MO,




A
BRIEF MEMOIR
OF THE
REV. HENRY WATSON FOX, B.A.
OF WADHAM COLLEGE, OXFORD;
MIISSIONARY TO THE TELOOGOO PEOPLE, SOUTH INDIA.
PHILADELPHIA
A1MERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,
No. 816 CHESTNUT STREET.
VAES- YORK: No. 147 NASSAU ST......BOSTON: No. 9 CORNHILL.
LOUISTIJLR,, No. 10o FOURTH ST.




Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by the
AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION,
in the Clerk's Ogice of the District Court of the Eastern District of
Petnnsylvania..~-  No books are published by the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNMON
without the sanction of the Committee of Publication, consisting of fourteen members, fr2om the following denominations of Christianls, viz. Bsap
tist, Methodist, Congregationalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and
Reformed Dutch. Not more than three of the memsbers can be qf the sass e
denomination, and no book can be published to which any member of the
Crommittee shall object.




CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I.  Birth-Early  Education-Removal to
Rugby-Correspondence while there...................  5
CHAP. II.  Removal to Oxford-Spiritual trials during his University career................................. 47
CHAP. III. Takes his degree-Offers himself as a
missionary to the Church Missionary SocietyField of labour chosen, the Teloogoo people in
South India-Ordination, and marriage-Departure
from England, and arrival at Madras................. 63
CHAP. IV. Entrance upon his missionary duties at
Masulipatam-Extracts from Journal.................  91
CHAP. V. Failure of health-Residence on the Neilgherry Hills-Account of Mary Paterson-Returns
to Masulipatam, restored to health.................... 103
CHAP. VI. Death of his wife and youngest childEmbarks for England-Arrival there.................. 114
CHAP. VII. Efforts while in England to diffuse missionary intelligence and obtain fresh labourersReturn to India-Accident on board the Ripon
steamer-Journal of overland journey................ 125
CHAP. VIII.  Loss of health-Obliged  to abandon
India-Return to Engiand-Death of his father
-Improvement of health-Undertakes the office
of assistant secretary of the Church Missionary
Society..................................................... 235
CiHAP. IX.  His illness and death........................ 262
3




NOTE.
THE following Memoir has been abridged from
the larger work of the Rev. GEORGE TOWNSHEND
Fox, B. A. This valuable service has been kindly
and gratuitously rendered by a valued clerical friend,
who is anxious, with us, that so bright an example
of missionary zeal and devotion should be presented
to the youth of the United States, through Sundayschools and Bible-classes.








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A MEMOIR.
CHAPTER I.
BIRTIH-EARLY EDUCATION-REMOVAL TO RUGBY —CORRESPONDENCE WHILE THERE.
HENRY WATSON Fox, son of the late George
Townshend Fox, Esq., of the city of Durham, England, was born at Westoe, in the county of Durham,
on the 1st October, 1817.
His early education was conducted under his
parent's roof, where he was surrounded by a sweet
atmosphere of piety; and at the age of eleven he
went to the Durham Grammar School, where he
continued till February, 1831, at which time he was
thirteen years old.
The remainder of his education he received at
Rugby School, where he continued for six years,
until his removal to Oxford, and thus enjoyed the
benefit of Dr. Arnold's instruction and example,
during the most vigorous period of his valuable life.
That instruction was not thrown away, nor that example without its influence. During his residence
at Rugby School, and especially toward the latter
part of it, when he had the privilege of coming into
closer contact with Dr. Arnold, he contracted the
greatest affection and reverence for his character;
while the simple Christian instruction, which he so
1:          5




o6           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
faithfully delivered in the school-chapel, produced
a strong and abiding impression upon his heart; so
that it may truly be said, that the classical knowledge and intellectual development which he acquired
at school were the least of the blessings he there
received: for though other influences were co-operating during that period, yet the controlling power
of Dr. Arnold's mind in forming his Christian
character was of the highest value, and to the end
of his days was ever remembered by him with affection and gratitude.
I may here mention that my brother enjoyed the
advantages of a careful education at home, as well
as those which have been referred to as arising from
his connection with Rugby School.  Much seed had
been sown in days of childhood, and thus a good
foundation of religious knowledge had been laid.
And no influence was so happy, or proved of such
lasting benefit, as that which his eldest sister exercised over him during his holidays, when he was
in the habit of reading with her regularly, and of
receiving instruction, which, though for a season it
lay dormant, yet in due season sprang up and
brought forth fruit.
The first communication of a religious character
which I can remember having held with him, took
place in the year 1833, and is still vividly impressed
upon my memory. I well remember the discouragement which I felt at finding, as I imagined, no response, after having read to him, one Sunday, and
conversed with him about the value of his soul and
the duty of serving God.  He appeared uninterested,
and made no reply; but, as the following letter
afterward informed me, his countenance had not
been a fair index of his heart.




LETTERS FROMl RUGBY.             7
Rugby, Nov. 10, 1833.
MIY DEARa GEORGE,
As you wish me to write to you before I go home,
and as I have both opportunity and will to do so now,
I shall set about it. *  * * Perhaps you recollect
a conversation you had with me one Sunday at Durham; that conversation did me most inestimable
good, for which I have to thank you; for before
that, I had become, I may say, callous, or at least
lukewarm in religious matters. But that first roused
me, and it being followed by reading with Isabella
at Cullercoats, I have become alive to my situation:
I see how great is sin, and to what extent I have
sinned, and hope that God will now forgive me; but
still I feel myself constantly led away by temptation, in one shape or another, and still have a great
repugnance to looking back on the actions of the
day.  I now follow a practice which  -  advised
me to, and from which I feel great benefit, that is,
before I leave my room in order to go to the bedroom, to pray heartily to God, instead of, as I used
before to do, merely saying my prayers before I got
into bed; and if in these I was disturbed by other
boys talking, I used to go to bed and to sleep, without offering up any prayers from  my heart, and
without having even asked forgiveness for the sins
of the past day.  I have been this evening reading
one of Dr. Whately's Essays, on comparing the life
of a Christian with that of children, wherein he
shows how little we know of God, and in how confilled a sphere; what low and earthly ideas our
very best must be concerning the Divine being.
We have lectures from  Mr. Price on a Sunday evening, and partly from what he said, and partly from
my own thoughts, the following idea arose, which,




8            MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
though new to me, has undoubtedly occurred to
most persons, namely-that an additional reason for
turning to God early in life is, that as the faculties
of the body are more developed by exercise, even to
the last period of one's life, so a person, the longer
he lives in the fear and love of God, the more
righteous and more fit for heaven he becomes. I
must leave off now, for want of time: which though
generally an idle excuse, is not so in this case, as it
is now nearly bed-time, and I shall have no time to
finish this letter next week, so now-Good-night!
I remain,      Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.
Some religious impressions had been made upon
his mind, however, at an earlier period, as the following letter to a school-fellow will show. It seems that
being confined to the sick-room, this boy had spoken
to him seriously; but at that time, as too often happens under similar circumstances, the counsel, instead of being gratefully received, was unthankfully
rejected, and caused rather a breach of friendship.
His friend having removed to Harrow, it led to a
correspondence, of which the following letter forms
a part.
TO M. BUCKINGHAM, ESQ.~ DR. LONGLEY'S, HARROW.
Rugby, Oct. 30, 1834.
MY DEAR BUCKINGHAM,
You will, no doubt, be much astonished at receiving a letter from me so long after our correspondence had closed; and especially as I was the
party who put an end to it. I now write to ask
your pardon for so doing, and to express my sincere




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.              9
sorrow for it.  Do not think these expressions are
feigned or exaggerated; for though our acquaintance
was but very short, yet it was blessed by the hand
of God, and you were made by him the first instrument to call me to him: at first, as you may remember, I obeyed the call, but after you left, I fell away
again, and on your writing to me-as religion was
then a disagreeable subject to me-I did not answer
your letters, and so the correspondence broke off.
I now beg of you, that if you can forgive me, you
will be so good as to renew it. I recollect you told
me that you were brought to the knowledge of God
by an elder sister, and this has been my case. About
a year ago my eldest sister and brother took great
care of my religion, and have, by God's blessing,
bestowed on me the best gift they could have given
me; or rather not they, but God. I have often
thought of you since you left, but more especially
lately, and have intended for some time to write to
you, but have had no opportunity before this; and
now though later, I hope you will not reject this
letter. Since you went away from here, nearly three
years ago, great changes have taken place in myself,
my friends, and the school. From the "shell" I
am now advanced to a high place in the "'sixth,"
and my mind and faculties have had a great change;
but this is too egotistical and boasting. Again and
again, as I go on writing, I constantly think how
you will receive this, and am afraid that you will
not take it well: but pardon what is amiss, and
believe me     Your affectionate Friend,
HENRY W. Fox.
It may seem to require an apology for publishing
the letters of so young a person, at a time when his




10           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
mind was imperfectly developed, and his Christian
experience of the most juvenile character; but I
have ventured to do so under the impression that
more instruction may be derived to those who are
of like age, and under similar circumstances, by
tracing the early workings of God's Spirit upon a
school-boy's heart, than by having the character of a
mature and experienced Christian presented to them.
The feelings, the sympathies, the affections of a
school-boy are more likely to be enlisted by a record
of the trials, temptations, and spiritual progress of
another school-boy, than by the example of an older
person, with whom he can have no fellow-feeling
and few sentiments in common.
Rugby, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I received your kind letter by Robert, for which
I am much obliged to you. Now that I have come
here, I have fallen into such a vortex of temptation,
that I scarcely know what to do; and they chiefly
come on so insinuatingly, that I can scarcely perceive them at first. The two greatest are, I think,
pride of heart, in thinking: myself better than others,
in comparing myself with others; and though in my
understanding I see how wicked I am, yet my heart
is so sinful that it is with difficulty I find means of
repressing such thoughts. The other temptation is,
wasting time, which comes on by little and little,
but which I hope soon to be able with God's assistance to overcome. I find myself so sinful, that were
it not for Christ's blessed promises, I could scarcely
fancy he would hear me; but he has felt the infirmities and temptations of man, and from thence
I derive great comfort. And on account of the very




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             11
temptations I meet with here I ought to rejoice and
be thankful to God, that he has given me such opportunities of becoming more perfect and patient
than I could otherwise hope to be; but I as well as
you, am anxious and fear greatly lest I should fall.
During the day I feel myself clinging to this world
far too much, and, if it were not for my devotions
evening and morning, I feel I should quite forget my
Maker. I intend therefore to read the Bible several
times during the day, for there is such a blessing in
the Holy Scriptures, that they always inspire one
with good thoughts, and set me forward afresh to
follow the precepts laid down in them.  Oh, if they
were taken away, how could man exist? I often
follow the plan of Wilberforce Richmond, of reading the Psalms and praying over them. I find them
so full of beauty and comfort, so full of holiness,
that they quite refresh my soul. I constantly wish
I was with you, but God's will be done: if he wills
it, we shall meet again, when I shall be able to talk
to you and learn from you so many good things!
I pray for you continually.
There is a very interesting case here. There is a
little boy about fourteen years old, in other respects
a nice little boy, and one whom I was rather fond
of: but, the other day, in talking with him, I discovered he never read his Bible; in short, he knew
nothing of the Christian religion. I have been
endeavouring to impress on him the awfulness of his
state, but he seems scarcely to care whether he is
lost or saved.  He understands neither heaven or
hell, nor that he is born for any other state than
this,-that is to say, he does not feel it to be the
case: he has apparently been completely neglected
at home with respect to religious matters. Now I




12           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
want to know how to proceed with him-how to
open his mind-for I think when he once perceives
in his heart how wicked he together with all others
are, that he will be more able and willing to understand the truths of the gospel. When I have got
him to do any thing right rather than what is wrong,
I generally discover it is done merely because I
asked him; and this doing what he thinks I wish,
together with other points, shows that he has naturally a good heart, but that it wants cultivation.
Oh, how thankful I ought to be to God that he has
given me such good and kind parents, and brothers
and sisters; for, as Sumner says, we should be thankful that we were not born in any heathen country,
and that we are placed in a land where the gospel is
preached, for it is by no merit of our own that we
were not condemned to darkness and ignorance.
Dr. Arnold, in his sermon on Sunday, used a simile
I thought particularly beautiful.  In talking of those
who seek God in this world, they are, he said, like
those foreign plants which we see here flourishing,
but not having flowers nor fruit; we see that this is
not their proper place, and that they must have
some other place where they come to full ripeness.
Both Robert and I constantly make use of the
books you wrote out for us, in which we find great
use. That God may requite to you the good you
have done us, is the constant prayer of
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Rugby, March 1st, 1834.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
When I returned to school this half I was wofully disappointed. I had a great friend here; and




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            13
though I had spoken but little on religious points
with him, yet I expected that on that subject our
hearts would be knit together. But alas! I find that
he is little actuated by Christian principle; not that
he is a bad boy in the eye of the world, but it is
almost only when duty and pleasure run together
that he follows the former. The following verse
struck me the other day on this point: "Yea, mine
own familiar friend in whom I trusted, hath lifted
up his heel against me." Ps. xii. 9. Not that I
mean he is no longer an acquaintance, but I find
that I can no longer make him my friend; our two
grand pursuits being so different.  So that, besides
my own family, there is not a human being who is
my intimate friend.  It is in this situation that I
find how kind God is to me-He is my all to me. I
remain,       Your affectionate brother,
HI. W. Fox.
Rugby, Thursday, March 6, 1834.
BMI DEAR ISABELLA,
*  *  I* am glad to be able to say that I was
partly deceived in my old friend who is here, for I
thought he was far too fond of the world; but on
talking with him lately, I have discovered he is more
willing to turn to God than I had expected; in fact
I have great hopes of him. I am however disappointed in another point, namely, a boy who was
once a great friend of mine, but who, for various
reasons, has not been such a one for the last halfyear, and whom I was endeavouring to assist, has
put an almost insurmountable bar to qmy progress
with him. I have in this instance particularly felt
what you mentioned in your letter, " That God alone
giveth the increase, and without that, how useless
2




14          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
are the efforts of man!" Whenever lately I have
spoken with this boy on religious subjects, he has
refused to answer questions; will not say a word on
the subject, and does not attend to what I am saying.
He fancies that he can serve God and mammon; he
used to answer my exhortations to him, that I was
going " too far," and that he did not think it necessary to avoid small faults, but because they were
small, (though he could not deny they were faults,)
he quite neglected attending to them. I have therefore, since he refuses to listen to a conversation, determined to write out different things for him, to the
best of my power, which I hope with God's holy assistance may be to his advantage. I have already
written out one paper for him, pointing out the chief
points of the Christian religion, yet without immediately applying them to him. I intend next to
remark on several of the faults I have observed in
him lately, which he does not feel to be faults. I
was the more disappointed in him, as I had before
found him willing in the general; but when I came
to particulars, and he saw he must give up certain
pleasures if he would give himself entirely to God,
then he thought he had gone far enough, and I had
gone too far-for God tells us to go as far as we
can.
But this last-mentioned boy is not the one I told
you of before; he is improving; he feels what it is to
be endeavouring to do one's best, but yet he is scarce
strong enough to resist temptations; which I point
out to him as wrong, yet which he has all his lifetime believed to be perfectly innocent. I find it is
very difficult to persuade him, and some others, that
any common amusement is wrong; all the world,
they say, do such and such a thing, and certainly all




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             15
the world will not go to hell. But with God's grace,
all will I hope go well with him.
While I am thus talking to and thinking of these
three, I am often afraid, lest I should, by seeing their
faults, fancy mine own smaller; humility is, I find,
a very difficult thing to attain, and doing good from
the motive of pleasing God, still harder. I have to
struggle very hard for this last, for when I do any
thing right, I do it too often for my own sake, that
is, falsely thinking at the moment that it will advance my salvation; but of late God has had mercy
on me, and I have been able to discover the system of faith. I was much obliged to you for your
kind letter.  Give my loive to all.  I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
HII. W. Fox.
Rugby, March 17, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I received your letter dated the 10th, yesterday
morning. I am very much-'obliged to you for it; it
will do me a great deal of good, and it has warned
me from  doing a great injury: for, on Saturday
evening, I induced the "silent boy" to talk, and he
informed me he had been silent because I had so
constantly been speaking to him on religion. During
the conversation, he told me he intended to serve
God wholly, (which I thought a great point gained;)
and next he confessed he was not so doing at the
time. He asked me then, whether I thought it
wrong to read light books, and do lessons on a Sunday. I was quite struck with astonishment at the
question, and I answered that I certainly did. He
said he thought the contrary, and his only argument
was, that if he was not so doing, he would be think.




16          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
ing of something wrong, and therefore it was riglht
to do lessons on a Sunday; he perfectly undclerstood
what keeping Sunday holy was, viz. endeavouring to
think on God only; but he could not get it out of
his head, that because he would (or rather thought
he would) be doing worse, that therefore the end
justified the means. He acknowledged he had never
tried to keep, for one whole Sunday, his heart on
God, yet because he had tried for one hour, he thought
it was impossible that man could help thinking of
things wicked in themselves on a Sunday. But I
cannot help thinking that those reasons were put forward for an excuse; and that in his heart he felt it
to be wrong. I urged him to try the very next day.
But I have not yet learned whether he did so or not.
With respect to "amusements," I believe I used the
word in too general a sense when I wrote to you,
but your observations on that subject are very true
and just.  I may perhaps, and I believe I have often
spoken of religion to these boys as leading to other
pleasures besides what they now enjoy, and have
perhaps made them view it in a gloomy light, as
they did not understand nor feel how great the new
pleasures would be. For my little pupil, I have
constantly changing hopes and fears: at one moment
I see outwardly no hope of him, and again shortly I
am quite rejoiced.  I trust however that Christ will
not let him fall back again after he has now been
once called.
I have been particularly happy lately; I read over
again the account of Wilberforce Richmond's latter
end and death. I was struck, still more than I was
the first time, with the beauty and simplicity of it;
with his sincere faith and trust in God: since then I
have. been able to keep God continually in my heart,




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            17
which I was not able to do before; I have therefore
derived such comfort and happiness, that I hope
never to lose that gift. But still sin clogs me greatly.
I get proud, and fancy I do anry thing good of my
own self; at least I feel it to be so, though I know
full well that I am exceedingly sinful, and that the
very thought I had just been indulging in (viz. of
pride) was very wicked in itself.
I derive very great comfort from reading the Bible
every day. I understand it better and better, and
see the meaning of the various passages in it, in a
more forcible light. I always find the Sunday too
short for what I want to do on it.  Many others
here think as I used to do formerly, that Sunday is
too long, and therefore spend two or three hours in
bed longer than usual, and spend the rest of the day
in listlessness, or perhaps worse, never thinking what
a blessing they are throwing away. I feel now, as
you told me you did, that the Sabbath is quite a rest
from the worldly thoughts of the other parts of the
week. Last Sunday was a most beautiful day, and
I took a walk by myself into the country, and never
felt so happy before. I continued for more than an
hour, praising and praying to God, and thanking
him. I shall never neglect it again. I felt it as a
preparation for heaven.  I remain,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Rugby, April 7th, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I have in truth spent a very bad Easter, very lazy
I was all the time, and I have just returned to working again. I had intended to have read several books
during the holidays, but I neglected them, and have




18           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
not kept half my resolutions. All this shows how
very weak I am, and how unable I am to resist extraordinary temptations.  I can manage to resist,
and often to overcome, my every-day trials, because
I have experience of them and am aware of their
approach; but when those come which I am not so
much accustomed to, or if my old ones come on me
in a new shape, then I fall a victim to them. When
I know and have determined in myself that any thing
is wrong, then I generally overcome it; but my
greatest difficulty lies in making out whether the
thing is wrong or not. I have of late been able to
see all my sins so clearly (that is, all I consider sins)
that I scarcely could dare to look up to God, or to
pray to him, were it not for his gracious promises.
I have given over all hopes of persuading the " formerly silent boy" by speaking to him, for he over
and over again says, he is convinced of what he holds
to be true, and that he will not change his opinion;
or if he does enter into conversation about keeping
the Sabbath holy, he merely repeats his foolish arguments over again, and will not attend patiently to
what I say in answer to them. In this case he seems
unable to connect what I say to him, though in general he is clear-headed enough. He is evidently not
affected by my arguments, for every Sunday he continues to do his lessons, &c. Instead therefore of
talking to him on the subject, I am writing out for
him the best arguments I can think of, which I shall
have finished in about a week.  *  *  *  I was
thinking to-day, what an inducement there is to
convert any one who wanders from the truth, to convert him from the error of his ways, for we are told
that God and the angels in heaven rejoice when one,sinner turns to heaven;- and how great must be the




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            19
honour and glory for him who is the instrument of
joy in the heart of our Heavenly Father. The same
reasoning applies, indeed, in every case where we do
good from a right motive; but this case struck me
to be so much stronger than most others.
Rugby, April 19, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
* * * I have not yet been able to finish my
paper for the boy I mentioned in my last letter, for
I have been very busy this last week, but I hope to
finish soon. I feel I have no hope from arguments,
it is God that must open his heart; no argument I
fear can do so: it shows me still more strongly how
truly Paul says, "Apollos planteth, Paul watereth,
but God giveth the increase."
Rugby, May 13, 1834.
MY DEAR. GEORGE,
* *  I am sorry we shall be unable to see
each other for a long time; but though far distant,
we may yet constantly communicate with one anothet, and it will be a great consolation to think that
our thoughts are constantly on one and the same
great object. What I have always till now found
my greatest difficulty has been prayer.  I could offer
up words, but as I could have no idea of God, I felt
I could not offer up my heart to him: but lately, on
thinking, and at last feeling, that God is always
present in my inmost soul, I can heartily ask for
what I need, and often, and continually throughout
the day, keep my thoughts on him, which I used to
find almost impossible. I derive the very greatest
advantage from this, for while I am continually
keeping my heart with God, it is contrary to my




20          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
very nature to commit sin against him; that is, at
least, known sin. I feel and know that all this has
not been through my own means, but through the
grace of God alone.  I also have had my eyes opened,
to view my wickedness and depravity, and God's
purity and holinesss. I was before, as it were,
covered with darkness; I could not see any thing
though I tried. But now these things stand before
me in glaring colours, and I almost wonder God has
not yet cut me off, or even now allows me to live on
in the many sins I daily commit; for notwithstanding
the greatest care, I am constantly falling into, and
often yielding to temptation: the greatest is lying in
bed in a morning; it is of all the most difficult to
overcome. It thus appears how vain and futile are
all men's endeavours, unless they be assisted by
God's grace. I often find that those temptations
which outwardly appear very small, and which one
would almost pass by unperceived, are the very
strongest which attack me. There is the continual
whispering in my ear-this is but a small sin, it
maketh no matter to commit it; and thus I sometimes yield. But I find my only true test of right
or wrong is to ask myself whether I do it from a
motive of pleasing God. I find, as you mention in
your letter, the great advantage of reading the Bible,
with an earnest desire and prayer to understand it:
often the meaning of a before-hidden passage breaks
in upon me in a way which quite astonishes me. I
have got, therefore, a very small pocket edition of
the New Testament, to carry about with me always,
that I may use it whenever I have opportunity. I
remain,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.




LETTERS FROMI RUGBY.             21
Rugby, June 5, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
*  * * I lately discoursed again on the Sabbath question with the boy I before mentioned, and.he seemed, though he did not acknowledge it, to be
somewhat convinced. He candidly confessed that it
was not for God's glory that he did his lessons, &c.
on a Sunday.  He seemed not to understand that
we must " do all things for the glory of God." This
is a matter I have found very difficult in myself to
feel thoroughly, for I am unable to see, individually,
how each little action I may do, is to the glory of
God; for many seem to be perfectly indifferent to
do, or to be left undone. However here, as elsewhere, faith must come in and lead me at last to
understand what I am as yet too blind to see. I
still feel great difficulty in the evening, in examining
my motives for various actions during the day. I
cannot often recall them: often perhaps, because I
had done them from no particular motive. I am
glad to say, that the friend I before mentioned in
this letter, has been persuaded to leave off several
wrong things, and I have more hopes of him than
of any others here. His conscience seems to be
touched, and he feels it, though he does not confess
it.  But H —   is no better than before, if not
worse. He has no steadiness nor strength, nor does
what I say to him have any weight: he does not
think, or I am convinced he would not say or do
what he does. Believe-me
Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.




22          MEMOIR OF H. W. WFOX.
Rugby, August 23, 1884.
IMY DEAR GEORGE,
I have come to the end of a very unsettled vacation, in which my mind has been very wandering,
and at times worldly; for the many new sights, and
the travelling which I have had, have often turned
my thoughts from better subjects to the objects
immediately before me, and therefore, I am returning
with joy to the quiet and peace of Rugby, and yet
I find in this, as in every thing else, no good is without evil, nor evil without good; for though the unsettled way in which my holidays have been spent,
has been in some degree of injury to me, yet that
evil has been tempered by the good advice and conversation of my dear Isabella, from whom I have
learned many new and important truths, for the first
time, and in like manner, notwithstanding the quiet
of Rugby, the want of her presence will fall heavy
on me. For, at Rugby, I have no one (except
Robert) to converse with on religious subjects; if I
begin to do so with any, they either show a complete
reluctance, or a great coldness to it. I however feel
that it is for the best, for it leads me to rest on God
as my only friend, and to open my heart to him
more. I believe I mentioned to you in one of my
last letters, that I found such great assistance in
prayer, by considering that God is intimately present,
to me, and I am thankful to be able to say, that I
have in it a constant source of grace to me; for it
brings me to a more constant feeling of his presence.  *  *  *  I feel my greatest want at present to be a deficiency in my love toward God. I
look on him too much as an angry rather than a
merciful Judge, and do good or ill from fear. I
also find a difficulty in keeping my thoughts on God




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            23
throughout the day, for my customary occupations
and lessons drive them out of my head; at Rugby I
tried a method to assist me, viz. with certain actions
and at certain times, to make it a rule to turn my
thoughts to heavenly objects; but I found this only
of partial use, as it served only for particular times.
I pray to God daily to assist me in this, yet I know
not how-to direct my efforts. Believe me,
Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.
Rugby, Sept. 2, 1834
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I received your letter on Sunday, as you expected,
and return you many thanks for it. Though I have
found less difficulty, than I usually have found, in
returning to my school duties, yet I feel the change
still irksome and difficult to be borne up against. I
have got settled to my work, but not quite to my
habits, and not having got again accustomed to a
regular rule for spending the day, I frequently
waste some part; not however in absolutely doing
nothing, but time slips away in getting ready and
beginning.  On looking back to, the holidays, I find
much of my time has been lost in the same way, for
though I was busy at my lessons almost all the day,
yet on the whole I have done but little; I have,
however, acquired a habit of doing something at
least, for hitherto during former holidays I have
never done any thing worth mentioning. I have already begun what you advise in your letter, namely,
selecting some prayers; but I have done it from
Bishop Ken rather than from Wilson; as I thought
those in the former better suited and more appli



24          MEMIOIR OF H. W. FOX.
cable than those in the latter. I have now a matter to talk about, which it would have been better I
had mentioned to you during the holidays, but I
have such a great dislike to converse personally on
such subjects; it is, I now think, a foolish and perhaps wrong dislike, but I could not then overcome
it, and I therefore now mention it in writing. It is,
how to be sure that I am in the way to heaven, not
inquiring of the truth of the Bible, but how to find
it out in my own heart. For I believe that not what
I do of myself, but the death of Christ, brings me to
heaven: at the same time I have some love of God,
(but very little I fear,) and some of my actions are
done for his sake, and I try to do all so by his assistance; now, is this the beginning of what is requisite?  Is not faith a junction of belief and
works springing from love to God? I am, as you
may well suppose, very anxious on the question;
and on examining myself on the point, I fear I do
not do enough for God's sake, and thereby have not
sufficient faith. I find it is so difficult to separate
in my head faith and works; for as the former is
more than belief, and in part consists of the latter,
they seem to approach each other's nature. I wish
you would be so goQd as to set me right on this subject in your next letter. Believe me,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Rugby, Sept. 7, 1834.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I received your most excellent letter this morning, and was exceedingly comforted and strengthened by it; for being, I thank God, able to answer




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             25
most of the questions in the affirmative, I received
assurance that I have at least some faith. Since the
time of reading it, my happiness has been growing
greater and greater, and I have passed one of the
happiest days I have as yet spent; though I have
not been blessed with that exquisite joy, and as it
were foretaste of heaven which I have sometimes
met with, yet my happiness has been deep, though
quiet and continued; and I know no better way of
employing a few minutes this evening, than in returning thanks to you, and through you to God..
For, my dear sister, I always consider you as one of
my greatest blessings, for you have been God's instrument in recalling me from the deadness and corruption of sin to newness of life, and to a firm hope
in Christ. I have been this day examining myself
in the most doubtful points of my faith; for strange
it is, the most doubtful parts have been the most
vital parts; for I have never till to-day had a clear
conception and firm belief that my salvation is fiom
Christ alone and entirely; and that my own good
deeds are worth nothing in God's sight. My chief
difficulty is now, praying to God, for his Son's sake;
for I do not feel at the moment of praying the necessity of so doing: deceiving myself by thinking
God will hear me because he is merciful, and not
merely for Christ's sake. This one day has been of'
more benefit to me than many days, for I have considered and learned many things which I understood
not before. We had a most excellent sermon from
Dr. Arnold this evening, explaining the duty of
obedience to masters; that it was only then truly
shown, when in some matter indifferent in itself, we
obey them because they command us, and not because of any servile hope or fear from them. He
3




26           MEMOIR OF It. W. FOX.
took his text from the first lesson of the evening,
and referred to that in the morning; also saying,
that the two afforded examples of the greatest obedience and disobedience. I feel great advantage
from his sermons, for he addresses us practically, as
well as generally on doctrinal points. Believe me,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Rugby, Oct. 20, 1834.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
* * * I have been living here free from all
worldly anxieties, in prosperity, with all the pleasures of youth around me; and seeing the brightest
side of a worldly life, I have been led away from
the true service of God. Not, as you may expect,
suddenly or violently, but day after day I have been
declining faster and faster from the love of God,
from the love of serving him, and inclining rapidly
to the love of the world.  I have become proud,
trusting in my own means, careless of the Sabbath,
and opposing the workings of conscience. But, oh!
the unspeakable and never-failing mercies of God;
He has called me back from this wicked way, by the
means he has so often used toward me and others,
viz. the Sabbath, and an excellent sermon; in the
latter, Dr. Arnold spoke as though he had written
for me-taking the text from Gal. v.: " Ye did
run well, who did hinder you, that ye should not
obey the truth." After explaining the text, and
showing the danger of trusting in being once justified, he added: "And if any one has ever fallen
away from God, trusting in being safe, there is but
one course for him; let him return again, and, repenting of his sins, trust in Jesus who came into




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             27
the world to save sinners."  Now this was my ease
exactly, I had been lately trusting in part to having
been once justified. I had even drawn poison from
the bread of life. For I had been lately learning
the verse in the Romans —" Whom  he foreknow,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them
he also glorified." And mistaking the true state
of the case, I supposed I was safe. Which case,
which verse, and the danger arising from taking it
in a wrong light, Dr. A. particularly mentioned,
and was thus a striking and warning means of grace
to me. I can never sufficiently thank God for his
great mercies to me, when I consider the difference
between us; —he the great Almighty and only God,
who made heaven and all the stars; who rules all
things, who of his infinite love came down to earth
and died for us wretched beings that we were;
while I am the least of all his creatures, worse than
the brutes who never corrupted their own nature,
who never sinned wilfully against their Maker, ever
loving evil and avoiding good. And while I do
this, while I am fleeing God, he mercifully calls me
to him; he looks on me with pity, and pardons
me. Surely to one who loves him, his ways are
the ways of peace and happiness. Every day as I
am raised and more freed from the bonds of this
world, I see and observe the wickedness, the deeplysteeped wickedness of those around me, of all England, of all the world: while only a remnant are
left to serve God. *  *  *
Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.




28          MEMOIR OF LI. W. FOX.
Rugby, March 24, 1835.
MY DEAR BUCKINGHAM,
*   *  I have this morning been reading the
Dairyman's Daughter, in Richmond's Annals of the
Poor: a book you have probably read before, but
which I have been reading for the first time. I
shall always think of it as an especial means of grace
to me, for it has been so blessed to me, as to open
my eyes to many of my secret and besetting sinsas self-confidence and deadness of faith-which are
hard to discover and to root out: yet God has now
in his mercy assisted me, or rather, I should say,
done the work wholly himself, of restoring me to a
better knowledge of him; for I do not think, on
looking back, that I have ever had true faith: I have
always had some trust or hope in my own works.  I
have often, or rather generally, endeavoured to do
good, in order that I might be saved thereby, instead
of acting on the true motive of love and thankfulness, and trusting implicitly to God that he would
take me to his heavenly kingdom for his Son's sake.
And even now, I find it difficult completely to eradicate this evil motive and self-confidence from my
heart.  * *     *  Dr. Arnold has just instituted
a new practice, which I think was much needed, and
it is to be hoped that it will extend further than at
present.  In addition to the prayers in the big
school, we now have a prayer before beginning our
first lesson, in order that we should begin the day
by asking God's blessing on our endeavours.  I
only trust that it may be a means of making many
of us pray more than we do; for I cannot help
thinking that, especially in the higher part of the
school, a very great deal of irreligion, if not infidelity, exists.  *  *  *I -find it a very difficult,




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            29
point to manage in my duty as prsepostor, namely,
to draw the line between "official" and "personal"
offences-to discover where I feel revenge, and
where I do any thing to enforce the power which
properly bel6ngs to me. I think I may learn from
this not to desire earthly power, as it only increases
our difficulties and temptations: God alone can teach
me aright. To him therefore I pray, and do you
also pray for me, that I may have wisdom and
strength to execute judgment rightly. And believe
me,            Your affectionate friend,
HENRY W. Fox.
Rugby, April 13, 1835.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
*  *  *  I feel every day an increasing desire of
becoming a clergyman. I desire to be always employed in more immediately serving God, and of
bringing many souls unto salvation. I am aware
that we can do our duty and a great deal of good in
every station of life; but I think that a clergyman
is more particularly appointed to do good, being a
light set upon a hill. I have hitherto, and I know
you have at home also, looked forward to my going
to the Bar, but it is not so now, -it can scarcely
ever be too late to change my prospects. If it is
particularly the wish of my father and mother and
you all that I should fulfil the original proposition,
I willingly acquiesce; but if it is indifferent, or of
no great importance to you, I should prefer very
much to enter the service of the Church. However,
whichever profession I may hereafter follow, my
present and future (for some years at least) studies
will suit both; I wished however to mention this
desire of mine to you. Dr. Arnold has made a great
3*   -




30          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
improvement in the public prayers; for besides the
prayers which are read when we first assemble in the
morning, (to which I fear few attend,) we have now
immediately before our first lesson a prayer to ask
God's blessing on us for the day.  *  *  *  Believe me,     Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.
Rugby, May 16, 1835.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
* * * I trust I shall not disappoint your
hopes and mine also, that I shall continue a Christian unto the end, for though I have often feared
that I should not continue struggling for so long a
period as my life may be, I now feel so confident
that God having once brought me to a knowledge of
him, will keep me safe till he takes me to his kingdom, that I have little fear, but still I labour anxiously, knowing the difficulty I shall have ever to
wrestle with, and the dangerous possibility of relaxing into a state of utter wickedness. I have just
been reading Guthrie, which you gave me last year,
and have found it of very great use in strengthening
and establishing my faith; which is however still
weak.        Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.
Rugby, August 30, 1835.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
I cannot refrain from writing to you now to express my happiness, my great and exceeding joy,
which I have received from the Lord. During the
holidays indeed, I was constantly led astray by the
pleasures and amusements of the world, and though
frequently called again by God to return to him, as




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             31
often as I turned I fell, for I did not enough trust
in him; nor was I able to turn more steadfastly to
the way of salvation, till the very last day I was at
home: which day was to me the beginning again of
serving the Lord: and during my journey, especially
during the first night, I had leisure and opportunity,
and God gave me grace to pray fervently to him for
grace and strength to resist my temptations; and I
have most mercifully been heard, so that this week has
been to me one of very great joy and growth in grace;
but this afternoon during- the service, I experienced
more happiness and a greater foretaste of heaven
than ever before, especially during the singing of the
hymn, "From Egypt's bondage come," and particularly of the words, "We are on our way to God."
Oh, then I felt the great mercy of our Saviour in leading us to himself, and the greatness and majesty of
him to whom we are led. I have been reading the
life of Henry Martyn, (for which I have to thank
George, as being a means both of great profit and
pleasure,) and I have derived the most instructing
lessons from it. I found how much the enjoyment
of things of this world have hold on me, and when I
considered his state of giving himself up to be a missionary, and asked myself, Could I give up home,
and the pleasures and happiness I enjoy from worldly
objects, to do this laborious work for the Lord's sake?
I found the weakness of my love to God, and my
need of constant prayer that I may set my affections
on things above and not things below; that I may
confide my present as well as my future happiness to
my heavenly Father, and make God my all in all,
my desire, my happiness, and my hope.
Wednesclay, Sept. 3.-Though at the beginning
of the half, I am in the middle of an exceedingly




32          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
busy week, for my lessons of course occupy a large
portion of my time, indeed larger than before, for we
have had some additional ones imposed, and I have
received a sudden call for articles for the Rugby
Magazine. I am appointed also one of the committee for the examination of the articles; and these
things together have kept me so busy, that since
Saturday morning (Sunday excepted) to the present
moment, I have been as hard at work as possible all
day, with the exception of an hour's walk each day,
and I shall have similar occupations for the remainder of the week. But in the midst of all my business, I trust I do not forget the end and aim of it all,
namely, that I may the more glorify God; still I find
it a very great difficulty and temptation, to be able to
give up so little time daily to the immediate service
of Christ. I have begun searching the Scriptures for
a settlement of the various articles of faith, and I find
it an excellent plan for acquiring an accurate knowledge of the Bible and the situation of various passages, and I each time discover more and more how
our religion must be sought for through many indirect passages, and from the whole tenor of the book;
for instance, I have found no passage exacty defining
faith, but collating several, I have gained my end.
Believe me,     Your affectionate brother,
H. W. Fox.
Rugby, Sept. 10, 1835.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
* * * Baxter has done well in laying out so
very plainly how that we must not seek our rest here,
and I feel it every day more and more, for as I pass
through this vale of tears (well may it be called so)
my natural man lays hold of every thing it meets




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.              33
with, and clings to them eagerly; and often have I
to thank God for showing me that this is not our
abiding-place, by showing me the folly, the weakness,
and sad deformity of all worldly things: how even
the most innocent (otherwise) pleasures must be used
-not abused-must be made means to lead us on
our way to God, and not to merely delight ourselves
in them; home, for instance, and the holidays,
though they ought to be a time of great spiritual advancement, become to me a snare and a temptation,
and the half-year at school a comparatively lighter
time.  Yet here I have a large stock of temptations
and difficulties which need constant struggling with:
and they too show that a state of warfare, such as a
Christian life must always be, cannot be " our rest."
I often long to leave this sinful world (I mean one in
which my sins are so many) and be at rest; but I
am reconciled to do God's will and remain here as
long as he shall ordain: as Baxter says,
If life be long, I will be glad,
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad?
That shall have the same pay.
One of the most difficult outward causes of temptation is my great quantity of business, which is at
present so large, that merely doing the work of the
school leaves me scarcely any time for devotional
exercises; yet as this is not of my own ordering, I
believe it will work for my good, by making me
more constantly resting on God for grace and assistance, and teaching me to make use of even the
shortest periods, for the purpose of prayer and meditation.  *  *  *  I have to thank you very much,
my dear George, for the Life of Henry Martyn,




34          MEMOIR OF I. W. FOX.
which you gave me; for I think from no book did I
ever experience so much good, so much urging to be
more diligent and zealous in God's service, and
knowledge of how much I fall short of even what a.
good man can acquire. I like the book the more
as giving Henry Martyn's own thoughts and feelings, and showing us an example of the inner man,
that we may derive good in that part of ourselves,
and such improvement in the heart more especially.
Believe me      Your affectionate brother,
HENRY.
SUBJECTS FOR SELF-EXAMINATION.
1. Did I perform my devotions last night, and
were my last thoughts on God?
2. When I awoke, were my first thoughts on God,
and what was my state of mind while dressing?
3. How did I perform my devotions, private and
public?
4. Did I rise when first called?
5. How did I do my lessons?
6. Have I wasted any time?
7. Have I obeyed all that are placed over me?
8. Have I spent my money in the best way I
could?
9. Have I in any case behaved uncharitably?
10. Have I loved God with my whole heart, not
allowing any other object to interfere?
Il. Have I, in all I have done, sought to do his
will?
12. Have I been humble toward God and toward
man?
13. Have I, in conversation, sought to do good?
14. Have I yielded to temptation?




