his Lord finds so doing as to fulfil the ends for which he was placed in the world. Our one little girl is very well, and very lively* We are truly not anxious; the Lord is good when he gives, and no less so when he withholds.

"We affectionately remember every branch of your family, whom may it please God to bless with his grace, and to guide by his providence. When we think of you altogether, now making one large family, thoughts arise in our minds which awaken innumerable sympathies, and our sorrows are renewed! "D. BROWN. "

(Signed)

"Calcutta, June 1794."

His first beloved Wife, mentioned in the foregoing letter, died within a month of the date of it. This heaviest of all his afflictions, together with the loss of other dear friends at nearly the same period, had a lasting depressing effect on his mind, and cast a heavy gloom over all his temporal prospects. Among other consequences to be lamented, was his utter want

* Married to R. M. Bird, Esq. of the civil service, Bengal establishment.

want of spirits to continue his much-desired correspondence with his valuable and affectionate friends in England; but which, after a long suspension, he only very partially renewed.

After two years widowhood, he thought it his duty again to marry, and fixed his choice. on a Lady well known to his first wife, who loved and admired her, and had often said, in the exuberance of her love for him-" How happy would Miss Cowley make you! I wish you none other, should it please God to take me from you." Mr. Brown observed, (from whose papers the above is copied)" This heals while it wounds; and is a strong promoter of my second attachment. What her heart approved, mine ought; and I consider her choice for me as coming in a form the most sacred and affecting that can be imagined." His second marriage took place 19 July, 1796.

His widow and nine children survive him, to cherish a grateful remembrance of his tenderness and virtues in domestic life.

No. II.

284

EXTRACTS FROM HISTORICAL

No.. II.

Extracts relative to the Charge Mr. Brown undertook of the Mission Church. From "Historical and Ecclesiastical Sketches respecting Bengal."

By a Military Writer;

and published at Calcutta, 1802.

1

"THE mission church, founded by the Rev. J. Z. Kiernander, the first protestant missionary to Bengal, was completed in 1770 (seventeen years before that of St. John's.) On the 23d of December of that year, the sacred edifice was consecrated, and named Beth-Tiphillah, which, in the Hebrew language, signifies the House of Prayer. The building cost the founder 60,000 sicca rupees; 1,818 rupees of which only had been presented in benefactions. Thus, after a lapse of fourteen years, Calcutta once more beheld an English church, completed at the expence of a stranger! the former old church having been destroyed by the barbarians, in 1756.

"In the year 1786, a cloud of adversity gathered over the hoary head of Kiernander! He foresaw the approaching calamity, and wrote to the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge, his wish of going to England; and earnestly solicited them to send out another

another missionary,

lest his congregation

should be forsaken, and his church shut up.' The following year the cloud burst, and the ruin of all his fortunes followed. The seal of the sheriff of Calcutta was clapped even on the sanctuary! The magistrate must obey the law, of which he is only the servant; doubtless that officer with trembling hand closed the gates of Beth-Tephillah! One person immediately stepped forward, who restored the church to religion. He paid for it the sum it was appraised at-ten thousand rupees. Yes, one person stepped forward, and saved the temple, where the hymns of truth had been chanted for seventeen years, from being profaned for any secular purpose.

"The property of the church was transferred on the last day of October 1787, to three trustees, the Rev. David Brown, Mr. William Chambers, and the purchaser, Mr. Charles Grant. Since the transfer of the church, the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge have not been fortunate in their selection of missionaries; and the duty has devolved chiefly on the Rev. Mr. Brown, who, with such other chaplains as have been attached to the presidency, have rendered their voluntary services to the mission.

"The

"The church was much enlarged in 1793, and Mr. Kiernander was invited to open the new chancel on the 29th of December; when he administered the sacrament, and expressed himself extremely happy to see the church so much improved, and greatly increased in attendance. Mr. Kiernander's presence on this occasion was communicated to the Society by Mr. Brown, who says in his letter,' I cannot but lament his destitution, in the 84th year of his age.' In consequence of which, forty pounds was transmitted to Mr. Kiernander by the Society.

"Mr. Grant, prior to this, left India, but still lives to support the mission. As I pronounce his name my soul turns to England, where I behold him exercising some of the first and fairest duties of humanity. He was succeeded in trust of the church by Mr. Udny. Mr. Chambers did not live to see the new chancel opened; he was hailed to superior worlds the preceding August. In this gentleman, whose character is beyond eulogium, the mission lost a sincere friend, and one of its brightest ornaments: to his pious talents and industry we are indebted for a translation into the Persian language, of Christ's sermon on the mount."

Extracts