As soon as the capitulation was signed, the missionaries sent a messenger to their brethren at Tranquebar, informing them of their melancholy situation, and requesting some country boats for transporting the mission property, as it was supposed that all the inhabitants would be required to take an oath of fidelity to the French government, and it was no longer expedient to remain at their present station. The next day the English garrison marched out of Cuddalore, and some French offiIn the course of the day, Count Lally himself visited the missionaries and conversed with them in English, inquiring what countrymen they were, whether Lutherans or Calvinists, wherein their functions consisted, and how far they had succeeded in making converts. He kindly gave them passports, and granted two country boats, which had arrived from Porto Novo with provisions for the French troops, to transport their goods. With much difficulty they contrived, amidst the confusion around them, to get their property on board.The missionaries then assembled their little Christian flock, and kneeling down, commended them to the Lord, praying that he would guide and protec them. am," from which striking example of the apostle, he represented to them humility as an essential and most important quality in every Christian teacher, leading him to entertain the lowliest thoughts of himself, and at the same time to value and depend on the grace of God in Christ Jesus, above all things. This was a critical year to the British power in India, and to the missions at Cuddalore and Madras. During the night of the 28th of April, the French landed a body of troops near Fort St. David, which, being joined by others from Pondicher-cers took up their quarters at the mission houses.ry, ravaged and plundered the neighboring towns and villages in a most cruel manner. Many of the Roman Catholic Christians fled to their adjacent church near the governor's garden-house, where they trusted that, as brethren in the faith with the French, they should be safe. Some one, however, among the invading party, having reported that these were the English Protestant missionaries, and that it was their church, the poor Roman Catholics who had taken refuge in it were inhumanly massaered, and the church razed to the foundation. In the mean time, the Protestant missionaries were by the good providence of God safe within the walls of Cuddalore. It was remarkable that a person at Tranquebar, who was known to be connected with the French, when the news of their attack reached Many Christians and other natives, with thei: that place, expressed his conviction, that Messrs. families, were allowed to accompany the missionaKiernander and Hutteman had been put to death. ries on leaving Cuddalore. In the evening they On the 1st of May, the French troops approach-arrived at Porto Novo, where they were cordially ed Cuddalore, and the walls being very low and received by the Dutch resident; and at noon the weak, it was apprehended that at the rising of the next day at Devi-Cottah, where the English gave moon at midnight, they would storm the town.- them a most hospitable welcome. On the 8th they The alarm of the native inhabitants was in conse- reached Tranquebar, where houses were assigned to quence extreme; and they came by hundreds to the them by their kind brethren: the native Christians missionaries, with their most valuable effects, with were lodged for the present in the paper-mill at Powhich they filled the mission houses. They were, reiar, and the Cuddalore children were received however, spared the horrors of an assault, and early into the Tamul school. The two missionaries inthe next morning a French officer brought a sum- sisting on taking a share in the labors at Tranque. mons to the garrison to surrender the place on bar, Mr. Kiernander assisted in the Portuguese, capitulation. The English commander of the Fort and Mr. Hutteman in the Malabar congregations. soon afterwards kindly sent a note to the missionaries, advising them to accompany his messenger to the enemy's camp, in order to request the French general to take them under his protection. This advice they thankfully adopted, and followed the flag of truce by a circuitous route through the country, which had been laid waste in every direction, by the French cavalry. At length they reached the choultry where the commander-in-chief, the un- Most of the native converts having left Cuddafortunate Count Lally,* had fixed his head-quarters. lore, some having retired to Tranquebar, and others He immediately assured them that they had nothing to Madras, Mr. Kiernander perceived no immedito fear, and that he would afford them every protec-ate prospect of being able to return to his former tion. His own regiment being nearly all Irish, the of- station, and in consequence felt it to be his duty to cers spoke English, and Colonel Kennedy accompa- engage in some new sphere of labor. After mature nied the missionaries some distance on their return. reflection and consultation with his brethren, it was Cuddalore being quite unequal to a defence resolved that he should endeavor to establish a misagainst so considerable a force, and being entirely sion in Bengal. For this purpose he proceeded to