THE MISSION TO INDIA, INSTITUTED BY THE AMERICAN UNITARIAN ASSOCIATION, FEBRUARY, 1855. CONTAINING, 1. REPORT BY THE SECRETARY TO THE " CALCUTTA UNITARIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN INDIA." 2. REPORT BY THE TREASURER TO THE ABOVE SOCIETY. 3. NARRATIVE OF PROCEEDINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE MISSION, BY THE REV. CHARLES H. A. DALL. B OST ON: OFFICE OF QUARTERLY JOURNAL, 21 BROMFIELD STREET. 1857. CAMBRIDGE: METCALF AND COMPANY, PRINTERS TO THE UNIiVERSITY. TO THE READER. IN consequence of the great attention which the English government has of late bestowed upon the establishment of schools in British India, many thousands of young persons are there growing up dissatisfied with Hindooism and Mahometanism, and inquisitive to learn, and ready to receive, the Christian religion, which they see is identified with the improvements and progress of the best modern civilization. One of the widest and noblest fields for Christian effort is thus opened. Various denomninations of Christians, in different parts of the world, have entered it, with a promptitude and liberality worthy of all respect. But most of them labor under a signal disadvantage. To a people alienated from polytheism in all its forms, they have carried metaphysical discussions about three persons in the Trinity; and if they have turned to the Mahometan population, they have met minds resolutely bent upon receiving no theology which conflicts with the sole and undivided unity of God. It is well known that missionaries have labored during several years without making a single convert. 4 TO THE READER. It is now more than thirty years since the attention of Christians in New England, believing in one God the Father, was turned to the importance of missionary efforts in India. Obstacles which need not be named stood in the way; and it was not till the autumn of 1854, when an affecting appeal came from India, that the Executive Committee of the American Unitarian Association resolved, that, if favored by the blessing of God, they would send a missionary to Calcutta. They looked round to find the right man. The case was peculiar. Some one was needed whose character, in culture, in enthusiasm, in fervid piety, would present points of contact with the interesting people of the East. In 1824, Rammohun Roy wrote to the late Dr. VWare, Senior, that " much good cannot be expected from public preachings"; but that if men of education could be sent out, to establish schools, circulate books, and teach by personal explanation and persuasion, " Christianity in its genuine sense must make a strong impression on every intelligent mind." A man was wanted whose heart would be in this work,- a man diligent, gentle, persuasive, of good culture, and, above all, of earnest and devout spirit. The Committee unanimously appointed Rev. C. H. A. Dall as Missionary to India, who, after receiving the full instructions to which he refers in the following Report, sailed from Boston, February 28, 1855. He commenced his labors in July following. At that time a Society was formed in Calcutta, TO THE READER. called the " Society for Promoting the Gospel in India," and it is to this Society that the following first annual Reports of its Secretary, Treasurer, and Missionary are made. These Reports are here printed and placed in your hand, with the respectful request that you will give them a careful perusal. The last of the three will furnish you with much interesting information in regard to the religious wants of India, and will show what encouragement American Christians have to send a fresh word of light and of love to those distant shores of the Old World. The whole subject of Foreign Missions, as is well known, has been viewed in various lights. Perhaps you have thought well of them, and have contributed to their support, even where they inculcate a theology which you do not believe to be true. In this case, you may be glad to have it in your power to give aid to a Mission designed to diffuse the pure Gospel of Jesus Christ, unmixed with human additions and corruptions. Perhaps, on the other hand, you have looked upon the whole enterprise of sending the Gospel to distant lands with doubt and distrust. The records of this enterprise, it must be admitted, while containing bright examples of heroic self-sacrifice, do not furnish results corresponding with the hopes at first awakened. The fact should teach us to moderate our expectations, even in regard to a work whose beginning is so auspicious as that described in the following pages. Still, we must set aside the best established facts of history 1* 6 TO THE READER. before we can doubt that Foreign Missions have largely contributed to the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, and have been attended by a blessing from Him who said, " Go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." Grateful for what that Gospel has done for us, can we not give something to impart it unto others? Thousands of youthful, inquiring minds are asking us for bread: shall we give them a stone? N. B. The following Reports are reprinted from THE BENGAL HURKARU of September 1, 1856, — a newspaper published in Calcutta. MISSION TO INDIA. SECRETARY'S REPORT. To HODGSON PRATT, ESQ., C. S., President of the "C lzitarian Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in India." DEAR SIR: —I have much pleasure in forwarding to you the very full and complete Report of the operations of the last half-year, as furnished by Mr. Dall, which I hope will be satisfactory. I have nothing to add to his very able narrative, unless it be to regret that it has not been found practicable, as yet, to organize any really working committee for the management of the secular affairs of the Mission, and for co-operation with Mr. Dall. Considering the short time the Mission has been established, and the many obstacles and prejudices to be overcome, I think you will agree with me, that our progress has been all that could be reasonably anticipated. I shall feel obliged by your forwarding a copy of the Report to the Secretary of the American Unitarian Association, and would suggest the expediency of having it printed, as in the previous instance. Believe me to remain, very truly, yours, A. II. RHOADES, JR., Secretary. Calcutta, 1st July, 1856. 8 TREASURER S REPORT. TREASURER'S REPORT. Calcutta, 1st July, 1856. To HODGSON PRATT, ESQ., C. S., President of the Uzitarian Association, Ca.lcutta. DEAR SIR: - I beg to hand to you the Half-yearly Report, ending 30th June. The state of our treasury is not discouraging, considering the difficulties that the Mission has had to encounter. Our subscription list remains nearly the same for monthly subscribers, while our donation list has been equal to our anticipation. In my last I presented you with an account against the Association of Rs. 250 2 3, and including that amount with the six months' work of the Mission, I show to you a balance due to the Treasurer of Rs. 153 4 3. It is to be hoped that in the succeeding six months I shall be enabled to make as good a report as I now have the pleasure of doing. Yet our Society is dependent upon subscriptions as a society, and we must look to the home Association for more aid than we now possess. Our pastor is gaining influence daily, and the allowance made to him from home and here is barely adequate to meet his wants. Our printing fund, as you will note, is cramped for want of means. The means should be provided from home; and, with a generous allowance for a short period, it is probable that, in a liberal community such as we have in Calcutta and its suburbs, we shall be able to go on without assistance. With such an energetic pastor as 1Mr. Dall, we shall not require the aid of crutches for a great length of time. Doubtless your letters and the Secretary's Report will touch upon what I have strenuously advocated, both in this and in my last TREASURER S REPORT. 9 Report, - the want of funds. Trusting that, with our united efforts, we shall be able to sustain the Mlission, and to accomplish what the most ardent friends of the cause desire, I remain, dear Sir, faithfully yours, RICHARD LEWIS, Treasurer. Unitarian Association in Account Current with Richard Lewis, Treasurer. EXPENDITURES. Rs. A. P. To Balance from last Account 250 2 3 Expensesfrom 1st January to 1st July, 1856. Rs. A. P. Mr. Dall's salary for six months, at 60, 360 0 0 Rent of Mission Room for ditto, at 60, 360 0 0 Advertising,..... 82 10 0 Sundry expenses,.... 11 8 0 814 2 0 Mr. Dall's Account. By sales of books from June, 1855, to July, 1856,..... 167 13 0 To expenses incurred by Mr Dall. Printing 300 copies of Ben- Rs. A. P. gali Tract,... 