members should hold up their hands, to make a public protest against the proceedings of the day. When he came to the trial, however, his heart seems to have failed him, as he made no opposition. Yet they gave Mr. Carey much trouble, and on some occasions his mind was greatly dejected. At the association at Olney, in June, 1790, he appeared to be distressed beyond measure with the trials of his situation. By degrees, however, the people of that description left him and his friends to themselves, and have ever since had preachers after their own heart. He also rose in esteem superior to the

influence of detraction.

His zeal and unremitted labours in preaching the word, not only in Leicester, but in the villages near it, wherever he could have access, endeared him to the friends of religion; and his thirst for learning rendered him respected in others. He has sometimes regretted his want of early education: I was so rusticated (he would say) when a lad, that I am as if I could never recover myself.' Yet the natural energies of his mind, accompanied as they were with a generous, manly, and open disposition, together with an ingratiating behaviour towards men of every degree, soon rendered him respected, not only by those who attended his ministry, but by many other persons of learning and opulence. Dr. Arnold, who had a large and valuable library, desired him to make what use of it he pleased. Others esteemed his acquaintance on account of his taste for botany, as has been the case since he has been in India: but though he has

indulged occasionally in such pursuits, they do not appear to have diverted him from the chief end of his life; but rather to have been made subservient to it. They have been his amusement, by which he occasionally unbent his mind, that he might return to his proper employment with renewed vigour.

So fully had the troubles and divisions of the church subsided, that when, in the year 1792, he entertained thoughts of engaging as a missionary to Hindosthan, the idea of parting became a serious trial to both him and them. There were persons, indeed, who, being strangers to all great and disinterested feelings themselves, insinuated that Mr. Carey was unhappy in his connexions, and therefore wished to quit the kingdom to get rid of them: but neither was he unhappy with his people, nor they with him. Perhaps there never was a time in which parting would have been so great a trial; yet, incredible as it may appear to some, they were both willing to part! He had taught the church to regard the general increase of Christ's kingdom above their own interest as individuals, or as a congregation, and he had not taught them in vain. But to return.

'At the Clipstone Easter meeting of ministers, of 1791, the two sermons that were preached wore an aspect towards a mission among the heathen. The first was from Hab. i. 2, 3: This people say the time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built,' &c. The other was from 1 Kings xix. 10: 'I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts.'

'After worship, Mr. Carey, who was present, and

most interested in the discourses, moved that something should be that day agreed upon, relative to the formation of a society for propagating the gospel among the heathen. The other ministers had, it is true, been in a manner compelled to think of the subject, by his repeatedly advancing it, and they became desirous of it, if it could be accomplished; but feeling the difficulty of setting out in an unbeaten path, their minds revolted at the idea of attempting it. It seemed to them something too great, and too much like grasping at an object utterly beyond their reach. However, partly to satisfy brother Carey, and partly to gain time, they recommended him to revise his manuscript on the subject, and to print it. This measure, they observed, would serve to sound the minds of the religious public. This proposal was complied with, and the manuscript was prepared for the press, and in 1792 printed, under the title of An Inquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen.' At the Oakham association in June, 1791, the two sermons also that had been delivered at the Clipstone ministers' meeting, were requested to be printed.

'About this time Mr. Carey paid a visit to Birmingham, where he became acquainted with Mr. Pearce. In him he found a warm and fast friend, who entered into his views with all his heart. Some of Mr. Pearce's friends also encouraged Mr. Carey to go forward, with the promise of every kind of support that was within the compass of their power.

'At the Nottingham association, in June, 1792,

Mr. Carey preached from Isaiah liv. 2, 3: Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. After observing, by way of introduction, that the church was here compared to a poor desolate widow, who lived alone in a small tent; that she who had thus lived in a manner childless, was told to expect an increase in her family, such as would require a much larger dwelling; and this because her Maker was her husband, whose name was not only the Lord of Hosts, the Holy One of Israel, but the God of the whole earth; he proceeded to take up the spirit of the passage in two exhortations, which he addressed to his brethren. 1. Expect great things from God; 2. Attempt great things for God. The discourse was very animated and impressive. After it was concluded, the ministers resolved, that at the next Kettering ministers' meeting, on the first of October of the same year, the plan of a society should be brought forward, and, if found practicable, a society formed.

At the Kettering meeting, brother Carey was present; and after the public services of the day were over, the ministers withdrew into a private room, and there, in a solemn vow, pledged themselves to God and one another, as a society, to make at least an attempt for carrying the gospel somewhere into the heathen world. A committee was chosen, and Mr. Carey was a member of it.

"The events which succeeded, in which Mr. Carey bore a principal part, and how he became united with Mr. John Thomas, in a mission to Bengal in the following spring, are already before the public, in the first number of the periodical accounts, which therefore it would be superfluous to repeat. I shall only take a review of certain particulars of his conduct in this important undertaking, which have hitherto been but little known.

'He seemed in this undertaking to have his work before him, and to possess almost a foresight of the issues of things. In his inquiry, he wrote as if all denominations of christians were to be stirred up to the same efforts, and expresses his judgment of what should be their conduct. He also, a little before he went, saw Mr. Ward, who was then a pious youth, and by trade a printer. We shall want you, said he, in a few years, to print the bible: you must come after us.' And these few words, as Mr. W. has confessed, so remained on his mind, that he could never forget them.

'When he had made up his mind to engage in missionary labours, he expected Mrs. Carey and his family to accompany him; but to this she was for a long time utterly averse. This was a heavy trial to him, and to the society, who could not but foresee that though men are allowed to leave their wives and families for a time in mercantile and military expeditions; yet, in religion, there would not only be a great outcry against it from worldly men, but even many religious people, who had thought but little on the subject, would join