open towards the river, the governor of Fort St. Calcutta in September, 1758; and notwithstanding David agreed to the proposed capitulation, and the many difficulties and discouragements, he labored town was in consequence delivered up to the French. there for some years with exemplary piety and diThe captain of the grenadier company of the regi-ligence, and with considerable success. Mr. Huttement Lorraine, which had taken possession of the Porto Novo gate, received orders from his general to send a guard to the missionaries to protect their houses, and they expressed their gratitude by affording refreshments both to the officers and soldiers. They discovered also, that the German captain, Baron Heidemann, whom Mr. Kohlhoff had visited at Seringham, had given orders to his hussars to protect them.t *See Orme's History, vol. ii.; and Mill's British India, vol. iii. + This pious officer, about two years afterwards, quitted the French service, and retired to the mission at Vepery, where he died in 1761. The early departure of the missionaries and their converts from Cuddalore, appears to have been highly providential. Several Jesuits from Pondicherry, with a party of their followers, arrived the next day; and on finding they had escaped, expressed their disappointment, as well as great displeasure against Count Lally for having granted them a safe dismissal. man remained at Tranquebar till September 1760, when he returned and resumed his labors at Cuddalore, which had been retaken by the British army. There, among other instances of the divine blessing upon his ministry, he was the instrument of converting a Pandaram of the highest caste, and of great respectability and learning, in Tanjore. The account of this distinguished convert, written by himself, together with the remonstrance of his brethren of the college of Pandarams of which he had been a member, and his energetic and truly Christian reply, are contained in the reports of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge for the year 1765. By one of the biographers of Swartz, this conversion has been erroneously attributed to him, instead of his excellent friend Mr. Hutteman, | could obtain from Count Lally the desired protecto whom, under God, this honor is due. tion. The French officers expressed their regret Notwithstanding the disturbed and critical state that he had not sooner applied for it, adding, that of the surrounding country, the missionaries at on such occasions, it was not in their power to reTranquebar, which, as belonging to a neutral state, strain the excesses of the Mohammedan troops.had suffered none of the calamities of war, cele- The missionaries, however, humbly resigning thembrated, as they were accustomed on the 31st of Oc-selves to the will of God, felt comparatively little tober, the anniversary of the German Reformation, for their own losses, but deeply lamented that the. by singing hymns of praise to its divine Author. property of many persons, particularly that of some widows and orphans, which had been entrusted to their care, should have been thus plundered-a circumstance which led them afterwards to be cautions in becoming such depositories, except in behalf of each other. On the 21st of November in this year, died at Tranquebar, an aged woman, who was one of the first five converts to Christianity by Ziegenbalg and Plutscho, having been baptized on the 12th of May 1707. She was born and educated a Mohammedan, and was already of adult age when she became a Christian. Her life had been irreproachable, and she had regularly attended the public services of the mission. At her funeral, which was numerously attended, a short address, appropriate to the interesting occasion, was delivered in the old mission church. The French army approached Madras in November, availing itself of the monsoon, during which the English fleet could not remain on that Station. The missionaries at Vepery, Messrs. Fabricius and Breithaupt, observed, in consequence, a day of penitence and prayer; humbly deprecating the approaching visitation, and imploring the divine protection in behalf of the English government, and the army, the country, and the mission. It was a remarkable and impressive circumstance, that even the youngest children in their schools, contrary to their usual custom, joined in the amen at the conclusion of their prayer. On the 6th of December, the French began to invest. Madras, to the disappointment of numbers who had intended to retire, among whom were the missionaries, who had made every preparation for transporting themselves and their property to Pulicat. The French army being unprovided with artillery, no one anticipated so sudden an approach; but the roads both to the south and the north being occupied by the enemy, and the missionaries being unwilling to retreat into the Fort or White town, with their numerous families, aged persons, women and children, they had no other resource than, in the event of the English army retiring into the city, to endeavor to obtain the protection of the French general, Count Lally, as Mr. Fabricius had done in the year 1746, on the capture of Madras by M. Labourdonnais. They felt, however, that it would not become them to seek such protection from