CHAPTER XIV.

REMOVAL TO CALCUTTA.

It was not without regret that Mr. Corrie quitted a place which he

had found (to use his own words,) “a scene of delightful labour.” In

anticipation of his probable removal from Benares, he had written

some time before

TO THE REV. MR. SIMEON.

“I am at a loss to decide how to act should my removal

be determined on by Government. You will see a report

of our Church Missionary proceedings here, no doubt, by

Mr. Thomason. There is a great deal too much said in it

about me, especially should I be removed soon, so as to be

prevented establishing the plans in agitation. But I pray I

may be able to go on in simplicity of mind, in obedience to

the will of God’s providence, and seek nothing for myself;

who am indeed nothing, and deserve to be the ‘off-scouring

of all.’ If I were professedly a Missionary, and had

the same prospect of entrance into this very citadel of

Idolatry, I should consider it a call to live and die in

this place; but as a Chaplain of the Government, am I not

to consider the disposal of Government, as the voice of

providence to me? I can truly say that, in the prospect of

leaving this place, ‘I am oppressed; O Lord, undertake for

me!’”

Before proceeding, however, to Calcutta, Mr. C. visited Chunar, and

there administered the Lord’s Supper to sixty communicants, of whom

half were native Christians. He drew up a plan, also, for the future

guidance of those who were engaged in the mission at that place and

Benares, with a view to secure regularity and efficiency to their

exertions: and in this he so arranged as to secure the cooperation

of all the parties, for whose guidance his directions were intended.

It may be mentioned, too, in connexion with the mission at Chunar,

that Mr. C. had employed himself, during his residence at Benares,

in carefully examining and correcting a revision of Mr. Martyn’s

Hindoostanee translation of the New Testament, into Hindoowee, which

Mr. Bowley had found it necessary to undertake for the sake of the

native population, among whom he laboured; and which was afterwards

printed by the Bible Society. At the close of the year 1818, Mr.

Corrie commenced his journey to Calcutta. On the way thither he

touched at Buxar, a place to which he had frequently paid missionary

visits; and where a great desire had often been manifested on

the part of the Christian inhabitants, to have a schoolmaster or

Missionary located among them. As a proof of the anxiety which these

Christians still cherished for the advantages of a stated ministry,

there was now placed in Mr. Corrie’s hands a list of about seventy

persons, (chiefly of the less wealthy class,) who were willing to

contribute certain monthly payments toward building a church, and the

maintenance of a Missionary.

On reaching Calcutta, among the first objects of Mr. Corrie’s care

was, the placing under proper instruction some Hindoostanee youths,

who had accompanied him from Benares. He had for some time been in

the habit of devoting much attention to their education, with a view

to their future usefulness as teachers; and he now placed them in a

school for Hindoostanee boys, which the Calcutta Committee of the

Church Missionary Society had just established in that city. With

reference to the importance of such an Institution, Mr. Corrie had

long entertained a decided opinion. In a letter, anterior to this

period, he had observed to Mr. Sherer,

“I see so strongly, and experience also in my connection

with the adult converts, the improbability of finding

steady, judicious pastors, except from among those who

have been educated in Christian studies, that I should

like to devote the rest of my days to the instruction of

native youths, with a view to the ministry. That may be

better done in Calcutta than elsewhere, from the greater

readiness with which books may be had, and especially

help for the instruction of others got ready. Besides,

future Missionaries will act with greater effect, aided by

well-educated native brethren. So that in every point of

view this appears to be a prime object, to educate for the

ministry.”

As respected himself, it is scarcely necessary to state that the

scene of labour at the Presidency was, in most respects, widely

different from that to which Mr. Corrie had been accustomed in the

provinces. In a letter to his brother, dated early in 1819, Mr. C.

relates, as a specimen of his engagements,--

“Mr. Parson and myself go on happily in our joint

Chaplaincy. The Bishop is absent at Madras, where, we

hear, he is confirming, in his sermons, all Mr. Thompson’s

labours. He is in many respects a valuable man.

“I have lately been appointed Honorary Chaplain to the

[Military] Orphan Institution,[109] where I officiate every

Sunday Morning soon after six o’clock. At the Cathedral

I read prayers or preach at nine; and the same at eight

in the evening. I take the weekly occasional duties in

turn. I am, also, _ex officio_, a Governor of the Free

School, and a member of the Select Vestry; who are Trustees

of charities distributed to the monthly amount of 3,411

rupees, among 568 Pensioners.”

The connexion with the “Select Vestry” here mentioned, did not

however prove without its difficulties; for it happened that Mr.

Corrie commenced his duties at the Presidency before a dispute had

subsided, respecting the mode in which that Vestry was constituted,

and the authority which they claimed to exercise. It seems to

have been the custom for the members of the Vestry to re-elect

themselves annually, so as to admit new members into their body only

as vacancies occurred by deaths, resignations, or departures for

England. They had customarily, also, appointed the officers connected

with the Church, now called the Cathedral. But it appears that at

the Easter preceding Mr. Corrie’s connection with the Cathedral,

a certain number of persons opposed the re-election of the Select

Vestry, as being contrary to the practice usual in England; and the

senior Chaplain, at the same time, claimed the right to nominate

the churchwardens. The Select Vestry, on the other hand, regarded

themselves (and had long been so recognized by government) as

special Trustees for a Church which had been originally built by

private individuals; and for the due distribution of certain funds,

arising mainly from legacies left for charitable purposes, and

under the administration of the Vestry. However much, therefore, to

be deplored, might be the animosity and indecorous language, into

which some of the parties concerned in the dispute, seem to have

been betrayed, it cannot be a matter of surprise that the Vestry,

as a body, should hesitate to abandon long-acknowledged claims,

and to hand over to other persons, the distribution of certain

charities which they conceived to be legally entrusted to the Vestry.

To such a length, however, had the dispute respecting this matter

been carried, that both parties complained to the Governor General

in Council; and the Government had given it as an opinion, rather

than as a decision, that the vestry should remain in possession of

its accustomed functions, until the authorities in England might

judge it proper to interfere. But notwithstanding this opinion on

the part of Government, the opponents of the Vestry revived the

dispute, at the Easter of 1819. Much correspondence seems to have

taken place on the subject, and many hard words again to have been

used; and Mr. Corrie as one, among others, who considered it their

duty to maintain themselves in the position which had been thus

sanctioned by Government, became, as a matter of course, the subject

of reprehension on the part of those, who opposed the claims of the

Vestry. Yet it is stated by those who were in Calcutta at the time,

and were also well acquainted with the facts of the case, that the

subject of these Memoirs was enabled so far to keep apart from the

bitterness of this strife, as to exhibit throughout “the prudence and

meekness becoming the minister of Christ.”

With the exception, however, of passing occurrences such as these,

there was but little diversity in the duties which now fell to Mr.

Corrie’s lot, beyond what may be found in the life of a parochial

clergyman. The history of any one day was, to a great extent

therefore, the history of the succeeding month; and so on, from

month to month: for as it was not yet certain, whether the senior

Chaplain, who had gone to the Cape, would return to India or not, Mr.

Corrie could not regard himself as more than a temporary resident at

the Presidency, and did not therefore feel at liberty to engage so

actively in the concerns of several religious societies in Calcutta,

as he afterwards felt called upon to do. But when intelligence

reached India, early in 1820, that the senior Chaplain had proceeded

to England, and Mr. C. thus became entitled to succeed to the vacant

chaplaincy, he began to lay himself out for some steady course of

missionary labour in Calcutta and the neighbourhood. One of his first

movements was, to endeavour to collect a native congregation in

Calcutta, by means of Mr. Bowley, who had come down from Chunar to

superintend the printing of that revised Hindoowee translation of the

New Testament, which has been already mentioned.[110] The ulterior

object Mr. Corrie had in view in this was, to provide a sphere of

labour for Abdool Messeeh, who was expected to reach Calcutta in the

spring of 1820, and whose state of health might probably render it

desirable that he should remain there for the future. Mr. Corrie was,

also, desirous to excite a deeper interest for missionary objects,

among the poorer classes about the Presidency, in the belief that

less attention had hitherto been given to effect this, than, on

every christian principle, seemed necessary. As having now, also,

undertaken the office of Secretary to the Church Missionary Society

in Calcutta, Mr. C. was in better circumstances to direct these

missionary plans. Some account of his occupations, is given in a

letter to his sister, who had returned to England:--

“May 19, 1820.

“Abdool Messeeh is here: I am daily at work with him,

writing a Commentary in Hindoostanee, from six in the

morning till breakfast and after, if I am not called away.