10 0 0 Import charges on books, 12 7 0 Book-case to preserve do.,. 9 2 0 Sweeper for Mission Room, 3 4 0 Paid to the distressed converts and their families, 136 15 0 Blank- books for Mission Room,.... 4 2 0 175 14 0 8 1 0 Amount carried over, 1072 5 3 10 TREASURER'S REPORT. Rs. A. P. Amount brought forward, 1072 5 3 Donations for Printing Rev. Mr. Dall's Ten Lectures. Rs. A. P. Cost of printing and binding 200 copies, 134 0 0 Received from Messrs. A. H. Rs. A. P. Rhoades, Jr.,.. 25 0 0 R. Lewis, Esq.,.. 25 0 0 H. Pratt, Esq.,.. 10 0 0 H. Counsell, Esq.,.. 10 0 0 E. W. Hoppner, Esq.,. 10 0 0 Charles Bailey, Esq. 10 0 0 Baboo Pearychund Mitter, 5 0 0 - 95 0 0 39 0 0 Add Baboo Kissorychand Mittra,.. 10 0 0 (Accidentally omitted, see next half-year's account.) Company's Rupees, 1111 5 3 1856. July 1st, To Balance due Treasurer,... 153 4 3 RECEIPTs. By Donations during the Second Half-year, ending, 1st July, 1856. Rs. A. P. John Atkinson, Esq.,... 10 0 0 F. L. Mackey, Esq.,.... 4 0 0 J. W. Linzee, Esq.,.... 32 0 0 C. H. Bailey, Esq.,.... 25 0 0 Peter Durnan, Esq.,... 4 0 0 John E. Armory, Esq.,... 16 0 0 Charles AM. Rollins, Esq.,... 16 0 0 Francis T. Rollins, Esq.,... 16 0 0 John S. Barstow, Esq.,... 16 0 0 Captain F. H. Bangs,.... 4 0 0 Amount carried over, 143 0 0 TREASURER'S REPORT. 11 Rs. A. P. Rs. A. P. Amount brought forward, 143 0 0 Captain G. B. Wendell,... 4 0 0 Captain Harding,..... 4 0 0 Baboo Rajender Dutt,... 25 0 0 Baboo Kalidas Dutt,.... 25 0 0 Baboo Joynarain Bhose,... 8 0 0 Baboo Hurchunder Dutt,... 3 0 0 Baboo Pearychund Mitter,... 5 0 0 Baboo Rakal Doss Haldar,... 1 0 0 S. B. Mower, Esq.,. 8 0 0 Charles E. Endicott, Esq.,... 8 1 0 Baboo Sreekistno Chatterjee,.. 1 0 Baboo Gopaul Chunder Banerjee,.. 1 0 Baboo Chunder Nauth Banerjee,. 1 0 Baboo Gooroo Churn Banerjee,.. 1 0 0 238 1 0 Subscriptions from Native Gentlemen. Baboo Onongo Mohun Mitter, from February to October, 1856,... 3 0 0 Baboo Radanauth Sicdar, November, 1855, to April, 1856,.. 6 0 0 Baboo Kissory Chund Mitter,.. 6 0 0 Baboo Hurchunder Dutt,... 6 0 0 Baboo Chundy Churn Singha, January, 1856,...... 3 0 0 Baboo Rakal Doss Haldar,... 2 0 0 _- ~ 26 00 By Subscriptionsfrom 1st January to 1st July, 1856. Hodgson Pratt, Esq.,... 150 0 0 Richard Lewis, Esq.,... 60 0 0 A. H. Rhoades, Jr., Esq.,... 24 0 0 John Atkinson, Esq.,... 30 0 0 F. A. Tilton, Esq.,.... 30 0 0 Amounts carried over 294 0 0 264 1 0 12 TREASURER'S REPORT. Rs. A. P. Rs. A. P. Amounts brought forward, 294 0 0 264 1 0 J. G. Whitney, Esq.,... 30 0 0 C. F. Bliss, Esq.,.... 24 0 0 Adams Bailey, Esq.,... 96 0 0 N. C. Tuckerman, Esq.,... 18 0 Robert Nunn, Esq.,.... 48 0 0 O. B. Everett, Esq.,.... 24 0 0 Norman Kerr, Esq.,. 18 0 0 Charles H. Bailey, Esq.,... 60 0 0 James Dalton, Jr., Esq.,... 24 0 0 Captain H. F. Doeg,.... 48 0 0 E. W. Hoppner, Esq., for April and May, 1856,..... 10 0 0 694 0 0 1856, July 1, By Balance due Treasurer,.. 153 4 3 Company's Rupees, 1111 5 3 E. E. RICHARD LEWIS, Treasurer. Calcutta, 1st July, 1856. MR. DALL' NARRATIVE. 13 NARRATIVE Of Proceedings in Connection with the lUiitarjian 2lission to Calcutta, for the Second Half-year ending the 30th dune, Drawn sip by the JMissionary, C. H. A. DALL. To A. H. RHOADES, Jmi., ESQ., Secretary. DEAR SIR: -Allow me to present to you the following Report. ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS. The objects contemplated by the originators of the present Calcutta Mission, according to the instructions brought by Mr. Dall from Boston, United States, were as follows: 1st. To establish a missionary station somewhere in India. 2dly. To open a school for native children. 3dly. To put Unitarian books and tracts in circulation. 4thly. As far as possible, to explore the needs of different places, beginning with Calcutta; a point which, in consultation with Hodgson Pratt, Esq., he was to make a " thorough " trial of. 5thly. The Missionary was to learn what he could about the Hindoo Unitarians called "Vedantists," and lend them all the help in his power. 6thly. He was to visit, if possible, Madras, Secunderabad, Salem, and any other places that should seem open to the simple Gospel, and make report of them; but especially to extend a warm sympathy to the Rev. William Roberts, of Madras, and his faithful people, and his schools. 7thly. To remember the Mahometans in Madras and elsewhere. 8thly. The Missionary was instructed to fix himself at the most favorable point, and "give himself to a life of usefulness as a servant of the 2 14 MIR. DALL S NARRATIVE. Lord Jesus Christ"; preaching to all the Gospel of the One only living and true God, and not failing to enter, as far as he might be permitted, into the most friendly relations with all disciples of Jesus Christ, of whatever sect or name. 9thly. He was to write home of their prospects, their successes, and their disappointments, and of his own. It was anticipated that he would hear from brethren in Great Britain, through the British and Foreign Unitarian Associatidon, and the prayer went up that, with God's help, he might be the means of binding yet closer the sympathies of American and British Unitarians. The second half-year of this Mission has just now closed; and the Missionary has been sustained not only by those who first called him, under God, to the work: he has also received steady help from thle " Unitarian Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in India "; which was organized on iMr. Dali's arrival in Calcutta. There has been; moreover, a kindly response from British Unitarians, and supplies of books and tracts have been already sent out from Bristol and from Liverpool. The order of the "Instructions" just quoted will serve as the plan of the present Report. I. O0 THE PERnM:ANENCY OF THE MIISSION. To the question whether a Unitarian Mission may be established in Calcutta, it is replied: — (1.) That the climate of Calcutta offers no serious obstacle. It is found to be neither a dangerous nor a deadly one; nor does it forbid a reasonable amount of labor to one born in a cooler country. (2.)'riEends and SSeekers increase. - The request comes to us already, from many Hindoos and Christians, and even from soume Mahometans and Jews, that the M3is 31R. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 15 sion be made permanent. New "inquirers after true religion" are daily coming to the residence of the Missionary. Nearly all of these are intelligent heathen young men, many of whom have heard something of Jesus, but have seldom read the Bible, except as quoted in infidel works. Exclusive of the regular Sundcay gathering at tile Blission Room for public worship, no less than one hundred and forty-five men have soulght the 3Missionary on week-days, (for the declared purpose of inquiring into Christianity,) during the eleven months preceding July ist, 1856. Some of these men have spent many hours in conversation, and continued their visits for successive vweeks and months. They have purchased and borrowed books and tracts, and still come for more. Some have faithfully committed to memory, beginnincg with thle Lord's Prlayer, passage after passage, selected for them out of the Gospels, the Epistles, and the Psalmns. (3.) Iflax oj"f etferas. —A corrlespondence has been opened with individuals in distant cities of B:ritish India, e. g. at Peshawur and at Bangalore; at Dacca and at Mysore; at Jessore and at Bombay; at BMooltan and at Rangoon. This correspondence might easily be extended, and tracts and books be sent in all directions by the cheap book-post. (4.) Unzitaricaw: Association ijvn Sos2tle'r2 cJZ7ia. c- We were made happy in January last by the discovery of a.ifadras DUnitctaiccoi Jssocict1Noss, formed years ago by a few educated Europeans, and led by men high in the public service, though of late it seems to have been languishing for the want of syTmpathy and co-operation. Its existence, even in name, under regularly appointed officers, for a series of years, offers an added security to the permanence of a Unitarian foothold i:n India. What the Mfadras or 16 MR. DALL S NARRATIVE. South Indian Unitarian Association have long desired, but have never seen till now, is the presence of an educated white man to encourage the native disciples. It is a commonplace remark, that, "if you give them European leaders, you will soon have a host of native Unitarian Christians; they are all ripe for it." (5.) fi5itarian Convert's at J~ork. - Since the arrival of an American preacher in Calcutta, seven or eight native Christians, of fair education, have begun to distribute and sell Unitarian books and tracts, and several are preaching in the bazaars and villages around Calcutta. Three