the French general before he had rendered himself master of the country. On the 12th the French army advanced, and after firing a few rounds the English retreated into the fort. Scarcely had this movement taken place, when the Mohammedan irregular cavalry of the French army galloped over the plains, and listened to no representations of the missionaries, forced their way into their houses, and robbed and plundered them of every thing. At length they approached the church, in which great numbers of men, women, and children had taken refuge. Here they compelled the native men to give up their clothes and turbans, and the women their necklaces and ear-rings. "Our gracious God, however," observe the missionaries, "without whose permission not a hair falls from our heads, mercifully preserved his servants, so that their persons were not touched, and, with the exception of being plundered, no one sustained the slightest injury."The native Christians fled across the river into Madras, whither Mr. Breithaupt and his family also escaped, while Mr. Fabricius, escorted by a friendly Roman Catholic trooper whom he met among the plunderers, proceeded to the French camp. It was late in the evening before Mr. Fabricius As soon as Mr. Fabricius had obtained a soldier to protect him, he returned to Vepery, where he found every thing in the utmost confusion; most of the mission furniture, their provisions, books, clothes, and utensils, had disappeared. Their manuscripts and correspondence, though scattered in every direction, were happily preserved; and some of their more useful books were afterwards discovered. benevolent friends at Fort St. George kindly sent Messrs. Fabricius and Breithaupt a present of money, linen, and clothing; and thus the providence of God watched over them and supplied their wants. Some Very early on the 14th of December, the French army defiled past the mission-house towards the northern suburb of Madras, compelling two youths of the Christian congregation to accompany them as guides. A strong detachment from the fort here attacked the French, but the English were repulsed with considerable loss. The French plundered the Black town, and commenced the siege of Fort St. George. To avoid the difficulties and dangers attending such a scene, the missionaries, about Christmas, together with many of their converts, left Madras, and proceeded to Pulicat, where they were hospitably received by the Dutch authorities. In the mean time, Count Lally urged the siege of Madras with the feeble means which he possessed, and about the middle of February 1759, a breach having been made in the walls, notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Governor Pigot and the English commander, the veteran Major Lawrence, preparations were making for the assault; when, on the 16th, the very day which had been fixed for the purpose, an English fleet unexpectedly arrived off Madras, and in two hours the French officer commanding in the trenches received orders to abandon the siege. The next day the French army retreated from Madras, and in the course of a few weeks, the missionaries returned to their peaceful and beneficent labors. The victory of Colonel Coote at Wandewash, and the subsequent capture of Pondicherry, defeated the last hopes of the French in that quarter, and established the British ascendancy in the Carnatic. CHAPTER IV. A. D. 1759 TO A. D. 1766. Tranquillity of the Danish missionaries during the late hostilities in the Carnatic-Visit of Mr. Swartz to Ceylon-His various miniterial labors and his illness in that island-His faithful admonition to a skeptic-His departure from Ceylon-His reflections on this visit-Journey with Mr. Kohlhoff to Cuddalore and Madras-His religious views and feelings in a letter to a friend-Enlarged sphere of Mr. Swartz's labors-Journey to Tanjore and TrichinopolyFirst proceedings in those cities-Introduction to the Nabob of Arcot-Conversations with natives near Trichinopoly-Commencement of Divine Service with the English garrison-Contagious fever-Services of Swartz during the siege of Madura-His remɔ val from Tranquebar, and establishment at Trichinopoly, as a Missionary of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge-Arrival of Mr. Gericke in India. WHILE the operations of the missionaries at Cuddalore and Madras had been thus painfully inter rupted and suspended by the hostilities between the | his advice how best to proceed, opened a field of French and English, Mr. Swartz and his colleagues usefulness far more extensive than he had anticiat Tranquebar were pursuing their accustomed la-pated. The day following he devoted to a visit to bors in comparative tranquillity, and affording, as the Dutch clergymen, conversing with them on the we have seen, hospitality and comfort to many of state of the mission, and the exertions of the Dutch, their Christian brethren, both native and European.in behalf of the heathen, in the island of Ceylon.From an early period of the Danish mission, some On the 20th he dined with the governor, to whom correspondence had been carried on with the Dutch he related the most important occurrences at the ministers in Ceylon, whom the missionaries at several missionary stations, and the active operaTranquebar