We have got him a house in _Meer-jan-kee-gully_. It is a

roomy (upper-roomed) house, but out of repair; so we get

it for fifty rupees a month; and here he collects the poor

four times a week. The Church Missionary concerns occupy

me too a good deal; and we are setting up a printing-press

in my go-downs.[111] To-day the first sheet of a tract is

printing off, as a beginning.”

Soon after the date of the foregoing extract, Mr. Corrie had an

examination of the boys of his Hindoostanee-school, in the presence

of the members of the Calcutta Committee of the Church Missionary

Society, and of such other persons as interested themselves about

missionary objects. His many avocations did not admit of his

undertaking the superintendence of a larger number of scholars than

that with which the school had commenced; but the result of the

examination proved, that the benefit derived from being habituated

to christian example and the progress which the boys had made in

a knowledge of the Hindoostanee New Testament, the Hindoostanee

Catechism, and the principles of the Christian religion in general,

were of a very encouraging nature. Impressed, therefore, with the

conviction that a Christian education was of the greatest importance

as a means to render the natives themselves efficient instruments of

God to their countrymen, Mr. Corrie welcomed the idea of establishing

a missionary College by the Bishop. With reference to that

circumstance, he wrote to his brother:--

“I am quite sure that all men will rejoice in the

establishment of the College; although learning alone will

do but little. It therefore appears to me more than ever

necessary to maintain strenuously the labours and plans

of the Church Missionary Society. Under these feelings

I was led last Thursday into a long conversation with

the Bishop, respecting Missionary proceedings, in which

the Church Missionary Society and its views were brought

forward and discussed. The Bishop’s chief objection was,

that the sending out of English clergymen as Missionaries,

would prevent the East India Company from making such a

provision of Chaplains, as they ought to make. As far as it

goes, the argument is just; but I think he ought rather to

adopt such Missionaries, and by pointing out to Government

the benefits produced by them, to draw forth Government

support, which otherwise may not be afforded in any way.”

It may not be amiss to mention, that however much Mr. Corrie might

be occupied by matters of public interest, he did not neglect the

charities of social life. On the contrary, he did not allow his gate

to be closed against any who might have a reason for desiring to

hold communication with him. And, as in India, persons arriving from

England, or visiting the Presidency were, at that time, regarded as

having an almost unlimited claim on the hospitality of the residents

in Calcutta, Mr. C. was seldom without his share of such guests. This

circumstance, added to his natural kind-heartedness, gave occasion to

one, who loved him, and who was then under his roof, to remark, ‘as

long as he lives and wherever he lives, he will have as many people

about him as fall in his way; until every corner be occupied, and he

himself is left without a corner.’ To many of the younger portion of

these visitors Mr. C. was, also, oftentimes the instrument of great

moral good; and in such cases it was his custom, as occasion served

or might require, to address to them a letter of encouragement or

direction, after they had left him. An extract from a letter to Capt.

Moyle Sherer, H. M. 34th regiment, and who had been on a visit to

his brother in Calcutta, may serve to illustrate the spirit of such

communications:--

“Calcutta, May 27, 1820.

“You are by this time settled with your regiment, and begin

to find exactly how the minds of those around you stand

affected to the principles of true religion. Some painful

discoveries will probably have been made, and on the other

hand, perhaps, consolation will have arisen from unexpected

sources. Such is the beginning, especially of a life of

piety. We are apt to wonder that what we see so clearly to

be rational and necessary, is not equally seen by others

when brought before them; and the result is, to make us

feel more experimentally that what we have learned on these

subjects, has not been from man’s teaching, but that God

has been leading us by ways that we knew not. The discovery

of our own inbred sin is what is most distressing at this

stage. Indeed, to the end of life such ebullitions of the

sin that dwelleth in us, occasionally take place, as almost

confound the Christian, and send him back to his first

principles; and it seems as if the whole work of religion

were yet to begin. Yea, how often does this inward enemy

impel him to the very brink of disgrace, and he escapes

as by miracle, from temporal no less than eternal ruin.

Such is my experience up to this day; and now, what with

the experience upwards of forty years have supplied of the

world’s insufficiency to afford happiness, and of the power

of sin, unless God prevent, to work temporal and eternal

ruin, the grave begins to appear a refuge, and I have a

deep conviction that they only are completely blessed who

are in heaven. I think you were quite right in not taking

part with the Wesleyans till you know more of them. By

degrees the truly sincere will draw to you as their natural

superior, and you will be able to direct their reading and

to regulate their affairs far more to their advantage than

they can do themselves.”

During the October of 1820, Mr. Corrie was afflicted by the death of

one of the elder of the Hindoostanee boys, who were in the school

under his care. The youth in question was a Hindoo by birth, and when

a child had been purchased up the country, from his parents, during a

season of scarcity. He had therefore been under Christian instruction

the greater part of his life. It seems that he died of consumption,

and that during a long illness, he had afforded satisfactory evidence

that he had not received a Christian education in vain. The death of

this youth was not long afterwards followed by the removal of the

remaining youths, to assist in the schools at different missionary

stations. Before, however, Mr. Corrie’s Hindoostanee scholars had

been thus dispersed, there had been admitted among them, for the

purpose of receiving instruction in order to baptism, a Hindoo youth

who had been servant to a converted Moonshee.[112] This youth,

when full of the idea of making the pilgrimage to Juggernauth, had

accidentally fallen in with the Moonshee, and accompanied him as far

as Benares. In consequence, however, of the conversations, which

he held with the Moonshee on the subject of religion, his faith in

the efficacy of a pilgrimage to Juggernauth had entirely abated, by

the time they reached Benares: and he accordingly returned back

to Delhi with the Moonshee, in the capacity of servant; although

he left his master, after a while, to avoid the scoffs of his

Hindoo acquaintances. He could not, however, rid himself of the

conviction that his master was right, and became so uneasy under that

conviction, that he quitted his home in search of peace of mind.

Eventually he made his way to Calcutta, and became an inmate of the

Hindoostanee school there, and in due time was baptised.

It may here not be uninteresting to relate, that after Mr. Corrie

became Secretary to the Calcutta Committee of the Church Missionary

Society, he was in the habit of employing himself as he found

opportunity, in contributing to the pages of a ‘Quarterly Circular,’

which first appeared in 1820, and contained from time to time, a

summary of ‘Missionary Intelligence,’ for the use of Missionaries and

others, at the different stations in India. Among his contributions

to this periodical may be mentioned a series of papers, containing

a ‘Sketch of the progress of Christianity in Calcutta and in the

provinces of the presidency of Bengal.’ Mr. Corrie had often been

struck by observing the importance attached by historians to but

imperfect records of former ages, provided those records happened

to bear the marks of authenticity; and he conceived, therefore,

that some future historian of the church of Christ in India,

might possibly derive assistance from a notice of such facts and

circumstances as that ‘Sketch’ might be the means of rescuing from

oblivion. It may with truth be added, that no person then living was

better qualified than Mr. C. to record the more recent occurrences

connected with the history of Christianity in Bengal, he having

himself been not only a careful observer of all that concerned the

progress of true religion in that Presidency, but also the personal

friend of those men of God, who had immediately preceded him, and to

whose zeal and labours may be traced the first origin of almost every

religious institution in Bengal. The Calcutta Diocesan Committee of

the Society for promoting Christian knowledge, having now, also,

directed their attention to the translation of religious Tracts into

the languages of India, a translation into Hindoostanee, both in

the Nagree and Nustaliq character, of “Sellon’s Abridgment of the

Holy Scriptures,” was assigned to the superintendence and revision

of Mr. Corrie. Having been requested, moreover, by the Committee of

the Calcutta Bible Society, to state for their information, such

particulars illustrative of the benefit attending the circulation of

the Holy Scriptures, as might have fallen under his own observation,

the following was his reply:--

“Calcutta, 6th Feb. 1821.

“In compliance with your request that I would state any

circumstances within my own knowledge, tending to shew

the good arising from the distribution of the Scriptures

alone, I have endeavoured to call to mind some facts in

corroboration of my general feeling of the good arising

from the measure in question. The benefit arising to

professed Christians is not, I believe, within your

contemplation, otherwise I might say much respecting the

benefit the native Christians on this side of India have

derived from the Bible Society. During the prevalence

of the Mahratta power, many Christians were employed

in offices of trust by the Native princes, chiefly in

situations connected with the army.

