtedly 
 
m.s < iiAUAcrrn. 4,07 
 
 procured him many valuable friends, few men of 
 such sober and practical views, and of such genu- 
 ine philanthropy, have gone througli a greater va- 
 riety of " evil " as well as of " good report." With 
 •Still less justice can the activity of Dr. Buchanan 
 in the great labor of his life be ascribed to a con- 
 troversial or innovating s])irit. lie was, on the con- 
 trai-y, disposed, both by conslituti«)n and principle, 
 to avoid rather than court opposition ; while, dur- 
 ing several years, the langor of declining health 
 was continually urging him to self indulgence and 
 repose. 
 
 Amidst such powerful inducements to a very dif- 
 ferent line of c(mduct, it is scarcely possible not to 
 perceive that Dr. Buchanan could only have been 
 actuated by pure and disinterested motives. The 
 love of Christ and of the souls of men, and a fer- 
 vent desire to be the instrument of imparting to 
 others that unspeakable blessing which he had him- 
 self received, were in reality the springs both of his 
 public and private exertions. These were the prin- 
 ciples by which he was animated, and which sup- 
 ported him with equanimity and patience amidst 
 labor and reproach, infirmity and sonow, and even 
 rendered him joyful in tribulation. 
 
 Combined with these motives, Dr. Buchanan 
 possessed a spirit of lively and vigorous faith, which 
 substantiated " things not seen," and led him to 
 think and act under a strong impression of their 
 
 BuchaaaD. **" 
 
458 MEMOIR OF DR. liUClIANAN. 
 
 truth and reality. He was therefore eminently a 
 practical man. Though inclined by natural taste 
 and the habits of a learned and scientific education 
 to indulge in speculative pursuits and pleasures, 
 the strength of his faith and the ardor of his love 
 towards objects of spiritual and eternal concern, 
 rescued him from their fascination, and taught 
 him to account all knowledge and all occupation 
 vain and unimportant, compared with that which 
 tended to render himself and others " wise unto 
 salvation." Hence, from the period at which the 
 religious necessities of his own countrymen in India 
 and the moral state of its benighted native inhabit- 
 ants first impressed his mind, the life of Dr. Buchanan 
 exhibits a continued series of strenuous, self-denying, 
 and disinterested efforts to supply the deficiencies 
 and to ameliorate the condition which he lamented. 
 For the accomplishment of this great purpose 
 he was admirably qualified, both by natural and 
 acquired advantages. Sagacious and observant, 
 calm and persevering, resolute, yet mild and cour- 
 teous, he took a penetrating and extensive survey 
 of the various objects around him; and, omitting 
 points of inferior consideration and importance, 
 fixed his attention on the grand and prominent fea- 
 tures by which they were distinguished. The tem- 
 per also and habits of Dr. Buchanan were pecu- 
 liarly calculated to soften the asperities and to re- 
 move the prejudices of opponents, to treat with 
 
HIS CIIARACTEH. -I-'jO 
 
 men of every rank upon their own gnjiinds, and f<* 
 engage tlicm in pronioling the great objects wliicli 
 he himself had in view; vvliile the comprehensive- 
 ness of his mind and the munificence of his dispo- 
 sition enabled him both to conceive and execute 
 designs of no ordinary difficulty and magnitude. 
 
 AVe have accordingly seen, in the course of these 
 memoirs, that, by the publication of authentic do- 
 cuments and convincing statements, by the proposal 
 of magnificent prizes, by the active exercise of his 
 influence with those who respected and esteemed 
 him, and by personal exertions, which included a 
 journey of more than five thousand miles, amidst 
 many difficulties and dangers, he endeavored to ex- 
 tend and perpetuate among the European popula- 
 tion of India the national faith and worship ; and, un- 
 moved by the obloquy of opponents, and by the want 
 of cordial assistance on the partof some who might 
 have been expected to support and cheer him, la- 
 bored unceasingly to diffuse among millions, im- 
 mersed in the thickest darkness, " the light that 
 leads to heaven." 
 