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            35
15. Has my conduct been influenced by the opinion of the world?
16. Have my thoughts been constantly heavenward?
17. Have I at all trusted in myself, either for
salvation or strength?
18. Have I been thankful?
19. How did I read the Scriptures?
20. Am I cherishing any idol in my heart?
Rugby, Oct. 25, 1835.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
I take up my pen to write to you in a very mixed state of mind, partly mourning for the weight
of my sins, partly rejoicing for the mercy God has
shown me. I am just come to the end of a Sunday, one of the most unhappy, but I trust, not unprofitable I have had for long past: for I have just
finished a week with more than usual backsliding
and coldness toward God —chiefly the immediate
effect of a neglect of my daily devotions and selfexaminations, and have been passing to-day, weighed down by the weight of my sins, unable through
my wickedness and hardness of heart to look up
unto God, and feeling all the bonds of sin upon me.
But it is good that I have been thus troubled and
brought low, for I am thus taught the hateful and
miserable nature of sin; and again and again I am
forced to see, spite of myself, my own wickedness
of heart, and to feel my own weakness, and thus to
throw myself entirely on God. And he this evening has raised me somewhat from my low and
dark state to some perception of him; yet how thick
and dim is the glass we still see him through, and
how much need have I to come closer to him. Yet




36          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
whither else can I go? No one but he hath the
words of eternal life, and that alone is worth living
for. Oh! how unspeakable are the riches of his
mercy, and how eternal is his love: to bring us back
again and again when we fall away from him, and
again to teach us how gracious he is. In truth,
eternity itself cannot be too long to praise him in;
and yet this life must also be spent in that same
service of praise and love, though these be mingled
oftentimes with troubles, and groanings, and tears;
and be often hid from us by some earth-born idol of
our own creation. (Tuesday, Oct. 27.) To-day
again I have been blessed by great peace of mind
and by strength to continue aright: this I feel more
than I have generally felt before, for it has always
happened that my days of coldness toward God and
unwillingness to serve him have been some of the
week-days, and my days of greatest peace have been
the Sundays: on which days (the Sundays) I have
often looked forward to the coming week with great
fear and almost horror, expecting to be again swallowed up by the world; but now I am going on
with my usual avocations, yet feeling in me that
peace of God which passeth understanding, and a
firm hope of eternal salvation through Christ; and
feeling also that between to-day and to-morrow there
is no great and marked difference to break in upon
my comfort. I thank you very much for your advice about my anxiety for the Exhibition; and I
think I fully feel how much I must humble myself,
and how much there is still in me of self, which
must be rendered up wholly unto God. This anxiety has been exercising very bad effects on me, by
leading me to work for the Exhibition, and hiding
God from me in all my daily school-work; but I




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             37
pray daily that I may be led more and more "to do
all things for Christ's sake."  *  *  *  Miy dearest Isabel,
I am your affectionate brother,
HENRY.
Durham, January 30th, 1836.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
I am just coming to the end of a period of great
trial and temptation, and one which I have always
to lament over, for the many failings and errors
which I have made during it. For though during
the holidays my earthly means and assistances are
very much greater, being surrounded by Christian
friends, yet I have as yet always found myself during the holidays in a very cold and dead state toward God, and only relieved at times by being
brought to him again; and yet after this revival, as
it were, in my heart, in a day or two, or even less, I
fall back again;-not into open and wilful sin, but
into carelessness and forgetfulness, and with this
backsliding, or rather as its effect, there comes on
me a great spiritual blindness, fulfilling  those
words: "'If we do his will we shall know of the
doctrine." The chief cause of all this sin is my
trusting partly in my own strength, and not watching unto prayer.  The immediate cause of the
temptation which besets me is the broken-up state
of my studies, and my mind at home, and the too
many earthly enjoyments I there meet with.  But
yet all these backslidings are, and I trust will be,
very useful to me, teaching me by frequent experience to put my whole trust, not merely for salvation, but for strength and support as well, on Christ
only.  *  *  *  I can in some degree sympathize
4




38          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
with you, with respect to the peace and happiness
of the Sunday; at least, at school, I have every
opportunity of being quiet, and am able to spend
almost the whole of the day in communion with
God. But latterly I have given up two hours on
the Sunday evening to teach some of my younger
school-fellows. I have found it an advantage even
to myself, to begin to teach; it makes me learn
more and more clearly the doctrines of Christianity,
and prepares me for teaching hereafter. It is a
great consolation to me also, to have around me
Christian friends; two have come to a knowledge
of religion since I knew it myself, and the others
have become friends since then; it seemed best to
God, and I now perceive the advantage, that when
my eyes were first opened, I should be left without
any Christian companions; but all around me were
in this light strangers. It made me trust more to
heavenly assistance, and prevented me from falling
into carelessness, by surrounding me with those
whose conversation and conduct showed me what
state to avoid. I am now on my way to Cambridge,
where I shall stay a few days on my road to Rugby;
and I expect to see there, perhaps to hear, Mr. Simeon, Henry Martyn's friend; I will write to you
again soon, and tell you respecting him, for old as
he is, he preaches nearly every Sunday at his
church. Believe me, my dear George,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W.:Fox.
inugby, April 17, 1836.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
*    *  I have just returned from visiting a
poor sick woman, who is, and apparently has long




LETTERS FROM RUGBY,             39
been, a sincere Christian; and though she was unable from weakness to say much, yet I have received
much good from witnessing how a Christian is supported in the most trying hour, and in again viewing
how transitory and empty is this world and its goods,
and I find that this last especially is a lesson which
I have constantly to learn afresh; for I live in a
state to see the best and most desirable parts of this
world; in boyhood, free from most outward cares
and troubles, and with many pleasing and exciting
things in prospect; all this naturally draws me down
to the level of the things of this world, and I need
constantly to see poverty, weakness, and misery, in
order to call to mind that all present things are
quickly passing away, and that my affections must
be more and more set on things above. I feel a
very great temptation attacking me now, in the form
of a love of this world, which has come upon me
from the prospect of the examinations at the end of
this half-year; for these are constantly before my
eyes, on account of my preparations for them, and I
am led to look forward to them as the end to which
all my present labours are to be directed, instead of
doing all things directly for God's sake;-this necessarily brings a great darkness over me, since I am
tempted to have another object in view instead of
Christ; but yet with the temptation God gives a
way to escape, and I trust and pray, that by his
grace I may not only come out of this trial unhurt,
but improved by it. I read in Dr. Arnold's sermons
to-day, that " if we have truly tasted that the Lord
is gracious, our only reason for wishing to remain on
earth must be to further his: kingdom," and I
thought how very true, and yet how many other
motives do we allow to come in the way;-how




40          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
many other ties to earth do we make for ourselves!
Oh, how very weak and inconsistent are we, and how
very sinful, and how thankful should we daily be,
that it is not on; our own works that our salvation
rests! And yet even, though we ought to be, and
perhaps are thankful that such is the case, how fain
would we try to seek our salvation by our works,
and put our trust in them, if we were not constantly
checked, and called to remember how sinful they are,
and how weak we are! *  *
HENiRY.
Rugby, May 20, 1836.
MY DEAR FATHER,
Though I begin this letter so soon, yet as I intend
it to reach you on your birth-day, I must begin it by
wishing you many happy returns of the day, and I
pray God that they may be also both happy and
blessed. However the event of the examination
may turn out, I know that it will be by God's
guidance, and I trust I may not only be content, but
glad to receive that allotment which he knows to
be best. I have had some severe struggles with
myself; but God has given me his strength, and
has enabled me to be willing to commit myself and
all my concerns to him. I should very much like
to succeed, according to your wish, but it may be
best for us all that I should not; and then we shall
all have need to be thankful that matters have not
one according to our short-sighted wishes, but have
been under the direction of Him, who looks not only
on our worldly benefit, but on what most forwards
us in our approach to his holiness. As my time
draws to a close here, I feel a great deal of pain at
parting with old scenes, and leaving school seems to




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             41
be like leaving the world, for though one rejoices to
go away and be at rest, and enjoy the presence of
Christ eternally, and would not return for worlds,
yet there is a feeling of pain at parting with what
has been so dear on earth; and the leaving my study
for ever will be painful, for it has been the place of
my joy and sorrow for the five years, and has also
been the scene of my first opening views of religion,
and where for two years and a half I have offered up
my daily prayers, and have received so many tokens
of God's grace, and mercy, and love.  And yet it is
better that these ties should be broken, for it teaches
me more manifestly that our rest is not here.  Toimorrow I shall receive the sacrament the last time
while I am at Rugby, and much need have I to be
exceedingly thankful to my God and Redeemer, for
his having so often vouchsafed me the means of attending at his table, and of enjoying the blessed
promises of his word; for if it were not for his
grace, and his only, I might be now entirely ignorant
of him, and be one of those who go away from his
table careless of his goodness. Believe me, my
lear father,
Your very affectionate son,
HEENRY W. Fox.
nugby, June 13, 1836.
~MY DEAR ISABELLA,
Though I have not been able to manage that you
should receive a letter firom me to-day, yet I have
found time to begin one, and I have not thought the
less of you; but when you will receive this one I
cannot tell, perhaps scarcely before the end of the
half.  I am heartily wishing that time was come,
for I am quite tired out with school-work for the




42          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
present, and wish to be at home among you again,
and have some rest and quiet; and besides the weariness of merely finishing one labour to take up another, I often feel tired of having nothing but boys'
company.      * *  *  But my weariness of school
is a very partial feeling; and who can be unhappy,
who is a Christian?  It is enough to know that our
present situation is of God's appointment to make us
content and happy in it, and as I know that it is
only the feeling of his presence which can in any
circumstances confer happiness, it is rather a mark
of weakness of faith to be always looking forward to
some future part of this life, as being happier than
the present. I am sure you will rejoice in my joy
at having at last found a person sincerely desirous
of becoming a Christian; he is a boy about fifteen
years old, and I first became acquainted with his
state by his coming to me about a month ago, and
inquiring whether I thought he could go to the
sacrament, considering his state; by this he meant,
that he was so sinful. I found that God had been
working in him for some time, but he was yet dark
with respect to the knowledge of many necessary
things:-Lsince then we have met every Sunday
evening, and I have endeavoured to teach him from
the Scriptures, and explain them to him; he appears
very sincere, and has gained more knowledge since
I first spoke to him, and though the time we shall
have been together will be short, yet I pray and believe that it has been made a means of strengthening
his faith; and in leaving him I shall have little fear
(I mean humanly speaking) of his relapsing, for
God has truly called him, and will uphold him.
We had a very nice meeting here about a week ago,
for the Church Missionary Society; Baptist Noel




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.             43
was present, and gave a very interesting account of
the Missions in the East, especially of an entrance
into China; he made me remember Henry Martyn.
The assembly was addressed by several other clergymen, and it was very delightful to retire for a while
from the bustle and worldly-mindedness of my general
scenes and companions, to be among those whose
only aim was to advance their Saviour's kingdom,
and who were talking of him alone; it was very
refreshing and useful to me, and may perhaps be the
cause of still more good; for what Mr. Noel spoke
so earnestly about,-the want, not of funds merely,
but of missionaries,-has much more than even
before led me to think seriously of so employing
the talents which God has given me: but of this I
wish to speak more fully during the holidays. Believe me to be
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY.
Liverpool, July 7, 1836.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
* * * I have just gained an Exhibition, and am
going to lie by for a time in seeing Scotland. * * *
The little sickness I had, put an end to the plan in
view, of my standing for a Wadham scholarship, by
coming just at the time I was to have gone up; at
first I was somewhat disappointed, but it was God's
own working which prevented me, and he also
taught me to be content; it brought much fresher to
my mind how I was to work for his glory, and made
me depend on him much more for every result; yet
still I constantly find myself seeking my own will,
instead of looking only on what is his. I have felt
a good deal on leaving Rugby, and seeing each spot,




44          IMEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
not perhaps for the last time, but for the last as a
school-boy, and many of them will be sadly altered
before I shall be able to see them again;-it was in
the case of inanimate objects that I felt most; parting with my study was by far most severe, and I could
scarcely resolve to take my last look at the place,
where for five years I have sat in joy and sorrow,
where day after day I have knelt in prayer, and week
after week I have spent many happy Sundays; it
was a breaking up of all the physical ties which I
have had since I was a mere child. And yet it is
strange I would not have returned next half for any
thing; it is like leaving life altogether; there is a
pang and a pain in parting with so many endeared
objects, but not for worlds would I return to them;
in the midst of sorrow we are in joy at the prospect
before us. I have several plans in my head at present respecting my future employment, but the chief
one is to go out to some quarter of the world as a
missionary: young men are needed for that course,
and I feel myself in some respects fitted for it, as
having a strong constitution, and a fondness for
learning languages. * * *
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Durham, August 29, 1836.
nMY DEAR GEORGE,
I thank you for your letter of June 7th, which I
received a few days ago: the subject you have
spoken of in it has been for a long time, I assure
you, a matter of consideration with me, but I do not
think that, till very lately, I have entered upon it
with a single heart. It is with shame and sorrow
that I have to say, that' from the time I was first




LETTERS FROM RUGBY.            45
brought to a knowledge of God, I have scarcely ever
walked with a single and entire devotedness to his
service; there may have been short times, perhaps
for a few hours or days, in which God has been the
only object of my desire, but for three years I have
had a snare in my path, and have been endeavouring
to unite a love of God with a love of the world: and
of course the latter has been too frequently gaining
the ascendancy. When I look back on this period,
I have more and more need to render thanks to God
that he has not cut me off for my hardness of heart.
But, praised be his name, he has at last, I believe,
brought me to love him alone, and given me strength
to cast away the sins that beset me; so that now,
though my spirit is constantly attacked by, and too
often yields to, the enticements of the world, yet I
am enabled to set my heart on him only. And now
that I am freed from having a worldly object constantly before me, I have much greater peace and
comfort in Christ —much, very much more-than I
have enjoyed for many months, or I may say, than I
have ever had: now I feel that I can do all things
through him that strengtheneth me; but only through
Hrim. Hitherto my holidays have been to me a
constant source of trial, and of sorrow afterward;
this year (I know not why; I have not deserved it,
and it is through his great mercy alone) God has
granted that they should be to me a season of great
joy and comfort, and I trust I may be enabled to
make them a useful time of preparation, for the
change in my scene of life which I am just about to
enter upon. To return to the subject of your letter,
I believe that now I am seeking sincerely how I may
best glorify God by my choice of a profession, and
that is the sole object I have; but it was some time




46          MEMOTR OF H. W. FOX.
before I could entirely cast away earthly advantages
from my view.  As far as I can judge at present, my
views agree with your's.  I seem to be rather fit for
the ministry than the bar; and physic, though opening
very many means of doing good, has never occupied
my attention. My own desires are certainly for the
first of the three, and my attention is frequently
drawn to view its peculiar duties, so that I should in
some respects be more prepared beforehand for it
than for the others. But I have still some years before I need make a definite determination, and I trust
that God will hear my prayers to the effect that I may
be guided aright in my choice.  I thank you deeply
for your letter, which has been of very great use to
me; for your assuming in it that the glory of God
was my only object, made me feel guilty and aware
that such was not the case; it has been the beginning of my throwing myself entirely on Him. It is
indeed an exceeding great mercy to be enabled to
have  an abiding sense of our acceptance with
God through Jesus Christ's merits, not by our
own. There is the point; —we are so sinful and so
weak, that when once our eyes are opened, we must
despair of salvation by our own means.  And how
great is the peace and comfort to feel that our sins,
however heinous they may have been, are blotted out
by Christ's sacrifice, and that our imperfect prayers
are heard, and our works of love accepted through
him, and for his sake; it is indeed a joy unspeakable,
and a peace which the world cannot give nor take
away. The chief danger I feel now is lest I should
become proud, and fancy it is my own doing, or my
own merits, which have brought me to so happy a
state; for if we avoid one error, it is difficult to keep
in the straight path; but we are tempted to fall into




UNIVERSITY CAREER.             47
the opposite one, and humility is only to be learned
after frequent backslidings. How strange it is that
such beings as we, who have most cause of all created
things to feel shame, since we alone are fallen creatures, should ever be in danger of becoming proud
of our good things, which even are not our's, nor of
our doing. *      *  Believe me, my dear George,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
CHAPTER II.
REMOVAL TO OXFORD-SPIRITUAL TRIALS DURING HIS
UNIVERSITY CAREER.
MY brother left Rugby at midsummer, 1836, and
began his residence at Wadham College, Oxford, in
October of the same year.
His correspondence during his career at Rugby
has shown a steady development of mind, and a
healthful progress in divine knowledge and grace. I
cannot refrain from observing, how much more happy
was his course than that of many enjoying similar
privileges, who neglect opportunities, waste time, and
worse than all, quench the impressions which the
grace of God is making on their hearts, instead of
cultivating and carefully improving them.
My brother went up to Oxford fortified by the
grace of God, and better prepared to withstand the
temptations of University life than most at his age;
yet, for all that, it proved a season of peculiar trial,
during which, though he lost not his foothold entirely,




48           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
though he was graciously preserved from vice, nay
further, maintained to a certain degree his Christian
character and his Christian warfare, yet he received
a check; his course for a time was no longer onward,
but backward, and he became the victim of that enemy so destructive to the Christian life, a spirit of
backsliding.
1. The first error, by no means an uncommon one,
into which he fell, was that of not being sufficiently
choice in the selection of his companions; associating
with many who had no sympathy with him in divine
things, and whose influence could only be that of
deteriorating his better impressions.
2. He contracted a violent passion for boating, in
the pursuit of which amusement he found it difficult
to stop at that point which yields healthful exercise;
but became so enamoured of the sport as to spend on
it many precious hours to which study was properly
entitled.
3. A want of regular habits and of fixed times,
both for study and devotional purposes, were consequences very likely to supervene from such associations, and such was the case;-but beyond this, my
brother's decline, at its worst point, went not. The
grace of God had been too deeply rooted, and his
conscience was too sensitive, to allow of his falling
away entirely from Him to whom he had early consecrated his heart. Besides this, he had other
healthful and corrective influences acting upon him;
among which may be mentioned his connection with
the Sunday-school of St. Ebbe's, and his acquaintance
with Mr. Champneys, at that time the valuable curate
of the parish; he had also had a district for visiting
the poor;-ito which must be added the healthful
influence of domestic affections, and a frequent corre



UNIVERSITY CAREER,.             49
spondence with his sister.  Thus therefore, though
to the eye of the world there was not much to complain of,- nay, if he had not previously been the
subject of deeper impressions, and a more vigorous
piety, one would have rejoiced even at that measure
which still remained, when most palsied by lukewarmness; nevertheless, the disadvantages which he
experienced from the causes already detailed, were
serious and permanent.  He was not prevented from
reaping to a certain extent the advantages of mental
culture and intellectual development; but he did
fail, as he himself often afterward lamented, of obtaining the full benefit which he might have derived
from his residence at Oxford; and it was mainly
owing to this cause, that the expectations of his
friends were not realized, and the standing he had
gained at Rugby not maintained, so that, though he
took a respectable degree, those higher honours of
which he at one time gave promise were not obtained.
Writing to a friend shortly after he had taken his
degree, he expressed himself as follows:-" I trust
your course at Cambridge may be a more steadfast
and Christian one, than mine was at Oxford. If I
may be allowed a word of advice, I should say, consider the object of the University, viz. the education of the mind, and formation of habits, and set
yourself to fulfil it; and consider in, and for whom
you are to do it, and be much in communion with
Him, who is the highest blessing."
The altered circumstances in which my brother
was placed, no doubt added greatly to his temptations on entering upon his university career.
While at Rugby, he had enjoyed the advantage
of discipline, that "pressure from without," which
was greatly serviceable in helping the conscientious
5




50           MEMOIR OF II. W. FOX.
workings of his own mind; so that habits of study,
and a system of living by rule, were more easily
attained. Now the great advantage of this to the
spiritual life, need hardly be pointed out. Early
rising, with a period of healthful prayer and study
of God's word, before entering on the duties of the
day, gives vigour and nerve to the soul, enabling it
to discharge its duties with energy and perseverance.
Again at Rugby, during the latter period of his
course, he had the advantage of being in the Sixth
Form, which gave him the office of Proepostor; and
it is curious to observe what a control this sense of
"'office" seems to have exercised even upon boys
who were not governed by higher motives; they
felt, that upon them rested in a great degree, the
discipline, the credit of RIugby; they were strongly
impressed with a sense of their importance in the
exercise of their prmepostorial duties, and very high
notions were entertained of "the dignity of the
Sixth."
No doubt some self-conceit and self-sufficiency
were infused by such feelings, but the standard of
conduct was elevated by it decidedly. I speak more
especially of those who had not higher motives to
govern them, but even those who had, would feel
assistance from such external influences.
At Oxford these advantages were lost, and what
would be more injurious, perhaps without being perceived. In the place of discipline came perfect
freedom-no external helps toward regular habitsso that except the warning voice of conscience, there
was nothing to check self-indulgence, lying in bed,
waste of time, and unprofitable lounging companions.
The following extract from his letters will illustrate his progress.




LETTERS FROM OXFORD.            51
Wadham College, Nov. 4, 1836.
MIY DEAREST ISABELLA,
*  * *  I have entered a Sunday-school, which
contains 160 boys, and is conducted in a very able
way by Mr. Champneys, the clergyman, who is a
most excellent person.  On Sundays, except for
morning and evening chapel, I am free all day, as
far as regards the college, and thus am perfectly
able to give two hours to the school. I have found
this change of life a very great trial indeed; for independently of the broken-up state in which my
time has till now been, (I hope that in a few days
more I shall be done with all invitations,) I have
been frequently tempted and yielded to the temptation of foregoing my mid-day devotions; and thus
when the morning has been spent in continual application of my mind to classics, and the afternoon and
evening been frequently spent in others' company,
you will know that when my devotions have been
neglected, I have been worldly-minded in the extremne; this has kept me in a very low state of love
to God, till the last few days, when I have been
enabled by his grace to resist more successfully the
inclinations of my heart. I have all along found
the morning and evening service in chapel of great
benefit; and instead of growing weary from the constant repetition of the same service, I grow more and
more to like it. How daily does one's experience
of the wickedness of the heart of man increase i I
find mine continually drawing me back to the world,
and always at variance with God; and every season
of backsliding feeds afresh the half-extinguished
flame of sin in it, and the fight has to be fought
again. But still, notwithstanding all this knowledge, I am ever yielding to some temptation: I




52          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
often think of that line of the hymn, "Cleanse me
from its guilt and power 1"  And the days are fast
passing away, and the time will soon be at hand, in
which the weary shall be at rest, and not only so,
but rejoicing in the glory of God. I have already,
in spite of the unfavourable weather, become a great
waterman.  On my third-day of rowing, I went
down to Abingdon in a four-oar, during which, I
rowed rather more than eleven miles, and yesterday
the same crew of us went above eight miles, of which
the first four was in the rain, and for above a quarter
of an hour in the heaviest storm of rain and hail I
ever felt; but we pulled through it, and none of us
have taken any harm from it. * * *
HENRY W. Fox.
Louth, Jan. 9, 1837.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
I spent rather a lonely three weeks at Oxford, but
did not make so much use of it for reading as I
might have done.  Perhaps you will be rather astonished to hear that I am now strongly tempted to
be idle, and it has been one of my besetting sins
during the last term; I have always had this as a
temptation, but at Rugby I was generally enabled to
resist it, and.I trust I shall again be able to do so
when I return. * * * I am not astonished at
your being anxious respecting me at College, for it
is indeed a place full of temptations of every kind,
both outward and inward: I am tempted on the one
hand to be idle by a hundred different temptations;
and then when I work I am tempted to do so for
the sake of worldly honours and rewards, and the
very work itself is always leading me away to be
worldly-minded. But next term I expect to have a




LETTERS FROMI OXFORD.            53
great assistance, by visiting the poor regularly: for
as far as I have hitherto done so, I have found great
benefit from its spiritualizing my mind. I have not
yet overcome my old habit of laziness in rising, and
I feel it to be a constant source of ill to my soul,
either causing me to hurry my devotions, or to neglect some of my daily work.  Believe me
Your very affectionate brother,
HENRY.
Wadham College, Feb. 2, 1837.
MY DEAR BUCKINGHAM,
* * * I have now been up here about three
months, and much as I expected to like Oxford, my
expectations have fallen short of the reality. I had
before I came up, one or two religious friends, and I
expected to be able to form one or two other friiendships
which should have for their foundation the love of
Christ; but instead of one or two, I at present know
above a dozen such persons, with several of whom I
amn very intimate. This has been a great blessing,
but I have put it to very little use, for last term I
was very idle, which being itself sinful, led into a
cold and worldly state; and even now I can scarcely
dare to say that I am out of it. The morning service in chapel ought to be a great advantage to me,
but through my laziness I seldom use it: however,
by Christ's assistance-for it is by his grace alone
that we stand-I trust to be able to overcome this
bad habit.  Many, too, of the blessings, I have
turned to evils by neglecting and abusing them. I
waste time in vain conversation with my friends.
I allow my reading to take away my heart and
thoughts from heavenly subjects, and my heart to
fix on those objects which were given me only for
5*




54          3MEIIOIR OF H. W. FOX.
refreshment or assistance.  Very soon after I came
up, I was able to become teacher at a Sunday-school,
under Mr. Champneys, who is a most excellent and
delightful man; and I am just about to take a district in his parish for visiting. I have hitherto had
very little of this; but whenever I have had it, I
have felt its great benefit. All this will be a preparation for the time when I shall have a parish myself; or, as I often look forward to it, for teaching
the heathen in foreign lands.   * * *   Believe me,
Your very affectionate friend,
HENRY W. Fox.
Wadham College, June 10, 1838.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
*     *  I never knew so much wickedness in
myself, so much innate sin, growing apace and overrunning all things, the moment it was unchecked by
the grace of Christ. Miy dear sister, you can no
doubt feel for me, but you can scarcely know the
extremity of my sin, and the blackness of my heart;
the frequent entire neglect of God in private, which
made its appearance, even before men, in the form
of carelessness, and the laying hold of the world
again, and its pleasures; the dimness of the spiritual
light: so that these things which before had been
plainly sinful and hateful, were now become doubtful, and many which before had been disallowed,
were admitted; nay, even now I scarcely dare say,
that I am out of this slough, so often and often do
I fall back, even when I have been somewhat brought
back to God, and then to think that this is the case
with one who has had committed unto him, not five,
but ten talents, for here am I surrounded, as it were,
by every means of grace, if I choose to make use of




LETTERS FROM OXFORD.             55
them; —daily prayers, outward assistances for regularity of mind and habits, good sermons, truly Christian and wise friends, Sunday-schools, visiting, and
every assistance which books can give-all this, and
yet so neglected; and I, who am here placed in a
most responsible situation, as a light upon a hill,
have become darkness; —how much evil I have done,
not to speak of the absence of good to those around,
I dread to think of; but Christ, who loves us better
than we know,-deigns to call us brethren. * * *
HENRY.
St. Bees, August 23, 1838.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
*  *  *  I often find myself deceiving myself by
fancying utility in some pleasure which has perhaps
nothing but the pleasure to recommend it in reality;
thus I am not always careful about my society,
apologizing to myself, that to mix in this or that
sort, it may be rather lower than my rank, or less
moral than ought to be, is useful, in order, both in
endeavour to raise those who form it, and to learn
men's manners and minds under every form. I
have been passing by no means a happy time at
Ambleside, as far as regards my state of mind, and
I have been in a situation in which I do not recollect
to have been before, though I have known of it from
the writings of others.  During my moving about,
I was generally in so unsettled a state, my attention
so constantly caught by some novelty or amusement,
that I fell into a very careless and godless state. I
cannot tell you how low my heart sank in forgetfulness of God, even though I continued my forms of
devotion: —on my arrival at the Lakes, my quiet
situation and sudden change of habits from idleness




56           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
and irregularity to steady reading, gave me every
opportunity for returning to God; but here he has
used punishment for my sins, and after having a
thousand times used mercy, shown in immediate reception after falilings away, he has now hid his face
from me; I feel as if I could not come near him,
and my prayers are full of darkness and want of
faith.  I know that even my present coldness is an
additional cause of this state, but it is more than
usual.  I desire to bow myself under this trial too,
and oh! I desire to struggle after Christ; I know
that he has not altogether given me over to my own
wickedness, or else he would not have left this desire
after him in my heart, and I can trust that he will
receive me again, nay, does now receive me through
his own blood, but that he is using correction to warn
me against my sins, and to show me more plainly
what are the fruits of following the world; —I have
gone many steps backward, I find myself ever looking forward to some earthly place of rest, and I seem
not to realize Christ's kingdom. Oh! what a miserable sinner I am, to be but now entering into God's
service, so long after he has called me, and after so
many great and manifest mercies to Ine.  I sometimes look forward, that probably in two years, or a
little more, I shall be a clerglymain, and if I am
no more advanced during that time, than I have
been during the last two years, how shall I teach,,who shall need teaching in the very elements myself? * * *
Believe me,
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY.




JOURNAL.                  57
JOURNAL.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.-Sunday, Atugust 27,
1837.-A very joyful day: God mercifully heard my
prayers for the Sunday-school children, and they
were more attentive and inclined to learn.  He was
very graciously present with me during morning
service.  M3r. Clayton preached on "With  desire
have I desired to eat this passover with you," showing the great love of Christ, in caring only for his
disciples, even just before his suffering. I received
the sacrament with more joy than I have ever before
done, feeling perfect assurance in Christ's redeeming
love,-but the afternoon was wasted in sleep; thus
neglecting my almost only time for reading.  Before
vvening service I studied Ephesians iii., which set
forth the love of God as shown in our salvation, and
the freeness of his gift. In the evening I was again
blessed by a very excellent sermon from Mr. Hopper.  While walking to Gateshead, I was enabled to
return thanks to God for his numerous and full
temporal blessings to me, for his having so mercifully and patiently brought me so far, with an
assurance of continuing me to the end. Oh! the
glory of the thought, that I am now an heir of
salvation.  "We are now on our way to God," not
a thing to be hereafter attained; we are now heirs,
waiting merely till the time of our inheriting comes:
— " Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly."  "Thanks
be to God for his unspeakable gift."
liond(ay,.Septenlber 11.-On Saturday I accompanied E. C( - to Cullercoats; the day was spent
in sauntering, in sailing, fishing, and chatting in the
evening; —truly to be in the society of friends,
gentlemen, and persons capable of affording con



58           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
tinual amusement, and where the train of kindly
feeling is never so much as wounded-this is a great
pleasure; but it is an entirely worldly one, and independent of its indulgence, it had its bad effects on
me, of deadening my spirit of love and adoration.
On the Sunday morning I was somlewhat refreshed
by prayer in my own room, but the continual interruptions and worldly conversation of the day were
a snare by which I was entangled. I was under a
continual feeling of guilt, save during the afternoon
and evening service.
In the evening I had a solitary walk on the beach,
"where the tide was gently flowing," and one little
rippling wave after another made sweet music on the
shore; under the calm and silent light of the full and
-mist-embosomed moon,-was enabled to thank God
for all this, and to feel his love and mercy by giving
us these enjoyments of his works.
Sundcty, October 1, 1837.-Yesterday I was nineteen, —to-day, I am twenty years of age. I desire
to record some particula.r mercies of God to me during
the past year: —First of all, his daily preservation of
me in health and strength, and the grace which he
has given me for spiritual advancement. I think,
that now, all striking outward objects which would
tie me down to the world are removed.  God has
placed me in situations of great usefulness and responsibility at Oxford; —in the Sunday-school, the
district visiting and lecture, besides my influence
upon individual friends-these, especially the last,
have been sadly neglected on my part, which I pray
may be corrected henceforth. I have been, during
much of the last year, in great spiritual coldness;
from my first residence in college, to my present vacation, I was wrapt up in worldly things, many had




JOURNAL.                  59
hold on my heart, and more entangled me in daily
business: at times, especially on Sundays, and during the Easter vacation, I arose by the Lord's assistance and shook off the world, but yet was there
always one worldly tie holding me down; another
evil' was, my engagement in boat-racing, whereby I
was much associated, for two hours daily, with persons entirely worldly, and never had any quiet solitary walks to lead me back to God-this same thing
was the cause of a great deal of idleness, of weariness at night, to the injury of evening devotions, and
of laziness in the mornings, hurting my hours of
prayer, and altogether forming a weight of sin on
my soul.  Periods of travels, as that to Louth in the
winter, and to London and home in the summer,
were scenes of utter ungodliness, when at night I felt
afraid to kneel down to ask forgiveness.  I thank
God, that after my return home he called me more
to him; living quietly at Newcastle, early rising,
regular habits, were the means he used.  For two or
three weeks immediately following, I was enabled to
live more closely to Christ than ever before-since, I
have varied much; at times had seasons of prayer,
and looking closely to God;- at others I have fallen
into wilful sin, and consequently worldly-mindedness.
FIiiclcty, October 20th.-OxFoRD.-On Saturday,
S. H      and I travelled through pretty hedgewoodlands to Newark, where we stopped to see the
Castle. Proceeded solus in a fly to Rugby, and as I
approached that dear place, all glad thoughts stirred
within me, and my heart leaped to recognise in the
moonlight each scene of my boyhood.  How kindly
too was I received by Mr. and Mrs. Price, and was
there not cause for giving of thanks in all this happiness? Next morning I went to chapel, and entering




60           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
that place of worship where I first and so often enjoyed in fulness, the presence of God's spirit, and
hearing that same beloved voice, and seeing those
well-remembered faces, filled me with such an unearthly ecstasy, that I trembled and could scarcely
stand-for years had I been looking forward to'that
moment, and the reality surpassed the expectation.
And here I desire to record my intense and heartfelt
respect, admiration, and love for Dr. Arnold, and I
wish always to praise God for his great kindness in
having placed me under him, as from him as a means,
is derived all that I have of use or pleasure. Again
did I receive from his hands the Lord's Supper,again did I see him ascend the pulpit, and hear his
words of wisdom  and of truth.  The weather at
Rugby was lovely; —during one calm evening's walk
to the mushroom-field, I was struck with the change
that had taken place in my perception of beauty during the last year. Each day at Rugby was ended
by a different but a lovely sunset. I wish to repeat
what delight it was to return to old scenes, and
places, and friends.  Rugby is my polar star, and I
think of it daily. Oh! dear beloved place.
Durham, Sunday, Jan. 14, 1838.-Lord, do thou
occupy that place in my heart which has been
emptied of its former possessors, and which is indeed
thy seat by right. I desire to love my Saviour, but
I do so very little. I am about to enter on some
severe trials at Oxford, by leading a different life,
and endeavouring to make all things subservient to
the will and glory of God; (alas! how I have hitherto
conformed to the world, and led an inconsistent life!)
but to do this, my hope is in Christ, who is my Redeemer.  Oh! may he be also my exceeding joy.
Oxford, Feb. 2, 1838.-I live much more by my



JOIJRNAL.                61
self, and am able to mingle much more in religious
conversation. I begin again, after the lapse of a
year and a half, to take a great delight in reading,
and begin to read more steadily.
April 30.-1I have read something, but not much
-my old sin of idleness and dawdling still besets me
hard. I have been neglectful of prayer, and have
been in a dead state.
September, 1838.-During my stay at Frome my
life was inconsistent with my profession, and I laid a
great stumbling-block in the way of, —     who was
quite irreligious herself, and observing how ill my
conduct agreed with my language, took, as she told
me, a greater objection than ever to religious people.
I desire to bewail my sins and backslidings. As
a general fault, my want of love to God is chief; I
can love men enough, but feel little of a similar love
to God. As to means of grace, I am careless and
sluggish. I know that prayer, thanksgiving, and
Scripture-reading are the very life of the Christian;
and he lives and dies according as he uses those.
And I oftentimes propose to continue more instant in
prayer, but I am ever neglecting: in the morning I
am frequently hurried by late rising, at mid-day my
heart is cold, and I generally put off, and thus neglect
prayer. At evening, I too often lie down in unrepented sin, braving God's wrath, or at most spending
a few cold moments in prayer, and I accept the most
paltry excuses for neglecting to read God's word.
My Sundays are cold and worldly: I sometimes enjoy the public services very much, but I misspend in
idle conversation, sleep, or foolish thought, much of
the afternoon and evening; so that I go to bed coldhearted and godless, and have no strer.gth for the
coming week.
6




62           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
In particular offences I am very guilty. I am
inactive and indolent, and give way to temptations,
even when known as such. Nor am I watchful to
avoid and resist them; nor do I fly to Christ for assistance when under them. And so in outward
words and acts, I am inconsistent with my professions, and I fear I was a great snare to many during
my visit in the summer, and at Kirk Mlichael: in
fact, in outward things, what difference is there between me and any moral person? How do I let my
light be seen? How do I fight against Satan in the
hearts of others?   0 Lord, forgive me my great
falling short in this point; for I am set on a hill, yet
show no light.  How many will there be who, from
the depths of hell, will accuse me of not having
warned them, or of having encouraged them by my
example in their evil courses.
So passed the two first years of his University
life; a better day seems to have dawned upon him
with the third; and though there are few records
remaining of that period, it is evident that the struggle of which he complained had produced a more
vigorous renewal of the warfare; and that instead of
sitting still and complaining, he had been led into
the heat of the battle, and there gained a victory
over his own heart.
And with this revival of God's work in his heart
returned those early thoughts of devoting himself to
a missionary life, which had engaged his mind as
far back as his school-boy days. There is an intimate
connection between love to God and to man: where
the former decays, the latter will not long remain-at
least, the heart will refuse to respond to all calls
which involve self-denial, and require the exercise of




CHURCH MISSIONARY.              63
a spiritual mind. To look out upon a world dead in
trespasses and sins, ignorant of a Saviour's love; to
feel their misery, to be willing to hasten to their
rescue-this, no man ever yet has done, in whose
heart the love of God has not established itself, with
great vigour, and much power.
Should any youthful reader of these pages be conscious of a decline like that which Henry Fox so
condemned and lamented in himself, let him not despair, if he but desires, like him, to strengthen the
things which remain, and is ready to rise and strive
with deeper humility than before. It was after such
experience that Henry Fox became what the remainder of this book will show him, "shining more and
more unto the perfect day."
CHAPTER III.
TAKES HIS DEGREE —OFFERS HIMSELF AS A MISSIONARY TO
THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY-FIELD OF LABOUR
CHOSEN, THE TELOOGOO PEOPLE IN SOUTH INDIA-ORDINATION AND MARRIAGE-DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND, AND
ARRIVAL AT MADRAS.
MY brother took his degree on the 4th of December, 1839, but resided for some months after at Wadham College.
Hle was ordained 21st December, 1840, and married at Bagborough, Somersetshire, on the 30th December, to Miss Elizabeth James, daughter of the
late G. H. James, Esq. of Wolverhampton.




64           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
Previous to these events, he had come to the decision of devoting his life to the Missionary cause:
he offered himself to the Church Missionary Society,
and the field of labour to which his attention had
been directed was that of the Teloogoo people, or
Northern Circars, who inhabit a district of South
India, north of M[adras, numbering ten miillions, to
whom, though subject to British rule for eighty
years, no clergyman of the Church of England had
ever been sent.
By a singular coincidence, the Rev. Robert T.
Noble, of Sidney Sussex College, Cainbridge, had had
his attention drawn in the same direction, and they
both offered their services for the same people, unknown to each other, at the same time.
One of the most painful trials of the Missionary
career, or at least that which is first encountered, is
the separation from friends and home which it involves.  But surely this ought not to be a sufficient
reason to justify parents in refusing their children,
or children in refusing to go, when called of God on
so high and holy an errand.  We find parents ready
to give up their children for secular pursuits, gladly
sending them to the same country, and submitting
to the same separation, for worldly considerations;
while those who profess and call themselves Christians are not willing to do that for Christ which
every one rejoices to do for the world.  Many e
young man, with a heart beating high for God's
glory, has been prevented from carrying out his purposes of love to the heathen, by the selfish love of
parents, who are only willing to permit their children's separation when worldly honour and wealth are
the price paid.
Such obstacles, by the blessing of God, stood not




CHIURCH MISSIONARY.             65
in the way of my brother's course; both his parents
assented to his plans, and so entered into the spirit of
them as to rejoice in the privilege of having a son
willing to consecrate himself to so noble a work. The
separation about to be made was at that time looked
upon as final, and my brother's character was so endearing, that it seemed to all as if we had given up
the choicest member, him whom  our hearts could
least afford to spare: yet surely when making an
offering to God, it should not be the maimed or the
lame, but the choicest of the flock.
At the time of his departure, nearly the whole
family happened to be assembled in London, and it
was there that the painful separation took place, on
Saturday, the 6th of March, 1841; whence he and
his wife proceeded to Gravesend, but were detained
contrary to expectation, until the 8th, when they
embarked in the ship " Robarts" for Madras.
The contrast between the plans which have the
glory of God for their end, and those which have
not, is most striking in their results.  There is a
security against disappointment in the one, which is
nowhere else to be found in this world of change
and chance.  For, however the Christian's plans
may fail, however his hopes be disappointed, there
is to himself no loss, his life has not been thrown
away, his time has not been squandered, and his soul
is in peace. The letters which follow will give a
most interesting view of the heart of Henry Fox,
while he was engaged in the inquiry,' Lord, what
wilt thou have me to do?" How clearly does he
anticipate all!  How humbly does he think of his
own qualifications, while yet, like a brave soldier,
he is ready for the post of danger and difficulty, because it is avoided by so many! He loves dearly
6 -*




66          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
his fiiends, his home, and even the villages and green
lanes, the flowers and birds of his own land; but
the love of Christ prevails, and he is relieved from
that hardest trial, the resistance of those who are
most beloved.
TO JOHN EMERIS, ESQ.
2 Oriental Palace, Brighton, Jan. 9, 1840.
MY DEAREST JOHN,
*  * *  My next subject is regarding poor me.
I have been casting about an old question, which I
have long put off, as out of season, but now presses
upon me in full force, because now is the time for
decision.  I mean the question:-'  Must I be a
minister in England, or among the heathen?" I
am not aware that I have any new reasons on the
subject, nor that I see them more strongly than
before, but in times past I had to 6ay to myself,
"This is not a question to be at present decided,
while I am yet in education for the ministry generally." Now, however, when each day tends to fix
my situation in life, and a decision either way would
alter my plans, even for the morrow, I am obliged
to give a definite answer to the ever intruding question; and I see not -what answer I can give than
this:-" I must be a missionary."  M3y reasons are,
as I dare say you know, simply these: that there is
an overwhelming call for missionaries to the heathen,
and we, the Church of England, have been bringing
down punishments on our heads, by our neglect in
not hearing the call: and thus some one must go,
and if no one else will go, he who hears the call,
(peculiarly adapted for the service or no,) must go;
I hear the call, for indeed God has brought it before




CHURCH MISSIONARY.              67
me on every side, and go I must. My external
qualifications of health, strength, and spirits are
rather in favour of my aptness, and my internal
qualifications are my only drawback; for so great,
so honourable, so important a charge is it to be
entered upon, that I shrink to think that a being so
worthless, so wicked, so very wicked and faithless,
should presume to offer himself for it.  But better
be it filled by the weakest of the weak, than by none
at all, and God can give me strength. As often as
I turn the question in my mind, I can only arrive
at the same conclusion, and weak and earthly as are
many of my present motives for going, (for I am
full of romantic fancies,) yet I see reasons far beyond
these motives, and pray that my heart may be filled
by more worthy motives, and a pure and single love
of men in Christ; and I know that when I enter on
my labours, such fancies will be driven away like
chaff:-nay, I accept themi rather than nothing, to
be a sort of temporary balance to the contrary feeling of pain, in the thoughts of separation from home
and friends.  My brother Charles has all along
urged me to take this course, and within these last
few days I laid my case before Mr. Elliott, (you
know whom I mean,) whose advice I felt confident
I could receive; for he knows my situation in the
family, in life, &c., and is a man of excellent judgment, and considerable experience; —he strongly
confirms me in the view I take of it, and he has
shown me an extract from a letter of the Rev. Mr.
Tucker, in Madras, on the subject of a new mission
in India where all is ready, people, scholars, house,
chapel, school, funds, &c.:-all except a man to fill
the place of missionary. I have not yet FIXED,
I believe I shall do so I efore many weeks are passed.




68           MEMOIR OF i. W. FOX.
Now, my dear John, I write all this to you, to
ask you for your prayers on my behalf, that I may
be guided by Christ's Spirit in my decision, and
supported by him under all trials. Oh! I do so
dread my inconsistent life-an intended missionary,
and yet a careless liver. Do pray for me, that I
may walk more firmly in my conversation with
others.  Also I wish for your straight-forward advice; what do you think to be my duty? I do not
feel any tie to country, family, or friends, which
might not equally apply to every Missionary who
ever left this land. * * * Believe me,
Your affectionate friend,
HENRY oW. FOX.
Wadham College, Feb. 21, 1840.
MY DEAR ISABELLA)
~ *  *  My letter to Dr. Arnold contained the
substance of what you will see in the accompanying
paper, his answer you will see. I might say much
upon it, for it has given new thoughts to my mind,
but not altered my original views: for still I feel it
impossible to say that no one, or that only a few are
to go abroad as missionaries, or that a fair proportion to the demand are ready -to go; and whether it
be to the English colonists in Australia, or to the
English at Calcutta, or to the natives in India, or
elsewhere, is all one to me; these are after-questions,
the prior one is more general, and regards the two
stiuations of at home and abroad: however, Dr.
Arnold's letter puts several points in a new light.
I intend to devote the season of Lent, which is fast
coming on, peculiarly to prayer for guidance in my
choice, and a single heart to decide purely and without bias for God's glory. I feel each day more and




LETTERS.                  69
more, how that this is a scene of turmoil, and must
be one of hard fighting and struggling, and often I
long to be back again among you all, which is to me
the scene of peaceful life, as well of all soft and
gentle happiness; but I remember that the victory
is to him who struggles, and the crown of glory is
to him, who having worked in the heat of the day,
has not fainted: but oh! pray for me, that I faint
not, for temptations beset me on this side and on
that.  This term I am mercifully and unexpectedly
preserved from trials of my belief and doctrinal faith;
my struggle is one more practical, (so to speak,) and
I am beset by deadness of heart to God; want of
sincere, humble faith and love; by idleness and
neglect of my daily duties. * * *
Wadham College, March 8, 1840.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
As I draw nearer to the time when my final decision must be made, it rises up before me in a more
awful form, and it appears to be a thing scarcely
credible, that I should have in a few weeks to make
so important a decision, affecting my future life and
the interest of thousands. I feel vividly, that as
far as man is concerned, the weight of the decision
rests upon myself, and myself only; that no man can
aid in lifting it by so much as their little finger,all that other men can do is, to lay before me advice; with me rests the choice of such advice. I
am thankful to have had opportunities of obtaining
what seem to me the highest human authorities as
my advisers. But it is indeed with God that the
decision rests, and it must be according as he puts
his wisdom  into my heart, that I must give my
answer: so that I have indeed much need of earnest




70           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
prayer for his grace, and I earnestly desire the
prayers of all my friends at this important moment.
Would that I felt all this more; it is easier to express such feelings on paper, than really and warmly
to entertain them. I have secluded myself from a
good deal of distraction during the present season,,and I am  endeavouring to fast, not as a good work,
but as a means for drawing off from the senses to
the mental sight of God. I have not acted rashly
in so doing, but I thank you for your cautions on
the subject, which express what I had already
thought about it, and can find many ways of denying myself without going near to injure my health.
I have this evening been reading that part of H1.
Martyn's life, which records his embarkation and
voyage to India, and each page has filled me with
shame, and a sense of unworthiness, and of my
present deadness and coldness of spirit, instead of
the lively faith and love which should be in one who
is looking forward to be a worker in God's vineyard,
and who is aspiring to an honourable place therein,
Oh! I do so fear, lest there be nothing but worldlymindedness in my desires to be a missionary; and
-if so, how can I expect God to guide me aright?
Were I more sure that this was not the case, it
would remove many difficulties out of my way.  I
have great cause to thank God for the following circumstances:-A gownsman whom I have known a few
months, and who has joined me in my district-visiting, came to me a few days ago, and informing me
that a society had been formed in Wadham for the
encouragement of missionary objects,-requested me
to be president of it, to which, after a short consideration, I acceded:-at present we are but a small
]body, not more than six or seven, but we shall soon




EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.            71
add a few more to our number; we intend to meet
for the purpose of praying that God would pour out
his Spirit on the missionaries already at work, and
would add many more to their number, and we shall
endeavour to obtain what information we can.  I
thank God for thus permitting me already to take
a hand in furthering these objects, and for putting
it into the hearts of others to do so too.  But while
doing all this, while thus actively exerting myself in
aid of missions, it frequently occurs to me, " If I do,
all this and am justified in doing it, what can prevent me from  answering the prayers offereA to God,
and saying to him,' Here am I, send me?'  Should
I go abroad, it will be a great comfort to think that
my companions and successors will be offering up,
prayers on my behalf, and that I may have been
instrumental in leading others to follow me.
My dear sister, pray for me, that I may think
upon it with holy and humble thoughts, and seek
truly to know God's will about it. I often look on
spots of earth, and view them with regret as seen
for the last time; when I think of leaving Oxford,
to return to it never again-of Rugby to be seen no
more —no more speaking to Dr. Arnold and P —;
and again, when each friend passes before my eyes
in review, as to be seen and spoken to for the last
time, some perchance for the last time for ever, I see
that I have in prospect a mournful and painful trial
yet to pass through: yet none so grievous as the
last moment I shall see you.' * *
EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.
Bri'ghton Jan. 9, 1840.-This morning I had a
note from IMr. Elliott, enclosing part of Mr. Tucker's




72          MEMOIR OF HT. W. FOX.
letter from India, which contained the following information:-" They are contemplating a mission
among the Teloogoo country, which for eighty
years has been under British government: the population, above ten millions, living in towns and large
villages on the coast to the north of Madras. Among
them there are only six Protestant missionaries —not
one of the Church of England. For eighty years we
have neglected it utterly. This is the last attempt
that will be made; every thing is ready except the
missionary."
Brighton, Jan. 13.-I still feel bound to be a
missionary, chiefly because I hear and am ready,
while none others, so to say, will attend to the call
made; and I feel the call abroad to be stronger than
at home: 1st. Because the want numerically is a
thousandfold greater. —2dly. Because here the seed
is sown-we have ten thousand clergy, and many
are daily pressing into orders, but abroad the seed
is yet unsown, and of course no fruit can be expected if we wait till doomsday.-3d. Our colonies
and our trade can be given us for no purpose but
to spread the gospel, and where are the ministers?-Though some of the apostles stayed in
Judea, yet Paul, Mlark, Silas, and manny others
travelled abroad.
Brighton, Jan. 21, 1840.-I have been very
happy; all the early part of the vacation my mind
was in a state of very great activity, so that almost
every sentence I heard made a train of thought
arise, often even to a painful extent. I soon felt
the happy effects of living nearer to God-peace
and content. I then too read somewhat, and wrote
a good deal.
Oxford~, Feb. 16, 1840.-On January 23d I pro



EXTRACTS FROM. JOURNAL.           73
tceded to London and stayed till the following MIonday: one of my chief objects was to gain a sense, as
far as I could, of the evil and wicked state of that
great Babylon, which in some degree I did. The
poor fallen women whom I met by night, and the
weak men too, the busy, godless, unloving faces, whom
I met in multitudes by day, all oppressed my spirit.
I spent the Sunday at Whitechapel with S, and
there again entered, in another way, into a perception of the want of spiritual instruction in the metropolis. I did all this with the object of giving as
much weight as possible to the home demands, in
order to make my decision more candid; but all these
sensible sights did not outweigh my former sense of
the needs abroad.
Oxford, JM[arch 16, 1840.-How small the finite!
How incapable of containing or satisfying the infinite! I have been raised above and beyond the
world, and felt how all around is but a vesture, and
God, the Infinite, the Eternal, has been very present
and visible to my soul; and thanks and glory be to
him, that he has revealed himself to me, in his Son,
by his Spirit, and I am able to cast myself, my sinful, helpless soul, on Jesus Christ: yea, thanks to
him, he has received and upheld me; I can look on
God as my Redeemer. After many vicissitudes,
many risings and faillings, he has brought me still
closer to himself; praise be to him!
Fridclay, Mlarch 27, 1840.-This is a day much to
be remembered in my household; for to-day I have
come to my final decision to be a missionary; I am
well satisfied and convinced as to this being my true
course of duty, and I thank God for so making it
plain to me. Enieris sat with me during the evening, and we prayed together for guidance and help,




74          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
and comfort in our absence. It has been a formal
decision, because I have for some time felt it could
not be otherwise.  I am willing and thankful to be
permitted to give myself up to do God service, by
preaching to the heathen and leaving father and
mother, brothers and sisters, home and friends; yea,
and if it please him, life itself. It is an honour too
great for me. Oh! may grace be given me to serve
him in it.
I have of late been able to feel more sure of my
salvation in Christ-to lay hold on his cross with
more confidence: would that I took up my own
cross more diligently.  I can love Jesus more, for I
know him more as my Saviour; and I am well content to be cut off from social ties and joys, and
to give myself up entirely to promote his kingdom, for it is he who has called me to it, who has
given me grace to devote myself, who is indeed
my all in all. I sometimes feel great consolation
in the thought, "'This God is our God for ever and
ever."
A second letter from Dr. Arnold concurs with my
plan as a missionary. Thus has God opened my
way on every side: praise be to his name I
TO G. M. MESSITERs ESQ., OXFORD.
Clifton, May 6, 1840.
*  8*  *  Well, I must tell you a little regarding my time in London.  On arriving there on
Monday afternoon, after a delightful drive, I put
your letter in the post and went to St. Bride's
Church, where the annual sermon for the Church
Missionary Society is preached-the church was
full, holding about 2000 people. The sermon was




LETTERS.                  75
preached by Mr. Raikes, the Chancellor of Chester.
He took a text which has been ringing in my ears
many a time:-" The harvest truly is plenteous, but
the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest that he would send more labourers
into the harvest."  He traced the great deficiency
of labourers since the days of the apostles themselves, through rise and fall, to the present day-the
want of prayer for such, and spirit in the labourers
themselves, and the divisions and party ends which
have ever been made instruments of Satan, for turning the attention of the world away from the grand
object of the conversion of souls. Next morning,
at eight o'clock, I was at Exeter Hall, where there
is a breakfast for the "clerical friends of the Society."  I found an American clergyman, an intimate friend of both my brothers, who I knew was
in England, and whom I discovered by hearing him
addressed; so we being strangers to the rest of the
party, sat down together, and had a good deal of
conversation.  As soon as breakfast was over, Mr.
Jowett, one of the secretaries, addressed the assembled party, (we were about 150 in number, chiefly
clergy,) for half an hour, on the subject of praying
for "all men;" and after this, Mr. Stewart of Liverpool, a fine old clergyman, prayed for about the
same space of time.  Mr. Jowett had spoken of the
"blessing it would be, if but one of those present
should be led to be a missionary;" and I could not
help thanking God in my heart that he had so inclined me. At ten o'clock we ascended into the great
room, and occupied the platform, which held from
200 to 300 men, chiefly clergy;-the hall was filled
by about 3000 people; it was a striking sight in
every way, first, as a coup d'eil, for it is a splendid




7 6          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
room, and was quite full, then, as an assembly
gathered together to hear of so glorious a work, and
some perhaps, I hope many, really anxious on the
subject; and I hoped that I saw before me many a.
sister or mother of companions in my labours, who
might be first led to think of their duty toward the
heathen, by what they were then to hear. The
meeting was begun with prayer.  Lord Chichester,
the president of the society, then spoke a few minutes, and the annual report of considerable length
was read by Jowett- and Vores, the two clerical secretaries; the other speakers were the Bishop of Chester, who took a most firm and noble view of the
earnest working of individuals and parties not separated fromn, nor in opposition to, but as forerunners of
the limited working of the church, Dr. Gilly of Durham, Mr. Cunningham  of Harrow, Mr. Shirley,
Archdeacon Wilberforce, and Hugh Stowell of Manchester.  Wilberforce had a motion regarding the
Slave Trade, and his name and relationship had no
small effect, joined to an exceedingly good, and eloquent, and energetic speech, in rousing me beyond
what I have before felt from oratory-for I felt his
reasoning to be good. I knew the truth and eternal
importance of his subject, which are so often wanting, where eloquence of language and voice are
present.  I tried to avoid being over-excited; but
found it difficult to do so; the scene, the subject,
and the merely bodily sensations, and the long attention all assisted to excite, and I arrived at the conclusion, that valuable as those meetings are, they
must be taken in moderation, as even a small dose
may be too much for an excitable person. The
weather here has broken at last, and we have hailed
with delight the south-west wind and the heavy




LETTERS.                  77
showers of rain:-this afternoon we had a very
heavy rain; but about five, it cleared up, and there
was an hour or two of "clear shining after rain"
peculiarly brilliant in its lights, and what scenes the
light fell on; —all over to Bath was still overshadowed by the storm, the air thick up Ashton
Vale; to the west all was brilliant. I walked out
on the Downs, and sat on the look-out point for half
an hour, to the influences of shapes and sounds, and
shifting elements, surrendering my whole spirit.
The air was soft and balmy, and perfectly calm; the
smell was as of fresh grass; the sounds were of " two
or three thrushes" and the shouting of the cuckoo;
the sights were the lovely Lea Woods and Nightingale Valley, all in the tenderest, softest green, half
hid in dazzling light, half lying in quiet shade, and
the gray rock shining through and against them. I
must leave them  all; the green woods, the balmy
air, the birds' song, the English homes and green
lanes, the little cottages and their gardens, the children with blue eyes and flaxen hair, are all soon to
be seen for the last time; but I am thankful to say,
I never so much as feel a wish to stay, though I
feel a regret at going.  We need much strength
which is not in ourselves, to bear our trials, and not
repine or shrink froim going through them; it is
truly through much suffering that we must enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but it bears its fruit
even at present, for God has promised spiritual
blessings which shall more than compensate for the
loss of relations, and friends, and home.
Your affectionate
HENRY W. Fox.