“I had, whilst residing at Agra, frequent applications from

Christians of that class, and many of them sent from far,

for copies of the Persian and Hindoostanee translations: to

shew the need they stood in of such supplies, I may just

observe, that a Christian of the class referred to, in the

service of the Burthpore Rajah, on applying personally to

me for a copy of the New Testament, was asked if he had

ever perused the Gospel in any language? he answered that

he had never even seen the Book; and in the figurative

language of the country, added, that ‘he knew not whether

the Book was made of wood or paper.’

“Among the most remarkable instances of Mahomedans and

Hindoos deriving benefit from the Scriptures alone, the

following occur to me:

“In 1813, a Mahomedan Hukeem came to me at Agra from

Burthpore, saying, that he had many years before read the

Pentateuch in Arabic, a copy of which had been given to him

by a Roman Catholic priest: that about two years before the

time he came to me, he had obtained a copy of St. Matthew’s

gospel in Persian, from reading of which he had become

convinced of the divinity of Jesus Christ. This man, with

his son, was afterwards baptized.

“The next instance that occurs to me, is of an aged Hindoo:

this man from reading the writings of Cuber, had been

led to renounce Idolatry, and finding the Law and Gospel

spoken of by Cuber, as divine books, he was for several

years anxious to possess a copy. After several ineffectual

attempts to procure a copy from English gentlemen, he at

length obtained the Gospels in the Nagree character. He was

also afterwards baptized. A third instance of good derived

from the Scriptures alone, was Burukut Museeh in 1813; he

got a manuscript copy of Job, which he perused with great

interest; afterwards he got a copy of the Psalms; then

Isaiah; and finally the New Testament in Hindoostanee.

His exemplary life and happy death are recorded in the

Missionary Register.

“The only other case that occurs to me, is that of Fuez

Musseeh, baptized in 1817. At seventeen years of age, he

became a Mahomedan purely from the abhorrence of idolatry

expressed in the Koran; he remained upwards of twenty

years a strict and indefatigable disciple of the Koran,

living as a Fakeer and obtaining great honour among his

countrymen for his supposed sanctity. At length, being

disgusted in his own mind with the practices recommended by

his spiritual guides, and wearied with his own ineffectual

labours after holiness, he abandoned all his honours as

a Religieux, and bought from a lady a copy of the New

Testament, if haply he might find in it that rest for his

soul he had hitherto sought in vain from other quarters.

He sought, and found, as his conduct hitherto leads us to

think, the object of his pursuit.

“I have met whilst residing out of Calcutta, with very many

natives, who from reading the Scriptures, have had all

prejudice against Christianity removed; and some of them,

as Joy Narain Ghossaul, at Benares, have been set upon many

works of benevolence and charity, from their knowledge

of duty as learned from the Bible, though they have not

derived _all_ the benefits to be desired from the copies

of the Scriptures circulated among them. How far this

partial good is to be appreciated, each Christian will form

his own judgment. As a preparing of the way of the Lord, it

is by no means to be undervalued, and future labourers will

reap the fruit of the precious seed which the Bible Society

has been sowing in India with so much diligence for several

years past.”

The memoranda which occur in Mr. Corrie’s Journal after his return to

India, are very few, but under date of June 11, 1821, he remarks:--

“I have been endeavouring to call my ways to remembrance,

and find enough to be humbled for in the review, but a

difficulty as to how I should speak of it. This difficulty

I wish to account for. Formerly I could write of my state

with ease; lately I have neglected to make memoranda.

I have certainly been much employed in public matters.

My duties as Chaplain, and as Secretary to the Church

Missionary Society,--the schools, the press, leave me very

little time, and that little I find difficult to apply to a

good purpose. My want of retirement prevents the right use

of the little I might have. I am deeply conscious that the

evil propensities of my nature are by no means eradicated;

and I ought to be alarmed that they do not more alarm me.

I feel daily that I sin, and resolve daily against my

propensities, yet daily am more or less overcome. Oh! I

desire to awake to righteousness! I desire to be alarmed;

to be saved from sin, and quickened and made alive to God.

O Spirit of light and love, of power and of a sound mind,

work in me to will and do of thy good pleasure! I see, in

reading the epistle to Titus, that except in such points as

are agreeable to my nature, I am far from the character of

a true minister of Christ.”

There is reason, however, to hope that Mr. Corrie’s ministrations in

Calcutta were not altogether in vain. At any rate, it is well known

that his labours were unceasing, whether regard be had to his duties

as chaplain, or those connected with the Church Missionary Society,

and the superintendence of the native schools. In the December too,

of this year, he was appointed to preach the sermon at the third

visitation of Bishop Middleton; and in the same month printed, among

the Quarterly Missionary Intelligence, a biographical sketch of his

old friend Joy Narain, who had died at Benares in November.

But that which now more especially occupied the attention of Mr.

C. and others, engaged in conducting the affairs of the Church

Missionary Society in Calcutta, was the education of the native

females of India. The state of society had until lately, seemed

hopelessly to exclude the native female from all share in the

benefits of education; but the success which had attended a school

set on foot by the Baptist mission, had induced some friends of

religion in India, to communicate with the British and Foreign

School-Society in England, with a view to extend the means of

instruction to the females of India, as widely as practicable. Funds

were in consequence, raised for that purpose; and Miss Cooke, a lady

of education and piety, arrived in Calcutta during Nov. 1821, for the

purpose of devoting herself to the work.

It was early in January 1822, that the Calcutta Committee of the

Church Missionary Society, took measures for the formation of female

schools, under the superintendence of this lady; and such was the

success attending their first efforts, that three schools were in

operation by the middle of February. It was then thought desirable

to bring the subject more distinctly before the residents in

Calcutta, in the hope that the friends to the moral and intellectual

improvement of the natives of India, might be induced to assist

in carrying on this important and difficult undertaking: and to

Mr. Corrie it was assigned, to draw up and circulate the following

address:

“NATIVE FEMALE EDUCATION.

“The importance of education, in order to the improvement

of the state of society among the natives of this country,

is now generally acknowledged, and the eagerness of the

natives themselves for instruction begins to exceed the

opportunities hitherto afforded them.

“But to render education effectual to the improvement of

society, it must obviously, be extended to both sexes. Man

requires a ‘Help-meet;’ and in every country the infant

mind receives its earliest impressions from the female

sex. Wherever, therefore, this sex is left in a state of

ignorance and degradation, the endearing and important

duties of wife and mother cannot be duly discharged; and no

great progress in general civilization and morals can, in

such a state of things, be reasonably hoped for.

“Such however, with few exceptions has hitherto been the

state of the female sex in this country; but a happy

change in this respect seems at length to be gradually

taking place. A most pleasing proof of this occurred in

the interesting fact, that thirty-five girls were among

the number of scholars, at the last examination of the

School Society, in the house of one of the most respectable

natives in Calcutta.

“The arrival of a lady of judgment and experience, at such

a crisis, for the purpose of devoting her time and talents

to the work of native female education, could not but be

regarded, by all interested in the improvement of society

among the natives of this country, as a most favourable

event.

“This lady (Miss Cooke) was recommended, in the first

instance, by the British and Foreign School Society, to the

Calcutta School Society; but the Committee of this Society,

being composed partly of native gentlemen, were not

prepared unanimously and actively to engage in any general

plan of native female education. Most of these, however,

have expressed their good-will towards such a plan, and

their intention of availing themselves, as circumstances

may admit, of Miss Cooke’s disinterested services to obtain

instruction for their families.

“Under these circumstances the corresponding Committee of

the Church Missionary Society have cordially undertaken

to promote, as they may be enabled, the objects of Miss

Cooke’s mission.

“Miss Cooke will, as she may find opportunity, afford

instruction at home to the female children of the higher

classes of natives; and at the suggestion of an enlightened

native gentleman, a separate school will be attempted,

for poor female children of high caste, with a view to

their becoming hereafter teachers in the families of their

wealthy country-women.

“Miss Cooke has already made sufficient progress in the

acquirement of Bengalee, to enable her to superintend the

establishment of schools; and having been attended in her

first attempt by a female friend, who can converse in

Bengalee, some interesting conversations took place with

the mothers of the children first collected, in which Miss

Cooke’s motives were fully explained to them. Soon after,

a petition was presented to Miss Cooke, in consequence

of which, a second female school has been established

in another quarter of the town, and a third school has

been formed in Mirzapore, near the Church Mission-House.

Thus three schools are already established under Miss

Cooke’s immediate care, containing about sixty girls; and

the disposition manifested towards these schools by the

natives, affords reason to expect that a wish to have

female schools will in time become general.

