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Sa. Rs. 1500 were for the support of a Missionary, Sa. Rs. 1562 1 8 in aid of the contingent expenses of the Mission, and the remainder towards the erection of the Chapel. In the letters which accompanied this remittance the British and Foreign Unitarian Association engaged to remit annually Sa. Rs. 1500 for the support of a Missionary, and Sa. Rs. 500 in aid of the Fund for General Purposes, the last mentioned contribution not to commence till the expiration of two years. The interest excited among the English Unitarians in favor of a Foreign Mission appears to be very general, embracing almost every congregation be longing to the denomination; the Unitarian periodical works advocate the cause of the Calcutta Mission; and sermons have been preached by some of the most distinguished ministers in furtherance of its objects. The correspondence on the part of the English Unitarians with this Committee has indeed been very tardy and irregular; but the sincere and general interest felt in the objects of a Foreign Mission is shown by the liberality of the pecuniary aid they have afforded, and by the number of individuals in different parts of the kingdom, whose subscriptions have contributed to swell the amount. The Committee are happy to state that, amongst others, Mr Belsham, the bosom friend and coadjutor of Dr Priestley and Mr Lindsey, with whose names his will be associated in the grateful recollection of every friend of pure Christianlty, has lived to witness the commencement of a Unitarian Mission in India and to express his ardent aspirations for its

success.

The friends of Unitarian Christianity in India will perceive from the preceding statements, that the English and American Unitarians have adopted different plans in regard to foreign objects, the former having combined the prosecution of them with domestic objects by one and the same Association, and the latter having made them the business of a distinct Society. On the one hand there is a danger from the existence of two societies, one for domestic and the other for foreign objects, that an impression of opposition between them may be created, an effect which this Committee should deeply regret to witness, because they are convinced that the prosperity of the denomination in England and America will be the surest guarantee for the effectual prosecution of a Foreign

Mission, and that the success of a Foreign Mission will have a most beneficial influence upon the state and character of the denomination in those countries. On the other hand there is a danger from the multiplicity of the objects of one Society that details will be neglected, the evils of which the Committee, in communicating with their English brethren, have already had occasion seriously to lament. Each plan is probably best adapted to the circumstances of the denomination in the country where it has been adopted, and while the Committee venture to express the hope that the evils of both will be avoided, they gratefully acknowledge the liberal and generous aid which they have received from Unitarians both in England and America. It is true that they have not rushed with a rash and impetuous zeal into the business of Foreign Missions. Most of them were probably at first inimical or indifferent to the object; then they learned to call in question the grounds on which their hostility or apathy rested; they inquired and obtained information; they reflected on the facts placed before them and discussed the subject in public and in private, in conversation and by correspondence, from the press and in the pulpit; and finally they have acted with a zeal and liberality which are well fitted to encourage and stimulate Unitarians in India. It may be regretted that they did not sooner perceive the christian duty they owe to heathen countries; but none can justly reproach them for it, for, until within the last twenty or thirty years, nearly the whole Protestant church was equally neglectful of this high duty, and Unitarians even now have left some branches of that church behind them in this good work. It may be regretted that much valuable time has been lost, and that in the interval some friends to the cause of Unitarian Christianity in India have grown cold; but it could not be expected that English and American Unitarians would give their active support to a Foreign Mission before they were convinced of its practicability and utility, or that a few having been convinced that there was a probability of permanent good being done, they could at once carry the whole denomination along with them in this persuasion. Now, however, that a deep and general interest has been excited among English and American Unitarians in favor of a Mission in this country, Unitarians here, knowing that

their decision has been formed after se-
rious and mature consideration, may de-
pend on their zealous and persevering
cooperation with a degree of confidence
which could not previously have been
possessed.

Having thus secured the cooperation
of those Christians in England and Ame-
rica who assume the distinctive appella-
tion of Unitarians, the Committee propose
to avail themselves of the opportunity
afforded by the publication of this Re-
port, to open a correspondence with the
Presbyterians of Ireland many of whom
are known to be Anti-Trinitarians, and
with the Free-Thinking Christians in
England who are all Unitarians-with
the Unitarians at Geneva and in Transyl-
vania on the continent of Europe-and
with the Christian Connexion, the Soci-
ety of Friends, and the Universalists in
the United States of America, most of
whom are stated to believe in the simple
unity of God. Individuals belonging to
several of these bodies of Christians
have already written to some of the
members of the Committee, and it is
hoped that most of them will be disposed,
according to their ability, to contribute
their aid for the promotion of education
in India under the superintendence and
control of this Committee.

