mense property; and the plan is the result of my thoughts. I have sent it to my brethren, Carey and Marshman, and we are to have a solemn discussion and revision, and it will then be sent to the Society."

It has been fully admitted by Dr. Carey, that, at the period of this Letter, "the subject of a future settlement of the Mission had come under discussion;" and it is probable, he says," Mr. Ward did then suggest a plan of his own, of which, in the usual ardour of his mind, he hastened to send word to his friends at home."* If this document then only expressed Mr. Ward's sentiments, which he described as being also those of his colleagues, after they had heard of Mr. Fuller's death, it furnishes an important link in the history of the Society. It will be seen by perusing this document, especially the parts printed in italics, how explicitly the union between the Missionaries and the Society is recognized; how frankly it is acknowledged that all the property already realized, or which might hereafter be realized by them, should belong to the Society; being managed by the Missionaries as Trustees only on behalf of the Society: also that the expressed recognition of the Society, should be necessary to render their choice valid respecting any individual to be added to the "Serampore Mission Family Station."

This most important document was read to the Committee at the Annual Meeting of the Society, held at Birmingham, October 10, 1816. In the full expectation that the corrected plan which Mr. Ward had promised would soon arrive, the Secretaries, Messrs. Ryland and Hinton, were authorized to call a Special Meeting of the General Committee; and a Sub-Committee, consisting of nine persons, was appointed to conduct, in connexion with the Secretaries, the business of the Society. These were:-the Rev. Messrs. Hall, of Leicester; Jarman, of Nottingham; Birt, of Birmingham; Dyer, of Reading; Saffery, of Salisbury; Coles, of Bourton; Kinghorn, of Norwich; Steadman, of Bradford; and W. Burls, Esq. of London.

The next Letter from Serampore, dated April 2, 1816, bore the signatures of Carey, Marshman, and Ward. In this, these brethren, with the most perfect cordiality, advised the Society "to take upon themselves the direction and support of the Missionaries sent out from Britain, and proposed to support, from their own funds, as long as they + See Appendix A.

* Letters of Dr. Carey, p. 35.

should possess the means, the native and Asiatic brethren which should be raised up there." The Sub-Committee were called together to meet at Oxford, Dec. 31, 1816. Among other things they, after considering this letter, agreed, "That our brethren, Carey, Marshman, and Ward, constitute a Corresponding Committee for the purpose of assisting the Committee at home," &c.; they also agreed to accede to the proposals of the elder Missionaries, "to cheerfully accept their offer to take upon themselves the direction of the native ministering brethren, and the other Missionaries; requesting them to undertake this on behalf of the Society." To obviate any suspicion in the minds of the Serampore brethren, that it was intended to interfere with the unity of the Society, so carefully recognized and provided for in the letter before them from Mr. Ward, it was added, "fully agreeing with them, that this shall be deemed merely an internal regulation, and that the Missions be always considered

as one.

The corrected document promised by Mr. Ward had not yet arrived; but understanding from the copy received, it proposed measures for settling the property at Serampore in trust for the Society, they appointed two persons in London to consult an eminent Solicitor from Calcutta on that business; and as he recommended a new deed, vesting the property in a number of trustees, part in India and part in England, this was recorded for the information of the General Committee. It was thought the number of trustees should not be less than eleven, and consequently eight persons were nominated to be proposed to the General Committee for that purpose.

From the minutes of the Committee Meeting, held Jan. 23, 1816, it appears, that the brethren appointed as a Sub-Committee, doubtless in virtue of the information they had obtained from Dr. Ryland, merely adopted the suggestions of that former Meeting as to appointing the three elder Missionaries a Corresponding Committee for the purpose of their acting with authority on behalf of the Society in any matters which demanded their interference; and that also, in regard to the appointment of additional trustees, the subject did not originate at Oxford, but in London, and was adopted at the recommendation of Mr. Thomas (son of the late Rev. Thomas Thomas, of Peckham) the Solicitor above referred to. It is hoped this statement of facts will, in future, and for ever, shield the members of the Oxford Sub-Committee * Letter of Mr. Dyer, p. 36, 37.-Note.

from the contumely which Dr. Marshman has heaped upon them. Dr. Ryland, it appears, was requested to inform the Serampore Missionaries of the advice which Mr. Thomas had given as to the best mode of securing the property at Serampore to the use of the Society.

