similar conditions. At length, when these loans were exhausted, a ship arrived, bringing them a large supply of money, together with three assistants for their work. One of these was Gründler, who proved a worthy coadjutor to Ziegenbalg, and was the only surviver on the Mission at the time of his death. Gründler, with the others, had been prepared for work by the study of the language, as well as of theology, under the care of the venerable Francke, at Halle. The Mission was further re-inforced, in 1713, by the arrival of two brothers of the name of Adler. These, having been instructed in the art of printing, brought with them from Europe the inestimable present of a printing-press, by means of which great good was accomplished.

Portions of Holy Scripture, and various tracts, written with an iron style on strips of the leaf of the palmyra-tree, prepared for the purpose, had been previously issued. In this primitive fashion, and afterwards by means of the printing-press, much information was circulated among the people; but the great work now taken in hand was the printing of the New Testament. To the joy of the Missionaries and the native converts, this was completed in the year 1715.

Here again another difficulty presented itself. The supply of paper received from England proved insufficient for the purpose. But invention was stimulated by necessity. The native cotton was gathered in sufficient quantities; the fibre was reduced to pulp by mills ingeniously contrived, and was manufactured into paper under Ziegenbalg's directions and superintendence. It was very helpful to him that one of the native converts, during a visit to China, had been employed there in a paper manufactory. This temporary expedient was regarded as a great boon by the people, who were longing for the word of life. The paper thus manufactured was unavoidably of a thick texture, almost like ordinary drawing-paper; and the volumes which were produced from it were of a marvellous bulk. A copy of the Tamil New Testament in quarto, on this paper, exhibited to the writer in Tranquebar, more than forty years ago, was a curiosity from its size. It was in good preservation, and possessed an unusual value in the estimation of the native Christian owner, in consequence of its singular origin and history.

The next book issued from the press was the joint production of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and his colleague, John Ernest Gründler. It is a volume of seven hundred and thirty-five pages, and contains a summary of Christian doctrines, as denoted in its titles, Latin and Tamil, the one being, "Theologia Thetica," and the other, "Veda Shastram." A copy of this precious volume is before me. It is well preserved, having been re-bound at the Wesleyan Mission-press in Bangalore some twenty years ago; but, owing to the climate, the paper has assumed a dark brown hue. A Catechism in the Tamil language was also printed in the same year.

Meantime Ziegenbalg had visited England. While in London, he was introduced to the King, George I., and to the Prince and Princess of Wales, who gave him a courteous reception. They discussed with him the sub

ject of the conversion of the Hindus, and assured him of their patronage. He received similar assurances from the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, who afterwards each of them redeemed the pledges they had so kindly given. His visit to London answered all his expectations, proving both serviceable to his Mission and honourable to himself.

Before his return to India, Ziegenbalg married Miss Saltzman, a lady who had formerly been his pupil in Halle, and who ultimately survived him as his sorrowing widow. Her correspondence is said to exhibit evidence of the piety and strength of mind which would fit her for the position she was called to fill, as the wife of a Missionary. It may be imagined how cordially Ziegenbalg was welcomed in India in his new circumstances.

After his arrival, the Mission was extended to the British settlement of Cuddalore, and afterwards to Madras, where a school was established at the request of the Governor and the Chaplain of Fort St. George. This was the first movement on the part of the British authorities in India to enlighten the multitudes under their sway.*

At the beginning of the year 1719, Dr. Wake, the Archbishop of Canterbury, as President of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, wrote to the Missionaries the following paternal letter:

"To Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and John Ernest Gründler, preachers of the Christian faith, on the coast of Coromandel;

"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 inheritance, 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.

Your

"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 or without danger. praise it will be (a praise of endless duration on earth, and followed by a just recompense in heaven) to have laboured in the vineyard which your selves 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 afterward 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 receive obeisance on the bended knee. Ye have

* Hough.

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 for ever.

"Since, then, so great honour is now given unto you by all competent judges on earth, and since so great 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 illustrative pledge of His favour, an increase not to be expected without the aid of His grace. Ye have begun 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 Happy men! who, being justified by the Saviour, shall receive in that day the reward of your labours, and also shall hear the 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 as many, as ye wish! May He increase 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 7th, 1719."