have been rejected, with expressions of strong disapprobation, from as many different Trinitarian Ml[issions, after several years of training or of actual service there. One, a Pundit at Jessore, has gone through six months of suffering, with his wife and children, though on making known his wants they have been temporarily relieved. By the blessing of God, he has held firm to his convictions, saying to such as tempted him to return to Brahminism, JEckonjacnate Bramo,'Now I know God"; "I am a Bralmin indeed." Like this man, who is a grandson of the first convert to Christianity ever made in Bengal, another born a Christian, who was for a time a teacher in the London Missionary School, Bhowaneepore, has lost a home, and is now seeking employment. A third sufferer for the avowal of Unitarian opinions is a late graduate of Bishop's College, born at Shiraz in Persia, and receiving his first reverential thoughts of Jesus out of the Koran. Ile was baptized into Christianity nine years ago. After a full college course, and -i'what was considered sufficient theological training, he was sent to preach and teach eighteen hundred miles northwest of Calcutta, though he previously told his employers that his conversations with the Unitarian Missionary, and read MIR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 17 ing of Burnap and other works, had bent his mind strongly to Unitarianism. He has been some time in feeble health. What he is to do in his present isolated position in the far Northwest does not yet appear. Being on the borders of Persia, familiar with the Persian tongue, and among such as are reported liberal and inquiring MIahometans, it is probable that he will not be long in making to himself a home. Besides the three now mentioned, there are three, if I should not say four, other Christian teachers, natives of Bengal, who have a seminary of heathen youth, known as the BMli Training-School, wholly in their charge. They also go out to teach Christianity in the surrounding villages, during vacations, and whenever they can find leisure. Energy like that of the head and proprietor of this school, Baboo Chundy Churn Singha, is not common in Bengal. He, too, is a graduate of Bishop's College; but after preparation, and several years' preaching, he obtained permission to make himself an independent teacher of youth. In time he became sole proprietor of a good school-house and school on the Hooghly, seven miles above Calcutta. Not many conversations with the American Missionary sufficed to clear his mind of perplexities, that had nearly driven him out of Trinitarian into infidel views. It appears, however, that, on the day on which he declared himself a Unitarian, every Trinitarian subscriber to his school withdrew his name; thus reducing his means at once by the amount of five hundred rupees a year. Happily for him, however, he, about the time of that crisis, obtained a government "grant in aid" of one hundred rupees a month, or twelve hundred rupees a year, in place of the five hundred he had lost by his honesty. Besides this excellent teacher and his faithful wife, two men, of very fair abilities, who are his assistant teachers, are now active Unitarians; and anoth2 ~ 18 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. er also attends on our Unitarian worship, with several of the older pupils. It is due to the native disciples that have joined us to say that in no case has assistance of any kind been promised them in advance, and that they have gained no outward good by the change. Only in two or three instances have they or their families received what might keep off starvation. Some have lost much, and still refuse tempting offers to return. (6.) Applications for Izstruction in Armerica. - Few can understand the attachment of the Hindoo to his native soil, and his dread of leaving it. Christianity has begun to subdue this instinctive dread. Still, the offer of a high-caste Hindoo of twenty years of age to go to America, and be there theologically trained for service as preacher (in the Bengali tongue) to his own people, may well be regarded as a work of God's Holy Spirit. That work has thus begun to show itself among Hindoos of English education, in and near Calcutta. One of the teachers of the B&li School, Takoor Dass Roy, in lMarch last, wrote a brief account of himself, and forwarded it to the American Unitarian Association, asking to be allowed to come to America and enter a Unitarian Divinity School, with a view to an entire devotion of himself to preaching the Gospel in India, in a language seldom spoken effectively by one not born in Bengal. Others, partially educated men, able to read and write English well, have expressed a similar desire to go to America and prepare themselves to preach the Gospel to their idolatrous fellow-countrymen. Here, again, is the pointing of Providence, and a signal one, towards the permanency of this Mission. It need never fail for want of men, provided the means are not withheld to fit them for their work. (7.) Regular Sunday Services. Many, perhaps, would consider the permanency of the Mission to be best asserted MR. DALL S NARRATIVE. 19 in the fact that congregational worship and pastoral duty have been regularly sustained. Those who first welcomed the Missionary have continued cheerfully to meet the expenses of an eligible hall for our public services. These services have occupied three or four hours of every Sunday. The hall was also lighted up, and lectures were given, during the cooler months, on ten successive Wednesday evenings. The Sunday services have been listened to by more than one hundred and fifty different persons; though the average attendance would not exceed thirty. They have followed the usual Protestant order of worship, in which the congregation generally unite, as guided by our Liturgy and Hymn-Book. A written discourse is of course an important element; and this is adapted, as far as may be, to the needs of the place, the time, and the people, and some have gone out from these services to procure a Bible and read it for the first time. (8.) The Sunday School was commenced on the first Sunday in January, 1856, with an attendance of six persons. From that date it has met uninterruptedly. Sixty different persons have been present, including pupils and teachers, yet the attendance has not exceeded twenty-five upon any one of the twenty-six Sundays of the half-year. Some of the pupils use a Boston "Manual"; but the most numerous class is a conversational one, composed of adults of the congregation, mostly Hindoo young men. They remain after morning service to inquire into matters presented in the sermon, or to obtain of the pastor, viva voce, what is increasingly asked for, namely, a Unitarian commentary on the New Testament. This course of exposition has been pleasantly interrupted, at times, by fraternal controversies between Hindoos and Europeans, or Americans, concerning the attributes of God, man's immortality, the 20 AIR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. miracles of Christ, the most effective ways of undermining idolatry, &c., &c. Including the pastor's conversation class, the average attendance for six months at our Sunday school has been fifteen. AIuch might be made of this new branch of the work, but for the formidable obstacles of the climate, the difficulty of gaining access to native homes, and for the heavy pressure of other missionary duties. For the information of distant friends, it may here be mentioned, that the following stalnding notices are given at the close of every Sunday morning's service, viz.: (1.) "I daily meet all inquirers and friends at my residence, especially in the afternoon." (2.) " Conversation on Christian truth is invited here at the close of service." (3.) "Books and tracts lie on the table for examination and distribution: the tracts are free of cost." (4.) "All are invited to join with us in the Sunday school, firom twelve to two o'clock." The facts now mentioned, — namely, the spread of inquiry, an increasing correspondence, the existence of a Unitarian Association in Southern India, the number of converts in actual service, the desire of Hindoos to be thoroughly educated to a Unitarian Gospel ministry, our regular pulpit and pastoral services, and the co-operation of a few of our members in teaching a Sunday school, - all these facts go to sustain a calm and reasonable hope, that, if we are faithful to learn and to do the will of God, in India, our just-opened 3Mission wvill be no spasmodic effort, but be established in permanent usefulness, and prove a joy and a blessing for many years. II. THE OPENING OF SCHOOLS. (1.) Material