had occasionally supplied with copies tions which were in progress, both among Chrisof the holy Scriptures in Tamul, that language be- tians and heathen. From the 21st to the 26th he ing spoken in the north of the island. Early in the was engaged in preparing those who intended to year 1760, some Christians at Colombo and Jaffna- receive the holy sacrament. But about this time patnam having expressed an earnest desire for a he was interrupted in the midst of his pious labors visit from some of the Danish missionaries, for the by a severe illness, probably brought on by his long purpose of spiritual instruction and edification, Mr. and fatiguing journey in the hot season, which conSwartz determined to comply with their request, tinued during the whole month, but of which it is and on the 25th of April proceeded on his journey to be regretted that no other record remains than accompanied by two of his brethren. The first his thankful acknowledgment, which afterwards evening they reached the fortress of Karikal, where appears, of its beneficial effect upon his own mind. they passed the night, being received in the most On recovering from this indisposition, on the 17th friendly manner by the English commandant. On of July, the anniversary of his arrival in India, ten the road they met several natives, to whom the ex-years before, Swartz preached a sermon preparacellent missionary, ever on the watch to improve tory to the holy communion, on Matthew iii. 2, in opportunities of usefulness, represented the majesty which he dwelt much on the nature of the motives of the supreme Being, his glorious works, and his to true repentance. The next day, after a discourse numberless mercies, and exhorted them faithfully on 1 Cor. xi. 28, in which he expatiated on the hapto acknowledge and reverentially to worship him, py effects of worthily approaching the table of the the only true God. They approved of what he said, Lord, the bread and cup of blessing were received and two of them accompanied him as far as Neur, by four hundred persons, many of whom afterwards with whom he had much conversation. Near this acknowledged the powerful impression produced place he was met by a very pious Christian, whose on their minds by their participation in that sacred conversation greatly refreshed him. At noon he ordinance. reached Negapatam, and in the evening waited on the governor, Baron D'Eck, from whom he learned that the sloop in which he was to proceed to Jaffnapatnam, was ready to sail. During the voyage, on the 28th, being within sight of the port, a waterspout rose so close to the vessel, that all on board were under the most painful apprehensions; but on the guns being fired, it soon dispersed. On landing in the island of Ceylon, Mr. Swartz was kindly received by the Dutch resident; and on the 30th of April he arrived at Jaffnapatnam, where Captain de Dohren invited him to be his guest.Here he commenced a series of Christian labors which proved most acceptable and beneficial to the inhabitants of the different stations which he visited, and which were long afterwards remembered with gratitude by many who appeared to be thirsting for divine instruction. On the following day Mr. Swartz received an invitation to preach the word of God to the Christians at Point de Galle, to which place he proceeded on the 22d, and arrived on the 24th. Several members of the congregations met him on the road with tears of joy. On the 26th he commenced preparatory instructions for the holy sacrament, which he continued till the 30th, when ne preached on Luke xv., explaining the nature of true conversion; and on the next day one hundred and twenty-six persons were admitted to the holy communion, after he had exhorted them, in many private conversations, to choose that narrow way which leadeth unto life eternal. On the 1st of August, he left Point de Galle for Colombo, where he again arrived on the 4th, after having administered the sacrament at Caleture. The road to the latter place, planted on both sides with cocoa trees, he described as particularly pleasant. Having now spent more than three months in Ceylon, he commenced his return to Tranquebar. For this purpose he embarked on board a Moorish vessel, much enjoying the fine view of Colombo from the sea, and commending its inhabitants to the divine mercy. Towards evening, having lost sight of land, the Mohammedan seamen requested him to relate to them the history of Christ, with which he gladly complied, calling their attention to the difference between the Christian and Mohammedan religion. They would not admit that Mohammed was a false prophet, but behaved with great mild The two Dutch ministers, then residing at Jaff napatnam, were native Tamuls. After addressing the company's interpreter in the presence of many who were assembled, on the characteristics of a true Christian, Mr. Swartz explained in the evening to the two ministers, in their native language, the great design of missions, the duties of missionaries, their behavior towards the heathen, and the best method of conducting schools. On the 2nd of May, he preached to a Christian congregation from Luke xix. 10" The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." On the 10th, from John xvi. 