{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 83,
  "chapterName": "1827. Charter of Incorporation of Serampore College",
  "pageFrom": 109,
  "pageTo": 110,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 109,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n109\nwhich both here and in Ceylon is preserved with a fierceness of\nprejudice which I have rarely witnessed in Bengal, and which\ndivides almost as perfectly a Sudra from a Pariah Christian, as it\ndid the same individuals while worshippers of Krishna and Siva.\nThe old school Missionaries tolerated all this as a merely civil\nquestion of pedigree and wordly distinction, and in the hope that,\nas their converts became more enlightened, such distinctions would\ndie away. This effect has not followed; but, on the other hand,\nsome of the younger Missionaries, both German and English, have\nnot only warmly preached against caste, but in the management of\ntheir schools, and the arrangement of their congregations, have\nthwarted it as much as possible.\n83. CHARTER OF INCORPORATION OF SERAMPORE\nCOLLEGE (1827 A.D.)\nThe Royal Charter of Incorporation, given by the King of Denmark,\nfollowing a visit of Dr. Marshman in 1827, gave the Serampore College\nthe authority to award degrees in different faculties. It was the first\nCollege in India to secure this status. Cited in George Howells,\nThe Story of Serampore and its College, Appendix II, pp. 106-108.\nWe Frederick the Sixth, by the Grace of God, King of Denmark\nthe Venders and Gothers, Duke of Slesvig Holsten, Stormarn,\nDitmarsken, Limessborg and Oldenborg, by these writings make\nknown and publicly declare, that whereas William Carey and Joshua\nMarshman, Doctors of Divinity, and John Clark Marshman, Esq.,\ninhabitants of our town Fredericksnagore (or Serampore) in Bengal,\nbeing desirous of founding a College to promote piety and learning\nparticularly among the native Christian population of India, have\nto secure this object erected suitable buildings and purchased and\ncollected suitable books, maps, etc., and have humbly besought us\nto grant unto them and such persons as shall be elected by them\nand their successors to form the Council of the College in the\nmanner to be hereafter named, our Royal Charter of Incorporation\nthat they may the more effectually carry into execution the purposes\nabove-mentioned:- We being desirous to encourage so laudable\nan undertaking, have of our special grace and free motion ordained,\nconstituted, granted and declared, and by these presents we do\nfor ourselves, our heirs and successors ordain, constitute, grant\nand declare:\n1. That the said William Carey, Joshua Marshman and John\nClark Marshman, and such other person or persons as shall succes-\nsively be elected and appointed the Council of the said College, in\nthe manner hereafter mentioned, shall by virtue of these presents\nbe for ever herafter one body politic and incorporate by the name\nof the Serampore College for the purpose aforesaid to have",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 110,
      "ocrText": "110\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nperpetual succession and to have a common seal, and by the said\nname to use and to be used, to implead and to be impleaded, and\nto answer and be answered unto in every court and place belonging\nto us, our heirs and successors\n5. And We do hereby further ordain, grant and declare that\nthe Statutes thus made and established by the said three members\nof the first Council and given or left in writing under their respective\nhands, shall be valid and in full force at the expiration of ten years\nfrom the date of these presents, so that no further Council of the\nCollege shall have power to alter, change or vary them in any\nmanner whatever, and that the statutes shall for ever be considered\nthe constitution of the said College. And We do hereby appoint\nand declare that these statutes shall be made and established by the\nsaid William Carey, Joshua Marshman and John Clark Marshman\nalone, so that in case either of them should die before the expiration\nof ten years, the power of completing or perfecting these statutes\nshall devolve wholly on the survivors or survivor; and that in case\nall three should die before the expiration of ten years, the statutes\nwhich they have left in writing under their hands, or under the hand\nof the last survivor among them, shall be considered 'The Funda-\nmental Statutes and Constitution of Serampore College\", incapable\nof receiving either addition or alteration, and shall and may be\nregistered in our Royal Court Chancery as 'The Statutes and Cons-\ntitution of Serampore College'...\n7. And We further appoint, grant and declare that the said\nWilliam Carey, Joshua Marshman and John Clark Marshman,\nthe members of the first Council, and their successors for ever shall\nhave the power of conferring upon the students of the said College,\nnative Christians as well as others, degrees of rank and honour\naccording to their proficiency in as ample a manner as any other\nsuch College, yet the said Serampore College shall only have the\npower of conferring such degrees on the students that testify their\nproficiency in Science, and no rank or other special right shall be\nconnected therewith in our dominions. And We do hereby further\nappoint, grant and declare that after the expiration of the said ten\nyears, the said Council of the College and their successors for ever\nshall have power to make and establish such orders and by-laws\nas shall appear to them useful and necessary for the government of\nthe said College, and to alter, suspend or appeal those already made,\nand from time to time make such new ones in their room as shall\nappear to them most proper and expedient provided the same be\nnot repugnant to the Statutes of the College or the laws of our\nrealm.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}