It may not be improper to give the names of those who composed the Committee, as they appear in the "Periodical Accounts" for the year 1810: JOHN FAWCETT, D.D. Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire. JAMES HOBSON, Kettering. JOHN YATES, Leicester. JAMES LOMAX, Nottingham. WILLIAM BURLS, 56, Lothbury, London. To shew the regularity with which the proceedings of the Society were conducted, I copy the following account:"A general Meeting of the Society being called by the secretary, was held at Kettering, Sept. 29, 1812, when the following resolutions were unanimously passed: 1. That the Ministers' meeting, held towards the end of September, or at the beginning of October, at Kettering and Northampton alternately, be in future considered as the annual meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society, at which the committee, with the treasurer and secretary shall be appointed; the sermons bear a relation to the subject; and a brief statement given by the secretary of any recent intelligence. 2. That the Society approves of the proceedings of its committee, and recommends a perseverance in the same unostentatious and prudent course, in which things have been hitherto conducted. 3. That the same committee be continued another year, and the following names be added to it:-William Newman, F. A. Cox, and Joseph Ivimey, of London; John Saffery, Salisbury; John Dyer, Plymouth; Isaiah Birt, Plymouth Dock; Henry Page, and Thomas Roberts, Bristol; William [Thomas] Coles, Bourton; John Palmer, Salop; Thomas Morgan, Birmingham; Thomas Blundell, Northampton; William Steadman, Bradford; Mark Wilks, Norwich; Chris topher Anderson, Edinburgh; James Deakin, Glasgow; George Barclay, Kilwinning; and Micah Thomas, Abergavenny. 4. That the Society approves of the conduct of its secretary and treasurer, and requests their continuance in office another year. 5. That the secretary be allowed 120 guineas for the next year to provide an assistant in his arduous work. 6. That the Society doth most cordially approve of the proceedings of its Missionaries, and earnestly recommends the younger, to emulate the disinterested, laborious, patient, and prudent conduct of their elder brethren. 7. That the late alarming fire at Serampore calls for the prompt and liberal exertions of the churches, to repair the heavy loss, and to restore the worthy missionaries to their wonted labours. 8. That a letter be addressed from this meeting, in the name of the Society, to the missionaries and churches in the East, and that it be printed in No. XXIII. of the Periodical Accounts." In this Letter the Committee say, in reference to the future management of the Society," Considering that several of us are drawing towards the period of our labours, we have at this meeting taken measures which we hope may, with the divine blessing, provide for futurity. The seat of the Society will, it is hoped, continue in the Association in which it originated, and where we trust it will be conducted in the same quiet and harmonious way which it has hitherto been; but we have agreed to enlarge the Committee, by adding to it some of our brethren from different parts of the kingdom, who appear best suited for the work, and to have had their hearts most interested in it. Their names you will see in the resolutions. Many of these brethren cannot, for local reasons, ordinarily assemble with us for consultation; but they can receive and communicate intelligence, and promote the object in their several connexions." In addition to this plan, Mr. Fuller wrote to the Missionaries at Serampore, recommending five persons, members of the Committee, with whom he requested them to commence at once a correspondence: these were Messrs. Burls and Ivimey, of London; Saffery, of Salisbury; Dyer, of Reading; and yourself. The two last of these he mentioned as *My authority for this statement is as follows:-About the commencement of the year 1815, Mr. Fuller conversed with me as to some of the Committee opening a correspondence with the Missionaries at Serampore. He C best suited to fill the secretary's office; and, as you well know, when he was on his death-bed, he recommended you to succeed him in that office, and that you should be requested to remove to Kettering, that you might conduct the Society as he had done, in connexion with the Committee. You must have been well acquainted with his prejudices against the manner in which other Missionary Societies had conducted their annual meetings in London. He considered that choosing a person of rank or distinction to fill the chair, and the long speeches made on those occasions, savoured of ostentation and parade; and therefore it was he provided, so far as he possibly could, that the seat of the Mission should not be removed to London, but remain in that association wherein it originated, and by which it had been conducted. Dr. Marshman more than insinuates that Mr. Fuller considered, at this period, there were persons desirous of removing the management of the Mission to London; and says, "Mr. Sutcliff had said, in conversation with a respectable gentleman, we do not consider ourselves as legislators for our brethren; but merely as co-workers with them. If ever the Committee begins to legislate for India, I