11. Employment of a Missionary.The first object accomplished by the united contributions of the English, American, and Calcutta Unitarians, is the permanent engagement of a person competent to act as a Unitarian Minister and Missionary by devoting the chief part of his time to the business of the Committee, conducting the local and foreign correspondence, and putting into execution or superintending measures for the promotion of religion and education on the spot. The individual employed for the performance of these duties is the Reverend William Adam, whose engagement with this Committee commenced from 1st May 1827. been mentioned that the British and ForIt has already eign Unitarian Association have offered permanently to contribute for this purpose 1500 Rs. annually, and the American Society for the Promotion of Christianity in India, 600 dollars annually for ten years certain; and it is now to be added that this Committee have formed a Missionary Fund, and from the accruing interest have agreed permanently to contribute to the same object 125 Rs. per month, the salary derived from these VOL. V.-NO. IV.

different sources amounting to about 350 inadequacy of this salary to do more than Rs. per month. In consideration of the afford subsistence to a European family without providing for their future wants, Committee and the British and Foreign it has been expressly recognised by this devote a portion of his time to other than Association that Mr Adam is at liberty to strictly religious pursuits, if they are not, in the judgment of this Committee incompatible with his Ministerial and Missionary character. Even the undivided labors of only one person cannot do full justice to the combined duties of Preacher to an English congregation and Missionary to the Heathen, especially as in the present case, where a Mission is not only to be carried on, but to be begun and its very foundations to be laid, and where, consequently, much of his time must be occupied in subordinate and preparatory details, and where, moreover, scarcely any are to be found who from their own professional engagements can spare even a small portion of leisure therefore consider a coadjutor to Mr to aid in those details. The Committee Adam highly desirable and indeed necessary to give efficiency to the Mission, and they earnestly hope that the exertarians may be directed to supply this tions of the English and American Unideficiency. In the mean time, it has been the endeavour of the Committee, in which Mr Adam has cordially concurred, to separate as much as possible the secular from the spiritual concerns of the Mission, to assign the care of the former exclusively to the other members of their own body, and to require from him only his station. The various sums received the appropriate and congenial duties of personal use, before the commencement from England and America for Mr Adam's of his engagement, were placed by him have applied them to the other purposes at the disposal of the Committee, who of the Mission.

The next object contemplated by the III. Chapel for English Worship.Committee, was the erection of a Chapel for stated worship and instruction in the English language, a measure they believe to be strongly recommendwhich One of the best ways to convince others ed by the following considerations. 1. Christianity, is for its adherents and proof the truth and excellence of Unitarian fessors to show that they wish, not only others but themselves and their families, 47

to live under the influence of its pure and salutary principles. The number of Unitarians resident in Calcutta has been found greater than the most sanguine expectations had anticipated, and it is gradually increasing by the accession of individuals from all classes of society; and the number is also considerable of Unitarians who come from the other parts of India, or from foreign countries, and remain here a longer or a shorter time for purposes of business. Hitherto Unitarians in Calcutta, whether permanent residents or transient visiters, have had no public place of worship to which they could conscientiously resort, no stated means of religious culture, and it is surely desirable for their own sakes, without any reference to its effects upon others, that, to supply this want, a Unitarian Chapel should be built in Calcutta. It is high time that Unitarian Christians in India, forming a distinct class of Protestant Dissenters, neither few in number nor confined to a corner, should have a place of worship which they may call their own. 2. But the measure becomes still more important when viewed in connexion with the Unitarian Mission which has been commenced in Calcutta. The labors of one or more isolated individuals to make known Unitarian Christianity to the natives, will attract little attention, and exert scarcely any influence; and to act effectively therefore upon the native community it is essential that Unitarians should become a regularly organized religious body. The existence of such a body exhibited by a regular attendance upon the weekly services of religion, and distinguished from other christian sects by the exclusive worship of One God in One Person, would be a fact which could neither be overlooked nor denied, and which would alone tend to remove many prejudices from the minds of Christians, Mohummudans, and Hindoos; while the discourses delivered would furnish the professors of other denominations and those natives who understand the English language, which most respectable Hindoos of Calcutta now do, with a better opportunity of knowing what Unitarian Christianity is, than perhaps any other means that could be employed. Such a congregation would be like a focus from which the light of pure religion would emanate in many different directions; for, without seeking to transform private Christians into proselytizing zealots, even the silent example of

