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XXII.

CHAP rické, a few months after the death of his revered friend, communicated the following particulars to Professor Schultz.

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"His temporal property he had already, many years before his death, made over to the mission at Tanjore and Palamcotta, and the congregations and institutions belonging to them; and for that purpose appointed me as trustee, and I had joined Mr. Breithaupt with myself, in the deed. He therefore, in his will, mentions no executor, that it might thereby be known, that the whole was already the property of the mission, and no longer belonged to Mr. Swartz. As he received an allowance from government, from which he was enabled to defray all the expenses incurred at Tanjore and Palamcotta, he allowed the interest, and often his salary likewise, to fall into the mission-capital. No one will therefore wonder that he should have been able to accomplish so much towards the outward support of the mission."

The fund thus generously provided for the mission at Tanjore, and its branch in Tinnevelly, by their revered benefactor, amounted to between eight and ten thousand pounds sterling; a sum which, combined with the allowances from the British government, from the rajah of Tanjore, and from other sources, was sufficient during many years to support the charities, and to defray the ordinary expenditure of the mission; and

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though a part of it was afterwards sunk by the CHAP. imprudence of a missionary, long since departed, it still continues to contribute towards those Christian and important objects, and to form a lasting memorial of the disinterested zeal and love of its pious and munificent founder.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Review of the Character of Swartz.

XXIII.

CHAP. THE character and life of Swartz have now been developed in all their bearings and relations; and it is confidently hoped, that the judgment universally formed of his unrivalled excellence as a Christian missionary, and the high estimation in which he has been so long and so deservedly held, both in India and in Europe, will not only be confirmed, but strengthened and enhanced, by the more complete view comprised in the preceding memoirs of his principles, sentiments, and conduct. Substantially, there has never been but one opinion respecting this extraordinary man; but though all who take an interest in the promotion of Christianity in India have thus concurred in ascribing to him the pre-eminence in this sacred and important work, the impression has been, for the most part, general and undefined, rather than the result of clear and enlarged ap

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prehensions of his character and course. These, XXIII. illustrated as they have been by many public documents, and by a series of private and confidential communications, have now, it is trusted, been fully and satisfactorily displayed. Briefly, therefore, to review the holy and beneficent career of this "man of God," and to point out, more especially to those who may be engaged in similar Christian labours, the force and efficacy of his example, will form no unsuitable or unprofitable sequel to this record of his admirable life.

Piety of no ordinary depth and energy formed the basis of his character. Unmarked by the terror and alarm which have sometimes led to peculiarly zealous and self-denying labours in the cause of religion, its origin and nature were calm and gentle as the "still small voice" which opened the heart of Mary and of Lydia to the reception of divine truth, yet not less powerful and efficacious than that which penetrated and subdued the persecuting Saul of Tarsus to the faith and obedience of the gospel. The mind of Swartz was at a very early period of his history deeply and permanently impressed with the ineffable love of God in the work of man's redemption. The great "mystery of godliness,"" God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself," not sparing "his own Son," but delivering him up to death for us all, to "the death of the cross

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XXIII.

CHAP this miracle of mercy, this astonishing proof of divine love, this wonderful and effectual provision for human guilt and misery, brought home to his heart in "demonstration of the spirit and of power," humbling, consoling, purifying, elevating him, took possession of his soul, absorbed every opposing and every secular thought, and excited in him, as in the converted apostle, that one simple, predominating, inextinguishable inquiry, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

It is impossible to peruse the letters of Swartz, even from the commencement of his course, without perceiving that the very essence of his religion was this heartfelt impression of the grace of God in Christ Jesus, the cordial acceptance of that of reconciliation which he was commessage missioned to announce to others, and which was to himself, from the hour in which he first received it "in truth" to the last moment of his existence, the source of inward peace, the principle of ardent gratitude and love, and the motive to self-denying and devoted, yet spontaneous and delightful, obedience. Though few, perhaps, could have less to deplore as to any positive and wilful deviations from the path of moral rectitude and virtue, few of those who have been conscious that they had "much to be forgiven," have evinced a more broken and contrite spirit, or have "loved more," than the humble and gratefully devoted subject of these memoirs.

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