Along the beautiful coast of Cornwall and Devon there is no spot more
beautiful than Woodbury. It is henceforth sacred as Moulton in Carey's
life, and St. Andrews in Alexander Duff's, for there Henry Martyn
wrestled out his deliberate dedication to the service of Christ in
India and Persia. The Fal river is there just beginning to open out
into the lovely estuary which, down almost to Falmouth town and
Carrick Road, between Pendennis and St. Mawes, is clothed on either
side with umbrageous woods. On the left shore, after leaving the point
from which is the best view of Truro and its cathedral, now known as
the Queen's View, there is Malpas, and further on are the sylvan
glories of Tregothnan. On the right shore, sloping down to the
ever-moving tide, are the oaks, ilexes, and firs which inclose
Woodbury, recently rebuilt. There the Cambridge scholar of twenty-one
roamed and read his Bible (especially Isaiah); 'and from this I
derived great spirituality of mind compared with what I had known
before.' He returned to Cambridge and its tutorial duties, ready to
become Simeon's curate, and ultimately to go abroad when the definite
call should come. In the first conversation which he had with him,
Simeon, who had been reading the last number of the _Periodical
Accounts_ from Serampore, drew attention to the results of William
Carey's work, in the first nine years of his pioneering, as showing
what a single missionary could accomplish. From this time, in his
letters and journals, we find all his thoughts and reading, when
alone, revolving around the call to the East.
_1803, January 12_ to _19_.--Reading Lowth on Isaiah--Acts--and
abridged Bishop Hopkins' first sermon on Regeneration. On the
19th called on Simeon, from whom I found that I was to go to the
East Indies, not as a missionary, but in some superior capacity;
to be stationed at Calcutta, or possibly at Ceylon. This
prospect of this world's happiness gave me rather pain than
pleasure, which convinced me that I had before been running away
from the world, rather than overcoming it. During the whole
course of the day, I was more worldly than for some time past,
unsettled and dissatisfied. In conversation, therefore, I found
great levity, pride, and bitterness. What a sink of corruption
is this heart, and yet I can go on from day to day in
self-seeking and self-pleasing! Lord, shew me myself, nothing
but 'wounds and bruises, and putrefying sores,' and teach me to
live by faith on Christ my all.
St. John's, January 17, 1803.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account