for Schools lies all around us, waiting to be taken up. M3ore than one village within a dozen miles of Calcutta has expressed a desire to place its principal school under the supervision and influence of the American MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 21 Unitarian M3ission. Messages to that effect have come to us from Debbypore, from Chotta Moshtollah, &c. MIen also are to be found, ready and able to teach, under an efficient principal. There are practised teachers who, for accepting Unitarian opinions, have been expelled from Trinitarian schools, and whom we long to employ. The money is all we want. Without money we can neither pay pundits, nor hire nor build school-houses, nor even travel back and forth as superintendents. Pupils abound, and, according to the rule of other Missionary Schools, would each expect to pay a fee of four annas (sixpence, or twelve and a half cents) a month. From seven to fifteen dollars a month would be the salary of competent native teachers; but there could be no marked success, without the supervision of a schoolmaster who was not an Asiatic; and such a man could not live decently on less than seven or eight hundred dollars a year. Our President, Hodgson Pratt, Esq., has lately said: " We must have a College or High School, similar to those of the other Missionary bodies." "It would be a grand thing to have the moral and religious training of hundreds of intelligent young Hindoos, at an age when their hearts are not hardened by the evil influences of Hindoo society, and while their ears are still open to the truth." "In this way, too, we shall have the means of employing these young converts who show such a disposition to come over to us." The reason why we have not yet thought of establishing a Unitarian "College or High School" is sufficiently apparent. The money is wanting. While waiting for friends at home to supply the means for the school we desire, we are providentially able to trace the influence of our M3ission into schools, where native Unitarian Christians are at work. (2.) The Bali Training-School, already mentioned, has 22 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. a zealous Unitarian Christian for its proprietor and headteacher. During the last six months this school has had an average daily attendance of one hundred and fifty boys and young men, all of them belonging to idolatrous families, but themselves rapidly discarding idolatry and its hideous errors. The principal, three pundits, and four assistants, with several of the older pupils, come to us from Bali (seven miles) in a boat, when the dangerous Hooghly, with its "bore" and tides will permit, to attend on the Sunday services of the Mission Room. These visits are occasionally returned, and the school examined and addressed. Fenmale education has been attempted, with little or no success in India thus far. The women of Bengal, at least the faithful wives and mothers, are buried in idolatrous superstition, and imprisoned for life in the zenana, nearly out of the reach of instruction. A few Hindoos are teaching their wives to read, and some men of wealth have lately admitted European teachers, ladies, into the zenana, or women's apartments. Still, so few opportunities are opened for female education, that we cannot but thank God, and feel a peculiar joy and pride in the Girls' School at Bali, - wherein thirtyfive Hindoo girls are regularly taught, besides half a dozen native Christian girls, by the (native Christian) wife of Baboo Chundy Churn Singha. (3.) Dacily Isstsruction is given by the Missionary to such as come to him. Two hours are devoted to it every Sunday, at the Mission Room; namely, from twelve o'clock, M[., to two, P. M3I., and at the IAissionary's residence, from four o'clock to six, P. M. For not less than two or three hours every day, instruction is given to the inquirers already mentioned, who attend, from three to ten of them daily. M3ost of these pursue their prescribed reading with some regularity, and also from time to time repeat portions of the IMR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 23 Bible by heart. Thus, turning his own chamber into a school-room, the Missionary has become a daily teacher, not of boys, but of men. (4.) As a Lecturer, by the frequent invitation of different societies of natives, mostly young men interested in progress and reform, the objects contemplated in a school for the Mission are again, in part, accomplished. These lectures are usually delivered at night, before audiences varying in number from thirty to three or four hundred. A course of Theological Lectures, which have since been published, occupied ten successive Wednesday evenings, during a part of the cooler months of January, February, and March, and succeeding to these were the following: — April 5. In the heart of the native town, a lecture before a newly formed society of young men, "' The Philanthropic Association"; subject, "The Temperance 3Movement in America." A temperance movement in Bengal was then inaugurated by the adoption of a total abstinence pledge, to which seven hundred names have since been subscribed. Several temperance lectures have since been given; the daily journals have all encouraged this much-needed work of warning and redemption, and it seems to be making good progress. April 10. An address, by invitation, to the "Young Men's Improving Society," on " What makes a 3Man? Moral and Religious Worth," - in the native town, and under the roof of an orthodox Hindoo (idolater). April 19. Lecture to members of the Oriental Seminary, in the native town. Subject, "What has destroyed the American Indian? Copying the Vices of his Conquerors." April 28. Lecture to the "Juvenile Association," a society of men assembling in the heart of the native town, 24 MR. DALL S NARRATIVE. at the premises of the late Ashootos Deb, a wealthy patron of idolatry, hook-swinging festivals, &c. Subject, "The Life of Woman in America and in Bengal." Attendance about one hundred. A useful discussion followed, on the admission of European ladies to teach in the zenancas of Bengali families. iMay 23. A second address before the "Philanthropic Association"; subject, " Female Education." A temperance essay was also read by a native gentleman, a Hindoo. June 7. A lecture before the Heytoisheenee Shova, a society of men united for moral and religious purposes, Hindoos. Subject, "Religious Instruction of the Young in America." Ji.hne 12. A lecture before the Bethune Society (three or four hundred present), on " The Temperance Movement in Modern Times." June 17. A lecture (since printed for circulation) on a subject assigned by the Heytoisheenee Shova. The testimony of the TRjah Rammohun Roy in favor of Christianity was made incidental to the main topic, namely, "The Danger of Education without Religion." Sixty or seventy present. A sharp discussion ensued concerning Rammohun Roy and the character and claims of Jesus Christ, resulting in a decision that, willing as they were to hear, they could not, as a society, indorse the lecture. Being none of them Christians, they could not so advocate the cause of Jesus. The lecture nevertheless obtained a circulation of twelve hundred copies in the Enylishman, and thence three hundred copies were struck off gratuitously for distribution in pamphlet form. (5.) The School of Industrial Art having been found to absorb more of the Missionary's time than he felt able to spare from other engagements more directly religious, he MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 25 resigned his position as its Honorary Secretary on the 14th of March last, and has contented himself with a daily visit to the School, at an hour of the morning so early as not to interfere with other work. He has in this way kept up his sympathy with the pupils, some of whom have continued, since August last, to come to him privately for religious instruction, either on week.days or Sundays, or on both. Thus, with regard to schooling and week-day instruction, it will appear that there is abundant material for schools, which may be opened as soon as the means are supplied, and an efficient teacher sent out; — that the "TrainingSchool" at B.li is heartily connected with-our Mission, and under a more decidedly Christian influence than many schools professedly connected with Missions in India. They all employ, in part, heathen teachers, while this School has five Unitarian Christians as its sole instructors, including the Girls' School, in charge of a native Christian woman. Furthermore, direct instruction of a large circle of adult pupils proceeds from day to day at the residence of the Missionary. Again, eighteen