 The qualifications of Dr. Buchanan, as a writer, 
 were peculiarly suited to the task wiiich he had un- 
 dertaken. Bold, perspicuous, and decisive ; he is 
 distinguished in all his works by the accumulation 
 and display of new and striking facts, connected, for 
 the most part, by brief, pointed, and sententious ob* 
 servations. Even in his writings which are more 
 
460 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAX. 
 
 Strictly theological, be adopted a similar plan ; sel- 
 dom pursuing a long train of reasoning, but laying 
 down certain undoubted facts, truths, or principles, 
 and arguing from them directly and practically to 
 the conclusions which he had in view. The style, 
 however, of Dr. Buchanan, though in general sim- 
 ple and unambitious, was, as we have more than 
 once had occasion to notice, frequently dignified 
 and eloquent. 
 
 His delivery was slow, but impressive, and. 
 though far from being studied, was yet pleasing and 
 persuasive. His sermons were often doctrinal, 
 but more frequently practical and experimental ; 
 and generally interesting, either from the historical 
 or parabolical form, or from the simple, yet ener- 
 getic and affecting style in which they were com- 
 posed. So far as mere popularitj'^ of manner is 
 concenied, he may not be considered as entitled to 
 much distinction. But if success be admitted as 
 any test of merit, he must be allowed to rank high 
 as a preacher. Both in India and this country ho 
 was honored as the instrument of converting many 
 from " the error of their way," and of instructing 
 and edifying others in the faith of the Gospel. 
 
 Preaching was not, however, that by which Dr. 
 Buchanan was chiefly distinguished. His peculiar 
 excellencies, as a public character, were of another 
 kind, and are to be discerned in his enlarged and 
 truly christian philanthropy, in the extent and 
 
niS CHAKACTLK. 4G1 
 
 acknowlodged importance, utility, and disinterest- 
 edness of his plans, and in the boldness, generosity, 
 and ability, with which he labored to accomplish 
 them. 
 
 Of his fidelity, diligence, and activity, in the ful- 
 filment of his oflicial duties, the conduct of Dr. 
 Buchanan, as Vice-Provost of the College of Foit 
 William, is a striking and satisfactory instance. 
 During his residence in India, independently of his 
 acknowledged value as a public servant, he was, 
 according: to the memorialist of his excellent col- 
 league, " beloved "and admired by many of every 
 rank for his fine abilities, and for the estimable 
 qualities of his heart;" and, after his return to this 
 country, his uninterrupted labors in the cause of 
 Christianity, amidst accumulated infirmities and 
 sorrows, equally secured him the respect and es- 
 teem of all who are capable of appreciating pure 
 and exalted virtue. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan, however, sought not " honor from 
 men." His faith enabled him to "overcome the 
 world," and rendered him comparatively iiidifler- 
 ent to its applauses and its frowns. He lived 
 
 " As ever in his great Task-master's eye ;" 
 
 an# appeared on all occasions supremely anxious to 
 fulfil his appointed duties, and to hasten towards 
 the heavenly prize. " He carried about with him," 
 observed one of his intimate friends, " a deep sense 
 39* 
 
462 MEMOIK OF DR. BUCnANAX. 
 
 of the reality of vellgion, as a principle of act ion ; 
 and, from various conversations which I recollect 
 with him, I could strongly infer how much he la- 
 bored to attain purity of heart." His last common- 
 place book contains various proofs of his simple, 
 devoted, and progressive piety. Observations occur, 
 chiefly founded upon passages of Scripture, on the 
 great doctrines of the Gospel, particularly on faith 
 in the atonement, on divine grace, on holiness, on the 
 love of God and of our neighbor, on humility, on 
 communion with God, and on the world of spirits. 
 
 One brief extract, entitled " A general Topic of 
 Prayer," may serve to show the practical piety and 
 the humble and subdued disposition of its author. 
 
 " Let us," says this excellent man, " endeavor to 
 seek happiness and contentment in our own place 
 and condition, not looking abroad for it. Let us 
 seek and expect it in existing circumstances ; con- 
 tented with little domains, little possessions, a little 
 dwelling ; that we may prepare for a less house, a 
 smaller tenement under ground." 
 
