The life of John Thomas : surgeon of the Earl of Oxford, East Indiaman, and first Baptist missionary to Bengal / by C. B. Lewis.

  • Lewis, C. B. (Charles Bennett), 1821-1890.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The life of John Thomas : surgeon of the Earl of Oxford, East Indiaman, and first Baptist missionary to Bengal / by C. B. Lewis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    HE BECOMES A MEDICAL STUDENT. mcnt, and the danger of my utterly perishing, which I was sure of in case of death ; still I went on in paths of sin and forgetfulness of God. Sometimes, after a sharp sermon, I would set up stated prayer, and continue it for a little while, with reading the Scrip- tures and other good books, determining never to leave it off; but the first temptation proved that the change was founded only on brittle resolutions, and not the work of the blessed Spirit, who °nl> can renew the heart. W e may start out of our common course, when shook, like the needle of a compass ; but, the disturbance over, we turn to our own track again. When, however, we are thoroughly convinced of the evil propensity of our own hearts, and of our utter inability to change them, or to escape wrath, and are brought by the Spirit of God to see an able Saviour calling us to look to Him and be saved, and are grounded and settled in love of Him and His ways, then we are still like the compass, effectually and chiefly inclined, not now, however, to that which is evil, but to that which is good. Yet notwithstanding this good bias of the mind and will, we are moved to evil by the shock of temptation ; but return, bent in the main to that which is c holy, and just, and good.’ Meanwhile, his constitutional “flightiness” gave his friends no small anxiety. His brother James was a lad of far quieter disposition, and afforded satisfactory evidence of early piety ; but it may be feared that Jack, as he was called by the Fairford community, did much to earn for himself the reputation of a “ ne’er-do-well,” who was likely to cause his father endless trouble. With excellent natural abilities, he gave little satisfaction to his friends by his pro- gress at school ; but bird-nesting, shooting, fishing, and any other sport in which he could engage, was followed with the utmost alacrity. How difficult it was to find the boy a calling in which he would abide, and how troublesome he must have been to all concerned in his bringing up appears from a list of “ some of the most remarkable things ’ which happened to him, which, with much sadness he drew out about six weeks before his death. This memo- randum speaks of his having run away from home, and of his going to London, and of eight or nine fruitless attempts to settle him as an apprentice, as well as of several narrow escapes from death. At last, he was placed at Westminster