lectures and addresses, partly doctrinal and partly on Christian reforms, have been given on week-days, during the twenty-six weeks of the past half-year; and eight or nine of these have been prepared on a special request, coming from as many different bodies of men, - natives, and nearly all heathens. Thus, including the forty or more pupils of the Art School, the Missionary has been placed in daily contact and sympathy with about fifty men. It will be seen by these facts how far the desire to have a school connected with the Mission has, in the absence of the required funds, been responded to. 3 26 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. III. THE CIRCULATION OF UNITARIAN BOOKS AND TRACTS. This was a third declared object of the Mission. About eight hundred tracts and two hundred and fifty volumes of books, large and small, were brought out by the Missionary, and were nearly all disposed of before the arrival of the larger supply that has just come to hand. They included the works of Channing, the two Wares, Norton, Dewey, Worcester, Peabody, Burnap, Eliot, Sears, Miles, Bartol, Clarke, Livermore, and others. (1.)' These have been mainly absorbed in Calcutta, notwithstanding a strenuous endeavor on the part of the clergymen of all denominations to prevent their being read. Of the known dealers in books here, not one will advertise Unitarian works, for fear of the immediate loss of custom that would ensue. Our books are, however, permitted a place upon the counters of three of the more prominent booksellers of the city. The Missionary has usually fixed the American price upon the books; though, when it appeared that most of those who asked for them were natives, and poor men, he felt justified in reducing even that low charge, or in relinquishing it altogether. Notwithstanding this, about eighty dollars have been realized on the sale of the first lot of books and tracts, (the total cost of which was one hundred dollars,) and passed to the Treasurer of the Calcutta Society. (2.) Besides the circulation of books and tracts in Calcutta, (and nearly every caller takes away one or more tracts with him,) we have sent them to distant cities; namely, to Madras, to Melbourne (Australia), to Burdwan, to Jessore, to Peshawur, to Rangoon, to Lahore, - not to mention the villages in our suburbs, such as Bali, Bhowaneepore, Zerate, Kidderpore, Seebpore, &c. 'MR. DALL'S ARRATIVE. 27 (3.) The Correspondence of the Mission has reached other cities besides the places just enumerated; and among these cities, wherein one or more Unitarians have already declared themselves, may be enumerated, Nainee Tal (in the Himalayas); Poonah, near Bombay; Tellicherry, in Southern India; Mooltan, in the far Northwest; and Darjeeling, in the North. In all these places, during this first year of our work, have friends of Unitarian Christianity appeared, who seem ready to co-operate more or less largely in the distribution of our books and tracts. The entire labors of one man, of generous heart and cultivated intellect, might be profitably expended in this single department of the MIission. What might not such a man accomplish, aided by a mail which bears a letter to any part of India, two thousand miles, for a penny? and by the cheap book-post, which will carry four or five common-sized books the same distance for fourpence. These agencies of a generous government are constantly perverted to the wide circulation of the vilest infidel attacks upon Christianity; nor is there a work of this sort printed in any part of the world but speedily finds its way to Calcutta, and thence to the million homes of this awakened and reading people. Such works are frequently brought in for examination and refutation. Among them are Paine's " Age of Reason," "What is Truth?" and several pamphlets written by Hindoo readers of Strauss, Volney, Hennel, and others. Some of them do not hesitate to attack Jesus Christ, not only as "an impostor," but as a person of impure moral character. Such books, in English and in Bengali, are scattered by thousands all over the oountry;.and there cannot be a doubt that our Unitarian -boks and tracts would be read quite as largely, and with how different a result! Surely here is a call of God! (4.) Several A4nonymous Writers are defending Unitarian 28 A3LMR. DALL'S NARRA:TIVE. doctrines in the newspapers, from time to time, in open controversy with vigorous opponents. Such a discussion, extending to a dozen letters or more, was lately conducted, in part, by an aged member of our own congregation, once a Baptist Missionary, and a member of the Unitarian Society of Calcutta in 1829, an Eurasian. There also appeared in the Calcutta Citizen of the 12th, 13th, and 14th of January last, letters in favor of our Mission from three different writers. So we perceive, not without thanksgiving to the All-Father, that the word of God is not bound, Indeed, there is not an English newspaper in the city that has not lifted its voice against a theological hatred that has cast out our work and our name as evil. (5.) A Circulating Library was made of such Unitarian works as remained unsold, and from January to July, 1856, more than fifty persons have been reading and returning the New Testament, Channing, Ware, Eliot, Norton, Burnap, Clarke, Bartol, Miles, and other Unitarian works. (6.) The College and City Libraries of Calcutta have sent us their letters of thanks for copies of the works just mentioned, in whole or in part; and as larger supplies of Channing, &c. are sent out to us, numerous other institutions will be glad to receive them, and put them within the reach of their students. In the principal College in India - "Presidency College, Calcutta" (soon to become "The University") - there are two or three sets of Channing's Works, and yet the students say that "'they are always out." The following is a copy of the first of two notes received from the President of that institution:"My dear Sir, - Accept my best thanks for the complete set of Channing's Works which you have kindly preseated to the Library of the. Presidency College. I have MR. DALL S' NARRATIVE. 29 placed the books on our Library shelves, and students of thu institution will have free access to them. "I am, dear Sir, yours very truly, " J. SUTCLIFFE, Principal Presidency College. "' October 26th, 1855." The second note is to the same effect, acknowledging the receipt of four other works; and is dated June 21, 1856. (7.) Classes of Young AiMen have been formed, once and again, and commenced regular courses of reading at my room, to the number, of ten or twelve; but either from the difficulties of the climate or from the instability characteristic of Bengalees, they have not continued for many weeks. Only the Bible class, formed in September, 1855, has continued to the present time, having been latterly incorporated with the Sunday school. (8.) Finally, our own Publications have gone forth, limited by our limited means. Each issue of the press, in fact, has been paid for by a special subscription among our few subscribers, already pretty heavily taxed for current expenses. (1.) One native gentleman, who is with us, and calls himself a Christian, Baboo Hurchunder Dutt, Actuary of the - Government Savings Bank, has printed and circulated, wholly at his own charge, a neat pamphlet of Original Hymns, which, being his gift, have been occasionally used in our Sunday service. One half of these Hymns were composed by himself. (2.) We have succeeded, with the powerful aid of the Englishman newspaper press, in- printing and widely circulating ten different tracts during the halfyear. They treat on a range of topics not unlike those contained in several of the doctrinal volumes of the American Unitarian Association; being entitled as follows:1. Unitarianism and its Progress in America. 3*X 88 - -EMR. DALL'S KAZRATIVS. 2. Christian Liberty, Assent and Dissent. 3. A Unitarian View of Christ. 4. The Divine Unity absolute. 5. The Holy Ghost, God's Power and Love. 6. The Atonement, the Prodigal's Return. 7. The Simplicity and Catholicity of the Creed of Christ. 8. Human Brotherhood, the True Church. 9. Sin; — Voluntary, never inherited. 