 If we descend to the more private features of his 
 character, the reader of his memoirs must be struck 
 by his patience under protracted weakness and suf- 
 fering, and his submission to the will of God under 
 frequent and severe privations of domestic iind 
 personal happiness, and by his extraordinary libe- 
 rality and diffusive charity. Of the more remark- 
 able instances of these virtues, sufficient notice has 
 
HIS cifARArTra. 4C3 
 
 been already taken ; but Dr. Buclianan was cor- 
 dially and habitually generous ; and, independently 
 f)f those rauiiillcent acts which were unavoidably 
 public, the writer of this narrative has met with 
 many other instances, scarcely less noble, of which 
 the world never heard ; while, in addition to his li- 
 beral support of various christian institutions which 
 adorn our country, there were, no doubt, numerous 
 exertions of private benevolence which were utter- 
 ly unknown. 
 
 His social virtues require only to be mentioned. 
 His invariable kindness and candor, his forbear- 
 ance and readiness to fors^ive, tocjether with all the 
 charities of domestic life, are excellencies which, 
 though happily too common to be much dwelt 
 upon, will long live in the recollection and regret 
 of his family and friends. And among all who can 
 justly appreciate distinguished worth, geniune pie 
 ty, and enlarged and active pbilanthrophy there 
 can surely be but one opinion — that Dr. Buchanan 
 was " a burning and a shining light," and a signal 
 blessing to the nations of the East. W© may, in- 
 deed, safely leave his eulogy to be pronounced by 
 future generations in Great Britain and Hindostan, 
 who will probably vie with each other in doing 
 honor to his memory, and unite in venerating him 
 as one of the best benefactors of mankind ; as hav- 
 ing labored to impart to those who, in a spiritual 
 sense, are " poor indeed," a treasure 
 
464 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 The gems of India." 
 
 But if it were possible that men should forget or 
 be insensible to their obligations to this excellent 
 person, he is now far removed from human censure 
 and applause ; his judgment and his work are with 
 God ; his record is on high, and his witness in 
 heaven. He has '' entered into peace," and will 
 doubtless stand in no unenvied lot " at the end of 
 the days ;" when " they that are wise shall shine as 
 the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn 
 many to righteousness as the stars for ever and 
 ever." 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 (by the AMERICAN EDITOR.) 
 
 The dispensations of divine Providence towards 
 Dr. Buchanan, from his youth, were very remark- 
 able, and seem to have been specially directed to 
 prepare and qualify him for eminent usefulness in 
 propagating the Gospel in the East. 
 
 Naturally, he was endued with a mind of uncom- 
 mon vigor and fertility ; his genius was, indeed, 
 
COXCI-VSION. 40o 
 
 romantic, and in some degree eccentric; but this 
 very defect of character was overruled by Provi- 
 dence to draw him out from his native obscurity, 
 and to briiic^ him into an intimate friendship with 
 those excellent men, the Kev. John Newton, and 
 Henry Thornton, Esq. by whose counsel and efi'cc- 
 tual aid he was prepared to occupy a very important 
 place in the church. The former was, in all re- 
 spects, a spiritual father to him ; and, as long as ho 
 lived, acted the part of a wise and faithful friend, 
 who, by his deep acquaintance with experimental 
 religion, and thorough knowledge of evangelical 
 truth, was qualified to be, to an ardent young man, 
 a counsellor of inestimable value. And certainly 
 he did watch over him with a truly paternal solici- 
 tude, and no doubt bore him on his heart daily at 
 the throne of grace. A young and ardent christian 
 could not easily have found a safer and a more 
 affectionate guide, if the whole world had been 
 searched. 
 
 The latter was disposed and qualified to be an 
 efl[icient friend and helper in all things in which 
 money and influence were needed. * By his liberali- 
 ty and disinterested friendship, Mr. Buchanan, in 
 addition to the learning which he had acquired in 
 Scotland, was enabled to obtain a finished univer- 
 sity education at Cambridge. It is a fact confirmed 
 by experience, that a man's qualifications for use- 
 fulness in high and important stations, requiring 
 
46G MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 much vigor of mind and large mental resources, 
 must have an important relation to his early disci- 
 pline and training. Had Dr. Buchanan, as he and 
 his friends at first wished, entered the ministry 
 without going through the university, he, no doubt, 
 would have been a useful minister, and would have 
 had several more years for his public work ; but he 
 never could have filled the station which he did so 
 honorably in India; and he never could have exer- 
 cised that influence over the public mind by his 
 writings which has been attended with results so 
 momentous and felicitous. 
 