“It is intended therefore, to erect in a suitable situation

in the native town, a school-room, with a dwelling-house

attached, in which an extensive system of female education

may be attempted; and this plan, so peculiarly within their

province, is submitted, with much respect and confidence

of success, to the sympathy and patronage of the ladies

of this Presidency, by the corresponding Committee of the

Church Missionary Society. Whatever assistance may be

afforded, either as donations or monthly subscriptions,

will be exclusively applied to the purposes of female

education, and a report of progress will be submitted,

from time to time by Miss Cooke, for the information of

subscribers.”

“_Calcutta, Feb. 23, 1822._”

The result of this appeal was, that within a few weeks not less

than 3,000 rupees were subscribed for the furtherance of the object

contemplated; the Governor General, Lady Hastings, and others of the

first distinction being among the most liberal of the contributors.

Nor was it among the least remarkable circumstance connected with

this great social movement, that a highly respectable Brahmin wrote

and circulated a tract, for the express purpose of recommending to

his countrymen the importance of female education. He urged it also,

as the duty of every parent to rescue thus their female offspring

from that state of degradation, to which (as he proved from history)

the women in Hindoostan were not formerly subject.

With reference to these and similar occurrences, Mr. Corrie writes to

his brother.

“Calcutta, April 19, 1822.

“Our missionary engagements are becoming more and more

important; and opportunities for extending our plans more

and more frequent and easy: But with all these [prospects,]

a spirit unfriendly to the gospel is gone forth amongst the

natives, and they are commencing Deistical politicians.

Four native newspapers have started in Calcutta; two in

Bengalee, one in Hindoostanee, and one in Persian. They

cannot all stand long, but they mark the spirit of the

times. They are all under an influence unfriendly to our

Church establishment: but we are getting on with our

schools, having now upwards of four hundred boys, and one

hundred and thirty-four girls, under our Church Missionary

Society, within the boundary of Calcutta; while the

Diocesan Committee have several schools in the suburbs.

The youth in these [schools] will, we hope, grow up with

impressions favourable to our views of things.”

On Wednesday, May 26, 1822, Mr. Corrie preached a sermon at the

Old Church, in aid of the Society for Missions to Africa and the

East. The sermon was afterwards printed with the fifth report of

the Calcutta Committee of that Society, and contains some valuable

remarks on the advantages connected with direct instruction in

the faith of Christ, over the education which merely imparts such

knowledge as has reference only to the affairs of this life. One

sentence may here be cited as illustrative of the great change which

the mind of India had undergone, since the time when Mr. Corrie

could labour for the conversion of the heathen, only at the risk of

incurring the censure of government:--

“Our Church, with reason we think, calls herself

Apostolical: now, what is this but missionary? And a

portion of missionary spirit has always resided among her

members. Time has been, indeed, when this was regarded by

many rather as a mark of dissent; but now, blessed be God,

she seems to be rising, through all her ranks, to her high

and proper character as a missionary body.”

About six weeks only had passed since the delivery of this discourse,

when Mr. Corrie was summoned to attend the death-bed of the Bishop of

Calcutta, who was called to his rest after but a few days’ illness.

Considering the peculiar circumstances of India, and the then novelty

of episcopal rule in that country, it could scarcely be expected that

Mr. Corrie, among others, should be able to recognise the wisdom

of every act of Bishop Middleton’s administration, and the equity

of the control which that able prelate claimed to exercise over

the temporal as well as spiritual affairs of the chaplains to the

East India Company; but his correspondence abundantly shows that

he could well appreciate the Bishop’s character. With regard more

especially to the cause nearest his heart--that of missions, Mr. C.

considered it to have derived from the deceased prelate, exactly that

kind of sanction which was then required; it wanted only official

countenance, and the reputation of orthodoxy. To labour for the moral

improvement and conversion of our heathen fellow-subjects, used to be

regarded as characterising a party in the church, and as proceeding

from a kind of fanaticism that would endanger the stability of

our oriental empire. But the interest which Bishop Middleton had

taken in the Missionary cause, had given reason to believe, that

official dignity combined with a high reputation for sound judgment

and secular learning, were not incompatible with the conviction,

that our rule in India had every thing to hope from the spread of

Christianity; and that it was not fanatical to suppose, that so vast

an empire had been committed to our governance for the noble purpose

of making known the Son of God, to a people who were ignorant of Him.

Within two months of the death of Bishop Middleton, the Archdeacon

of Calcutta fell a victim to the Cholera; and as that circumstance

rendered it necessary for the Government to delegate the

administration of the affairs of the See to other hands, Mr. Corrie

and Mr. Parson were commissioned to exercise such jurisdiction as by

law might be warranted, until a successor to Bishop Middleton should

arrive from England.

In a memorandum, penned about that time, Mr. Corrie writes:--

“Sep. 28th, 1822. This day sixteen years ago I first landed

in Calcutta. How altered the state of society! Then Mr.

Brown was senior Chaplain. He had at time dear Martyn in

his house, and received Parson and myself into his family.

Now he and his wife are numbered with the dead, and all

their children returned.... How many other changes, also,

in the state of the religious society of Calcutta, so that

Mr. U. only remains of the friends of religion in his class

of society of that day. How varied has been the scene of my

own Indian-life!

“In respect of public affairs, great changes, also, have

taken place. In ecclesiastical matters great changes. A

bishop and archdeacon appointed in 1814, and Bishop’s

college has been the result. The subject of missions

has thus, by degrees, become one of acknowledged duty

and advantage to society. The bishop hurried off by

sudden death: the archdeacon taken off not two months

after, more suddenly still: Parson and I appointed to

exercise their functions _pro tempore_. I would, however,

remark especially the state of my own mind during this

long period. I came to India chiefly with a view to the

propagation of the gospel; and that view, I trust I

can say, has not been lost sight of. My time has been

principally devoted to that object. My money, too, has

chiefly gone in that cause. I trust a mission has been

established at Chunar, Agra, and Benares, through my

humble means, which will go on, and ‘increase with the

increase of God.’ In Calcutta, the labours of Secretary

to the Church Missionary Society, in addition to my own

official duties, have helped to bring on the loss of

strength I am now suffering under. But I would be aware

that the state of heart is chiefly to be attended to. And

here I can see no one duty so performed, that I dare think

of it in the view of presenting it to God; and were it not

that Jesus is the righteousness and strength of all who

believe, I could not entertain the slightest hope.

“For about three months, my ancles have swollen

occasionally, with bad digestion, and aching of the limbs

and legs. The doctor says it is the effect of climate; by

which I understand that my frame is debilitated sensibly,

by the heat. He says, rest is the only remedy, and I am

come to Pultah Ghaut[113] for rest, and retirement. My

prayer to God is that I may be made fully alive to my real

state, and may not waste away without feeling the tendency

of such a wasting. I desire to have my loins girt about and

my lamp supplied with oil; so that, whenever the bridegroom

is announced, I may be ready to enter in.

“I desire to be more spiritually minded; and to have more

of a realizing faith, as to the truths I am exercised

about day by day out of the holy word. I would fain see

religion on the increase among us; and have more abundant

fruit of the word. Oh! that the Spirit were poured upon

Europeans and natives! Oh! that the kingdom of Christ were

established in my own heart! more settled in my family; my

flock; and on all around generally. Oh! that the salvation

were come out of Zion. Then should this nation be glad and

rejoice; and He whose name is Jehovah, be acknowledged

throughout the land. Amen.”

The debility of which Mr. Corrie here complains had so increased,

that the medical men decided that it would not be safe for him to

remain in Calcutta during the hot weather; and moreover, advised a

long sea-voyage as the best means for recruiting his impaired health.

He did not, however, think a voyage to be of so much consequence;

yet early in February 1823 he quitted Calcutta, accompanied by his

family and Captain Stephen of the Engineers, and went to reside on

the coast, near Juggernaut. For the first eight or nine weeks of his

residence at Pooree, Mr. Corrie’s health had been greatly restored;

but the anxiety and fatigue which he underwent in attending the

sick-bed of Captain Stephen, who died at Pooree on the 10th of May,

brought on a serious attack of fever. In this state he attended the

funeral of his deceased friend; but being too unwell to proceed

through the service, he was carried home in a state of the greatest

exhaustion. In the course of the day, however, Mr. Corrie revived

sufficiently to allow of his writing to Mr. Thomason, an account of

the last illness of Captain Stephen; after which the fever returned

with such violence that for several days the sufferer was scarcely

sensible. The following is his letter:--

TO THE REV. T. THOMASON.

“Pooree, May 10, 1823.