10. Christ our Lord, God's Image and Fulness in Man. About twelve hundred copies of each of these ten tracts or " Lectures" were scattered over India in the columns of the Saturday Evening Englishman. Twenty-five copies of each were struck off for and distributed by the Missionary himself, chiefly to distant inquirers. And two hundred copies of each were then printed in pamphlet form; one hundred and fifty of which were bound, making a book of one hundred and seventy-five closely printed pages, which has been partly given away and partly offered for sale. The printer's charge of one hundred and eight rupees was met by subscription, and the remaining charges, for binding, &c., covered by the sale of a few copies. If anything should remain after paying all expenses, the income will be passed to the Publication Fund of the Mission, a fund which as yet exists but in name. We have thus been able to print, and to a large extent to circulate, tracts wholly our own, to the number of fourteen thousand two hundred and fifty, during the six months, exclusive of the tracts sent from America and England; we are thus able to announce that the Unitarian Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in India has issued two hundred and twenty thousand pages of its own during the second half-year of its existence. This stands as one among its causes of thanksgiving to the Giver of all good. DALL NAURRTIY. S1 IV. TO EXPLORE THE NEEDS OF DIFFERENT PLACES, At a distance from Calcutta, was the fourth object proposed by the originators of this Mission. This has been accomplished to the extent of the means supplied. It will be borne in mind, that to make a tour of British India, and to "explore its remoter places," is to accomplish the exploration of a country " as large as all Europe, Russia excepted." It is also to journey where the common means of journeying as yet are not found. Post-roads and public conveyances do not exist, except to a very limited extent; and instead of the usual American charge of from three to six cents a mile, eight annas, or twenty-five cents, is the regular allowance. This, too, must be done for the most part in a palanquin, on the backs of men whose average speed will not reach three miles an hour. Before, therefore, the task of " exploring remoter places" is laid out, it will be needful to count the cost and to supply the means. The only exploration possible to us, in the present state of our affairs, must be through the book or Banghy post and the letter mail. Friends are being raised up to us from the extreme north to almost the extreme south of India, as well as in cities to -the far east and west of Calcutta. - The extent of the correspondence that invites us has been told already. We will therefore only remark further under this head, that the Mis-:sionary has not journeyed more than seventy miles from his post though letters and tracts, &c. have gone out to a dozen different cities. V. HINDOO UNITARIANS OR VEDANTISTS Were to be made the subjects of special effort and influence on the part of the Missionary. The existence of twelve or more Societies of these heathen Unitarian breth 32 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. ren has been reported to him. The name which-they take is not that of Vedantists: they prefer to be called Bramas, i. e. believers in God; a name emphatically distinguished from that of Bramins, who are, almost without exception, polytheists, and the administrators of idolatry. The Bramas, on the other hand, are solemnly pledged to maintain the absolute unity and pure spirituality of the Divine Being. They have a very simple form of initiation. It consists of the reading and-signing of a paper declaratory of their principles. (1.) They have a regular weekly meeting; that of the principal Society or Sumaj (the Calcutta one) being on Wednesday nights, in a well-lighted hall, where two or three hundred usually assemble. No discussion is invited or allowed in the place of worship, where the service consists of reading selections of Unitarian sentences picked out of the Veds; the chanting a few of the same by a portion of the congregation; and once in two months or so, hearing an original discourse from the leader, Baboo Debendro Nath Tagore, or from some man of his selection; and concluding always with a solo hymn, one of Rammohun Roy's seventy Selected Hymns, sung by a hired singer in the peculiar Oriental style, accompanied with the sound of drums, cithar, and one or two, other Bengali instruments of music. Twenty-three Societies of Bramas have arisen since 1830, ten or twelve of which still continue. Great credit is due to the leader of the Calcutta Sumaj for his zeal and spirit of propagandism. The step out of idolatry into monotheism, which he has caused so many to take in the different cities that he has visited for the purpose, is a great step. Few natives of Bengal are found as zealous as he in the cause of religious truth. Still, one cannot but lament that there exists a marked incon IMR. DALL S NARRATIVE. 33 sistency in the eclecticism of such a man; who, much as lhe professes to honor Jesus of Nazareth, will never allow the whisper of his name in the public services, much less the reading to the Sumaj of Christ's Sermon on the MIount, or of any other discourse out of the New Testament, with an acknowledgment of its source. Whatever Rammohun Roy said of Christ as his "Saviour and Lord" is regarded as the weakness and error of their great founder, and the endeavor seems to be, that it shall, as soon as possible, pass away and be forgotten. Our duty as Unitarian Christiacs most clearly is, to see that it not only shall not be forgotten, but that it be brought fully to the light. In fact, a secession from the Bramas is already begun in the direction of Christianity. Of this we hope to say more at another time, when they will have begun, if their purpose holds good, to prove their faith in the publication of the writings of Rammohun Roy. This principal assembly of our Vedantist brethren, held in the heart of the native town of Calcutta, has been visited by the Missionary many times; though less frequently of late, since he understood from their courteous leader that he rather disapproved of discussion or conversation there, and preferred that he should distribute no more tracts - however eagerly asked for by the younger disciples - within the place of their worship. Our brother seems to be in a strait between two courses of action. Resolved utterly to exclude the name of Jesus, "because he is called God," he sees that it may prove as disastrous to attempt to forbid as to invite a discussion of his claims. The present policy seems to be to shut the door and be still. But his young men have gone too far not to go farther. Secession, as we said, has already begun. (2.) The Brama Sumaj at Kidderpore has ceased to exist since, toward the close of the year 1855, a dozen or 34 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. twenty (being a majority) of its members listened to a two months' course of lectures on Unitarian Christianity. (3.) The Missionary has also repeatedly visited the Brama Sumaj at Bhowaneepore, where forty or fifty young men have built themselves a neat chapel, and, with a most praiseworthy zeal, continue their weekly service of reading, prayer, and essays, on Monday evenings. (4.) His Highness the Maha Rajah of Burdwan, a generous patron of all forms of religion, holds the leader of the Vedantists in very high esteem, and has "built him a synagogue." In that synagogue, or Brama Sumaj chapel, your Missionary has preached, more than once, concerning Jesus and the Bible, and is invited to come often for that purpose. When there, the Bramas, of course, form part of his congregation. Thus his steps have been directed into the midst of his Hindoo Unitarian brethren, at their points of assembling in Calcutta, at Kidderpore, at Bhowaneepore, and at Burdwan; while, by the circulation of religious lectures through the press and the newspapers, he has been able to reach some whom he has not yet conversed with, but who have written to him for books, &c., as in the case of Naineetal. (5.) A List of all the Vedantic Societies, as furnished by a former member of that body, now calling himself a Unitarian Christian, is as follows: of the twenty-four that have taken a formal existence since the time of Rammohun Roy, the following ten or twelve still hold service, with more or less regularity; namely, the Calcutta Brama Sumaj, founded (1830) by the Rajah Rammohun Roy, and since sustained by Baboo Debendro Nath Tagore; and the "Sumajes" at Burdwan, Dacca, Midnapore, Calna, Bhowaneepore,. Krishnaghur, Baraset, Teleeneeparah, Comerkholly, Tipperah, and Rungpore. Nearly all these have MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 35 had different founders, whose names are not here given, but are with us for reference. They are none of them believed to be very numerous, counting probably an average of not over twenty or thirty members. VI. MADRAS AND THE REV. WILLIAM ROBERTS Were to be visited, if possible, according to instructions; and several other places in Southern India. It is