78          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
Keswick, Sunday, Aug. 2, 1840.
MY DEAR MOTHER,
I write to you because my heart and my head are full
of many things; and it is to you that I wish to utter
them.  I have to thank both you and my father for
giving consent to my plan of being a missionary;
and a hundred times have I had cause to thank
you in my heart for it, and to feel the comfort of it;
but I wish, and it is for your own sake that I wish
it, that you gave your consent, and now concurred
more willingly and heartily; not merely allowing
me to go, but with zeal sending me forth: and I
wish this, not because you should destroy the feelings which cause pain at the prospect of my departure, nor because I think it a light thing that
you should have given even a half-willing consent,
but because our gifts to God should be given with
the whole heart; for " God loveth a cheeJbzd giver;"
and if such be the spirit in which we should give
our gold and silver, how much more should it be
that in which we should give our own flesh and
blood. Nor is it only a yielding to a fancy of mine,
or to my judgment that the missionary sphere is the
one most needing assistance, that I ask of you to
give both liberally and cheerfully, but I ask of you
heartily to acquiesce in the guidance of God's providence. I believe firom the bottom of my heart, with
that strong sense of certainty and assurance which
is only given to us on important points, that the
missionary course of life on which I am about to
enter, is my peculiar mission and work for which I
was brought into this world; and that, unless I was
to follow the course so providentially and clearly
pointed out to me in my heart, I might, so far as
my peculiar work of life is concerned, as well be in




LETTERS.                  79
my grave: and were I now to resist the light I have,
or had I neglected to follow where the light (once
not so clear) led me, it would have been in no wise
inconsistent with God's providence and mode of dealing with us, to have taken me away from all work,
either by lingering disease, by death, or other means.
I do not ask you to rejoice because I am about to
leave you; I know that you will have sorrow on that
account-and for myself as great a sorrow is waiting,
and is already besetting me-but I ask you to feel
joy that I am about to enter on my great work, and
that this work is one so honourable, and which even
among those men who know what real honour is,
receives so much estimation. For myself, I look on
myself as entering (unworthy as I am) on an office
which entails more glory on its holder than any
bishopric or any civil situation could bestow on man.
Were I seeking honour, and were I most ambitious,
I could not, with the views I have now of temporal
and spiritual things, desire a post more glorious than
that of being a pioneer in a. land, in which I hope
and believe the Christian church will hereafter be
triumphant. I entreat you, my dear mother, to let
the true view of my prospects, the joy which must
thence arise, contend with, and put down the pain
arising from the temporal view of parting. There
is a pain, and there is a joy: the first is temporal,
and though great, yet the smallest of the two: the
latter spiritual and far exceeding the other; let it
prevail. And while I write this for your sake, I
write for my own also; for most desirous am I to
have your sympathies with me in my course; and as
I shall be but little thinking of turning back, but
rather (I trust) in the midst of all pains and trials,
rejoicing for the goodly heritage which God has be



80          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
stowed on me, so I would have you working in spirit
with me and rejoicing also. Do not fear from my
language, that I am intending heedlessly to risk my
life and strength; no, I hope to sell my life dearly,
not throwing it away, without, if it please God,
buying with it the lives of many souls. I remain,
Your affectionate son,
HENRY W. Fox.
Gravesend, Sunday night, March 7, 1841.
IMY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER AND SISTERS,
I cannot resist the desire of writing a few lines to
you, before I leave England: we embark to-morrow
morning at ten o'clock, and sail about midday.  We
have by this time had a quiet Sunday, and a more
peaceable time for reflection. We have prayed, and
do pray for you all, that the Comforter may be with
you, and, supplying you with stronger faith, enable
you to look even through your tears to the Lord, as
a loving parent who afflicts us according to his good
purposes. We have enjoyed too many mercies on
late occasions to have any reason for doubting the
love of God toward us, and doubtless we shall hereafter be able to look on this heavy trial of separation as one of the greatest of his mercies. May the
blank which it has created in the daily habits of
each, be supplied by a more intimate communion
with Jesus Christ. For ourselves, we feel we are in
a very solemn and responsible situation, for we are
commissioned on God's service, and have many
prayers poured out for us; so that no small spiritual
advantages will be a fair interest for so many talents.
My chief source of anxiety is, lest we fall by weakness of faith, by neglect of prayer, or yielding to
indolence, or some other snare which Satan will lay




LETTER TO HIS SISTER.            81
before us to keep us from God. So long as we continue under the shelter of his wings, we are safe:
our temptation is to leave that.  WVe are quite well
hitherto, except that Elizabeth is a good deal tired
and worn; the delicious soft air and sunny sky of
to-day have been very refreshing to us all. We
walked to church about a mile off,-a quiet country
church,-and just now I have been out and have
heard the church-bells ringing for the last time.  I
cannot tell you what it has been to part with you;
and I dare scarcely look back at it.  I am thankful
the bitter moment of actual separation is past: still
there is much remaining; but it is through much
tribulation that we must follow the Captain of our
salvation.  Again, farewell; I say it differently
from  what I have often before said it, for it is
heavier, but let us remember, it is not for ever.  The
Lord keep you all and bless you.
Your affectionate son and brother,
HENRY.
Ship Robarts, Lat. 100 North of the Line.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
I do not know whether this will be a long letter or
not, for it is uncertain when we shall meet a ship;
for we are just drawing near the place where the
course for the outward-bound ships crosses that of
the homeward-bound vessels; and this will be our
last opportunity of writing before we reach India.
I promised you in my note which I sent from
Madeira, a further account of our visit to that
island.  Well then, to lose no time, we arrived off
there on the Wednesday in Passion Week, lay-to all
night, and as day broke we were about two miles
from the east part of it, which consists of a pro



82          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
montory of bold and craggy rocks broken into caves
and arches, and of a very irregular and curved
stratification: their colour is of a rich reddish hue,
and as the morning light fell upon them, it showed
them in great beauty against the background of
hazy hills, the nearest of which gradually became
unvailed, and presented a refreshing green contrast
to the colour of the rocks. The sea was bright blue,
and a fresh breeze made it sparkle with the white
crests of the waves:-after running along the coast
for a few miles, (which presents the side of a mountain about 2000 feet high, sloping to the sea, not
much broken by ravines, and which resembles our
English mountains, except in its richer and ruddier
colouring,) which we did at the distance of about a
mile and a half, we came to an anchor close off
Funchal, the chief town of the island; it lies in a
bay, and is built of white houses, which lying thick
along the shore, become more scattered as they
ascend the hill. Behind the town, and to the right
and left, the ground rises at once pretty steeply,
and after some minor hills, terminates in mountains
of about 6000 feet high, but which from the clearness of the air did not loole higher than Ben Nevis.
Their character is more broken than that of our
English hills-and from  the numerous glens and
separate hillocks among them, there are respectable
horse-roads to their very summits. The colouring
is the same as that at home, but richer;-it was a
lovely sunny morning, and the white clouds were
hanging and wheeling about the top of the highest
mountains. All the lower part of the hills facing
the sea-i. e. for four miles of ascent-are richly
cultivated in gardens and vineyards;-every declivity is terraced, and every stream made use of in




LETTER TO HIS SISTER.            -83
irrigation; this, though it' takes off from the wildness of the scenery, adds indescribably to its richness. The whole place was so full of novelties, that
I scarcely know how to describe them. All the
buildings are formed for coolness, overhanging roofs
shade the narrow streets, which are however beautifully clean and cheerful, in consequence of their
being closely paved with small stones, (so that there
is no dust, and of course no mud,) and of there being
no carts or wheeled vehicles in the island. The air
was delicious, the thermometer stood at 68 at 10 A.
M. in a cool part of the house, but yet the sun was
not in the least oppressive. I felt as if it was not
possible to be unwell in such an atmosphere, and
the universal appearance of health confirmed my
own feelings. In the country the air was as balmy,
and had the same scent (though less strongly) as in
a green-house, and no wonder, for instead of daisies,
there were geraniums, such as we highly prize for
beauty; instead of dockens and such like, enormous
aloes; instead of our dog-roses, lovely clustered and
double pink roses; and instead of hawthorn, fuchsias
and heliotrope, both lilac and scarlet. I am not in
the least exaggerating: all these grew in the hedges,
or rather on the vineyard walls, and the nosegays
that our guides gathered for us as we rode along,
would have shamed many a green-house bouquet.
The path up to the English chapel was the most
perfect thing I ever beheld-it was about thirty
yards long, and three wide, of firm gravel, its sides
were hedges so thick as to be impervious to sight,
about ten feet high, and entirely composed of roses
and heliotrope. Our first ride took us through
gardens and vineyards; the up-hill ride reminded
me of Balaam's position, when the ass bruised his




84           MIEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
knee, for our way led between the high walls of
vineyards which  did not admit much prospect,
except looking backward to the sea, but which
enchanted us by the flowers which hung over the
wall. The English cemetery is a lovely little spot,
enclosed in walls of ten feet high; one hundred
yards square, with cypress-trees in it, and divided
into small squares, though not stiffly, by thick
geranium hedges in full blossom, about two and a
half feet high; the tombstones are either on the
walls, half hid by creeping plants, or else laid in
different spots on the earth: —those in the latter
place are nearly coffin-shaped, but rather smaller,
and have simply the name, age, and date; every
thing is simple and unaffected; passion-flowers, roses,
and geraniums were planted on every grave. Being
in Funchal at Easter time, we saw the Romish
ceremonies in full, the altars adorned in lofty
pyramids, with rich bouquets of roses and camelias,
and lighted by lofty tapers, which were the only
lights in the cathedral, of which the windows and
door were all darkened by thick blinds; the mummery of the chanting by the priests, while the people looked on as at a raree-show, at the high mass,
and the almost ludicrous "pride which apes humility" in the washing of twelve beggars' feet by
the bishop in splendid robes, out of gold basins,
with towels deeply fringed with lace, and attended
by five or six priests and boys. On Good Friday a
procession took place, carrying a full-sized representation of our Lord's body on a bier, and a gaylyadorned image of the Virgin.
On Saturday at twelve o'clock, the curtains of the
cathedral were suddenly withdrawn, so as to admit
the brilliant light of the sun, intended to represent




LETTER TO HIS SISTER.           85
the resurrection; but why on that day, and hour, I
do not know.  My heart was very heavy at the
thought of the gross darkness of the people. I have
never before seen Roman Catholicism rampant, as it
is in Madeira, and a more distant pretence of imitating Christianity I cannot conceive. I was continually thinking of the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth
by the Jews; surely in practice this is no whit
better than the most barefaced idolatry. I was
however much lightened in heart, by Mr. Noble
bringing me an account of a Dr. Kalley who is
acting as a Protestant missionary among the people.
He is a physician, and has received ordination at
the hands of the Independents, but has attached
himself to no one church. He has the charge of
the Hospital in Funehal, where he has been for two
years.
On Easter Sunday we set sail from the island,
with a fair breeze, and have been running from 150
to 200 knots a day ever since;-to-day, April 22, we
are in north latitude 5~. We have not seen many
tropical wonders yet; two or three sunsets have
been superlatively magnificent, though very short,
the brilliancy and translucency of the red and yellow
lights have been almost beyond conception. I have
seen more gay and varied colouring in English
sunsets, but not the purity and depth of sky seen
through the golden light. Some of Claude's pictures come nearest to it. We have had two short
visits from a shoal of porpoises; they rushed and
leaped alongside of the ship in great glee, and the
pure water allowed us to see them as clearly as if in
air. The deep (not dark) blue of the sea has been
one of the most beautiful sights; in cloudy weather
it is of rather a rich lead-colour. The flying-fish
8




86          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
have delighted us much; they are very beautiful,
and have a steady flight like a martin skimming
along the surface of a river; their dark green backs
and glittering white bellies make them very brilliant. A single shark seen by one of the party, a
few Mother Carey's chickens, and some large dark
brown sea-birds, complete the list, with the exception
of a small boneto caught yesterday.  *  *  *
Last Sunday we had the communion in the
ouddy; there were thirteen present, including one
of the cadets, a very nice youth of sixteen.  He is
very regular in attendance on daily service and our
evening meetings, and is an inquirer after religion.
I trust, and believe, God is working in him, to
bring him to himself; among the rest we have seen
no similar marks.
Madras, July 6, 1841.
MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER,
You shall have my first letter from this our new
home, whither by God's providence we have been
safely and quietly brought. We made land early
on Sunday morning, July 4, with a very light wind.
At daybreak we were off the Sadras hills, which
are about thirty miles south of this place. We were
about four miles from shore; the appearance of land
was a long flat beach, behind which green wood
closed the prospect at once-the land being the
most perfect level that I ever saw-about five or ten
miles inland rose the hills, very like the Malverns,
but about half their height; we could not distinguish
their colours: on the top of one peak was evidently
a hill-fort. After an hour or two's sail we were off
the seven Pagodas. These are the remains, I believe, of a great city in Hindoo days of glory: two




; —
AID II                                    86.
Madras.   p. 86.B~l                  B~








LETTER FROM MADRAS.              87
of them now stand in the sea, which has encroached
on the land at that point; one of them I saw distinctly through a glass; it was just like Mr. Thomas's
model. We lay becalmed almost all the day. In
the morning, one "catamaran" came alongside; in
the evening half a dozen or more sold fish to us:
there were large ones, containing four men, and
using a "lateen" sail. A catamaran of this size
consists of four or five logs (i. e. rough trunks of
trees) lashed together, about two feet wide at the
front part, which is a little turned up so as to rise
more easily over the water, and about six at the
stern: it floats six inches above water, and lets the
water through the interstices.  The four men paddle
along slowly, by means of rude paddles, which consist of a split bamboo five or six inches wide, quite
straight, and without any blade.  Several men came
on board; their dress does not go so far as "shirtcollar, and straps," but consists of a cap and a piece
of native cloth passed between their legs, and fastened
before and behind with a string round their loins:
to this string they attach their fishing-lines in a coil,
and adroitly throw them out, at a single cast, the
whole length. They are mahogany-coloured, and
their method of speaking is, as Mr. Thomas says,
like the rattling of pebbles in an iron pot. After
morning service we had the communion, for the last
time that many of us would join in religious worship before we meet in God's house above.  We
were favoured in being becalmed till sunset, otherwise landing would have broken up the Sunday.
As it was, it was very warm, the thermometer standing at 88~, and no air to be felt. We anchored at
eleven o'clock at night: nothing was visible but the
light-house, the palace of the Nabob of the Carnatics,




88          MElMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
with thirty or forty windows, and the lights from a
few houses along shore. We were up at daybreak,
and there lay Madras before us, about sixteen large
English ships, (an unusually large number,) and two
or three times that number of "lonies," or small
native sloops. There was nothing in the appearance
of land at two miles' distance to distinguish it from
England. To the right it was almost concealed by
shipping; then appeared a row of houses, flat-roofed
and chimneyless, about six hundred yards long, and
not unlike the middle part of Brighton. Next was
a sort of common of equal extent, with some tents
pitched upon it; then came Fort St. George, skirting
the shore for half a mile, and containing within its
formidable walls several lofty houses, a church with
a spire, (the oldest Protestant church in India,) and
a flag-staff. Farther to the left still, was a line of
trees as far as the eye reached, broken by the tops
of a few houses, by one pagoda, and an ice-house!
The morning was cool and refreshing, for though
the sun shone clearly, which it had not done before
for a fortnight, the land breeze blew cool and fresh.
Immediately on landing we felt the heat to be
scorching: we landed just before the row of houses
which I mentioned as lying most to the right hand
of MIadras, and which contains the custom-house and
merchants' and government offices.  The sun was
reflected from these, and from the pale red sand
which composes the road, and was like a furnace.
Now I must begin to tell you of the novelties of
this land: there is nothing like what we have seen
before, except English faces, curs, (called Pariah
dogs,) and sparrows.  All is so new that I scarcely
know where to begin. The country, as I said before,
is a perfect level, and when riding through it you




LETTER FR.OM MADRAS.             89
know no more of it than you would in riding along
a road cut through a forest. The road is half overarched with luxuriant and bushy trees, not high;
many of them are banians, which have suckers
hanging from their branches, but I saw only one
case where they had reached the ground and taken
root. The cactus, which we prize so much in our
green-houses, is much valued here as a hedge for a
compound or garden, to keep snakes out: those
which I have seen in blossom have been yellow or
rose-coloured, pretty but not gorgeous. The soil is
not so black as I expected; sometimes it is quite
concealed by the thick foliage of plantains or young
palmyra-trees. One of the most striking sights is
the immense multitude of natives.  Mount Road,
which leads from the fort toward St. Thomas's Mount
(ten miles off) is a fine broad road, with occasional
bungalows at its side, and native villages (or pettahs)
branching off from it.  Each time that I have been
in it, it has been crowded for two or three miles
with fully as many pedestrians as you would find in
Regent Street in the gayest hour of the day. To
tell you the style of dress among the people, would
be like telling you the shape of the clouds; they
are endless in variety. The children amuse us
much, —little mahogany creatures running about
naked, generally with their heads bare, and shaven
all but a tuft of the crown; the bigger boys and
men have a roll of cotton-cloth round their loins,
and a turban on their head.  This is the case with
some; others have fuller and more flowing costumes;
some, a jacket and trousers, but quite unlike ours
in appearance. The dress of a servant is a white
wide turban, a long close shirt down to the waist
and knees, and opening in front, and a roll of cloth
8-*




90          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
wrapped round the thighs and loins like thick
drawers, causing a protuberance in front. Almost
every man, and many women, paint their foreheads;
some have a round patch of the size of a sixpence
between their eyes, others one, two or three diverging lines drawn upward from the top of the nose to
the forehead, of white or yellow ochre. The men
are moderately good-looking, the women and girls
are immoderately ugly; they are always carrying
heavier burdens than the men. They bore the lobe
of the ear, and occasionally wear ear-rings in the
form of a brass ball, as large as a turnip-radish;
most commonly they enlarge the hole till you might
pass your thumb through it, and then making a roll
of betel-leaf, which is dark red, they place it in the
hole, which looks very ugly. All living creatures
(except the English) are thin; some men are bags
of bones-all are slim: the cattle are also thin.  All
are thin like Pharaoh's kine, and the calves are
quite amusing for the length of their legs. The
fowls look like plants run to seed, as if their legs
were the most important feature: they are all legs.
I am obliged to conclude hastily, as this is last postday. You shall have another long letter by next
month's post.
Your affectionate son,
HENRY W. Fox.








v Stej\\
Residence of Mr. Fox at Masulipatanm. p. 91.




LETTERS.                 91
CHAPTER IV.
ENTRANCE UPON HIS MISSIONARY DUTIES AT MASULIPATAM
-EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL.
ARTER a short stay at Madras, Mr. Noble, my
brother and his wife, proceeded to their post of
destination, Masulipatam, (or Bunder, as it is called
by the natives,) the chief town of the Teloogoo nation.
Masulipatam contains a population of 80,000, and
lies on the coast, three hundred miles north of
Madras, between the rivers Kistna and Godavery.
The first necessary object for both the missionaries was to acquire the native language. As soon
as tolerable progress had been made in this, they
directed their attention to different branches of missionary labour. Mr. Noble undertook the management of a school for the education of the upper ranks
in Masulipatam, where a good English education is
given and the Bible is made a text-book of instruction. This school has continued to prosper to the
present day, and Mr. Noble, without intermission,
and in the enjoyment of good health, has been able
to superintend it. This branch of operations might
have been greatly enlarged, could more suitable
teachers have been engaged from England. My
brother undertook the office of preaching to the
natives, both in Masulipatam and the surrounding
country, in other words, the work of an evangelist
to a heathen nation. But when it is considered that
the nation contained ten millions of people, the idea
seems almost preposterous, that one individual should
have been suffered to go out single-handed for such




92           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
a work. Yet such must continue to be the case,
while we at home remain insensible to the claims of
the heathen.
Bunder, Sept. 5, 1841. (Sunday.)
MY DEAREST SISTER,
I like to give a short time on a Sunday to you.
I used often to do so of old, and every old thing I
like to renew or continue. It is no sinecure to be
a missionary.  I do not mean any thing regarding
any work I have at present to do, for my present is
just like the work I have had in past years-language-learning-and our movements and changes
have hitherto prevented this from coming in any
sufficient quantities to prove a weight to me; but I
mean that a missionary life does not deliver one
from spiritual trials, such as used to beset me of
old. There are just the same temptations to indolence and love of ease, which have been my besetting
sins all along; just the same reluctance to prayer
and reading of the Scriptures; in fact, I see nothing
but the grace of God to prevent a missionary from
being as cold and dead a Christian as ever vegetated
in an English parish. Perhaps there are more
temptations of this kind, for all around is ungodly.
Probably my work will be deadening to my spirit,
up-hill work with the lowest, most corrupt, and
darkened of any men that I ever met; but my Saviour is at my side, he can deliver me; but we do
indeed need the prayers of fellow-Christians for ourselves as well as for our people. It is one thing to
give up home, country, friends, &c.: to be a missionary is another,-to take up our cross, forsake all,
and follow Christ. For that all which is to be forsaken has followed me here; it is not without but




LETTER TO, HIS SISTER.          93
within: a man may travel and yet not bear his cross;
all this I knew and expected; now I experience it.
It does not dishearten me. I never expected that
the being a missionary was to work any such wonderful change which belongs to the work of the
Spirit alone. But I have great cause to thank the
Spirit, for having made the circumstances of separation work for good in me. It is my own fault, my
own sin that they have not worked more, yet I think
I am not forejudging in saying that I have been led
to see and know more of Christ and his kingdom
during the last six months. Absence from home,
without hope of ever seeing it again, of seeing you,
my dearest Isabella, and all whom I have loved
very, very much, is a daily trial; it is not a mis-:;ionary trial, it is no more than every Englishman
in this land is exposed to, yet it does teach one that
there is no rest on earth for man. For if ever I feel
inclined to look forward to some plan in the future,
it is presently stopped: for I never plan any thing
with the idea that it will be in India, but in England; and immediately a painful recollection comes
across me that I shall never be there again, or if
ever, it must be some years hence, and sorrows will
have come and changes taken place, which will make
each person and scene memorials of pain. We must
rest only in the hope of heaven, our reward is not
here: now is the time for work, and blessed be our
Lord that he has given me such a sphere for it, and
health and strength to labour. I feel that on me,
humanly speaking, rest the souls of thousands yet
unborn, for this will naturally be the fountain for
spreading Christianity among the ten million Telugu,
— in fact among all the centre of India, and according to our zeal, wisdom, and faith, will the event




94          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
be. Pray for wisdom for us, especially pray for
faith. * * *
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY.
Bunder, Oct. 19, 1841.
MY DEAR ROBERT,
* * [ By the time you receive this, you will,
I trust, have taken your degree. I can only hope
that the months immediately succeeding it may be
as much blessed to you as the corresponding ones
were to me. The time for quiet meditation which I
had at Brighton, and the assistances which I possessed there, were instrumental in bringing me out
of a cold, inconsistent, and unhappy state, to a
better knowledge and love of Jesus Christ. I can
daily bear more sure witness that peace is to be
found in him only, and I pray daily that you may
soon find it there. Your residence in London will
be to me a time of anxiety on your account, for it is
a place, as you know, full to the brim of dangerous
temptations and deadening influences. Should you
settle there, let me beg of you to keep your Sundays to yourself as sacred days, and to attend some
church where there is a clergyman whom you know
to be a sincere Christian man. There is nothing in
this life so joyful as a Sunday spent much alone in
communion with God. My dear brother, forget not
to pray often and much. You remember the verses,
"And Satan trembles when he sees
The weakest saint upon his knees."
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.




JOURNALI.                95
JOOURNAL.
Masulipatam, (Tuesday,) May 31, 1842.
To-day I have got a new moonshee, son of my old
one; he is called Malampilly Subbaroydu; the first
is his " house name," i. e. surname, and belongs to
his family in common with himself; it is derived
from the name of some village. The second is his
personal name, answering to a Christian name: it is
the name of the great serpent, which in some of their
mythological books is said to be coiled round the
world; like a similar reptile in the Scandinavian
mythology. * * * I began reading Genesis in
Teloogoo'with him. On coming to the passage
where man is said to be made in the image of God,
I began to ask him what man was: " Was he mere
body?"  "Didn't know."  "What was the difference between a man and a dog?"  "A different
shape." " If I was to make an artificial man, would
he be the same as a living man??"  "He would not
speak."  "But if by machinery I could make him
speak, would there be any difference then?"  "No."
However, when I told him that man was a soul, a
spirit, he generally acknowledged it. I next asked
him if God had a body. He could not tell, but
thought he had. I asked him where God was. Was
he in the room? He laughed at this: but when I
told him my body could not continue its functions
without God was present to make it do so, he allowed
his presence, and thence from his not being visible,
that he had not a body. Again, on coming to the
passage, " God sanctified the seventh day," I wanted
to gather his notion of the Teloogoo expression,
which is literally "'to make clean or pure," and




96          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
accordingly pressed him for his thoughts; he could
get no farther than that it meant "making it clean;"
but how a day could be made clean, he could not
guess; when I pressed him to think, his answer was,
" Well, it is enough, let it pass." At last he thought
it meant, "made it a good day," which he explained
as a "lucky day," "a day of good omen." On telling him how ill they treated their women, by utterly
neglecting to give them any education (for none of
them can read or write, or know any thing beyond
menial household duties,) I was met by the general
answer, "It is my people's custom;" which I believe
is to them a stronger motive of action than any
thing else, except a rupee.
iMasulipatanm, June 4, 1842.-To-day I have
procured a new moonshee; a respectable Brahmin,
who speaks no English: but like most of them he
shouts his own language; he is a Neeyogee, which
is one of the divisions of the Brahmin caste; these
subdivisions of caste cause as great a disunion as the
major divisions.  A Vaidikee Brahmin will neither
eat nor drink in the presence of a Neeyogee Brahmin, nor intermarry with him. He is a worshipper
of Vishnoo peculiarly, and consequently wears the
one yellow and two white perpendicular streaks on
his forehead: his theory of divinity, so far as I understand him, is new to me: he says there is one
God who has put on a thousand forms, among which
forms are Vishnoo, and Siva, and Brahma, (as son
of Vishnoo,) and all the train of inferior deities,
besides all Avatarams, or incarnations of Vishnoo;
and that God lives in the heaven without a body.
On coming to the passages in Genesis i., where it is
said, "God made the whales," I asked him the
meaning of the Teloogoo word, and- found that it




JOURNAL.                 97
referred to some large fabulous fish (which he did
not believe to be fabulous) not less than 1200 coss
(a coss is two and a half miles) in length and 800
in width, which he says lives in the depths of the sea.
June 9.-A few  days ago my elder moonshee
Markamdcleyooloo, when he came to me, showed me
the interpretation of a Sanserit word used to express a
" Brahmin,"' which was " one who keeps sin off from
himself and from others." On my expressing my
astonishment, and asking who the persons are who
do so, he added, "Oh! priest could do it."  I told
him I could not, for that I sinned every day; on
which he drew a comparison between the drunken
habits of some Europeans and my soberness, to the
effect that I thus kept myself from sin. He asked
me what sin I did; I told him, among others, I
forgot God, and neglected to worship him.  "Oh,"
he said, "if we pray a little time to God in the
morning, that is quite enough; we need not do any
thing more;" and then asked me, if I knew what
things were sins, why I continued to do them?  I
said, it was because of my sinful nature. He then
made a general assent, and added, it is for this
reason the world is increasing so much. I did not
understand what he meant, and asked him to explain himself;-he said he would do so, by telling
me what he had learned from his priest. (N. B.
He is a most garrulous old man, full of curious nonsensical mythological stories.) When God had
created the world, he peopled it with men without
sin; and, consequently, these, after living about a
100 years or so, had accomplished so much goodness,
that they all ascended to heaven, and the earth was
left without inhabitants; on this God exclaimed,
that "This will not do, we must not make men so
9




98          MEMOIR OF IH. W. FOX.
good." And so he created another set of men, but
put some sin into them, and therefore they had not,
so many of them, left the earth for heaven, but have
multiplied.
My new moonshee has a most scrupulous dread
of contamination; he has not been so much in communication with Europeans, as most others with
whom I have spoken; but even among them I have
observed a shrinking from being touched by a Pariah
like myself. This man however will not sit within
a yard of me, and if my hand accidently draws near
him, he draws back in haste and fear. One day a
pocket-handkerchief was lying on the table before
us, and the wind accidentally blew it toward us, and
it seemed as if it would touch him, but he gave such
a start of horror and a jump as to escape its unholy
touch. I asked him to-day, when I found him at
one corner of a small room, where I had put him for
a few minutes, at the same time that Amah, (wet
nurse,) a Pariah, was with baby in the same room,
how near a Pariah might come to a Brahmin, he
said, Not nearer than two yards. I asked him if the
latter should be touched by the former, what he
must do. He said, he must bathe. But what till
he had bathed?  "He must not eat, nor make
prayers to God, nor do worship."
Mlonday, June 13, 1842. — Yesterday afternoon, as
we went out for a walk before church, we met Vencana, a young Brahmin boy, a friend of ours, and
a companion of his. I had the day before lent him
"Draper's Sacred Stories," [one of the publications
of the American S. S. Union,] and he had it in his
hand to tell me the story of the part which he had
read, which he did very nicely in Teloogoo. He
then asked me rather abruptly, whether among my




JOURNAL.                   99
people, the birth of a female was considered a good
thing, or a bad one? I answered of course, the
former: he said, it was not so among his people. I
told him I knew it was not, but that their opinion
was a very bad one; —he quoted in defence of it
some padyams, i. e. verses, which struck me so
much, that this morning I got him  to write them
out for me; they were to the following effect:
"The tree may spring up in the jungle, but a female must not
be born.
Mountains and great stones may be formed, but a female must
not be born.
Birds and beasts may be produced, but a female must not be
born."
After a few more words on this subject, Vencana
asked me, what seemed to be another great question,
" Whether riches or learning was best?" or rather,
how they were considered among my people? After
telling him how many preferred the former, and also
their folly, I pointed him to the true learning and
knowledge of God, and how the love of God could
alone bestow happiness: whereon the other boy
asked, in a tone of some surprise, " Can a poor man
love God?"  I answered, "Of course, he can; why
not?"  "How can he love God," he said, "when
he has no rice in his belly?" * * *
My new moonshee is an intelligent man; the
other day I was speaking about man's sinfulness,
and inability to obtain heaven by his own works,
and he persevered in the doctrine, that "good men
did a certain amount of sin, it was true, but then
they balanced it by a large share of righteousness,"
(punyam;) so to-day I brought before him in detail,
the argument, that we may know a tree by its fruits,
and as it is evident that a vast number of men s:n




100          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
largely, so their nature must be also sinful; this
illustration he tried to answer by a second.  "Take
a mango-tree," he said, " the young fruit when very
small is worthless; even after it is full grown it is
sour; but if you wait till it is ripe, it is delicious;
thus you have a variety of fruit firom one tree." I
think he was satisfied by my answer, that these were
not different fruits, but different stages of the same
fruit.  His first difficulty was, his disbelief in man's
nature being one only, and not varying according to
individuals: we had some discussion on this point,
in which he gave in to what I advanced; but whether
he was convinced, I am by no means certain:-his
second was, he would not believe man's nature to be
only evil, but evil and good mixed: this point too
he seemed to yield at last; but then after all, he
said, " God was very merciful, and would take away
our sin;" when I pressed on him that God is very.
just, and the case of a prisoner and judge, he at last
seemed to have come to a stand-still, and exclaimed,
"Well then, how can our sins be taken away?"
Then I was gladly enabled to lay before him Jesus
as our Redeemer and our sacrifice, as bearing our
own sins, and suffering our punishment.  To all
which he listened patiently, but objected, how could
one man suffer another's punishment, such would
not be allowed in a court, &c. To which I answered,
by the common, but imperfect illustration, of a
man having his debts paid by another; and also
that he who bore our punishment, was not man only,
but God, the judge himself.  He said no more about
it; presently he began some sentence with the common saying, " God has made all religions, and therefore," &c. Here too I think I succeeded in showing him that these religions were contradictory, and




JOURNAL.                101
consequently could not all be true, and how could
God create a lie?  " Who  made them  then?"
"Man's evil nature."  Thus our conversation ended,
and we went on to chant and translate the verses
of Vencana.
Masulipatam, Thtesday, June 14, 1842. —Last
week I began instruction among my servants.  My
Maitee, who is my head-servant, is a Mohammedan,
and an intelligent fellow, though he is very ignorant
of his own religion, and has been cast off by his own
people for marrying a Hindoo woman; he speaks a
little English. Besides him I have at present the
cook, two horse-keepers, the gardener, occasionally
the waterman, an old man rather dull of understanding, baby's Taniketch or nurserymaid, and sometimes a little idle inattentive son of hers, Latchmi, i. e.
the sweeping woman, who is very dull, and lastly, the
two little girls of Maitee, whom Elizabeth has taken
into the house to instruct, the one eight, the other
ten years of age. They sit down on the ground in
a semicircle before me. I began with the first two
chapters of Genesis, explaining as I went on, and
pointing out some of the attributes of God, the
creation, fall, and punishment of man:-the last
few days I have been insisting on our sinful nature,
and God's wrath upon sinners, and going through a
list of the most prominent sins, most of which they
assent to, but they seem astonished at being told of
the sin of idolatry. I am also trying to make them
learn the Lord's prayer, but find them slow, both at
comprehending and remembering it. Three or four
of them seem to understand me pretty fairly; how
far my words convey or give rise to correct ideas in
their minds, I cannot well tell; for if they answer
me in any long sentence, or try to explain my words
9.;,.




102          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
to each other, I only very imperfectly catch their
meaning. I find great difficulty in expressing myself to them in Teloogoo; for very many of the
words which I have been in the habit of using, when
conversing with my moonshees on similar subjects,
have been of Sanscrit origin, and like the big Latip
words in our language, are unintelligible to the poor.
I have begun it, because I did not feel it right to let
them go on without any instruction, when I could
say a few words to them, but I am a most incomplete,
wretched instrument for conveying knowledge to
them. It may be, the Lord may cause light to shine
in their dark understandings through mny words, for
it is out of weakness that he delights to bring forth
strength; but I cannot at present look for any such
event, according to the ordinary course of his dealings. I continue to instruct my servants every
morning at nine o'clock: after going through the
two first chapters of Genesis loosely, and the subjects
contained therein, especially the fall of man, I for
several mornings dwelt upon sin and punishment,
and detailed the ten commandments, and several
other rules whereby we learn what are particular
sins.  The servants chimed in with all I told them,
except that idolatry was sin, which was evidently
novel to them. I then led them to Jesus as the
Saviour for sin, and read to them his birth, as recorded by St. Luke; and am now going through
some of his miracles, e. g. casting out devils, raising
the widow's son, healing the centurion's servant and
Jairus' daughter; stilling the tempest; Mary Magdalene in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Two
or three of them, viz. Mohammed, one of the horsekeepers, and the gardener, evidently understand me
pretty well, and take an interest in what I say, but




FAILURE OF HEALTH.            103
the rest are inattentive, or do not understand me.
I- do not think they have any systenm of belief to be
overcome, but will be willing to believe what master
tells them to be true, the Mussulmans no less than
the Hindoos.  They can now repeat about half the
Lord's prayer, and understand its meaning pretty
well;-as soon as they know it all, I shall commence our instruction in the morning with that
prayer.
CHAPTER V.
FAILURE OF HEALTH-RESIDENCE ON THE NEILGHERRY HILLS
-ACCOUNT OF MARY PATERSON-RETURNS TO MASULIPATAM, RESTORED TO HEALTH.
THOUGH apparently possessed of more robust health
than his coadjutor, my brother found the Indian climate much less congenial, and it was not long before
the intense heat produced a nervous debility and prostration of strength, which quite disqualified him for
work.  It was neecessary for him to seek for relief
in a change of air; a short voyage along the coast,
and a residence ofa few weeks at Vizigapatam were
tried without success, and it became needful to have
recourse to Madras for medical advice.  From thence
he was ordered to the Neilgherry hills, which are
the nearest sanatory station for Southern India;
rising from the plain to a height of several thousand
feet, two hundred miles inland from the coast, they
afford a most delightful and refreshing temperature;
and abound in scenery of the wildest and most romantic character.  Ootacamund forms the principal




104          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
residence for invalids on those hills, and thither in
January, 1843, my brother proceeded with his wife
and little boy, who had been born previous to their
departure from Masulipatam.
It so happened that there were two children who
had come down from Masulipataml to Madras, whose
father, a European physician, had died when they
were young, leaving them property; but the mother,
a Teloogoo woman, who had been a dancing-girl, had
brought them up in heathenism:-after much legal
delay, Mr. Tucker was appointed guardian to these
children, a girl fourteen years old and a boy thirteen,
and he intrusted the former to the care of my brother
and his wife, when they were proceeding to the hills.
The girl was perfectly wild and ignorant, and it was
with difficulty she could be taught to use a spoon instead of her fingers, to sit on a chair instead of the
ground, or to wear a European dress. Her notions
of religion were of the most debasing character, and
her mind was thoroughly imbued with the heathen
superstitions which she had learned from her mother.
There was therefore a great work to be done, and
that at a somewhat advanced period of childhood,
which threatened to render the task more hopeless;
for there was not only an entire education to be imparted, a character to be formed, and a mind developed, but there were counteracting habits and prejudices to be removed, and all the destructive influence
of her previous associations to be overcome. My
brother and his wife realized the difficulty of the task,
but were encouraged by a hope which God was
pleased most abundantly and graciously to fulfil.
" We gladly accept her," he wrote, " although the
responsibility will be great; the formation of her
character will be a great work; assist us in it




MARY PATERSON.              105
with your prayers-she may be a chosen one of God,
who shall heareafter be for his praise."
After having passed through a preliminary process of breaking in, the character of this girl began
rapidly to develop, and greatly to improve.  During
a residence of two years on the Neilgherries, so great
was the change, that she returned to Madras, where
she was sent to a boarding-school, quite a transformed
character.  This transformation consisted in her having laid aside her heathen ideas, and conformed in
all outward customs to those with whom she lived;
it was a great struggle for her for some time to dine
at table, lest " every one should see her eat."
The improvement of her character continued after
her removal from school, and there was every reason
to believe that she had become a truly converted follower of our Lord, when, in the year 1848, she was removed by an early and sudc!oen death-at the age of 19.
My brother took a lively interest in her to the
last, looking upon her as one who should be the crown
of his wife's rejoicing in the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ at his coming.  When on his death-bed, he
sent her an affectionate message, little supposing
that Mary Paterson, whose spiritual welfare he so
tenderly watched over, had already gone before him
to the mansions of glory.
The following passage, relating to Mary Paterson,
occurs in a letter dated Nellore, January 5, 1847:
" Mary Paterson is now more than ever precious to
me, as the crown of rejoicing of my dear wife. I
saw her several times while in Madras, and it was
an exceeding pleasure to have intercourse with so
very transparent and beautiful a mind, which with
so great simplicity is resting and living on Christ.
Her's is indeed a wonderful case; the season of the




106         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
year reminded us that only four years have elapsed
since she was, in the same month of December, brought
to us at Mr. Tucker's a heathen wild-cat, and now she
is such a beautiful Christian character! yearning and
striving after the conversion of her mother and her
heathen relatives, and desirous of being engaged in
making Christ known to the Teloogoo women."
Ootacamund, May 8, 1844.
nMY DEAR MOTHER,
I had intended to have begun a letter to you yesterday, to let you know that I did not forget your
birth-day; but various occupations obliged me to
postpone writing till to-day. I did not, however,
allow the day to pass by without especially asking
blessings for you from our gracious Lord. It is one
of the comforts which we have, in spite of the distance which we are from each other, that, though
our correspondence takes nearly two months on the
road, our prayers take not so many minutes; what
we ask of God this minute for each other, may be
fulfilled by him  the very next.  He is our most
rapid, as well as most effectual medium  of intercourse.  My dear mother, may he richly pour out
upon you and my dear father all his best gifts; so
much of health and temporal prosperity as may be
best for your souls' health, and to enable you best
to glorify his name.  There are no bounds to the
spiritual blessings I desire for you. May you grow
daily in him riper and riper till the day when he
shall put in the sickle! May you know him more
and more in his great love, in his mighty power, in
his wisdom, and goodness, and glory! May he daily
become more precious to you! Mlay you continually
have an increasing communion with him, and have




HEALTH RESTORED.             107
your hope of his kingdom grow lighter and lighter
as you draw nearer to it! Though we do not hear
from you every mail, we still have a sort of intercourse in dwelling upon your affection toward us
and in returning it; and I am often able to fancy
you at your various employments.  I was very glad
to hear by Isabella's letters, a few months ago, that
the dining-room was occasionally changed into an
evening school-room.  How much might be done in
the mass, if every family would undertake to be
teachers of righteousness, not of the alphabet only,
to a few children or young people!  We shall never
see the church composed exclusively of godly people,
but we may see a larger number of such in it than
at present; and at least much happiness is gained, if
not an eternal yet' a temporal happiness, by increase
of religious instruction.  One sees that in this
country, religious education, however slight and how-.
ever little improved, humnanizes the pupils far beyond the common alphabetical teaching. It was.
Mrs. Bailey's (of Cottayam) remark, that the chil —
dren of her old pupils were much more manageable:
at first, than those who came from new families.
From your affectionate son,
HENRY W. Fox.
He returned with his family to Masulipatam, via.
Madras, in October, 1844, so completely restored in.
health as to give him the most sanguine hope of
being able to labour for Christ in India with fresh
vigour; but further trials were in store, more severe
than he had yet experienced.
There was, however, a brief season of intermission; and for more than twelve months, he was
steadily and actively employed in his missionary




108         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
duties: studying the language, and as he got more
freedom of speech, going out among the people, and
preaching to them Jesus.
Masulipatam, Nov. 10, 1844.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
*  * *  It is on the good sword of the word of
God that I have to rely here. I go out among the
people, and get a little talk with them, so lamely
and poorly on my part as to appear wholly inefficient; and the people either dispute and oppose, or
listen with indifference, and-were it my own word I
had to tell them, I should soon get out of heart;
but I know the sword of God, clumsily handled
though it be, must reach the hearts of some of
them; so I come away quite joyfully from  the
midst of the opposition or the sluggishness. It is
like the Woucali poisoned arrows which Waterton
speaks of; the Indian blows the arrow, strikes the
prey with a trifling wound, and the arrow falls out
again, while the beast runs away as though unscathed; the hunter, however, follows, sure of finding the effect of his poison in the dying animal before it has gone far: so we now sow seed which we
know is good and full of life; some of it must spring
up, and some one or other will reap the harvest.
Blessed be God for the assurance he gives us, and
for the certain promises he has bestowed upon us in
connection with his work. Many thanks to you for
Arnold's Life, which is on its way out; it will
doubtless arrive in due time. I long very much to
see it, and expect to find my esteem for the subject
of' it much advanced, as I learn more and more
of his character. How much I owe to him under




LETTERS TO GEORGE.           109
the blessing of God, I have not yet fully found
out. * * *
Masulipatam, Jan. 15, 1845.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
I begin my letter with a desire to urge upon you
to be very diligent in trying to get some one to come
out and join us here; not that I suppose you are
deficient in zeal for us, or in trying to forward God's
work here; but while I feel myself so very strongly
the want of more missionaries, I can do nothing
else than cry out to you and others to make known
our wants with glowing tongues. I daily feel increasingly my insufficiency here, single-handed
among so many thousands.  Our dear brother, Mr.
Noble, is tied up with the management of the English school, in which he has the head class to himself, and it is a most interesting and important
sphere, to which if he did not give his time, it
would be my part to give mine; and this because
no one will come out from England to take this
work off our hands.  Mr. Sharkie and Mr. Taylor,
two valuable East Indian young men, are for the
present occupied in the same sphere. I am alone in
the work of preaching and general evangelizing in
the town and villages: and what can I do?  I am
lost and bewildered in the multitude of work. I am
yet very imperfect in my knowledge of Teloogoo,
and a considerable portion of my time has to be devoted to the study of it; and when I go among the
people, it is with a stammering tongue and a misunderstanding ear. There lies before me the crowded
population of this large town of sixty to ninety thousand inhabitants: these are to be preached to, to
have an impression made on them. If I go to one
10