 The fact that Dr. Buchanan was brought into 
 the ministry in the established church of England, 
 doubtless greatly enlarged the sphere of his exer- 
 tions in the East. By reason of this he had access 
 to a field, to which, as a dissenter, he could have 
 had none ; and by reason of which he was able to 
 exercise a powerful influence over the universities, 
 and over even the dignitaries of the church at 
 home. 
 
 The zeal, exertion, and success with which Dr. 
 Buchanan labored to awaken the attention of the 
 christian public to the duty and importance of pro- 
 pagating Christianity in India, have never yet been 
 duly appreciated. Before his writings dispelled 
 the darkness of prejudice which prevailed among 
 those high in authority, it was deemed not only im- 
 politic, but highly dangerous to the British posses- 
 
CONCLUSION*. 4G7 
 
 sions in the East, to make tlic least attempt to dis- 
 turb the inveterate prejudices of the Hindoos, 
 which had been increasing lor ages. All their su- 
 perstitious rites and customs, however bloody or im- 
 pure, it was thought necessary to leave unmolested. 
 This delusion, the writings of Dr. Buchanan, and 
 other men of talents, were the principal means 
 of dispelling ; and the open door at the present 
 time for missions in British India, is doubtless 
 owing, in no inconsiderable degree, to his exertions. 
 It is, indeed, wonderful that he should have been 
 able to take views, so large and comprehensive, of 
 the great harvest which, by successive acts of divine 
 Providence, was opening and ripening in the East. 
 And not only did he perceive the work which was 
 to be done, but he had the sagacity to discern the 
 means and facilities requisite for its performance. 
 The variety and extent of his labors show not only 
 the abundant fertility of his mind and his extensive 
 benevolence, but also his profound wisdom. When 
 the millions of India shall become christian, and the 
 other eastern nations be converted unto God, we 
 believe that few names will be more highly honored 
 and revered than that of Dr. Buchanan. 
 
 If we seek to ascertain the secret of his extraor- 
 dinary success, and how be was able to accomplish 
 so much in so short a time, we shall find the solu- 
 tion in the jmrity and elevation of his christian 
 motives, and the unity and simplicity of the end to 
 
468 MEMOIR OF Dil. EUC'HAxN'AN'. 
 
 which he directed all his energries. Wherever he 
 is, the same zeal for the propagation of the religion 
 of Christ appears to aiiimate him. This unity of 
 purpose and purity of motive was remarkably dis- 
 played when a student in the university. Indeed, 
 it would be difficult to find in evangelical biography 
 a nobler triumph of christian principle over literary 
 ambition. Here was self-denial of an uncommon 
 kind, and in the exercise of which he found few 
 even among his christian friends disposed to en- 
 courage him. The pious Newton alone approved 
 his deliberate purpose to sacrifice the honors which 
 he might have obtained, for the sake of making a 
 thorough preparation for the sacred and important 
 office for which he was a candidate. His whole 
 correspondence during his residence at Cambridge, 
 furnishes the most satisfactory evidence of his jea- 
 lousy over himself, lest an attention to human learn- 
 ing should damp his zeal, or retard his progress in 
 personal religion ; and evinces the depth and purity 
 of that principle of piety which had been implanted 
 in his heart. 
 
 The same disinterested spirit he carried with 
 him to the ministry. His object was not where he 
 might find a situation where he could spend his 
 days in ease, affluence, and honor ; or how he might 
 rise to a dignified station in the church ; but when 
 he saw a way open for his employment in the 
 East, he cheerfully resigned all his prospects of 
 
CONCLUSIO.V. 400 
 
 preferment in liis Dwn cr>untry, and cmbracod the 
 offer of going as a chaplain to India. And while 
 resident in that country he pursued but one object. 
 All his studies, and exertions, and plans of promo- 
 ting learning, and the translation of the Sciiptures, 
 were in exact subserviency to the grand design of 
 propagating and extending Christianity in the East. 
 
