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CARDONA CAREY. 



Carcassonne is memorable, in an historical point 

 of view, for its share in the crusade, which was 

 carried on, in the early part of the thirteenth cen- 

 tury, against the Albigenses, in the south of 

 France. 



CARDONA ; a town of Spain, in Catalonia, 

 twenty leagues from Barcelona, famous for its salt 

 mines. The mines are situated about three miles 

 to the east of the town, and resemble a huge stone 

 quarry about twelve miles in circumference. It is 

 :i..i-t truly an ocean of salt, for there is not the 

 smallest particle either of mould or gravel. The 

 salt is of the finest quality, and would alone sup- 

 ply the wants of Europe for centuries. The Car- 

 donero, a mountain-stream not more than twenty 

 feet wide, flows through the midst of the mine in 

 a bed of salt, which looks almost like the work of 

 human hands. For many miles of its course it de- 

 posits salt upon its banks, and the country people 

 along its whole extent till its junction with the 

 Llobregat, where it loses its saline qualities, use the 

 water for culinary purposes in lieu of salt. Fine 

 flocks of sheep feed on its banks. 



The town contains a good square, a large cathe- 

 dral, five or six convents, and about 3000 inhabi- 

 tants. It has excellent wine, an abundance of game 

 and fish, and large flocks of sheep and goats. It 

 produces fine fruit, such as citrons, mulberries, and 

 almonds; and sends large quantities of hazel-nuts 

 and pines to Barcelona : its vegetables are excel- 

 lent, but the climate is too rough for the olive, 

 orange, or the finer fruits of the south. The in- 

 habitants chiefly maintain themselves by the sale 

 of various little articles cut out of rock-salt, such 

 as rosaries, images, and animals. Provisions are 

 uncommonly cheap, but, with all the resources 

 which nature has scattered around them, there are 

 but few who are affluent. Every house receives 

 annually an aroba, 26 Ibs., of salt, gratis, and 

 plumes itself upon paying fewer taxes than any 

 other town in Catalonia. 



CAREY, WILLIAM, D. D. M.A.S., of Calcutta, 

 an eminent Christian missionary and Oriental scho- 

 lar, was born at Paulerspury, in Northamptonshire, 

 on the 17th of August, 1761. His father kept a 

 small free-school in the village, in which he gave 

 his son an ordinary English education ; but, at a 

 very early period, William Carey discovered a great 

 aptitude in acquiring knowledge, and much dili- 

 gence in seeking it. When he had attained the 

 age of fourteen years he was apprenticed to a shoe- 

 maker in the village of Hackleton. There his 

 correct deportment, and the earnest but modest 

 and intelligent manner in which he made inquiries 

 on religious subjects attracted the notice, and ob- 

 tained for him the friendship, of the Rev. Thomas 

 Scott, then of Ravenstone. While resident at 

 Hackleton, and before he had reached his twentieth 

 year, his mind became seriously and devoutly af- 

 fected by the gospel of Christ, which rather in- 

 creased his zeal than retarded him in the pursuit of | 

 learning. He about this time united himself in 

 Christian communion with a Baptist congregation, 

 and commenced village preaching, and in the year 

 1783 was publicly baptized at Northampton, in the 

 river Nen, by the late Dr Ryland. Three years after- 

 wards he was chosen pastor of the Baptist congre- 

 gation at Moulton, near Northampton. 



His success in biblical studies led him to con- 

 template the state of the heathen world with feel- 

 ings of pious sympathy ; ami in order to retain the 

 information on the subject which from time to time 



hi- collected, he constructed a large outline map, 

 consisting of several sheets of paper pasted toge- 

 ther, which he hung up against the wall of the 

 apartment where he continued to employ himself 

 at his business, and on which he made notes of the 

 population, religion, and other circumstances of 

 the several countries described. The substance of 

 these notes he afterwards published in a work en- 

 titled " An Inquiry into the Obligations of Chris- 

 tians to attempt the Conversion of the Heathen." 



From Moulton he removed to Leicester in the 

 year 1787, having been invited to take charge of 

 the Baptist congregation in that town. In this 

 new station his zeal and perseverance gained for 

 him many friends; and his mind still dwelling upon 

 missionary enterprise among the heathen, he made 

 it the constant subject of conversation with neigh- 

 bouring ministers, until he had inspired them with 

 similar views to his own, and disposed them to as- 

 sociate for the accomplishment of their benevolent 

 purpose. This they did on the 2d of October, 

 1792, when they assembled at Kettering in Nor- 

 thamptonshire, and then formed themselves into a 

 Baptist Missionary Society. The minds of the 

 brethren thus associated were immediately directed 

 to Carey as the most fit agent for the execution of 

 the design. India was the field which they chose 

 for the commencement of their operations ; but 

 here there were obstacles far greater than any 

 which at present exist, and the disinclination of 

 Mrs Carey to quit her native country was, in his 

 case, a difficulty peculiar and of great magnitude. 

 But these impediments were surmounted by zeal 

 and devotion. Mr Carey, with Mr Thomas, a 

 fellow-labourer, who died in India not long after 

 his arrival, was solemnly designated to the work 

 of an evangelist by the Baptist ministers of the 

 midland counties, assembled at Leicester on the 

 20th of May, 1793 ; and on the 13th of June fol- 

 lowing, the two missionaries embarked on board a 

 Danish Indiaman, accompanied by Mr Carey's whole 

 family. 



Early in 1794 they arrived in Bengal, and Mr 

 Carey was invited to take charge of an indigo fac- 

 tory near Malda, the property of Mr Udney, a ser- 

 vant of the East India Company of high rank. He 

 accepted the invitation, and succeeded in the esta- 

 blishment of a school in the neighbourhood of his 

 factory, where he began to preach in the language 

 of the country every Sabbath day, and on one 

 other day in every week. In 1797, he made a 

 journey into Bootan, and obtained the consent of 

 the Soubah for an attempt to introduce Christianity 

 into that country, so soon as a fit agent could be 

 provided. In the same, and in the following years, 

 he preached publicly in Dinagepore. 



Towards the close of the year 1799 he resolved 

 to relinquish his appointment in the neighbourhood 

 of Malda, and to take up his residence in the Dan- 

 ish settlement of Serampore, a place which has 

 since derived its chief importance and celebrity 

 from its being the seat of this mission. Mr Carey 

 appears to have been induced to take this step in 

 consequence of the East India Company's govern- 

 ment having, from political considerations, refused 

 to permit some younger missionaries, who had been 

 sent to his assistance, to establish themselves with 

 him at his inland station. At Serampore, the mis- 

 sionaries had assurance that their object was recog- 

 nised and approved by the Danish governor, Colo- 

 nel Bie, and that they would enjoy adequate pro- 

 tection in their missionary labours ; the town of 