The Annual Meeting in October, 1817, was held at Oxford, when the Rev. J. Hinton resigned his office, and Mr. Dyer was unanimously chosen Assistant-Secretary with Dr. Ryland. The members of the Sub-Committee, about the end of May, 1818, received each of them a copy of a printed Letter, sent from the senior Missionaries, dated Serampore, Sept. 4, 1817, This was submitted to a Committee Meeting in London, held after the Annual Sermons in June, at the house of Mr. Burls, and certainly "filled the minds of all who heard it with a degree of astonishment and concern not easy to describe."* As all the subsequent measures adopted by the Committee have been occasioned by this most extraordinary Letter, I have given it at length."+

The Committee were but ill-prepared for hearing the sentiments thus expressed by the Missionaries in one of the concluding paragraphs :-"What, then, is the full amount of this Letter? That every man has a right to apply to the cause of God the funds he originates, a right which he may delegate, but of which he can never divest himself; and that relative to the funds originated by us, to our dwellings, and to all the concerns of our family committee, you and we are for ever as distinct and free from dependance on each other, as were Fuller and Ryland in their dwellings and the management of their family concerns; or if you will, as are the Parent Society in London, and the Bible Society in Calcutta, respecting their funds, and the Committee."

Accompanying this astounding Letter, was sent what they called an "Explanatory Declaration," for the purpose of providing against what they considered the danger of being forcibly ejected from the dwellings in which they resided, and of which they were Trustees!

The occasion of this measure, it will have been seen, by those who have perused Dr. Marshman's pamphlets, and Dr. Carey's letters, was the alarm which the Missionaries had felt by the proceedings of the Sub-Committee which met at Oxford, Dec. 31, 1816, from which they had inferred most unaccountably: "A

The members of the Committee present, were: Drs. Ryland and Newman; Messrs. Dyer, Burls, Saffery, Winterbotham, Ivimey, Cox, Coles, Edmonds, T. Thomas, Hughes, Kinghorn, and Jos. Hall.

See Appendix B.

degree of domination has been attempted towards us, that threatens all the enjoyments of private life, and the destruction of all our means of public usefulness- we are delivered over as sheep bound for the slaughter."

The dwelling-houses, &c. referred to, had been originally invested in the names of nine Missionaries; now three of them, without obtaining the concurrence of the other survivors, resolve, that it was their "will, design, meaning, and intention," "that no persons, either in England or in India, belonging to the Baptist Missionary Society, should have the least right or title to the property, or to the administration of the said premises, unless lawfully appointed thereto by themselves:"-calling themselves, for the first time, the Baptist Mission at Serampore."

The Committee having maturely considered these very important documents, unanimously resolved, that an explanatory and expostulatory Letter should be addressed to the Serampore Brethren." It is dated London, June 26, 1818.*

The perplexity felt by the Committee at this period is indescribable; they were really "at their wit's end-they knew not what to do." They resolved to request Mr. Dyer to go to India, concluding, that personal explanations would prevent the misconceptions produced by a written correspondence; and as a preparatory measure to his going, it was agreed, that a General Meeting of the Committee was to be held at Birmingham on August 19 and 20. The Committee, consisting of twenty-three persons, three of whom, including yourself, as you know, were from Scotland, adopted the following resolutions:-†

"I. Resolved, That while, from the documents laid before us, the Society are restricted from interfering in the administration

* See Appendix C.

6

+ It may not be unsuitable to give the names of the Members of the Committee who attended this memorable Meeting:

Mr. JAMES DEAKIN, of Glasgow, in the Chair.

of the premises' at Serampore, they are still responsible to the public, and engaged to watch over their ultimate destination.

"II. That while, under all the circumstances of the case, the Committee entirely refrain from objecting to the mode in which the premises are vested, they most earnestly and affectionately remind their Serampore brethren of the vast importance of so appointing and perpetuating the Trust, as shall at once meet the approbation of the public, and best promote the propagation of the Gospel in India, agreeably to the original design and institution of the Baptist Missionary Society.'

"III. Whereas our brethren at Serampore have greatly misapprehended our design in our proposal of uniting with them a number of Trustees in England; we assure them, that it never was our intention to expose them to any interruption in the management of the family union, or to the intrusion of any inmates without their consent; and whilst we applaud their noble generosity in contributing so great a portion of their income to the support of the Mission, we cannot object to their exclusive management of the proceeds of their own labours in the cause of God.

"IV. That we approve of the plan of providing for the perpetuating the Missionary Union at Serampore, laid down in Mr. Ward's Letter of March 11, 1816.

66

"V. That we are much gratified to find our brethren at Serampore so cordially approve the conduct of Mr. W. Pearce, and we wish him to remain at Serampore, and continue his operations in the printing-office, in conjunction with Mr. Ward; though, as we cannot consider our brethren as forming a distinct Society, we must decline the proposal they have made of repaying to our funds the expenses incurred in his outfit, and defer any final answer till we hear from our senior brethren in reply to our Letter of June 26, 1818."

The only account of this Meeting that can be depended on, is the Circular Letter which was immediately prepared and sent to the friends of the Society; and afterwards published in the Periodical Accounts:

Birmingham, August 20, 1818.

"Dear Sir, "The kind interest which you have felt in the concerns of the Baptist Missionary Society, has induced the Committee to wish that you should be made acquainted with some circumstances in the present state of its affairs, respecting which, it is understood, various unaccredited statements have been circulated in different directions.

"It is a fact, with which you must be well acquainted, that, for many years past, our three senior brethren, Carey, Marshman,