well known how the uprising of the Calcutta Church (not to mention the unprovided cost of such extensive journeys) prevented the visitation "of Madras, Secunderabad, Salem, and other places," beyond all doubt " open to the simple Gospel of Christ." That " warm sympathy " which was to be extended to the Rev. William Roberts - though impossible to be expressed, under the circumstances, by the actual grasp of hands - has been expressed, so far as pen and ink, and the repeated transmission of papers, tracts, and books, and a regular correspondence, might give it expression. Copies of twenty-four different Unitarian works, including Sunday-school manuals, were sent by a friend, Lieutenant Cardale, to Rev. William Roberts, as early as August, 1855. In December, an additional supply was forwarded by book post, and Mr. Roberts advised to place the income of any of them that he should choose to sell to account of his own book and tract department. In the month of February, 1856, books and tracts were again sent by mail, post paid; and again another supply of half a dozen books and two or three dozen selected tracts were sent in June. We have also received from Madras a few pamphlets and tracts, that have been eagerly read among us. Extracts from letters of Mr. Roberts have been laid before our congregation, and our word of fellowship has come before his people. Letters are regularly passing from month to 36 MR. DALL' S NARRATIVE. month between the Madras and the Calcutta Missionary, and mutual reports of progress are frequently made. To this extent, if no further, is the purpose fulfilled, that " our warmest sympathies should be extended to the Rev. William Roberts and his faithful people, and his schools." VII. THE MAHOMETANS, AT MADRAS AND ELSEWHERE, Were to be remembered by us. A few books have been sent to the Mlahometans of Madras, and a correspondence by post solicited, though as yet no letter has been received from them. All that we have been able to obtain thus far is an acknowledgment of the receipt of our books, and the promise of a letter. Meantime our Mission has attracted the favorable attention of several leading men of this form of faith in Calcutta and elsewhere in Bengal. A few of them have read our publications, and expressed in private a hearty consent and sympathy with us. The Mahometans of Bengal, until quite lately, appear to have been sunk in apathy, and to have refused everything English, even that knowledge of our language which the Hindoos everywhere are so eager to acquire. A change is now coming over them, and they begin to talk of moral progress. The Gospel of Jesus, they say, gives the love of God to children, as the Koran does not. The offer has even been made to publish, at their own expense, a book of simple prayers for children, in Oordoo, Persian, and Bengali. Our "Matins and Vespers" and Sunday-school Service-Book, containing prayers for the young, have been placed in their hands. VIII. To FIx HIS RESIDENCE Stands recorded among the instructions received by the Missionary. At the most favorable point for labor, he must "give himself to a life of usefulness as A servant of the Lord MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 37 Jesus Christ"; preaching to all the Gospel of God- the Father, the only God; and not failing to enter, as far as permitted, into the most friendly relations with all disciples of Jesus Christ. The circumstances and providential direction which have fixed his home in Calcutta are known to all our friends. The formation of a Society of English and American Unitarians, - with several eminent Hindoos, attending and contributing to the expenses of a place of worship, -occurred on the 8th of July, 1855, the Missionary having landed on the 18th of June, three weeks previous. That Society has more than held its own, the chief increase -being of native young men. Several native Christians are also with us, some of whom are teachers and preachers of Unitarian Christianity. The life and growth of the Society that gathers to these services, week by week, is absolutely dependent on the continued presence of a European or American Missionary. The decision of friends here and at home has therefore been unanimous, and instructions have been sent out by the-American Unitarian Association, that the point of labor for their first Missionary - where, for the present, at least, "he is to give himself to a life of usefulness"- is Calcutta. Concerning this arrangement the Secretary of the American Unitarian Association writes as follows: "The Committee direct me to say, that they defer to you in your wish to remain in Calcutta. As you state,the case, it seems clearly your duty to stay there, and do all in your power to foster the newly-formed Society. For Madras, Salem, and other places, we must look out for some other man; and we are not without hopes that we may find a suitable person.", The Missionary is therefore fixed and settled at Calcutta. With respect to fellow-feeling and co-operation with other denominations of Christians, the Missionary has done what 4 38 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE, in him lay to walk peaceably, in Christian faith and fellowship with those around him. This spirit of goodwill has already begun to bear its proper fruit. Some brethren who felt at first obliged to declare and publish to the world, that the "presence" of a Unitarian among them was "an unwarrantable intrusion," and who had "to wish him no manner of success in India," have begun to change their first impressions; and more than one has already asked for printed discourses of the Missionary. On the other hand, it may be proper, for the establishing the hearts of our own Calcutta Society, to quote a few words from a letter of the Secretary of the American Unitarian Association, who says, under date of March 27, 1856: " I can speak with great confidence of the very favorable impression which the India Mission has made upon the public mind. We mean to sustain it, and confidently look for enlarged usefulness. Your great activity in writing, lecturing, preaching, visiting, as also the unfailing good Christian temper all your articles breathe, must tell finally in your favor in Calcutta." It is a cause of gratitude to God, that this prophecy from our American friends and supporters has already begun to be fulfilled. IX. To WRITE HOME OF HIS WORK IN INDIA Was a final charge, as also concerning what others were doing for its religious and moral welfare. A brief enumeration of his regular labors in this respect must close the present Report. (1.) Not a mail has left India for America since the Missionary entered the mouth of the Hooghly, that has not borne a letter from him to the Secretary of the American Unitarian Association. Letters from native gentlemen, whether as individuals or societies, asking that the MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 39 Mission be sustained and enlarged, have been enclosed with these, or sent independently of them; and the successes, trials, and hopes of the enterprise have thus been "established" in the mouth of many witnesses. (2.) Besides letters, books have also been sent by ship to friends at home, which contained the best reports of the various Protestant Missions in Northern India. There are seldom less than forty American ships anchored at Calcutta, " the fourth commercial city in the world "; and the coming and departing of large vessels, chiefly English and American, to the average number of one hundred a month, give us facilities of communication with Great Britain and the United States that contribute not a little to our prospects of extended usefulness. (3.) The five daily newspapers of Calcutta have been regularly received by the Missionary in return for his occasional contributions to them. The writing of such articles, not to mention five hundred notes and letters, or an average of five daily, consumes much valuable time; but the newspaper articles have attracted favorable attention towards the Mission. There lies thus on his hands, without cost of money, that for which subscribers are paying a hundred and twenty dollars a year. So it seemed best to put these newspapers into the hands of friends and of the ministers of the Unitarian faith in America, in England, and elsewhere, even at an annual cost for postage of forty or fifty dollars; especially as pre-payment of postage to America, on all mailable matter except newspapers, is forbidden. By the newspapers of this chief city in India, friends on the other side of the globe may thus, with little or no cost to themselves, be made acquainted with the state of feeling here, and the progress of internal