5, on the Holy Spirit, and the grounds on which we may now hope to become partakers of that ines-ness and modesty. timable gift. On the 5th he visited the hospital with the physician, and addressed both the sick and those in health, from the words of St. John i. 29, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." The next day he set out for Colombo to request permission of the governor to administer the holy sacrament at Jaffnapatnam. This tedious journey occupied twelve days, and he arrived at Colombo on the 18th, just as divine service was commencing. In the afternoon he was introduced to the Governor Schreuder, who inquired into the design of his visit, and then very kindly giving him On the 29th of August, he arrived at Jaffnapatnam, and after preaching from Matt. xxvi. 26, he administered the holy sacrament to thirty-nine persons. In the afternoon he addressed the sick at the hospital, on Luke xv. 2, "This man receiveth sinners." He visited the hospital again on the following day, and preached in the morning from 1 Cor. xi. 23, when eleven persons received the holy communion. In the afternoon he selected for his text the words of the Psalmist, "Teach me to do thy will." Ps. cxliii. 10-exhorting his hearers to make this one of their chief prayers to God. Amongst others with whom he conversed at Jaffna, on religion, a well informed man, who was of a scientific turn of mind, told him of the distress which his unbelief caused him, mentioning several of the doubts which he entertained on the subject of revelation. Mr. Swartz having dispelled them, concluded his conversation with the following important admonition. "It is very right to endeavor, by sound reasoning and argument, to become convinced of the truth of divine revelation: but this is not sufficient. The chief cause of your unbelief is your own perverse will and inclination. You wish that the word of God may prove untrue for no other reason than this, that you may be allowed to live undisturbed in sin; but I declare to you, it is not -enough that your understanding is convinced of the truth-your heart and will must be changed. Turn, therefore, with full purpose of heart, to the living God, and endeavor to obtain grace and pardon, through the blood of the atonement; and watch and pray, and you will find help. You must enter upon this most important business with great zeal, and with a holy importunity." The gentleman to whom this faithful appeal was addressed, appeared to be deeply affected by it; and, as one proof of its efficacy, he immediately sent for a neighbor, with whom he had lived at enmity, and reconciled himself to him. On the 5th of September, prior to his departure, Mr. Swartz went to Point Pedro for the purpose of seeing the large tree, under which the celebrated Baldæus, who accompanied the Dutch expedition which took possession of Ceylon, in the seventeenth century, addressed his first discourse to the natives. He conversed with some Malabar people whom he met on the spot, and preached the gospel to them. On his return, he again embarked on board his vessel, impressed with gratitude to God for the help which he had experienced in visiting and addressing so many different congregations; and after a short and pleasant voyage, he arrived on the 9th of September, in the port of Negapatam, and concluded his journal of his visit to Ceylon in the following modest terms. "With a humble heart I bless the name of the Lord for the grace, help, and protection, he has vouchsafed to me. May he pardon, for Christ's sake, all my sins of omission and commission; and may a lasting blessing rest on all I have done and spoken in my infirmity, agreeably to his word! Amen." In a letter to his excellent friend Dr. Francke, dated October 16th, 1760, Swartz thus piously refers to his late voyage to Ceylon: "May I never forget the good I have received at the hands of God; and may the remembrance of his great and unmerited kindness strengthen me to do his will, and to walk in the way of his commandments! I know, indeed, from experience, that after God has comforted the heart with the assurance of his grace and pardoning love, there will be also found readiness and strength faithfully to discharge our general and relative duties. May a merciful God glorify Christ in my soul, as my adorable Mediator and Redeemer, that I may taste and see how gracious he is! "I was much troubled, and even somewhat impeded in the discharge of my duty, by a dry cough in January and February last, which always greatly increased whenever I attempted to remain for any length of time in the open air, during the prevalence of northerly winds; on which account an opportunity of undertaking a voyage to Ceylon was particularly welcome to me. When I reflect how God has condescended to humble and purify me by means of an illness with which I was visited at Colombo, I am constrained to praise him in silence. |'All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth,' even when it would seem as if he had visited us in anger, and contrary to the assurance which his word contains. I have reason to think that the seed of the word sown at Colombo, has been productive, in some instances, of real and lasting good. The commanding officer at Galle, a member