“The last sad offices having been performed for your

beloved son-in-law, I will endeavour to recal some of

the pleasing expressions which fell from his lips during

the last week, both with a view to the comfort of his

friends, and to indulge myself on a subject which engrosses

all my thoughts. My acquaintance with the dear departed

commenced in September 1814, when I saw him almost the

whole of every day during about a week. Again in 1817

and 1818, our intercourse was renewed both at Ghazeepoor

and Benares. He was then, it is almost needless to say,

strictly correct in his conversation and general conduct,

but did not exhibit that serious impression of divine truth

which latterly appeared in him. When we went on board the

schooner, I soon discovered a marked difference in him

in that respect. There was an evident love of religious

exercises, and religious books; and I observed more than

once a serious attention to private devotion. From that

period our intercourse was unreserved, and his general

conversation and remarks, such as belong to godliness.

He joined us regularly in our morning and evening family

worship. He frequently spoke of his expectation that his

illness would end in death, but we hoped otherwise; and

nothing particular, as to his views in the prospect of

such an event was mentioned. He had never been free from

bowel-complaint since we came together, and during the

early part of the week commencing April 27, he complained

of an increase to his disorder from having taken cold,

though no such appearances as usually attend a cold

appeared about him. He kept up as usual till Friday the 2nd

of May, when he did not come to breakfast with the family,

but came out to dinner.

“On Saturday he did not leave his room. On Sunday I went

into his room, and asked if I should join him in reading

the word of God and prayer, since he no longer could join

with us. To this he gladly assented, and began to speak

of the great mercy of God towards him in preserving him

from acute pain, whilst he felt himself sinking gradually.

I read the first lesson for the day, and he made several

remarks on the applicableness of the admonitions to the

spiritual state of the Christian. Being drowsy, from the

opiates administered to allay his disease, he desired me

to defer praying till the afternoon. In the afternoon he

was quite awake, spoke of the mercies of God toward him,

complaining also of his want of gratitude to his God and

Saviour. I spoke to him of what I thought of his state

when at Ghazeepoor in 1814, and especially some remarks

he then made on hymn singing, and expressed my delight at

his now altered feeling, and the ground of encouragement

it afforded him. He said that he had strong convictions of

sin before that time; that he owed much to his deceased

Aunt Stephen, who had tried much to impress his mind with

a sense of religion; adding, ‘I know now why Christians

take so much pleasure in hymn-singing; they love to dwell

upon the ideas conveyed by the words.’ I may here observe

that he several times, since we have been at Pooree,

spoke of his Aunt Stephen, and of all his family, and the

obligations he owed her.

“To-day he also mentioned his wish to partake of the Lord’s

Supper, before his intellects should become clouded.

On Monday, May 5th, he asked me if I were prepared to

administer to him the Lord’s Supper. As no time had

been mentioned the day before, I proposed to put off

the celebration till next day, when we would make it a

family ordinance; to this he cheerfully assented. I do not

recollect any particulars of what fell from him that day,

but his conversation was always with reference to his dying

soon, and filled with thanksgiving to his God and Saviour

for the comparative ease in which he lay, and especially

for the hope of heaven which he enjoyed; often exclaiming

that it was all of mercy, and entirely flowing from the

Saviour’s merits. On Tuesday May 6, his mind was confused

all the morning from opiates; about two, P. M. seeing him

collected, I asked if he would now have the Sacrament

administered? He said he wished to be more awake and would

postpone it till the morrow; adding, ‘I have committed my

all into the hands of my blessed Saviour, and I can trust

him to keep me sleeping or waking.’

“On Wednesday he was taken up with some temporal matters,

and wrote the letter which I forwarded to you on that day.

Afterwards Mrs. Corrie and I went into his room, and we

all, I trust, by faith fed on Christ in our hearts, with

thanksgiving. Our sick brother was much alive during the

whole of the service, and read the passages in which the

congregation join, with much clearness and fervor. On going

into his room about an hour after the service, he broke

out, ‘Oh, may this dispensation be blessed to my dear

Esther, that she may give herself wholly up to God, and

fix all her love on him alone. She has a deep sense of her

own unworthiness, and I bless God for the piety that is in

her.’ On Thursday May 8th, there appeared no alteration in

the state of his disease. Two surgeons from Cuttack having

arrived, our own doctor brought them to see him. They went

into the next room to communicate their thoughts on his

case, when he heard them agree that nothing could be done

for his relief. On my going into his room after they went

away, he seized my hand with all his remaining strength,

and said, ‘Oh my dear friend, how much am I indebted to

God for placing me at this time with friends, who do all

they can for my comfort, without concealing their concern

that my soul should be prepared for death;’ adding much on

the evil too many medical men are guilty of in cherishing

hopes of life when their patients should rather be thinking

of death, and contrasting the difference of his present

circumstances with what they would have been had he gone,

on leaving Calcutta, among strangers and irreligious

persons; then adding praise and thanksgiving to God. On

the early part of this afternoon Mrs. Corrie went into

his room, when he presently began to speak to her as for

the last time, praying that her husband might be spared

to her, and her children, and to the church, adding many

expressions of his regard and affection.

“On Friday, May 9th. On my entering his room early, and

enquiring after his state, he said, ‘I have had a wretched

night, not in body, for I have been easy, but in mind. I

have been thinking of this and that treatment which might

have been used; but it is all wrong, and thus my wickedness

brings its own punishment. I have much tried to repent of

my daily wickedness, and of my wicked life.’ Adding a good

deal on the subject of God’s ordering all our affairs, and

the duty of looking above human agents--and said, ‘O never

did weary traveller desire his home more than I desire my

rest:’ most cordially acknowledging with me the duty of

submission, and joining in prayer for an increase in faith

and patience. Some favourable symptoms appeared, but he

seemed to build nothing on them. For several days we had an

European Sergeant to sit up at night. He has expressed his

surprise at the constant patience our brother manifested,

and told me, that he was much in prayer during Friday night.

“On Saturday morning, about half past three, a violent

discharge of blood took place, and again about five. I

went into his room just after the latter, and found him

prostrate indeed.

“He began at once, ‘O my God, suffer me not to fall from

thee: make my repentance sincere, and let my faith stand

firm--O! accept me, unworthy! for the merits of Jesus

Christ. I am wretched and miserable, let my soul be

cleansed in his blood and presented spotless before thee;

bless my dear wife and children, bless my dear father and

mother, bless you (addressing himself to me,) and your

family; and God make you a greater blessing than ever to

the church, but don’t waste your life in this country,

go home and do good among the poor. O God! bless all the

doctors who have attended me, and let them not forget

their own mortality amidst these scenes;’ adding prayers

for such generally as he might at any time have had

disagreement with. On my reminding him of our blessedness

in having an advocate with the Father to render these

petitions available, he added strong expressions of the

mercy of God towards him, and of his earnest desire to be

at rest with God; adding ‘O God, thou knowest that I love

thee,’ and asked me if I thought it wrong to pray for his

dismissal. He spoke of his temporal affairs as settled, and

said he had no anxiety about his children, the Lord would

provide for them. About 7, on going into his room, I spoke

respecting the little probability when we first met that

I should survive him: he began to pray for blessings for

me, adding, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all

his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sins, who healeth all

thy diseases.’ Adding with emphasis, ‘_forget not all his

benefits_; that he had been forgetful all his days, but the

Lord had shewed him great mercy.’ From that time he spoke

little. Being removed to another bed, he dosed much from

medicine. About ten, observing him restless, I asked if he

wanted anything? he said ‘No.’ If he retained his peace of

mind? He said, ‘His mind had become very confused.’ And on

reminding him of the ‘Advocate with the Father,’ he faintly

added, ‘Bless God for all the way He has led me,’ or to

that effect. About eleven, seeing him restless, and less

of consciousness about him, I asked him if he knew me, he

said, ‘Yes;’ and in answer to my question, ‘If I should

pray for him?’ he said, ‘Yes;’ but there was no respond

to the few petitions I offered up, and he was no longer

sensible. At half-past one, another discharge of blood took

place, which led us to think him expiring; but the spirit

lingered till half-past two, when, we doubt not, he entered

into his much-desired rest. I may tell you, though I mean

to send a medical statement of the fact, that the three

doctors ascertained after his death, that the liver was

perfectly sound, but the colon had become ulcerated; and at

length, a blood-vessel being eaten through, the discharge

above-mentioned ensued, and brought on dissolution; but

that this must have happened at no great distance of

time, and that no change of climate or treatment, could

have prevented the fatal result. This morning the beloved

remains were committed to their parent earth, in the Pooree

burying-ground. The burying-ground is an enclosed square on

the sands of Juggernauth.