Before this paternal epistle arrived, Ziegenbalg was called to his rest; but it came opportunely to comfort his brethren in their sorrow for his loss. When first attacked by the disease that alarmed them, he was subjected to medical treatment which required entire cessation from labour; but he could not be prevailed upon to relax any of his ordinary duties, until his sufferings were increased to such a degree as to confine him to his

bed. This was in October, 1718; and in a few weeks he was so much improved that at Christmas he was able to preach, and also on New-Year's day; but this was his last effort in the pulpit. A relapse ensued, accompanied with much pain; but he was a patient sufferer. Throughout his sickness nothing was heard from his lips but prayer and devout ejaculations of praise, in the language of that sacred volume in whose translation he had been so long engaged. On the morning of his last day on earth he rose early; and, as he was wont, joined with his wife in prayer. Soon after he was seized with extreme pain; and, when told of St. Paul's desire to depart and be with Christ, he answered in a feeble voice, “So do I desire. God grant that, washed from my sins in the blood of Christ, and clothed in His righteousness, I may depart from this world to the kingdom of heaven." As his agonies increased, he was reminded of the same Apostle's confidence in prospect of eternity: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." Upon which he said, "In this warfare I will endure hardness through Christ, that I may obtain that glorious crown." Shortly after, he faintly added, "I can hardly speak any more. May the Lord command what I have said to bring forth fruit! Daily have I resigned myself to the will of God. Christ has said, 'Where I am, there also shall my servant be.'" He then requested that one of his favourite hymns might be sung, Jesus meine Zuversicht, ("Jesus my Confidence,”) with the accompaniment of the violin. The singing ended, he desired to be placed in an arm-chair; and soon after he calmly fell asleep in Jesus. The composure of his departing spirit presented a striking contrast to the lamentations of the beholders.

Thus died Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, February 233, 1719, in the thirtysixth year of his age. Though prematurely removed from his unfinished labours, which he was so competent to complete, yet few have filled up a long life with more works suited to promote the glory of God, and the everlasting happiness of man, than he had crowded into the brief space of his Missionary career. From a child his health was weak; and in youth his studies were often interrupted by sickness; but the energy of his mind sustained him under the pressure of bodily infirmity. At an early age he devoted himself to the study of theology, with a view to the service of the Lord; and these pages have borne witness to the wisdom of Professor Francke in selecting him to lay the foundation of Christianity in India. His life is an example, and his death an encouragement, to all who shall follow him in that Missionary field.

On the day after his decease his remains were deposited in the first church that he built, on one side of the communion-table, amid the sobs of his friends and his native flock, and the scarcely less expressive stillness of the Heathen, who respected him in life and lamented him in death. A mural tablet in brass was placed above his grave, with an appropriate

*

epitaph engraved upon it. But he has a more durable monument than this. His record is on high. He left also a living monument with the church below. The converts, gathered principally by his means, now amounted to three hundred and fifty-five. Besides these, numerous Catechumens surrounded the threshold of the church, the greater part of whom were led thither through God's blessing on his instructions. His seminary and schools, his translations of the Scriptures, his dictionary and other works, these embalm his memory with more grateful odours than the sweetest spices ever compounded for the dead. While the knowledge of Jesus shall illumine the inhabitants of India, and the love of Jesus shall glow in their hearts, so long will the name of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg be had in thankful memorial before the Lord.

Beschi, the Jesuit, survived his Protestant competitor Ziegenbalg for nearly a quarter of a century. He continued to hold the office of Dewan, or Prime Minister, to Chunda Saib, the Nabob, or Viceroy, until 1740, when the Mahratta army, under Natha Sing, besieged Trichinopoly. The success of the besiegers, and the capture of Chunda Saib, put an end to the political power of Beschi; but he contrived to effect his escape, and retired in safety to a remote village where there was a Jesuit college. There he remained; and for two years, notwithstanding his great age, continued to catechize and teach, repeating, it is said, the poetical works on which he had bestowed so much of the labour of his life. He died in 1742. No particulars of his last illness have reached us; but it is reported that his name is still remembered at Gâyal-pattnam, and that masses continue to be offered on his behalf in the Romish churches of southern India.

The enumeration of Beschi's voluminous writings in Tamil would afford little interest to the English reader; but they are the pride of the Romanists of South India, and are justly considered classical. They exhibit a complete mastery of one of the most difficult of languages, and are depositaries, easily accessible, of a literature which owes nothing to Europe or to central Asia.

The language which Beschi has treasured in his writings, and which Ziegenbalg sanctified by rendering into it the Holy Scriptures, may be characterized in a few words. It has no affinity with Hebrew or Arabic, and therefore does not belong to the family classed as Sem-itic. It is also clearly distinct from the Ar-yan family, which includes the Sanscrit and most of the ancient and modern languages of Europe. It is more similar in its elements and construction to the Turkish, and other languages which had their origin in Northern Asia, and are therefore classed as Tur-anian. appears to have been the language of all India at some remote period. All the scattered hill-tribes, from north to south, speak some dialect of

It

*

The following is the epitaph :-" In spem futuræ resurrectionis, sub hoc tumulo quiescunt ossa beati Bartholomæi Ziegenbalgh, S. Regiæ Majest. Daniæ et Norw. primi ad Tamulos olim Missionarii, et Ecclesiæ Evangel. ex iisdem collectæ Præpositi; nati D. xxiii. Jun, ciɔiɔclxxxiii.; denati D. xxiii. Febr. ciɔiɔccxix."