110          MEMOIR OF Hw. W. FOX
part one day, and to another part another day, my
time and labour are dissipated. If I keep myself to
one portion, my labour is swallowed up in the great
flood of heathenism: it is like trying to clear a spot
of ground in the centre of a luxuriant jungle-the
roots of the surrounding trees fill up the spot I am
at work on faster than I can clear. Again, there
are the villages in the suburbs: fine populous villages.  Again, there are the numerous villages and
still more numerous hamlets studding the country
all round about. Where I am to begin, I know not.
Then there ought to be schools to be looked after, to
be established, to be watched and taught: I cannot
so much as begin them. And so, though I may be
preaching continually to the adults, there is the
rising generation growing up in their heathenism;
the most hopeful portion untouched. Besides this,
I have my servants to talk to daily-many cares
and calls upon my time-and above all, it is only a
very limited portion of the day that I can be engaged in out-of-door work. It is not as in England,
where you might go from village to village, or spend
two or three hours conversing in one village.  Here
we are restricted to the short periods before and
after sunrise and sunset: exposure to the mid-day
sun is a mere fool-hardy shortening of the time of
work, at least to most constitutions. Besides all
this, there comes the work of translations, (only a
portion of the Scriptures have been translated,) and
so far as I can judge, a great part of what has been
done needs to be done over again, to render it generally intelligible. Tracts there are in some numbers; books are only yet by ones or twos.  Who is
sufficient to unite in his own person these multifarious duties-preacher, teacher, superintendent of




LETTERS TO GEORGE.             111
schools, translator, not for hundreds, but for tens
and hundreds of thousands? Pray put this to as
many as you can, young as well as old, that there is
a great work to be done here, and an insufficient
number of persons to do it. God has, however,
commenced operations; surely he is even now calling for fresh labourers: put it to them whether they
are not the labourers that he is calling.
The examination began with the fourth and lowest
class, and went upward.  I cannot recount to you
all the lessons of the different classes: suffice it to
say that the first class, consisting of the young men
from eighteen to twenty-nine years of age, have prepared, during the half-year, eight or nine chapters
of St. Luke's Gospel.in English, about half of an
English grammar, a few chapters of a geography of
India, most of the first book of Euclid, and have
written short English themes every week. What
they know, they know thoroughly, and their minds
are rapidly rising above the ordinary style of that
of the natives. In the first class are two very nice
young men, members of wealthy and most respectable families, whose hearts seem much touched with
the gospel. The eldest of the two is much troubled
about his sins, and says he has often risen at
night and walked about for hours, troubled with the
sense of them. He prays, I believe. He is a peculiarly amiable, loving, and lovable young man, and
I feel for him much of the affection of a brother.
Should it please God to convert him, he would have
much to give up in his family and connections. On
the last Sunday of the year I baptized our little
Johnny by the name of John Arnold.  The same
morning I baptized our ayah (i. e. nursery-maid) in
the little native congregation meeting at Mr. Noble's




112          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
house: she walks consistently, and seems to drink
in with eagerness all spiritual truth we teach her.
My servants, ten or twelve in number, are an interesting congregation every morning; two of them
are now baptized; about two others I feel much interest, hoping the Spirit is working in them, though
it is only stirring up the mind.  One of them,
Harry's bearer, has been hearing me now for eighteen
months or more: the other is mother of one of Mr.
N.'s servants, who was baptized lately.
Your affectionate brother,
RH. W. Fox.
Narsapore, April 21, 1845.
MY DEAR GEORGE,'*  *  *  The month before I left Bunder I had
a great door opened to me, only that my own defects
made me but little able to enter it; it was this, that
I was able to establish in the house of a poor, pious
East Indian, a weekly meeting of heathens; I have
to go into the bazaars, and call or drive them in,
but at last I get about twenty or thirty hearers,
Romanists and heathens, and have a quiet talk
with them for an hour.  After I have got a free
utterance, and they have got over their suspiciousness, I hope they will come of themselves, or what
will be better, that I shall get the same hearers to
come regularly: —when I think of it, I am astonished
at the wideness of the door which God has so opened;
it promises so much more than mere street-talking,
or rather, it is the next step above that; for while
conversing in the open streets, it is necessary to
raise and keep up an interest. A regular in-door
meeting is much more suitable for instruction.  I
shall now be as it were in the school of one Tyran



LETTER TO ROBERT.            113
nus, alias disputing weekly in the house of one
Lewis. I begin to understand St. Paul better, in
his requests, that his friends would pray for him:1st. That a door might be opened for him -2d.
That utterance might be given him;-and 3d. That
he might be enabled to speak boldly the mysteries
of the gospel. Ephes. vi. 19, 20, contains what I
should much desire my friends to ask of God for
me; an utterance and a boldness: I am often quite
tongue-tied.  I am at all times a wretched stammnerer. I am often a coward, knowing how I stand
before glibly speaking, noisy, unbelieving, scoffing
fellows, much of whose language I cannot understand, and with whom my drawling tongue gives me
no chance in discussion. I assure you I am often
quite afraid of a noisy Brahmin.  I trust that my
increasing knowledge of Teloogoo will gradually set
me free from this cause of fear.  *  *  *
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
_Masulipatam.
MY DEAR ROBERT,
I hear you are now very soon going to be ordained;
remember how that before Christ appointed his
apostles he spent the night in prayer: an example
to us how that we should preface so great a work as
that of entering on the ministry of God's church by
privacy and prayer. You may find a profitable
lesson in the first chapter of Jeremiah, and in those
chapters which record the call of Moses.  In both,
their exceeding humility is discovered, but it is
mingled with a want of faith which God reproves,
at the same time that he gives us the blessed instruction, that it is his work his ministers go about,
1o0'




114         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
his word they speak, and that it is he who guards
them from evil and enemies in their work. May
you have such a knowledge of the love of Christ to
you in your own heart, and such a burning love for
him, that you may long and yearn after the souls
committed to you. It is not men's bodies which
are committed to us, it is their souls, which, while
it restricts us in some respects, makes our charge
heavier and more difficult; but then if it was not
difficult we could do it of ourselves: because it is
difficult, and when we know it to be so, then we are
forced to seek help from God. May Christ be with
you in your ordination and in your ministry, blessing it to your own soul as well as that of others.
Our united love to all at home.
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. FOX.
CHAPTER VI.
DEATH OF HIS WIFE AND YOUNGEST CHILD-EBIBARKS FOR
ENGLAND-ARRIVAL THERE.
TOWARD the latter part of the year 1845 the
health of his wife began to give way; and so rapidly
did it decline, that there seemed no other remedy
than an immediate removal to a better clime.  In
this state of anxiety he embarked coastwise for
Madras, purposing to send his wife and children to
England, and return to his own duties at Masulipatam; but on reaching Madras, the advice of his
friends and the medical attendants induced him to




DEATH OF HIS WIFE.             115
accompany her, for indeed her illness had become
so alarming, as to render her recovery, even in a
better climate, a very uncertain event. She was
conveyed on board the barque "Diana," on the
evening of the 30th October, 1845, and the vessel
was to have sailed the next morning, but during the
night, her complaint, hastened probably by the
fatigue of removal, came to a crisis, and she died
the following morning, owing to the bursting of an
abscess in the liver, which produced suffocation.
Though the period of her labours had been brief,
that labour had not been in vain in the Lord.
Others besides Mary Paterson may at the day of
our Lord's appearing arise up and call her blessed,
who otherwise had never heard the name of Christ,
nor been admitted to partake of his glory.
She was removed on shore and buried at Madras;
every alleviation which the kind sympathy of Christian friends could afford was enjoyed by my brother,
and it certainly was a providential mercy, that the
painful event took place before the vessel had proceeded to sea; by which he had the satisfaction of
having her committed to the ground by one of his
dearest friends, Mr. Tucker of Madras; but all the
sympathy which friends can offer at such times, falls
far short of stanching so deep a wound, and unless
consolation be poured in from above, and the soul is
capable of staying itself upon God, of finding consolation in the sympathy of Jesus, there must remain
an aching void which nothing can fill, a pain which
defies the cure of human remedies.
Shortly after his wife's funeral he was obliged to
embark with his three children, and proceed on his
voyage to England. He had not been many days at
sea, before the youngest sickened and died; the vessel




116          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
put into Cuddalore, where the child was buried: there
now lay before him a long and dreary voyage, during which time he was deprived of all the consolations of Christian communion; there was no one on
board to whom he could open his heart, or who could
enter into his sorrows; although this proved a very
painful passage of his life, yet he found the promise
hold good, "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth,"
and at no period did he experience the presence and
power of God's love so fully as during this desolate
and sorrowful voyage. During it he appears to
have made a rapid progress in Christain experience:
the result of his sorrows was to draw him more
nearly to his God and Saviour, to wean him more
thoroughly from the world, and to confirm him more
than ever in his determination to spend and be spent
for Christ; so that he set his foot ashore on his
native land with the firm resolve, that by the help
of the Lord, he would return to his work in India
as speedily as possible.  But his own letters will
best describe his feelings during this trying period
of his life.
Madras, Oct. 11, 1845.
MY DEAR ISABELLA,
I wrote a few lines by Marseilles to my father and
mother, telling them of my dear wife's illness, and
our purposed return home; this will reach you a
day or two later, though it goes as far as Malta by
the same post. I do not know what to say concerning this most sudden and great change of prospect.
Three weeks ago we had not the most distant idea
of revisiting England, now we are on our way there,
and in the midst of preparations: it is no use trying
to tell you my feelings about it. I have felt but little.




LETTERS TO HIS SISTER.          117
Since the plan was first decided on, I have been
labouring day and night packing up, preparing,leading Elizabeth, who is as helpless as a child,-and
have scarcely a thought in my head, or a feeling in
my heart.  They will come in the quiet of shipboard, just as they did after leaving England: this
one thing, however, you will feel very glad of our
return, we feel it a bitter pain; it is bitter indeed to
have plans broken up, to be stopped in the middle
of beloved work, and hurried away from the spot;
it will be also bitter as soon as we reach England,
to be anticipating our speedy separation; and the
children, how shall I leave them for so many years?
It is the Lord, and we can say no more. I look
forward with strong hope, that he will give us
strength to bear the trial, which now seems, when
we catch glimpses of it, almost unsupportable. The
Lord's will be done-we are now experiencing what
we have long known. Since we have got down here,
the doctors have made out Lizzy's complaint to be
enlargement of the liver; if it is no more, there is
but little more reason for apprehension than in a
healthy person, for a sea-voyage and return to a
cool climate are almost certain specifics for it; we
trust it is no more.  But diseases of the liver are
always mysterious, and no one can say but that an
abscess may be forming, in which case we must expect the worst, for though not necessarily fatal, it
too often is so. * * *
It was but on Saturday morning that we decided
on leaving Bunder;-mon the following Thursday
afternoon we embarked for Madras; meanwhile I
was able to leave the house only twice, and scarcely
able to say good-bye to any friends, English or
native; we seem to be flying the country.  We left




118          MEMOIR OF I. W. FOX.
R. Noble well, and busy in his school; we could not
but envy him, but the Lord wills it otherwise for us,
and unworthy we are indeed to work for him there.
I left, however, in the hope of being back again
within a year; it would be a piece of little wisdom
to return here in June to meet the scorching wind,
but I hope that August may see me again in India.
iMr. Tucker says, I ought not even to talk of plans
so far distant, and certainly our life in India has
given us experience to this effect. I am desirous of
occupying myself while in England, in trying to stir
up the hearts of young men to come out here: I say
trying, for I am sure that the getting them to come,
is as much a work of God's, and as little a work of
man's, as conversion or any other great work.  I
have a certain stock of Indian information, which I
hope to be able to make good use of, but I should
have been glad to have had at least two years more
of information, to enlarge, clear, and consolidate
what I have got. One of my pleasant thoughts in
regard to returning is, that we shall all meet, dear
father and mother, and all, in the bond of Christian
love, and speak of Christ together.  I think I shall
enjoy this more than I did, and yet my deceitful
heart has often deceived me on this head; and when
I have looked for a full heart to have Christian communion with brother Christians, I have often found
myself as cold and lifeless as can be.  *  *  *
Your affectionate Brother,
HENRY W. FOX.
Jan. 5, 1846. Near the Cape of Good Hope.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
The probability of having an opportunity of sending you a letter from St. Helena, which will reach




LETTERS TO HIS SISTER.          119
you a week or so before we arrive in England, induces me to begin to write to you at so early a time;
and I am glad I have begun, for often and often have
I wanted to express my thoughts and feelings to you,
and have shrunk from beginning to do so-used, as
I have been so long, always to have her to communicate my every thought and wish to, and to receive
from her the kindest and warmest sympathy, I feel
very desolate now that I have no one to tell it to. I
cannot write to you at present in a sorrowful tone.
I hope that the bitterest times are over, although as
they have hitherto come at intervals, I do not know
but that all my sorrows may be oftentimes yet renewed before I am able so fully to rejoice in Christ,
as that this loss should not pain me. I look indeed
to a time when my faith shall be so increased, and
my affections so weaned, that all my thoughts of my
dear Lizzy may be those of gladness and thankfulness. Now I have many such thoughts of her, and
am able at times heartily to bless our dear Lord for
his mercy to her, and can see her as it were filled
with the fulness of his joy, free from all sin and imperfection, and so happy, and dear little Johnny
with her. However, at times all thoughts of her
are very full of pain: I dare not look back, for every
pleasant scene is the more agonizing, because of its
former brightness, and I shrink from looking forward
to think of my desolateness, and how I still have to
go through the rough way and weary land, without
her affectionate comfort and presence. It is better
to depart and be with Christ, but if he sees fit to
keep me here to accomplish his work in me more
fully, or to use me as an instrument, I am well content.




120          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
"If life be long, I will be glad,
That I may long obey;
If short, yet why should I be sad?
That shall have the same pay"says Richard Baxter; and I often repeat the words
with much meaning. Again, I have also to use Miss
Elliott's hymn:
"Oh teach me from my heart to say,
Thy will be done."
So you see there are many fluctuations in my state,
but I think I may say that Christ has triumphed in
me and glorified himself; his promises have not one
of them failed, and they have shone out with particular clearness in his word.
January 8.-1I have been deriving much comfort
from the thought that all the pleasure and happiness
which God gave me in my dear wife, was intended
to foreshadow and typify, by very inferior and distant resemblance, the joys I shall have with him in
heaven. I wish I had thought of this while I was
in enjoyment, the thought would have led me to
sanctify the pleasure; however, now it allows me to
look back without the bitter pain which all recollection brought me a short while ago; for as the pain
arose from the knowledge that those pleasant days
were passed never to return, so now I am able to
look at them cheerfully and thankfully, as pointing
out what I am going to meet with in the prepared
mansions.  I have also, at times, great consolation
in regarding the work as God's work, and bowing in
submission to his Almighty will, assured not only
of his right to do as he likes with me, but of his
tender love in all he has done. He has made me to
over-abound in numerous minor comforts and mercies,




LETTERS TO HIS SISTER.         121
both before and since my dear Lizzy went, as though
he would not let me have room for a doubt of his
tenderness. This life on shipboard has been, and is
a trying one for me, for I have to bear all my sorrow alone; but in this God has doubtless had in
view the object of making me feel more my dependence on him. We are a small party on board, and
all on very good terms, and I receive nothing but
kindness from every one; but there is no one to
whom I can open my heart, nor any congenial person. I hope that our captain, who is a most worthy,
pleasing character, is a child of God. I have got
the doctor to spend half an hour in the forenoon, in
reading the Bible with me, and he likes it, and I
think is thoughtful about it. I have had a good
demand for reading religious books, especially among
the sailors, among whom are some very decent, respectable characters, who listen kindly and thankfully
to all my entreaties to give themselves to Christ.
Jan. 15.-There is one young man among them
who has, I hope, been brought to God since we
sailed; the commencement of the change seems to
have been occasioned by his reading Baxter's Call,
which I lent him the first Sunday I was on board:
his progress in Christian knowledge and experience
has been such as to make me very hopeful that the
change (for a change there is) is the work of the
Holy Ghost.  He quite devours the books I lend
him, and perseveres in reading the Bible. In one
or two others I would hope an impression has been
made; but when I think of the wicked heart within,
and the devil and world without, I desire to see
tokens that the impression is made, not by me, but
by the Holy Ghost. I preach twice on every Sunday: if the weather is suitable, the service is on the
11




122          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
quarter-deck in the morning, and about thirty of us
are present; at other times in the cuddy, when we
can only muster about fifteen.  On week-days I
usually go forward for half an hour in the evenings
among the sailors, after the day's work is over, and
get some very interesting opportunities of speaking
to them in private; but if you could see my heart, I
think you would wonder and be ashamed at my want
of love to the souls about me, and how I have to stir
myself to seek their good instead of running to do
it: it is the same at Bunder, it was the same at Oxford:
when I would do good, evil is present with me. I
trust this lonely time of sorrow on shipboard may be
for my soul's growth; but the time is slipping away,
and I do not find myself so chastened or weaned
from the world as I hoped I should by the grace of
God have been: I have learned some lessons, if I do
not forget them, of the evil within me. I wish that
you all would join your prayers with mine, that my
visit at home may be a blessing and grace to us all,
and that our life and conversation may be such, as
to stir up every one of us to more devoted and hearty
service of Christ. If you can devise or plan any
means to aid me, I shall be most thankful.  I come
home confident that all of you who so heartily bid
me God speed at first going out, will not attempt to
delay my return to my work. As for my own present wishes, I have not a desire except to be at
Bunder again; but I know so far regarding the law
of sin within me, as to be aware that my desires
may change and try to lead me from my duty. I
shall look therefore to you, my dear sister, to uphold
me should I give way; the parting with my dear
children, probably for life, will be a sore trial, and
now all the more bitter since God has taken my dear




LETTERS TO HIS SISTER.          123
Lizzy from me. I cannot tell, nor are you likely to
know, what she was to me, and how entirely we were
one; there was not a plan, a thought, I believe
scarcely a wish, but we had it in common: no sort
of reserve existed between us. You know how much
we were permitted to be together, and this enabled
us to live in the closer unity; to love her was almost
like loving myself, and I knew and was persuaded
that I had her entire affection. You know that her
affections were warm, even as your own are; and
now there is this great separation of communion. I
doubt not but that she loves me now even more
than she could while with me, and her love is more
hallowed in Christ, and I know that I do not love
her one whit the less, though the yearning after and
longing for her at times makes my very heart sore:
at such times I have no resource but to lay up my
sorrows with Christ, the man of sorrows, and he
gives me comfort and even joy; "the oil of gladness
for ashes." The world and life seem as if they
never could be bright to me again; but if so, I may
have the same brightness in the knowledge and love
of Christ, and nothing shall prevent our joy when
we sleep in Jesus, and when we rise in our renewed
bodies to meet him  as he comes down to earth.
What a precious treasure is accumulating for us in
the presence of God! How many are awaiting to rejoice with us! And yet I desire to look forward, not
so much to the rejoicing in meeting them again, as
to the joy of beholding the King in his beauty.
What an all-absorbing splendour and glory must
that of God be! The poor heathen have not even
these prospects among those of their heaven: to
meet again in the life to come, is a thought which
has not entered into their heads, and when they lose




124          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
their dear ones, they part with them for ever and
ever. Blessed be God for his gospel, and blessed
also be his name that he has made us to know it:
and I add, Blessed be God for those years of happiness which he allowed me to spend with my dear,
dear wif, and for the dear children he has given
me, one'of whom, as a sort of first-fruits, he has
already taken home: I have a strong assurance that
he will hear our prayers for the conversion of the
other two.
From your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
TO THE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Bath, April 2, 1846.
MY DEAREST ROBERT,
We reached London on March 25th.  I saw Mr.
Venn immediately, and met most of the committee
a few days afterward; both from  him  and from
several of them I received the greatest kindness and
expression of sympathy. Mr. Venn is very sanguine
regarding the increase of missionaries this year, and
mentioned two or three young clergymen now about
to prepare for going out.  They are going to give
me plenty of work at missionary meetings in different parts of the country, which I am willing to accept, as it seems to be my work while in England.
I have many doubts about my efficiency; but if it is
God who gives me the work, he will also give me
the ability.  I have no plans yet so much as talked
of; the most distinct one is, that I should reach
Madras, if God will, by November of this year.  I
am desirous, if it may be, to have the cold season
to work in, and am very anxious to rejoin you, to




RETURN TO ENGLAND.           125
help you in bearing the burden of the mission. You
and our dear companions in labour, and the school,
and the mission generally, are often in my prayers.
I cannot at this distance assist you in any other
way. *  *  *  I am myself in excellent health,
and only desirous to return again, if God will permit
me to be employed for him at Bunder.  I was very
thankful to find my dear father and mother, as well
as the others, more than willing that I should return
to Bunder again. Believe me,
Your affectionate brother and fellow-worker,
HENRY W. Fox.
CHAPTER VII.
EFFORTS WHILE IN ENGLAND TO DIFFUSE MISSIONARY INTELLIGENCE AND OBTAIN FRESH LABOUIRERS-RETURN TO
INDIA-ACCIDENT ON BOARD THE RIPON STEAMERJOURNAL OF OVERLAND JOURNEY.
MY brother remained in England about six months,
and embarked in the steamer "Ripon," on his return to India, in October. During his residence in
England, his time was principally taken up in attending missionary meetings in various parts of the
country, and in the month of May he was present
at the anniversary meeting of the Church Missionary
Society in London, where he seconded a resolution
which the Bishop of Oxford had moved, "in a
speech," to use the words of Mr. Venn, " which is
remembered by many who heard it, as singularly
11-'*




126          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
effective in the simplicity and ability with which he
described his missionary labours."
The following letters and journal illustrate this
portion of his life.
TO THE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Durham, June 15, 1846.
MY DEAR ROBERT,
I scarcely know where to begin my letter to you:
ever since I wrote in April, I have been moving about
in scenes full of interest to you, as well as to myself;
but I fear I shall but ill succeed in conveying to
you a description of them all.  My visits have been
chiefly of a missionary character, and I have often
wished that you could be with me, to have been
cheered and encouraged by what I witnessed. It
has seemed to me, that a more decided and warmer
interest, and a higher tone is taken in reference to
missions than used to be formerly.  Men speak now
of the duty and call that God is making upon us,
and do not dwell so much in a self-congratulatory
spirit upon successes; at every meeting which I have
attended, our Society has seemed the nucleus for
assembling the really pious and evangelical clergy
of the neighbourhood. I may take a somewhat
exaggerated view, because I now see things in a
different position, as a deputation and missionary,
from what I used to do before we went out; nevertheless, I think that there is much for which to
thank God in the truer missionary spirit that is
abroad among those who are really his children.
Still the interest has not come up to the point of
men giving themselves up to be missionaries. * * *




LETTERS.               127
TO THE REV. J. TUCKER, MADRAS.
Durham, June 17, 1846.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I could fill many sheets in writing to you, if I had
time to write, or you to read them. Regarding my
own unworthy self, I have arranged with Mr. Venn
to return by the 20th of October overland steamer,
so that I hope, if God keeps us and prospers our
voyage, to be at Madras early in December.  God is
still dealing with me as before: keeping me in much
sorrow, which time hitherto has not softened or
lessened, but I feel that I need his chastening hand
still. I have for six or seven weeks been running
about as a l"deputation;" you know the harassing
work which this is, and I have found it to be very
trying to my soul, by interrupting my regular
seasons of retirement; I now want to be brought
back again, and so God works in me painfully, but
I hope it may prove profitably; though all that I
loved life for is gone, and life seems very dull, still
I find the cares and business of the world as much
a snare as ever. I still need and shall ever be needing God's chastening and weaning from the world.
HIow blessed a day will that be when the glories of
Christ burst on our sight, and we shall be able to
serve him without sin!  My chief visits have been
to London, Cambridge, Oxford, and Birmingham.
You would hear from Mr. Venn the very favourable
meeting which we had in Exeter Hall; there seems
to be but one opinion regarding it, that the tone
was high and yet humbled; the report was particularly good. I was myself much strucek with the
difference between this meeting and the one which
I attended in 1840: there was no levity, no self



128         MEMOIR OF I. W. FOX.
congratulation, and but very little lauding one an.
other.  The sermon on the preceding evening was
in itself and its accompanying circumstances the
most remarkable and admirable one that I ever
heard.  The good bishop* goes on working very
hard, preaching, speaking, and travelling, but I am
told he takes care of himself: he is to preach the
Commemoration Sermon at Oxford this year.  Cambridge is in a very hopeful state in reference to
missions, as Ragland will be able to tell you.  There
are seven undergraduates who have made known
their wish to Mr. C(arus to be missionaries; but
how many of them may eventually be allowed to go
out, is of course doubtful.  I found others, who look
at the matter seriously: the subject seems really
before the minds of religious men there.  You
know Mr. Venn's plan of paying them a visit every
term, and of addressing four several parties of
gownsmen.  I hope things are in a train for his
beginning a similar plan at Oxford.  I spent a week
there with Mr. Hill of Edmund Hall. I had two
meetings of gownsmen, one at Wyatt's rooms, which
they got ready for me, where there were about
eighty present, and one in Wadhall   Ha1ll, where
there were about a hundred, including Dr. Jeune,
Iaster of Pembroke, Dr. Cotton, of Worcester, our
Warden, who is Vice Chancellor, Golightly, and
several others.  I found every thing asleep in regard to missions, but I found a large number of
religious, evangelical undergraduates, among whom
my visit roused a considerable interest in the subiect, and among whom much may be done by a
movement from without. * * *
* Of Calcutta.




LETTERS.                 129
TO THE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Harrow, Aug. 27, 1846.
MY DEAR ROBERT,
*  *  About the time of your receiving this,
I shall be parting with my children, and all: will
you remember me before God? It will be a struggle
to flesh and blood. I scarcely dare to look forward
to it now. Will you ask of our Father, that he will
be with me in that hour, and that I may glorify him
by entire submission to his will? This life is not
for enjoyment but for work, and discipline, and
humiliation; hereafter, how greatly shall we rejoice
in the full presence of our blessed Lord, which those
dear ones who have gone before are even now enjoying: blessed be his name, both for their sake, and
for our's.  All you have said in your letter about
more missionaries, more and more fills me with an
anxious and a painful yearning to see them move;
perhaps I too much strain after an object of my own
heart, and yet it is God's will that they should go
out, and I am quite convinced that the lack does not
arise from want of God's command, but from man's
disobedience.  I do try earnestly in my intercourse
with men, but I confess thcat I am not so earnest in
my appeals before God.  There is still a chilly deadness on the subject of our clergy going out; unless
by some unlooked-for change, years must elapse before the missionary temperature rises to "go out
yourself" degree.  I have pressed the subject individmbtall on at least 100 young men, but every one
has got some one good excuse. * * *




130         MEMOIR OF W. H. FOX.
EXTRACTS FROM A JOURNAL OF A JOURNEY TO INDIA
BY THE OVERLAND ROUTE.
On Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 20, 1846, the mails
were brought alongside the Ripon steamer, which
was lying out in the middle of Southampton water.
This was the last visit which the steam-tug was to
pay us, and therefore all the friends of passengers
who had lingered to see the last of them, had now to
return: they quite crowded the deck of the smaller
vessel, while the side of our huge steamer was also
studded with those bidding their friends their last
farewell. Each party exchanged huzzas as we separated, and, sore hearts as there must have been in
each vessel, I did not notice many sad countenances:
in my own case the bitterest scenes had occurred at
a distance, and now I had to part with my faithful
and dear friend E., who had continued by me to the
last. At length the hawser, which held us tight to
the buoy —our last link to dear old England-was
loosened, our head swung heavily round, the order
of "Go ahead, full speed," was given, and we
rushed down Southampton water ten miles an hour.
It was now about four o'clock, and the approach of
dinner took us all down to the saloon to prepare for
it. We were a crowded party, of above a hundred
passengers, occupying every available seat at the two
tables, which ran the whole length of the saloon.
There were old Indian officers and civilians returning to the tropics, after a year or two of renovation
of health in England: there were young cadets
and writers about to launch into life, and enter a
new world at a very early age, full of spirits and
bright prospects; there were planters and merchants,




OVERLLAND JOURNAL.            131
young and old, bound for Bengal, or Ceylon, or
China.  There were two other missionaries, Scotchmen, besides myself, and a young clergyman, who,
with a party of merry young men, was going to
spend the winter, touring through Egypt and Syria.
There were two or three married ladies, with daughters, returning to join their husbands in India, and
one with two or three little children.  There were
middle-aged Indians, who had been home to recruit
and to marry, and were returning with their young
and newly married wives; and there was a troop of
young ladies, (some almost girls,) accompanying relatives, or going out to join them. I could not help
thinking how soon their fresh English faces would
be blanched, and their lively health and spirits become dull, beneath a tropical sun.  Long before
dinner was over it was quite dark, and we had
passed the Needles, and were steaming away in the
open channel, with a slight motion in the vessel,
scarcely enough to injure the most delicate of our
party. I had the privilege of a nice, light, airy
cabin all to myself, situated on the upper deck, so
that I had the prospect of much comfort during the
first half of our voyage. The captain of the ship, a
find old sailor, had installed me in the position of
chaplain, and expressed his desire for regular religious services,-a desire which, as it afterward
proved, proceeded from a sincere and religious heart.
Next morning, Wednesday, we found ourselves
labouring against a heavy, short, but not high sea,
and a blustering foul wind. On coming into the
saloon I heard all sorts of complaints, how that in
the middle of the night the engines had been stopped
for an hour, to allow time for cooling one of the
cranks, which had become almost red-hot; how, that




132         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
the engine would make only six revolutions in a
minute instead of sixteen, and how that the lowerdeck cabins were all full of water, which had dashed
in through the ports: almost every one had their
beds wetted, together with their carpet-bags and
portmanteaus.  T'he steamer, a very fine vessel, was
on her first trip, and had been hurried prematurely
out of dock, so that every thing went wrong about
her.  We continued in this way, steaming slowly
down the channel, with the head sea rising, and the
wind increasing to a gale: she rode it out well, however, but in consequence of the state of her engines,
at twelve o'clock the officer in charge of the mails
ordered that her helm should be put up, and that
she should be run into some port on the nearest
coast.:We now lay broadside to the sea, which
occasionally gave us some heavy blows and made us
roll, and also washed over the fore-part of the vessel,
and poured down into the hold through the open
hatchways, which, in the hurry of departure, had no
covering whatever over them. About an hour after,
the head of the rudder broke off, so that the wheel
was useless, and the ship unmanageable.  We were
now for several hours in the most imminent danger
of going to the bottom, and it was only the goodness
of God which preserved us. The water which
poured down her hatchways was gradually rising up
to the level of the fires, and there being no command
over the vessel, the sea washed over her more and
more. The captain, as he afterward told me, gave
us all up for lost, and retired several times to his
cabin, and there kneeling down prayed to God to
deliver us from the danger. The only hope consisted in our being able to make the land and get
into smooth water before the water gained on us.




OVERLAND JOUIRNAL.            133
About four o'clock the boatswain very gallantly
volunteered to be let down over the stern and hook
on two chains to the rings on each side of the rudder
itself: this he did, plunged under water every other
second as the waves dashed up; by this means we
again had power of steering, by bringing the chains
round the capstan, and steering by men at the capstan bars.  By half-past four we saw land right
ahead, and also on the weather-bow. It was five or
six miles distant, high, and dimly seen through the
haze. Up to this time I had been lying quietly in
my cabin, reading and dozing, and utterly ignorant
that there was any thing the matter, for we did not
roll or pitch much, and there was not nearly so
much noise on deck, as there would have been in
bad weather in a sailing vessel.  When I came to
dinner I was much st artled by one of our party saying, with a gloomy face, " It will be well if we get
ashore at all; the rudder is gone, and we are in the
greatest danger." I was glad to go to my own cabin
to commend us all to God, and to seek for his presence and strength in the hour of fear, and he mercifully granted it: for though some natural shrinking
from death remained, I felt happy and confident in
reunion with Christ, after all should be over, and
meeting those dear ones who have passed through
the river of death before me.  It was growing dusk
as we neared the shore, but some one on board recognised the coast, and we found ourselves running
into Torbay, a secure and sheltered anchorage. By
half-past seven we had anchored in smooth water,
and all our danger was over: had we been out at
sea, in the Bay of Biscay for instance, or had the
ship's head not been put up toward the land before
the rudder broke, it would have been barely possible
12




134          MEMOIR OF H.W. FOX.
that we should have escaped. As it is, our deliverance has been one conspicuously from God. When
all was over, and about forty of the passengers were
waiting in the saloon for tea, our captain sent for
me, and asked me to return thanks to Almighty God
for our great deliverance, which I did; all knelt,
and I hope many joined sincerely. There has been
since then a return to usual thoughts and feelings
on the part of most of us, at least so far as is observable, although there is a general expression of
thankfulness and acknowledgment of God's hand
in the escape, from most of us. Seldom perhaps
has there been so much danger with so little suffering or inconvenience.  We have in no ways
suffered any thing, except the wetting of some of
the luggage in the cabins and in the hold.
Thursdcay/ mornig, Oct. 22.-At sunrise we found
ourselves lying in Torbay, a fine semicircular bay,
with bluff cliffs, and green hills surrounding it: on
the right was Torquay, with its white houses perched
up on the hill, about four miles off; in the centre
was another pretty town, and toward the left, lying
snugly under the shelter of the western horn of the
bay, was the small fishing town of Brixham.  Four
or five small ships lay in-shore of us, and a fishingsmack soon paid us a visit. By eight o'clock the
purser of the ship started for the shore to convey
the news of our disaster to London.  He reached
town by four the same afternoon, and a telegraphic
express was immediately sent down to Southampton
to order the Oriental steamer round to our assistance:
he returned himself on board about one o'clock on
Friday, to announce the result of his expedition.
Meanwhile we lay perfectly quiet, as steady as if we
were on shore, all Thursday and Friday, with a fine




OVERLAND JOURNAL.             135
bright sea and clear sky the greater part of the time,
and with fine views of the beautiful coast around us:
numerous fishing and other boats perpetually in
motion enlivened the scene. A few of the passengers landed at Brixhani or Torquay for some hours,
and some even ran up to London and back. Late
on Friday night the light of the Oriental steamer
and another smaller vessel were seen, and they soon
ran alongside and anchored near us. The whole of
Saturday was a day of bustle and confusion, baggage
and cargo were being transhipped into the smaller
steamer or into boats, and thence into the Oriental.
By four o'clock they carried the passengers over in
the smaller vessel, the weather being all the while
very favourable, and while we were dining on board
our new home, they finished all the carrying process, and we expected to start the same night.
We did not do so, however, till daylight the next
morning.
S1&noday, Oct. 25.-On coming on deck I found
that we were running along the Devonshire coast,
about a mile off the shore: the coast was fine, precipitous, and hilly: the cliffs often tinged with a
ruddy colour, mingled with the greenness of the
grass which clung to their face.  Many little combs
and valleys appeared, in which lay hid a clump of
trees and a cottage; we passed on beyond the Start
point, sighted Dartmouth, lying in its little rocky
cleft in the hills, and gradually edging away to the
southward, lost sight of land in a few hours. Although the wind blew fresh, the sky was bright, and
the sea was smooth. Eleven o'clock was the hour
for morning prayers; but as the time drew on, those
ladies who were able to leave their cabins, together
with most of the gentlemen, were assembled on deck,




136         r3uMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
lying along the seats which were fixed there: most
of them declared their inability to descend into the
saloon, through fear of sea-sickness, and so it was
arranged that we should have service on deck.  I
was glad to find that many were really anxious to
have the service, and did not really make their sickness an excuse. Accordingly I read prayers on
deck; the ladies lying at full length, the gentlemen
sitting or standing as they could, with their hats on,
my hair blowing in the wind, and my voice going
everywhere.  I had to strain my voice, and found
afterward that I was heard, but at the time thought
otherwise. I however preached, or rather made a
short address on Rom. xii. 1, drawing attention to
the call which God had made on us by his late deliverance, and then to his great mnerc7y in Christ.
The party, about forty in number, were attentive,
but cold. All the afternoon I was qualmish and
sleepy; I had several walks and conversations with
fellow-passengers on deck, and in the evening we
had service again in the saloon, with about twenty
present, and I preached from Luke x. 25-27, the
obligation of the law.  The day was to my own
soul very lifeless and cold, and my preaching was
similar. Toward evening the wind became light
and the sea fell.
Mlonday, Oct. 26.-A  beautiful bright morning
with a calm sea, saluted us on going on deck; we
are now well in the Bay of Biscay, and still quiet,
although the wind and sea are rising during the
afternoon.
Tuesday, Oct. 27.-AWhen I went on deck this
morning there was a very perceptible change in the
temperature; which showed we were approaching
southern and warmer climes: it was a beautiful,




OVERLAND JOURNAL.              137
bright, and cloudless morning; we were nearly across
the Inay of Biscay, and had met with neither storm,
nor sea, nor swell: it was more like sailing down
the channel in mild weather. About noon the high
land above Cape Finisterre became indistinctly visible from deck, and all the afternoon was enlivened
by the brighter and ever-changing views of the coast,
as we neared it and ran along it. As we drew closer
to it we saw a long line of rocky and mountainous
coast, running from  north-east to south-west, the
most westerly point being Cape Finisterre, which
literally,fimishecl the land of Europe to the west,
and the most easterly, dimly seen in the distance,
indicated the neighbourhood of Corunna. It has a
curious effect, this seeing from the ocean, coasts and
countries familiar to the ideas, and represented to
the mind chiefly by a red or yellow mark on a map.
One fancies Spain to be something peculiar; and so
no doubt it is, when the traveller is winding among its
hills, and can notice the costume, the style of building,
the altered vegetation, and other objects which present
themselves to him.  But seen at a distance which
precludes minute observation, while it allows of distinguishing the outline, and even the colouring of
the scenery, one country looks so like another, as
almost to disappoint the spectator.
I have got nice opportunities of getting at the
sailors in their quarters forward, and am able to enter
into profitable conversation with some of the passengers as we walk about the deck. It is, however, a
time of great distraction.  My cabin is so dark that
I can scarcely see to read in it, and in the saloon I
read or write in the midst of talk or card-playing.
My cabin-companion has the merit of never being
12-I




13 8         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
in the cabin, except at night, so that I have as many
opportunities of privacy as I wish.
Trutrsday, Oct. 29.-By sunrise this morning we
came in sight of Cape St. Vincent, and about eight
o'clock were abreast of it. As we passed within
half a mile, the cliffs and all upon them were distinctly visible. The Cape consists of two headlands,
separated by a slight bay a mile wide; the cliffs are
200 feet high, either sandstone or magnesian limestone, or rather they presented the appearance of
both these kinds of stone. They were precipitous,
cut into numerous clefts, and many caves; and only
in one or two small coves offered a narrow beach at
which a boat might land its crew. The first headland was crested by a monastery converted into a
light-house: its chapel was marked by a black cross
p)ainted on its end; the whole was whitewashed, and
dazzling in the morning sun. Above twenty men
and women were looking at us over the wllls.  On
the next point was a small fort, also white, in which
the most conspicuous building was its chapel, with a
tiny plastered dome over the altar; it seemed scarcely
to possess a window, and reminded me very much
of the Romish churches in India.  After passing
three headlands, the coast receded a little, but still
presented a pleasing view with its variously coloured
cliffs, its low hills covered with bents, and dotted with
a few white specks of houses, and one or two mountains in the distance.
Friday, October 30, 1846.-And now we have
been at Gibraltar; and how shall I describe it? We
were but three or four hours on shore, and in continual
excitement for some hours before and afterward.
All Thursday afternoon and evening we were steaming along out of sight of shore; during the evening'"5"'"~ "' - ~b^" """"^'~MI —Y




OVERLAND JOURNAL.              139
we were talking over our intended trip ashore, and
making inquiries of those who had been there before,
regarding the objects of interest and the method of
seeing them.  We expected to reach our anchorage
shortly before daylight, and proved to be correct in
our calculations.  About half-past two in the morning I was called up with the announcement that we
were passing through the Straits, and on going on
deck found the land visible on both sides; the night
was a starlight one, and the outline distinctly visible
of hilly promnontories on each side of us, apparently
not two or three miles distant. In reality they
were more, for the Strait is twelve miles from shore
to shore. hIere were the pillars of Hercules, and
the boundaries of the ordinary navigation of our true
ancestors of classical days. On we steamed, with
several light-houses on the European shore guiding
us into port, and soon we drew near enough to distinguish the rock of Gibraltar itself, and some of the
lights in the town at the foot of it. Gibraltar is not
strictly the narrowest part of the Strait-it is rather beyond it.
By four o'clock in the morning we were deep in
the bay, lying about a mile off the western face of
the rock, fired two guns, showed a blue light, and
cast anchor.  By six o'clock there was enough daylight to distinguish objects, and presently the view
became, not only interesting, but beautiful. We
were lying in a glassy bay about three miles deep
and as many across; immediately to the eastward
rose up the rock of Gibraltar, forming the greater
part of that side of the bay.
By seven o'clock we embarked in one of the
numerous boats which were clustered about the ship,
whose owners were clamorously in broken English




140          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
seeking for a freight: they called themselves Englishmen, but their complexion and countenances told
their Spanish origin at least on one side. They soon
rowed us ashore, and we set foot on English ground
once more, with some feeling of pride at the sight
of the red-coated soldiers here in the land of Spain.
We were no sooner landed than we were bewildered
by the variety of novel sights which beset us on
every side: nor were these diminished as we proceeded through the double gateway into the main
street of the town. I had previously heard that at
Gibraltar every costume might be seen, and the fact
was speedily verified, to our great delight. There
was the tall Highlander in full costume mounting
guard at the gate, and the English soldier, in his
red or blue artillery uniform; then there appeared
the stately Arab, with his handsome features, and
curled beard, his long blue coat with hanging sleeves,
and large white turban; —next came the Barbary
Jew or Mussulman, distinguished from each other
only by the black colour of the cap of the first, or
the red of the latter: their shorter tunic of blue with
a red band round the waist, or their long loose ccapote
of heavy cotton striped blue or-white, formed their
summer and winter dresses. Then came the Gibraltar Spaniard, in trousers and jacket, or shirt
sleeves, like the untidy English of the lower orders,
and most of them with jaunty-looking round beaver
hats, low crowned and adorned with a couple of tufts
or favours of the same material and colour as the
hat. Presently there came a Spanish muleteer, the
very original of the pictures of a brigand so familiar
to us in England.  A short, tidily-cut blue jacket,
dark breeches, open from the knee to the calf of the
leg, with buttons for show rather than use, white




OVERLAND JOURNAL.              141
stockings, and a knowing hat or cap, formed their
costume. The women, of the upper ranks, were in
black, with shawls or vails over their heads, instead
of bonnets; the poorer women with scarlet cloaks,
adorned at the cape and armholes with black cloth.
All had a dark hue, a sort of black pallor, an inky
blood peering through a white face. The appearance of the town is not English, yet it is difficult to
say in what particular point it differs from an English
town.  The streets and alleys are regularly built,
though rather narrow: the houses are substantial,
and, in the main street, three stories high; in some
quarters, only two stories. They are all plastered
and washed with either white or yellow; the absence
of all smoke and the light colour of the dust renders
every thing clean.  The most remarkable features
are the flat roofs, with occasionally a row of flowerpots adorning the parapet, and the green Venetian
shutters at every window.  There are abundance of
shops, for articles of English or French manufacture,
but they make no show, as they have but in few
cases regular shop-windows; the goods are exposed
in windows like those of an ordinary house. liowever, the motley appearance of the crowds in the
streets, and that of the mules dragging the carts,
instead of horses, sufficiently show the foreign character of the place.
The Journal is continued, giving a lively description of first impressions at Malta, Alexandria, Cairo,
and the Desert; but this is a journey so frequently
performed in the present day, and possesses so little
novelty, that the remainder is omitted.  He reached
Ceylon on the 6th, and IMadras on the 10th of December, 1846.