“Those sands, after almost a year from the Rutt Jattra,

are still strewed with the whitened bones of the

wretched victims of this Indian Moloch, and I indulged

the idea, whilst standing by the grave, that we were

taking possession of the land in the name of Jesus our

Lord. Without disparagement to a few other remains there

interred, and of whose history I know nothing, I _knew_

that we were committing to the earth the remains of a

member of His mystical body; and will He not bring in the

remnant of His elect, and shall not these, at present,

wretched Hindoos, bow to His sceptre, and confess Him

‘Lord, to the glory of God the Father?’ Then, instead of

that heartless brutality with which idolatrous remains are

treated, decent burial will be given them; and instead of

the howling of jackalls and wild dogs over their remains,

‘Devout men will make lamentation,’ though they will

not sorrow as ‘those who have no hope.’ These remarks,

dearest brother, are indulged in, rather to ease my own

heart, than to comfort you and your sorrowing family. I am

inexpressibly afflicted for this my brother, but what is my

grief compared with his family’s? I send off this blotted

and only copy, both that you may receive it within a due

time of your knowledge of the afflicting event; and that

no discretion may remain with me as to multiplying copies.

Mrs. Corrie joins me in tender sympathy to all your house.”

For the remaining portion of the month of May, Mr. Corrie continued

to gain no strength. A change of air was, therefore recommended, and

he removed to Cuttack, about fifty miles inland. There it pleased

God to recover him surprisingly fast. But in a letter to Mr. Sherer,

dated June 13, 1823, he observed:--

“By the frequent attacks of illness I have of late

experienced, our thoughts are sometimes directed towards

you [in England]; but I must remain another year in order

to the pension. The Lord only knows what time may bring

forth. I feel most reluctant to leave India, and nothing

but necessity shall lead me to leave it at present.”

Ten days later Mr. Corrie writes to his brother:

“Cuttack, Orissa, June 23, 1823.

“You will have heard the reason for my being here, so I

will not repeat the history of my ailment. I am, through

Divine mercy, much better, but this enfeebling climate is

not favourable to the recovery of strength, especially

at the age of forty-six. You accuse me of writing

despondingly, I am not aware of any such feeling; though

sickness induces reflection, and ‘it is a serious thing to

die.’ Although my faith in the Redeemer is unshaken, and

affords at times strong consolation, yet the presence of

sin often clouds the view. But I will not fill my paper

with such reflections.

“On the death of the Archdeacon about two months after that

of the Bishop, Parson and I were appointed Ecclesiastical

Commissioners. The Archdeacon of Bombay remonstrated

against our appointment, and some of the Chaplains have

acted without reference to us. We have gone on quietly;

as in fact, there is little for us to do officially; and

I should not wonder to see in some of the high church

Reviews, (if opportunity offer) accusations of neglect. The

fact is, the Bishop has no authority whatever beyond what

his personal character may procure him. The late Bishop

laboured all his Indian life, to establish an authority

independent of the local Government. This was resisted

covertly by the Government, and was felt to be a grievance

by the Chaplains. I rejoice greatly in Mr. Heber’s

appointment, and trust it is a token for good to the

established church in India. Nothing short of annihilation

as a society, will be refused him by the Church Missionary

Society in Calcutta; and in truth, everything short of a

separate existence for it, was repeatedly offered to the

late Bishop.

“I should not have entered on this subject, except to tell

you how in the providence of God, I have been affected by

events.”

During Mr. Corrie’s absence from the Presidency, the Rev. Isaac

Wilson arrived from England, and the Calcutta corresponding Committee

of the Church Missionary Society having thus obtained the aid of a

clergyman, whom they could appoint as secretary, decided on forming

a Church Missionary Association, as had been done at Madras. Up to

this time, it will be remembered, the concerns of the Society for

Missions to Africa and the East, had been conducted in Bengal by a

Committee appointed originally from England; so that although the

friends of religion had by this arrangement possessed the means of

substantially contributing to the support of Missions, yet they had

not been formally embodied in a Society. The jealousy and opposition

of Government to Missionary operations having now, however, somewhat

abated, it was thought important to take advantage of the first

favourable opportunity that presented itself, to place the Church

Missionary Society on a more definite footing. The arrival in India

of an episcopally ordained Missionary, who could render essential aid

to an object that appeared so desirable, decided the corresponding

Committee to take measures for the formation of an Association so

soon as ever Mr. Corrie should return to the Presidency. This he was

enabled to do during the month of July, and accordingly on the 31st

of that month, the best means for forming such an Association were

taken into consideration. On the 11th of August another meeting of

the corresponding Committee and their friends was held, at which

rules for the conducting of a Church Missionary Association were

provisionally agreed upon; and with a view to a public meeting

towards the end of the month, copies of the proceedings of the

Committee were in the meantime printed and circulated for the

information of the subscribers to Church Missions in Bengal. On the

28th of August a public meeting was held, and the Calcutta Church

Missionary Association was formed, Mr. Corrie being chosen the first

President. In the Report of the proceedings on the latter occasion,

it is stated that

“The Rev. D. Corrie, in accepting the office of President

of the Association, addressed the meeting in a speech

which breathed an ardent spirit of piety, of affection,

and of zeal for the sacred cause of Missions. It would be

impossible to convey any adequate idea of it by a cursory

mention in this place of the persuasive topics then so

feelingly urged. Suffice it, therefore, to say, that, as

Mr. Corrie himself was deeply affected, so he made a deep

impression upon the whole audience.”

The formation of this Association was not, however, effected without

some little opposition, but as that appears to have arisen from a

misunderstanding of the motives and relative positions of the parties

concerned, and was speedily allayed, it is therefore here mentioned

merely in deference to the truth of history.

Respecting his own affairs Mr. Corrie wrote to Mr. Sherer, then in

England:--

“Calcutta, Sep. 11, 1823.

“We are all, through mercy, quite well. We cannot be so

much alone as my state of body requires, but we are more

alone than when you were here, and our souls and bodies

benefit by it; though I cannot but regret the partial

exclusion it occasions from some of the excellent of the

earth.

“Of public affairs I can say nothing, except that a

Committee for public Instruction is formed. This was

planned under Mr. Adam’s reign. A picture of him was voted

after Lord Amherst’s arrival, by a great meeting at the

Town-hall. Mr. A. is gone to Bombay in very bad health.

“Our great man, the Bishop, will soon, we hope, be here. He

will come opportunely for our Missionary affairs, and his

coming will prove, we trust, a blessing to many. They say

he means to make the senior Chaplain Archdeacon; whether

that means Mr. Shepherd, or myself, I know not, and am not

anxious about it. I should lose in point of emolument, but

the ease would suit me in my present state of health. I

trust I can bless God for an increasing indifference as to

outward things and distinctions.

“Mr. Jetter, about a fortnight since, baptized a young

Brahmin; and inquirers increase at Mirzapore. The place

is becoming known. It is now, also, assuming a pleasing

appearance.”

According to expectation, Bishop Heber reached India at the beginning

of Oct. 1823. So soon as ever it was known that the Bishop had

reached Saugur, Mr. Corrie, as senior chaplain, Mr. Abbott as

registrar of the diocese, and Principal Mill of Bishop’s College,

went down the river in the government yacht, to conduct his lordship

to Calcutta. On Saturday, Oct. 18th, the Bishop was installed in

the Cathedral, and on the following Monday was pleased to appoint

Mr. Corrie to the Archdeaconry of Calcutta. With reference to that

circumstance Bishop Heber wrote to Mr. Williams Wynn.[114]

“I have bestowed the Archdeaconry, much to my satisfaction,

on the senior resident chaplain, Mr. Corrie, who is

extremely popular in the place, and one of the most amiable

and gentlemanly men in manners and temper, I ever met with.”

In a letter from Dum Dum, Nov. 3, 1823, announcing his appointment

to the Archdeaconry, Mr. Corrie also informs Mr. Sherer:--

“We are miserably off for Chaplains, and you will see from

the date that I am at Dum Dum doing duty there until we

get a reinforcement. I am, however, but weak, being on the

recovery from a fever which was brought on by going out in

the heat, to marry a couple about the middle of October.

I had become quite unfit for the Presidency duties. The

sight of the Cathedral used to make me ill, from the weak

state into which I had fallen; and I trembled like a leaf

in the breeze when I ascended the steps of either desk or

pulpit. At the same time I could not leave the country, not

being entitled to the pension, for a year to come. I am now

relieved from those distressing occasions, and my mind is

eased of a burden. I feel that, humanly speaking, I may yet

be strong here, and do a little in the Missionary cause.”

