this chapter is the appointment of Carey to a Professorship in the Government College at Fort-William.

This collegiate institution was founded by Lord Wellesley. It had appeared to the Governor-General that the education received by the civilians was seriously inadequate; and especially did he feel the necessity of their acquaintance with the vernaculars of the people to whom they would be called to administer justice. Hence he established the Fort-William College.

The publication of the Bengalee New Testament naturally directed attention to Mr. Carey. The eminent scholarship it disclosed pointed him out at once as the teacher who might fittingly occupy the Bengalee chair; and he was communicated with upon the matter. In Carey's own words we can best see the spirit with which the offer of this important and honourable position was received: "I always highly approved of the institution, but never entertained a thought that I should be called to fill a station in it. The Rev. D. Brown is Provost, and the Rev. Claudius Buchanan Vice-Provost; and to my great surprise I was asked to undertake the Bengalee Professorship. One morning a letter from Mr. Brown came, inviting me to cross the water to have some conversation with him upon this subject. I had but just time to call our brethren together, who were of opinion that for several reasons I ought to accept it, provided it did not interfere with the work of the Mission. I also knew myself to be incapable of filling such a station with reputation and propriety. I, however, went over, and honestly proposed all my fears and objections. Both Mr. Brown and Mr. Buchanan were of opinion that the cause of the Mission would be furthered by it; and I was not able to reply to their arguments.

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I was convinced that it might. As to my ability, they could not satisfy me; but they insisted upon it that they must be the judges of that. I therefore consented with fear and trembling. They proposed me that day, or the next, to the Governor-General, who is patron or visitor of the College. They told him I had been a missionary in the country for seven years or more; and as a missionary I was appointed to the office. A clause had been inserted in the statutes to accommodate those who are not of the Church of England (for all professors are to take certain oaths, and make declarations); but for the accommodation of such, two other names were inserted -viz., lecturers and teachers, who are not included under that obligation. When I was proposed, his Lordship asked if I was well affected to the State, and capable of fulfilling the duties of the station; to which Mr. Brown replied, that he should never have proposed me, if he had had the smallest doubts on those heads. I wonder how people can have such favourable ideas of me. I certainly am not disaffected to the State; but the other is not clear to me."

His first position was that of teacher of Bengalee, afterwards of Sanscrit and of Mahratta, with a salary of £600 per annum. From teacher he became professor; and as professor of the three Oriental languages his emoluments rose to £1500. But with a disinterestedness which is beyond all praise, the whole of this income, with the exception of some £40 needed for his support and that of his family, and a small sum besides to furnish him with decent clothing for his duties at the college, was devoted to the purposes of the Mission. Let it also be stated that the like spirit of noble generosity distinguished his colleague, Mr. Marshman; the boarding-school which

had been placed under his care having prospered beyond all expectation, so much so, that its profits amounted to about £1000 a-year; Mr. Marshman taking only some £34 for personal requirements.

Thus faithfully was the plan strictly observed, upon which the Serampore brotherhood had been founded; none of the brethren engaging in private trade, but all being done for the benefit of the Mission.

To say that Carey filled his high professorial position with credit were only to record a fact which was confidently anticipated from his well known linguistic abilities. He did more than prove himself equal to his office; he won the esteem and affection of students and colleagues alike. How greatly he was respected may be gathered from a remarkable incident which occurred some four years after his appointment. The scene of the incident was the official residence of the Viceroy, an imposing building which had been erected the previous year at no less a cost than £140,000. The occasion was the annual disputation, when three of the most successful students appeared as disputants, their professor acting as moderator. No effort and no expense were spared to make this annual demonstration a magnificent success. The Viceroy, seated upon his throne, was attended by the most distinguished in state and society and learning. The august and wealthy, both European and Native, gathered from all parts of the Empire.

In the year 1804 Carey was the moderator. One of Carey's students who had gained marked distinction in the study of Sanscrit was required to give a declamation in that language, whilst Carey himself was appointed to deliver the address to the Viceroy. After this address had been prepared, it was submitted

to Mr. Buchanan, the Vice-Provost, who, as Carey has said, considerably enlarged it and inserted some sentences of flattery. A draft of it, without Carey having seen it in its amended form, was sent to the Viceroy for his approval before its public presentation. Carey did not think it improper that reference should be made to his vocation as a missionary, and to his sympathy with the evangelisation of the natives. Buchanan and Brown, though approving of the reference, feared that the address might consequently be rejected. Instead, however of this being the case, Lord Wellesley replied as follows:-"I am much pleased with Mr. Carey's truly original and excellent speech. I would not wish to have a word altered. I esteem such a testimony from such a man a greater honour than the applause of Courts and Parliaments." Such was the distinguished Viceroy's opinion of the man who some twelve years previously had been a humble Baptist minister trying to add to his meagre salary, insufficient for a livelihood, by school teaching and boot and shoe mending.

Carey held his position of Professor until 1830, within four years of his death.