142         MEMOIR OF I. W. FOX.
Madras, Dec. 12, 1846.
MY DEAREST SISTER,
Here I am at last, by God's mercy, surrounded
by much kindness, and attended by gracious marks
of God's- love on all sides. I looked forward with
many painful anticipations to my arrival here, and
I have found them fully realized. Every sound and
sight recalls my dear Lizzy to mind; there is not a
spot in Madras which is not associated with her;
many houses and rooms remind me of her presence,
and I cannot go about the streets without remembering the last time I did so, when I had left her
for an hour or two only. The children also continually come to my mind, and I feel that I am very
desolate. Last evening I went as usual to the
Friday evening meetings at the Brownes, and how
empty did the house seem, for when last there, she
was lying in one of the rooims below, and the dear
little children's voices were scarcely hushed before
the hour of the meeting: every one there looked just
as they did a year ago-husbands and wives still
preserved to each other-but to me how great the
change! Do not think I am complaining. I can call
God to witness, I do heartily bless him for the
change, both for her sake and for my own. I would
not have it otherwise, but yet it is full of sorrow for
the present. I do not want you to grieve with me,
for I cannot think of giving you sorrow; but I want
you to pray for me, that I may glorify God in this
land, and time of trial, by looking beyond this life,.
and rejoicing in his promises. I have had many
sorrows of late, and I feel I am going to have more,
but I think I have learned to look on sorrows with
a-welcome eye, as God's best gifts.  I have been
thinking of God's tenderness in his dealings with




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             143
me ever since my dearest wife died.  If I had had
to go back to Bunder, and let the children go away
at once, how almost insupportable would have been
the trial! But he allowed me to come home to you
all, and be comforted by your affection and love;
and in England I visited but few places which were
closely associated with her: and now, after I have
had thirteen months of teaching, he has brought me
back to Madras, first to break, as it were, the greatness of the pain of revisiting the scenes of our happy
days at Bunder. The sea-voyage home was indeed
a time of great trial; but then to make up for that,
he made it a time of much converse with him, and.
of many consolations.  *  *  *
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
JOURNAL.
Cullapilly, Februa'ry 13, 1847.-I am now out
on my first excursion to the villages, since my return,
to India. I have commenced by coming here to the,
great annual bathing festival, which occurs on " Si-.
var'tri," or the Siva-night. It is a considerablevillage about twelve miles due south of Masulipata m
situated on the most northerly branch of the river
Kistna, and containing a considerable pagoda, devoted to the god Siva, under his common name of
Nagaswara-sw'amry, or the Lord of Snakes. It is
curious that the bathing in the river Kistna, a personification of Vishnu, should be held in connection
with, and in honour of the rival god. It is a festival
of three days' continuance, the main features of which'
are the religious bathing by thousands in the river,
and their repairing to the temple of Siva to make




144          MEMOIR OF HI. W. FOX.
their obeisance and offerings to the idol.  I left my
house at four o'clock in the morning, and proceeded
through the entire length of the native town on to
the open country beyond it. In consequence of the
many showers which had fallen rather heavily a few
days previously, I found the wet portions of the
plain filled with water; in crossing the first the
water reached my horse's girths, and in the second
he began to sink so deep in the treacherous mire,
that I was obliged to leap off and lead him through
the mud and water for two hundred yards, knee
deep. A great part of the rest of the country (for
there was no road) was of a miry and treacherous
character; so that when the sun rose I had still three
or four miles of my journey before me. By this
time I had no longer any difficulty in discerning my
way, for I found crowds of people streaming in from
all directions along the main path; and for the last
two miles I was continually passing a string of people trudging to the festival, the majority on foot,
and a few in common bullock-carts.  There were old
and young, the tottering and bent figure of the old
woman, and little children toddling alongside their
parents, or carried on their sides.  There was about
an equal number of men and women, but nearly all
were of a poor and shabby appearance. On reaching
Cullapilly, I found the pagoda very prettily situated,
on the side of a tank full of water-lilies, both red
and white, and the whole place alive with the visitors to the festival. After giving directions about
the pitching of my tent on the bund of the tank,
about a quarter of a mile from  the pagoda, I rode
down toward the river, which lies at about half a
mile distant from the village. There was a solid
stream of people the whole distance-a few return




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             145
ing from the water-side-but the majority on their
way thither; and already I could hear the roar of
the voices of the multitude engaged in their ablutions, and the occasional screechings and drummlings
of music, proceeding from them. As we drew near
to the river we passed several small raree shows,
consisting each of a box gayly painted with mythological figures, and opening with folding-doors so as
to display inside the tawdry image of either Vishnu
or Siva; these were placed in the road by their
owners, who stood by begging for money, and reaping a rich harvest from the piety of the people!
When I asked some of them  why they provided
mere toys for worship, instead of serving God, they
made the common answer of patting their stomach,
to show that it was their livelihood.  There was
also a large number of clamorous beggars, lining
one side of the road for the distance of about a
quarter of a mile: each beggar spread out a long
cloth or mat by the roadside, and as the people came
back from the river they threw a few grains of rice,
or now and then a single chili, or less frequently a
cowrie shell (in value about one-fiftieth of a farthing)
on each cloth; so that there was a prospect of two
or three handfuls of rice being gathered from each
cloth. I found the crowd of bathers lining the
river-side for a distance of 600 yards or half a mile:
the river here, though the smallest of the main
branches of the Kistna, varies from  a quarter to
half a mile wide, and at present is about seven or
eight feet below its banks: on the higher bank were
collected the crowds of visitors; some sitting, some
standing idle, some engaged in preparing their food,
but the majority were changing their wet clothes, or
rubbing their coloured powders on their foreheads,
13




146         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
or preparing their diminutive amount of alms: in
the river itself stood hundreds in the act of bathing.
The process appeared to be generally of this kind:
the party after scrambling down the steep and
slippery bank, proceeded into the water till a little
beyond the knees, of course without removing any
part of their dress.  Some friend commenced by
pouring a number of pots full of the water over
their head and back; then there was the raising of
a little of the water to the mouth in the two hands
and drinking it, then the throwing two or three
handfuls of the water upward, by way of libation,
then some over the head backward, and then plunging the whole body several times in the water. Men
and women were mingled together promiscuously.
I stood watching them for a considerable time; the
noise of so many voices was sufficiently great to render conversation of scarcely any use, so I was a silent
observer of many hundreds going through a ceremony which they all believe to acquire for them a
great amount of religious merit, and which many
believe removes their sin. I saw two or three men
with little baskets, which they took into the water
with them and dipped in the water. On inquiry, I
found that the basket contained the little household
god of the party, an image a few inches long.
On my return I found a boy going about chanting
and begging, with a long piece of wire run through
both his cheeks. Siva is the bloody deity, and it is
in honour of him or his wife that cuttings or mutilations are made: this is the only one I have seen today, but I am told this evening, that near the temple
there are some men cutting themselves, and piercing
their flesh.
As I returned, I found the same close streams of




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             147
people still moving down to the river: there could
not have been less than four or five thousand in all,
either on the river banks or on the way thither,
during the three quarters of an hour that I was
there.  There  were  about twenty  bullock-carts
covered with mats, in which women of the wealthier
class changed their dress, and about a.dozen. palanquins, in which those who could afford the expense
had come to the festival; but the mass were on foot.
Before I left Masulipatam I was told that not many
people of wealth come out to this festival, on account
of the sums they are expected to expend in case they
do so. I found this to be the case; the majority of
the visitors seem to be of the lower classes. On
coming back I found a considerable part of the road
leading to the temple lined with temporary booths
for the sale of toys, bangles, ornaments, or simple
articles of food. The booths reminded me much, as
indeed did much of the scene besides, of the out.
skirts of an English race-course: of course the booths
had no table or any thing to raise them from the
ground; they consisted of a few sticks so arranged
as to allow a cloth or mat to be stretched on them,
which sheltered the seller and his goods from the
sun. I was glad to take rest and get my breakfast
in my tent; it was not long before all the neighbourhood was covered with groups of people cooking
their food, eating it, or lying down to sleep after it:
for out of the six or seven thousand strangers, who
have come for this occasion, none seem to have any
place to. lodge in,-the open field is their parlour
and their bed-room.  The continual noise of their
talking, and the unceasing hummings of the large
drums at the pagoda, have been far from agreeable
all day. In the afternoon, finding that no one came




148         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
to my tent for conversation, I went out into the
crowd and wended my way to the temple, after two
or three conversations by the way. The people were
loitering about, with no other occupation than that
of a few jugglers and mountebanks to amuse them.
While waiting about the temple gateway, watching
the continual passing of the crowds in and out, there
came forth a bridal palanquin, in which was placed
a small brazen trident, eight or nine inches high,
half wrapped up in cloth.  This is the " Trishilam,"
and is, I believe, a representative of the god: by the
side walked a man with a horse-hair flapper, to drive
away the flies from the god. Before the palanquin
went a Brahmin, who laid down on the ground, every
here and there, a large leaf, and on it placed a handful of boiled rice: he was followed by a boy who
gathered leaves and rice into his basket. I found
that nearly every one that went into the pagoda,
purchased, as he went, a little earthenware saucer,
such as is used for a lamp, with a wick and a few
drops of oil to offer to the idol inside. There was
no uproar, or riot, or excitement, only a large crowd;
I obtained a good many opportunities of speaking to
groups of people, and two or three times went over
the history of Christ as the only Saviour from sin.
I had no opposition, for which I was thankful.  On
returning, after about a couple of hours' ramble, I
brought with me to my tent a crowd of people, and
sitting there I continued for two hours more to talk
to successive groups who sat on the ground, until I
was quite tired. A good many asked for tracts,
which I supplied: I was glad that there was not any
of that eagerness for tracts which I read of, as sometimes occurring; for on such occasions I feel the
consumption is not repaid by the number who read








_ _ _   /ft.    I,, am   SV;a,  z   Avg /
Tent_  oR...o                 te naC            piy p1
/'~ ~ ~ ~ i -.... >-z:
Tent of Rev. H. W. Fox, pitched near Cullapilly. p. 149.




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            149
them; the desire being, not that of reading, but of
possession. I have had many good listeners, no
positive opposition; my only annoyance has been
that of two or three people, who were so fond of
hearing their own tongues speak, as not to allow me
to finish a sentence.
It is a serious reflection that I am here alone in the
midst of Satan's kingdom: here he is rampant and
triumphant: not a soul out of the thousands here
but is a sworn servant of his: he has all his own
way with them, and would do his worst toward me;
it is a consideration to make me run to Christ more
lovingly and earnestly, as my only defence against
the powerful and evil one.
Cullapilly, Monday, February 15.-The noise on
Saturday night of the crowds of people who were
bivouacking in the open air all round about, and of
the beating of the drums at the pagoda, continued
till a late hour: and I was wakened about four in
the morning by the same drumming, and by the
voices of the crowds who were beginning to wake up.
During the night there had been a minor procession
of the idol in a little car: the great procession in the
great car was to take place this afternoon, Sunday.
When I went out for a morning walk soon after
daybreak, I found the people streaming away to
their villages just as they had been crowding from
them the previous morning; though the festival is
one of three days' duration, yet the greater number
are content with the first day, and before mid-day
about two-thirds had left the village for their homes.
There was some bathing again in the morning, I was
told, but the number of bathers could not be great.
I had all the forenoon to myself in quiet, but from
the middle of the day I had a quick succession of
13{E




150          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
visitors, some boys, some grown-up men, who came
to hold a conversation, but most of them to ask for
tracts. I had again many favourable opportunities
of telling them of Christ as the only way of salvation. Their continual struggle is for works of their
own; I as continually press upon them the impossibility of bringing out of the unclean man any thing
which can cleanse him. I had a long and very interesting conversation with a well-behaved and intelligent Mussulman, who, with every appearance of
lively interest, honestly confessed, when it was pressed
upon him, that a forgiveness of sins from without
was necessary, and that he could not find any such
in his religion. In the afternoon I went to the
pagoda, where the crowd was great, as well as the
noise. I could not hold much conversation in consequence, but I was remarkably enabled, as to-day
also, in giving such ready answers to those who put
foolish, captious questions, as quite to silence them.
About half an hour after dusk they began to prepare
for the car procession; the car, a lofty frame-work
of wood of a pyramidical form, strongly tied together
with a net-work of ropes, was covered over with
dingy red cloth, and adorned with long strings of
leaves, on which were suspended pumpkins and
gourds.  No fewer than three "zemindars," or
wealthy land-holders, (they call them "princes,") attended the festival, and added to its splendour, such
as it was, by their own bejewelled persons, their
matchlock and spearmen, and three or four elephants
and camels.  I stood near the car, to see the idol
brought from the pagoda in order to be placed in
the car: the crowd was great, but a number of
lighted torches made every object distinctly visible.
Just now several Brahmins came forward in a rude




JOURNAL IN INDIA.           151
manner and told me to move out of the way, for the
god was coming: at least their gestures told me so,
for the sound of the drums prevented me from hearing more than a word or two. I took it to be merely
a piece of impudence on their part to require me to
do that which they had not the slightest right to
do in the public street, and so I stood my ground.
Several with vehement gestures told me again, and
one of the zemindars talked at me with words inaudible from the great noise. As I thought it better
not to oppose their wishes, I moved on a few yards:
but that would not content them, and presently I
found that the spearmen and others who were pushing the people about, began to push them against
me, and others began to hustle me. I fancy that
had it been right to do so, I might easily enough
have stood my ground against them; but as I had
no reason to irritate them, but the contrary, I moved
down the street, and as I went, I found three or four
people throw dust upon me. I was more astonished
than annoyed at this rudeness, which is so unusual
toward a European. I presume that the excitement
of the festival, the concealment which the darkness
afforded, and the presence of the zemindars, emboldened them to forsake their usual submissive conduct. I stood in a side street and saw the cumbrous
car dragged slowly on, and when it was passed I
looked down the street filled with a dense crowd,
upon whom the light of the torches streamed. I
returned home to the quiet of my tent, to reflect
on the contrast of a quiet English Sunday, with
the singular, profane, and idolatrous scenes I had
witnessed.
To-day I have had numnerous visitors in my tent.
One man much interested me: he stayed more than




152          MEMOIR OF IH. W. FOX.
an hour, spelling out, for he could not read well,
first the ten commandments, and afterward a little
tract of eight pages.  It was a laborious task for him
as well as tiresome to me, but he persevered through
it, asking me questions as he went on about what he
did not understand. I told him all the way of salvation; he seemed cordially to approve of all, and to
be pleased with the good news he heard; he was not
one of those dull men who chime in with any new
thing which they hear, but an intelligent, lively
person. I have had no great opposition or discussion,
or any new subjects started. Several have harloed
on the trite topics, that all things are God, and that
he is materially the substance of all: others again,
that our bodies are created by him, but he is the
soul of all men, that there is but one spirit, ours and
his being the same; others, that God is the author
of sin, "for if he is not," they say, "who is?"
Others, that the way to purify the soul is, to restrain
and get under the senses: others, that believing in
or serving God is necessarily connected with the
ascetic life of a hermit.  It is quite remarkable how
readily they fly off from the subject; pretending to
answer some questions I have asked, they will go on
with a long rigmarole about what has no more to do
with it than the man in the moon.
All these three days God has very mercifully kept
me from the adversary, by keeping from me those
noisy and difficult discussions which, from my imperfect knowledge of the language, I so much dread.
He has also kept me in great peace, and made me
feel much enjoyment in this sort of life.
I have given away about 150 tracts; rather withholding them than offering them to the people: most
of my visitors have been from Masulipatam; of the




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             153
rest, not above half a dozen are inhabitants of this
village.
Sallapilly, FebruaryM 16,1847.-This forenoon was
spent like several others; in the early morning I took
a walk, and on my return through the village I
wanted to find out the school. It is curious what
falsehoods they unblushingly tell: from not less than
eight or nine people I have had an answer to my
question of where the school was, to the effect that
there was no school at all in the village; while some
of them, on my charging them with the falsehood,
have pointed out to me where it was. In my tent
I had visitors for two or three hours: among others
a man came and sat down outside (he would not come
in) and conversed for about an hour: he had the
usual appearance of a "Sanyassee," a mendicant
friar, but was not one of the filthiest and worst class:
the marks by which I discovered his character, were
his greater quantity of hair on his face, the larger
amount of ashes on his forehead, and particularly
his strings of beads on his neck and arms, his cloth
of the sacred yellow, and the tiger's skin carried on
his back.  He was not strictly a Sanyassee, but was
employing himself in going about to beg money to
build a pagoda in his native village: he had collected, he said, 400 rupees, (~40,) but 200 rupees
more were needed: for some weeks past he had not
got a farthing. He was a cheerful, good-natured
fellow; had no objections to make to what I urged
upon him, both in regard to his sins and to Christ's
redemption, and appeared an ordinary sort of man,
unable to read. Though I had dwelt for some time
on their sin of taking God's name in vain, at last he
went off in a jovial mood, chaunting, " Bhagavan!
Bhagavan! Narthyana! Narayana!" names of God.




154         MENTOIR OF I.. FOX.
This they think purges the sins away.  He, like
other religious characters I have seen among them,
seemed to be totally devoid of any thing like seriousness or devotion. As I sent off my tent about two
o'clock, I walked into the village to get into the shade
of the houses, and went to a street full of Brahmins,
where I had been treated somewhat rudely in the
morning.  In a few minutes I had the whole horde
upon me, and there ensued a discussion most utterly
profitless, except to myself, to whom it served as a
grindstone to sharpen me for further contests. About
two o'clock, Brahimins, old and young, with pride
and impudence strongly marked in their faces, surrounded me, and sometimes one, but more commonly
three or four at once, assailed me with childish and
ludicrous questions, many of them of a quite unanswerable character: "Why were some men born
rich and others poor?"  " How was it that my caste
(which they confound with religion) had denied the
divisions of caste?" On my telling them of the
evidence we had to the truth of Christ's life from
enemies as well as friends, one of them answered me
in a thoroughly Hindoo fashion: "Probably," he
said, " these were only sham enemies pretended for
the occasion; for instance, (pointing to two men,) if
I want to'get possession of this man's house, I persuade the other, who is a friend of mine, to pretend
to be my enemy, and then I bring him into court
to swear that the house is mine, and the circumstance
of his being my enemy adds much to the weight of
his evidence." Sometimes they were so eager to
beset me with what they thought flooring questions,
that one would pull the other by the arm to stop him,
in order that he might get his word in, and then
they would ask me a series of questions one after




JOURNAL IN INDIA.           155
another, giving me no time to answer. "Is there
any difference between God and your body?" "Who
knows the difference between right and wrong?"
"Is your God, the God of the whole world, or only
of your country?" I turned the tables on them by
laughing at their hot eagerness to assail me, and at
their unfair dealing. I could only feel, at the end,
that God had graciously delivered me out of the
hand of the enemy, and also I felt sorry at these
poor men wilfully refusing the light and the treasure.
But I rejoiced to find Satan alive to the fact of his
kingdom being disturbed; any thing is better than
the deadness of some places; I had not expected
such decided opposition as I have found here: they
are quite alive to the fact that Christianity will not
allow idolatry, and fight shy of this subject. On
leaving Cullapilly I took a Brahmin village in my
way here, intending to leave a few tracts in it. I
found a boy to whom I had given a book at Cullapilly: he first told me that he had read and understood it all, but immediately after he said he had
not looked into it, but had placed it upon one of the
rafters of his house: when he went in to look for
it, he came out again and said it was gone, some one
had thrown it away; but when he was urged to produce it, he presently pulled it out; and that without
any marks of shame at his falsehood.-When I had
offered the tracts I had brought, the Brahmins would
not have them: they said, " We believe our religion,
and don't want to hear any thing against it." I had
a ten minutes fruitless discussion on horseback with
five or six of them; they were so silly and captious
that I could tell them nothing valuable.  If I asked
them, "Have you not committed  many sins?"
They answered me," "'What difference is there be



156         MEMIOIR OF H. W. FOX.
tween sin and righteousness? Who can tell?" Here
however I made them look foolish by obliging them
to answer their own questions, by further asking
them whether lying, stealing, &c. were not sins?
Nevertheless they shuffled, as well as they could, by
mentioning cases in which, according to their views,
it was necessary, if not right, to lie and steal. If I incidentally spoke of God, immediately they interposed,
a "Who is God? What God do you mean? What
form has he got?" When I illustrated the sure
punishment of sin by the case of an English judge
punishing a convicted felon, they tried to be off at a
tangent, by appending the statement: " Yes, one of
your judges will punish the felon, but if he was
open to bribes he would perhaps let him off," although
this was nothing to the point, for I had distinctly
stated the presumption that the judge would act
justly.  I was glad during the discussion that a
couple of women were standing listening in the doorway of the house where we were talking; to have a
female listener, is to me, as yet, a very rare occurrence.
I have changed my quarters by coming to this
village, about five miles north of Cullapilly: it is a
considerable village, the capital of the country, and
the residence of a zemindar, or land-holder, who has
quite a grand palace, far superior to any thing I have
seen elsewhere.
Tz/ursday, Febrzuary 18, 1847. —The last two
days have been occupied with visits from many of
the residents of the place: a great many Brahmins
have come to see me, but none of them disputatious,
or noisy, or learned.  A  young Mussulman has
struck up quite a friendship with me; and I have
had many interesting conversations with him. He




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             157
consents, he says, to our religion, and he listens
quietly while I speak to others of Christ, as the Son of
God, and the only sacrifice for sin; but as soon as I
begin to press it on him, with much bitterness he
repudiates the idea of Jesus (whom he acknowledges
as a great prophet) being divine; nothing he, says,
shall convince him of it: in this respect, he says,
"Christians resemble the heathen-the latter worship a stone, the former a man." I have been pressing him, however, with —1. The absence of any remission of sin, in the Koran, or by his religion; 2. The
total want of evidence of the divine authority of that
book; 3. Strong evidence to the facts of Christ's life
and death; and 4. That if Christ is not God, there is
no forgiveness of sin for mortal man. I think he feels
the force of these points; and as he lives in Masulipatam, I hope to have many more conversations with him.
A man yesterday fancied that we Christians were
Buddhists, and disbelieved the existence of God.
One of the village school-masters came to me to-day:
his object was to beg a present of me. I-le was a
man of about forty years of age: his wife was dead
about four years ago, and he wanted to marry again,
and had made proposals for a girl in a neighbouring
village, but the sum required for her was 150 rupees,
(~15,) a sum equivalent probably to a year and a
half or two years' income.  Part of this sum was to
go to the parents, part to buy jewels for the girl, and
part for the expense of the wedding.  When I told
him this was buying a wife, he did not deny it; andL
when I advised him, as he was a poor man, to look
mut for a cheap bargain, he told me that this one was
rery cheap; he could not get one for a less sum, and
his was confirmed by the bystanders. When I told
him that the next best plan was to wait till he had
14




158          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
saved money enough for the purchase, he was not at
all satisfied. The girl is eight or nine years old;
and on my asking him by whose wish the engagement had taken place-the girl's or her parents'?
he answered, "Of course the parents; she is only a
child; how can she know any thing?"
The young Mussulman told me, as we were walking through the burial-ground of his people, that the
graves for men were dug about three feet deep, but
those for the women about four feet: the reason of
this is, that the women, being shy and modest, like
to lie deep, well out of sight!
TVeyoor, Wecdnesdacy, Feb. 24.-I remained at
Cullapilly till Saturday morning, when, striking my
tent at daylight, I started across the country ten
miles, till I came to the high-road at a village called
Neddamole, where there is a travellers' bungalow.
On my way I passed through two large and several
small villages, which I hope to visit in due time.
The impression left on my mind by riding about the
country is that of a thick population; the ground is
at least three-fourths under cultivation, though in a
slovenly style. At Neddamole I stayed till Monday
afternoon; being in the bungalow instead of in my
tent, the people did not come to me, but I went to
them morning and evening; and Sunday being
cloudy, I went also in the middle of the day: it is a
small, poor village, inhabited by Brahmins, Sudras,
and Mohammedans; of the former many are unable
to read at all; I had paid two similar visits to the
place before, two years ago, but I found nothing but
languid indifference: it was difficult to get a small
audience, and when got, it was difficult to retain it.
On Sunday afternoon I walked over to a village
about a mile off, and coming to a house where a




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             159
blacksmith was making a cart-wheel, and the owner
of the cart, a good honest Sudra farmer, and one or
two others looking on, I sat down beside them and
had an interesting and friendly conversation with
them for more than an hour.  The former, speaking
of the famous idol of Juggernaut, in Cuttack, affirmed,
that at the time of the car festival, the idol nmiraculously ascends into the car itself; similarly regarding
the lingavm (demos) idol at Cullapilly, the story is
current, that it sprang out of the ground itself, and
they say that the zemindar of Cullapilly possesses
an ancient description, bearing witness to the fact.
The Hindoos abound in miracles in defence of their
idolatries, which, however, like ghost-stories, always
occur at some distance, or else took place in their
father's time, "a long while ago."
On Monday evening I moved on along the northern high-road to a village called Priamarra, about
seven miles distant from Neddamole. It is a large
village of about 300 houses, and at least 1500 inhabitants; here I met a very different reception
from  that at Neddamole.  Before my tent was
pitched, I had four or five of the chief men of the
village, of both the Brahmins and Sudras, waiting
upon me, and addressing me in most humble terms,
" Your worship, my lord," &c.  They showed me all
over the village the same evening. With this commencement all was in keeping during my stay: my
tent was crowded for two and three hours at a time
with attentive, obsequious visitors: the Curmuns
(the chief Brahmins) were in frequent attendance.
ne of them much interested me; he was a rough,
sturdy man, apparently of an independent character;
fiom the first conversation I had with him he seized
with apparent heartiness upon the truth of Christ,




160          MEMOIR OF IH. W. FOX.
and continued to reprobate idolatry: he paid me no
less than six visits in two days, and in the presence
of many people continued to denounce the idols and
to tell them that "the only way of remission of sins
was steadily to contemplate Jesus Christ, the only
true God." IHe and another of the same family
told me, that though worshippers of Siva, yet they
did not worship any image, nor go to the temples:
the man's manner marked his sincerity, at least I
hope so. He confidently said, that on my return to
the village on my way home, he would accompany
me to be baptized, and "as for his caste-people rejecting him, what did he care for that?"  It may
be that the Holy Spirit will work in him as a chosen
vessel: it may be on the other hand a mere trick of
his to obtain some end at present concealed. I fell
in one morning with the astrologer, or walking almanac of the village.  His business is to tell the
people about the day, its luckiness, or otherwise;
for instance, he began reading to me from off his
almanac, "This is Tuesday, such and such a date of
such a month; there will be a conjunction of the
planets at four o'clock: at that hour no work must
be done," &c. He and many others are fully persuaded, that according to their mythological geography, there are seven seas surrounding the earth,
severally composed of salt water and fresh, of milk,
of spirits, sugar and water, butter, &e. They all
cry out in astonishment when I tell them I have
been in Ceylon, or Ravana Latkca, as they call it;
they all think it is a land of hobgoblins and giants,
which no man can visit. I find also a very common
notion among them that we Englishmen will not let
I-indoos go to England.  They are delighted to hear
any accounts of England, and I kept some of them




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            161
interested for a long time to-day on that subject.
One of their first questions is, "What sort of grain
grows in your country?"  Another is, "Are all the
people there white?" or, "Are there any labourers
there, or are they all gentlemen?" They are ludicrously personal in their inquiries, not intending
them as rudeness, but knowing no better manners.
Their salutation is, "Where do you come from,
where are you going to; in what employment are
you, how much pay do you get?" Then they go on
with, "Have you a father and mother, brothers and
sisters; are you married, have you any children,
are they boys or girls?"  More than once I have
been asked by Mussulmans why I had no beard.
After staying two very interesting days at Prah
marra, I came on this evening seven miles to this
place, where there is a travellers' bungalow, and a
large village. I passed through three considerable
villages on the road, and saw many others at no
great distance; when will men come out from Englund to preach the gospel up and down the countryside?
Beizwdrah, February 27, 1847.-I have advanced
twenty miles from Weyoor, straight along the highroad, in order to be in time for the Mangalagherry
festival to-morrow. This place is a town rather
than a village, and has the greater number of its
houses tiled, instead of thatched; though still their
walls are only made of mud.  I have now reached
the foot of a long range of hills running north and
south, which, though not above seven or eight hundred feet high, are steep and rocky; just at this
spot there is a break in the range, of a mile in width;
the break is entirely filled by the river Kistna,
which here makes its escape into the interminable
14a




162         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
plains eastward. A steep hill on either side, whose
rocky foundations dip into the water, seems to keep
guard over the stream, as the Pillars of Hercules
guard the Straits of Gibraltar. In consequence of
its being situated on the Kistna, Beizwfarah is
accounted a holy place; and at the same time as the
Cullapilly festival, there is a great concourse assembled here from the neighbourhood "to bathe and to
visit the god." Perched up on a lower crag of the
hill, is a small pagoda to Duirga, or Kali, the bloodthirsty wife of Siva. It is the first I have ever seen,
for her worship does not seem to be at present common in these parts. I went up to it last night, and
though of course I could not go inside, the priests,
who were Brahmins, showed me the goddess. It
was an ugly image, two or three feet high, of which
the head only was visible, the rest being concealed
by a sort of cloth which was tied to the neck, and
fell down on all sides like a pinafore; it was sprinkled
with red drops-I suppose, to represent blood. The
eyes were two glittering pieces of tinsel, with a black
spot on each for the pupil. I had a long conversation with one of the priests, a poor half-clothed
young man, who wanted to be very civil, by bringing me an orange from among the offerings before
the idol.  I, of course, would not take it; he pretended to believe that the idol was divine, but it was
painful and piteous to observe the poor man thinking
only of his livelihood, and sticking to that first and
last. Truly there is no life in these people, no
sense of any thing greater than themselves, or any
belief in any thing more important than this life:
this is visible enough among worldly-minded people
in England, but even they acknowledge such existence by shrinking from and disliking allusions to




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             163
them; but these poor people play with such subjects,
as a child would with a snake, not knowing that
there was more in the reptile than what it saw. I
passed from him to visit the hermit of the hill: not
one of those dirty, obscene beggars who call themselves Fakeers or Sanyassees, and hang about towns
and villages, but a real hermit, who has lived there
in his cave, as he told me, for thirty-five years.  I
had heard of him from others, and found him just
as I had expected. I believe that formerly he really
practised asceticism, but he has long given that up,
and seems to be enjoying the results of his asceticism
in the respect and presents of the people. His cave
is made into a very comfortable abode, and its site is
particularly well chosen, inasmuch as it escapes all
the heat and glare of the sun after an early hour in
the morning. I found him sitting on his stool with
three old Brahmins from the town chatting with
him; he had chairs, a cot, a table, and many more
little conveniences than most natives have.  On an
old rug on the cot sat cowering and mumbling like
a monkey, a young man, who apparently aspires to
be the future possessor of the cave. The hermit,
himself, was a comfortable, fat, elderly gentleman,
with a clean cloth round his waist, and a clean skin
on his body, which, by its comfortable folds, showed
the good living he enjoyed.  He saluted me in a
very friendly manner, and gave me a chair, and
then began to enumerate the number of European
gentlemen who had paid him a visit, and exhibited
their kindness by leaving him a present. I treated
him with great respect, and after some general conversation, I told him I had a question to ask him,
for which I should be much obliged if he could give
an answer. "I had committed many sins," I said,




164          MEINMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
" and I knew that it was only just that God should
punish sin; how could I escape this punishment?"
He answered me very readily by the old tale, "You
must meditate upon God, you must pray, you must
give alms," &c.; and he was quite satisfied with his
answer, as were also the Brahmins who sat listening.
I told him in an humble way, that even I was able to
discover that this would never do to remove my
sins; for all these prayers, devotions, alms, &c. proceeded from out of my evil heart, and how could
they, being evil, cure its corruptions?  I added, by
way of illustration, (what I find to be unanswerable,
and a most useful simile,) that in Masulipatam there
are salt wells, and consequently the water in them
is useless, and I knew that if a man was to draw a
few buckets full of the salt water out of one of them,
and then pour it back again into the well, he would
never by this means make the salt water sweet. He
acknowledged my illustration, and passed on to
general conversation: but I brought himn back again,
reminding him that he had not satisfied my question; he merely repeated his former recipe, and I
told him again that I knew it would not do, for that
for years past I had been praying to God, &c. as he
told me, and yet all this so-called righteousness had
not removed my sins, nor given me that peace of
mind which ought to accompany forgiveness. He
still had no other remedy to give me, but said if we
poured good water into the salt well, would not that
cure it? I acknowledged it might, but "where is
the good water to come from? my heart produces
only salt water." At last I told him and his friends
that I would go home and try their experiment with
a salt well near my house; this made them laugh,
for they saw my intended application. On finding




JOURNAL IN INDIA.             165
that the conversation was going to turn in other
directions, I told them plainly that I knew a way of
remission of sins: and then unfolded Christ to them,
dying on the cross to suffer our punishment and to
pay our debt.  After talking on this subject some
time, I left three or four tracts with them, and came
away.
This morning I spent an hour or more in the street,
in a warm conversation with about twenty people,
chiefly Brahmins: they maintaining the efficacy of
self-righteousness and the very divinity of the stone
idol, I preaching to them " God is a Spirit," and the
alone efficacy of the blood of Christ to remit sin
and to give righteousness.
lMagalaghlerr'y, M/arch 3, 1847.-I had a pleasant
ride here on Saturday afternoon, being in the shade
either of a range of hills, which skirted the road
for some distance, or of that of an avenue of trees
under which the road ran the whole way. I arrived
at the close of the first day of the great annual festival.  Mangalagherry is a small, but for India, a
well-built town: that is, its houses are all made of
mud, but the largest number of them are tiled; and
there is a regular street dividing the town into two
equal parts; it probably contains 3000 or 4000
people: there is a large temple with a handsome goparam (i. e. tower over the gateway) about 120 or
150 feet high: just beyond it rises the hill to the
height of 600 or 700 feet; half-way up the hill is
a small pagoda, where the most sacred idol is kept.
It is a stone one, about two feet high, called Narasimha, and represents an uncouth incarnation of
Vishnu, half man, half lion.  There are several
miracles connected with it: the first is, that when
the people come to make their offerings of sugar andl




166          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
water, the priest pours them into the mouth of the
idol, which as soon as it has received half of them
begins to reject the rest, as a sign it has had enough:
the next is, that whatever quantity, even a hundred
gallons, is poured into the idol's mouth, small as
the idol is, it holds it all: the manifest refutation
of this is, that from out of all the crevices of the
rock round the temple the sugared water trickles
down in large quantities; but the stupid people are
persuaded that this arises only from the spilling at
the time of pouring it into its mouth.  Another is,
that if a number of vessels full of this liquid be left
in the temple during the night, next morning they
will be found half-emptied; the idol never taking
more than half. I told those who reported this miracle to me, the story of Bel in the Apocrypha, and
it greatly amused them, being so closely to the point.
The fourth miracle is, that if this sugar and water
be left on the hill any time, neither ants nor flies
are atracted to it.  The festival consisted in nothing
more than certain nightly processions. On Sunday
night an indecent representation of one of the scenes
of Krishna's life (another incarnation of Vishnu)
took place in the public street by means of figures
about two feet high. The next night was the marriage: this consisted of a procession of an image of
the god, so wrapped up in swaddling-clothes, that I
could make out nothing of its shape, seated upon
the folds of an enormous cobra da capello, and overshadowed by its outspread hood: along with this
image, and, like it, borne aloft on men's shoulders,
was a small shrine containing two brass idols, which
represented the two wives of the god. The procession moved slowly about the town, pausing every
low and then, while music was played before the




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            167
idols, rockets were let off, guns fired, and a fire-work
or two burned. The great night was Tuesday, but
nothing else took place beyond the dragging about a
great car, in which was seated a little idol. The
crowd was enormous; on Sunday the town was
crammed, but on Monday all the ground round
about was also covered with people, and on Tuesday
it was still closer and more widely crowded. The
poor people came from all directions; many of them
twenty or forty miles, and some even more. Of
course there was no room in the town for them, so
they just lived day and night on the open plain.
Each night, about seven or eight o'clock, I saw numerous groups of women and children, worn out with
the heat and excitement of the day, lying down all
round the temple asleep; the men were still moving
about. All the main street and neighbourhood were
crowded with booths, where ornaments, toys, food, or
sweetmeats were to be sold; indeed, in many respects,
allowing for difference of customs, it was like a great
English fair, without its riot or drunkenness, but instead of that defiled with idolatry. In the place of
mountebanks or wild-beast shows, were a number of
people whom I might call fire-dancers: a man, three
parts naked, would take two thick torches made of
cotton rags with oil on them, and having lighted them,
he would dash them one against another until he
was enveloped in the cloud of sparks which flew
from them. All this while dancing about violently,
he would vary the spectacle by beating his naked
breast and back with the burning end of the torches,
or hold them both before him in such a position
that the flames pass close by his breast and face.
Sometimes he would sit down on the ground, and
take a roll of rags about an inch thick, light one end




168          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
of it and put it into his open mouth, holding it on
his tongue without extinguishing it; meanwhile
another man fantastically dressed was beating a
small gong: I saw four or five sets of these characters
in the space of one hundred yards. Another man
varied the amusement by mounting on stilts and running through the skin of his back and arms four
skewers of wood, the farther ends of which terminated in small flaming torches. On inquiring many
times the cause of all this outrageous and unmeaning
self-torture, I was assured it was not from religion
or devotion, but simply to collect a few pence from
the by-standers.
On Sunday I was alone, and spent the greater
part of the day quietly in the travellers' bungalow
just outside the town; in the morning and evening
I spent more than an hour on each occasion in disputing with and preaching to large numbers of
listeners.  Unlike the people of Cullapilly, they
everywhere, and at all times, treated me with great
respect and civility: the immediate cause of which
is probably the well-known good-will of the excellent
collector of the district to the missionaries.  On
Monday morning I was joined by Mr. Gunn from
Guntoor, the American Lutheran missionary; for
in India we are able to put the Evangelical alliance
into practice: and morning and evening we sallied
forth into the crowd: however, the better to get at
the people, I pitched my tent in a grove of tamarindtrees, in sight of the great temple, and just outside
of the crowd. Here I had crowds of listeners: as
many as could find room sat down in my tent; they
crammed all the space round about the doors on each
side of the tent, and looked in through the windows.
I must have had from fifty to sixty people at a time,




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            169
most of them attentive and continuing for a length
of time: among them were a good many women. I
continued for an hour and a half or more, at a time,
to preach to them, about idols, sin, and Jesus Christ
the one sacrifice for sin. When tired, I read to
them the ten commandments, explaining and applying them, or else a tract, commenting on it as I read.
The crowd being great, and the noise from the distant crowd reaching to the tent, and as I had my
audience not so much before me as at my right hand
and left, I had to exert myself much, and to shout
loudly: this, with a temperature of about 94~, was
exhausting, and when the two days were over
I was greatly fatigued, and my throat very sore.
But it was a subject of great rejoicing that I had
been permitted to preach Christ to such great numbers, who had never heard of him before, without
obstruction or opposition. Though I sat preaching
in Satan's own seat, yet he seemed restrained, and
the power of God to be withholding him that he
should not work out his malice against the gospel on
its ministers. I was not a little amused at the looks
of wonder which I saw continually in the crowds
who looked at Mr. Gunn and myself, and at the
crowds which usually followed us to the bungalow;
for their looks confirmed what they told us, that
they had never seen a white face before. I believe
this is the case with a large proportion of the villagers.
Wulloor, Iaiirch 5. —I have returned again into
the Masulipatam district, which I had left on going
to visit Mangalagherry: in doing so I had to recross
the river Kistna; the branch in which I found water
was about half a mile wide, and in parts fifteen feet
deep. I crossed three other branches of about a
15




170        - MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
quarter to half a mile wide, but at this season they
are only dry beds of sand: during the floods they
tell me that not only are all these branches filled
with deep streams, but the intervening islands are
also covered, so that the stream flows along a mighty
river five miles wide.  I pitched my tent in a clump
of tamarind-tiees just outside the village, and for
these two days I have had conversations with the
people much as usual. I had a variety however in
the case of one man, a Sudra, who has learned Sanscrit, and read some of the Puranas, and is a Pedhnti,
one of a sect similar to the new Platonists.  Iie
professes to reject not only idols and their worship,
but also all distinction of gods, affirming there is
only one; yet like the Greek philosophers he conforms to custom, by a large mark of Vishnu on his
forehead. I first met him in a crowd in the village
when I was talking to a number of Brahmins about
their idols; and then he was violent and almost unmannerly in discussion.  When however he came to
my tent he spoke more quietly, and was very much
interested in the answers I gave to a variety of questions he asked; many of my answers, regarding the
spiritual nature and the unity of God, quite agreed,
he said, with his own views: there were others
which no less pleased him, although novel, for they
approved themselves to his judgment. Although
he made no objections to the great scheme of redemption, yet he did not grasp it with any readiness; the reason was plain, as I afterward told him;
he did not know or feel that he was a sinner, and
therefore cared little for the good news of forgiveness of sins.
The village is a large one, and is the residence of
the richest zemindar, a large land-holder of this dis



JOURNAL IN INDIA.             171
trict. He lives in a good-sized house, inside a fort
with lofty mud walls: this is erected, not for defence,
but only for show; for the grandfather of the present
possessor was the first of this race of zemindars, and
made his fortune since the commencement of this
century; since which time all these districts have
been as secure from an enemy as the inland counties
of England. On the same principle of display, he
keeps in his service 400 men, about sixty of whom
are dressed and armed as Sepoys, and about a dozen
as cavalry. He has seven fine elephants, and a
large number of camels.  He is a man of Sudra
caste, but like the rest of his tribe, he is fed on and
led about by a number of Brahmins: he is fond of
hog hunting, and keeps about fifty dogs for this
purpose. The only useful thing that I heard of his
doing was, the establishment of a native school
inside the fort. Though he was for several years
the ward of the East India Company, being a minor,
no pains were taken to give him any instruction:
he does not know English, and is as little fitted to
perform the duties of his station as any other zemindar; and it would be difficult to say less of his
qualifications than this. I understood that his wife
could read Telugu, and even a little English. I
learned this by a little boy who is a scholar in the
school, coming to me for some tracts and books for
her ladyship. The mother-in-law of the zemindar
also sent for several tracts, which he specified, and
afterward sent one of his chief people to see if I had
got "any curious books:" by which he meant, any
copies of their religious books, concerning the possession of which I had been speaking in the morning.
NecZdamole, Bungalow, Ilarch 9.-Leaving Wulloor on Saturday morning early, I rode over to




172          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
Weyoor, distant only four or five miles. I remained there in the bungalow all that day and Sun
day, visiting the village in the evening and morning.
I had long conversations on either occasion; on the
latter the only noticeable points were a testy old
Brahmin who would be satisfied with nothing I
could say, and a younger man who. maintained with
vehemence that the idols were not idols, but gods:
when I used the term idol, or image, he shut his
ears and cried, "Alooh! I cannot listen to such a
word." I think he was only half serious; the rest
of the people laughed at him. He reminded me of
a Roman Catholic priest at Secundrabad, who was
very indignant at his opponent in a controversy
charging the Romanists with worshipping a wafer.
"How unfair it is of you," he wrote, "to say we
worship a wafer; you know that if we thought it
was so we would not worship it: we believe it to be
the body of Christ: it is that which we worship, and
not bread, when we adore the host."
At daybreak on Monday morning I left Weyoor
for PraImarra, where I had been so well received ten
days before, and whither I had promised to return.
I met on going into the village several of my previous acquaintances, who seemed glad to see me;
they had many questions to ask me about Mangalagherry, so that two or three times I had to go over
the stories of the trickery of the priests, and the
story of Bel. It was excessively hot all day in my
tent, and I had not so many visitors as before: but
of those that came I had the opportunity of repeating
the gospel to several, and of pressing upon them the
danger of delaying to come to Christ. I found the
Brahmin in whom I had been much interested before, still professing the same belief in Christ, and




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            173
distrust in Vishnu, Siva, and all other idols. - He
did not conceal however from me that he received
four rupees a month for singing Siva hymns in a
neighbouring village. He had a long conversation
about how he was to get his livelihood in case he
was to turn Christian, and wanted me to promise I
would support him; I told him I could not promise
to do that, but that God's promise was true, and
consistent with reason, that those that come to him
he will provide for. "Oh," said the man, "that
won't do for me."  So I said to him: "If you cannot trust God's promise for support in this life, how
can you trust his promise for what is so much greater
and more difficult, eternal life in the world to come?"
I afterward could not help thinking how inconsistent
we Christians are on this point, trusting to God for
forgiveness of sins, for a kingdom and a throne, and
yet mistrusting him daily in matters which concern
our temporal support or comfort.
On both occasions I have pressed him to take a
copy of a tract or a gospel: but he has with unusual
pertinacity declined. I was pressing him to take
and read a copy of St. Luke, and asking him how
he could expect to know the way which leads to life,
if he did not read regarding it.  "How can I understand it?" said he, pointing to the book; "perhaps it has sixteen different meanings, and how am
I, even though I sit all day over it, to find out the
right one?" His notion is an authorized Hindoo
one, viz. that the sacred books are purposely so written, that every sentence may be capable, not of one
meaning only, but of many: and a teacher or a commentary is thus required to understand the text
In ingenuity this exceeds the pope's reasons for
keeping the Bible from the people. In regard to
15,




174          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
the variety of meanings capable of being drawn
from one set of sentences, it shows that "there is
nothing new under the sun." Yet who would have
expected the principle of tract No. 90 to have been
forestalled in an obscure Hindoo village.
I still have hopes of there being something at
work in the man's mind. I had intended to have
remained there two days, but I found the heat to be
so great that I judged it better not to remain in my
tent any longer.
-f'asulipatanm, March 27. —I have been  here
rather more than a fortnight since my return from
the villages.  My employment is to go out before
sunrise into the town, which is close to my house,
and there spend an hour or so in conversing, preaching, and disputing with a crowd of people in some
corner of a street.  I get ready listeners, though
not so favourable ones as in the villages. Nevertheless, I make the name of Christ known to many,
and give away a few tracts. Nearly the whole day
I am engaged with visitors in my house: many boys
from the English school come and spend hours with
me: many grown-up natives pay me visits, with
whom I have long and interesting conversations.
I have adorned the walls of my principal rooms with
pictures, some portraits and views, others of birds
and animals, and on my tables I have placed a
variety of nicknacks and curiosities-little mummy
figures from Egypt, chimney-ornaments from England; a small globe; and these form grand attractions
to my visitors, who are as delighted to see these
things as a child is to see a raree-show. Besides
this, fame has carried abroad that I possess some
magnetic fish and ducks, and a camera obscura, and
other wonderful things from Europe; and I often




JOURNAL IN INDIA.            175
find, after a long conversation on other matters of a
higher kind, that I have been honoured with the
visit in consequence of my visitor's curiosity to see
the wonderful things I possess. I, of course, gladly
exhibit them, and so I hope I prepare the way for
more confidence and kindly acquaintance with my
native neighbours, besides conveying to them as full
statements as I can of the way of salvation through
Christ. With the younger part of my visitors I find
that so simple a thing as a magnetic toy goes to
shake their confidence in their heathen miracles, as
exhibiting to them the existence of natural wonders
greater than those which their people tell them regarding the gods. The fish and the duck that will
come when they are called, and have the semblance
of life, although they are manifestly only tin toys,
afford a ready comparison with the idols, which can
neither stand nor walk, nor hear nor see, and yet are
said to be alive.
A few days ago, while conversing with a crowd of
people in the street, and when some of them were
asking me the common question, " Suppose we join
your religion, how shall we get our livelihood?" and
while I was endeavouring to show them that those
who committed their souls to God would be found
far from losers in regard to their bodies, I used the
illustration of the Prodigal Son: "Suppose," I said,
"a little boy was to leave his father's house, and go
to a far country, surely he would soon find himself
in want: then half starved as he was, if he was to
return home, and humbly ask for food, would not
his father most joyfully receive him, feed him and
clothe him, as a recovered lost one?"  "No," said
the man I spoke to, "the father would have nothing
to do with the lad; how could he tell what he had




176          MEMOIR OF E. W. FOX.
eaten, while he had been absent from home?" meaning, that as the father could not tell whether the
boy had not eaten food prepared by people of inferior caste, and consequently lost his caste, he would
count him as unclean and drive him away. I was
scarcely prepared to hear so unblushing a statement
of the hard-heartedness to which the system of caste
reduced people. The speaker was not a Brahmin,
nor apparently any thing more than an ordinary
Sudra working-man.
On several occasions of late I have had the low
morality of the Hindu religious books brought out
in common conversation. Pressing on the people
the fact of their having sinned, which some deny,
but which they commonly evade by asking, "Who
knows the difference between right and wrong? what
is sin?"  I asked them, "What is lying; what is
theft?  Are they right or wrong? are they sins or
not?" I have been answered several times, "Why
that depends on the occasion; if a man lies or steals
to satisfy hunger, of course there is no harm in it."
Sometimes they say, "' Of course everybody tells lies;
how could the world go on without lying?"
I was much shocked one morning by that old
wicked statement made to me by a farmer just come
out of the country. I was asking him as above
mentioned, whether he had not sinned; whether, for
instance, he had not told many lies.  "And if I
have," said he, "who is it that made me to tell
them; who else but God?  It is not my fault."  I
told him that thus he was charging God with being
a liar, for if I was to send my servant into the bazaar
and make him steal, I should be just as much a thief
as he was.  "Well, what then," said the man, "God
as a thief and a liar; if not, how does it happen that




LETTER TO GEORGE.            177
some men are born rich and others poor." I turned
away from him, saying, I dared to speak no longer
with such a blasphemer, and began to express to the
by-standers my horror and grief at these expressions:
they only laughed, but the man seemed a little
ashamed, for he came back presently to justify himself, saying that in his religion, his god (Krishna)
was related to have both committed thefts and told
lies, and as he believed all this, he was surely right
in saying what he did. The worst of it is, that it
was not the man's own idea, but the systematic doctrine maintained by a large proportion of the Hindus,
that men are mere puppets, and God is the immediate
instigator of all their actions, both good and bad i
Sallapilly, Feb. 17, 1847.
MVY DEAR GEORGE,
I have no one to disturb me here, but the natives
who come to my tent, and this is in the way of business; the intervals between their going and coming,
and my evenings, are all my own for reading and
writing. I thus combine more active employment
in real evangelization, with improvement in Telugu,
and leisure for my own use. I am more and more
inclined to carry out AIMr. Venn's proposed plans, so
far as the seasons allow me; about six months I
must be under cover of a roof, but the rest of my
time T hope to spend in my snug tent. I wish some
of the Cantabs knew what a happy life it is; to
have it actually one's business to be preaching Christ
to those who have never before heard of him, is very
joyful:-when I have been to a village and told the
people there of him, and left tracts with them, I
come away joyfully, recollecting that there is one




178         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
more obstacle to Christ's coming removed: whether
they will hear, or whether they will forbear, he has
been preached among them, and so the end is coming
all more quickly: besides this, the seed is sown, and
some will spring up to bear fruit, and Christ shall
see of the travail of his soul in that village. * *  *
I look back to my visit to England with much thankfulness and pleasure: perhaps with more than if it
had been made under more outwardly happy circumstances.  I feel so thankful for all the happy intercourse we had together, and the interchange of affection between all the members of the family, and
especially for the love you have all shown to my
dear little children. But I cannot say I look with
satisfaction on my missionary work there. I look
indeed with exceeding pleasure upon all the meetings in the North, which I went to with Blenkinsopp: I enjoyed them thoroughly-but what I considered my more important season in the South, I
regard with less satisfaction. It is perhaps because
I expected to see results in the shape of men, and
saw none, nor any prospects of any. This is want
of faith, but it also arises from feeling that I might
have said and done more.
Your affectionate brother,
HiEnRY W. Fox.
REV. J. Y. NICHOLSON, EMMANUEL COLLEGE,
CAMBRIDGE.
Masulipatam, Feb. 25, 1847.
MY DEAR FRTEND,
I have been purposing some time to fulfil my
promise of writing a long letter to you: I promised
Ragland that I would try and do so on my journey