should expect they would issue a declaration of independence, and I should not be sorry if they did. We never pretended to govern them, for two reasons: one is, we think them better able to govern themselves, than we are to govern them; another is, they are at too great a distance to wait for our directions. Our business has been little more than to furnish them with means, and to send out a few recruits. When we consulted some of our best friends in the North, they said, in a tone that we felt to be imperative, Let the seat of the Society be where it is.'” Notwithstanding what Dr. Marshman has said to the contrary, the plain meaning of Mr. Sutcliff was, in which doubtless Mr. Fuller agreed, that in the event of the Committee attempting to exercise dominion over the Serampore Missionaries, and other brethren in INDIA, he should not be surprised nor sorry, if they proclaimed themselves a separate Society, and were to remain no longer affiliated with the Society in England. soon after sent to me an unsealed letter, which he had addressed to them on the subject, telling me he wished it to be read to Mr. Burls, and then be forwarded to India. Mr. Ward's letter to me, dated Oct. 13, 1815, (printed in the History of the English Baptists, vol. iv. p. 159), was an answer to my first letter written to him at the request of Mr. Fuller. LETTER III. Events which happened from the death of Mr. Fuller, May 7, 1815, till the General Committee Meeting held at Birmingham, August 19-20, 1818. MY DEAR Brother, No man could have been more esteemed while living, or more lamented at his death, by the members of the Society, than was Mr. Fuller. The Committee say, at its next Meeting, held at Luton, on the 17th of May, 1815:"The loss which the Society has sustained by the death of our indefatigable Secretary, is such as the exertions of no individual can repair. A great part of the funds were collected by his personal efforts; and in every department the Mission has derived inestimable benefits from his wise and energetic mind." At this Meeting too, "it was unanimously resolved, that Doctor Ryland be requested to discharge the business of the Secretary until the Annual Meeting of the Society, to be held at Northampton, on Tuesday, the 10th of October next."* The Annual Meeting was held accordingly: when Dr. Ryland and the Rev. James Hinton, of Oxford, were chosen joint-Secretaries, and Messrs. Hall, of Northampton; Hughes, of London; and Kinghorn, of Norwich, were added to the Committee. It was agreed, that the next Annual Meeting should be holden at Birmingham, the third Wednesday in October, 1816.+ I find that a Committee meeting was held soon after in London, at 56, Lothbury, Jan. 23, 1816, at which were present Messrs. Burls, Cox, Hughes, Ivimey, Newman, and Hinton, secretary. At this meeting it was agreed to send out Mr. Penney to superintend the Benevolent Institution at Calcutta, and Mr. Randall, to conduct a paper mill at Serampore. In addition to the resolutions which were adopted, there † Ibid, vol. v. p. 683. * Periodical Accounts, vol. v. p. 526. are "proposals for consideration." I copy the third and fifth of these, as bearing upon our subject. "Whether the three senior brethren at Serampore are already empowered to give orders, in case their requests should be insufficient, in whatever may require such an interference in India on behalf of the Society; or whether any more formal appointment of a managing or corresponding Committee in India, be necessary for the future well-being of the Society, and its increasing concerns." "Whether for securing the large property in India, additional trustees ought not to be forthwith appointed?" It is added "We should be happy to know the mind of Dr. Ryland, and his friends, on these questions, as soon as convenient." It will be seen, from the above mentioned minutes, that the members of the Committee were fully impressed with the conviction of the Society having "large property in India;" that they apprehended it was not sufficiently secured; and also that they supposed Dr. Ryland was able to communicate information respecting it. It was in the course of this year, that the first communication was received, written at Serampore after the Missionaries had heard of the death of Mr. Fuller. This was a document, dated Serampore, March 11, 1816, which stated that "W. Carey, Joshua Marshman, and W. Ward, aware of the uncertainty of human life, and at the same time of the great importance and necessity of leaving their joint opinion of the best way of providing for the future carrying on of the Mission station at Serampore, have agreed, in the following declaration, on the principles which they think of the last importance for the preservation to the cause of God, of those establishments which have been formed at Serampore." Of this letter, Mr. Ward, in the name of his brethren, sent three copies, addressed to three members of the Committee, viz. to Dr. Ryland, Mr. Burls, and myself. In his own letter, accompanying this document, Mr. Ward says:" I have been very anxious respecting a comfortable settlement of this station, this [printing] business and im Mr, John Marshman (Review, p. 4) acknowledges his having "lately found a copy of this document, written in the hand of a clerk." |