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nineteen, he had completed a translation of the whole scriptures in the Tamul tongue; and had also composed a grammar and dictionary of the same language, which remain with us to this day.

11. The peculiar interest taken by King George the first in this primary endeavour to evangelize the Hindoos, will appear from the following letters addressed to the missionaries by his Majesty.

"George, by the grace of God, King of Great Britain, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c.To the reverend and learned Bartholomew Ziegenbalgius and John Ernest Grundlerus, missionaries at Tranquebar in the East Indies.

"REVEREND AND BELOVED,

"Your letters dated the twentieth of January, of the present year, were most welcome to us; not only because the work undertaken by you of converting the heathen to the Christian faith, doth by the grace of God prosper, but also because that in this our kingdom such a laudable zeal for the promotion of the gospel prevails.

"We pray you may be endued with health and strength of body, that you may long continue to fulfil your ministry with good success; of which, as we shall be rejoiced to hear, so you will always find us ready to succour you in whatever may tend to promote your work and to excite your zeal. We assure you of the continuance of our royal favour." Given at our palace of Hampton Court, the twentythird of August, A. D. seventeen hundred and seventeen, in the fourth year of our reign. "GEORGE R. Hattorf."

12. The king continued to cherish with much solicitude the interests of the mission after the death of Ziegenbalgius; and in ten years from the date of

the foregoing letter, a second was addressed to the members of the mission, by his Majesty.

REVEREND AND BELOVED.

"From your letters, dated Tranquebar, the 12th September, seventeen hundred and twenty-five, which sometime since came to hand, we received much pleasure; since by them we are informed not only of your zealous exertions in the prosecution of the work committed to you, but also of the happy success which has hitherto attended it, and which hath been graciously given of God.

"We return you thanks for these accounts, and it will be acceptable to us, if you continue to communicate whatever shall occur in the progress of your mission.

"In the mean time we pray you may enjoy strength of body and mind for the long continuance of your labours in this good work, to the glory of God and the promotion of Christianity among the heathens; that its perpetuity may not fail in generations to come."*

Given at our palace, at St. James's, the twenty-third of February, seventeen hundred and twenty-seven, in the thirteenth year of our reign.

"GEORGE R.”

13. The English nation will receive these letters (now sent back in the name of the Hindoos) with that reverence and affectionate regard, which are due to the memory of the royal author, considering them as a memorial of the nation's past concern for the welfare of the natives, and a pledge of our fu

ture care.

Providence hath been pleased to grant the prayer of the king, "that the work might not fail in genera tions to come." After the first missionary Ziegen

Niecampius, page 284.

1

balgius had finished his course; he was succeeded by other learned and zealous men; and lastly, by the apostle of the east, the venerable Swartz, who during the period of half a century,* has fulfilled alaborious ministry among the natives of different provinces, and illuminated many a dark region with the light of the gospel.

14. The pious exertions of the king for the diffusion of religious blessings among the natives of India, seem to have been rewarded by heaven in temporal blessings to his own subjects in their intercourse with the east; by leading them onward in a continued course' of prosperity and glory, and by granting to them at length the entire domonion of the peninsula of India.

16. But these royal epistles are not the only evangelic document of high authority in the hands of the Hindoos. They are in possession of letters written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, of the same reign;f who supported the interest of the mission with unexampled liberality, affection and zeal. These letters which are many in number, are all written in the latin language. The following is a translation of his grace's first letter; which appears to have been written by him as president of the "society for promoting Christian knowledge"

"To Bartholomew Ziegenbalgius and John Ernest Grundlerus, preachers of the Christian faith, on the coast of Coromanael.

"As often as I behold your letters, reverend brethren, addressed to the venerable society instituted for the promotion of the gospel, whose chief honour and ornament ye are; and as often as I contemplate the light of the gospel either now first rising on the Indian nations, or after the intermission of some ages again revived, and as it were restored to its in

From 1749 to 1800.

+Archbishop Wake.

heritance; I am constrained to magnify that singular goodness of God in visiting nations so remote; and to account you, my brethren, highly honoured, whose ministry it hath pleased Him to employ, in this pious work, to the glory of His name and the salvation of so many millions of souls.

"Let others indulge in a ministry, if not idle, certainly less laborious, among Christians at home.Let them enjoy in the bosom of the church, titles and honours, obtained without labour and without danger. Your praise it will be (a praise of endless duration on earth, and followed by a just recompense in heaven) to have labored in the vineyard which yourselves have planted; to have declared the name of Christ, where it was not known before; and through much peril and difficulty to have converted to the faith those, among whom ye afterwards fulfilled your ministry. Your province therefore, brethren, your office, I place before all dignities in the church. Let others be pontiffs, patriarchs, or popes; let them glitter in purple, in scarlet, or in gold; let them seek the admiration of the wondering multitude, and re ceive obeisence on the bended knee. Ye have acquired a better name than they, and a more sacred fame. And when that day shall arrive when the chief Shepherd shall give to every man according to his work, a greater reward shall be adjudged to you. Admitted into the glorious society of the prophets, evangelists and apostles, ye with them shall shine, like the sun among the lesser stars, in the kingdom of your Father, forever.

"Since then so great honour is now given unto you by all competent judges on earth, and since so great a reward is laid up for you in heaven, go forth with alacrity to that work, to which the Holy Ghost hath called you. God hath already given to you an illustrious pledge of his favour, an increase not to be expected without the aid of his grace. Ye have be gun happily, proceed with spirit. He, who hath

carried you safely through the dangers of the seas to such a remote country, and who hath given you favour in the eyes of those whose countenance ye most desired; He who hath so liberally and unexpectedly ministered unto your wants, and who doth now daily add members to your church; He will continue to prosper your endeavours, and will subdue unto himself, by your means, the whole continent of oriental

India.

O happy men! who, standing before the tribunal of Christ, shall exhibit so many nations converted to his faith by your preaching; happy men! to whom it shall be given to say before the assembly of the whole human race, 'Behold us, O Lord, and the children whom thou hast given us;' happy men! who, being justified by the Saviour, shall receive in that day the reward of your labours, and also shall hear that glorious encomium, 'Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.'

"May Almighty God graciously favour you and your labours in all things. May he send to your aid fellow-labourers, such and so many as ye wish. May he encrease the bounds of your churches. May

he

open the hearts of those to whom ye preach the gospel of Christ; that hearing you, they may receive life-giving faith. May he protect you and yours from all evils and dangers. And when ye arrive (may it be late) at the end of your course, may the same God, who hath called you to this work of the gospel and hath preserved you in it, grant to you the reward of your labour-an incorruptible crown of glory.*

"These are the fervent wishes and prayers of, "Venerable brethren,

"Your most faithful fellow servant in Christ, "GULIELMUS. CANT."

"From our Palace, at Lambeth,}

January, A. D.

W

Niecampiu, page 215.

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