MASULIPATAM.               179
up here from Madras, but that journey is over; and'
I have got myself settled in my new house, and 1
am  out in my tent in the villages, and yet my
promise is unfulfilled; so I take advantage of a.
forenoon in which I am staying in a travellers"
bungalow, and therefore have no native visitors. as I
have when I am in my tent. I wish that you and
all your missionary circle could be with me, either
in my house at Masulipatam, or in my tent in, some
of the villages, that you might yourselves see how
free from personal hardship a missionary's life is ini
India. I have a large new house, one end of which.
lies empty for want of some brother missionary to,
come and occupy it: in it I have every comfort and;.
convenience I could wish. I have my drawing-room,
and dining-room, my bed-room and bathing-room ad —
joining, and my study besides: so that I live like a..
prince. Then I have the society of my dear brother
Noble, and of two Christian families,: and sometimes:
of one or two others like-minded, among our European residents: so that I am really without any outward want.  When I come out in my tent, my
servants pitch it for me in an eligible situation, in
or near a village; it is just twelve feet square inside;,
it has double walls and top, separated the one from.
the other by a space two feet wide-and here I have
my tables, my chair, my bed, my books, and a great
part of the day long I have an audience of black;
faces and turbaned or shaven heads inside and outside the door. I say, that I wish you could see how
free from outward hardships we are; for I fear that
it is the dread of them which keeps so many men
from coming out to us; and yet, supposing a missionary's life was one of hardship, surely we have
no right to shrink fiom it on that account.  Our




180          MEMOIR OF R. W. FOX.
dear Lord's life was one of hardship, and we are not
to be above walking in his steps: as Christians, we
are born to hardships, and blessed is the man who
receives them from the Lord! Through much tribulation must we enter into the kingdom of heaven;
why then should we shrink from our allotted tribulation? All the way as I came along the road from
Madras, I was thinking how I could tell you of my
journey; it is scarcely worth while to describe to
you the journey itself in detail; it is enough to say
I was on horseback, and travelled a stage of from
ten to fifteen miles every morning and evening,
halting at comfortable bungalows, or houses built by
the government for the use of travellers; there is no
inn-keeper in them, but the people attached to them
are always ready to procure me milk, and boil my
kettle, and for dinner kill me a chicken and curry
it. I enjoyed my journey greatly, as the season
(the beginning of January) was cool and bright, and
the crops on the ground made the boundless plain
through which I rode greener and prettier than I
had ever seen it before. In the loneliness of my
journey,-for I had no one to speak English to, except in two or three towns where I stopped for a few
days,-I had much enjoyment.  But the subject
about which I was continually thinking I would
speak to you, was that of the desolation of the
country in a spiritual point of view. I rode 250
miles in a straight line, through a populous country,
passing through villages every three or four miles,
and seeing many others in all directions, and occasionally coming to considerable towns; but in all
that district there was not a single Christian missionary; not one person from whom a heathen might
hear the word of life;-my road lay parallel to the




MASULIPATAM.              181
sea-coast, at no great distance from it, but I might
have gone inland for 100, or 200, or 300 miles, and
except in one place have found the whole land equally
wanting in Christian teachers. On Sunday evening
I went into a village and had a long conversation
with some Brahmins; the discussion coming to no
satisfactory conclusion, the chief speaker said,
"Well, come to-morrow, and we will have a full
talk on the subject: you shall bring your books,
and I will bring mine, and we will see which is true."
I could only tell him that by the next morning I
must be on my journey again; and I thought of the
almost impossibility of a Christian preacher ever
reaching him; the village lay 200 miles from Madras, and 150 from Guntoor, the next missionary
station. And now that I am moving about in my
own district, I often think of you and the missionary
collectors who assemble in your rooms: I pass from
one large village to another, I see the intermediate
distances broken by smaller villages;-rthe country
as distinguished from the town is, I think, more
closely peopled than that in England, and yet I am
alone in visiting the people; I find generally the very
name of Christ unknown, and perfect ignorance as
to either the sin or folly of idolatry. The whole
district, without another missionary in it, is nearly
100 miles each way; it is impossible that I can visit
even the chief villages for two or three days each,
during the six months in the year in which the
weather allows me to be out.
How gladly should I welcome some one or two
of you, who might come out overland by July or
August, when the worst of the hot season is over:
a couple of months spent in Masulipatam would give
the bare rudiments of the language, and then we
16




182          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
could go out together into the villages for six months,
and hear nothing but Teloogoo all day long. I
would suggest in answer to any one who might say,
"I have not qualifications for a missionary life;"
that so various are the spheres of missionary labour,
requiring such very different kinds and degrees of
talents, that if a man is not fit for any of them, he
is certainly not fit for any ministerial sphere in
England.  Some have great difficulties in regard to
opposition on the part of their parents; I would
suggest in such cases that they should get some
friend, whose age, character, and position has weight
with their parents, to open the subject to them.
The subject which, coming from a young man, a
father might at once treat as visionary and absurd,
may, when quietly brought forward by one of riper
years and judgment, at least claim a calm consideration. My paper obliges me to conclude by assuring
you of my being
Your very sincere friend,
HENRY W. Fox.
Mangalagherry, Sunday evening, Feb. 28,1847.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
I have been thinking about you often to-day, and
so I think I will spend half an hour this evening in
writing to you. The cause of my thoughts recurring
to you so often I believe is, that I have been reading Newton's Cardiphonia, which I used to read at
Rugby, and have scarcely ever looked into since.
Newton is much mixed up with my recollections of
Rugby, and that brings to my mind the time when
I used to receive from you a long letter regularly
every Sunday morning, which served as my food
during the following week. I believe those letters




MASULIPATAM.               183
of your's were, under God, among the chief means
of fanning into a flame the smoking flax, and bringing the full light of Christ's sun to break through
my twilight. I was then, as I am now, lonely: I
had friends and companions, but none in Christ, for
it was before     was touched by the Spirit of
God; and I used to look to you as my chief, and
indeed only Christian companion, though so far off:
and' now it is the same, my heart flies to you as the
dearest companion on earth, and distant as we are,
I seem to have more and closer communion with you
than with any one alive. While I am writing, (nine
o'clock at night,) the roar of the devil's festival is
going on, about a quarter of a mile off: the cracks of
the fireworks, the braying of harsh trumpets, the
screeching of clarionets, and the hammering of tomtoms, rise above the confused sound of a thousand
or two of people, and tell me that the procession of
the god has set out from his temple. I have only
just come back from the town to the bungalow;
crowds of poor beings, worn out with the excitement
of the day, were lying asleep in all directions on the
ground; vast crowds fill the street and neighbourhood of the temple, in the midst of whom are several
men like madmen, dancing about with two lighted
torches (made of cotton rags) in their hands, which
they dash together till the sparks fly out, and almost
cover their naked bodies; or they beat themselves
with the lighted ends, or they hold them, so that
the flame scorches their chests or their faces; and
one man was walking about on stilts, with four long
wooden skewers run through the skin of his arms
and back, and the farther ends of them on fire: and
all this is not for devotion or religion's sake, but to
get two or three pence by it. This, for the time




184         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
being, is Satan's seat, where he sits triumphant;
but I trust the time has come, when the Lord Jesus
is going to turn him out of it. After a long talk in
the morning, for an hour and a half, till I was quite
hoarse, about idols and the true way of salvation, I
have been spending a quiet Sunday in the travellers'
bungalow, reading the first nine or ten chapters of
the Acts, which I thought was a good preparation
for going to the people again, when the heat of the
day was over. However, I shrank a good deal from
going into the noisy crowd of devil's servants, all
alone, —not that I had any thing personally to fear,
but the contest seemed great. I was able to remember, and take courage from the remembrance, that
the one Lord of heaven and earth was on my side,
and would be with me in the midst of them; and
when I went, I had about an hour of remarkably
quiet, satisfactory preaching, to attentive and assenting listeners, many of whom were Brahmins, and
one or two learned ones; so that Christ has prevailed,
and would not let Satan have his way. Leaving
the noise and crowd of the town, I walked up the
silent and lonely steps on the side of the hill which
led to the pagoda of the idol which is so fond of
sugar and water, and there looked down on the town,
half hid among the trees, and the tall goparam, a
tower rising above all, and the milk-white buildings
inside the pagoda, gleaming in the bright moonlight,
and the many lights down the street, reaching far
away; and as the roar and drumming came up to
me, I remembered how, at that hour, (eight o'clock,)
our friends at Guntoor, only thirteen miles off, were
met together for evening worship, and how at the
same time the thousands of congregations in quiet,
happy England, were just assembling for afternoon




MASULIPATAM.               185
service: while here, the thousands assembled to
worship a dirty stone were indulging in dissipation
and devilry. Blessed day when Jesus shall come to
set all things to rights; "The times of refreshing
from the presence of the Lord," poor souls, now
taking it all easy, but then shrinking with horror
from the sight of him coming on the clouds of heaven.
Oh, dear sister, what a joyful day for us! to rise
with dear Lizzy and little Johnny, and our dear
brother and sister, and the other loved ones in Hove
Churchyard, to meet him in the air, and so we shall
ever be with the Lord. We may well work on with
patience, so long as he has work for us to do, with
such a joy set before us. May it please God early
to make my darling Harry and Mary rejoice in this
prospect through their love to Christ! I do greatly
long and pray, that they may be spared the uneasy
pantings after the world, and from the dishonour
done to Christ by most in their youth; and that they
may early, even from now, know what is the settled
joy and peace of real believers.
Your very affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
Masulipatam, March 22, 1847.
MY DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER,
I cannot sufficiently thank you for the letters
which I have received from you so regularly every
mail since my arrival.  I received my mother's
letter of January 29, yesterday. The receipt of
them is a great break on my solitude: at times I
feel downcast by my loneliness, and at such times it
is an inexpressible relief to look across the water and
feel your affection and your sympathy. Your love
toward, and care of, my dear children, is a fresh
16*




186         MEMOIR OF I. W. FOX.
source of love to you, and most thankfully do I feel
to you for your kindness to them. You may say
that they are your grand-children, but it is not all
grand-children that receive such parental love. I
have returned from my village tour, as the weather
was becoming too hot to live in my tent: the last
day it was up to 980 for some hours. On my return,
the weather feels cool enough, but it is beginning to
warm up; the season however is favourable as yet,
and we have had several cloudy days, very unusual
at this season, and I am in excellent health and
strength.  I am too busy at present.  I cannot get
my work done: as my house is near the town, I
have visitors half the day long, occupying all my
leisure time and a good deal more. I also go into
the town itself morning and evening, and have long
and animated discussions.  You remember that till
now I had kept to the outskirts and villages in the
suburbs; now I am able by Christ's help to go into
the streets and bazaars and meet all comers.  So
that I am able to attack the stronghold of Satan.
The English school is also beginning to receive its
visible blessing; there are two dear little boys in it,
-one fourteen, and the other almost sixteen, very
desirous of being baptized, and showing marks, as
we think, of the work;Of the Holy Spirit in them.
One is a very respectable Brahmin, and the other a
respectable Sudra. We must wait a little time before
we take the step; they come to Mr. Noble or to me
every day. I see also a good deal of other boys in
private: the magnetic fishes, ducks, &c., and other
toys and pictures, are a great attraction, and make
my house quite a show-room; and as I generally get
an opportunity of telling my visitors of Christ before




MASILITPATAM.              187
they ask to see the curiosities, it all works for
good. * * *
Your very affectionate son,
HII. W. Fox.
TO THE REV. JOHN EMERIS.
Masulipatam, March 27, 1847.
MY DEAR JOHN,
I feel that I must at last begin a letter to you
this Saturday evening, though it is late, and I can
do no more than begin it. For on looking over my
old journals, (teeming with the sins of my youth,) I
found lately, that the 27th of March was the day on
which, in 1840, I came to the final decision to be a
missionary. Do you remember the occasion when
you came to my lodgings,-those nice little rooms
of Sims' in Holywell Street,-and after spending the
evening together and praying, I made the decision?
It is a memorable day for me, and it might be well
to keep it as a day of commemoration; but I am no
longer master of my own time, and I can keep no
days except Sundays, and they are busy ones. It
was a day ushering in great mercies and much toil,
for both of which God's name be praised. Instead
of seven years, it sometimes appears to me like seven
centuries, and I am tempted at times to complain,
"When will my weary time be over and I shall be
at rest?" Nevertheless, it has been more a time
of work in me, than of work which I have done all
this while. I seem to have been only learning: now
I hope I am at work, but it is only since the last two
months. If God gives me work to do, and life to
do it in, I hope I may be able to thank him for it.
At times I am able to feel very thankful for my




188          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
work, and to wonder how I could wish to be anywhere else; at others, I am ready to faint and complain of weakness, want of refreshment, and of the
sorrows laid on me. I arrived here on January
20th. Very soon after the bishop paid a visit of a
fortnight here. * * * When he was gone, at
once I called for my tent and baggage, and went off
into the villages, where I spent a happy, and I trust,
profitable month, daily preaching to numbers the
free remission of sins, through our precious Lord.
To my astonishment (and it was all his doing) my
loneliness, for I scarcely spoke a word of English all
the while or saw a white face, was so far firom being
a burden, that I actually enjoyed it. I look forward
with great pleasure to going out again as soon as the
fire has gone down sufficiently, in August or September: for while I have more continual and favourable opportunities for preaching the gospel, I have
also abundant time for reading and writing. * * *
Many of the boys in Mr. Noble's English school
come and spend hours with me during the heat of
the day, and with some I am almost as affectionate
as a father and his sons. There is one of them, a
dear boy of fourteen, who wants very much to be
baptized, but whom we delay, as he is still in the
legal power of his father: he is, I am sure, a true
child of Christ, and a few days ago had a great
struggle to go through, on occasion of an idolatrous
ceremony in his father's house. After a long debate
with himself, whether he would worship the Brahmin priest, if required to do so, and many inward
struggles, at last his eyes brightened, and he said,
"He (meaning his father) can only hurt my body;
he cannot hurt my soul; I will not worship the
man." And afterward, when he had been spared




JOURNAL-MASULIPATAM.             189
the trial he dreaded, the first words which he spoke,
on coming to tell me of it, were, "Sir, Christ has
heard our prayers." * * * Believe me,
Your own affectionate,
HENRY W. Fox.
JOURNAL.
A]fasubipatam, July 8, 1847.-In my usual morning visit to the streets of the town, I fell in with a
boy who had lately left Mr. Noble's English school.
After an interesting conversation, in which it appeared what a consent of the understanding there
might be to the truth without any inclination of the
heart toward God, he began to speak about my going regularly to the streets to preach and converse
about religion.  He said, " The people crowd around
you, not because they care to hear what you have to
say, but they think you are mad, and so they come
for mere curiosity's sake." I was struck with the
remark, which was made in great simplicity, and I
believe that there is a great deal of truth in it. Indeed this regular street-preaching quite puzzles them;
they do not know what to make of it; and from the
remarks I hear about it, many of them do not like
it, for it seems like a systematic attack upon their
religion in their homes. They are on the whole,
however, very civil and attentive, though very often
silly.
A few days ago a Brahmin, with whom I have
been long and intimately acquainted, lost his only
child, a little boy about two and a half years old.
Added to the natural feeling of a parent, a Brahmin
has an additional source of grief in the thought that
it is only by the ceremonies and prayers of his son




190         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
after the father's death, that he can be delivered out
of the pains of purgatory; and so he who dies without leaving a son behind him is especially cursed.
How far this feeling affected the individual in question, I cannot say, for he is a believer in nothing
save money; but it is probable that superstitious
feelings may have remained where belief has ceased.
However, his natural feelings were roused, and
when he came to see me next day, he told me that it
was no use staying in his house: if he sat down to
do any thing, he could not do it, and that he got up
and wandered restlessly about; and besides, there
was the baby's poor mother crying without stopping.
I felt much for him, knowing that in all the range
of his thoughts, and in all heathenism, there was not
one word that could afford him any comfort. I
pointed this out to him, telling him how much I
felt for him, and begging him, as I knew he placed
no belief in heathenism, to look and see if the comfort during sorrow which we Christians receive, and
of which I gave him assurance fiom my own experience, was not a most forcible evidence of its divine
authority.  "You are now in sorrow," I said, "and
feel what it is; and you find that neither in yourself
nor in that which is around you, have you the slightest alleviation of it; surely that religion which does
what man cannot do, must be from God."  He
acknowledged with much heartiness that it was so,
and said that it was an undoubted proof, much
stronger than external proofs. I asked him then
where he believed his child was; he said he believed
it was with Jesus Christ, but he should never go
there, nor see it any more. I asked him if he had a
word of comfort to give to his poor weeping wife;
he acknowledged that he had none; nor indeed




JOURNAL-MASULIPATAM.             191
could he have, for if he did believe in his fathers'
religion, he must suppose that he would never meet
his child again-for already it was probably wandering about in some other transmigration; nor could
he look to the sorrow as being from a Father's hand,.but only that it was a curse incurred by sins during
some former state of being. However, having learned
from me before, he now said, " God has given me
two blows,-the death of my relation a week ago,
and now the death of my child; my sin must be
very great." These were ideas he had gained from
me, and were not indigenous ones. He promised to
consider the Christian religion closer than he had
ever done, and took away a Gospel of St. Luke, with
the promise of reading it carefully..Masulpatam, July 15, 1847.-Yesterday morning I went to a collection of huts, inhabited by
Chuklus, and lying on the outskirts of the town,
half a mile distant from my house. These people
are shoemakers and workers in leather, and are consequently considered the most unclean of all the
most despised of the pariah class: their habits have
not indeed much to recommend them. As soon as
I entered the thick cluster of huts, I was surrounded
by twenty-five or thirty of them; half were men,
half women and boys. After a while I asked where
their god was; they pointed out a square hut in
the middle of the cluster, with mud walls four feet
high, and a sloping roof of palmyra-leaf thatch.
There, they said, was their Ammavaru or village
goddess. On asking what was inside, they said,
"A stone."  Reproaching them for worshipping a
stone, I said, " Go and fetch it to me."  They made
excuse first, " It is too heavy to carry;" and when
I said, "Let two or three carry it," they next said




192:MEMOIR OF Ho. W. FOX.
"It is planted in the ground."  After ten minutes
conversation with them, telling them of Christ and his
love and death, I went up to the hut and crept in at
the low door-way, and at once noticed the lies they had
told me. On a little raised dais of dry clay reclined,
first, a slip of wood two feet long, on which was cut
very imperfectly a rude figure of a man, four or five
inches long, and in the style a school-boy might
carve with his knife; next to it was an old wormeaten piece of wood, ten inches long, resembling
nothing so much as an old tent-peg, or a withered
root of mangel-wurzel: these two, they said, were
the husband or husbands of the goddess; next was
a misshapen rough stone, about a foot square,this was the Ammavaru herself: farther on lay
three stones, about the size and shape of small paving-stones, these were her children. It is difficult
to conceive that state of mind which should believe
such coarse and common materials to possess a
divine nature; yet many, if not all the people about
me, seemed quite serious in believing these stones
to be their deity. They did not regard them as the
creator or creators of the world, but simply as their
gods; whom if they were to forsake, they would
pay their lives in forfeit.
After leaving the hut again, I returned to the
subject of Christ, and called on them to forsake
these miserable stones, and come to him as their
dying but living Saviour. One man said, quite
seriously, "But if we all turn Christians, what will
become of the dead cattle?" For the Chuklus are
the privileged consumers of all bullocks, cows, and
buffaloes which die of disease or old age.  "Suppose," he added, "some of us join your religion,
and we will leave some behind to eat the cattle."




JOURNAL —AIASULIPATAM.          193
I suppose that, so long as the human heart can
escape humbling itself before God as worthless and
unprofitable, and to accept the righteousness of
another and not its own, there is nothing too vile
or degrading to which it will not descend. For, indeed, what difference is there between these worm-eaten
stumps of wood and shapeless stones of the chuklus,
and the silver and marble be-jewelled figures of the
Virgin and saints which I saw the people adoring
at Malta, except a few degrees of civilization and
elegance? Religiously and morally viewed, the one
worship is just as degrading and humiliating as the
other.
Masulipatam, July 31, 1847. —Ten days ago, Mr.
Sharkey and I went out to the public bungalow at
the village of Neddamole, ten miles from here; our
object was partly to preach to the people in the
neighbouring villages, but chiefly to obtain, in the
quiet of the bungalow, that seclusion which we cannot obtain in our houses here, where native visitors
are coming and going all day long: for we wanted
to make progress in revising and preparing some
Telugu manuscripts for the press. We stayed three
days visiting the villages, morning and evening, and
having some interesting opportunities of making
Christ known.
Last Sunday, July 25th, we baptized in our little
congregation Sitaph'ti, a young man of a respectable
Sudra caste, and about twenty-one years of age.
The way in which he was brought to us encourages
us in the hope that God has many other hidden
ones, whom he will in due time bring out from
among the heathen. About six months.ago, he
became acquainted with David, a young man of
about his own age, who was baptized last autumn,
17




194          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
and who had once been of the same caste as Sitapati.
I do not know that the acquaintance led to any
thing about that time, but two or three months ago,
Sitaphti speaks of himself as beginning to think
about his sins, and to feel anxious concerning them.
In this state of feeling, he asked his acquaintance,
David, what was the cure for his sins? David told
him of Christ: and it seems that almost immediately
the young man was led to desire to be a Christian.
When in this state, David one day informed me of
him, and at my request brought him to me. I
found him very ignorant, yet desirous of being
taught, and professing a desire to be baptized. He
came to me several times for instruction, and read a
little of St. Matthew's gospel. However, his relatives seem to have found out the turn his mind was
taking, and he told me he was afraid of their locking
him up in the house and not letting him go out.
This led him to spend a great part of his time at the
school-house, where David lives, as it was then the
holidays; and during the time, of his own accord,
he broke his caste by eating of David's supper, prepared by a Pariah cook. His father and elder
brother-the former an old man who had once been
a gardener; the latter a strong, stout, and violent
young man-at last, finding that Sitapati absented
himself much from home, came one Sunday afternoon to the school-house to seek for him. This led
to two or three interviews between him and these
relatives, in the presence of Mr. Noble or myself;
in which they endeavoured by threats and enticements to induce him to come home with them; but
he steadily resisted, and said he wished to become
a Christian, and told them their efforts were useless,
for he had already broken caste.




JO0URNA-MASULJIPATAM.          195
On Monday morning, when they came to my
house, the brother used all sorts of entreaties, urging
how he had fed him, and taken care of him from a
child, and taught him to read, &c., and would he
now leave them? All the while his face quivered
with passion, and had not the interview been in my
presence, I am sure he would have endeavoured to
drag his brother off by force. Next day, when
Sitaplti was in Mr. Noble's compound, his brother
and another person, who apparently had been lying
hid on purpose, sprang out and seized him, and
taking him head and feet, dragged him out of the
compound, and some little distance toward the place
where they lived. However, the alarm was given,
and Mr. N. and two or three servants ran out and
overtook them, and insisted on the young man being
released; which, after a short while, was done. Mr.
N. then asked him where he wished to go, with
him, or with his brothers: it did not require much
for the poor young man, whose face was bleeding
from a blow received from his brother, to decide to
return with Mr. Noble. Next day, with the too
ordinary barefaced falsehood of a Hindoo, the brother laid a complaint before the magistrate, that Mr.
N. was detaining his brother by force. The collector
sent for the young man, and in public court examined him for a long time, concerning the correctness of his brother's complaint: Sitaphkti publicly
declared that it was of his own good-will that he
had gone to, and was living with Mr. N., and as
publicly declared his purpose of becoming a Christian. This was truly making a good confession; for
all round about were crowds of Brahmins and others,
whose enmity against the gospel is not small: some
of them said among themselves, as I was afterward




196          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
told by one who said he heard the words, "I wish 1
could get hold of that young man-I would murder
him." The magistrate, of course, dismissed the
complaint, with a warning to the brother. Since
then Sitaphtti has been going on steadily, and daily
receiving instruction in the knowledge of the leading truths of the gospel, till last Sunday, when
having assurance of his sincerity, and being satisfied
that he knew what it was into which he was to be
baptized, he was received into Christ's visible church.
His coming over to us, and the publicity which was
given to it by his examination before the collector,
made a much greater sensation in the town than I
could have expected: it was added however to a recent baptism of a young Brahmin at Vizagapatam,
which caused great sensation there, and was well
known here; the effect was, that nearly half the
boys in Mr. Noble's English school were withdrawn.
After a while many of them came back, but in all
he lost fifteen, among whom were some of the most
hopeful and interesting youths. The school, however, was not left empty, for the vacancies were
rapidly filled up by new applicants who crowded to
gain admission, among whom were the sons of the
principal Sudra Ameen, and the Sheristadar of his
court. The story which was current here, as it has
been elsewhere on similar occasions, was that we
had given the young man a potion, the effect of
which was to attach him to us: the way in which
they supposed it was done, was to sprinkle a powder
on his head. The parents of some boys feared, or
pretended to fear, that we should do so to their
boys, if they remained in school: not considering
that it would have been easy for us to have done so
any time these last three years past, or when the




JOURNAL-MASTJLIPATAM.          197
boys come to our houses, which they freely do. But
the fact is, like the Jews of old, they cannot but
acknowledge that a wonderful thing has happened,
an influence has been produced on a man's mind to
induce him to deny himself, and give up his family
and his caste; and not knowing whence it proceeds,
they attribute it to magic or medicine. I do not
think the Hindoo system knows any thing. of an influence of Divine power on the heart or feelings of
man: it is more conversant with mere outward ceremonies, or at least with a mere intellectual theorizing
on deity.
Necldanole, Attg. 11, 1847.-Mr. Sharkey and I
have started for a month's tour through the villages,
being desirous of taking advantage of the continuance of cloudy weather, which enables us to be out
much during the day-time. There is so much rain,
however, that we are not able to take out tents with
us, but keep ourselves to the line of road on which
there are public bungalows, and from them visit the
numerous villages which lie within two or three
miles of our resting-place.
Yesterday morning, at sunrise we rode out to a
large village named Tarakatoor, about two miles off:
the land is about two-thirds under the plough, and
at this time the crops of black paddy are a few
inches above the ground, and resemble young wheat.
The village is inhabited almost entirely by Sudras
who live by cultivation; there are only four Brahmin
houses in the place; one of them contains a school,
in which a small portion of the boys of the village
learn to read and write. The village is under a zemindar, or landholder, and seems to be in a more
prosperous condition than many others; for the
bullocks seemed to be numerous; no less than five
1T*




198         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
ponies, not very much starved, were grazing outside
the village; the houses were not ruinous, and several
were of a slightly superior style to the mud cabins
of the villages; and lastly, the pagodas to Vishnu
and Siva, besides being rather larger, were in much
better repair than usual. Both of us had several
very long and interesting conversations with separate
groups of people. At first, they were very suspicious
of us, and would not so much as touch a tract, and
fancied we came out as spies of some kind: when
we told them we were preachers, as usual, they concluded that the East India Company had sent us.
In the evening we went to two distinct villages:
Mr. S. to the main village of Kurumalapaid, about a
mile from this village, and I to the Pariah hamlet
near it. Every village has such a hamlet situated
about a quarter of a mile distant from it: in it live
the poor abject Pariahs, who are not allowed to live
in the main village where the Brahmins and Sudras
dwell, and who are the farm-labourers, or almost
serfs, attached to the soil which belongs to the village. Some Sudras and Brahmins, who are very
poor, drive the plough themselves, but the majority
employ these Pariahs instead. I found most of the
men out in the fields weeding the corn, and for some
time could only get desultory conversations with two
or three women at a time. As it was growing later,
one of the farmers of the main village was passing
through, and I had a long talk with him in the
hearing of a dozen or more of the Pariah men and
women —he sitting on the ground, a few yards off,
with his back against the mud wall, and I on a heap
of lumps of dry mud, which had lately formed a
wall.  When I had told him at length about Christ,
his birth, labours, sufferings, and his death, and had




JOURNAL-WEYOOR.               199
dwelt on these as the only expiation for sin, and
then on the duty of all to turn to him, and call on
him, he at last said, "Sir, I will ask you one thing.
It is somewhere about a hundred years since your
Company people (i. e. the East India Company)
came to these parts; now, how is it, if all this that
you have been telling me is so good, that they have
never sent to tell us about it before?" I could only
acknowledge that it was a grievous sin and offence
of the government, for which I had no excuse, and
over which I often mourned. The extraordinary
and unfounded dread which some people entertain
lest the Hindus should be ready to rise in arms
against the English government, in case it was to
begin to teach them and to send preachers of the
gospel among them, is daily refuted, not by theories,
but by facts. For the natives, one and all, believe
the missionaries to be emissaries of the Company,
until we undeceive them. Yet neither on the establishment of the English school in Masulipatam,
the declared and published object of which was the
conversion of its scholars, and which was generally
believed by the natives to be established by the
government; nor on our going out to the streets or
villages preaching against idolatry and proclaiming
Christ, and supposed to be the Company's missionaries, has a word reached our ears hostile to the
Company on this account. In regard to the civil
and military administration, complaints (often unfounded) are not unfrequent: with respect to its
supposed proselytizing, or rather preaching department, not one word. So much for the, fears lest
God's work should impede the progress of man's
dominion.
IW yoor, Aug. 13, 1847.-After visiting two or




200         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
three more villages from Neddamole, we started at
an early hour yesterday morning for this bungalow,
which is fifteen miles farther on. I did not, however, like to pass by the large village of Prfamarru,
where I had been so well received at my two visits
in February and March.  It lies nearly half-way,
and so on our arriving there about eight o'clock in
the morning, left our. horses with our horse-keepers,
and entered the village.  We soon met the Naich,
or head Sudra of the place, with whom I had formed
an acquaintance before, and he led us to the chief
school,-the friendship of the master of which I
had purchased by putting the Naich's little boy to
his school, and paying for him for four months.
The school-master was not there, but was away
getting shaved, as it was a lucky day for that rare
operation, and an old blind superannuated master
was keeping in order about twenty boys. Here we
spent more than an hour sheltered from the sun,iMr. S. in one part and I in another of the spacious
room where the school was held: he was speaking
to and reading with some adults and a few boys. I
had a small congregation, varying from  six to a
dozen of the elder boys, to whom I acted as schoolmaster, sitting down and making them sit, and then
making them read the Ten Commandments, and
explaining them to them. Afterward, when I began to speak of the forgiveness of sin, and asked
who can take away sins, one quiet little lad gave me
a nice answer: "Only God," he said, "can take
away sin." When I praised him for his answer,
the other lads, who were several of them Brahmins,
looked rather contemptuously at him, and said,
"Oh! he is only a barber!" for the barber caste is
an inferior one. When we had tired the patience




JOURNAL-WEYOOR.               201
of the school-master, who had meanwhile arrived
with his new-shaven head shining like an egg, and
who ought to have dismissed the school nearly an
hour before, we went out, and crossing the narrow
street, entered the house, or shop, of the village carpenter.  He is not paid as such an one would be in
England, by the job, or for the article he makes or
mends, but is a regular village servant. Every villager who possesses a plough pays him (in grain)
about half a rupee annually for each plough, that is
about four or five days' pay, and for this the carpenter has to make, if need be, or keep in repair,
the farmer's ploughs and sledges on which the straw
is carried from the field. Carts are a separate
charge; perhaps because they probably scarcely
existed in the days of old when this village custom
was established. Sitting down on some logs of
wood, we had more than a dozen men and four or
five women as listeners.  Mr. S. had a long discussion with a Brahmin, who was a Vedantist, and
maintained first that "all is God, and God is all,"
then, that he himself was God, and lastly, that God
was the author and agent of all sin. He was no
stray infidel; the same doctrines meet us on all
sides, and it is difficult to say whether such men are
better or worse than atheists.
It is one of the painful parts of our dealings with
the people, and particularly with the Brahmins, that
their mouths are so full of lies; it is scarcely possible to speak five minutes with one of them, but he
utters two or three palpable falsehoods. When rebuked for them, all they have to say is, "It is the
custom of the country;" or, "How could the world
go on without lying?"
On leaving Prnimarru, about eleven A. M., we had




202          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
a sunny ride for nearly two hours, rather warmer
than we had hoped for, but a cool breeze in our faces
prevented our feeling it oppressive. Each time I
pass through this part of the country, I am struck
with its numerous population: the villages lie round
in all directions in clusters: from one spot I counted
no less than fifteen in sight within a circle the radius
of which was about three miles, and probably I overlooked some, for the low thatched huts which compose them are not very conspicuous in this flat country.
Yesterday evening in this village, and this afternoon in the large village of Wulloor, about four miles
distant, we had crowded audiences, from twenty to
thirty persons standing round one or both of us, and
generally listening very quietly. The burden of one
man's argument yesterday was, "All our gods are
one and the same; whomsoever we shall worship, we
shall go to heaven." Not only is this absolutely
false, and contradicted by almost every popular book,
but I have little doubt but that the speaker knew it
to be so, just as well as I did; and it was not difficult to point out his mistake. This afternoon one
clever old man would consent to every thing that
was said: "It is all right, this is just what our
books say," &ec. —except the way of deliverance from
sin; and, as usual, he was slow in discerning the
fact of Christ's atonement, however clearly stated.
" You expect to be saved by believing in your Gooroo, (teacher, meaning Christ,) and we expect to be
saved by believing in our's; the only difference is
that of language: you in English give him one
name, we give him  another."  When, however,
pressed to state his way of forgiveness of sin, it was
the old story, " You must live purely, and pray to
God, and this will be your deliverance."  It was




JOURNAL -WEYOOR.              203
easy to point out to him by the usual illustrations
the folly of trying to purge away the sin of an unclean heart, by that which comes forth from that
heart, and is consequently itself unclean.
WegYoor, Aug. 15.-Yesterday, in the middle of
the day, I went into the village, to the parts of it
inhabited by the toddy-drawers and the cow-herds:
for the different castes, especially such as these,
generally cluster together in a distinct spot. After
addressing a few Pariahs and toddy-drawers, in the
locality of the latter, I went in quest of the cowherd's house, where PNrentalew, the village goddess,
is kept. Her little temple lies about a quarter of a
mile from  the village, and she is famous all the
country round for the swinging festival which takes
place here in February annually; but from some
reason or other, she, (that is, the image,) is kept in
a house in the village belonging to one of the cowherds, who are her patrons and priests. On mentioning my wish to see the image, the man I spoke
to offered at once to show me the way, and to my
astonishment led me to the house, and took me inside the little court of the house, and pointed out
the door of the room  where the goddess and her
husband Chintanna are kept. I sat down, and had
half an hour's opportunity of addressing about a
dozen common people on the subject of idolatry,
and of Christ's death and sacrifice for sin. When I
rose up, I found that while my back was turned, a
lock had been put on the door where the idols are
kept, which had been unlocked when I first entered.
On my noticing this, they all said, "Oh, the old
man who has got the key is not here;" and when I
pointed out to them, that the lock had been put on
during the last few minutes, they pretended not to




204         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
know of it, though every one in the place but myself, who had my back turned, must have seen it
done. Oh, lying, lying! it seems to be the very
meat and drink of the people. While talking of
this goddess, I said I had witnessed a swinging at
Peddana, (near Masulipatam,) and that then the
victim had shown considerable symptoms of pain
when the hooks entered his flesh, contrary to the
usual story that the goddess preserves him from
pain, and I asked if the same ever occurred here.
"Oh no," said the man; "this goddess has great
power."'   But has not the goddess at Peddana also
great power?" "No, she was only made by men;
this one is not so, but was a gift from Siva."  I was
here amused with a nice little girl about five years
old, who came feeling my clothes, and with much
curiosity asked her father what I was: she had
never seen a white man or English clothes before,
and seemed scarcely to know what sort of animal I
was. In most of the villages off the road which we
visit, the people, particularly the women, look at us
with wonder, being probably the first of the species
whom they have ever seen.
Both yesterday and this morning, I visited a small
Pariah hamlet, half a mile distant, and containing
seven or eight huts: the people do not engage in
agriculture, but are weavers of the coarse cotton
cloths worn by the lowest classes. I had good audiences each time, of ten or twelve men and women,
who were much interested in all I said. I spoke of
sin, read the ten commandments, and enlarged on
them; I dwelt much on heaven and hell, and the
deliverance from fear of death, and the joyful prospect of the day of release which Christians enjoy, and
then went through the history of Christ, and showed




JOURNAL-BEIZWARAH.            205
how his atonement.removed our sin, and set us free
to serve God with thankfulness. They had no opposition to offer, and seemed to like all I told them, and
to accept it: they asked several questions, and wished
to know if I would come and see them again. This
work among the Pariahs is so entirely different from
our conversations with Brahmins, as to remind me
much of missionary labours in lands where caste,
civilization, and a system of heathenism are all unknown. To the natural eye it looks more hopeful
and pleasant, but we have never room to forget
that the whole work of converting and fixing the
truth in the heart is the work of the Holy Ghost.
In this village, where the Pariahs are very few in
number, and not all are farm-servants, most of the
land is ploughed by Brahmins and men of other
castes. A large plot of land is a muinyam, or freehold, of certain Brahmins who cultivate it with their
own hands; but as I was told by a Sudra I met on
the spot, it is the worst cultivated in the village;
" for," said he, "the Brahmin ploughs one day, and
next day he is off to some festival or other, anywhere in the country-side, and when he comes back,
the time for ploughing is over." We see many
marks, and hear many expressions of the hatred of
the Sudras toward the Brahmins, because of their
local oppression and insolence.
Beizwarah, Aug. 17, 1847. —We made a short
ride from Weyoor yesterday morning, to the next
bungalow at Kankepad: on the way we entered a,village of middling site, in order to speak with the
people; but though we stayed more than a quarter
of an hour there, and walked about the little lanes
in it, we could not find a single man: they were all
Brahmins and Sudras, out ploughing, for the village
18




206          MEMOIR OF II. W. FOX.
has only a tiny Pariah hamlet of three huts under
it, and so the inhabitants have to labour in the
fields themselves.
On the way we again stopped at a considerable
village named Parunky, and walked into it; near a
pagoda, (in better order than usual,) we found two
or three people, and others joined us as soon as we
stopped to speak to them. They of course received
us with profound respect: there was one, an old
Brahmin, who had a musical instrument a good deal
like a guitar, with three metal strings of similar size
and tone; he was a " singer of songs," they said; so
we asked him for a song, and sitting down on the
mud ledge against a mud wall, he began to sing a
song in praise of Ra'ma. Unlike Hindu instrumental
music, their songs are by no means tuneless, and on
the whole, the song, accompanied by a little twanging of his instrument, was not unpleasing, though
his voice was not musical, and his time poor and
monotonous.  When he was done, Mr. Sharkey began to tell them that he knew of a better person to
praise than RIma, and went on to tell them about
Christ. This led us into a general talk about him
which lasted more than half an hour: they were
quiet people, and had no serious objections to make,
or at least made none: the few they made were at
once answered without difficulty, and they had no
reply to make. They were such as these: "Nay,
but we have always hitherto believed these images
to be gods;" "Our fathers believed them;" or,
" This is all related in our books."  "But are your
Shasters true, or false?" " Of course they are true."
" How do you know them to be true?" "' Are they
not books?" "But what support have you for them,
what evidence?"  "They are their own support,




JOURNAL-BEIZWARAI.             207
their own evidence." In this village, as in many
others, on our producing tracts, the question was
put to us, " Is this your own hand-writing, or is it
printed?"  For in most places the majority, nay,
rather, the whole of the people have never seen a
printed paper. Of course, in all these villages, the
very name of Christ is utterly unknown; and to be
told that there is sin in idolatry is as great a novelty to the people as the names of their gods are
to the most ignorant of our English villagers.
We have fallen in two or three times with a party
of " Medicine people," Rasayogulu, as they call themselves. They live, that is, they have houses in Masulipatam, but seem to spend a large part of the
year in wandering about the country. They seem
to be wandering village quack doctors, and like the
apothecary of old, they adorn both themselves and
their families with strings of uncouth beads and
nuts, to acquire a sort of mysterious character.
Their little encampment was the exact counterpart
of a set of gipsy huts on an English common;
only, instead of cloth, the covering of the low oval
tent consisted of a coarse sort of mat. Each tent
was about seven feet long, five feet wide at the
ground, and three and a half feet high. Inside was
a low rude cot, upon which sometimes a child was
lying: before the doors were plenty of ugly black
sows with their young ones, all grubbing up the
ground: snarling Pariah dogs were near them, and
at a little distance was a crowd of forty or fifty donkeys grazing. Whenever near a town or village we
see donkeys, we may be sure that there are either
washermen, (who use the poor creatures to carry
bundles of dirty clothes,) or basket-makers, (a wild,
curious race,) or jugglers, or some similar wander



208          MEMOIR OF H, W. FOX.
ing low class. There is no animal so deeply despised as the poor donkey, and to speak of riding on
one excites a sort of derision and amusement.
Beizwarah, Aug. 19, 1847.-This place is a small
town, if it deserves the name, of 3000 or 4000 inhabitants, and lies at the crossing of the great north
road from Madras to Calcutta, with the great road
from the coast at Masulipatam to Hyderabad.  It is
close on the edge of the sacred river Kistna, now a
full mile wide, rolling its muddy, yet sweet water
rapidly to the sea. From these two reasons it is
both a place of travellers and the abode of many
Brahmins —for all places on this river are sacredand wherever any pickings or stealings are to be
had, either from festivals or from visitors to sacred
spots, there are abundance of lazy, vicious Brahmins
to be found.  It presents to us all the signs of a
F-d place; and what we have seen of the Brahmins
tells us this too plainly.
On the afternoon of the day of our arrival, we
went into a street inhabited by Brahmins, and fell
into conversation with a man squatting on the mud
ledge beside his house-door. Not many minutes
had elapsed before there was a crowd of thirty or
forty people, chiefly Brahmins, many of them sitting
along the same ledge as the first man was on; others,
who could not find room, standing in the street like
ourselves. For some time Mr. Sharkey had a very
interesting conversation with a very old intelligent
man, who said he was eighty-four years old, and
who did not speak for the sake of controversy, but,
as he said, in order to acquire information.  He began by saying he rejected and disbelieved all Hindu
systems: "The Adwai system (or the wild pantheistic creed, which is so common,'All is God, God is




JOURNAL-BEIZWARAH.             209
all, I am God, you are God; there is no distinction
between right and wrong, truth and untruth,') is
false; the Dwaitam system (or the Gnostic doctrine
of the eternity of two principles, good and bad, of
which matter is the evil one) is false; the Vasishta
Adwaitam (a mixture of the other two) is also false,
and nonsensical." But though the old gentleman
went on in a garrulous manner to tell us what his
system was, and though he greatly approved of she
Christian scheme which Mr. S. set before him, yet
it was not very clear that he had any distinct system
at all, but rambled into loose metaphysics; and as
for including the subject of the remission of sins in
his system, he never seemed to think of it. All this
while the other people kept very quiet and listened,
but finding the old man did nothing but ramble in
the fields of most unprofitable metaphysics, we began
to speak to the rest of the crowd; and then we discerned their want of manners and of virtue; they
showed no personal rudeness or insult toward us, but
as soon as we began to talk, half a dozen at once
began to talk also, either to one of us or to one
another, and no peaceable opportunity of speaking
to more than two or three at a time could be obtained. They stood up for the worship of idols,they denied the existence of sin,-they mocked the
idea of any thing spiritual, any thing which was not
productive of vice, money, or bodily pleasure. At
last I drew near to one man to speak to him; he
said, "I want none of your books, not I." I answered, "I have no intention of giving you any, I
force my books on no one; but listen to me for a
few moments." And I then began to speak seriously of his sins and of the coming judgment; but
his continual remark was in this strain,' What care
18i




210          MEMOIR OF IH. W. FOX.
I? I don't know whether I have sinned or not: I
never saw the hell you speak of." I said to him,
"Now  answer me one question: Which do you
count of most value, your soul or your body, —
things present, or things to come?"  His answer
was, "Of course things present; of course my body
is most important to me." It was the bold bad acknowledgment of, and glorying in, the principle
which is the chief feature of the "body of sin"
within us, and which every unconverted man steadily acts on; but the shameless boasting about it
marks a hardness and a deadness of conscience
which is very painful to the hearer.
As we walked away from this painful conversation we took our course down to the river-side: it
was now a little after sunset, and several of those
with whom we had been speaking, followed us to
perform their evening devotions. Stepping a yard
into the river, or squatting down at the edge of the
water, they began to mutter some Sanserit verses or
charms; presently the man would take up a little
water in his hand and carry a few drops to his mouth
three times in succession, then he went on with his
mutterings, then he threw up three or four libations
of the water with his right hand, then he turned to
the west, then to the east, then he made crossings on
his breast, not to be distinguished from Romish
crossings, and so went on with a variety of signs and
symbols, and gesticulations and mutterings. There
was something ludicrous in seeing some of the men
going through this unmeaning child's-play (to theml
it is neither more nor less) with all gravity; but it
was also painful to look at these, or at others who
were smiling at us from time to time, and to remember that all this was a pretence of religion on




JOURNAL —BEIZWARAII.            211
the part of evil men, who had only a few minutes
before been uttering blasphemy, negations of all
religion, professions of utter ungodliness, and viciousness. I could not help being much reminded by
this scene of the inside of a Romish church; the
same muttering and running over of charms and
prayers in an unknown tongue, the same cycle of
bodily gesticulations, and then the rising and going
away with the same appearance of self-satisfaction,
with the same deceived conscience and unforgiven
soul.
The Pariahs employed in agriculture, all the district through, receive as daily pay a quart measure
of dry grain: of course this is inadequate to maintain a man and his family, so they eke out a poor
livelihood by digging grass for cattle, by gathering
sticks for fire-wood, and by stealing from the crops
in the harvest season, and from the stacks at other
times. When compelled to do unpaid work, they
of course lose their allowance of grain. They are a
poor-looking race, not so much in figure as in their
ragged dirty clothes, and in the uncombed, dishevelled state of the hair of the women.  Their huts
are small but compact: and not unfrequently a cow
or a buffalo, or a few fowls, are to be seen in the
little enclosure round a hut. A Pariah is not (at
least in the villages) allowed to enter the (otherwise) public court or cutchery of the native judge
or magistrate, whose authority is derived from the
British government. If he wants justice, or has any
business to be done in these places, he stands in the
street outside, and the judge or tahsildar (too generally a Brahmin) comes out to him to inquire the
business of the poor Pariah. This fear of defile



212         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
ment by the near approach of the unclean one to
their holiness on the part of the vicious and godless
Brahmins, reminds one of the similar dread of pollution by entering a Roman court of justice on the
part of the Christ-crucifying Jews. The Pariah is
regarded by the Brahmin as a beast of a lower creation, as we might look upon a pig.
We visited these poor people twice, and Mr. Sharkey at length precchecl Christ to them: they received
the doctrine very readily, and expressed themselves
willing to follow it: they had no objections to make,
but only asked a few questions about their stone
goddess, whether they ought to worship or not.
Beizwarah is not only situated close on the banks
of the magnificent Kistna, but it is at the most
picturesque spot of the lower part of the river; it is
here that the low range of hills which runs irregularly
the greater part of the length of the presidency,
crosses the river, which is not so much narrowed as
guarded by two steep rocky and pyramidical hills
which dip into the water on either side; I call them
the "pillars of Hercules."  The town lies immediately at the foot of the hill on the north side of
the river, and two or three of the lower projections
of the hill are crowded by small pagodas. The
town is said to have once been very extensive; it
now covers a piece of ground nearly half a mile
square, and about half its houses are tiled; but the
empty and desolate spaces among the houses are
numerous and extensive, and by the remains of mud
walls in them, show that the town must have been
almost as populous again, previous to the last great
famine which occurred twelve or thirteen years ago.
There is scarcely a village which we have visited




