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96 BENGALI LITERATURE religion. In order to impress his brethern with his new idea, he wrote and published “4n Enquiry into the Obliga- tions of the Christians for the Conversion of the Heathens in which the Religious State of Different Nations of the World, the Success of Former Undertakings, are consi- dered by Witham Carey’ (1792). This was the birth of England’s foreign Mission in Bengal! for Carey would not remain idle until his project had been put into practice. At last, at a meeting of the Northamptonshire Association of Baptist Churches held at Kettering (Northampton) on the October 2, 1792, a Baptist Missionary Society was started on a humble scale for propagating the gospel. Carey set out for India on June 13, 1793. At first he had desired to go to Sets out for India, Tahiti or West America. At this 1798: time, however, he met John Thomas, a medical evangelist, who had made two voyages to India and had some experience of Bengal.? It was Thomas who directed Carey to Bengal. It must not be supposed, however, that the missionary spirit was unknown in Carey’s time Missions in India: 4+ that India was never before visited Carey’s predecessors. এ by the missionary activity. On the contrary, many great names and great though mistaken movements will occur to the memory of every reader of Church hist ory®. Not to go far back to the missionary 1 Carey, however, was not the first English missionary to Bengal: this was one Mr. Clarke (see Hyde, Parochial Annals of Bengal, p.2i3.) 2 See C. B. Lewis, Life of John Thomas (1873). Also Smith, op. cit. p. 41. 3 For details about the history of Christian Missions of which litera- ture is vast, the following books may be conveniently consulted; Brown’s History of Missions, Kaye’s History of Christianity in India, Marshall’s Christian Missions, Hough’s Christianity in India, Sherring’s Protestant Mission in India, and Marshman’s History of the Serampore Mission,