of the reformed Church, appeared much affected, and said to the Lutherans: 'I suppose you would be glad to receive a similar visit once a year.' And on my taking leave, he thanked me most feelingly for the edification he had received, and begged me to come again. The word of God being so scarce in that island, I assure you that the divine service was conducted in a very solemn and edifying manner. deed my inmost soul was moved by it." In Early in 1761 some circumstances, communicated to Mr. Swartz by Mr. Hutteman, induced him, in conjunction with his friend Mr. Kohlhoff, to undertake a journey northwards to Cuddalore and Madras. Meeting some fishermen on their way, they exhorted them to turn to the living God, through Jesus Christ. One of them replied, "You are not in want, and are therefore not prevented from serving God." The missionaries pointed to the sea, as to an inexhaustible treasury, from which they might every day derive enough to satisfy their own wants, as well as those of many others. In Wanagiri, a Brahmin and some natives that were with him, inquired from whence they came. "We replied," says Mr. Swartz, "from Tranquebar, for the purpose of addressing to you the tidings of salvation.' "We have no time," said they, "to hear you, as we are going to the magistrate.' Being, however, prevailed upon to listen for a few moments, the missionary told them, that the Lord of heaven called them to enjoy bliss and happiness in another world. "What would you have us to do?" was the reply. "We earnestly exhort you," he said, "to repentance towards God, and faith in Jesus Christ." They observed, "We do worship God, and he being omnipresent, we may as well worship him under the form of a stone.' The missionary replied, that there was no likeness of the living God, either in heaven above or in the earth beneath; and therefore that it was dishonoring him to worship him in the form of any thing corruptible. Near a river the two travellers met with a Mohammedan chief, and some of his people entered into conversation with them. Mr. Swartz observed, that all men were strangers and pilgrims on the earth, who should desire a better, even a heavenly country, which it was impossible to reach by any works or merits of their own, but only by faith in Jesus Christ. They listened with great attention, and as often as the name of Jesus was mentioned the chief added that of Messiah. On parting, he requested the friendship of the missionaries, and wished them prosperity. On the 30th of January, Mr. Swartz and his companion arrived at the mission-house in Cuddalore, admiring the goodness of God, by which the town was preserved during the tumults of the late war. Having stayed a day or two and preached there, they pursued their journey; and near Pondicherry a native Roman Catholic, with his wife, joined them, to whom they pointed out the happiness to be derived from the pure gospel of Christ. At Pondicherry they were kindly received by a French inhabitant. who related to them the great distress they had suffered during the late siege of that place. To a young Brahmin whom they met near Mareikanam, carrying a bench on which the idol Ramen is usually placed, and who accompanied them as far as the river Kartiel, Swartz related the history of the creation, and fall of man, and the redemption by Jesus Christ, and testified against the deplorable | and Trichinopoly, preaching both to Christians and practice of idol worship. heathens. At Tanjore he was permitted to explain the doctrines of the gospel, not only in the city, but even in the Rajah's palace, where he took occasion, from questions which the officers of the court asked him concerning worldly affairs, to turn the conversation to religious subjects. The Rajah was present, and heard him, but was not visible. On the evening of the 6th, they reached Sadras, where they were received in a very friendly manner by the Dutch commander of the Fort, and distributed some German tracts among the soldiers; and on the 8th they arrived at Vepery, from which their brethren had been compelled to retreat two years before. They visited the various institutions At Trichinopoly, where he remained till July, at this station, conversed with some Mohammedans, he was treated with great kindness by the English; and exhorted the native Tamul Christians to walk and with the assistance of Major Preston and Mr. worthy of the gospel. On the 10th a conference Newton,* a room was built for the purpose of diof the missionary brethren was held, at which the vine worship, and as a school for children. In native assistants were present. On the 15th Mr. September, on his reurn from Tanjore, he baptized Swartz preached in Tamul, from Luke xxii. 39-46. several Hindoo converts, and received some Roman He was detained at Vepery till the 10th of March, Catholics into the congregation, after having preby a contusion which he had received at Sadras, viously instructed them in the Protestant faith. and which had brought on inflammation; but on the Though Tranquebar continued for some time to 18th he returned safely to Tranquebar, where he be nominally the place of his residence, Trichinocontinued during the remainder of the year, ac-poly and Tanjore began, from this period, to be the