Abraham Booth, London, to Andrew Fuller, Kettering, 30 March 1795.

fol. 29r.

Dear Sir,

         I am obliged to you for the Packet you sent for my perusal & consideration. After having read the contents, I put it into the hands of Mr. Timothy Thomas; & then I gave it to Mr. Dore, for the consideration of Mr. Keene, of Mr. Giles, & of his own; desiring they would give me their thoughts upon the deliberations of the Committee in writing. The result of Messrs. Dore, Keene, & Giles’s deliberations is, in their own words, as follows:

“It is our opinion,

1. “That C. & T. [William Carey and John Thomas] have withdrawn themselves from their connection with the Society, by entering into secular employment without obtaining their consent, & by Letters informing the Society they should not want any further assistance from them.”

2. “That to appropriate any part of the generous Contributions of the public to the discharge of any debts T. may owe, would reflect dishonour to the Society, & be very unpleasant to the public, who gave their money for very different purposes. See Mr. Fuller’s first Question, in the first page of his Letter to Mr. Booth.”

3. “That the Society is now without any Missionary at all.”

4. “That we disapprove of the Letter to C. & T., in toto; as it goes on the supposition of some connection [between C. & T., & the Society,] when none exists; & of the Missionaries having acted right in what they have done.”

5. “To the second Question, the first page of Mr. Fuller’s Letter to Mr. Booth, [Ought we to encourage an offer made by a Mr. B. &c?] we answer in the negative.”

6. “We answer the third [Ought we to send out another Mission &c?] in the affirmative; & think Africa should be the seat of the Mission.”

7. “We think the proposed visit to London should be postponed, till other persons are engaged in a Mission.”

8. “We are entirely of opinion, that it would be proper to take as little notice as possible of the present engagement of C. & T., lest any [fol. 29v.] should be prejudiced against Missions in general, on their account.”

                                                         “Keene, Giles, Dore.”

“Walworth, Friday, March 27, 1795.”

         Such is the opinion of the worthy triumvirate, at Walworth; &, I must confess, the more I deliberate on the Subject, the more I am inclined to acquiesce in their opinion. I cannot ^but^ wonder at Brother Carey entering into such an engagement. He may have, & I take it for granted that he actually has, some reasons for his conduct of which I am entirely ignorant; which, were they known to us, might cast a different light upon the affair. I cannot, at present, however, as an individual, but be averse from the thought of sending either Mr. B., or any other person to India. For if Br. C., whose heart seemed to be so much fixed on the employment of a Missionary, have, to such a degree, engaged in a design foreign to the Mission, whom can your trust in that part of the world?

         By this time, I trust, you have seen the Report of the Sierra Leone Directors. Africa seems to be the place for a further trial; &, if two suitable persons, willing to undertake the work of a Mission in that quarter of the globe could be found, I should rejoice to hear of their being embarked for it. Though it seems expedient that two should be sent, if two can be found; yet, as Mr. Ryland observes, if one of them were not a Minister, but an assistant, as a private instructor & a schoolmaster, it might answer a valuable purpose.

         As the late intelligence must have thrown my Brethren of the Committee into great embarrassment, by exposing, in the view of many who will probably hear of it, our Brethren C. & T. to various surmises, suspicions, & reflections; I earnestly pray that, in your next Meeting, you may have the presence of great Lord of the harvest, & his special direction. It is a worthy design; faint not; but act with caution. – I remain,

                                 Dear Sir,

                                             With love to the Brethren,  

                                                         Yours affectionately,

                                                                     A. Booth

London, March 30, 1795.

Address: Mr. Fuller, | Baptist Minister, | Kettering

Postmark: none

Text: fols. 29-30, NLW MS, 1207 D, Isaac Mann Collection, National Library of Wales, Abersytwyth. The “Mr. B.” mentioned above might be a reference to Daniel Brunsdon (1777-1801), who was sent out in 1799 to Bengal as a BMS missionary.