At the first meeting in which Carey ventured to submit the subject of Christian missions, the senior minister present spoke in the following oracular manner: "Brother Carey ought certainly to have known that nothing could be done before another Pentecost, when an effusion of miraculous gifts, including the gift of tongues, would give effect to the commission of Christ, as at the first; and that he (Mr. Carey) was a miserable enthusiast for asking such a question." And then, as if to settle the whole question once for all, and shut the mouth of Mr. Carey forever, the stern old man turned to the humble young pastor and said, "What, sir! can you preach in Arabic, in Persic, in Hindostani, in Bengali, that you think it your duty to preach the gospel to the heathen?" Little did the speaker imagine that he was addressing the very man who would subsequently hold the office of Professor of Oriental Languages, at Fort William for twenty years, become one of the greatest proficients the world has known in two of the very languages he had named, and not only _preach_ in them but translate the Scriptures into them, as a boon and legacy of love to the people of Hindostan. When on another occasion Carey, nothing daunted by his first repulse, and willing to forgive and forget his rebuff for the sake of the cause he cherished, asked his brethren once more to consider the question of missions, the same stern voice exclaimed, "Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine." But the old man was not a prophet. God did not choose to work without the aid of William Carey, though the time was not yet. The undaunted moral hero had other battles to fight before he stood on the field of missions.