DR. CAREY TO DR. RYLAND. 'MY DEAR BROTHER R., 'October 14, 1815. Yours of May 2, I received a few days ago, and at the same time received an extract from a Cambridge paper copied at Plymouth, by an officer of the ship, Mr. Johnstone, who is acquainted with us, informing us of the death of dear brother Fuller. 'Considering the extensive countries opened to us in the east, I entreat, I implore our dear brethren in England, not to think of the petty shop-keeping plan of lessening the number of stations so as to bring the support of them within the bounds of their present income, but to bend all their attention and exertions to the great object of increasing their finances, to meet the pressing demand that divine Providence makes on them. If your objects are large, the public will contribute to their support; if you contract them, their liberality will immediately contract itself proportionably. A subscription equal to one farthing a week, for all the inhabitants of Great Britain who are grown up, viz., eight millions of farthings, or a penny a week from a fourth of them, would produce £8,333. 6s. 8d. per annum. Let only this sum come to the Baptist mission, surely not too much to expect, and all the objects will be accomplished for which European subscriptions are wanted, translations excepted. 'The translations of the scriptures are now become so numerous that the work is of the first importance. By constant attention to the object, and the smiles of God upon our undertaking, we have now collected at Serampore a large body of men from all parts of India, who are employed in translating the word, and who, if dismissed, could not be easily obtained again. These men write out the rough copy of the translation into their respective languages; some translating from the Bengali, others from the Hindusthani, and others from the Sunscrit, as they are best acquainted with them. They consult with one another, and other pundits who have been employed for several years in correcting the press and copy, and who almost know the scriptures by heart. They, therefore, form the idiom; after which I examine and alter the whole where necessary, and upon every occasion have men born and brought up in the countries themselves to consult. The number of these languages far exceeds what I thought it till very lately, for till lately I, like almost every one else, thought all the north and west of India to be occupied by the Hindi or Hindusthani, but I now doubt whether any country be exclusively What have hitherto been accounted varieties of the Hindusthani and vulgar varieties of jargon, are in reality distinct languages, all derived, it is true, from the same source, the Sunscrit, but so differently terminated and inflected as to make them unintelligible to the inhabitants of the surrounding countries. The uniformity of the words in all these languages, makes it comparatively easy for me to judge of the correctness of the translations, and makes that quite possible so. which to one unacquainted with Sunscrit, and the mutation of words in the current languages, would 'MY DEAR BROTHER RYLAND, Yours of July 2, 1815, I have received. I am glad you have taken the office of secretary upon yourself; but you will not live for ever, and I think it is very important while you live to take such steps as shall prevent disagreeable circumstances from arising after your death. I have thought much on the subject, and will say what appears to desirable. to me 'The office of secretary, when in the hands of our dear brother Fuller, included a mass of influence and power which properly belongs to the society itself. The secretary, however, should be the mere organ of the society. While brother Fuller lived, there was no danger of the power he possessed being wrongly used; nor do I think you will misemploy it. But the office must devolve on others after your death. I therefore recommend the so modelling and enlarging the society, that all its acts shall originate from itself, and that the secretary be, as nearly as possible, the mere officer to record the transactions and resolutions of the society, and to communicate them to the persons whom they concern. 'Suppose the society, instead of being confined to one part of England, were to be made co-extensive with England and Scotland, and the whole country to be divided into districts, and all the churches in each district to choose a number of the most active, wise, and holy men within them, to act as a committee of that district; from these others should be chosen to represent them at a general-meeting of all the district divisions, once or oftener every year, at which meeting every thing regarding the plans of the society should be finally settled. The present associations might answer every purpose of districts, and the annual meeting of the denomination in London might answer every purpose of the general meeting. Each district might, if necessary, have a secretary, who should correspond with the chief secretary. It would not be always necessary to have a meeting even for special business; the secretary, whom for distinction's sake I call the chief secretary, might be empowered to send a circular letter to each of the secretaries of the districts upon special occasions, and thus in ten days he might get the opinion of almost all the districts upon any subject; a few printed letters, as many as were wanted, would answer the purpose, and might be sent to all at once. We carry on almost all public business in this manner in India. This plan might be modified in any way as might appear necessary; but it would have the effect of |