a firm, consistent, and public adherence to unpopular truth would alone essentially contribute to shake the foundations of error. Nor is it to be supposed that a congregation of Unitarian Christians would be indifferent to the employment of legitimate means for the diffusion of correct information respecting their religious sentiments. They would doubtless be willing according to their ability to aid the Committee with pecuniary means for prosecuting the objects of its institution; and the value or rather necessity of such aid will be duly appreciated when it is considered that Unitarians are without the pale of all other christian denominations, and enjoy none of that sympathy, assistance, or support which they mutually afford to each other. Every man's hand is against them. They must depend on themselves alone and draw their resources from their own body; and it is only through the medium of a stated and regular congregation that any permanent or considerable pecuniary aid can be derived from the Unitarians in this country. The Committee, convinced that without an appropriate place of their own for public worship, there will not be a permanent congregation, and that without a permanent congregation none of the advantages enumerated will be fully enjoyed, at an early date opened a subscription for the erection of a Unitarian Chapel in Calcutta. The amount subscribed in Calcutta is Sa. Rs. 13,033 9 9, but not more than half of that sum has actually been paid; a sum of Sa. Rs. 14,029 8, has been received from the British and Foreign Association, being the amount of the English subscriptions; besides £20 sent direct by Mr Freme, as already mentioned, and added to the Chapel Fund, and a sum of 100 dollars sent by Brattle Square Church Society in Boston, as formerly stated, which has been appropriated in the same way. With part of these funds a piece of ground consisting of one beegah and four cottahs has been purchased for 12,378 Rs. and vested in Trustees for the use of Unitarian Christians in Calcutta ; and the remainder of the funds is in the hands of the Treasurer of the Committee. If the Calcutta subscriptions remaining unpaid were received, and an equal amount of additional subscriptions obtained, the Committee would commence the erection of the Chapel with some degree of confidence that they would be able to complete it, although even that sum

they consider would be insufficient to furnish it for public worship. The English Unitarians have subscribed far more liberally to this object than could have been reasonably expected of them, and the Committee therefore earnestly call the attention of the Unitarian public in India and America to the deficiency of the funds applicable to this purpose and to the importance of carrying into early execution this long pending measure. Every one who is desirous of giving permanence, consistence, and efficiency to a Unitarian Mission in this country will subscribe to the Chapel Fund. It is to this one point, after defraying contingent expenses, that all the pecuniary contributions of Unitarian Christians in aid of a Mission in India should be at this time directed, and the Committee therefore limit their call for pecuniary aid to this single object, and anxiously hope that its importance may not be overlooked.

Until sufficient funds shall be obtain ed for the erection of a Chapel, the Committee have sought to gain the advantages of one by commencing Unitarian worship and instruction in a hired place. This has been done on two different occasions, first in 1821-22, and more recently during the present year. The first attempt was attended with an encouraging degree of success; but it was finally abandoned in consequence of Mr Adam having been placed under the necessity of engaging in a secular occupation for the support of his family. Since his relinquishment of that occupation and his resumption of the Missionary and Ministerial character, public worship, on the principles of Unitarian Christianity, has been recommenced at the Hurkaru Public Rooms. The form of worship employed is that of the Church of England, the Committee having adopted the Common Prayer Book used at the Unitarian Chapel in Essex Street, of which they commissioned a number to be sent, and have lately received 125 copies presented gratis by a member of the Unitarian body in London. The attendance at the Morning Service from the beginning of August to the end of October varied from ten to thirty individuals; and that at the Evening Service, which was substituted for it, has varied from fifty to eighty, which, compared with the average attendance at all Dissenting Chapels and at some Churches in Calcutta, the Committee regard as a pleasing indication of a desire on the part of a numerous and

