CAREY, William

[s. 151] : Born Paulerspury, North England, August 17, 1761. In his youth he worked with his father, who was a weaver, but at the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a shoemaker at Hacklet on, working at the At the age of eighteen he trade for twelve years. was led through the influence of a pious fellow apprentice to the faith in Christ, became an ear In nest Christian, and a preacher of the Gospel. 1786 he became pastor of the Baptist Church at Moulton, having previously preached at Paulerspury, his early home, and at Barton. His income being too small for the support of his family, he kept school by day, made or cobbled shoes by At Moulton he night, and preached on Sunday. was deeply impre ed with the idea of a mi ion to the heathen, and frequently conversed with ministers on its practicability and importance, and of his willingne to engage in it. Andrew Fuller relates that once on entering Carey’s shop he found hanging up against the wall a large map composed of several pieces of paper pasted together, on which Carey had drawn with a pen every known countrj’, with memoranda of what he had read as to their population, religion, etc. At a very early age he had an intense desire for knowledge, eagerly “devouring books, especially of science, history, voyages,” etc., and, notwithstanding his poverty, he learned Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Dutch, French, and acquired a good amount of general useful knowledge. But his heart was chiefly set on a mi ion to the heathen. From his ministerial brethren he received no S5’mpathy. While at Moulton he wrote and published “An Inquiry into the Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen.” In 1789 he became pastor of the church at Leicester. At a meeting of the Ministers’ A ociation at Nottingham, May 31, 1792, he preached from “Enlarge the place of thy tent (Isa. liv: 2, 3), laying down these two prop amp tons hire,”Expect great things from God ” and “Attempt great things for God.” The discourse produced a great impre ion, and the result was, ositions: through the special cooperation of Fuller, Pearce, and the vounger Ryland, the formation, at Kettering, October 2, 1792, of the Baptist Mi ionary Society. Carey’s first wish was to work in Cape Colony Carey Tahiti or Western Africa, but he offered to go wherever the Society might appoint him. India was selected for its first mi ion, and he was appointed with Mr. John Thomas, a surgeon, who had resided in Bengal, and been engaged in mi ion work. They embarked on an English ve el, but, on account of the objections made against mi ionaries by the East India Company, the commander of the ship was forbidden to take them, and they returned to land. After waiting a few weeks they sailed in a Danish ve el bound from Copenhagen to Serampur, and reached Calcutta November 11, 1793. Having sailed in a foreign ve el cleared at a foreign port, he landed unobserved. Believing it to be the duty of a mi ionary, after receiving some help at first, to support himself, Mr. Carey, soon after reaching India, relinquished his salary, and he and his family were reduced to serious straits. Leaving Calcutta, he walked fifteen miles in the sun, pa ing through salt rivers and a large lake, to the Sunder bunds, a “tract scantily populated, and notorious for pestilence and wild beasts,” intending to farm the land and instruct the people. Here he was found by Mr. Udney, of the Company’s service, a pious man and a friend of mi ions, who offered him the supcrintendency of his indigo factory. As he would have not only a competent support for his family and time for study, but also a regular congregation of natives connected with the factory, he accepted the offer. The factory was at Mudnabatty, in tlie district of Malda, and this became the mi ion station. During the five years he spent there he translated the New Testament into Bengali, held daily religious services with the you sand workmen in the factory, itinerated regularly through the district, twenty miles square and containing 200 villages. His first convert was Ignatius Fernandez, of Portuguese descent, who built a church in l797, and preached and labored as a mi ionary until his death, in 1829, when he left all his property to the mi ion. In 1799 the factory was closed in consequence of an inundation. While perplexed as to what he should do, Mr. Carey heard that four mi ionaries had arrived at Serampur, and that the Danish governor had proposed that they establish a mi ion there, promising him protection. They urged him to leave Malda. He In 1801 a ented, and removed to Serampur. the Bengali translation of the New Testament was printed by Mr. Ward, and a copy presented to the Marquis of Wellesley, the governor-general, who expre ed his great gratification at this About this time Fort result of mi ionary work. William College was established at Calcutta, and Mr. Carey was appointed by the Marquis pro This fe or of Sanskrit, Bengali, and Marathi. position he held for thirty years, and taught these languages. He wrote articles on the natural history and botany of India for the Asiatic Society, The public a to which he was elected in 1805. tion of the entire Bible in Bengali in five volumes was completed in 1809. That which gave Carey his fame was the translation of the Bible in whole or in part into twenty-four Indian languages or The Serampur pre , under his direcdialects. tion, rendered the Bible acce ible to more than He three hundred millions of human beings. prepared also numerous philological works, consisting of grammars and dictionaries in the Sanskrit, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi and Telugu dialects. fire His Sanskrit dictionary was destroyed by in the printing establishment. He contrib- Car is brook Ca’wnpur uted also several papers on grammar and East Indian matters to the Journal of the Geographical Carey had for years sought Society, in London. through Lord Wellesley the abolition of the sutIn 1829 it was abolished, and the pro clam a tee. tion declaring it punishable as homicide was sent The to Dr. Carey to be translated into Bengali. order reached him as he was preparing for public worship on Sunday. Throwing off his black coat, he exclaimed: “If I delay an hour to translate and publish this, many a widow’s life may be Resigning his pulpit to another, he sacrificed.” completed with his pundit the translation by sunset. After Dr. Carey’s work was now finished. forty years of toil he pa ed away at the age of He was buried seventy-three, June 9, 1834. the next morning in the mi ion burying ground. He, who was ridiculed and satirized by the witty Sydney Smith in the Edinburgh Review of 1808 as the “consecrated cobbler” and “maniac,” accomplished a work for which he is held, and will be forever held, in high honor as the true friend and benefactor of India. (G.), Life of William Carey, Shoemaker and Mi ionary, London, 1887; Culro (J.), William Carey, New York, Smith 1882. 152