John Chamberlain, Serampore, to John Williams, New York, 2 March 1803.

Serampore March 2nd 1803

Very Dear Bror

         Through the good hand of God upon us we are safely brought to the place of our destination, & thus to the accomplishment of desires & hopes which are long indulged. You, I am persuaded, feel much intrested in our welfare on doubtless the news of our arrival will give you pleasure. I will endeavour to give you a brief account of our settlement here.

         Our voyage was ^rather^ long, but on the whole we had pleasant weather, & our situation, (tho’ in some respects very unpleasant) yet it was much more agreeable than might be expected. Our greatest inconvenience was irreligious company, from which we could seldom fully retreat. Our Captn is a young man, void of religion. There is no fear of God before his eyes. He endeavored very much to promote disipation, or carelessness among all in the Ship, & all were made worse by him. He could not bear religious conversation. All I said was ineffectual. They all toward the last seemed to grow worse, which rendered our situation more uncomfortable. In other respects the Captns Supercargo & all were very kind to us. Doctor Davidson was very attentive to us, & did every thing he could to make our situation agreeable. Thro’ the first part of the voyage I had a great deal of sea sickness which was very unpleasant. Every breeze which gave the Vessel any motions, quite unfitted me for every thing. Once I had a little illness of another kind, which continued a few days, but the Lord in mercy raised me up. From the time we were off the Cape of Good Hope I had tolerable health. It pleased God greatly to favor me as it respected my dear companion. She had very little sickness, & I believe, added not a little to the preservation of my health, if not of my life. My spirits at times were exceedingly low (very often) but hers were very much the [paper creased] considering her peculiar situation. She proved a remarkably good sailor. Blessed be God for his goodness. Had we been both, as I was, I know not, but that we should have sunk into th been left in the deep.

         Just before we crossed the Line, the first time, we had a very heavy gale, which continued 12 or 16 hours. I was very sick, but was not afraid. My Dear Wife bore it remarkably well. Thanks due to God we suffered no injury. It blew hard a few days before we passed the Cape of Good Hope, which was all the blowing weather we had worth mentioning through the whole voyage. So God was good to us.

         On the 5th of December we made an Island called St Pauls at a very barren, desolate place in itself, but to us who had not seen land for so long a time, it was a reviving pleasant sight. We passed it in the evening ^at^ about 2 leagues distance & found the air very cool. The next day it pleased the Lord to afflict my dear Partner, whether from a cold taken the evening before I cannot say. In the morning she awaked in pain & was afterward sick. As the day elapsed she grew worse, & in the evening it terminated in the birth of a daughter. – Considering all things God was very favourable to my wife. She continued in her worst but a very little time, & was afterwards very comfortable. The dear Babe was very small, but a fine child considering its premature birth, which was two months before the usual time. The dear creature was very lively for the 8 final days & gave us great hope of our taking it safe to India but on the 6th or 7th day it altered, & would take but little, & on the 14th of Decr it pleased God to take away our lovely, sweet Babe, in a manner almost imperceptible. We scarcely knew when it breathed its last. This bereavement touched our tenderest parts, & was hard to be borne. Leaving our dear Babe in the sea very much affected us. God was gracious to us [our] health, & comforted us especially so to my dearest [wife.] She regained strength very fast & soon recovered.

         We are under no small obligation to Capt Davey & Dr Davidson [his] companion. Doctor Davidson especially was peculiarly kind [and] paid incessant attention & care to my wife. Our situation made by far more comfortable than you (I suppose) would expect, considering our peculiar circumstancs. The weather being now peculiarly favorable.

         We had to beat up the Bay of Bengal against the [monsoon?], which was wer rather tedious, but on the wer ^whole^ were in this respect very much favored. On the 20th of Janry we [?] & Pilot on board, & on the 22nd we saw the Sound, & going up the River we ran aground & were in a very unpleasant situation for three tides, the Ship laying on her beam ends. We started all our water & on the 26th early in the morning we were afloat again without any damage.

         About 10 oclock we had the joy to see Bror Ward who had been informed of our arrival ^by a letter I wrote & sent up the port^ & came down to meet us. About 10 miles below Calcutta we left the Ship & accompanied Bror Ward in this boat. Bror Carey met us at the shore water’s side, & took us to his appartment in the colledge college were ^where^ we were refreshed. The next morning we reached Serampore & were received by Bror Marshman & the Sisters with Christian Salutations. Brought to the conclusion of our voyage we thanked God, & rejoiced in his goodness.

         We rejoiced to find the work of the Lord prosperous beyond our expectations. Two Hindoos, one a Brahmandan [sic] & the other a Byragge were baptized a few days before our arrival. Another was baptized last Sabbath day week. Sixteen Hindoos have been baptized, th of which number 14  have been are church members. Of the other two, one is dead, & one is suspended. Our church consists of 27 members. Jehovah hath done great things whereof we are glad. Last Sabbath day evening an Hindoo Bror spoke in the Name of the Lord Jesus much to the satisfaction & astonishment of the Brethren. I could ^did^ not understand him, but it gave me pleasure to see the desireable sight. This was the first time, that a Hindoo has preached in such a public, regular manner. His discourse was nearly an hour long. His name is Petumber Shinge, an old man, of a very venerable appearance. & the God hath done great things in him, & it is our prayer & our hope that he will also do great things by him. We have assisted him in building a house at a place called [Sook Saugor?] about 38 miles above us, where he is gone to live, & to preach the words of life. God be with him. Our Bror Krishno will, we hope, be very useful in the work of the Lord. His is ^truly^ a Christian family. It may be said that he has a church in his house. All enquirers go to his house where they are entertained & instructed in the way of salvation. Our Bror Krisnno Persad, a young Brahman, has given us great hopes. May God raise up preachers from among the natives, & carry on his work. In Bengallee I as yet make very little progress. Being much engaged in the school I cannot attend to it as much as I otherwise should. If God preserves my life all that is very difficult will be soon overcome. I much like the Bengallee singing.

         Now my dear Brother farewell. Probably I may write to you again soon. May God bless you & yours. May the church prosper over which God hath made you an overseer. May you see it flourish. May the glory of the Lord be seen upon you & upon all the societies of the faithful in Christ Jesus in N. Y. & in all the U. S.

         Please to present my chrisitan love to Doctor Rodgers, Mr Miller, Obeel[?] &c &c My dear Partner writes in love to you Mrs Sister W. hoping that God has helped her safely through, & given you to rejoice in his goodness. Write to us often. Tell us largely of your welfare. Pray for us.

                                 We [?]

                                             Most Affectly Your’s

                                                         J & H. Chamberlain

Serampore March 10th

1803

Address: Mr Williams |Baptist Minister |New York

Postmark: Philadelphi 6 September [upon arrival in America]

Note [noting departure date of letter from Calcutta]: March 15th 1803 Pr Monticello [the name of the ship]

Text: John Williams Letters, RG no. 1207, America Baptist Historical Archives, Atlanta.