respectable portion of the community to be correctly informed respecting the doctrines of Unitarian Christianity. The subject of the Evening Lectures which are still in the course of delivery, is the Doctrine of the Unity of God considered in its various relations both to Trinitarianism and to Polytheism and Idolatry; and the Committee are happy to add that the endeavours used to draw the public attention to this great truth have, they believe, been materially aided by the discourses of Trinitarian Divines intended to counteract the effects of the Lectures delivered at the Hurkaru Rooms A considerable proportion of the congregation that assembles, besides several respectable and intelligent natives, consists of individuals who could not conscientiously, and therefore did not in fact, regularly attend any other place of worship; and, although none of course are excluded, yet the further accessions that are expected belong principally to the same class. They have not been drawn from other churches and chapels, and their attendance, therefore, on Unitarian Christian worship even in the estimation of the most hostile must be considered a clear gain to society and to the cause of Christianity. All who are desirous of promoting national religion and pure Christianity are invited to give their attendance at Unitarian worship where it is now conducted, and in the mean time the Committee will make every exertion to obtain funds by which they may be enabled to commence and complete the Chapel for the better accommodation of the public. The expense incurred by the maintenance of public worship amounts to upwards of 150 Rupees per month, including rent, &c., and is defrayed from the Fund for General or Contingent expenses which has been formed partly by public subscriptions and partly by remittances from England.

IV. Native Service-In the First Memoir the delivery of Familiar Lectures on religion in the native language and in the native parts of the city was contemplated, and the Committee still think this an object of great importance. By means of a Native Service, respectable and educated Hindoos will have an opportunity of acquiring plain and intelligible views of religion in general and of Christianity in particular; such a service will form a point of union between Christian and Hindoo Unitarians against

polytheism and idolatry; and even if no conversions are made, which indeed are not anticipated as the primary effects of the Committee's exertions, yet the stat ed inculcation of moral and religious obligations on rational principles, cannot but be attended with beneficial consequences both to individuals and to society. With these views a Native Service was commenced in October last and is still continued every Sunday morning. The order of the Service consists in offering a short extempore prayer; examining those who are present on the subject of the preceding Lecture; delivering another Discourse in continuation, and again joining together in a concluding prayer, after which every one is at liberty either to advance objections to what has been stated or to ask for further information. It was at first intended to conduct the service in the Bengalee language, but this was strongly objected to by the native members of the Committee, on the ground that the natives are not accustomed to use the vernacular tongue as a medium of instruction on literary and religious subjects, and that if an attempt were made to teach religion in Bengalee, the subject would be degraded and despised in consequence of the medium employed. They recommended the use of the English language, which the majority of intelligent Hindoos in Calcutta can understand, and in which they would consider it a mark of respect to be addressed. The English language, therefore, is principally although not exclusively employed in the Native Service; but it is designed gradually to introduce the use of the Bengalee to a greater extent, for the Committee are satisfied that if Bengal is ever to be enlightened, either by religion or science, it must be through the medium of the vernacular dialect. The Bengalee language is obtaining encreased attention from the natives themselves, and no one has contributed more than a learned native member of this Committee to elevate its character, purify its idioms, and recommend it as a medium of scientific and religious communication to his countrymen. The prejudice, however, against the Bengalee, still so strong, and the rage for learning English so high, that the adoption of the latter at present, although not to the entire exclusion of the former, is deemed expedient; but the Committee are far from considering

that the English language is the most proper medium for communicating knowledge to the great body of the people, however valuable an acquaintance with it may be to some as an accomplishment, or to others as a means of subsistence, and however important it may be to train up a limited number to a full and accurate knowledge of it, to be afterwards employed as the instructers of their countrymen.

With regard to the course of instruction commenced and intended to be pursued, it may be remarked in general, that Missionary preaching has produced an effect on the minds of the natives upon the whole unfavorable to Christianity. It has excited prejudice, suspicion, jealousy against everything Christian. The utmost caution, therefore, must be exercised by the Unitarian Missionary, and his principal endeavours must be directed to lessen or remove this hostile bias. Instead of forcing Christianity on the attention of a congregation of intelligent Hindoos without reference to their age, dispositions, opinions, and degree of mental cultivation-which would be nothing less than a proclamation to them to disperse-it must be his object to produce a favorable state of feeling towards Christians and Christianity, without which the clearest evidence will make no impression and the most undoubted truths will find no resting place in the mind. With this view an attempt has been made, by plain arguments and familiar illustrations, to prove, explain, and enforce the being and attributes of God, his providence and moral government, and the various duties resulting from those doctrines, but without introducing Christianity; while at the same time Mr Adam has distinctly stated that he is a Christian, that his object is to promote Christianity, and that he will be happy to afford any information respecting it, that may be required of him. Hereafter, according as he finds his audience competent and willing to enter into such an investigation, he may deliver a separate course of Familiar Lectures on the comparative merits and demerits, excellences and defects of every system of Religion which professes to be a Divine Revelation,-Judaism, Mohummudanism, Hindooism, and Christianity,-leaving every one to come to a decision for himself; and in a state of more advanced preparation,

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