"I hope, by God's blessing, to have the Bible translated and ready for press in four or five years. You must come and print it for us."
William Carey speaking to William Ward, London, 31st March 1793.

'The week's most influential incident was being met on Sunday, the 31st, after preaching in Rippon's pulpit, Walnut Tree Alley, Carter Lane, by a Christian youth of twenty-three, named William Ward, a printer of Derby, who was visiting friends. They walked almost to the Monument together, and Carey unfolded to him the desire and purpose of his heart respecting biblical translations. Laying his hand on Ward's shoulder as they parted, he said, "I hope, by God's blessing, to have the Bible translated and ready for press in four or five years (an over-sanguine expectation; it took him seven). You must come and print it for us". Neither ever forgot this'.

Sir Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire of London in Pudding Lane (old postcard). 'Greenwood's Map' courtesy Mark Annand at Bath Spa University College.

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