Nor were these Mr. Corrie’s anticipations with respect to his health

premature; for being now released from the duties of the Cathedral,

he gradually recovered his strength, and attained to such a

healthiness of appearance, that persons who had not seen him for some

time, could scarcely imagine that he had been so seriously ill.

But besides the beneficial change which had thus been effected in

Archdeacon Corrie’s personal condition, it was no small satisfaction

to him to find, that in carrying on the affairs of the Church

Missionary Society, he could now have the advantage of the support

and direction of his Diocesan. For the difficulties in the way of

co-operating with that society, which appeared insuperable to the

late Bishop Middleton, having been either surmounted or removed,

it became the pleasant duty of the Archdeacon, to propose that the

Bishop of Calcutta should be respectfully requested to accept the

office of President of the Auxiliary Church Missionary Society,

which was formed in that city, on the 1st of December 1823. Nor,

after the active part which he had taken in the proceedings of the

Society, could it be otherwise than gratifying to the Archdeacon, to

hear Bishop Heber, on that occasion, publicly express his lordship’s

conviction, that the Church Missionary Society, in conjunction with

others of a similar nature, had been the means of accomplishing

extensive good.

For the two months following the occasion here referred to,

Archdeacon Corrie was chiefly resident at Dum Dum. To his brother he

writes from

“Calcutta, March 11, 1824.

“Our hot season has commenced. During the cold season

we have been residing chiefly at Dum Dum, the Artillery

station, seven miles from the fort, where, since my

preferment, I have done the Chaplain’s duty. Mr. Crauford,

now Chaplain of the Old Church, having friends in the

Artillery regiment, with whom he spends some days every

week, has agreed to take the duties of Dum Dum for the

present, leaving to me the charge of the old church. In

this Mr. Wilson, a Church Missionary, assists me; so that

I have had, as yet, no relief, except from the occasional

duties of this large place. And indeed, this was all I

desired, as, when not exposed to the sun and consequent

fatigue, I am as well as I am likely, with my nervous

frame, to be anywhere. We must now consider ourselves fixed

here for seven years, should life be prolonged. What may

be necessary for our children in that period, we know not.

Hitherto they have enjoyed good health; and if it please

God to continue it to them, we do not mean to separate them

from us. But we experience in fact, I trust, as well as in

theory, our dependence on a higher power, and are disposed

to do what may be His holy will, as we discover it.

“Of our public affairs you hear through public channels.

Of private and family affairs I do not like to say much

on paper. The bishop has proved toward myself most

disinterested and kind. Had he been less impartial and

less feeling than he is, I should not now have been here.

Repeated attacks of fever had so weakened me, that I could

not go through my duties; and here no unemployed clergyman

is at hand to help a friend in need. I was therefore,

preparing for a voyage to the Cape, which by draining our

resources would both have kept us low in circumstances, and

would have sent me back to what had proved a distressing

situation. We cannot therefore, but feel the hand of

Providence in the very considerate kindness of the Bishop.

He has met with much annoyance, I fear, in consequence,

from quarters where submission to Episcopal authority used

to be the order of the day; but which, like all order not

founded on Scripture principles, is only submitted to when

on their own side. I do not say that Episcopacy is not

founded on Scripture, but that, _all obedience_ to it does

not rest on the same foundation. I can truly say, I never

took a step in our Church Missionary proceedings which had

not the sanction of episcopal principles.

“We have now three Missionaries from the Society for

the Propagation of the Gospel. The College has begun

operations, and I feel no little satisfaction that the

first student is a youth previously prepared by the Church

Missionary Society. He is given up to the Society for

the Propagation of the Gospel, partly because they have

funds unappropriated, and the Church Missionary Society

has not, and partly because I could not find among our

friends the support I wished for in respect of this youth.

Alas! how much of human infirmity cleaves to us all; for

I do not pretend to be free from it, and others see more,

perhaps than I should like to acknowledge. Our Bishop is

the most free from party-views of any man I ever met with.

In a ruler this is beautiful, and I have felt the benefit

resulting from it. But a few years ago it seemed as if it

was impossible to exercise such a spirit. Certainly Bishop

Heber in those days, would not have been raised to the

Bench; when unlimited submission was the only condition of

cooperation. Some would have given up the Church Missionary

Society, and have resolved all the Episcopal Societies into

the Diocesan Committee. I withstood it, and held what is

now acknowledged, that the Bishop is (such) in his office

alone, and that whenever he sits in committee, he sits as a

private member, and not as Bishop. Hence he can sit in any

Society conducted on episcopal principles. The time indeed

seems approaching when all societies will send out men of a

similar spirit, and then our co-operation will be complete.

The three men, of the Society for the Propagation of the

Gospel, appear truly pious, though as yet they manifest not

that love of prayer and religious exercises which maintain

religion in its power.

“I long to hear more of you all, but we must be content, I

believe, to endure this longing as a necessary concomitant

of our voluntary banishment. I earnestly wish you would,

as you have opportunity, direct the attention of young

men of piety to this country. Of twenty-six Chaplains

allowed for Bengal, only thirteen are present; the distress

consequently is great, especially in Calcutta. No one of

us can be ill, or omit a sermon, without casting additional

labour on men already fully employed, whilst the Dissenters

are in number strong; both exhibiting variety to draw

people, and relieving each other from too much work.

“Our Government has declared war against the king of

Burmah, and an expedition is ordered against that country.

We have had skirmishing already on the borders, and have

lost some officers. Happily there is no power in the

interior to disturb us at present. Runjeet Sing, the king

of Lahore, is moving on the banks of the Indus; and it is

said an army of observation is forming on the Bombay side,

to watch him. We are all well, and expecting a journey

through the Upper Provinces in company with the Bishop and

family, to commence in June.”

Before the time arrived for undertaking the journey here mentioned

as in prospect, Archdeacon Corrie was called upon to officiate at

the ordination of Christian David, a native of Malabar. This person

had been a pupil of Schwartz, and had for many years been employed

as a catechist in Ceylon, by the Society for promoting Christian

knowledge. He had proved himself to be so faithful a labourer, in

the Christian cause, that except for some legal scruple on the part

of Bishop Middleton, he would have received ordination from that

prelate in 1821. He now came to Calcutta, bringing with him the

recommendation of Archdeacon Twistleton, and for a title, a colonial

chaplaincy to which he had been appointed by Sir Edward Barnes, the

Governor of Ceylon. The day fixed upon by Bishop Heber, for the

ordination of Christian David, was Ascension-day (May 27, 1824,)

and on the following Trinity Sunday, he was ordained priest. With

reference to that most interesting event, Archdeacon Corrie wrote

TO MR. SHERER.

“Calcutta, June 10, 1824.

“I had to examine him on such points as a missionary to the

heathen, unacquainted with Western science should know.

The Bishop was so pleased with my questions and Christian

David’s answers, that he has sent a copy of them to the

Archbishop of Canterbury.”

After some observations on private matters, the Archdeacon then adds:

“All public religious affairs you will learn from the

Missionary Register. A Ladies’ Society for promoting native

female education; Lady Amherst, Patroness!![115] Who would

have dreamt of this a few years ago?

“We set out next week with the Bishop, but a difficulty has

arisen about my being absent at the same time [with him] I

being _ex officio_ Commissary. This will in all probability

bring us back from Chunar. I have got over the hot season

without a fever, and am now tolerably well, though

constrained to keep in doors. I look forward to coming to

England as a dream of which the reality is barely probable.

O, may we be more in the contemplation of our heavenly

home! I have no reason to be dissatisfied with the world,

further than as sin renders it uneasy to me, sometimes me

to it; and my children will perhaps be better off by my

remaining here. For the rest, I have but little anxiety;

and home is home, in a Christian, as well as in a worldly

sense; nor shall we be at home until we get to heaven.”

The difficulty referred to in the foregoing letter, as regarded the

absence of both Bishop and Archdeacon from Calcutta at the same time,

having been surmounted, Bishop Heber, accompanied by his Chaplain,

Mr. Stowe, commenced his journey toward the upper provinces on the

15th of June, 1824. Archdeacon Corrie, with his wife and children,

followed in a separate budgerow. After three days voyage on the

river, they parted company; the Bishop and his chaplain proceeding to

Dacca, whilst the Archdeacon and his family passed on by Berhampore,

and Malda, to Bhaugulpore, where they were to wait for the Bishop.