 Though his j)lans were great, and required the 
 co-operation of many to accomplish them ; yet 
 were they not impracticable, but devised with a 
 i\i\\ Joir sight of t fie means nquisih' to carry them 
 into effect. And he possessed a remarkable talent 
 for bringing into re(]uisition the instruments which 
 the exigence required. To fertility of invention he 
 added not only energy in the execution, but great 
 versatility of mind, by which he c(juld accommo- 
 date himself to new and unexpected circumstances. 
 
 That Dr. Buchanan was in some things loo san- 
 guine, and saw new and important events through 
 u medium somewhat discolored by an ardent mind 
 and vivid imagination, cannot be denied. This led 
 him sometimes to represent things in such a light 
 as to excite too high expectations, which have not 
 t)een fully realized. But this very ardor, and, if it 
 mSiy be so called, enthusiasm, was necess:iry to the 
 successful prosecution of the great objects which he 
 liad in view. No man has ever achieved any thing 
 \er\ irreut without some good decree of this nrdor ; 
 and when it is, as in his case, guided by pure nio- 
 
 Euchanan. ^^ 
 
470 MEMOIR OF DK. BUCHANAN. 
 
 tives and elevated aims, it is a precious gift of God 
 to qualify some men for great enterprises. 
 
 Two of the most prominent traits in Dr. Buchan- 
 an's character were courage and enterprise. The 
 latter has already been sufficiently noticed ; and, 
 as an evidence of the former, we would refer to his 
 visit to Goa, and to the interior of the prison of the 
 Inquisition. Perhaps there is not on record in his- 
 tory an example of courage more cool, deliberate, 
 and determined. It was that species of courage 
 which arises from the consciousness of an upright 
 intention, and confidence in the presence and over- 
 ruling providence of God. 
 
 But with all Dr. Buchanan's genius, learning, 
 enterprise, and zeal, he could not have accom- 
 plished what he did, if he had not been a man of 
 incessant indefatigable diligence. His whole course 
 was one of activity and exertion, steadily directed 
 to one great object. When his health was so debi- 
 litated by the climate of the east that it was neces- 
 sary for him to return home to England, it might 
 have been supposed that he would have ceased from 
 his labors, and sought repose for his declinino;' years ; 
 but no such thought occupied his benevolent mind. 
 His exertions for the best interests of India were 
 undiminished, and even more successful than when 
 in that country. Providence seems to have directed 
 his return to his native country for the very pur- 
 pose of using him as an instrument to enlighten the 
 
coNCLUsrOiV. 471 
 
 public mind, and to exercise an extensive influence 
 ovef men of the first order of intellect, and fiilini^ 
 important stations, in favor of the East. 
 
 His public discourses before the universities, 
 and that before the Church Missionary Society, not 
 only produced a salutary effect when delivered, but 
 were widely circulated in print, and gave an addi- 
 tional impulse in favor of eastern missions, which 
 has been powerfully felt on this side the Atlantic ; 
 and that impulse, instead of gradually ceasing, has 
 gone on accumulating force ; and will go on from 
 strength to strength, until it shall bear down all op- 
 position. 
 
 Some of Dr. Buchanan's unaccomplished plans 
 manifest as much wisdom and enterprise as those 
 which he was enabled to carry into effect. It was 
 his settled purpose to return from India by land 
 for no other purpose than to collect information 
 respecting the religious state of the people ; and 
 especially of the remnants of oriental christian 
 sects who still inhabit that extensive region. But 
 he was prevented from executing his purpose by 
 the belligerent state of the people through whose 
 territories he must have passed. It was, however, 
 with evident regret that he relintiuished this dan- 
 gerous journey. And after his return to England, 
 when his health had received a very serious shock 
 by a paralytic stroke, he still had the courage and 
 enterprise to project a journey into Palestine, 
 
472 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 Syria, Asia Minor, &c. wliich journey was planned 
 pimply with a view to the propagation of the Gospel. 
 In this cherished plan he was also disappointed. 
 His health was entirely too feeble for the hard- 
 ships of such a journey. 
 
