The Village Sunday School, with brief sketches of three of its scholarsSymons, John C. (John Christian)
Religion
The Village Sunday School, with brief sketches of three of its scholars
Symons, John C. (John Christian)
Sunday schools
In my former narrative I made a remark or two on the evils and dangers
to which a young man is exposed in coming to the metropolis, and the
dreadful consequences to which a yielding to them leads. Those remarks
will, I think, be fully borne out in the case of Thomas; for, although,
by the preserving grace of God, he was kept from all gross and outward
sins, yet it will be seen that he lost the sweets and comforts of
religion, which before he had possessed. But I will give his own account
of his residence in London.
"I have said," he writes in continuation, "that in the beginning of 18--
I removed to London: but I should have remarked, that, for some time
previous to my leaving H----, I was impressed with the conviction that it
was my duty to be engaged in a more prominent sphere of labor in the
Church. This impression received countenance and strength from the fact,
that several persons connected with the society urged such a step upon
me. I had for some months been accustomed to accompany a very excellent
friend of mine, a local preacher, to his appointments in the country, and
now and then to take part of the service: but by natural temperament, my
youth, my inexperience, together with the overwhelming feelings of
responsibility which I attached to the office, prevented my acceding to
the request of my friends that I would preach; until just a month before
my leaving for London, when I made an essay at the house in which our
school was held, at I----. Had I remained in the country, it is likely
that I should have continued in the work of calling sinners to
repentance; but on coming to town, I had not moral courage to obey the
dictates of my conscience, and to offer myself for this work. I shall
repent this step as long as I live!
"I had not been in London a week, before I succeeded in procuring a
situation in a very respectable house on the Surrey side of the Thames;
and being nearer to Southwark than any other Wesleyan Chapel, I decided
on making that my place of worship. Here again I fell into error. I did
not, as I had been warned and entreated to do--and as I knew I ought to
do--join myself to a class at once; but, at the end of a month or six
weeks, I connected myself with one which met in the vestry, at seven
o'clock on Sunday mornings, and for about eight or ten months I went on
pretty well; but when winter came, I was not regular in my attendance,
and as every one acquainted with the benefits of class-meetings will
judge, was not so prosperous in my soul's health.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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