JOURNAL-BEIZWARAH.               213
which does not tell a similar tale: and from  the
testimony of English eye-witnesses, I should conclude that the famine in Ireland, even in its worst
places and features, was not a half, nor a fourth so
terrible or destructive as that which occurred in
these districts. There are many ruins about Beizwarah, showing the sites and remains of massive
and elaborate carved pagodas, and two or three of
those which exist are a curious medley of old
original building mingled with new building erected
with old materials: they doubtless tell the tale of the
ruthless destruction of the idol temples by the Mohammedans, and of the subsequent rebuilding of
them on the same spot, and with the same materials, by the Hindoos. Just at the end of the
town we witnessed an instance of this in a Mantapam,
or isolated portico for exhibiting the idol. It consisted of a raised basement three or four feet high,
and four elegant pillars at the corners, the capitals
of which were richly and gracefully carved.  There
was no roof to it, and not far from it were lying the
massive capitals of two other pillars similar to those
which were erect. That it was not simply an unfinished building, was evident from some large blocks
of stone carved with groups of figures, which had
once formed the frieze of the Mantapam, being
built irregularly and disjointedly in the basement. All
the figures were human, and perfectly free from the
misshapen deformities which abound in all the Hindoo pictures and sculptures of more modern date
which I have seen. Several of these figures were
grotesque, little fat children or satyrs, but yet in
good taste. The whole was composed of a very
hard dark granite, and the edges of the figures were
as fresh as if newly cut. There must have been a




214          MEMOIR OF W. H. FOX.
time when taste existed among the Hindoos, and
some skill in the fine arts; yet the contrast of the
greater part of Hindoo buildings, new and old, which
I have seen in South India, including the two famous
pagodas of Conjeveram and Madura, with the Hindoo religious buildings seen by Bishop lReber on
the Ganges, is very great. These sculptures at
Beizwarah go some way to redeem the character of
ancient -Iindoos as artists, but they are too limited
to enable the framers of them to be commended as
great architects who could raise large and magnificent
buildings.
Uondapilly, Aug. 20, 1847.-At an early hour
this morning we left Beizwarah, and passing by the
Northern pillar of Hercules, by a road cut out of
its foot, and overhanging the river, we again found
ourselves in a plain, bounded by another and somewhat loftier range of hills at the distance of nine
or ten miles.  In striking contrast with all the
country from MIasulipatam to Beizwarah, this plain,
ten miles wide, and reaching northward for many
miles more, is very thinly inhabited, and only
half cultivated. From the top of the hill above
Beizwarah, which I ascended yesterday, I saw only
f)ur or five villages.  The range toward which we
were proceeding across the plain was about 800 or
900 feet high, rather falling off at either end: under
the centre part of it lies the little town, or rather
village of Condapilly: during the 3N ohaanimedan
rule, and probably previously to that, this place was
the capital of the district, and a place of much imnportance, as well as size. At present it consists of
a ruined fort and palace at the very top of the hill;
-the walls of a fort skirting the foot of the hills,
the face wall of which is about a mile long, and must




JOURNAL-CONDAPILLY.             215
have been built by the Hindoos; within this there
are no living inhabitants, but a company of Sepoys
with their families, detached from the regiment at
Masulipatam, the officer commanding, and the apothecary attached to the company. The ground is covered with irregular mounds of ruins, a ruined
mosque or two, and abundance of jungle. Outside
the wall lies the village; it is difficult to judge of
its size at once, for it is absolutely hid in ruins and
rubbish, and the trees which grow out of the same..
We were both of us laid up all day with headache:
in the afternoon, Mr. Sharkey had an interesting
conversation with two young natives who came to
see him, and in the evening we spent half an hour'
in the bazaar, speaking of Christ to a crowd of people.  The hill which is immediately above our heads
is very beautiful; it is composed of a fine purplish.
rock, of which many massive projections stand outprecipitously, but it is otherwise pretty plentifully:
covered with bushes and small trees, which at this,
season are beautifully green and refreshing. XA
slight valley or hollow just behind the house, reminded me for a few moments of Nightingale,
valley at Clifton; but it has not its depths, nor its.
richness of wood; still more, it has not the attendant,
softness and moisture of air, and the gentler light
of an English sky.  There are a few leopards among
the jungle, and one was killed quite close to this.
house a short while ago, but I believe they seldom
or never attack men. The greenness of all around
and the abundance of trees make me almost forget
that I am in India.
As we were leaving the fort this evening, we
found one of the Sepoys busy adorning a little stone
image of Hanuman, (the monkey-god who helped




216         MEMOIR OF H. w. FOX.
Rama to conquer Ceylon;) he was daubing red
paint over it, and lighting lamps before it. We
stopped to speak to him, and tried to point out to
him the absurdity and the thousand contradictions
involved in supposing the dirty stone to be a god.
His answers and his manner greatly struck us, for
he really seemed serious in what he was doing; he
really seemed to believe the thing to be a god, and
to be hurt at the contrary being stated: this is a
rare occurrence. Lightness of mind, half-belief,
want of seriousness, are the almost universal characteristies of the people regarding the idols, and were
exhibited in another Hindoo who stood by, and
laughed at the absurdities of the idol.
Beizwarah, Aug. 23, 1847.-Saturday was a very
interesting day to me.  As Mr. Sharkey was poorly,
I sallied out by myself at sunrise, and passed right
through the village to the adjoining hamlet of Pariahs: here, as usual, I found more women than men;
yet after half an hour conversing with these former,
I had also an audience of about six or seven of the
latter for a similar length of time: they have as it
were no religion to give up, having only a loose
attachment to a shapeless stone lying in the adjoining field, and no system of priesthood or books to
keep up superstition. They listened therefore, and
as far as the natural man goes, consented to all I
sold them of our dear Lord's suffering and sacrifice
for them, and some promised to pray to him.  These
poor folk are always delighted when I tell them we
are all brothers and sisters, and that the distinctions
of caste are human and false: the whole burden of
the evil system bears down on them who are (not
9ut-castes, or people without caste, according to
auropean notions, but) at the bottom of the list, and




JOURNAL —BEInZWARAII.           217
are trodden under foot by all. Leaving them and
returning to the town, I fell in with two or three
Brahmins settling accounts with some farmers; and
had a conversation of some length with them: one of
the Brahmins expressed himself dissatisfied with idolatry, and professed to be desirous of learning something better. The roguish cast of his countenance
made me suspect that there was little sincerity in what
he said.  Walking down the street with him, we stopped beside where the school-master, and another man
with great daubs of Vishnu's mark on his forehead, and
who was said to be a Guru, or learned teacher,'were
sitting.  I did not intend to stay, but soon found
myself sitting down in the verandah, and having an
amicable discussion with the latter of the two men,
in the presence of twenty or thirty other persons.
Though said to be learned, (Hindu learning is
about as much as that of a school-boy who can construe Ovid's Metamorphoses, and knows a little of
Lempriere's Dictionary,) he was not a very acute man,
and I found no great difficulty both in answering
his objections and overthrowing his defences.  After
some little time spent in pointing out the inconsistencies of the existing system  of religion with the
original Hindu books, in which I exhibited my little
acquaintance with those books-which, though little,
is great in comparison with that professed by Brahmins, which is none at all-then quoted to them
the ever-sacred Gayetri Irtuntramn, the very sound
of which, from unhallowed lips, astounded them;
and  having thus acquired a character of being
learned, I was led naturally to unfold the Christian
system, Christ crucified, and man saved and renewed
through faith in his blood. After this the discussion
kept harping on this great topic, in which I had to
19




218          MEMOIR OF HI. W. FOX.
answer a variety of objections and difficulties, chiefly
of a trifling, childish character, such as,  How can
a man save others, who could not save himself?"although I had particularly dwelt on the fact that
Christ's sacrifice was a voluntary one, and that he
was born in order to be slain.  I was also led to the
subject of evidences, and this is a very difficult one.
With the Hindus, as with some Oxford doctors, the
harder a doctrine is to swallow, and the less evidence
there is of its truth-the truer and greater is the
exercise of faith in believing it: that is to say, if
the doctrine is one of their own. Consequently, in
regard to religious and moral questions, the Hindus
generally do not seem to understand what is meant
by the word evidence. "d The book" is evidence not
only for the doctrine, but for itself also.  Again, the
utter ignorance, not only of history, but of the very
existence of such a thing as history, prevents a Hindu from at all appreciating the value of external
evidence.  The proofs I made use of on this occasion, as being at least the most handy, were two.
First, if a book contains within it doctrines which
are in accordance with the character of God, so far
as our moral sense enables us to know it, that book
has probability in its favour that it is a Divine revelation.  This principle they are willing to admit, as
well as the reverse one, that a book which contains
statements and doctrines contrary to the Divine
character, is not of Divine origin.  With tbhse two
I was able utterly to overthrow their abominably
vicious books, and to give some authority to the
gospel.  Secondly, I brought forward the case of
Josephus, as an enemy living in that time and country, uniting his evidence to that of the apostles, who,
although friendly, were yet eye-witnesses.  Coming




JOURNAL-BEIZWARAH.              219
further to the question of the evidence of my friend's
books, he asserted the Vedas to have sprung incarnate from the mouth of Brahma, far back in the
depths of eternity. I asked him for the proof of
this fact; " for," said I, " in your authoritative commentaries (for they also have "fathers," whose
word on religious subjects is counted to be as good
as their god's, and whose interpretations alone are
to be received as expressing the meaning of their
scriptures) on the Vedas there are mentioned the
names of the very men who wrote the different hymns,
and yet you say the books were never written at all,
but are born from Brahma."  He appealed to the
Purinas, a set of books holding very much the
position of the semni-fabulous monkish tales and lives
of the saints.  " Very good," said I, "let us, then
see what weight is to be rested on the word of these
same Purl'nas;" and so I went on to remind him of
some of the monstrous fables contained in them:
e. g. the length of India being said to be 90,000
miles; Mount Meon, in the centre of the earth, being 800,000 miles in height above the earth and
160,000 below it; the seven concentric rings of land
and seas, the latter of sugar, water, butter-milk,
spirits, &c., and to assert my own experience and
that of eye-witnesses that these statements were false.
He could not deny my statements, but said, "Never
mind the Puranas, what have they to do with the
subject?"  He had already forgotten that he had
himself mentioned them a few minutes before as his
authority for the divinity of the Vedas. I now
pressed him for some evidence. "What sort of
evidence do you want?" he said.  I answered, "Any
will do, so long as it is good; please to say what you
believe about your books, and give me evidence for




220          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
your statements." So he began: "The Vedas are
the personification of God, that is, the word of God."
" Now," said I, "please to tell me what proofs you
can give for that fact." He was nonplussed, and
had not a word to say.  So before I went away I
said, "This is always the way; I have asked the
most learned men in Masulipatam the same questions,
and they, like you, have not a word to say: how is
it possible for you to allege a proof, seeing that none
exists?"
About the middle of the day, the persons who had
visited Mr. S. the day before, made their appearance
again, bringing with them three or four others, among
whom was one particularly sensible, well-behaved
Brahmin, who had received a little English education at Vizagapatam, and knew the outlines of Christian truth, and greatly approved what he knew.
They stayed with us about two hours, and came the
next day also, while we were at morning service,
and afterward remained with us about an hour and
a half, and even came for an hour more in the afternoon.  The most interesting questions were put, and
the difficulties started by this Brahmin were just
such as we might expect to come to the mind of such
a man: points of evidence, both Hindu and Christian, the nature of sin, man's corruption, the work
of Christ, how it was to be applied, how it was satisfactory, the new birth, and many other subjects
were discussed. I was thankful, not only that we
were able to give answers, but that our hearers were
satisfied, and went away apparently (especially the
above-mentioned Brahmin) convinced of the truth
of Christ, but exclaiming, "How can a man forsake
all?"
The same afternoon I ascended the hill imme



JOURNAIr —BEIZWARAH.            221
diately behind our little bungalow: my path lay up
the slight hollow or valley which separated the
rounded purple crags of two projecting parts of the
mountain: it was a good path consisting of irregular
steps, made of large blocks of granite, and was probably formed 300 or 400 years ago, when the Hindoo kings dwelt in the palace on the rock.  The
ascent was delicious; the sun was just hid from me
by the crest of the hill I was ascending, but shone
brightly on the sides of the projecting rocks, and
made the green trees that fringed them yet greener,
and filled the plain below me, and the wooded range
of hills beyond it, with a flood of bright light.  The
path lay through a low but luxuriant wood, and the
rich scent from numerous flowering creepers, so filled
the air as to remind me of the deliciousness of an
English hot-house full of tropical plants; but there
was not the moist closeness of such a place. Twenty
minutes of delightful ascending led me to an old
ruined gateway, overhung by the dilapidated remains of the palace, beetling over the rock. I pushed
on through it, and had not gone many yards before
a most lovely spot opened itself to me: my path lay
on the edge of a small basin, in the heart of the hills:
a level bottom half a mile across was covered with
marshy grass, and in one corner had a rocky pool
of clear water. I stood about twenty feet above it;
at its edge were two or three large banyan trees
scattered about, with their pendent threads hanging
down to the marsh below, and full of parrots and
minas: on all sides rose and fell the ridge of the
hills in a most irregular broken line, sometimes presenting bare crags, but more commonly chiefly covered with irregular wood and bright-green tufts of
grass. Winding my way by the edge of this beau19*




222          MEMOR OF H. W. FOX.
tiful nest among the hills, full of greenness and of
bright light, and not altogether without marks of
human work, for.the crumbling wall of the fortress
here and there showed itself among the trees, or
crowned the peak of the hill,-I arrived at the gate
at the opposite side to that by which I had entered;
and here there burst on my sight a view as beautiful
as it was unexpected. At once stretching away below me, and reaching to the right hand and the left,
lay quite a sea of bright-green forest, closely covering the rugged spurs and supports of the main ridge
of mountain, which reached away to the distance of
three or four miles. Beyond this was the level plain
in sober colouring; but a little to the left, glcaving
like silver in the rays of the evening sun, which
dazzled my eyes as I looked westward, lay the great
river Kistna, a couple of miles in width and studded
with small islands.  I had not seen so fair a scene
since I left the Neilgherry hills, nor can I call to
mind any one spot there which was so lovely; there
were many on a larger and grander scale; I think I
know of none more beautiful. I spent an hour in
scrambling by rugged paths, all made in olden days,
up to the top of some of the surrounding peaks and
ridges, which were surmounted by long walls and
bastions, except where the rock was so precipitous
as not to need any defence. I then returned to look
at the palace, which I had passed on my entrance
through the first gate: the ruins are extensive and
rambling, interesting from the tale they tell of days
gone by, and of the triumph of those who bear the
name of Christ over the heathens and M1ohamimedans. The building is, however, so much ruined,
that it is impossible to judge of its former splendour.
The main building is raised on a series of arched




JOURNAL —CONDAPILLY.            223
crypts, which remain in good order; the arch is the
conmmon Mohammedan one of this part of India, viz.
a flat-pointed arch, somewhat similar to that of the
late Tudor style in our English churches. The
building above has consisted of four or five long,
roomy aisles, corresponding to those of the crypts
below, but both roof and arches are gone, as well as
the greater part of the walls; the sole marks which
remain to show that kings once dwelt here are a few
square yards of plaster on the walls, cut or carved
with very graceful tracely; a style in which the Mussulmans seem to excel. The utter want of beauty
in the rest of the ruins, partly arises from the style
of Mohammedan building in these parts; for they
do not seem anywhere to carve the stone as the Hindus did, but are content with building their palace
or mosque of rough stone, which they cover over
with a coat of fine plaster, and adorn it with lines
of tracery cut in the plaster. The effect is, when
the plaster is fresh and white, and shining like marble,
exceedingly pretty; but it wants grandeur, and looks
as all plastered buildings do, weak and mean, and as
in this case, the ruins have none of their former
beauty to show.
We spent Sunday at Condapilly, and were joined'
in our morning service by the apothecary and his
wife, and the wife of the drummer-the drummer
himself being unwell, and the commanding officer
absent.
The same evening, as I was returning to our bungalow, I fell in with a most interesting character:
he was a Sepoy, who I found, after a few words of
conversation, was there on leave of absence, and'was
about to join his regiment (the 16th Madras Native
Infantry) in a few minutes. I discovered that though




224          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
he was a stranger to me personally, yet by his gallant exploit he was well known, not to me only, but
to thousands more. In the war in the Sawun Warree,
in 1845, he had been taken one day as an orderly by
a Lieutenant Campbell, of the Bombay European
Infantry, who with a party of thirty or forty of his
own men, had been ordered to dislodge a party of
the enemy in the dense jungle close at hand. This
Sepoy, K6tappa by name, was the only native of the
party-all the rest were European soldiers: when
they had advanced a little way into the forest, they
were fired on by an unseen enemy with deadly
aim, and nearly half the soldiers were struck down
dead. He described here the wounds of several of
them: among others, the officer was shot in the
forehead, and fell dead.  The soldiers retreated;
K6tappa, who was thus left alone, threw himself flat
on the body of the officer, and after a few minutes
discovered that the enemy had retreated, as well as
his friends; so, rising up, he took the dead body
on his shoulder, and carried it some little distance
to the rear, where he laid it down, to return for the
cap, sword, and double-barrelled gun of Lieutenant
Campbell.  While he was returning with these, five
of the enemy made their appearance, armed with
matchlocks; one of them fired at him, and wounded
him in the fleshy part of his arm. He said that he
was in a great fright himself, expecting that his last
hour was come, but he knelt down and took deliberate aim with the officer's gun, which was in his
hand, and shot one of the five men in the knee; the
others seeing him fall, took to their heels; and some
of our officers hearing the firing, concluded that there
must be some of the party who had advanced into
the jungle yet alive, and sent forward some troops




JOURNAL-GANNAVERAM.            225
to bring them off; these brought back Kotappa, the
wounded enemy, and the dead body. For this gallant action, K6tappa has been rewarded by the Madras Government with a star of merit, to be worn on
the breast, and with promotion to the rank of Naick,
(corporal,) but the circumstance which led to my
being familiar with his story was this:-Some of the
inhabitants of Perth, in Scotland, of which town
Lieutenant Campbell was a native, had struck a
large and beautiful gold medal, on which was recorded, both pictorially and in Hindustani and English, the event which drew forth this mark of their
gratitude; and sent the medal to K6tappa.  He
brought us the medal to the bungalow, to show it to
us, and seemed to be justly proud of the distinction
conferred on him, though at the same time he was a
man of quiet and humble manner.  He was very
grateful to the East India Company for the rewards
which he had received from them. He is a native
of Condapilly, and of the Golla or cow-herd caste. I
was reminded of David, the shepherd, who went up
against the lion and the bear and slew them, and I
grieved at the difference of this poor man and the
Bethlehemite; for the former knew not how to "go
up in the strength of the Lord."  We took the opportunity of telling him of a yet better Master than
the Company, and of yet more glorious deeds done
for him than he had done for his officer, and gave
him a couple of tracts to read on the way.
Ganndveram, Fridacy, Aug. 27. —0On  Monday
afternoon, Mr. Sharkey and I separated-he returned
to MAasulapitam, and I to make a two-days' detour
to Guntoor, to see my dear friends there previous to
continuing my tour in our own district.  Having
carried my horse across the deep-rolling stream of




226          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
the Kistna in a borse-boat, —which is a considerable
advance in civilization beyond the old plan of making
the poor animal spend half an hour in the water
swimming for his life,-I rode to Mungalagherry,
in time to go into the village for a conversation.  I
had about an hour and a half of useful talk with a
crowd of twenty or thirty people of the upper ranks,
before returning to the bungalow. Early next morning I rode over to Guntoor (twenty miles from the
river) just in time to be present at the half-yearly
examination of the schools, both English and Telngu, of boys and girls, under the care of the
-ev. and Mrs. WT. Gunn, of the American Lutheran
Church.  The last, viz. the girls, some thirty in
number, were particularly pleasant to see and hear;
they are all day-scholars, and most of them of decent, though ordinary Sudra caste.
After greatly enjoying for two days the society of
the little Christian circle at Guntoor, I left late on
Wednesday evening, and reached the river Kistna
soon after sunrise on Thursday morning. I had
proposed to have visited the Pariah settlement and
another part of Beizwarah, the same morning, but
the boatmen were so slow in crossing the river, and
the sun was so bright, that when I had crossed I
was glad to get into the shelter of the bungalow.
In the afternoon I started off to explore a new
line of country, viz. the high-road to Ellore, the
only other town in the whole district besides Nasulipatam.  I had a long ride of fourteen miles to this
place, through an imperfectly inhabited and threefourths uncultivated district: low hills covered with
bushes lying a few miles to the left.  The only villages almost which I saw were four or five which lay
on the road. It does not promise much as a mis



JOURNAL-GANNAVERAM.            227
sionary sphere. The village adjoining the bungalow
here is not large: I spent two hours in it this morning, in conversing with and addressing the chief
people in it, together with some of the Sudras of
less note.  Except with a young Brahmin with a
smattering of English, who wished to show off and
seem a little impudent, (and he was soon settled,) I
met no opposition, nor yet much encouragement,
though one or two made inquiries of interest.
Ganndverarn, Friday, Sept. 3, 1847. —Since I was
here a week ago, I travelled two stages to the town
of Ellore, the only other town in this large district
besides that of Masulipatam.  I found it a larger
and more prosperous town than I expected: its
width I could not judge of, but I rode more than a
mile through a long, crowded main street, and it has
besides two or three large suburbs. I took up my
quarters with some friends in the regiment stationed
there, and enjoyed a few days of happy Christian
intercourse with them: on Sunday we had two English services, with the Lord's Supper, at which about
twenty were present. In the mornings I visited the
lines of Sepoys, some of whom I had become acquainted with at Adur, or when they landed at
Masulipatam, and also had two or three interesting
conversations in the suburbs of the town nearest my
friend's house.  I had proposed leaving Ellore on
Tuesday afternoon, but was induced to change my
mind from a circumstance of a purely Indian character. In and near Ellore are the beds of three
small streams, one of which lay just in front of the
house where I was staying, and when I arrived it
had not a drop of water in it, consisting only of a
dry, yellow sand. On Monday afternoon, however,
it rained heavily, both at Ellore and on the hills




228         MIEMOIR OF II. W. FOX.
about twenty miles distant, so that on rising next
morning, I found a rushing stream three or four feet
deep, and twenty yards across, filling the whole bed,
and preventing convenient ingress or egress except
in one direction. On Wednesday afternoon it had
fallen again, so as to be scarcely ankle deep, and I
started on my return.  I spent all yesterday at a
village called Apparowpett, in which, and in a neighbouring village, I had interesting opportunities, both
in the morning and evening, of telling willing audiences of Christ.  This morning I came on to this
village, a distance of fourteen miles, but stopped for
an hour at a village which, on my way to Ellore,
had appeared to me to be a large one. On dismounting, however, and walking about it, I found nothing
but ruined mud-walls, with here and there a dilapidated house. I could, with difficulty, get an audience
at all, and this only by going to one of the grainshops on the high-road, and so gathering five or six
villagers around me, and as many travellers. They
told me the village had been ruined in the great
famine thirteen or fourteen years ago, and had
never recovered, in consequence of insufficient supplies of rain for the rice cultivation, on which the
village depends, during the years which had elapsed
since.  But I could not but think that want of
energy had had its share in continuing the destitution. Two-thirds of the land near and in sight of
the road to this village, as well as from Ellore to
Apparowpett, are uncultivated, mostly covered with
low bushes and jungle.
This afternoon I was much amused at the novel
case of a haunted house. The pensioned Sepoy attached to the bungalow, who had been an acquaintance of mine at MIasulipatam  three years ago, came




JOURNAL-GANNAVERAM.            229
about the middle of the day, and told me that since
I was here last, his house had tumbled down, and
he and his wife and nine children were all living
under the trees! I recommended him to set to work
and build another, for his pay is seven rupees a
month, and he could easily build a good one for two,
or at most three rupees, (four or six shillings.) However, I found that the house had not really fallen
down, but, as he said, "The day after your honour
went, a hand rose out of the ground in the house,
and we can live in it no longer." I could not understand him, and asked, whose hand? What did he
mean?  He said he could not tell whose hand it
was, perhaps it was God's hand, but there it was, all
the village had seen it, sticking as far as the elbow
out of the ground, fingers and all. I asked what he
had done, he said he had taken a sword and cut it
off, and blood and matter had flowed from it, and it
smelt offensively. His story greatly puzzled me, for
he evidently was not deceiving me, and I suggested
that some man had been murdered and buried secretly in the ground of his house. This did not
satisfy him, and I promised I would come in the
afternoon and see it, for he said the hand he had cut
off was there still. As I went with him, I found all
the neighbours confirmed the story, and he told me
on inquiry, that the hand was white, not a black
one. On entering the court-yard of his deserted
hut, he pointed to a spot in and under a hedge, as
the place where the mysterious hand had arisen: it
was so situated that it was impossible any thing
could have been buried there since the hedge was
formed, nor was there room for any thing to have
risen out of the ground more than six inches in
length. "There," he said, " is a piece of the hand,"
20




230          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
pointing to a little crooked thing on the ground,
like the dried claws of a bird, as large as a crow.
"What," said I, "is this the wonderful hand?"
He assured me it was, and I took it up and found it
a brittle substance, which, on closer inspection,
turned out to be nothing more than a piece of the
clay formed by white ants, and often formed out of
the ground to the length of several inches in one
night. In this case the clay had taken the form of
a hand, or of claws. Hindu exaggeration had made
it as large as that of a man, and a superstitious
imagination had supplied both the blood and the
bad smell. I found however that it was not a solitary case: —some years ago, a similar hand made its
appearance in a house belonging to a neighbouring
zemindar, which was in consequence deserted.  My
amusement at the discovery of the hobgoblin did
not seem at all to shake the belief of the Sepoy,
though he acknowledged it was strange that a limb
should both bleed and emit an offensive smell at the
same time.  I afterward spent nearly two hours
with some Brahmins in the public cutchery; but as
the discussion chiefly turned on the viciousness of
their gods, it was, I fear, to little profit.  I told
them of Christ, but he did not form our chief topic.
Neddamole, Sept. 8, 1847.-From Gannaveram I
rode ten or twelve miles across country, by a country road, that is, a miry foot-path, about twelve miles
from Weyoor.  I stopped an hour by the way at
the village of Manakonda, and preached the gospel
to some twenty of the farming people. I had more
freedom of tongue than usual, but I long for that
freedom and full command of the language to enable
me to enlarge a little on the fvtlness of Christ, and
to tell them of the sweets of his love. I fear my




JOURNAL-RAMACIIERDRA.           231
method of conveying the gospel message is a very
dry one.
TO THE REV. J. TUCKER, (LATE OF MADRAS,) CHURCH
MISSIONARY SOCIETY, LONDON.
Ramacherdra, Apparowpettah Bungalow, Sept. 2, 1847.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
The very name will remind you of dear India,
which I know is as dear to you (or more so) as it is
to me, in spite of its hot sun and dry dull plains. I
am out now on another tour; but as we are in the
middle of the monsoon, I cannot bring my tent, and
consequently keep myself to the high-roads, and the
bungalows on them.  We have only two high-roads,
or I may say roads of any kind, in the district, running at right angles to each other, viz. that from
Bunder toward Secunderabad, 100 miles of which
are in our Zillah, and the Calcutta road, of which
about the same length runs through the Collectorate.
I am now on the latter, one stage short of Ellore,
from which I returned yesterday, after staying there
four days with Major      and Captain --, two
Christian officers in the 47th native infantry. Sharkey started with me from Bunder nearly a month
ago, and we travelled together for a fortnight as far
as Condapilly and back to Beizwarah: when, as he
was not very well, he returned to Bunder.  We
visited a great many villages together, and in most
of them found the gospel a new subject, and the
name of Christ quite unknown: printed characters
have never been seen by the majority of the village
readers, though the villages we have visited have
all been within two or three miles of the high-road.
No less than four times has the question been put to




232          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
me, twice by Sudras, and twice by Brahmins: "If
all you say is true, how is it that during these eighty
years that the Company have ruled this country,
they have never, till now, sent to tell us of these
things? since then, what millions have perished in
ignorance!" This, coupled with the fact that, until
undeceived, the people, both in Bunder and in the
villages, supposed us to be the Company's missionaries, most practically refutes the foolish cry, that if
the government were to attempt to preach the gospel, the people would rise in arms against us. The
Hindoos have the perception, as we have, of the
simple principle, that if a man believes a thing to be
true, he is right in making it known to those who
are ignorant of it. Sharkey's power of speaking
greatly astonishes the people, and no one is able to
answer him; for by adroitly expressing his argument in clear, forcible language, he places the truth
in fair contrast with the gross falsehood of Hindooism, and they are compelled to acknowledge the
truth of what he says. However, I am thankful
also to say that he preaches Christ, and is anxiously
desirous of making him known.  He will have told
you of Mrs. Sharkey's little girls' school; it has
increased in numbers since we came out, and will
increase yet more.
We have sent David (who was baptized last
August) down to Madras for a wife out of Mrs.
Peters's school, so that I hope we shall soon have a
really native-christian sister in our congregation,
which I cannot say we have had hitherto. Jacob
has gone to Vizagapatam to fetch his two little
daughters, Maria and Anna, and his heathen wife,
if she will come. About five weeks ago we baptized
Sitaphti, a young Sudra, who joined us at the end




JOURNALT-RAMACHERDRA.            233
of May.  He was quite unconverted and unknown
to us before he came to seek for baptism; nevertheless, his coming being known through the town,
in consequence of his having to witness a good confession in the public cutchery, was the cause of a
good many scholars leaving the English school:
their places were filled up immediately by crowds
of applicants, and the school is now larger (about
sixty) and in better order than formerly. I and
Sharkey go on in the town quietly preaching and
discussing in the streets: of late I have decided to
go more among the Pariahs and Chuklers than I
used to do, both because it is to the poor that the
gospel is peculiarly to be preached, and also they
are less bound by prejudice and priestcraft than the
upper classes. I have been spending a very interesting afternoon to-day. In the early morning when
I was talking in the village here, I had for one of
my hearers an old man of respectable appearance,
who took an interest in what I said, and asked for a
book; he turned out to be the land-holder of a
neighbouring village, and begged that I would pay
him a visit at his own house.  I went therefore
about four o'clock to his village, which is a very
small one, about a mile distant, and consisting of
Sudras, most of whom are farmers of his land. He
spread a little cotton carpet (you know the striped
blue and white tent-carpets) before his door, and
when I had squatted down on it, he sat down beside
me, and about a dozen of the Sudras of the village
came around us; the conversation soon turned to
religion, and I had a good opportunity of telling
them of Christ's history and his redemption of man,
to which they listened with much interest, and consented to it all. After half an hour thus spent, the
20*




234          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
old man sent for the tract I had given him in the
morning, and asked me to read it to them. It was
a very clever and pointed tract, on the follies and
wickedness of caste, and they all listened with delight, and often repeated expressions of admiration
at the expose, and particularly at the hits against
the Brahmins.  In the middle, a Brahmin came
past, one of the learned class, so they stopped him
to ask him some questions; and I had half an hour's
discussion with him, exposing the wickedness of
their gods, to which he could make no answer; all
the other hearers chimed in with what I said. After
he was gone, and I had read enough of the tract, I
opened St. Luke's gospel, and read the parable of
the prodigal son: they were delighted with the story,
but not so much so with the explanation of it. It
grew quite late before I was done, when I left them
with a warning of the responsibility they had now
incurred by having heard of Christ.  In many places
we find a strong dislike of the Brahmins among the
Sudras, arising, I think, from all the power of the
country being in the hands of the former, who occupy almost every magisterial and revenue post, and
from the consequent tyranny they exercise. I am
continually forced to feel that our present work is
that of preparation: if there is to be any extensive
conversion of the people in this neighbourhood, it
will be in the days of our successors, but whether
those days will ever come or not I cannot tell: at
all events the gospel has been preached among the
Teloogoo nation, and that is enough to satisfy God's
prophecy. * * * Believe me,
Your very affectionate friend,
HENRY W. Fox.




LOSS OF HEALTH.              235
CHAPTER VIII.
LOSS OF HEALTH-OBLIGED TO ABANDON INDIA-RETURN
TO ENGLAND-DEATH OF HIS FATHER-IMPROVESIENT OF
HEALTH-UNDERTAKES THE OFFICE OF ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
TOWARD the close of the year 1847 my brother's
health again failed, not as before, from the nervous
irritation produced by the heat upon his system, but
from repeated attacks of dysentery, which so weakened him as to render a voyage to sea essential for
his restoration. After a short voyage along the
coast, he was obliged to resort to Madras for medical aid, and it was there that, after mature deliberation, the professional men in that place declared that
his constitution was not suited for India, and that
he must proceed home immediately, for ever renouncing the hope of being able to return.
This decision was too plainly in accordance with
his own experience to allow of its being disputed,
and it was with a heavy heart that he bade adieu to
India's shores. After his return home he frequently
expressed his lively sorrow on this account, and said
he found it more difficult to submit to the will of
God in this trial, than in any other he had ever
experienced. He returned home by the overland
route, and arrived in England in the month of
March, just in time to have the'painful satisfaction
of closing his beloved father's eyes, and ministering
to him in his last hours.  He reached Durham on
the 15th of April; on the 18th his father died.




236          MEROIR OF H. W. FOX.
Masulipatam, Oct. 2, 1847.
M[Y DEAR FATTIER AND MOTHER,
I very much wished to write to you yesterday,
but was quite unable to do so, not as usual, because
I was too busy, for I have had time enough on my
hands for some days past; but I was not strong
enough, as I am  only recovering from a sharp,
though not severe, attack of illness, which has laid
me up for a fortnight. I trust that now, by God's
continued mercy, I shall go on improving, and be
about my work in another week.  My ailment was
a slight dysentery, arising from and accompanied by
biliousness. The depressing and weakening nature
of the disease itself, added to the remedies used,
brought me low enough.      *  *  I am thankful,
however, that the attack was checked at once, and I
do not suppose I shall be any the worse for it when
it is over. Among the other mercies I received
was that of the unremitting and kind attention of
the doctor of the station, who visited me every
morning and night.  My servants also were very
kind, and my butler waited on me with the attention
which one might expect from an old attached servant, rather than what I should look for from a man
not ten months in my service: so that my illness
has been full of marks of my Father's tenderness,
just as the stars shine brightest in the darkest night.
In this, the sharpest attack of illness I remember to
have had, as well as in other slighter illnesses, I
have found my mind and spirit greatly to fail me:
for two or three dayss, when suffering from weakness,
I was unable to collect my thoughts to pray, or my
desires to have any longing after God. I was however kept resting on him peacefully, without doubts
or anxieties, or those temptations which Satan likes




LOSS OF HEALTH.             237
to bring against an enfeebled child of God. Though
I knew I was in no danger, yet my mind often ran
on my death, as this was just such a shadowy valley
as leads to it, and I desired rather to go to the end
of it than to turn back. I could desire to have
more lively sights of Christ during illness; I know
not whether the absence of such does not mark a too
dull looking at him while in health, or it may be
greatly the physical depression of the soul which
hides him from me. I can see, however, that my
various little illnesses are all given me by way of
training and preparing me for the last struggle:
from my late experience of the pain of weakness I
could almost shrink from the dark valley, but that
were to mistrust my Saviour: David says, I will
fear no evil.  And he can, if it is good for me and
for his glory, make the valley shorter even than the
few days of weakness I this time suffered, as indeed
is common in India; or what is best, he can make
his presence to shine in the darkest part of the valley, and in "His presence is the fulness of joy,"
whether in sickness or in health, on earth or in
heaven. I am thankful now to be raised up again,
to be allowed to go on in my poor way with the
glorious work which he permits me to be engaged
in. Yesterday, thirty years ago, I was born to you:
the round number of thirty seems to make this
birth-day one of the stages of life, and I feel all the
older for having passed out of my twenties, though
I suppose to you the age seems a little one after all.
What an unspeakable mercy to be quite freed from
all those uneasinesses of growing older, and so
nearer the end of life, with which the men of the
world are troubled at every memorial of the passing
away of their years? The poor heathen are terribly




238         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
afraid of death: to mention the subject to them is
almost a piece of bad manners, and to speak however
incidentally of any man's death with whom we may
be conversing, is an evil omen, and causes a shudder of
pain in the poor listener.  What a bondage is this to
be freed from! They are astonished to hear me speak
of death as a thing greatly to be longed for. I knew
that you would all be thinking of me yesterday, and
especially I knew my dear children would pray for me.
October 6.-I have had a letter from each of you
since I wrote last: very many thanks for them. I
am very thankful to hear by the last, that you are
both so well again after having been both tried by
illness: it is like the bright clear shining after rain:
nevertheless, we must look for the return of the rain
again and again as long as we are in this stormy,
sinful world. Your account of Seaton meeting interested me much. I have heard very little of the
meetings of the Church Missionary Society this year;
I should like to have heard more, as I feel strongly
interested in the places I visited as "deputation"
last year. I wrote a long letter to Mr. Dixon, to be
in time for the September meeting at Shields,
which I think was the meeting I liked best of all I
was at.    *    * 
Your very affectionate son,
HENRY W. Fox.
Masulipatam, Oct. 18, 1847.
MY DEAREST ISABELLA,
You will be anxious to hear how I am, after my
last fortnight's bulletin of bad health, and I am
thankful to be able to give a better report of myself:
indeed the doctor pronounces me to be rid of my
complaint, and all that remains is the danger of a




LOSS OF HEALTH.              239
relapse through incautiousness of diet or exposure,
and considerable weakness.  I have not made the
progress in recovery which I anticipated when I
wrote to father and mother, but after all it is only a
month and three days that I have been laid up.  The
exceedingly damp weather, tremendous falls of rain,
and a saturated soil, with pools of water in all directions, seem to have been the secondary cause of
the delay; but it is well to look higher to the first
cause, and to see God prostrating me and keeping
me low for purposes of his own: some of which I
now see. During the first week of my illness I
was much reduced by my disease and by the remedies; and I was astonished and amused at one of the
effects of my languor and weakness, which was the
springing up in my heart of strong desires for the
scenes of natural beauty which I used once to enjoy;
and not only a desire for them, but a strong assurance,
that if I was in them, I could enjoy them, as I did
of old. It was indeed a partial lifting up of the
curtain which has fallen over boyhood and its bright
feelings; and I could not help thinking of Wordsworth's Ode on Immortality. It seemed also to be a
hint how easily God can restore, in the right time
and place, those powers of enjoyment.  Now I beg
of you not to be anxious about my having been ill:
the anxiety which you all show about my ailments
causes me more uneasiness than my sicknesses
themselves do. I have never yet been seriously ill,
nor have I had any complaint likely to injure me
for the future. In this climate I must expect periodical attacks of some kind; and if they weaken
my body, I hope they do good to my soul. But
above all, I am in God's hands, and not one day's
illness shall I have beyond what is good for me, and




240          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
for his glory. It would not be strange if he was to
make some illness the instrument for carrying me
home, where my dear Lizzy and baby are, in his
bosom; or he might drive me to England; but
again, it is not improbable (and I continually pray
for it) that he may permit me to remain a little
longer to preach his gospel here. My utter unworthiness to be so employed makes this last seem
less hopeful; yet even here there is hope, for he may
purpose to show his power to perform his work with
the most inefficient of all instruments.  *  <*  *
I trust I shall find profit from this dealing of God,
and glorify him by patiently suffering his will; but
I see not much of this yet.  My thoughts have
been led much to dwell on the insufficiency of lively
piety among us missionaries: the same is the general
fault of the church of God at large, in present, and
perhaps in all times. But for missionaries to be
half-hearted, cold of prayer, sluggish of faith, it is
grievous! and what can Satan want more to check their
inroads on his kingdom. I greatly desire that in
your own prayers for me and for missionaries, you
would entreat God for more graces of the Spirit in
our own souls-more faith, more untired zeal, selfdenial, deadness to the world and flesh, more love
for souls, showing itself in continued and earnest
cryings and prayers for them; and do you speak
of this matter to others who pray for the extension
of God's kingdom, who wait for his redemption in
Israel.  People think missionaries such good folk
as scarcely to need prayer, except perhaps that they
may be consoled in sorrows, &c.; we much more need
to be prayed for, that we may not settle on our lees.
Your very affectionate brother,
HErRaY W. Fox.




MADRAS.                 241
Madras, January 13th, 1848.
MY DEAREST SISTER,
I am writing to you from the same house in which
I wrote my first letter in India. I have been here
nearly a fortnight, after a three weeks' voyage, from
Vizigapatam, which, though iunusually protracted,
did me some good. As soon as I got here I sought
the advice of Dr. Sanderson. He has always inspired me with confidence in him, from the very
careful and minute examination of a case which he
makes at first, and his clear insight into the real
ailment. After examining me, and watching me for
a week, he spoke decidedly to me a few days ago,
referring to his former experience of my constitution.
He considers my liver organically affected, though
slightly, and gives no hopes of my recovering from
this state on shore: thinks I may more or less completely recover from it by a voyage to sea for a few
months, but believes I shall never be able to continue
in India, and that my return to Masulipatam will be
attended with great probability of a return of disease,
and consequent risk of life.  He says my constitution is unfit for the tropics, wanting nervous energy,
so that when a complaint lays hold on me, I sink
under it at once. This I know to be true by experience; and indeed much of what he said to me is
confirmed by what I have heard from doctors about
my health in time past, though unconnectedly and
not so decidedly. I tell you all the worst, because
I know you would wish me to reserve nothing from
you, and at present there is no risk, so far as man
can see, of life. I have pretty well decided to take
a sea-voyage, perhaps to the Straits of Malacca, perhaps to the Cape of Good Hope, for a few months:
not that Dr. S. thinks I shall return set up again for
21




242         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
work, though he anticipates much good from such a
step; but I do it for my own satisfaction and that of
others, that I may not forsake my missionary work
too lightly: my own thoughts at present are that I
ought to make every endeavour to stay by my work
as long as I possibly can, even at some risk. I have
asked the advice of  - and -, whose judgment
I value highly; the former thinks I ought not
to remain in India, to run the risk predicted by the
doctor: the latter advises a good sea-voyage, and after
that another experiment at Masulipatam, taking every
and even peculiar precaution to avoid exposure. I
shall be better able to decide when the time for decision comes: for God does not always make our
distant plans clear to us; only if we have sought
his guidance, he will make the next step to be taken
clear to us. I wish you therefore, dear sister, to
help me in this matter both with your advice and
your prayers.  In case I return from a sea-voyage,
recovered from my present state of health, and Dr.
S. continues to affirm the same risk to attach to my
attempting to renew my work at Bunder, ought I to
run the risk or not?  I wish to have an impartial
judgment, as little influenced as you can by your
feelings of affection, and with such reasons as appear
to you on the subject. Secondly, pray for me, that
I may with a single purpose seek God's glory in my
decision, that I may have no wishes or will of my
own in the matter, and that he will guide me aright.
Your letter directed to Madras, in reply to this, will
probably arrive before I have to decide. * * *
Your very affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.




MADRAS.                 243
TO THE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Madras, Jan. 18, 1848.
MY DEAR ROBERT:
This day last year I was on the point of setting
out from Guntoor to rejoin you at Bunder, and to
re-enter on my work in full health and spirits; today, what a change! broken down and enfeebled,
and with prospects far from raising my spirits; I
am beginning to write to you in preparation for retiring from my work: I can only say, God's will be
done: he has shown me endless mercies in India:
his goodness in bringing me and employing me here
for a little while has been great, and now if it is his
will to send me away to a less honourable position
in his vineyard, who am I, that I should gainsay
it? Only I would desire to be humbled at his rejection of me: and I do pray, and will continue to
pray and to labour that he may send out to you
others more and more fitted for his work than I
am.    *    *    *
Your affectionate brother in Christ,
HENRY W. Fox.
Madras, Jan. 22, 1848.
- M  DEAR ISABELLA:
I write to you by Marseilles with the view of preventing you from writing by return of mail in reply
to my last letter: for I have come to the decision,
earlier than I anticipated,.,of at once leaving India
and proceeding to England.  On consideration I
saw, as I might have seen from the first, that considering Dr. S — said, his view of my case would
remain unaltered, however much I might be bene



244         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
fited by a voyage to the Cape, England, or elsewhere; it was my business previous to starting on
such a voyage, to make up my mind regarding my
fature course, or rather that the making such an
experimental voyage and returning to India was in
itself an opinion in opposition to the doctor's opinion.
I waited however for a few days, till Dr. Sanderson
called in another and senior doctor, and they unitedly
condemned my residence in the country: upon this,
I came to the conclusion above-mentioned, considering it to be my duty not to run the risk predicted
by competent medical judges, while an important
though inferior sphere of work lay open for me in
England.  I trust I have judged according to God's
will. I have sought his guidance, and prayed that
I might be unbiassed, and I have used the means of
asking a few friends most competent to give advice.
The giving up my Indian work is very painful, as
you will well know; but my weak state of body,
and callous, enfeebled feelings, do not let me feel at
present so much pain as I might. Indeed, I seem
able to feel nothing, neither love nor hatred, joy nor
sorrow, but I believe this is chiefly physical. I am
not, however, worse, though feeling poorly. In all
probability I shall embark in the steamer of the 13th
of February, and proceeding from Alexandria by the
Trieste and Germany line, which is now open, reach
London about the end of March.  I suppose I shall
be just in time for the Clifton Church Missionary
Society meetings: I hope to be stronger by that
time, if it pleases God to bless the cool climate to
my recovery.    Believe me,
Your ever affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.