improvements, of social reforms, and of missionary conflict and success, 40 MR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. throughout the entire country; and, in fact, through all the continent of Asia. Thus, at some expense of time and labor, the Missionary has been able to despatch, post-paid, to two hundred different persons, a semi-monthly average of seventy Indian newspapers, making a total? of eight hundred and forty for the six months. He can conceive of no readier way in which friends at a distance may be enabled to form an enlightened and impartial estimate of the work that believers in a Universal Father ought to be doing in Asia; and to know, by their own examination of testimony, what are the wisest methods of accomplishing it. This plan was commenced at the opening of the Mission, and, if agreeable to our friends, may be indefinitely continued. It may be added, that one of these papers openly defends our Mission, as "a new and unique attempt to plade Christianity before the native mind," rebutting attacks on us with that plea. The country papers also favorably mention from time to time the work of our Mission, and its publications. (4.) An hour or two daily is given by the Missionary to the study of Bengali, a hard language, but necessary to a Bengal Missionary. This and the Hindostani are also gained by daily conversation in either tongue. (5.) We acknowledge the fact, with deep gratitude to the Defender of all such as work with Him and for Him, that friends are often coming and returning from and to Great Britain and the United States; and that these are our living epistles. Mr. Peter Durnan, Librarian of the Rev. II. W. Crosskey's church, in Glasgow, Scotland, came to us in November, 1855, with the hope of giving all the time he could spare from his business to the benefit of his fellow-men, and especially to our Mission. Once a, Roman Catholic, and now a Unitarian, on deep convic MIR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. 41 tion, he came in the fulness of the blessing of a Gospel spirit, willing to spend and be spent for Christ. After struggling for a few months with the adverse influences of the climate, he was unable to walk or stand; and not without tears, and a struggle of mind over which faith finally triumphed, did he suffer himself to be carried on shipboard and back to Scotland. Often in our Mission Room, when ill and suffering, he goes home to testify of the worth of what he has seen and known among us. (6.) So, not to mention others, there came to us from New England in January last, and left us on the 19th of February, in search of health, a dear brother, the Rev. Jared Heard, of Wayland, Massachusetts. Sorry were we that we could not persuade him to stay. Though not able to preach, he conversed freely with such as remained after morning service, and few of us will forget his heartfelt words, especially those which he addressed us on the power of prayer. He spent one day examining the school at Bali, and is well able to tell our New England friends what weight to give to the letters of our coworker, the proprietor of that school. Brother Heard has also conversed with the young man, Takoor Das Roy, who first formally applied for permission to leave all and come to Christ's work, through the instructions of our Theological School at Meadville, Penn. X. A FEW GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS Claim attention at the close of this Report. (1.) The Mission has become more distinctly than at first a Mission to the heathen. Our American supporters residing here, without ceasing to help and befriend us in other ways, do not attend, as at first they did, upon our Mission services. Though there has been a slight inerewqta in 42 MHR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. the number of Europeans and Americans who are openly with us, and nearly fifty persons have signed their names (after service on Sundays) to a pledge of sympathy, the Mission is becoming less and less a movement for white men, and more and more a direct conflict of Christianity with Hindooism. Though we have an assistance from foreigners, in money and their occasional presence (which is all-important to our cause), our appeal is now made definitely and distinctly to Asiatic and heathen ears and hearts. (2.) We have seen enough, in even this first year's acquaintance with India and her needs and longings, to indorse fully the opinion of the present Secretary of the Madras Unitarian Association, Lieutenant W. R. Johnson. Dating his letter " Bangalore, January 15, 1856," Mr. Johnson remarks (after saying that his Association "has little existence besides its name," and that "the thing required in Madras is some educated man as a -Missionary"): " There is certainly a wider field in India than elsewhere for the propagation of the doctrines we hold; and, from frequent conversations I have had with natives of all castes on the subject of religion, I am quite certain'that no tenets would be so well received as ours, especially among the Mahometans." (3.) If the printing of tracts in Etiglish and Bengali is to go forward, there will be a positive need of funds from abroad to meet this branch of our expenses. Every tract and book we have issued, thus far, has been paid for by an extra call upon the limited number of our regular subscribers. An unwillingness to keep repeating this call has brought our publication of tracts, for the present, almost to a stand. Besides selections from our best writers in English, there are also tracts that native gentlemen have turned into Bengali. Of some of these, ten rupees (five dollars) would print two hundred copies. MR. DALL' S NARRATIVE. 43 (4.) Though an open profession of the Cross of Christ has, as yet, been made by few high-caste men or really leading Hindoos, the principles of that Cross are not unfelt; else how shall we account for the acquiescence of all classes in the abolition, by Christian law, of one after another of the time-honored barbarities of Hindooism? or explain the eager reading of books on the Christian religion by heathen young men? not to speak again of the daily coming of Hindoos to a professedly Christian MissionaIy, and asking him to lecture and preach to them. There is no reason to despair, but every reason to hope; and this even without the command, "Go, preach the Gospel to every creature"; "Lo, I am with you alway." The words of one of the ablest Oriental journals, The Friend of India, lately uttered, go to establish this conviction. In glancing rapidly over the last one hundred years, the precise limit of British rule in Asia, its editor, referring to the memorable massacre of the English at the Black Hole of Calcutta, says: " From that day forward, so unbroken has been the course of British -conquest, so increasing the growth of British power in India, that those events have passed, not only from recollection, but almost from belief. There is nothing in all history to compare with the achievement. Let it encourage us to the tremendous task that yet remains to be accomplished. The century of conquest may be considered complete. The century of civilization has hardly begun. While we recognize the vast work that is accomplished, we must admit that we have founded nothing. We have established no one institution which would endure if the external pressure were withdrawn. We have conquered the bodies of this great population, but their minds are stll too much exempt from our aithority. The rhymed sentences of Saadi " (Persian Proverbs) " still have greater 44 DIMR. DALL'S NARRATIVE. influence in India than all the philosophy of the West. We have passed laws wiser than those of Mlenu, but we have implanted no theory of sound legislation; we have founded colleges by the dozen, but the people, these one hundred and fifty millions of whom we talk so much, are, with few exceptions, as barbarous as their forefathers. We have created a judiciary, free at least from corruption, but the native idea of justice remains unchanged. We have restrained some of the enormities of Hindooism, but we have given the people no new faith to replace the old. We have fostered a gigantic trade, but there is not one sound principle of commerce yet rooted in the native mind. The task remaining to be accomplished seems almost hopeless. It is so, to cowards. But if we bring to it the energy, and the courage, and the contempt for the impossible, which we have brought to our military task, the historian of the next century may chronicle a result as magnificent as that, and infinitely more enduring." If these be the true words of a politician, what ought to be said by disciples of Jesus Christ?