the life of william carey-第98章
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and a half years of his residence at Serampore; from the date of his appointment to the College of Fort William; ?5;000。35 Of this he spent ?500 on his Botanic Garden in that period。 If accuracy is of any value in such a question; which has little more than a curious biographical interest; then we must add the seven years previous to 1801; and we shall find that the shoemaker of Hackleton received in all for himself and his family ?00 from the Society which he called into existence; and which sent him forth; while he spent on the Christianisation and civilisation of India ?625 received as a manufacturer of indigo; and ?5;000 as Professor of Sanskrit; Bengali; and Marathi; and Bengali Translator to Government; or ?6;625 in all。
〃It is possible;〃 wrote Dr。 Marshman; 〃that if; instead of thus living to God and his cause with his brethren at Serampore; Dr。 Carey had; like the other professors in the college; lived in Calcutta wholly for himself and his family; he might have laid by for them a lakh of rupees in the thirty years he was employed by Government; and had he been very parsimonious; possibly a lakh and a half。 But who that contrasts the pleasures of such a life with those Dr。 Carey enjoyed in promoting with his own funds every plan likely to plant Christianity among the natives around him; without having to consult any one in thus doing; but his two brethren of one heart with him; who contributed as much as himself to the Redeemer's cause; and the fruit of which he saw before his death in Twenty…six Gospel Churches planted in India within a surface of about eight hundred miles; and above Forty labouring brethren raised up on the spot amidst themwould not prefer the latter? What must have been the feelings on a deathbed of a man who had lived wholly to himself; compared with the joyous tranquillity which filled Carey's soul in the prospect of entering into the joy of his Lord; and above all with what he felt when; a few days before his decease; he said to his companion in labour for thirty…four years: 'I have no fears; I have no doubts; I have not a wish left unsatisfied。'〃
In the Danish Church of Serampore; and in the Mission Chapel; and afterwards in the Union Chapel of Calcutta; Dr。 Marshman and Mr。 Mack preached sermons on William Carey。 These and the discourse delivered in Charlotte Chapel; Edinburgh; on the 30th of November; by Christopher Anderson; were the only materials from which a just estimate of Carey and his work could be formed for the next quarter of a century。 All; and especially the last; were as worthy of their theme as 閘oges pronounced in such circumstances could be。 Marshman spoke from the text chosen by Carey himself a few weeks before his death as containing the foundation of his hope and the source of his calm and tranquil assurance〃For by grace are ye saved。〃 Mack found his inspiration again; as he had done in the Bengali village; in Paul's words〃David; after he had served his own generation; by the will of God fell on sleep。〃 The Edinburgh preacher turned to the message of Isaiah wherewith Carey used to comfort himself in his early loneliness; and which the Revised Version renders〃Look unto Abraham your father; for when he was but one I called him and I blessed him and made him many。〃 And in Bombay the young contemporary missionary who most nearly resembled Carey in personal saintliness; scholarship; and self…devotion; John Wilson; thus wrote:
〃Dr。 Carey; the first of living missionaries; the most honoured and the most successful since the time of the Apostles; has closed his long and influential career。 Indeed his spirit; his life; and his labours; were truly apostolic。。。The Spirit of God which was in him led him forward from strength to strength; supported him under privation; enabled him to overcome in a fight that seemed without hope。 Like the beloved disciple; whom he resembled in simplicity of mind; and in seeking to draw sinners to Christ altogether by the cords of love; he outlived his trials to enjoy a peaceful and honoured old age; to know that his Master's cause was prospering; and that his own name was named with reverence and blessing in every country where a Christian dwelt。 Perhaps no man ever exerted a greater influence for good on a great cause。 Who that saw him; poor and in seats of learning uneducated; embark on such an enterprise; could ever dream that; in little more than forty years; Christendom should be animated with the same spirit; thousands forsake all to follow his example; and that the Word of Life should be translated into almost every language and preached in almost every corner of the earth?〃
As the Founder and Father of Modern Missions; the character and career of William Carey are being revealed every year in the progress; and as yet; the purity of the expansion of the Church and of the English…speaking races in the two…thirds of the world which are still outside of Christendom。 The ?3:2:6 of Kettering became ?00;000 before he died; and is now ?;000;000 a year。 The one ordained English missionary is now a band of 20;000 men and women sent out by 558 agencies of the Reformed Churches。 The solitary converts; each with no influence on his people; or country; or generation; are now a community of 3;000;000 in India alone; and in all the lands outside of Christendom 5;000;000; of whom 80;000 are missionaries to their own countrymen; and many are leaders of the native communities。 Since the first edition of the Bengali New Testament appeared at the beginning of the century 250;000;000 of copies of the Holy Scriptures have been printed; of which one half are in 370 of the non…English tongues of the world。 The Bengali School of Mudnabati; the Christian College of Serampore; have set in motion educational forces that are bringing nations to the birth; are passing under Bible instruction every day more than a million boys and girls; young men and maidens of the dark races of mankind。
The seventh Earl of Shaftesbury; the greatest and most practical Evangelical of the nineteenth century after William Wilberforce; wrote thus in his Journal of the class whom Carey headed in the eighteenth; and whom Wordsworth commemorated as
〃Not sedentary all; there are who roam To scatter seeds of Life on barbarous shores。〃
1847。 〃Aug。 30thRYDE。Reading Missionary Enterprises by Williams。。。Zeal; devotion; joy; simplicity of heart; faith; love; and we here have barely affection enough to thank God that such deeds have been done。 Talk of 'doing good' and being 'useful in one's generation;' why; these admirable men performed more in one month than I or many others shall perform in a whole life!〃
The eloquent Dr。 Richard Winter Hamilton; reflecting that sacrifice to heroes is reserved until after sunset; recalled William Carey; eight years after his death; as 〃wielding a power to which all difficulties yielded; but that power noiseless as a law of nature; great in conception as well as in performance; profound as those deep combinations of language in which the Indian philosophy and polytheism hide themselves; but gentle as the flower which in his brief recreation he loved to train; awful as the sage; simple as the child; speaking through the Eastern world in as many languages; perhaps; as 'the cloven tongues of fire' represented; to be remembered and blessed as long as Ganges rolls!〃
The historian of the Baptist Missionary Society; and Robert Hall; whom Sir James Mackintosh pronounced the greatest English orator; have both attempted an estimate of Carey's genius and influence。 Dr。 F。 A。 Cox remarks:〃Had he been born in the sixteenth century he might have been a Luther; to give Protestantism to Europe; had he turned his thought and observations merely to natural philosophy he might have been a Newton; but his faculties; consecrated by religion to a still higher end; have gained for him the sublime distinction of having been the Translator of the Scriptures and the Benefactor of Asia。〃 Robert Hall spoke thus of Carey in his lifetime:〃That extraordinary man who; from the lowest obscurity and poverty; without assistance; rose by dint of unrelenting industry to the highest honours of literature; became one of the first of Orientalists; the first of Missio