 There is yet one trait in Dr. Buchanan's charac- 
 ter which it would be unpardonable not to bring 
 conspicuously before the public. And although it 
 is fully manifested in the regular course of the pre- 
 ceding narrative, yet it seems proper to turn the 
 attention of the reader pointedly to it, because it 
 may be considered as rare, even in the character of 
 sincere christians. We refer to his extraord'inarij 
 and princely munificence. Seldom has the world 
 had the opportunity of contemplating a character 
 so perfectly exempt from avarice, and exhibiting a 
 generosity so pure and disinterested. If Dr. Bu- 
 chanan had been a man of ample fortune, or had 
 been in the way of acquiring enormous gains in 
 India, it would not have appeared so singular that 
 he should bestow so many large sums of money to 
 promote the extension of Christianity in India. 
 But when we consider that he went out a poor 
 young man ; and while in the East had no other 
 income than from his office as chaplain, and for a 
 time as vice-chancellor of the College of Fort Wil- 
 liam, and that he had a family of his own, for whom 
 no permanent provision had been made, we can- 
 not but think that his various munificent donations 
 were a rare example of christian beneficence. 
 
CONCLUSION. 473 
 
 Here, also, will be ihe proper j)lace to remark 
 on that delicate sense of moral propriety which led 
 Dr. Buchanan, at an early period after he was set- 
 tled in India, to rvfund to Mr. Thornton the whole 
 sum which that gentleman had so generously ex- 
 pended in supporting him at the university. TIk; 
 return of this money was not expected, nor desired ; 
 but so nice was the sense of justice in Dr. Buchan- 
 an's conscientious mind, that he felt it \.o be obliga- 
 tory on him to pay this debt ; and thus has fur- 
 nished an example worthy of imitation by other 
 young men who have been aided in a similar man- 
 ner. But not content with merely paying his debts, 
 he felt it to be incumbent on him to bestow as 
 much, or even, more, for the support of some pi- 
 ous and promising candidate for the ministry at the 
 university. 
 
 Iriisjilial piety, also, is worthy of all praise and 
 of universal imitation. Before he left his native 
 country for India he took a journey to Scotland, 
 to visit his aged mother. And when it was in his 
 power, he remitted a considerable sum of money 
 to her ; and finally, out of his moderate income, 
 gave her, as long as he lived, an allowance of c£300 
 per annum. Though long life in the land of Ca- 
 naan is no longer the reward of filial piety ; yet 
 we believe that an equivalent is still promised, and 
 that God often rewards the pious son who " honors 
 his father and mother," with prosperity in all his un- 
 40* 
 
474 MEMOIR OF DR. BUCHANAN. 
 
 dertakirigs. Dr. Buchanan, on his return from 
 India, finding that his mother still lived, undertook 
 another journey to Scotiatnd, breaking away from 
 all his other friends and engagements, to show his 
 respect and affection for his aged surviving parent. 
 Upon a review of Dr. Buchanan's life, we are of 
 opinion that he may safely be recommended to 
 those whom providence has called to take a lead in 
 missionary efforts, as furnishing a conspicuous and 
 admirable exam2)le of^dsdom, energy, industry, fer- 
 severance, and disinterestedness, in the promotion of 
 the kini^dom of Christ amongr the heathen. This 
 volume, we trust, therefore, with the biography of 
 Brainerd, Pearce, Martyn, Carey, and others, will 
 be the means of elevating the views and giving 
 impulse to the pious feelings of many a youthful 
 mind. There is no stronger encouragement to 
 benevolent effort than observi'ng the efficacy which 
 God has graciously given to the example of such a 
 man as David Brainerd, who spent his life in the 
 deepest obscurity, in the dark bosom of the forest, 
 among the untutored savages ; but his memory is 
 now embalmed, and he being dead, yet speaketh. 
 May some of the same blessed fruits attend the 
 reading of this memoir of Buchanan ! English 
 literature is now rich in evangelical biography; 
 and the stock is increasing every day. How would 
 Dr. Buchanan have rejoiced to behold what our 
 eyes now see, of the wide-spread harvest in the 
 
CONCLUSION. 475 
 
 East already white, and only waiting for the reap- 
 ers to enter in and gather precious sheaves. But 
 he foresaw the scene whicli is now presented ; and 
 not only beheld it, but sowed an abundance of seed 
 which since his death has sprung up. What more 
 suitable termination, then, can we give to this 
 volume than to repeat the exhortation of our Lord, 
 " Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send laborers 
 into his harvest ; for the harvest is plenteous, but 
 the laborers are few." 
 
MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 Ill sure ati.l riirtain hope 
 
 of a blessed rcsiirroclion uiilo eternal life, 
 
 was depositiMl here the mortal liody of 
 
 M A R 'I , 
 
 the beloved wife of the R,!v. Dr. Claudius Buciiakan, 
 
 of Mout Hall, 
 
 1 youngest daughter of ilcnry Thompson, Esq. of Kirby Hall, 
 
 who died on the '23d day of March, 1813, 
 
 iu the SClh year of her age. 
 
 By tho grace given unto her, this excellent woman 
 
 adorned by her conduct the doctrine of the Gotpel. 
 
 Sincerity, honesty, and tfimplicity 
 
 were the charncters of her mind, and she 
 
 delighted to serve God, 
 
 "who desireth truth in the inward partn." 
 
 Exercised by personal and domestic suffering, sho wai 
 
 early weaned from the love of the world: 
 
 Her affections were set on things which are above, 
 
 and bbe was enabled to overcome the world ; 
 
 for she was born of God. 
 
 For whatsoever is born of God overcometli the world : and 
 
 this is the victory that overcometh tho world, 
 
 even our faith." 1 John, 5 : 4. 
 
 Close by her side lie her two infant children, 
 
 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, 
 
 aged three days, 
 
 born 28th December, 1810. 
 
 And his infant brother, 
 
 who lived and died the 27th Fob. 1813. 
 
 Thrice happy infants 1 
 
 That saw the light, and turned their eyes aside 
 
 From our dim regions to the eternal Sub. 
 
Sacred to the Memory of 
 CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN, D. D. 
 
 Late Vice-Provost of the College of Fort William in Bengal, 
 
 whose eminent character as a Christian, 
 
 zeal for the cause of his God and Saviour, 
 
 and unwearied endeavors to promote it in the earth, 
 
 deserve to be had in everlasting remembrance. 
 
 He was a native of Scotland, 
 
 but educated at Queen's College, Cambridge. 
 
 During the twelve years of his abode in India, 
 
 " his spirit was stirred in hiin," 
 
 while he beheld millions of his fellow-subjects, 
 
 under a christian government, 
 
 as sheep without a shepherd, and perishing 
 
 for lack of knowledge. 
 
 To excite the attention of the British nation to this sad spectacle, 
 
 he devoted his time, his talents, and a 
 
 large portion of his income. 
 
 By his " Christian Researches," and other 
 
 valuable publications, 
 
 he pleaded the cause of neglected India, nor pleaded in vain; 
 
 Britain was roused to a sense of her duty, 
 
 and sent forth laborers to the harvest. 
 
 Though gentle and unassuming, 
 
 he was bold and intrepid in this work of faith and labor of lovoj 
 
 and exhibited mental vigor to the last, 
 
 amidst great bodily debility and severe affliction. 
 
 In social and domestic life he was holy and exemplary, 
 
 full of mercy and good works : 
 
 Yet in lowliness of mind, he renounced all dependance upon 
 
 the excellencies which others saw and admired in him, 
 
 and looked for eternal salvation through the 
 
 obedience unto death of Christ. 
 
 He departed this life, February 9, 1615, aged 48, 
 
 at Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire ; 
 
 where he was superintending an edition of the Syriac Scriptures; 
 
 and was buried near the remains of his amiable wife, 
 
 whose virtues he has recorded on the adjoining stone. 
 
 " They were lovely and pleasant in their lives, 
 
 and in their death they were not " long " divided." 
 
 THE END. 
 
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