tively engaged in the ordinary labors of the mission. chief objects of his attention, as they were ultimateAt the commencement of the year 1762, we find ly the principal sphere of his missionary labors.him, in a letter from Tranquebar to a friend at The former of these two cities contained, at this peHalle, giving the following pious and interesting riod, from twenty to thirty thousand inhabitants, sketch of his religious views and feelings. several handsome mosques, and a palace and gardens of the nabob, and is celebrated for its stupendous rock of granite, rising within the fort to the height of four hundred and fifty feet, and commanding, from that eminence, an extensive view of the surrounding country. In one direction, the island of Seringham, encircled by the diverging branches of the fertilising Cavery, and conspicuous from its gigantic pyramids and vast and venerated pagoda, forms a rich and magnificent object; while the whole scene is scarcely less memorable as the principal seat of the struggle between the French and English, which has been already adverted to, for the empire of India, and the signal triumphs of British talents and valor. Such was the spot which was about to be rendered doubly interesting by the Christian labors of Swartz. "With respect to my present circumstances, I feel constrained to bless God for the manifold mercies showered down in the past year upon me, the least of his servants, through Christ's atonement and intercession. He has supported me day by day in the most gracious manner; he has instructed and reproved me by his Spirit; he has never left me without consolation-therefore my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Indeed I have the greatest cause for gratitude; for the Lord has regarded the low estate of his servant. My joy is not extravagant, but calm and abiding, and my great aim is to know that I am the Lord's, through Christ, that I have found grace in his sight, that his peace rests upon me, that I can confidently approach him in prayer, and have a certain hope of eternal life; so that even days of sickness cannot deprive me of these consolations. "On my return to Trichinopoly," he observes in his journal, "early in the year 1763, I found that the powder magazine had blown up. Among other "Many of the Roman Catholics in this place Europeans who lost their lives on this occasion, acknowledge the superior advantages which the were three very pious men, by whose society and pure gospel has over the confused doctrines and conversation I had often been refreshed." With traditions of men; which, instead of relieving, only reference to this calamitous event he addressed a oppress the conscience. When I visit them in their small congregation of Germans from the admonihouses they listen to me gladly, and I affectionately tion of our Lord on the fall of the tower in Siloam, invite them to convince themselves of the full, per- Luke xiii. 4, the number of those who perished fect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfac- having been in each case the same. "This event," tion, made by Christ for the sins of the whole he adds, "produced a beneficial change in the senworld, as the foundation of their faith; and that timents and conduct of many of the inhabitants."believing this, they may enjoy peace of conscience, Mr. Swartz made a collection in behalf of the childand become partakers of the precious blessings ob- ren of those who had suffered by his melancholy tained for them by his sufferings and death upon catastrophe, which amounted to three hundred and the cross. I point out to them what Jesus Christ thirty pagodas. This sum he applied to the estahimself has taught respecting the way which lead-blishment of an English orphan school, and the ne eth unto life, and how much the Romish Church cessary books were obtained from Madras and Calhas deviated from the pure doctrine of the gospel.cutta. Father, let thy kingdom come! O send forth faithful laborers into thy harvest!" Various and important as the services of Swartz had already been, it must be evident that he possessed talents and acquirements which qualified him for a sphere of more extensive usefulness than the narrow limits of the Danish territory and its immediate neighborhood afforded. An opportunity for thus enlarging the scene of his labors shortly afterwards occurred. In the month of May, 1762, accompanied by another missionary, he went on foot to Tanjore * Reports of the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. In the same journal he mentions, that after preaching from Gal. iii. 23, on the different effects produced by the dispensation of the law and that of the gospel, he administered the sacrament to thirteen individuals, among whom was a family which some months before had attached itself to his congregation from the Roman Catholic church, the members of which, as they increased in the knowledge of divine truth, exerted themselves in communicating it to others of their acquaintance. During the following month he was engaged in preparing several native converts for baptism, in teaching the children of Europeans to read, and instructing them in the Christian religion. He visited the sick in the * Brother of the learned Bishop Newton. |