But in the meantime Mr. Stowe was taken dangerously ill at Dacca,

and died there on the 17th of July.[116] Bishop Heber joined the

Archdeacon’s party on the 10th of August, and proceeded to visit the

several stations of Monghyr, Patna, Dinapore, Buxar, Benares, Chunar,

&c., in succession.[117] When, near Allahabad, the Archdeacon wrote

to his brother:--

“Sept. 12, 1824.

“We have seen much done here in the way of preparation; but

then it is much only as compared with the former state of

things. With reference to what remains to be done, nothing

comparatively has been accomplished. The country near

Allahabad, which the English possessed when I arrived in

Bengal, extended in length about twelve hundred miles, by

an average breadth of one hundred and fifty or two hundred.

That constituted the Bengal Presidency. The Ganges may be

considered a line running through the length of the tract,

dividing it into two parts. Throughout this extent, there

was only one place of Protestant worship [and that] in

Calcutta; and not a _building_ appropriated to worship out

of Calcutta, belonging to the English. There are now in

Calcutta four places of worship in the Established Church;

besides the Mission College, and three Dissenting Chapels.

There is a Church at Dacca, Benares, Chunar, Futtyghur,

and Meerut. Churches are in the course of erection at Agra

and Cawnpore. Whilst at the old stations of Dinapore and

Berhampore, public worship is still performed in an empty

barrack. There are at Monghyr and Benares, dissenting

Chapels, and perhaps at some of the upper stations also.

All this has not been accomplished without considerable

individual exertion, as well as public support: and

though individual piety is still lamentably scarce, yet

much more of public attention to religious observances

prevails than formerly; and also much more of individual

piety. With respect to the natives, when I arrived in the

country, a few converts were found at Serampore; and a

few, I believe existed at Dinapore: nor were there any

attempts [to convert the natives] entered upon beyond

those places, except at Cutwa, where the late missionary,

Chamberlain,[118] had settled. Now, we have a few native

converts in Calcutta, at Burdwan, and at Cutwa and its

branch in Beerbhoom; at Monghyr, Buxar, Benares, Chunar

and Meerut. In each of these places, a few converts are

found; and what will eventually work greatly for the good

of the heathen, some of the Roman Catholic converts, and

descendants of Europeans, who had become quite native in

their habits and language, are attracted by the labours of

the missionaries at those places; and in some of them, as

at Chunar, where the native congregation is the largest

on the side of India, [the Roman Catholics] constitute

the chief part. Besides these, I might mention Meerut,

and Futtyghur, where missionaries are labouring, and some

converts have been gained. Thus where all was darkness,

now, here and there, a glimmering of light begins to

appear. But a reference to the situation of these places

on a map, and of the small number to whom the means of

grace have proved effectual at each place, will shew you

how little has yet been accomplished. How much remains

to be done, ere this people can possess even the means

of knowing the way of life! We are now, as you know,

attending the Bishop. His visit cannot fail to increase

the disposition of the British to help on the work of

missions. At Buxar, he sat down in the hut of the native

catechist, and heard the Christians read; and questioned

them in their catechisms; at Benares, he went in his robes

to the Hindoostanee chapel, where Mr. Morris officiates,

and pronounced the blessing; and the same at Chunar. He

has acquired sufficient Hindoostanee to give the blessing

in that language. Also at Benares, he administered

Confirmation to fourteen native Christians, and afterwards

the Lord’s Supper: and at Chunar to fifty-seven native

Christians. He asked the questions and pronounced the

prayer, in Confirmation, in Hindoostanee, and also the

words addressed in giving the elements in the Lord’s

Supper. In the latter ordinance, he was assisted at Benares

by Mr. Morris; and at Chunar by myself. But, in general, I

have not been able to do more than attend him in public;

my state of weakness not allowing of visiting or dining

from home. Some of the old alarmists still remain, who,

by these proceedings, are silenced if not convinced; and

scoffers are put to shame. The Bishop, also, visits all

the missionary native schools, as he proceeds; and the

Missionaries are greatly encouraged by the interest he

takes in their proceedings.”

The Archdeacon then adds:--

“I must say a few words about myself. The season has not

been favourable, as yet, for restoring my strength. We

have had comparatively little rain; and the east wind

failed by the 20th of August. Since then the west-wind has

blown: and now in the afternoon blows hot. The river is

fallen as much as is usual in November. Notwithstanding,

I am greatly stronger than when in Calcutta, and have no

positive disease: at least I think so. We now begin to feel

the coolness at night--the forerunner of the cool season.

Six weeks will bring it here. I then hope, with care, to

recruit, and feel much the goodness of God in allowing me

this hope.”

On the 27th of November 1824, Archdeacon Corrie addressed the

following letter to Mr. Buckworth, from Cawnpore:--

“You will have heard, from my friends, of the debilitating

effects this climate has at length began to have on my

frame; but I am thankful to be able to say, that I am

better this year than last. Knowing the cooler nature of

this part of the country, at this season [of the year,]

the Bishop kindly invited me to accompany him [on his

visitation], and here we arrived early in October. The

latitude is five degrees higher [North] than that of

Calcutta; and, being within two hundred miles of the Snowy

Mountains, is more than proportionably cooler. Your parish

news is very interesting to me; and the increase of your

places of worship must be a source of great gratification

to you. If it should be given me to be your helper in one

of these Churches, separate from occasional duties, some

day, it would, I trust, be a comfort to both of us. But

it becomes us more than ever not to boast, or lay plans

respecting the morrow. We have now passed a fair proportion

of the days usually assigned to man; and besides this, we

have both personal experience of a dying nature. I feel

for my own part, how sickness even may lose the effect of

impressing the idea of death; and have hourly need to pray

for more of that quickening Spirit, who alone makes us and

keeps us alive to God and things divine and eternal. Our

situation here is quite different from yours,--we have no

parish annals to record. I arrived at this [station] on the

day fourteen years after sainted Martyn had dedicated the

Church. The house he occupied stands close by. The view of

the place, and the remembrance of what had passed, greatly

affected me. I arrived on the Sunday morning, after divine

service had begun; (the Bishop having come on the day

before) and, as the Chaplain is sick, I had to assist in

administering the Sacrament; and well it was, on the whole,

that none present could enter into my feelings, or I should

have been overcome.

“You wish to hear tidings of our Bishop; and, from public

sources, you will have heard of the favour he shews

generally to the righteous cause. Of the natural amiability

of the man, it is impossible to convey an adequate idea.

Our children speak of him always as ‘the dear Bishop.’

I merely mention this to shew how lovely he appears in

his general temper and habits. His conversation is very

lively; and from his large acquaintance with books and

men, very instructive, and tending to improve those he

meets with; whilst he industriously seeks opportunities of

public worship, Sunday and week day; and urges on all the

importance of attending on the means of grace. Surely this

land has cause of praise to God, that such an one has been

placed at the head of affairs here!

“At this station, there are about two thousand five hundred

Christians, and the chaplain being sick I remained here,

to do the parochial duties. Having accompanied the Bishop

to Lucknow, where we were entertained by the King of

Oude, I returned hither. The Bishop presented the King

with a Bible, and a Book of Common Prayer, in the native

language; and the King was so taken with the Bishop, that

he begged to have his picture; which was accordingly

taken immediately, by an eminent English artist, whom the

King keeps in constant pay. The Bishop went on his way to

Meerut, Delhi, and Agra; at the latter place I hope to meet

him, about Christmas; I am now therefore in a sphere I

greatly like. On Sunday last I had two full services; and

attended a meeting with the Dragoon regiment on Wednesday,

and with the Foot regiment last night, and feel no ill

effects; by which you will judge of the bodily strength

which is mercifully renewed to me. I have one of the

learned native converts with me; and he is collecting the

few native Christians here, and we shall, I hope, be useful

to them also.”

[109] Instituted in the year 1782.

[110] See above,--p.322.

[111] A printer and printing-press, sent out by the Church

Missionary Society, had just arrived from England.

[112] Moonshee Mooneef Masseeh, who was baptised at Chunar

in 1818.

[113] A place on the river Hooghley.

[114] Journal, &c., vol. 3. p. 230, 2nd edit.

[115] “The Ladies Society for Native female education in

Calcutta, and its vicinity,” was formed on the 25th

of March 1824.

[116] See Life of Bishop Heber, Vol. ii. pp. 217, &c.

[117] It has not been thought necessary to notice in

detail, the many interesting occurrences which have

already been related in Bishop Heber’s Journal and

Correspondence.

[118] One of the Baptists.