OFF GIBRALTAR.             245
TO THE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Steamer " Ripon," near Gibraltar, March 23, 1848.
MY DEAR ROBERT:
I wrote to Sharkey by the returning Precursor,
and we have not since then had any opportunity of
writing to India.  *  *  I am just now emerging
from the dream or cloud in which I have been bodily
and mentally these last six months: for, during the
last four or five days, I have begun, for the first
time, to regain a little energy and vigour, as my
bodily health began decidedly to improve. Up till
then, the voyage has been to me, like the time on
shore, full of discomfort, as distracting as pain,
though not so hard to bear, and altogether prostrating every energy. The prostration of mind and
heart has been as great as that of body, and much
more distressing. I have been quite unable to write,
or to read any but the most trifling books; the Bible
has been generally a closed book to me, and my mind
has wandered as I tried to read it. But now, thanks
to God, I seem to be restored somewhat.  *  *  I
had expected a much more speedy improvement;
indeed, during the last few weeks at Madras, I was
looking forward with an intense longing to the day
of starting, hoping that I should feel immediate
benefit as soon as I embarked: but it seems as if
my constitution had got too low to be resuscitated
at once, and, till I reached Egypt, I continued better
and worse, but still very poorly. The change on
landing at Suez was surprising; it had not been hot
in the Red Sea, but nothing of chilliness had been
felt, until we had got into the little boat which took
us from the ship, just at sunrise; and then the air
was as sharp as on an English spring morning. The
21"




246          MEMOIR OF HI. W. FOX.
whole time we were in Egypt the wind blew fromn
the north, and was very cold and keen, and, consequently, we most of us caught colds, had red noses,
and chapped lips.  The change at first was very
beneficial to me, but just before we left Alexandria,
(having been detained there four days,) I caught
an internal cold, which brought on my dysentery
symptoms again, and reduced me very low. I am
thankful to say, that the means employed stayed
the disease in two or three days after I embarked
again; and I have been daily regaining strength,the weather has been delightful; a soft, but fresh
S. W. wind has blown in our faces, with a blue sky
and hazy horizon, and reminded me much of those
occasional lovely days at Brighton, which occur
during the winter months.  I do feel it to be a
great gift and mercy, that God is restoring to me
my health, and with it his presence; for I am now
again able to pray, and to rejoice in him:-during
my weakness, I have been in a cloud far from him,
neither humbled nor prayerful, but altogether listless. What poor creatures we are, and how vile are
our bodies! and yet it has been a comfort and encouragement to mle many times, that vile as my
body is, and I have felt it to be, yet Christ Jesus
has redeemed it, and counts it precious.  Certainly
the truth of the resurrection of the body is a very
precious one during sickness. In crossing the desert
I suffered very severely: it still remains to me like a
horrible dream, and I scarcely think I could muster
courage to go through the trial again, under similar
circumstances: it was curious, how differently the
very same thing affected a healthy body and a weak
one. When I crossed in 1846, I reached Suez after
twenty-four hours of jolting, quite fresh, having




LETTERS.                 247
greatly enjoyed the amusement of the transit, but
now I scarcely know how to sit or lie;-pained, and
exhausted, and faint, I at one time felt desirous of
being rather left alone in the desert than of going
forward; but here, God, who allowed the suffering,
would not let it go too far, and I was able to feel
confident, that as I trusted in him he would carry
Me through; and he did so, so that I was not materially the worse for it, and had only to lie-up the
next day, during which we remained quietly at
Cairo.  Indeed, all through he has been showing
to me his wonderful providences and mercies; and
when I think of the tranquil passage we have enjoyed, and the numerous comforts I have had, I see
a Father's hand in it all. * 
Your affectionate brother in Christ,
HENRY W. Fox.
REV. It. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Durham, April 17th, 1848.
MY DEAR BROTHER,
This first letter to you from me in England, opens
again the wounds of separation: I daily feel more
and more, instead of decreasingly, the sorrow of having left you all, and having been separated from the
work of a missionary.  It is no satisfaction to be
told by friends that there is much want of the labours of Christ's ministers in England; for this last
reminds me how much greater is the want of such
in India, and in all the rest of the heathen world,
which want is increased by my return.  I have however found something to rest on, in what has been
suggested by two or three.  " He who has brought
you back from your own work in India, will have




248          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
provided some sphere in England, in which you may
glorify him." It is not my part to dictate how or
where I shall do God's work, and it is my resistance
to his will on this point that makes the sacrifice a
hard one. *    * *
Your affectionate brother in Christ,
HENRY W. Fox.
REV. J. SHARKEY, MASULIPATAM.
Clifton, Bristol, May 9th, 1848.
MY DEAR SHARKEY,
Unless I write to you at intervals, just as I can
snatch a little time, I shall not be able to write to
you at all by this mail. * * * The weather and
scenery are indeed lovely. I cannot convey the idea
of them adequately to you, because they are so unlike any thing in India. The trees, which have been
bare of leaves for six months, have just burst out
into their full covering of bright green and soft
leaves; some are in blossom, the fields are full of
rich long grass, and enamelled with wild flowers;
the whole country looks like a well-kept garden.
For a fortnight past we have scarcely had a cloud to
-speck the blue sky, and this we greatly enjoy; for
though it is a little warm when we walk in the sun
at mid-day, yet the temperature in the shade is delightfully fresh, without being cold. I am well
enough and strong enough to enjoy very greatly all
these beautiful works of God, and almost with the
same delight as I used to possess in earlier days;
though I feel that there has passed away a brightness from the earth since the days when I used to
lie lazily in the woods, or beside some running stream,
surrendering myself to the influences around me. Still




WATCHFULNESS.               249
I do enjoy it greatly; and if with a chastened, yet,
I hope also with a hallowed pleasure: but not for
one moment can these enjoyments compete with
thoughts and regrets of India: there is nothing so
joyful or so glorious as a missionary sphere. There
are some respects in which you are a gainer by being
a missionary in your native land, as, for instance,
you are spared all the trial of a continued absence
from the friends, scenes, habits, climate, and land of
your childhood and boyhood.  India presents nothing
which is disagreeably strange to you; the hot landwind, uncomfortable as it may be, is not unnatural
or foreign, so you have not the suffering which we,
who come from England, have; but, on the other
hand, you are in the same matter a decided loser,
exactly because you have not the suffering. God
may be pleased to matke up to you the loss by some
other sorrows equally precious and useful: but,
believe me, it is a choice gift of his to keep us, while
at work in that daner'ous field of missions, in a continued though not acute state of suffering.  I refer
to this subject in order to append to it a line or two
of advice or exhortation; viz. that as you are without this spiritual blessing, as a continued stream
commingling with the stream of your life, you have
the greater necessity for watchfulness, lest Satan
draw you into a state of dulness, and absence of
spiritual-imindedness.  And there is'the more need
of caution, because your continued occupation all
day long acts as a temptation to be negligent in
prayer and reading.  Forgive my word of advice:
I do very earnestly yearn for you all, that you may
be men and women mighty in prayer and in faith,
and abounding in every Christian grace. The more
that I reflect on my low estate in this respect, both




250          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
now and while in India, the more do I desire and pray
that every one of you may be lifted up toward God,
and be filled abundantly with his Spirit. As yet in
England the real active interest in missions is very
low: there is abundance of material on which to
work, that is, there are vast numbers of truly religious men and women who acknowledge the duty,
and feel some interest in missions, but they have
not as yet been more than very partially worked.
I am going down to Oxford in a few days, to endeavour
to work the young men there, but "not by power
nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the -Lord."  I
hear of no movement either there or at Cambridge,
or among our clergy.  It may be many years before
men are sent forth. abundantly, and before you
receive help to enable you to spread the gospel far
and wide; but it is nevertheless a glorious privilege
to be allowed to be digging the foundations, or hewing
the stones, which others shall build up. I was very
glad to hear that you and Darling had been out in the
villages again, and the latter by himself on one occasion; for this shows that he is feeling himself at home
in the language.  His village work will form a valuable antidote to the disease of sinking down to be a
stagnant missionary, with a vernacular school or two
to look after, and a little congregation to speak to.
The village work stirs up to greater activity in town
work. How goes on your preaching in Robertson's
pettah? My heart goes along with you there most
thoroughly. May the Lord bless you in your work,
and especially in your own soul!
Believe me very affectionately your's in Christ,
H[ENRY  V. Fox.




WATCHFULNESS.               251
Wadham College, Oxon, May 30, 1848.
MY DEAREST SISTER,
My heart is so disturbed and so full, that I long to
write to you to relieve it.  My return here is as
painful, and more so than it is pleasant. It is not
that my time here was more happy than present
times, for I could not so belie the grace of God which
has been given me these eight years past; but every
scene and sound is recalling thoughts and feelings
which have slumbered for long, and is reminding me
that much has passed away which I never can'have
again in this life —much elasticity, much joyousness,
much brightness. This does not make me melancholy,
for I have received things which are much better;
but it greatly disturbs me, and I cannot enjoy myself in beautiful'Oxford in May; this perturbation
will, I know, subside after a while. All these scenes
carry me back beyond the happiest days which I
have yet known: and so they cause painful feelings
to arise; for they make me think of all that has
passed since, my five years with dear Elizabeth, and
my missionary life in India; and till I go down to
the grave myself, and till I am called away from all
work on earth, these two recollections cannot but
contain much that is bitter.  My cessation from
missionary work is still a fresh grief, and at times
it is very hard to bear; I knew it would be a trial,.
but I did not know how great a one, and sometimes
I begin to think of going back again, but am checked
by the strong assurance that I have, that I should
return to India-but not to active work.  How little
do men know the real state of the case, when they
think that the trial consists in going to be a missionary; for with all its palliations of returning to
England, to home, friends, family, and children, it




252          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
is the cominyg from being a missionary which is the
real sorrow; and beautiful as are our green field sand
hedge-rows, they make me sigh to be back at dear
Bander, even in the midst of this burning May.
You will see, as I do, that in these feelings there is
very much of the natural heart, and that they do
not altogether spring  firom  a desire to advance
Christ's kingdom: for if I had his glory more truly
at heart, I should more cheerfully submit to his
manifest will that I should no longer remain in
India.    *    *
Your affectionate brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
It was a great satisfaction to his friends, to find
that though my brother's constitution could not stand
the climate of India, it seemed to rally rapidly in his
native air: the voyage had done him much good, and
as the summer drew on he seemed so much restored
to his usual state of health, that he began to consider
in what sphere of useful labour he should engage at
home. At one time he thought he would like to undertake the charge of some populous parish in our
crowded manufacturing districts, as having a population that in some respects resembled the heathen.
During the summer, however, the Church Missiona}ry Society proposed to him the office of Assistant
Secretary: this was so congenial to his feelings, and
seemed to hold out so promising a prospect of future
usefulness in that cause which was nearest his heart,
that after mature consideration he gladly accepted
the offer and at once entered on its duties.




ASSISTANT SECRETAERY.           253
TO H. STOKES, ESQ., GUNTOOR.
Church Missionary House, Salisbury Square, July 7, 1848.
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,
My thoughts have very often been at Guntoor,
since my return to England; and I was greatly
rejoiced to see a good account of yourself and your
family in a late letter from you to Mr. Tucker.
With all the heat of India, and your hard, anxious
work as collector, I should envy your position if I
might; for to be permitted to live in India appears
to be a great privilege, and to be removed from it
and from missionary work, while it is a most righteous
act of a loving Father, is to me, I am sure, one of
chastisement and warning.  With my returning
health, my desires for, and love of India, have returned: as long as I was suffering from  disease, the
lowness of my spirits and an intense physical shrinking from the very idea of an Indian sun, made my
separation from India a light matter; but I have
had many sorrowful seasons since then. It was
to me a very great comfort to see in your letter a
good account of our dear brother Noble; that he is
still permitted to go on without failing or fainting.
I have been very mercifully dealt with; for my bodily
health is all but entirely restored, and my strength
very much so; and though I may not preach to the Teloogoo villagers, I am permitted in an indirect way to
have a share in the great work of missions, for I am
associated as Assistant Secretary with Mr. Venn and
Mr. Tucker in the Church Missionary House; and
unworthy as I am of so great an honour, I feel it a
great happiness to be thus employed. I have but
just commenced my work; but I see great privileges
in it; first, I am led to become intimately acquaint22




254     - MEMOIR OF 1H. W. FOX.
ed with the details of all the Society's missions in
the four quarters of the world; then I am an agent
in the Society commenced by Simeon, John Venn,
and other holy men of the last generation; and our
colmmittee-meetings are indeed those of Christian
men.  Then I am brought into contact with many
of the eminently good men of London and its neighbourhood: and, not least, I am allowed the affectionate friendship and intercourse with two such men as
Mr. Venn and Mr. Tucker.  When I magnify my
office, then I lower myself; for who am I, to be
thus blessed and set in so privileged a position?
Dear friend, pray for us here at head-quarters, as
well as for the missionaries in the field; it is not
only wisdom and prudence that we need, but holiness
and a deep knowledge of God.  The Society, which
for fifty years has been kept in the truth, and in a
pure and earnest faith, is as holy (I had almost said)
as the ark of the Lord: and it seems wellnigh a,
profanity to touch it with such hands as mine.  I
know of no immediate prospect of a missionary for
Bunder; our Universities are still asleep. I visited
Oxford for a fortnight, and though a little advanced
in missionary interest since I was there two years
ago, it is still barely above freezing-point. We have
numlerous offers of men for the Church Missionary
Institution, some of whom are very promising; but the
Finance Committee are shy of allowing any fresh expen diture, while the general funds are in so low a state.
However, the accumulated subscriptions to the Teloogoo mission justify the appointment of a missionary to
Bunder, if we can find one, and I trust the Lord will
guidle us in the search and bring the right lman to us.
Your affectionate, but unworthy, brother in Christ,
HENRY W. Fox.




RECOLLECTIONS OF INDIA.         255
TO THEE REV. R. T. NOBLE, MASULIPATAM.
Ilampstead July 16, 1848.
MY BELOVED BROTHER,
I may well occupy a few minutes of the evening
of this day of rest and of preaching the gospel, in
writing to you. Never a day passes, without you
and all; our dear brothers and sisters at Masulipatam
being in my thoughts, and seldom do I forget to pray
for you; but on Sunday I remember you most;though by the time I am going to church your afternoon is well advanced, yet I think of you, with that
little feeble flock around you; and never do I read
the commencement of the Liturgy, but my heart is
brimful with the recollections of the Monday evenings
which just a year ago we used to spend in trying to
prepare a version; happy are you to be allowed to
go on with this work; not in wrath, but in loving
chastisement and wise discipline for my sinning soul,
has God removed me from the glad work. The
Lord's prayer raises up many recollections of the
Sunday afternoon, when I used to break it up for my
poor servants, and the ten commandments carry me
away into the streets and lanes of Buttayah, and
Sarakilly, and Pata, Ramanah pettahs.  May the:Lord give you to see the fruits of your work! One
soul may be an inestimable treasure, and as Isaac to
Abraham, may make you the father of a great nation.
I long and yearn over the dear youths in the
school, and I greatly desire to hear that some of
them have been strengthened by the Spirit of God,
to leave all for Christ.  Venkatachillapati, and the
Venkatachellums, and Foorshotum, and Rangashai,
how do they go on?  The sound of their songs on
the morning of November 9th still rings in my ears.




256          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
And Mr. Sharkey's little girls; we must perhaps
wait longer to see fruits in them, but sooner or later,
and exactly at the right moment, the desert of Bunder shall blossom as the rose, and our dear Lord
shall be glorified in his new children.  But I like
to look even farther still, to that joyous day, when
he shall come to take us home, free from sin, with
nothing to make us weary of loving him-nothing
to lead us to grieve him.  What a prospect! I long
to be out of the power of sin, though it does not
any longer rule in me; it has yet a wonderful power
of warping me, and leading me to dishonour my
Saviour. I could say that, if I was always victorious, I should not care for the length of the battle,
but I grow weary of struggling, and being buffeted,
and often taken prisoner. What astonishing longsuffering does God show toward us! and what
infinite love that of Christ to us must be, which led
him to die for us, though all the while he foreknew
what poor, wretched Christians we should be! But
we shall have an eternity to praise and admire him,
and to recount to each the tales of his goodness.
Your affectionate, unworthy brother,
HENRY W. Fox.
TO MAJOR WOODFALL, 47TH NATIVE INFANTRY.
Hampstead, Aug. 29, 1848.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I cannot refrain from writing to you to-night, (as
indeed I have been long purposing to do,) inasmuch
as this is the first anniversary of the Sunday which
I spent with you at Ellore. I have again to-day
joined in administering the Lord's Supper, and accidentally I took as my subject for my afternoon




RECOLLECTIONS OF INDIA.         257
sermon, the same text, the Pharisee and Publican,
on which I preached at Ellore, during the thunderstorm.  My memory is almost ceaselessly engaged
in retracing the days I have spent in India, and very
often returns to my last month of missionary work in
August and September, toward the close of which
I spent those happy days with you, and our other
brethren in the Lord at Ellore. Since then, both
you and I have had to go through deep waters.  I
heard of your severe illness, from dear young P,
who kindly called on me after he reached London,
to tell me the news about Bunder and Ellore.  We
have both now experienced what it is to have gone
some distance into the dark valley, and I trust that
we have been led so far, that when the time comes
that we must go right through it, we may prove to
be somewhat practised in dying, and to have our
confidence strengthened in our Shepherd, who was
with us in our first adventure so far, and who will
not fail us in our last journey.  Perhaps, also, God
is intending to make us more fitted during our few
remaining years of life, for waiting on the dying
beds of others.  I have already found my own experience of use, when a few days ago I was called
upon to visit an old woman, an aged servant of Clhrist,
who seemed to be almost at the last gasp of life,
but who has been raised up again; her case did not
seem so strange to me, as it would have been had I
not been myself in it, and so I hope I was able to
speak more to the point.  *  *  *  I rejoice exceedingly in your regiment, and I often adduce it as
an evidence of the goodness of God in providing so
large a work in a short time; you must remember
me, with my affectionate regards, to all the brethren
in Christ who are in it. Though I shall probably
22.




258          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
never see you all again in this world, my interest in
you all, and affection for you, is not the less. For
I am able-at least, at times-to look forward to the
day, when the graves shall be broken, and all the
beloved saints of God shall be united in one vast
multitude, to be ever with the Lord; and we shall
be like him, especially we shall be free from that
hateful tyrant and disease-Sin.  *  *
Believe me,
Your very affectionate friend,
HENRY W. Fox.
TO THE REV. J. RAGLAND, MADRAS.
August, 1848.
MY VERY DEAR FRIEND,
This is —'s wedding-day, and the fact has reminded me that I must write a few lines to you, as
he perhaps has not found time to write to you by
this mail. It is doubtless a joyful day for him, but
yet it is more joyful to be married unto the Lamb,
and our glad bridal-day will be when He comes to
take us home. I have come up to town from Clifton
for a fortnight, preparatory to spending a fortnight
at Oxford to see young men. Since I wrote to you
last I have lost my dear father. I was just able
to see and speak with him the last day of sensibility;
but he has only gone before, and my mother and my
brothers and sister and I shall soon follow him, to
join the other dear ones laid up in Christ's treasury.
Yesterday there was a large Committee at Salisbury
Square, to make arrangements about the Jubilee.
A fund is proposed to be raised for the disabled
missionaries' fund, for school and church building,
for education of missionaries' children, and for en



LETTER TO REV. J. RAGLAND.         259
dowment of native congregations. It is to be a year
of humiliation for our neglect, and of praise for God's
wonderful works. November 1, All Saints' Day, is
the day chosen for all missionary friends of our
Church, both in Great Britain and abroad, to unite
in worshipping and glorifying God. Come what
will, that is a sure day for us: if we are here, we
will join with the living saints; if we have crossed
the flood, it will be only one day out of our ceaseless
worship. * * *
Your very affectionate brother in Christ,
HENRY W. Fox.
It was but a few months, in the providence of
God, that he was permitted to prosecute his new
duties, but he was so fully absorbed in them, and
threw so much of his heart into the work, as at least
to give all that he had to bestow in carrying on at
home the plans of the Church Missionary Society.
The testimony of Mr. Venn on this point is as
follows:-" He entered upon the duties of his office
in July; and with so much efficiency, and in such a
spirit, that his seniors in the office rejoiced in the
hope that he was destined to carry forward the work
with youthful energy, and to continue his beneficial
aid after they should cease from their labours."
The period at which he entered upon his duties,
as Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, was
a crisis of peculiar interest in the history of modern
missions-it was the Jubilee year, and preparations
were making to celebrate that interesting event, the
Fiftieth Anniversary of the Church  Missionary
Society, on the 1st of November.
It was with feelings of deep and lively interest
that my brother entered into all the plans of the




260           MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
Society in reference to this great event, and he looked
forward with hope and joy to its commemoration,
little supposing that when the 1st of Novelhber arrived, he should be celebrating a more glorious
jubilee in the courts above.
The following lines were written by him as a
Jubilee Hymn, which have since been set to music
by the Rev. Peter Maurice, D. ID., of New College,
Oxford:I.
I hear ten thousand voices singing
Their praises to the Lord on high:
Far distant hills and shores are ringing
With anthems of their nation's joy.
"Praise ye the Lord! for he has given
To lands in darkness hid, his light:
As morning rays light up the heaven,
His Word has chased away our night!'9"
On China's shore I hear his praises
From lips which once kiss'd idol-stones:
Soon as his banner he upraises,
The Spirit moves the breathless bones"Speed, speed his Word o'er land and ocean,
The Lord in triumph has gone forth:
The nations heave with strange emotion,
From east to west, from south to north."
III.
The song has sounded o'er the waters,
And India's plains re-echo joy:
Beneath the moon sit India's daughters,
Soft singing, as the wheel they ply" Thanks to thee, Lord 1 for hopes of glory,
For peace on earth to us reveal'd:
Our cherish'd idols fall before thee,
Thy Spirit has our pardon seal'd."




JUBILEE HYMN.                 261
IV.
On Africas sunny shore glad voices
Wake up the morn of Jubilee;
The Negro, once a slave, rejoices:
Who's freed by Christ is doubly free"Sing, brothers, sing! yet many a nation
Shall hear the voice of God, and live:
E'en we are heralds of salvation:
The Word he gave, we'll freely give."
v.
The sun on Essequibo's river
Shines bright mid pendent woods and flowers;
And He who came man to deliver
Is worshipp'd in those leafy bowers" 0 Lord! once we, by Satan captured,
Were slaves of sin and misery;
But now, by thy sweet love enraptured,
We sing our song of Jubilee."
VI.
Fair are New Zealand's wooded mountains,
Deep glens, blue lakes, and dizzy steeps;
But sweeter than the murmuring fountains
Rises the song from holy lips"By blood did Jesus come to save us,
So deeply stain'd with brother's blood:
Our hearts we'll give to him who gave us
Deliv'rance from the fiery flood."
VII.
O'er prairies wild the song is spreading,
Where once the war-cry sounded loud;
But now the evening sun is shedding
IIis rays upon a praying crowd", Lord of all worlds, Eternal Spirit!
Thy light upon our darkness shed;
For thy dear love, for Jesus' merit,
From joyful hearts be worship paid."
VIII.
Hark! hark! a louder sound is booming
O'er heaven and earth, o'er land and sea;




262          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
The angel's trump proclaims HIis coming,
Our day of endless Jubilee"Hail to thee, Lord! thy people praise thee:
In every land thy name we sing:
On heaven's eternal throne upraise thee,
Take thou thy power, thou glorious King!"
CHAPTER IX.
ILLNESS AND DEATH.
ALTHOUGH my brother was not permitted to be
present at the celebration of the Jubilee of the
Church Missionary Society, having been already
removed to take part in choral strains of a more
exalted character in the courts above-yet his anticipations were more than fully realized when the
day came round.
The 1st of November, 1848, was a day much to
be remembered for the time to come, as one on which
the blessing of God was freely bestowed, as one
which did much toward enlarging the hearts of men
at home, and laying deeper the foundations of the
missionary cause among us; many groundless prejudices were removed; many ears listened for the
first time to the claims of the heathen upon our
church and nation, many a church and parish was
opened for the first time to the Church Missionary
Society; while not a few of our cathedrals had their
time-honoured walls consecrated, as it were afresh,
by this sacred cause; for well may it be asked,
How could those splendid piles, with their massive
pillars, vaulted roofs, and fretted windows, be more




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Grave   ~      j of the.. Rev:TM H,    o    tMaysi  h  SuhBi
Dui ham  En    p 262't'"11lI,,....'ln~WiB~~fr';',':~Ti~i. _   ~,.                 j~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~5,L?~J.~]:I....ri II  
Grave of the Rev. H. ~r. FIoK, St. Mary's in the South Baile~y,
Durham, Eng. p. 262.








ILLNESS AND DEATH.            263
highly honoured, or converted to better use, than
when within their walls were celebrated the high
notes of jubilee praise; and the glory of God, the
advancement of our IRodeemer's kingdom, the conversion of the world, formed the noble theme of the
preacher's discourse?
But the energy of his mind was too great for his
bodily strength, and he was tempted by the ardour
which he felt for the work in which he was engaged,
to exert himself beyond the bounds of prudence.
This brought on a relapse of his Indian complaint,
which considerably reduced his strength. In the
month of September he visited Durham, intending
to take a few weeks of recreation and rest: he
reached home on the 14th, in a very feeble condition.
The record of his few remaining days is fully detailed
by one who watched with unwearied assiduity over
him during his last illness, and having been committed to paper while the events were fresh in her
memory, will impart a more lively and interesting impression of those closing scenes than could be otherwise given.
MY DEAR GEORGE,
According to your wish, I send you a few particulars respecting the last days of our beloved brother
Henry; having had, from being almost constantly
with him during the last three weeks of his life,
more opportunity of witnessing his faith and patience
to the end than any one else. After attending one
of the committee-meetings of the Church Missionary
Society, on Monday, the 11th of September, in London, he imprudently started for the North by a nighttrain, being anxious to make the most of a short
absence from his usual routine of labour, during




264         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
which, besides visiting his own family in Durham,
he intended in the pulpit and on the platform, in
various places, to advocate the missionary cause.
After spending a day witltthe family of his muchloved and revered master, the late Dr. Arnold, at
Fox How, he reached Durham on the middle of
Thursday, the 14th of September.  We met him at
the station, and I was painfully struck by his worn
and debilitated appearance. He confessed himself
extremely unwell, and willingly allowed us, upon
reaching home, to send for medical advice.  He was
pronounced to be exceedingly unwell, suffering from
diarrhoea, which had been upon him several weeks,
and very unfit for the work before him.  Still it was
not imagined that by going through it he would endanger his life. His name was advertised for two
sermons to be preached at South Shields, and four
consecutive meetings at different places on the four
following days. We hoped that the two days' rest
before him would restore him in some measure, especially as in part he was suffering from cold caught
on the journey.
On Saturday, the 16th, he was sent in my mother's
carriage to Shields in preparation for the Sunday's
duty. In a letter he wrote to quiet our anxiety
about him, he told us he had felt so ill, during the
previous service, he feared he should have been
quite unable to acquit himself in the pulpit, either
morning or evening, but that God had wonderfully
helped him.
Next day he addressed a very large and crowded
meeting at Bishop Wearmouth, and the following
morning the Sunday-school teachers, assembled at
the house of the rector; after which he returned to
Durham, in preparation for the meeting to be held




ILLNESS AND DEATH.             265
that evening. I was grieved to the heart to see
him arrive, at four o'clock, exhausted to a degree.
He went to bed, and got up only to attend the meeting, where it was arranged that he should speak
first, and then retire immediately, which he did.
Most touching was his appearance, " thrown aside
as a useless wreck," as he himself feelingly said;
pale and languid, he yet spoke with his usual simple earnestness and energy, his countenance beaming with that peculiar expression of love to God and
man, for which it was so remarkable.  *  *  *
He returned home, and every attention was paid
to his health, which, anxious as we felt, we had no
idea but rest and proper measures would speedily restore. The next two days he kept his room, after
which he never left his bed, the disease gaining
ground rapidly, and laying such firm hold of his
constitution as baffled all efforts to overcome it.
During these days I had scarcely any intercourse
with him, besides seeing that his comfort was attended to, he being ordered to be left perfectly quiet,
and unexcited by conversation or reading. His
weakness was very great, so much so that upon asking him if he would like a little prayer one night,
he said it must be very short —he was so weak.
The following evening on my commencing, he put
his hand on mine, saying, "I am too ill, I cannot
bear it."   Still our fears only arose slowly and
gradually.
After some clays he asked me if the doctors thought
him in danger. I truly replied, not so,-but that
his state was certainly critical. He then made me
promise I would tell him in case they thought worse
of him.  At this period of his illness he expressed
a desire to recover, that he would rather recover and
23




266          MEIMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
labour in God's service.  I asked him if he were willing to depart?  " Oh yes, willing, I hope, if it be
God's will, which is best; only, if he sees well, I
should prefer remaining."
Another time he said, " For me, it is far better to
depart; but I am only a young man yet, and I might
work in God's service if he raised me up.  Yet
when I think of my own deceitful heart, and the
power of the world, I tremble, lest I should not
stand firm."  I said, we must trust God for life as
well as death. He who had begun the good work
could finish it. "Yes," he replied, "and then we
have the promise of the Holy Ghost to uphold us,
and sanctify us-yes, to sanctify us."
Upon my remarking, while giving him some food,' What an aggravation to sickness poverty must be,
where there can be none of those alleviations you
have;" lie replied, " Oh, God is merciful, very merciful, and full of love, more than we'can count up."
I added-" How dreadful it must be to endure sufferings caused by sin, such as intemperance."  lie
added, " All suffering is from sin; mine is from sin,
perhaps some particular sin; I don't quite see what."
He wondered how those who had not the consolations of the gospel could endure suffering.
About the same time I believe he expressed to
you very humbling views of himself; how, with
great privileges, he had been only a very ordinary
Christian, and lived far beneath the standard he
ought.
He also said to me, "I have not worked enough
by faith.  I have overworked myself, and made myself ill.  God has punished me by this sickness."
He meant he had not sufficiently trusted God to do his
own work, in his own way, independent of his per



ILLNESS AND DEATH.            267
sonal exertions, thinking, if he did it not, it would
be left undone.  He firmly resolved to amend in
this point, if God raised him up, and not again to
labour beyond the strength given him.
Except once, he scarcely after the first week of
his illness alluded to himself, except in connection
with Christ's wonderful love to him.  It made me
think of the promise, " He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted."
During the days on which he made the remarks
already noted, he mingled much of praise and
thanksgiving, together with such expressions of love
to God his Saviour, as made me again and again
feel as if I had never loved Christ at all.  In fact,
the one great striking feature of his illness, as of his
life, I may truly say, was his abounding love to his
Saviour. It literally filled his heart, and nothing
came in competition with it; " Him first, Him last;"
He was indeed the Alpha and Omega with him.  In
his weakest and most tried moments the name of
Jesus would bring a smile of happiness across his
worn and suffering features.  I wish that thousands
could have partaken of the privilege I enjoyed of
being an eye-witness of his faith and love.  Words
cannot describe it. A few disjointed expressions of
his own cannot picture it. It was the whole tone
and bearing of his mind, his conduct, and his looks,
which bore such striking witness to the Spirit of Christ
which was in him. It was beautiful beyond description.
But his habitual tone of mind was shown very
affectingly in the wanderings of mind caused by
fever; proving that he had indeed put on Christ,
and that the mind which was in Christ was in him.
And here I may remark, that as in his sober mo



268          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
ments, so in these wanderings caused by disease,
there was a remarkable absence of excitement; the
mind was occupied with unrealities, but still there
was a striking calmness and quietness of tone.  In
fact, he was remarkable for a deep, steady earnestness of character, which is opposed to the flickerings
of excitement.  It always struck me that he " spoke
because he believed," that he acted on conviction
and the exercise of a sound judgment.  All that
knew him  must remember the peculiar calmness,
gentleness, and I may say repose of his manner.
This continued throughout his illness.
To give an instance of how his soul was filled with
love to God and man, even when wandering, I will
mention the following.  He asked the servant, who
was at the time in the room, if she saw " that sheet
of white paper on the bed."  There was nothing.
"That," said he, " is the plan of salvation, laid out
all plain and clear for the heathen; there is no
crease or rumple on it to prevent their taking it, and
it is offered to them." Then, in a sad tone, after a
pause: " But alas! alas! I see none coming to lay
hold on it."
But to return to my narrative.  Ie was too
weak, during the whole of his illness, to bear continuous reading or praying. One or two verses of
Scripture at a time, however, and an ejaculatory
prayer to meet his wants, were great comforts to
him; and in this way I repeated to him a great
portion of the promises of the Bible; some of them
many times over: and most affectingly now are they
associated in my memory with him, as having raised
the eye of faith, and brought many a smile of angelic
happiness across his countenance. Early in his illness, upon repeating from John iii. 36, ~ "He that




ILLNESS AND DEATH.              269
believeth in him hath everlasting life," he said with
a solemnity of tone and look I shall never forget,
" I have believed, I do believe." This was the
secret of his strength and comfort throughout his
illness, and it was striking that he should have said
this to show it at the very commencement.
The second Sunday before he died, upon my remarking, "It was the close of the Sabbath, and
there remaineth a Sabbath (rest) for the people of
God," he said, "And what a Sabbath! perfect rest!
when shall I get there? It is that little stream
which divides us and makes us shrink.  Earth has
such hold of us."
This was on his thirty-first birthday, the first of
October. He had felt too ill for several days to see
his children, but now begged they might come.
They came, bringing him nosegays of flowers, gathered from their own little gardens, wishing him, in
child-like glee, " Many happy returns of the day."
"Perhaps," said he, i" it will be the last."  I did
not think it then: hope still predominated with us.
After the children left him, (and he could only bear
their presence a few minutes,) he said, " Dear little
things, how they wind themselves round one's heart!"
His affection for his children was very deep and tender, which made his readiness to leave them and
commit them with faith to the God of the fatherless,
more striking.
Reading to him a portion out of the Book of Revelation, he said, "The second and third chapters are
so full of rebuke and exhortation, full of beautiful
passages. I read them with R. just before I left
Madras.  I never met with any one of my own age so
full of Christian experience as he is. He did not talk
about religion, he talked Christ. We do not speak
23



2 70        MEMIOIR OF H. W. FOX.
enough about Christ. It is because our hearts are
not full enough of him."
Reading to him  Jer. xxxi. 3, he repeated, "An
everlasting love.'I have drawn thee.' Yes, drawn
-against our wills."
One morning, upon the medical man reminding
him of the many mercies he enjoyed in his present
illness, compared with what he had had in India, he
said, "Yes, God is indeed good to me. He sends
me innumerable mercies.  His love is indeed wonderful! wonderful! wonderful!  To send his Son
to die for such creatures as we are! Surpassing
love!" Then, in a low tone, his eyes shut, and a
pause between each word, he repeated, "Love!
Love! Love!"
This is a specimen, I may say, of his general tone
of mind. Innumerable times did he express himself in a similar manner respecting the love of God,
and his great goodness to himself and to all men.
His heart seemed literally filled with the love of
God shed abroad in it by the Holy Ghost. I now
regret I was unable to note down more of his sweet
expressions of love and faith; those I give you, I
put down at the time, and are his own words.  On
my saying, "W Ve shall see him as he is," he said,
" See Him! See Him! Oh! it will be glorious!"
He then went on to speak of the blessedness of
heaven: "No crying, no death, no curse, no sin."
We then spoke of the happiness of being there.
Surely, even then, he had a foretaste of its glory!
His heart seemed filled with joyful anticipations, and
the poor suffering body could not keep it from
mounting into the third heaven, into which he
almost seemed to carry me along with him.
A doubt of his interest in Christ never arose, nor




ILLNESS AND DEATH.            271
did a cloud for a moment ever come between him
and his clear view of his Saviour. I had in my own
mind, fears, whether in the hours of nature's greatest
weakness, Satan might not be allowed to try him, as
he often does God's children;-but no, blessed be
God! all was bright to the end.  Once, when he
seemed much distressed, and oppressed by suffering
and weakness, I said, "In going through the dark
valley, Satan often distresses God's people." He
quickly replied: "Thank Godl, he has never been
allowed to distress me."
This was the day before he died, and I feel assured the same peace continued to the end. Do not
imagine, however, there was not conflict; this, I believe, will only cease when we put off this corruptible, and put on the incorruptible. His faith was
never shaken, but it was tried. Deeply did he feel
those seasons, when from extreme weakness he could
hold no sensible communion with God.  He seemed
to reckon his nights bad or good in proportion to the
degree in which he enjoyed the light of God's countenance.  He generally answered my inquiries by,
" I have not been able almost to pray.  I could not
break through; I was too ill." Once he said,
" Sometimes I can lift up my heart to God, at other
times it is so dead.  To look to Christ on the cross,
that is the way to get comfort and help from the
Saviour of sinners."
The taking to pieces the earthly tabernacle was,
as I imagine it always is when taken down gradually, very painful. Once, on my repeating, " Oh
Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me:" he repeated in a tone of deep feeling, " Lord, Iam oppressed, I am oppressed, undertake for me, undertake for me!"




272:IMEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
At such seasons the texts-" The eternal God is
thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting
arms" —" Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me"-were full of comfort to him. Sometimes he
said to me, "Read me some strong passages."
Another time, "Read me something about going
through."  I repeated from Isaiah xliii. 2, " When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee 
when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not
be burned, neither shall the flanme kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Saviour."  This text, and many others from
Isaiah, were of great comfort to him, and I often repeated them to him.  Once or twice he said, "Oh,
it is very painful, very painful,"-but he never expressed any sense of suffering or unrest, without
adding either " God's will be done," or " God's will
is best."  Frequently did we hear him in low and
earnest tones calling upon Jesus.  At the commencement of his illness he seemed to be peculiarly sensitive
to the fear of sinning by impatience. Many times
he said to us,'" Pray that my patience fail not," and
most fully was the prayer answered.
Never was there a word, or sign, or look, which
betrayed a failing of perfect patience.  We felt front
his words and conduct that God's will was indeed
sweeter to him  than  his own ease or comfort.
Neither was he passing through these trying days
without profit. He said to me, "I do feel thankful, the last fortnight I have gained so much more
knowledge of Christ.  I could not have believed
illness would have done so much for me.  You




ILLNESS AND DEATH.            273
know I used to say I felt illness unprofitable."  He
at other times told me how he had gained deeper
views of the love of Christ since laid on his sick-bed.
He seemed to have a constant sense of his less, as
well as greater mercies.  While bathing his hands, I
remarked, "You see, God sends many alleviations
to your sufferings."   "Oh yes! tender mercies,
wonderful mercies.  He makes all my bed in my
sickness.  He just gives me all the comforts I need."
Another time:-" I never wake, but I think of
fresh  mercies-God's mercies are innumerable."
If you had seen the happy, grateful, heavenly counternance with which he uttered all his praiseful, gratefal sentences, it would have engraven them on your
very soul.
Although he had not yet given up hope, his illness was assuming a more and more serious aspect,
while he who was the subject of it seemed daily
nearing heaven. His mind increasingly dwelt with
holy joy on the probable prospect of soon being with
his Saviour.
He literally was without carefulness.  After reading to him the concluding portion of 1 Cor. xv.,
ending, " Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory!" he exclaimed: "Victory! yes, victory.  Oh
that it might be to-night."  It was the first time he
had expressed a decided wish to go, and I said, " Do
you wish to go?"  He turned his face toward me,
and replied with an angelic smile:-" Oh yes, it
would be so much better to be with Christ;" adding,
however, that he thought God would raise him up,
so many friends were praying for him, and instancing
God's answering prayer in the release of Peter from
prison.  It was a great gratification to him to know




274          MEMOIR OF II. W. FOX.
that he was prayed for by many friends and congregations on his last Sunday, at Durham, shields,
Clifton, Brighton, Hampstead, and Edinburgh.  He
generally left the choice of portions of Scripture to
me, though he sometimes named the subject he desired, according to his need: —but once he asked me
to read him the two first verses of the 3d of 1 John,
after which he repeated, "Sons of God,-let me
dwell on that, I am a son of God, yes, a son of
God i" He looked up as he said it, and seemed
lost in happy contemplation.
At another time, speaking of the conclusion of the
8th of Romans, and that love of Christ from which
nothing can separate us, he said, "' I seemed to have
got deeper into this-this wonderful love of Christ."
"This is the one thing God has shown me more
of in this illness.  This wonderful love of Christ to
sinners-such love!"  I spoke of the shortness of
time, the length of eternity.  "' Ah, and such an
eternity too," he exclaimed, "'and such brightness,
and such glory-we cannot reach it-we cannot
comprehend it now-it will be far, far above our
present powers of conception."  Such remarks were
the more striking from  his state being throughout one of much lethargy and physical depression —
with a total absence of excitement. A large portion
of his illness was passed in unlrefreshing, painful sleep.
All I have recorded, was before hope was given
up.  On Tuesday, October 10, worse symnptons appeared, but it was not till the following morning the
medical man expressed his decided opinion that he
would not recover.  It so happened, that this was
the only time I missed seeing him during HIenry's
illness.  After he was gone, Henry sent for me, and




ILLNESS AND DEATH.            275
said: —" George has been with me, and is much cast
down about this, he tells me that Mr. J —  thinks
me worse, and that I shall not live long; did he say
so to you?"  I replied,-" I missed seeing him'."
I confess my heart rather trembled. I feared that now
the near and certain approach of death was brought
before him, its terrors might at first dismay him,
and I was quite unprepared for what followed, when
he went on to say: "When he comes again, I wish
you particularly to ask him, and if he says the same
thing, are you all prepared to join me in praise?"
I was overcome, and hid my face; —he continued,
"I fear I ask a hard thing of you." I replied,
"God has made us willi7n to part with you, Hle can
enable us to praise Him."  He went on to say"4 Oh, it will be glorious, so glorious."
After this his whole heart seemed fixed upon the
joys to which he was going, the prospect looked to:
him inexpressibly bright.  This seemed to him  a
day of peculiar joy; for as yet the body, though:
very weak, was not so painfully oppressed as it afterward became.
When I went into his room the next morning, he
said to me, "i am very weak, can scarcely speak,s
but oh! happy! happy! happy!" He now thought
his time might be short, and desired to see his children. They got on the bed and kissed him; he
said, "That is your last kiss. God bless you; if
you wish to see papa again, you must come to
heaven, where you will find him and dear mamma
and little Johnny; now, good-bye."
He was calln and not overcome.  I remembered
his deep emotion when he parted from them to return to India, two years before.  The struggle-and




276          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
it was a bitter one-was gone through at that time;
the sacrifice had been made, and God spared him
the pain of a second.
One of the servants told me that while sitting up
with him  one night, he began to repeat from  the
Revelation, "' What are these which are arrayed in
white robes, and whence came they?" then pausing,
as if memory failed him, she concluded the passage;
" These are they which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb."  Then he said, " Ah!
there will be many from India, many from the
Teloogoo nation."  He then spoke of the approaching Jubilee, how he had written for it, preached for
it, prayed for it, adding in a joyful tone,'" It will be
a glorious Jubilee for me."
I may here mention his dying testimony to the
cause to which he had sacrificed his life.  After
reading to him the first three verses of Isaiah xl., I
remarked it was a privilege to have been called even
in a small measure to " prepare the way of the Lord."
He replied, " Yes, there seems a special blessing
rests on it; I often thank God that he called me to
be a missionary to go abroad." On his mother's
asking him whether he repented having giving his
life to missionary work, he said, " No, never! if I
had to live over again, I would do the same." This
he said only a day or two before he died, when he
knew he was, humanly speaking, losing his life in
consequence of his labours abroad and at home in
that cause-a cause so glorious, even the rescuing
of immortal souls from sin and Satan, that it was
dearer to him than life itself, through love to his Redeemer.




ILLNESS AND DEATH.           277
And now his work on earth seemed done, and
truly "his soul was in haste to be gone."  Every
symptom that spoke of the nearness of death was
precious to him, and raised a smile of joy. Once
he complained that the extra clothing on his feet
produced no warmth; then turning his eyes on me
with a smile, he asked, "This is a good sign, is it
not?" Any little thing I could name to him as a
sign of approaching dissolution was a pleasure to
him. Strange did it seem to be affording him comfort, by telling him of various little signs of the
nearness of death; but so it was. Still there was
no impatience, but perfect submission to God's will.
Once he said,;" It matters little, a day or night more
or less; God's time is best." He liked me to repeat
to him his favourite Baxter's saying, respecting his
own death, "When Thou wilt, where Thou wilt, as
Thou wilt."
He was detained nearly two days and a night
longer than he had been led to suppose. On Saturday morning he said to me, "For half an hour in the
night I thought I was just going to be at rest, but I
rallied again. God's will be done, God's will be
done, God's will is best. I said, "You have peace
in Jesus?"  "Yes, in  Jesus, he is the dying
Saviour?"
On the medical man's saying the same morning
when he visited him, "I had hoped to have found
you released," he replied, "Mr. J., perfect subjection
of our wills to God's, that is the thing."
He had told Mr. J. the night previous, that the
only thing that distressed him was, "seeing your
and our dear mother's grief." He said to her once,
"Why have you been crying, dear mother? Have
24




278          MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
they told you I am going? It is right you should
know. O mother, it will be so joyous! To meet
father and Lizzy, and all who have gone before."
In general, however, this happy anticipation of seeing
departed relations was swallowed up in the higher joy
of seeing that Saviour whom, not having seen, he
had so truly loved.
On my reminding him, as a cordial to his bodily
suffering and weariness at the moment,' "that he
would soon see his dear wife," he replied, "To see
Him that was pierced for us, that is the thing."
Another time, speaking himself of the happiness
of finding so many dear ones whom we had loved on
earth, in heaven, after a pause he said, "But we
shall there be so taken up with Christ, we shall
have little thought for other things." Another
time he remarked to me, after speaking of some dear
relations now in heaven, " We think much of those
few, but there are so many more: such a glorious
company of saints to see and be with-St. Paul,
St. Peter, Hezekiah, Henry Martyn.  It will be so
blessed to meet them."
As he grew weaker and weaker, he at times seemed
much oppressed, and I said, " You must not faint;"
he answered, " I sometimes feel as if I should." I
replied, " I do not mean your body, but your spirit
must not fail."  " There is no fear of that, it is all
joy." Another time, when my heart ached for
him, more to re-assure myself than for his sake,
I asked, "E Have you peace?"  "Yes, peace; the
only anxiety is to be gone; but God's will is best;
that is the best thing, perfect submission to his will."
As the outer man decayed, the inner man grew
stronger; it was a love and faith made perfect which




ILLNESS AND DEATH.            279
had cast out fear.  To his dear mother he said, "In
due time we shall meet in Jesus; we shall see himn
as he is, very beautiful! very beautiful!"
Once he said, " It is a hard thing to die, to pass
through; nothing but the Lord's promises could enable us to do it;'" then, in a firm tone, "but theyare sure and steadfast."  He seemed to lose all
sense of time, which seemed often immeasurably
lengthened. I said, " Time seems long when suffering. You have scarcely been three weeks confined
to bed yet;" he went on, "and by the time these
weeks are completed, I shall in all probability be in
heaven."
Speaking of Christ, he said, "It would be ten
thousand times better to be with him: perhaps I
may see him to-morrow."  The happy calmness of
tone and look with which he expressed himself
throughout was striking; it was the result of a firm
conviction of the certainty and reality of the truths
he believed, and the glory he anticipated. It was as
if he was speaking of soon joining a loved parent or
brother on earth, only his feelings were holier, higher,
more blessed. I may again repeat, I never witnessed
any thing like excitement in him; it was the sober
certainty of waking bliss, which filled his heart; and
there was a reality about it that made me almost feel
as if faith were turned into sight.
He was now getting very near putting off this mortal body; his hands were like ice, he begged me to
come closer to him, he could not see me. My sight
is going-it is coming back."-" It will come back
in eternity," I said. For the last two days he could
hardly bear me to absent myself from him; and
if I left the room, would send for me, and have me




280         MEMOIR OF H. W. FOX.
sit close to him administering to his bodily and
spiritual wants.  "How different your hand is to
every one else's!" he said, as I bathed his forehead
with Cologne water.   " Do  you like it best?"
" Oh" yes.  I had left him a few minutes, he sent
after me.  When I came, " 0  Isabella, I want
some of your comfort." I said, " You mean God's.";" Yes, read me some passages." Once previously, I
had taken up Clark's Promises, and he said, " Not
that little book, the real Bible." Once he remarked
with a happy smile, " There, (in heaven,) there will
be no Bible."  During the last day, he frequently
exclaimed, " Lord, why tarriest Thou: come, Lord,"
-but always adding, "God's will be done," or
" God's time is best."
While sitting quietly by him, he exclaimed, 1" How
happy! If it please God I may just sink away thus,
it will be a great mercy." At three o'clock of this
last day, he said, "0 Lord! gracious Lord! loving
Jesus! how gracious he is. Oh, let me go to-day!
O Lord, thou knowest best! Are there two or three
hours yet before God comes! pray that he will
come.1"
And now the last enemy was nearly conquered,
for " death," as he himself remarked, ";is called
an enemy."  He had for the last two days and nights
frequently seemed near going, so that even now I
scarcely knew whether he might not still linger for
a while, though my prayers were joined with his,
that if it were God's will, his happy soul might
speedily be released. I heard him faintly saying to
himself, " Jesus, Jesus must be first in the heart."
I said, " He is the first in your's."  " Yes, he is."
They were his last words. I felt his firm grasp of




ILLNESS AND DEATHI.           281
my hand relaxing, his pulse was gone; breathing
became slow and more faint. I sent for you and my
mother; and, soon after your arrival, he gently ceased
to breathe, and was with his Saviour.
" Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord
from henceforth:  Yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from  their labours; and their works do
follow them."
I did not think I could have praised God under
the blow, but he did enable me; and does, and ever
will, I trust, enable us all to join in thanksgiving,
for that he permitted his servant so to glorify him
in life and death, and us to be witnesses of his faith
and patience.  May we be followers of him  as he
followed Christ!
THE END.
24*